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The Most Important Questions Going Into the Back Half of the Season | Real Ones
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- [00:01]
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- [00:40]
Logan Murdoch
What's poppin? Logan Murdoch here for real ones. Live for Spotify studios here in Los Angeles. I'm going to be with Tyler Parker and Howard Beck in a few. We get into the biggest questions of the back half of the season. Get you ready for that, and then we're back to our normal cadence. I believe on Friday, Roger Bell will be back. Really, really fun conversation. I won't spoil it for you. I think you guys should get into it. But really, really fun and really great week here in Los Angeles. Get ready for the episode. Victoria, play the theme music. What's poppin' Real ones? I know, it looks great over here. We are live from Spotify studios here in Los Angeles. My name is Logan Murdoch. I am joined by my esteemed panel Tyler Parker and Howard Beck. We are here to preview the back stretch of the season, ask some real, real, real, real important questions for the next few weeks of the season. Probably make some predictions. You guys ready to do this?
- [01:44]
Tyler Parker
Let's do it.
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Howard Beck
Hell yes.
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Logan Murdoch
That doesn't seem that enthusiastic. Back. Are you?
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Tyler Parker
Hell yeah.
- [01:49]
Logan Murdoch
Right? How about you? Are you ready to go?
- [01:51]
Tyler Parker
Hell yeah.
- [01:52]
Logan Murdoch
Okay.
- [01:53]
Tyler Parker
I'm not happy with that line read at all.
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Logan Murdoch
Jesus Christ. Christ.
- [01:55]
Tyler Parker
I got too into it. Let me take it back. Yeah, man. I'm so excited. Let's do it.
- [01:59]
Logan Murdoch
Okay. All right. That was interesting.
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Howard Beck
I think it's that you came in with like, a much more mellower Logan energy and like we just, we went all. Went into like smooth jazz mode here.
- [02:09]
Logan Murdoch
All right, what's popping? This is real ones. Okay, Is everybody ready to go there? We.
- [02:13]
Howard Beck
Yeah.
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Tyler Parker
Yeah. Let's go. Let's go.
- [02:15]
Logan Murdoch
All right, let's start with the first question. I think that is really going to be one of the bigger storylines over the next few weeks. Jason Tatum and his pending return from a torn Achilles that he sustained. Not. It's definitely less than a year, but maybe what, eight Months ago, Something like that? More or less, yeah. Do we think that he is going to be back and when he does come back, how effective will he be? I'll start with Tyler Parker.
- [02:43]
Tyler Parker
There's a lot of smoke that he's going to come back. I. It feels like he's gonna give it a whirl. If the Celtics are still in a position where they think they can do some damage. I think if the, some of the. If some of the important celts go down, then I. And they don't feel like they've got a shot at it, I think they'll quickly. I think he'll quickly punt, but it wouldn't shock me if he comes back. I mean, if, if, if. If he does come back, how effective will he be? He's a great shooter, and so I can. That makes the on ramp a little easier. You know what I mean? And I, I think that he'll be effective. I don't think he will be what he was. I think they'll still be needing to play through Jalen, but I. I could see him making some big shots in the playoffs.
- [03:43]
Howard Beck
Admittedly, we're all doing like a little bit of like amateur doctor, amateur orthopedist, amateur trainer, amateur psychologist, every right. And we're. And we're tea leaf reading and we're. We're really just kind of trying to read into this. But like, if they wanted to rule him out or if he wanted to rule himself out, could have done it a thousand times. There's been like these little, like little, you know, tea leaves here and there. And even what Tatum has said on the record, even what the reporting has been, has all tried to keep it a little bit shrouded. But that just makes me believe that much more that they are planning to do this. Like, unless some doctor raises a red flag at the last minute.
- [04:21]
Logan Murdoch
I.
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Howard Beck
It seems to me like this is happening, right? You. It's not just that they acquired Vuch before the trade deadline is that they also traded Anthony Simons, like, to the extent that the Celtics have been successful without Tatum. It's like a bunch of scoring from Jalen Brown. We get a little bit from Derek White, a little bit Anthony Simons. You just traded one of your best scores for a, you know, a jump shooting big. You know, I don't think you do that when you're in the thick of things unless you know that you've got a much better score waiting in the wings about to come back. And my feeling has been this all along. I said this on Zach's pot a week or two ago. He's not coming back unless they clear him anyway. So I think we can all rest easy as fans of the game. Jason Tatum and the Celtics in concert with, you know, all their experts are not going to put him on the floor if there's any danger of coming back too soon and and re injuring himself. That's part one. Part two is like the yeah, none of us know what he's going to look like, right? But Jason Tatum at 80% with a team that's already thriving without him and Jaylen Brown having leveled up is going to be damn good. And so even if he's at 80%, 90%, 87.3, whatever it is, is a huge net plus for a team that can absolutely compete in have you heard the east is wide open. I've heard this. It's, it's, it's making the rounds. Why not? There's one other thought I, I, I had which is the last time like a big time star came back from an Achilles, the last one I can recall that was like of this consequence was KD, right? Durant was 32 at the time. Tatum is 28. Durant's first season back. I forgot just how damn good he was. Averaged 27, 7 and 5, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, shot 45% from 3 and 58% from 2. And they're all different. Every player is different, every surgery is different.
- [06:05]
Logan Murdoch
All good.
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Howard Beck
But if that's the modern bar for being able to come back from Achilles in this age with all the modern science and everything, that's a pretty good sign I think for what Tatum could potentially do when he comes back.
- [06:18]
Logan Murdoch
Well, I mean I guess, but it was also apples or oranges. I think KD also had a very extended time to re rehab his for sure he sat out the season and the bubble season happened so he didn't. I don't know the month total, but he definitely had a longer Runway to come back. Plus he had the benefit of a training camp which Tatum will not have with his team and he had the benefit of being able to just play an entire season and go through the ebbs and flows of a season. There was a different comparison that I had for what Tatum is trying to accomplish. So I don't know the month total. I think it's around give or take eight months. But you know who else came back from an Achilles tear eight months after tearing their Achilles? Kobe Bryant. And that is somebody that Tatum looks up to. And I'm just speculating here but that is somebody that he looks up to. He loves the mythology of Kobe, which is weird, being a Celtic and loving the mythology of the greatest Laker of all time, arguably. But I do see some symmetry there and I do see Tatum pushing himself for whatever glory this looks like. Right. Because I think in this era, more than any other era, I think that players are thinking about their legacy and their narrative at all times, especially in this. In the current social media landscape and beyond and just how we talk about these players. And I think that at least that what he would think is this would be a Nazar under his belt to come back so fast and then obviously to help his team, but to come back so fast, to be a great player in the playoffs for the Boston Celtics and maybe go win another title. What gives me pause on all of this is it's one thing, like we said, for, you know, a Durant to come in in the beginning of the season and play a full season, but you're. It's a really tall ask if he does come, if Tatum does come back to expect him one, he could be 85% of himself, but expect him to just fall in line with this offense and this team in this way. There's going to be some growing pains and it's. It's a really hard ax to put a player of that caliber who has historically had that level of offensive responsibility to just shoehorn himself into a team that looks. There's some. There's some things that are the same about their team, but this team dynamic is vastly different from the team that he left. And I do think that there's going to be some friction in there just trying to integrate him into this current flow. And that's what I'm scared of. I know we talked about last. Last pod, about Jalen and how they're going to coexist. I kind of softened my stance over the last couple of days just thinking about that. I do think that he's going to have to fall in line, at least for this season, behind Jalen. But. But it's really hard to find your flow going into a season when you're fully healthy. It's going to be harder to find your flow as you're going into the backstretch of a season when everyone is in shape and when everyone knows what they. Their responsibilities are and kind of find your way not only in the back stretch of the season, but also going into a playoffs, which is a whole different beast.
- [09:31]
Tyler Parker
I think the reason that I'm not as worried about him being effective is because he's such a skilled offensive player and he's such a good shooter. I think he can function within an offense. If he's not the primary ball handler like he likes to be usually, I think he's still got the goods enough to be able to accomplish what the Celtics would need him to accomplish by bringing him back. I don't think it's some situation where you're bringing a guy back who's hyper ball dominant, who's got to have it and he's going to be dominating possessions. I think that you can have him coming off screens, you can have him posted up outside like hanging out, waiting for swing swings and shooting corner threes all day, you know what I mean? I. So I'm not as worried about him. I agree with you that guys these days are very concerned with their narrative, but I kind of thinking about it in another way where it's like, I don't think that he would mess around with coming back unless he was certain that he was going to be able to be a version of himself that he could be happy with. You know what I mean? I don't think he's gonna take a chance on coming back and messing with this great chemistry in this great season the Celtics have wound up having. I don't think he's going to risk being a player who's like, hey, you guys, I'm back now. And then all of a sudden things are wonky. I think he's coming in pretty clear headed about it. That's the way that I would gather. He's operating.
- [11:08]
Logan Murdoch
He.
- [11:08]
Howard Beck
He seems like a pretty even keeled guy and like every superstar in this league has an ego because that's how you get here, right? You don't. If, if you don't have a lot of that bravado to you in your personality, you're not going to become the star that you are in the first place. So I don't want to minimize that. But Jason Tatum does not strike me as being the kind of player like Kobe was back in the day where it's like, it's got to be about me. He has the luxury of being able to lean on another guy who can do all the stuff that he does differently. But like, still, you have the luxury of Jalen Brown having established himself as a number one in your place, who has been Finals MVP with you on the floor next to him. That's a great luxury when you're coming back from an injury as serious as an Achilles. So, you know, I think about, like Derrick Rose coming back from the ACL way back in the day, where it was like, remember, it was like, really controversial. Really. You know, he took a lot of shit for, like, wanting to drag out the. The rehab because he did not want to come back until he could be Derek Rose. Like, I am not coming back. I'm not on that court unless I look like me and play.
- [12:10]
Logan Murdoch
Like, to be fair about Derrick Rose, he was in a bit of a different situation because the offense flow. It was. It was. He was. It was. He was the center of that orbit.
- [12:18]
Howard Beck
But it was both things. It was. I don't think he was thinking, like, I. I don't want to project that much, but there was a. Definitely a huge ego element there where it's like, I cannot. He couldn't tolerate the idea of himself. And I think Kobe was often like that, too. Now, Kobe did rush back from the achilles. Kobe was 34 at that time, by the way. Like, he was like. That was a much tougher ask. But I don't.
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Logan Murdoch
We're.
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Howard Beck
Again, we're mind reading here. I don't sense that Tatum is the kind of guy who's going to be like, no, if I can't be a hundred percent of me, I'm not doing this. And clearly the progress he's made, you know, within the last, you know, however many days it's been where he went, go do 5 on 5 with the G League team. Like, he is hitting all the milestones that you need to hit, and that clearly seems like that has intent behind it. You know, I. I absolutely think we're going to see him and. And what level we'll see him at, that's to be determined. But I think it's fantastic. It's a fantastic story and it's great for Jason Tatum and it's great for the Celtics. And it is also just speaks once again to modern medicine because coming back that quickly from an Achilles once upon a time would have been considered insane or you're. There's no way you'll be anywhere near yourself. You know, this. This just speaks to how far we've come that the guy can even entertain this possibility.
- [13:33]
Logan Murdoch
Adding to that, though, I just want to say, like, I love what the Celtics did this season. No matter what happens, you know, they just went for the gusto, right? They.
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Howard Beck
Yeah, we all said gap year.
- [13:43]
Logan Murdoch
All said gap year.
- [13:44]
Tyler Parker
Everyone.
- [13:45]
Logan Murdoch
Everybody said gap year except for people in Boston. Right. And I. And I really respect. Especially, you know, in the time of tanking and what we've talked about over the last few weeks, like they're a team that was, hey, we're just going to go for De Gusco and we're going to figure it out. Okay, going into the second question that I, that we have as a collective going to the back stretch of the season, which second tier playoff team do you think has the greatest chance to play? Spoiler. And by second tier playoff team, we mean in either conference that is currently below fourth in their conference. Start with you, Tyler.
- [14:25]
Tyler Parker
It was between the Wolves and the Sixers for me. The Wolves are fifth in the west right now. Sixers are sixth in the East. I wound up going with the Wolves just because there's a little bit more playoff bonafides for them than there are for this, you know, current iteration of the Sixers. I think that the Sixers with Maxi at the helm are going to be a little bit more consistent, most exciting player in the league, as I said. Thank you for remembering. But no, I, The Wolves, I, I'm. They've. They. It's been really cool to see McDaniels kind of take a little bit of a step up offensively for them this year. That feels like a really big thing going into the playoffs. Because as much as I kind of distrust Randall in the playoffs, like when, when push comes to shove, he's always got maybe one good series and then he sort of falls off the face of the earth once his team bows out. I think that McDaniels being what he's been is, is huge for them and I really. We'll talk about it later, but I really like the Dasunmu ad. I'm. I think he fits what they want to do very well. The, the shot has been fantastic this year for him. He's gonna guard, he's grimy. Like I think he's, I think he is in line with their vibe and he seems like the type of guy that Finch is going to love and is going to give plenty of minutes to. So I'm, I, They're. They're. They're intriguing to me because I, because I think it's. They. They're gonna have less on Randall's shoulders now.
- [16:07]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah.
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Tyler Parker
In past playoffs, like he's not only had to be a big scorer for them, but he's also had to be kind of a hub whenever it's not Edwards and I, I think that there's going to be a little less pressure on him now. And you know, and Edwards has proven like this. He's a playoff killer. He's game at all times and he's going at your head and yeah, I, I, I, I think that they're super frisky, very dangerous.
- [16:34]
Logan Murdoch
I like that. I mean the biggest question that I've always had about the Timberwolves for the last few seasons, even when they were winning 50, 56, 57 games, was who is going to take the pressure off of Edwards offensively? Right. Because he was the, even when they were great, he was always the central hub and had so much responsibility for that offense. And now that he has help, I, I, I rock with that. I think that, I think that they'll be a formative team.
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Tyler Parker
Who's your pick?
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Howard Beck
You know, it really kind of came down to basically the teams that Tyler mentioned. Like in the east it's Philly. In the west it's Minnesota. And part of this is because in the east there just really isn't anybody you could possibly trust. There's no, it's that kind of year.
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Logan Murdoch
Right.
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Howard Beck
It'll be different next season when like Halliburton's back and everything and maybe Atlanta reformats a little bit like. But right now it's only Philly. The west was interesting because I was like trying to think like if you squint could any of these other teams sure be spoilers and it's like maybe the Lakers and they're, it's kind of cheating a little bit. They're only a game back of that, that fourth place cut off and hey man, Luca in a, in any series. Forget whether LeBron is doing anything Austeries and like it's. Luca is just always dangerous. Right.
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Tyler Parker
Things possible.
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Howard Beck
The Clips would have been a great Candace for the candidate for this before they traded Harden.
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Tyler Parker
Yeah.
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Howard Beck
The warriors could have been a candidate for this before Jimmy Butler went down with the acl. Stop with the face logo.
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Logan Murdoch
It was bound to happen.
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Howard Beck
It was gonna happen.
- [17:56]
Logan Murdoch
It was bound to happen.
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Howard Beck
It's not the Suns. Sorry Devin Booker. It's not the Blazers. Like there's just.
- [18:02]
Logan Murdoch
It really.
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Howard Beck
Is Minnesota in the west or Philly in the East? I, I was leaning Philly in the east only because the top of the East. Have you heard the east is wide open. This is a thing.
- [18:11]
Logan Murdoch
I think it's the second. Maybe this is like the third time you said that in the last.
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Howard Beck
It's just a thing that's going around out there. It's. I've, it's something I've heard. The grapevine says this. I don't know that there's any team I trust enough at the top of the east to be able to repel a fully functioning, healthy Philadelphia 76ers team. Right. Like, Paul George's suspension will be over by then. He'll be. He'll be back and up and running and play. One of the worst nicknames that anybody ever really.
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Tyler Parker
Terrible.
- [18:40]
Howard Beck
The proud, terrible P is not a particularly strong letter name.
- [18:44]
Tyler Parker
No.
- [18:45]
Howard Beck
Like, it just doesn't. It doesn't convey, like, power or. It's not.
- [18:49]
Tyler Parker
It.
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Howard Beck
No. No one's intimidated.
- [18:51]
Logan Murdoch
Howard, are you not pushing? Push, pushing P. Do you even know that means no? Okay.
- [18:56]
Howard Beck
Like, is Z. Z is a powerful letter. Right.
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Tyler Parker
This is a great letter.
- [19:00]
Howard Beck
X is going to kick your ass. Possibly K. P, playoff P. I don't know.
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Tyler Parker
Sorry.
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Howard Beck
Anyway, Paul George at full strength. Joel and beautiful. Like, who's going to deal with. With. With Joel Embiid in the. If it's the Knicks, like, Joel Embiid's going to put Towns and Mitchell Robinson both in foul trouble or just knock their asses into the third row. Detroit's interesting because assuming Isaiah Stewart hasn't been suspended by. Then again or something, the Isaiah Stewart Jalen Duran combo, that, that, like, that's the kind of physicality you need to try to. To keep Embiid in check. But then again, Joel Embiid doesn't operate in the paint quite as much as he used to. Maxine Edgecomb is such an incredible electric one two punch. Any backcourt is going to have trouble with them. I don't think any of us trust the Cavs. I don't think any of us know for sure how much to trust the Pistons as still kind of a younger team. I just think the Sixers, when fully functional, are a threat to any of those top four current top four teams in the East.
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Logan Murdoch
No love for the Raptors.
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Tyler Parker
Zone rapture.
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Howard Beck
Fourth, Take them up.
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Tyler Parker
I think.
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Howard Beck
No, no, no.
- [20:06]
Logan Murdoch
At this very moment that we're talking.
- [20:08]
Howard Beck
We first started discussing this, you know, yesterday, and they might.
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Logan Murdoch
And they are fifth. They are two games out of four.
- [20:13]
Howard Beck
Yeah. Okay. So there we go. So, all right, make the case for the Raptors, then. I just disrespected them.
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Logan Murdoch
I just was. I'm just asking questions. Okay? I. I just ask questions.
- [20:25]
Tyler Parker
He doesn't even have the courage.
- [20:27]
Logan Murdoch
It's coming to you. I picked the Sixers.
- [20:31]
Howard Beck
He's trying to get all Canada on my ass.
- [20:33]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, no, I picked. I picked the Sixers. And no disrespect to Toronto, the greatest city in the NBA, but, like, I. I think a combination of a lot of things, of why, like, I like the Sixers one. The east is down, right. And I think anything can happen with within the east function, right? And I look and I look on the teams and I'm like, what. What team do I know do I think is just right there? And they're going to. And when we say spoiler, we're not meaning they're going to win the championship. They're going to. It's basically literally spoiling another team.
- [21:04]
Howard Beck
They're going to knock out one of the favorites.
- [21:06]
Logan Murdoch
One of the favorites, right. And there's no one in the east that I trust as a favorite at all. They all have questions for me, right? Like when the Knicks, they play three on five every game defensively, right? Yeah. They can, they can lose, I think, to anyone, right. Do not trust them.
- [21:23]
Howard Beck
Boston, they could probably beat anybody too, right?
- [21:26]
Logan Murdoch
Boston is going to be a little wonky. Listen for what I just said before, right. With the integration of Jayson Tatum and just the growing pains that could happen. Right. There's a lot of questions there. Detroit, are they going to take advantage of the moment that they are in right now? Right. Because last year was the vibes year, right. Where they, you know, they had a really good first round series and you know, maybe it could have gone either way, but they were a year ahead of schedule, right. And now they're gonna, they're playing with expectations on their back. How are they going to deal with that? We just don't know that. The Cavs. I'm not going to bet on James Harden and Donovan Mitchell when it gets tight. I'm just not going to do it. The Sixers are in this weird space where they are prioritizing young guys while older guys are. Veteran guys are still on the roster, but it's still fun and I think they have a grit to them. I could see them knocking off any one of these teams at a pert in time if just they get on a heater. And I think that they have, I think that they do have the fortitude to be able to play spoiler and to juxtapose that with the Western Conference. And I thought long and hard about the Timberwolves, but I just. If you look at the Western Conference, there's just. There's. There's teams ahead of them that I just do not see them beating. Yeah, the. The Rockets are the 4 team right now, as we speak right now. I think they could possibly beat the Rockets. I don't think they can necessarily beat the Nuggets. The spurs are. If they were any lower, I'd call Them my wild card and I think that they can definitely make a title run. And I think that they are a deeper team than Minnesota. I think that they have a. It remains to be seen if they have a better best player than Minnesota at this point. But Wimby just because Wemby hasn't been there yet. But from what I saw two nights ago, Wimby is that dude. And the Thunder, I just don't think that they have just the. The utter depth to do that over a seven game series. So that's why I didn't pick the Timberwolves just because I just think the Western Conference is deeper at this point. So I picked the Sixers just based on the fact that anybody in the.
- [23:33]
Howard Beck
East can be beat and because you disrespect to Toronto.
- [23:36]
Logan Murdoch
I love Toronto, man. No, I will never disrespect Scotty Barnes. Is it? I just don't know if they have Scott Bones. Scott Barnes. I just don't know if he is a bonafide number one that can be able to do it and carry a team over a series.
- [23:48]
Tyler Parker
No, but let. Let Brandon Ingram get hot for a little bit. You know, it's possible.
- [23:53]
Logan Murdoch
I'm really. I just really love the Brandon Ingram glow up. It's great. And I like. I just love guys that go on teams and just have the redemption story in a fully functioning organization. I just. I love that for every player that deserves that.
- [24:09]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, when. I mean when he finds a rhythm, he's a bear to deal with. I really. I still think that like.
- [24:14]
Logan Murdoch
And he's got a little chip with him too. He got a little shit to him too as well. I like that. Shout out to the Raptors. I hope I can go to Toronto soon. Okay, this is where it gets interesting. I think this was Howard's messy ass. Put this question in. James Harden will blank with the Cavaliers. Let's start with your messy ass, Howard. What do you think is going to happen with James Harden? Cleveland?
- [24:43]
Howard Beck
You know it's funny because yeah this, this was me. This was my, my suggestion and I put that blank down with like the shift dash dash dash thing on my thing. And then I started staring at that dash like what am I putting in that blank? I honestly, I ended up going with thrive question mark. Thrive. He might thrive with the Cavaliers like it could. So here's the. The optimist view of Harden with the Cavaliers is this. He has played very well at a very high level and managed to have a power sharing arrangement with some other very high level guards in the course of his career early on, Russell Westbrook and obviously KD there not a guard, but still other top number one option scores. He and Chris Paul though it did not end well. Those guys, those were, those were his best.
- [25:32]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, yeah.
- [25:32]
Howard Beck
I mean it. They wore each other out eventually, but during the time that they were together, it worked fine. And you, you know, the thing with the Cavaliers will be, I assume, over. Over time. We've only got a small sample size so far that you'll do what they did in Houston, which is one of these guys is always on the floor. We got 48 minutes. We're going to have a little overlap at the beginning because they're both starting. We'll probably have them finish together, but we can stagger them for a whole mess of the game. And at every single minute of the game, we have a elite option leading our offense who can score, play, make everything else. So the power sharing part of it, the sharing the ball, all that stuff, I don't think you have to worry about as much. It's going to come back to how much do we trust James Harden in the playoffs.
- [26:17]
Logan Murdoch
Right.
- [26:17]
Howard Beck
Because that's the whole point of this exercise, period. Forget what happens the next couple of months when we get to mid April and beyond. What are they. And I've always thought that James Harden, the track record is what it is, but as long as he's on a team with somebody else who can carry it in those moments, and I think we talked about this the other day too, like I trust Donovan Mitchell. I do. Like when Donovan Mitchell full strength.
- [26:43]
Logan Murdoch
I'm.
- [26:43]
Howard Beck
I'm fine with him.
- [26:44]
Logan Murdoch
Trust him to go how far.
- [26:46]
Howard Beck
I trust him to make the clutch plays that we often associate James Harden with not making. So somebody's got to carry you home, right? Like you could have the greatest scores in the world, but if they tighten up in the fourth quarter and they like that, and that is James Harden's reputation, that is his track record has.
- [27:04]
Logan Murdoch
James Harden had just bad luck with co stars that could be clutch, right. Because he had Chris Paul. Who else? He had Kawhi Lee. That. That theory kind of falls flat. Never mind.
- [27:16]
Howard Beck
If we started listing the number of superstars that James Harden's played within the course of his career with all the different teams that he's engineered his way to and from, we'd be here for a long time. So he's. He's play.
- [27:25]
Logan Murdoch
The common denominator though, is usually him in a big moment.
- [27:29]
Howard Beck
Yeah. And you. So you cannot blame context for, oh well, he never had the guys around it? No, he's had plenty of guys around him. This is like he has earned the reputation for not being able to come through in the clutch.
- [27:39]
Logan Murdoch
I think the problem is he's so talented and when he's on that, he's on that when it is time for him to do it at the biggest moment there's Even if Donovan Mitchell plays great in a game seven right, he scores 40, 40. And there's such a disconnect from the player that James Harden can be in March or February or January that is expected in May in those types of games that when you get into the final stretch of the season, I feel like his shortcomings, when you need them the most just overcomes even the best of what his co star can provide. And I think that's the biggest problem throughout his career is that he is so, so good that it just, it tricks you into thinking that that's going to be there and you plan for that output to be there and when it's not, you're shit out of luck.
- [28:36]
Tyler Parker
I mean my, my word I put was tease. James Harden will tease with the Cavaliers. I think that he will have a, maybe even a few great playoff games like similar to the way he would operate with the Sixers where early in some series you'd look up and he'd have 30 plus and 12 assists and was just dealing. But yeah, I mean, I am not this is probably a reductive way of thinking about things, but I am not. The next time I trust James Harden will be after he has shown that he can do it once. When the A series is on the line in a, you know, playoff series that's somewhere beyond the second round. I the one of the biggest problems with him, like I people focus on the missed shots just or like him disappearing, turning the ball over, whatever it your playoff defense can only get to a certain level if he's playing heavy minutes. Yeah, I mean, yes, they've got Mobley behind him. Yes, they've got Allen behind him. Those guys can clean up some stuff. Keon Ellis now, like they've got guys.
- [29:46]
Logan Murdoch
That love that pickup.
- [29:48]
Tyler Parker
Great. They've got guys that can guard. But I, I if you don't think teams are going to be spamming pick and rolls and putting him into it constantly, like that's just what's going to happen. I think it's a simple. Like when you, when you talked about with, with the Knicks earlier, you know, like I think teams are going to be spamming Brunson and Cat Picking roles in the postseason, I think, like, as. As much as possible. And so it just. The playoff basketball now, you. It is a, it's, it's. It's a headhunting game, right? Like, it's, it's. It's less flow and more like, okay, what is the matchup that we favor the most? All right, let's pick on this dude until they have to pull him off the floor. And Harden's just a prime candidate to get hunted, I think. And so it. That is my biggest concern with him is that especially if he does start disappearing on one end, like, there's no reason, he. He can do very little else once he starts playing tight, he's not contributing in. In a lot of other areas. You know what I mean?
- [30:55]
Logan Murdoch
Roger always talks about in the playoffs, how much stars just need to be stars. And I know that's a cliche saying, but what he means by that is everybody's going to play their role. Like, and Evan Mobley can be the best version of Evan Mobley. And you still need James Harden to be who James Harden is. You still need a Jared Allen. As best as he is going to be. He's still not James Harden, which is why the reason why they got him. I put my. James Harden will be inevitable with the Cavaliers until proven otherwise.
- [31:27]
Howard Beck
Inevitable could be either direction.
- [31:28]
Logan Murdoch
It could be either direction. He will be inevitable. Last question for you before we get to the next question. Do you think the lack of nightlife in Cleveland will help or hurt James?
- [31:38]
Tyler Parker
I think it's a benefit. I think it's undoubtedly a benefit. I think that you can't. It can't be anything but right it. You're just hoping that whoever they wind up playing in the first round of the playoffs that it's not somewhere that's a good time to hang out. You know what I mean?
- [31:53]
Logan Murdoch
Didn't necessarily help him in Oklahoma City, but I guess because they went to Miami so well.
- [31:57]
Tyler Parker
Hey, when he was playing in the playoffs with Oklahoma City, he was good up until they went to Miami, and then Miami made sure that he had a good time and he was pretty tired for those games. If you. If you want to believe Kendrick Perkins.
- [32:09]
Logan Murdoch
For sure, the Hornets will win blank amount of playoff games this spring. Howard Beck.
- [32:17]
Howard Beck
I love my blanks. Love a good blank. The Hornets are going to win two games in the playoffs this spring, which is two more than they've won in like the last 15 years combined. I think I didn't actually do the math on that. Hornets fans. You can check me on that, if you want to. They're going to be the seventh or eighth seed. My first thought was like, are they going to. Is this a zero? Are they actually going to make it? And I started looking at it, I'm like, nope, they're making the seventh or eighth seed. They're knocking out Miami or Orlando along the way. Like, the Magic are like, one of the most colossally disappointing teams of the play. Like, they're just. Of the season. They're, they're, they're just destined to get their butts knocked out in the play. And I'm sorry, Orlando. The Hornets are going to make the playoffs. Whether the seventh or eighth seed, we'll see. That means a first round matchup against, like, to be determined. Right? If you're the eighth seed, it's probably Detroit. They seem fairly locked in. Ish. A little early to be saying that.
- [33:06]
Tyler Parker
After what, after what just happened. It would be so fun to see.
- [33:09]
Logan Murdoch
A playoff between those two.
- [33:11]
Tyler Parker
That'd be amazing.
- [33:12]
Howard Beck
Could you imagine? I mean. Oh, my God, I, I feel for the referees already. What a nightmare to have to do.
- [33:18]
Logan Murdoch
Yo, I will say this. Between Charlotte and Detroit, courtside is going to be nuts. Yeah, sure, it's going to be nuts. Big Fendy is going to be courtside. The baby's going to be courtside. And then when you go to Detroit, just. I'm thinking Cardier Cliff's going to be courtside. Somehow with Baby Face Ray, I just. It's just going to be. It's going to be awesome.
- [33:37]
Howard Beck
I was, I was thinking courtside. Like, I'm now actually worried about the fans because, like, the shit's just going to fall into the. Like, they need to put up like, a little barrier.
- [33:44]
Logan Murdoch
Don't worry. Don't worry. Hey, in Charlotte and Detroit, I think the fans will be okay. I think the players.
- [33:51]
Howard Beck
But, but it's. But they're, they're going to match up. Let's say it's. It's like seven seeds. So now it's either Boston, New York, Cleveland. Right. Like, these are teams where I expect those teams to beat the Hornets in a se. A best of seven series. But could the Hornets get a game or two off of those teams?
- [34:05]
Logan Murdoch
Hey, man.
- [34:06]
Howard Beck
So I'm going with two.
- [34:07]
Logan Murdoch
I. I'm going to go to Tyler in a second. But I don't want to have two straight times where somebody takes my answer, because I had two. I had two.
- [34:16]
Howard Beck
There are not that many numbers to fill in this.
- [34:17]
Logan Murdoch
No, but I did it because I looked up at the Eastern Conference. And I was like, yeah, they're definitely getting to the playoffs and if they play the Knicks, they could damn near get three. I think with how the Knicks play, they're gonna. You talked about how an opposing team is going to spam, pick and rolls with James Harden. They're. The Charlotte Hornets are going to spam all the pick and rolls and say, hey, oh, Jalen Brunson. Oh, you're coming. Oh, wait, is Cats going to help? Oh, I'm going right to the Cup. So I saw that. I saw the Cavs. I definitely think they can get a 1 or 2 on the Cavs for sure. Absolutely. I think it'll work. The Celtics, I think they could do it. I think they can do it. I just want to see just utter carnage in the Eastern Conference. I think from a theater perspective, the Western Conference playoffs are going to be great. Just for Legacy's sake. Just. But for Utter. Just what the fuck just happened. I think the Eastern Conference has. Has a. As a chance to just be just crazy. Like, I don't. We're going to. Later on we're going to pick who's coming out of the. Who might be the top team in the East. I'm very looking forward to that discussion. Who is your. How many games are they going to win, Tyler?
- [35:28]
Tyler Parker
Give me three. Yeah, I'm feeling.
- [35:31]
Logan Murdoch
I'm feeling if they play Detroit, yo, it's. I think they're going to win three.
- [35:34]
Tyler Parker
I'm feeling feisty with the Hornets because every time I watch they. They more than most other teams that are where they are in the standings are capable of just avalanching points at a certain point. They get hot in ways that not a lot of teams do.
- [35:52]
Logan Murdoch
They get hot in the best way possible by doing bullshit.
- [35:55]
Tyler Parker
Yes. Yes.
- [35:57]
Logan Murdoch
Just throwing up bullshit.
- [35:58]
Tyler Parker
Like there's a. There is a chaos factor with them that I think it can. And it can go one of two ways. They could fall flat on their face. That's totally pl. Plausible. You could tell me they. They win zero games in the playoffs and it wouldn't surprise me. But there's just something about them. They're. They are a. They're a. They're an offense first team that's also weirdly kind of grimy. You know what I mean? Like the. The defense can leave a lot to be desired, but they still play really hard. I like Charles Lee. I just. I think that there's. There's just something to this team. I.
- [36:32]
Logan Murdoch
It.
- [36:34]
Tyler Parker
They might be in over their heads, but I don't think they will be scared. And I think that that goes a long way in a series. Like it, like there's some sort of young Thunder ish stuff to them. A little, little bit like a tiny.
- [36:51]
Logan Murdoch
Bit like, like 2%.
- [36:52]
Tyler Parker
Not. It's not the same thing and it's. The talent is not the same. But there is a, there's an enthusiasm to the way that they play and there is a. Like we don't know any better. We're going to go as hard as we can. And like you start to see that throughout this season.
- [37:11]
Logan Murdoch
Right. Like the random wins that they have gotten. Like even before this nine game winning streak. Like when they beat the Thunder in okc. Sorry about that.
- [37:17]
Tyler Parker
No, they torched us.
- [37:17]
Logan Murdoch
Torched you guys.
- [37:18]
Tyler Parker
It was. They, they took the bat to the skull. I mean it was like, it was rough. The thing about them is they've got multiple dudes that can get super hot from three.
- [37:30]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. And if you have a great equalizer.
- [37:32]
Tyler Parker
Yeah. If you have, if you have two of those dudes running hot at the same time, really anything is possible. So I, it. Yeah, I'm, I'm. I'm a big fan. Three is a very like opportunistic.
- [37:43]
Logan Murdoch
What I think they get three. If they play the Pistons. I think they get three.
- [37:46]
Tyler Parker
I. I wanna, I wanna believe. I wanna, I want to believe in good things. I want to believe that they can, you know, do some damage.
- [37:53]
Logan Murdoch
Okay, let's go to the next question. Which trade deadline pick up will have the biggest impact this spring? I'm going to go first because I feel like this is going to be. Everybody's going to say this name, James Harden by far. And I think that that says a lot. I think that is because I think of all of the big additions, he is like the one that. One, he's the biggest wild card in general.
- [38:13]
Tyler Parker
Sure.
- [38:13]
Logan Murdoch
And two, he's probably the most important player that's going to go far on a, on a playoff team that was traded during the trade deadline. Right. Like, I don't, I don't think the. Are the Hawks going to make the playoffs? Maybe. But like, I don't like is coming. I'm going to do anything. I don't know. But I think James Harden, for better or worse. What do you guys think? Is it. Who do you guys.
- [38:33]
Tyler Parker
That's a good question. Like what is the big impact? A positive one or a negative?
- [38:38]
Logan Murdoch
Exactly.
- [38:38]
Tyler Parker
Yeah.
- [38:39]
Logan Murdoch
It's going to be an impactful.
- [38:40]
Tyler Parker
It'll be impactful. He'll make a mark in some way. I'm sure. The. I mean, I already said this answer and it's. It might be silly, but I'm a big disun mover. I had a Sumo for the Wolves. Like, he just strikes me as the kind of guy who has been hungry to play games that matter for a long time. He's finally in a place where that's going to happen. I think that teams are going to be loading up to worry about. About Ant and Randall. I think there's going to be shots for these other guys and. And yeah, just what he can do defensively, too. I don't know. I think. I think that he's a guy who you could look up halfway through the first round and he's indispensable for them.
- [39:30]
Logan Murdoch
Howard.
- [39:30]
Howard Beck
It's funny because the, you know, the trade deadline, we had all these fireworks going, but it was like, Anthony Davis to the Wizards and, like, irrelevant to this question, right?
- [39:38]
Logan Murdoch
AD might not even see the playoffs again.
- [39:40]
Howard Beck
I don't know when we will see him again or if it's still even in a Wizard's uniform. Will we ever actually see Anthony Davis in a Wizard's uniform?
- [39:46]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, actually, maybe. Like, actually, though, the way they're going, they seem excited behind the scenes, like.
- [39:53]
Howard Beck
Of the stars, the big names that were traded. Jaren Jackson Jr. To the Jazz.
- [39:56]
Logan Murdoch
He's out for the season now.
- [39:57]
Howard Beck
Oh, Jazz surgery decided to shut him down. By the way, Jazz, if you're going to shut the guy down with a knee surgery that now we all have rightful. We all have, right to be very cynical about what. Just do that out the gate. Like, don't do the thing where you're benching him in fourth quarters for the express purpose of losing games. And then, like, after you take all the heat, go, like, put out a press release that says he needs surgery to end the season. Like that. Like, just. You got this backwards. Should have just done that from the beginning. So the big names that get traded, like, are mostly not relevant to the postseason. Even the flip side of the hardened trade, right? Darius Garland. We don't know, like, are the Clippers gonna even make the playoffs? I mean, they may. Is Darius Garland gonna play? I don't know. So it leaves us with, like, Vuch, right? Kevin Herder with the Pistons, Jose Alvarado with the Knicks.
- [40:44]
Logan Murdoch
Actually, I was just gonna say, like, I think Jose Alvarado. So did you see him the other night?
- [40:49]
Tyler Parker
They're loving him in Philly. They're like, he's getting after the best.
- [40:52]
Howard Beck
Answer to this question. The. The most logical answer is James Harden. Because of everything that is on his resume and the team he's playing for everything else. The most fun answer, I think is Ayo Dosunmu. And the next best, most fun answer is Jose Alvarado because all right, much smaller role than the other guys we're talking about. But that dude is annoying as hell in the best possible.
- [41:13]
Logan Murdoch
Love him.
- [41:14]
Howard Beck
The Gordon's gonna love him. You just know like, he's gonna. He's gonna potentially set off if the Hornets and Pistons aren't brawling, the Knicks and Pistons are possibly brawling, or the Knicks and somebody. And Jose Alvarado is going to be in the middle of it. The. So when we say make it the biggest impact this spring, it could be in any number of ways. He could also hit some big shots. He's got that nice little float game. He's gonna. He's gonna like, just get into guys defensively. Yeah, he's gonna make an impact. So I don't know if he'll make the biggest impact, but I think he's like, maybe the most fun option.
- [41:41]
Logan Murdoch
Well, you know, New York is just going to blow everything out of proportion. Never score five points and have five assists. That it was like, this guy is. Tim's in the air. He's in the air.
- [41:51]
Tyler Parker
I think he's going to be like a big Jersey too. I think a lot of. There's going to be a lot of people in Alvarado jersey. The other guy. The other guy that I wanted to mention and it's because I'm so. Hornets pilled. Kobe White. I think Kobe White hasn't even played yet, right? I don't think so.
- [42:05]
Howard Beck
He's got the calf.
- [42:06]
Tyler Parker
Yeah. If he plays, I could see he is another guy who has been unable to play games that matter. And they got a lot of people that you got to pay attention to offensively and him out there. I think he could. He. He's. He's a guy that could get hot and win you a game.
- [42:22]
Logan Murdoch
I'm kind of mad that Colin Sexton is no longer. Especially after the middle finger to the rim. Like I want it. That's what I want to see in the playoffs. Pretty great. I want to fucking see in the playoffs.
- [42:31]
Howard Beck
He's the first guy in NBA history that I'm a aware of who got fined for flipping off the basket itself. Like, not, not. Not a fan. Not. Not the players, not everything.
- [42:38]
Tyler Parker
I'm also.
- [42:39]
Logan Murdoch
He was also the first, like one of the. I was sad that he got fine even though I knew it was gonna happen.
- [42:43]
Howard Beck
You should get a free pass for flipping off inanimate objects.
- [42:46]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah.
- [42:46]
Tyler Parker
Yeah. I think if the, if, if the thing you're, if the thing you're flipping off doesn't have feelings, then I think it's fine.
- [42:51]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah.
- [42:51]
Tyler Parker
Yeah.
- [42:55]
Logan Murdoch
Who's the most disappointing team in the league so far this season? Howard Beck.
- [42:59]
Howard Beck
I think it's the Milwaukee Bucks. The Magic are like a dishonorable mention here in the East. There's at least four other candidates I thought about, but I think it's the Bucks because the, there was a best case scenario where, where Giannis never gets hurt in the first place. Found money in, in Ryan Rollins and you know, you've got just enough there the outline that you should be. I never expected him to be a contender. But the, the Bucks no team with Yanisana de Gumbo on it and certain other guys in this league. You look at it and you have that player. You are obligated to the universe to. To be a competitive top four, top five ish kind of team. And the Bucks, it's it. We're now to worst case scenario. The Ryan Rollins, that fun story of the first six weeks of the season, like that's, you know, that's gone. Giannis is halfway out the door. Giannis is, is hurt. Nobody else has done anything.
- [43:54]
Tyler Parker
Turner thing has not worked.
- [43:55]
Howard Beck
The Miles Turner thing has not worked. Like it's just, there's just, there's no joy there. So in addition to not being good or healthy, it's just, it is, it is a, a slow moving disaster. So the Bucks to me are the answer.
- [44:09]
Tyler Parker
Tyler Parker, he mentioned my answer and we talked about a little bit earlier. But the Magic, I think, yeah, I. Because there were, there were people that were throwing them out as like a wild card finals candidate. You know what I mean? And so like thinking that Paolo's going to take the leap, obviously like can't control certain things. Franz has been hurt for a lot of this season so far and when he was healthy early in the season before this, he was really cooking. But yeah, it, it, the Magic have been a real bummer for me just because I really liked what they were building. I think it felt like they had, they were building this physical team that had a little bit of a defensive identity. They add Bane who can give them some shooting. Franz finally kind of coming into his own and yeah, but I mean, you know, like everybody else, the Paolo has been just not fun this year. You know, he's just. It just has not it. I've been such a Paolo fan. In the past. And if you would have told me last year at this time that it would be a little bit depressing to watch Paolo play offense, I would have thought you were insane. I mean, he, he has the goods and all the juice that you need in order to be an. A number one on a good team. But yeah, the, the, the, the efficiency has been a disaster. The jump shot has not looked like what you want it to. And yeah, there just hasn't been. There hasn't been the kind of like bounce you want from him either. He hadn't got any wiggle here with the ball. Like the handle's not quite right, you know? Like, are they just. It's been, it's been frustrating. I really wanted more for them. I love Anthony Black. I want, I do want to say that he's one of my favorite young players in the league and I think he's going to be something it. But yeah, it's been, it's been rough this year.
- [46:08]
Logan Murdoch
They're.
- [46:08]
Tyler Parker
They're my answer.
- [46:09]
Logan Murdoch
Okay, you guys got two of my answers, so I think I'm gonna zag a little bit. How about the LA Clippers? Jesus. From like the scandal to start the season that's kind of just hovered over the season the way they did Chris Paul. No matter what you think of Chris Paul. Yeah. Was out of pocket the way they did.
- [46:26]
Howard Beck
Still messed up. Yeah.
- [46:27]
Tyler Parker
Out of pocket. It's hard to disagree with it when they go whatever, 16 and three right after that. Like, it was clearly probably the ultimately like the right move. But to do that to like one of the few franchise legends, you have also got to figure out another way to get that done.
- [46:45]
Logan Murdoch
But also, I think, like, the problems that they have with Chris Paul, like, says a lot about the people in the locker room of the Clippers at that point. Right. Because it wasn't like the last few teams that Chris Paul have been on. It's not like he just fully sabotaged all of them to start a season.
- [47:02]
Howard Beck
No.
- [47:02]
Tyler Parker
But I think we also know that Chris Paul. I don't think it's like, I don't think it was. Chris Paul's very annoying. I think that is fair. I think that's been sort of pretty established.
- [47:09]
Logan Murdoch
That is fair. But it, I think with this specific locker room with James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, like, I think it was bound to happen. But with other teams it seemed to be fine. And granted those were younger teams and not veteran led teams, but even with the warriors. He was great with the Warriors. They loved him. The young Guys loved him. The older guys loved him.
- [47:28]
Tyler Parker
I think that when he was with the thunder, it was like. It was. It was total, like, sunshine. It was sunshine and rainbows. Like, he was amazing. Yeah.
- [47:37]
Logan Murdoch
One of my favorite moments of that time was Chris Paul did a YouTube breakout with, I believe, a friend of the show, Gallo, and they were doing a film session. It was great. It was like. It was one of the greatest.
- [47:49]
Tyler Parker
They did with Nick Gallo.
- [47:50]
Logan Murdoch
Nick Gallo.
- [47:50]
Tyler Parker
Oh, yeah, he was. That stuff was great. I love Nick Gallo. Big shout out to Gallo.
- [47:54]
Logan Murdoch
Big shout out to Gallo, who's getting all of his flowers and. Right. For. So. But I think just all the bad juju with the Clippers this season, and you're starting to feel that even during. As we get closer to this all.
- [48:05]
Howard Beck
My only response to that, Logan, is like, should any of us really be disappointed in the Clippers anymore? Like, there's just a perennial. Like, every year there's some version of a disappointment. Like, I just. This is actually kind of like their.
- [48:15]
Logan Murdoch
Biggest disappointment, like, three years running. Yeah.
- [48:19]
Howard Beck
Lifetime achievement.
- [48:20]
Logan Murdoch
Life managed Lifetime achievement award. Jesus. Okay, this is a fun one. I think this was. This is the last, like, question before the quick hitters. And this is from Tyler Parker's messy ass. Even though this isn't a messy question. If the. If the Vegas and Seattle expansion teams are announced this summer, obviously Seattle should just go back to being called the supersonics. But what should the Vegas team name be? Tyler Parker.
- [48:46]
Tyler Parker
I thought about this a lot because, as you say, my messy ass did type this question. Thought Wild Cards might be kind of fun. Thought Rap pack might be kind of fun. What I landed on the Las Vegas Thumb Breakers I think should be. I think that. That's what I think if we.
- [49:04]
Howard Beck
We.
- [49:05]
Tyler Parker
We. We need to celebrate the organized crime that's existed in this city for, you know, forever. And I. I really think if you. If you. If you name the team. Thumb breakers, they're coming with an identity immediately. And. Yeah, I mean, I want that merch off the bat.
- [49:23]
Logan Murdoch
They do The. They put a different meaning to the term fast break.
- [49:26]
Tyler Parker
Absolutely. The other one I had was House, because the House always wins.
- [49:31]
Logan Murdoch
Wow. But that actually should just be the nickname of the stadium prop.
- [49:35]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, you're right. That's a good point. Yes.
- [49:37]
Logan Murdoch
Good call.
- [49:38]
Tyler Parker
Great work. Good work. The. But, yeah, Thumb breakers.
- [49:42]
Howard Beck
There are so many awesome and yet awful, dangerous possibilities here. The gamblers is the most obvious one, which is too obvious. It's kind of boring.
- [49:54]
Logan Murdoch
Isn't that a name already? Wasn't like, the.
- [49:56]
Tyler Parker
Probably The UFL or some Arena Football League.
- [49:59]
Logan Murdoch
Somebody was there.
- [50:00]
Tyler Parker
Oh, yeah, you're right. Yeah.
- [50:02]
Howard Beck
The jackpots could be kind of fun. The roulettes, the baccarats, the cacti.
- [50:10]
Tyler Parker
I'm into that. A big cactus. Big cactus fan.
- [50:13]
Howard Beck
Blackjack would be actually kind of fun.
- [50:15]
Tyler Parker
Yep.
- [50:19]
Howard Beck
This, this, this, this might be a little too serious about the state of things sometimes in Las Vegas, but the Vegas desperation, the desperados. The desperados, the derelicts.
- [50:33]
Logan Murdoch
Great.
- [50:35]
Howard Beck
But ultimately I think my favorite one and I. This is the one I believe in. The Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes because. Or you've got the dice aspect, but then you can think about the logos with like glowing snake eyes. You get all like the rattlesnake. We've had like the rattlers. We've had other like snake type iconography. Right. Team names or whatever. But the Snake Eyes would be pretty badass.
- [50:55]
Tyler Parker
You do different activations with the Nicholas Cage movie Snake Eyes. You could have Cage come out and introduce the team every now and again.
- [51:01]
Howard Beck
Nick Cage mascot would be like the scariest thing since the King Cake, baby.
- [51:05]
Tyler Parker
And incredible.
- [51:08]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, I was pretty boring with this. I said like the spades.
- [51:12]
Tyler Parker
You were boring. You're right.
- [51:14]
Logan Murdoch
I don't spend much time in Vegas, nor do I really like it. But you know, I just. For the purpose of this question, I thought you guys are going to be way. The other part that was hard was like the Las Vegas Aces kind of have like it's perfect name. It's already taken.
- [51:27]
Howard Beck
Great name.
- [51:27]
Tyler Parker
They nailed it.
- [51:28]
Logan Murdoch
Right. So like, I just don't know what like in terms of like how it.
- [51:32]
Tyler Parker
Reads, they can't be the Kings. Kings already exist.
- [51:36]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. No, funny thing, I remember back in the day, the Kings actually because of the. The Malou family, they had the Palms Hotel. They would always play their preseason games in Vegas.
- [51:46]
Howard Beck
Yeah, Kings, Lakers was like a staple of. Of the preseason.
- [51:49]
Logan Murdoch
Yep.
- [51:50]
Howard Beck
I will just say as a quick aside here, editorial comment, none of this should be happening because the league shouldn't expand. It's a terrible idea. There's not enough talent to go around. There's too many shitty teams as there is. And we already have a bunch of teams that don't.
- [52:01]
Logan Murdoch
Two more teams to take.
- [52:03]
Howard Beck
Just, just relocate two teams and. No, I'm not going to say which two teams.
- [52:06]
Logan Murdoch
We already know which ones. You said said it before the show. Roll it. Okay, let's go. Some quick hitters. Who's winning the East?
- [52:13]
Howard Beck
Detroit basketball.
- [52:15]
Tyler Parker
That's who I have too.
- [52:16]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, I mean, I think, I mean they are. What are they up five games in the East? I don't think anybody is. They're clearly. They're five and a half. As we. As we speak right now as.
- [52:24]
Tyler Parker
As we touched on in another pod. I am a big Cade believer and I think that he's. I think that he's that dude. Like, I. I'm. Yeah, yeah. Detroit.
- [52:35]
Logan Murdoch
Detroit. I could see that the west is a little bit more. I say I had the Pistons as well. What do we think about in the West?
- [52:42]
Howard Beck
You know, before the season, I did the thing where it was like, is it thunder or the field? And if it's the field, which is the way the. The things have been going for the last seven years, then I think it's the Nuggets. And so that was. My preseason pick was Nuggets. I think I went Nuggets over Cavs. I think I'm stick with the Nuggets. Like the Thunder as we sit here right now.
- [53:02]
Logan Murdoch
We're talking about the best record, though.
- [53:04]
Howard Beck
No, I thought you're saying who's winning.
- [53:06]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, winning the East.
- [53:07]
Howard Beck
Yeah.
- [53:07]
Logan Murdoch
I mean, winning the West. We're doing our playoff preview later. So this is winning. Winning.
- [53:12]
Tyler Parker
Oh, you're talking about like for the end of the regular season.
- [53:14]
Howard Beck
Oh, you mean who's going to have the best record.
- [53:15]
Logan Murdoch
Yes.
- [53:16]
Howard Beck
I thought we said like going.
- [53:18]
Logan Murdoch
Well, that's what we do for our playoff preview, which we're going to be doing in April during playing.
- [53:22]
Howard Beck
Yeah, but that's a. That's a different time frame.
- [53:24]
Tyler Parker
Jesus.
- [53:24]
Logan Murdoch
I was. Because I was going to pick the spurs for the West. They had a run in them. Do you think they can catch.
- [53:29]
Tyler Parker
They could.
- [53:29]
Logan Murdoch
They could catch the Thunder, though. I think so. The Thunder have just. It's been like. I, you know, they're fine. They've just been eyed over this last few stretch. They don't. They don't seem as dominant as they were.
- [53:38]
Tyler Parker
They've been super. They've been super dinged up. I mean, it's been like there's for sure, like they've lost the third most games due to injury. Like, it's. You know, they've. They've.
- [53:47]
Logan Murdoch
It's been rough and they've been. I. And the spurs are surging. I think there's a chance that they can win the West.
- [53:52]
Tyler Parker
I totally could.
- [53:53]
Logan Murdoch
Three and a half games out, right.
- [53:54]
Tyler Parker
I could see the spurs winning the West. Absolutely. Big Nuggets believer too. But yeah, I mean, I'm rolling with the Thunder.
- [54:04]
Logan Murdoch
Really.
- [54:05]
Tyler Parker
I think that the.
- [54:06]
Logan Murdoch
Could you ever bet against the Thunder? Like what for sure. Set of circumstances do you think where you would actually.
- [54:10]
Tyler Parker
At the start of the, at the start of last season, whenever. Like the. My preseason pick was actually Knicks over Thunder in the finals, which did not wind up happening, thank God. But the, but like the Thunder not having the best record in the west would not be shocking at all to me. I think it's totally plausible. I've been very encouraged over the last couple of weeks with the way that the teams acquitted themselves since Shea has gone out with this abdomen injury. I kind of thought that the. They were going to sink a little bit. But the way that Isaiah Joe has looked, the way that Aaron Wiggins has looked, the way that like this new Jared McCain edition has been really nice.
- [54:57]
Logan Murdoch
Well, you know, Ken Rich has looked high on Jared McCain. So I think, I think you should be scared.
- [55:02]
Tyler Parker
I'm terrified. I'm terrified. But the. But I, I've. I've really. I think it's. I think it's there. It's. It's making the team sharper. I think it's. It's making the roll guys have to do a little bit more, which is going to be good when it comes to the playoffs. So, yeah, I'm still, I'm still feeling good now. Now Jalen Williams is back and he's looked. He's looked good. He's starting to get his rhythm back. Chet's still chat. I've been. I'm still pretty encouraged.
- [55:30]
Logan Murdoch
Okay. Okay.
- [55:31]
Tyler Parker
But like I say, totally plausible that the spurs do. It wouldn't surprise me one bit. Same with the Nuggets.
- [55:36]
Howard Beck
Agree.
- [55:37]
Logan Murdoch
All right, before we get out of here, I wanted to just pose a question to you guys and just, you know, keep you on your toes, you know, because you guys just study for this one. Which team do you think has like the most potential to just fall off a cliff over the next. That that is established. That can just fucking fall off a cliff over the next few weeks.
- [55:56]
Howard Beck
So we're talking about like one of the top teams in one of the two. Like a top four ish kind of team.
- [56:00]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. Who have expectations.
- [56:02]
Howard Beck
Who have expect. I like the Rockets feel like they're. They're been a little volatile already. You know, Fred Van Vliet's been out the whole season. They never did decide to plug that hole. They decided we'll just do this by committee, we'll be fine. And I think there are times when that is. Is backfiring on them, not having it. And then Stephen Adams goes out. So now you have like two Pillars at the, you know, the two ends of the lineup there who were really key for them last season, who are both gone. Kevin Durant's had like some really high minutes games and like dude is up there with.
- [56:30]
Logan Murdoch
And he was supposed to be on that team like as a ringer. Right. Like, okay, we have this really, really talented team and if we need Kevin Durant, he.
- [56:37]
Howard Beck
Right, right. We'll have Shangun and Amen do a lot of this. And then Durant just has to be like even almost kind of complimentary. On some nights he can lead the way, but not every night. He has to do it I think too often. And so yeah, I think there's just between the youth and the age, right. The two, the two ends there. How much can you really rely on the young guys? How much can you really rely on the 37 year old star? And there's just not enough in between. So I think they're the volatile one.
- [57:00]
Logan Murdoch
I see that their offense is just so predictable and I, that was a concern that I had going into the season. Right. It was just, it was the, the pass the ball, you figure it out offense and at times it's awesome, like when Shangoon just takes the ball full court, it's, it's great, it's great. But in the postseason it's a different beast. Right. Like you're, you're teams are going to gamble game plan against that and they just don't, I don't think that they have a second gear or, or, or, or retort to any of that. Right.
- [57:26]
Tyler Parker
I think it's going to be a slog for them in the playoffs. I think the teams are going to really load up against Durant even more and they're going to need guys to hit jump shots that have not shown they can do that consistently enough and.
- [57:41]
Logan Murdoch
They'Re going to ask Amen to be a point guard in a playoff setting.
- [57:44]
Tyler Parker
It, I mean, I love, I love them. And so it's, it's. I don't, I don't want to disparage him too much, but it, my, my biggest thing with Durant is I think that when they brought him in they were expecting that they'd be able to rest him a lot more than they have been, which is not at all. And I obviously like, I want every player to stay healthy and you don't, you know, I don't even, you feel bad even like putting the thought of injury out into the universe, but it is something that concerns me with them. Durant over the past, you know what like five years. Like he just, he, he gets injured every year at some point and if he goes down, that's, that is scary for that team, I think it. And so hopefully that doesn't happen. But history tells us that he is going to miss some time at some point. And if that does happen, like you say they're teetering already. You know, stuff could get ugly. Hopefully, hopefully he's, hopefully he's good. And it's, it's, it's all, it's all gravy. But yeah, that's. Is there a team, is there a.
- [58:59]
Logan Murdoch
Team in the Eastern Conference that would disappoint you over this last time? Like the, the, the east is so volatile, right, aside from the Pistons. Like if a team just went on a down streak, would that surprise. What team. What team would surprise you?
- [59:11]
Howard Beck
I mean the thing is we've already, that Cleveland's already done that. Right. Like they've had to pick themselves back up and then you have this wild card of throwing Harden in there which could push them in any particular direction.
- [59:21]
Logan Murdoch
They have. No but like last year warriors vibes to me where they can just make a run.
- [59:25]
Howard Beck
Yeah.
- [59:25]
Logan Murdoch
Just down the stretch of the season. Right.
- [59:28]
Howard Beck
But like the Knicks have like through the roof expectations. Right. You know, the owner goes on radio a couple months or six weeks ago, whenever it was and says it's, we're, we're winning the championship. This is all, this is all, all we care about.
- [59:40]
Logan Murdoch
We ain't cat knit for New York.
- [59:41]
Howard Beck
We ain't hanging no NBA cup banner. And, and look, the expectations were already through the roof. They fired the coach who got them to the conference finals for the first time in a thousand years. And you know, they've got on paper and phenomenal starting five. They've got depth and now they've just picked up Jeremy Sohan. Like they've got the depth, they've got the high end talent, they've got the role players and New York is dying for this. So any misstep by them even slipping to third or fourth in the east might be considered a disappointment at this point.
- [60:13]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, we'll see. Good job. Great job on the fly. That was really good.
- [60:17]
Tyler Parker
We know how to do this thing, you know. You know.
- [60:20]
Logan Murdoch
All right.
- [60:20]
Tyler Parker
They pay us for something.
- [60:21]
Logan Murdoch
Tyler Parker, man, it's been great.
- [60:23]
Tyler Parker
Thank you for having me. This has been great. Loved it.
- [60:26]
Logan Murdoch
Thank you. All right, that's real ones in Los Angeles, man. We will see you guys. I will, I will see you from my desk next time we see you around. Roger will be back next episode. Yeah, man, that's all we got. Real onesmailback gmail.com real ones mailbag, gmail.com real ones@gmail.com. tap in all the shits. Talk to you all soon. Bye.