Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / Are the Knicks the FAVORITE in the East? + The Thunder are HISTORIC

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Are the Knicks the FAVORITE in the East? + The Thunder are HISTORIC · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to Small Ball with Kenny Beachum.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: On today's episode, we had to talk about some of the good teams around hoops.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: I was just looking through the film of between this podcast and some of the other podcasts that I'm associated with.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like we are more looking at the teams that have been disappointing, the teams that have been bad.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm going to spend a good chunk of today's episode talking about teams that have been living up to their preseason expectations, those teams being the New York Knicks and the OKC Thunder, who continue to find ways to win.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to be here, man.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: I was just talking before we we queued up.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: Since we have made this switch over to NBC slash Peacock, the Chicago Bears have not lost a game.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: We've had game-winning drives in every single one of these, so it's probably unsustainable.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I just when JJ McCarthy, we're going to get to basketball, I promise.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: When he threw that pass to Jordan Addison and the Bears had like 52 seconds left, I looked directly at my wife and said, I'm not tripping at all.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Then Duverday gives us a kickoff to the opposing 40.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: We need one first down to kick a game with a field goal.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: And just like that, the Bears, as of right now, um are the number one team in the division.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, I can't get my hopes up.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: I can't get my hopes up.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: Let's get into NBA basketball, ladies and gentlemen.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Because before the season started, you know, everybody, including myself, looked at the Eastern Conference as a two-team race as far as the contenders, the team who could uh win the East.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: And those two teams were the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so far, you know, I mean, I guess before that, you saw teams like if you want to go dark horsey, some people like the Atlanta Hawks made a lot of moves.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: They're still trying to figure it out, but it has been looking good without Trey Young.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: I'm keeping my eye on that West Coast road trip.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: They've been winning games.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: And the Orlando Magic were another like dark horse team by a lot of people.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they started off struggling.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: It seems like they're starting to get back on track, but for the most part, it really was the Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: Now, the Cavaliers have not lived up to that expectation just yet.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we're gonna talk about this a little bit later in the episode, but even though the overall standings say that they're a half a game apart, I think it's more like a vibes thing.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I feel like the Cavaliers fans will look at their season so far and say, hey, it's been relatively disappointing.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Even Donald Mitchell has mentioned it as like a good thing that they're going through adversity because last year they didn't see any until they got to the postseason.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I would say they are somewhat disappointed, but not too much.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: I still look at them as a team that can win the Eastern Conference.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: But for the most part, the Knicks have been really good.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: After the first couple games of the year, where Carnthony Towns said he didn't necessarily know what his role was, everything has been great.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, everybody's playing the exact role Mike Brown imagined, and that's really, really cool.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta think about it like this.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: There's so much offensive talent on this team.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: It was kind of a disservice to the fan base and a disservice to the city that last year it just felt like the offense got to the point where it was Jalen Brunson, top of the key, making things work or not.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: It was just like that.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I also want to give Tom Thibodeau just a little bit of grace because reminder, they traded for Carnthony Towns like a couple days before the season started.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: Mikhail Bridges trade happens a little bit before that.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: So it really was the first year of these guys playing together.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: And the first year playing together is never as good as you imagine it to be.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: And it seems like a year number two, things are looking good.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: Last year, the starting five, or at least let's go with the starting four, because there's always the wild card, where there'd be a Mitchell Robison or Josh Hart last season.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: The four of OG, Jalen Brunson, Mikhail Bridges, and Carnthony Towns at a net rate of about five last season, which is pretty good.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: But this season it's triple that.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: Some interesting stuff.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's important when you flame out with a playoffs.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: And we're talking about an Eastern Conference final flame out, not like one that was a first-round exit or a play-in exit, to look at some of the trends that happened in the flame out.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that last year, if you look at what the Knicks did in a lot of those games in a lot of the series in the postseason last year, they lost that three-point battle more likely than not.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I just I made this like math thing a long time ago about the teams that don't shoot a lot of threes, how much they're they're playing uphill, how hard it is to win basketball games in basketball series if you are losing a three-point battle every single night.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they lost a three-point battle 11 out of a possible 18 times, and that number is from NBA.com, which is just objectively hard to win those games.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: It got to the point that last year they had a legit zero net rating in the postseason.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: They were just really good sometimes, and then just carried that with being really bad.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: So for them to now look at this season, to increase their offensive frequency as much as they have, looks at that trend of last year's postseason, say, hey man, we lost this three-point battle more likely than not this year.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: It seems like we're more geared to compete in that scenario.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Last year regular season, 28th and three-point frequency.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: Can you guess where they are at right now?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: They're all the way up to number five.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I think what's good about this is that them attempting more threes or jumping up as much as they have, they have not sacrificed the true identity of this team.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think about some of the other teams that entire identity is to get up threes, and we're gonna get up threes no matter what, whether it be a Boston Celtics or like a last year Bulls team who has fallen off as far as three-point shooting goes, that was their intent to uh complete identity.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: And when those three-point shots were falling for those teams, it just felt like they weren't gonna win basketball games.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's harder to win if your identity is not being sustainable.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: And the Knicks have not shifted their identity enough to make me feel as though if they got to a postseason series versus a team and their three-point shot is not falling, that they can't pivot to some of the things that worked last season as well.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: Cartenthony Towns in the postseason last year had multiple games, three games to be exact, where he attempted a single three-pointer in said game.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: Just one.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: And Carthony Towns is a self-proclaimed, and I'm gonna say I believe this to Carnthony Towns.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying it's a negative, self-proclaimed greatest shooting big of all time.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: I would agree.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: So the fact that we have multiple games where he just attempted one, and most of those games he was 0 for one, because if you're gonna hit that first one, you're gonna attempt that second one.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out to Draymond Green.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's the whole thing with Draymond Green.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's the case for most players as well.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: He had multiple games where he just had one attempt, and I just felt like there were many times he got lost in the shuffle.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: That is not happening this year, where he's attempting the most three points per game since 2021, which is a really good sign.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: One of the things I really like about the Mike Brown offense is how empowered O'Jan Anobi and Mikhail Bridges have been as ball handlers.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: There was just times where like Mikhail Bridges last season was either sitting in the corner, gonna take a shot, or he was gonna get to that little mid-range area, do his little spin and take the mid-range.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: That was like the two uh options where Mikhail Bridges got the ball, at least other than like swinging it back to the wing.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like they're empowering him a little bit more.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: I remember one of the first possessions of the season, maybe the literal first possession of the season for this New York Knicks team.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: And this is why they were still trying to figure it out.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, you know, as we get to double-digit games of the on the year for them, that the offense is starting.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: I think that most people on the roster have figured it out.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: But that first possession was a Jalen Brunson corner three-pointer.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: And if that is not set in the tone to what the season is going to be on the offense side of the ball, I don't really know what would.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: One of the things I am really liking, and that's kind of going to the point about that corner three-pointer, is when you have a guy as dominant as Jalen Brunson, who in theory is not that great off the ball.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I think he's kind of changing some of the narratives this season as he's become more of a screener.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: He's cutting a little bit more, yada yada yada.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: When he's not involved in the action at all, I love the fact that they are putting him in a lot of cases just in the corner.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: Because one thing you see from these ball-dominant guards who have unlimited range or are really good off the catch is that they would sit four to five feet behind a three-point line on the wing to kind of let the other guys cook.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I love if you put Jalen Brunson in the corner, he's always a threat, right?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: If you're sitting four feet behind the line, I mean, in theory, you are a threat because you're Jalen Brunson, you can hit that shot, but a quarter three-point shot for Jalen Brunson is kind of like a layup.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: And while the frequency of his corner three-point shots have not gone up, I want you to go re-watch some of the games from just before he got injured and all, where O'Jahnobi is creating or Mikhail Bridges is creating and they get past their defender.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: How the helpman cannot help because it's Jalen Brunson one more way, just becoming a threat without really being a threat.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: In a lot of cases, this is Jalen Brunson's possession off.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: He's dead ass tired.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: This is possession off.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: But instead of him sitting four feet behind the line on the wing, he's sitting in the corner, and some of the times the ball still makes it to him and he cashes out that shot.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: One thing I've loved about Jalen Brunson's season, again, before the injury and all, is how often and how quick he's getting off the ball.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: One of the conversations about some of these ball-dominant players, and I guess the best example of this is going to be Trey Young, because it's always a matter of like, will he be on the ball?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: If he's not, what is he doing?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: Is that Jalen Brunson has been able to get off the ball more this season without sacrificing the overall usage.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: And it's hard to do, it's hard to have that balance.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I figure like, I figure, um, or at least Mike Brown figured out exactly how to get that done.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: I can't talk about the New York Knicks being really good right now without mentioning a few names like Mitchell Robinson, who has been a complete revelation where him and Carnthony Towns have been on the court together.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: They are, I'm gonna say this when him and Carnthony Towns are on the court together, they are their offensive rebound percentage jumps up by 20%, 2-0%.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: He's been a dog.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: The other night he had eight offensive boards in the game and there was no Jalen Brunson.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, gotta mention OJ Danobi, who will be out for the next couple weeks with a hammy injury.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: Let's hope that doesn't get re-aggravated and turn into something bigger.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: But two weeks until he's reevaluated, he was on the path to be like, oh, could he get an all-star appearance vote?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: Which is pretty dope.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Landry Shamit just had a game.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think I mentioned this on numbers on the board.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: Landry Shamut flexed like a flex after like an AM1 or a big play, and I swear he was shaped like Wolverine.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: I I'm like, when did Landry Shaman get in the gym?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like he had always been like a somewhat muscular guy, but that flex made me think that he had been hitting them weights real, real hard.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: So the Mike Brown offense has been working.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's still a lot to be done on the opposite side of the ball where they sit around league average there, but the offense was the biggest thing that they needed to fix, and they did.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: So the Knicks are one team that has been living up to expectation.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about the team that is maybe the most dominant team of all time.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: See, it's somewhat boring to talk about the defending champions the year after they won.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: Because yeah, we've seen all of this before.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: What new can be be going on over there?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not one of those people, man.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: I truly do love watching the Oklahoma City Thunder play.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: For them to have so many games where it was no Ludori, no J Dub at all this season, Chet Holmgren in that lineup.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: For them to be as dominant as they have been is a testament to MVP, Shea Gibbs Alexander.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's a testament to complete buy-and it's a testament a testament to culture, it's a testament to coaching, it's a testament to a fan base.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody gets a piece of this pies.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like who's responsible for the dominant nature of this Oklahoma City Thunder team?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: And the thing that they are holding their hat on, and it has been the case for the last couple seasons, this defense who was legendary last season is even better.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I think because we have been so nullified when it comes to hearing the idea the word historic performance or historic yada yada yada in the NBA, people don't really appreciate and recognize how ridiculous this thing is.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: Because I remember people always make the joke that, you know, whether it be um the people who owed rights or the graphic designers or social media people will tell you, yeah, this is the first player in NBA history that was on a Thursday night at 7 p.m.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: that scored 22 points with 12 assists.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's everything is historic.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: But what OKC the thunderc Thunder are doing this season is truly historic without any caveats, without any real life um restrictions.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: This team has just been ridiculous.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: Let me I didn't even put this in my notes really, really quick.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: Let me look up exactly what the record is.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: I know they only have one loss.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: I forgot how many wins.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's at 13 wins, and one loss against the Portland Trail Blazers in a game that they had a 23-point lead, they blew it.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: They could be 14-0 so far.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out to the Blazers who have some big wins on this year.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: The average, the league average in points per game is up higher than it's ever been.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Some of that may not be sustainable as we're not even a month into the season.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: But the average PPG for a team is 117 points per game.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of insane because I I I grew up in like the dead ball era.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: So 117, if a team put up 117 in 2006, who's like, man, who have who has 60 tonight?
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like that now 117, look at the box.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: It was like 12 people hit 10.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like it could be crazy.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um the OKZ Thunder have allowed an opposing team to hit the league again, just the average.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Not 10 points over the average, not 30 points over the average.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: They have allowed teams to score a league average in points per game three times this year.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: Two of those times were in the first two games of the season when they went to double overtime in those games.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: That is unheard of.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: And again, thinking about the historic nature of it all, when you ask somebody what is the greatest defensive team in NBA history, if you ask a really old head, they'll talk about the Bill Russell uh 1961 Boston Celtics.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: Guess what?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: My parents weren't even alive then, so I can't tell you.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: I know Bill Russell was a dog.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: I can't tell you.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: But in my lifetime, if you ask me the greatest defense I've seen, it would of course be the 2004 Detroit Pistons.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: Now, that team gets it, even though they weren't the best defense on the season.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because sometimes in my mind, the defense that is being played that we call historic doesn't have to be the best defense in the league.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll remind you that a lot of the great defense that they played, because they were a great defensive team beforehand, but they went a whole nother level when Rasheed Wallace got into the locker roll.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: Either way, that team was so great defensively that again, we're somewhat in the Dale Ball era when they're going out there and winning their championship and everything.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: They had a couple times in the postseason where they held the team to under 70 points.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: They had like four games, so they held the team under 80.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's how dominant their their defense is.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, different eras where that was a little bit more acceptable.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: If you hold a team to under 70 points nowadays, I don't even know what you're doing with that team.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but the stretch that they had from like 2003 to 2005, let's say, for the Detroit Pistons, one of the most dominant stretches you can get from an individual team.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Until now.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: Because I wholeheartedly would say with my full chest that I believe that this OKC Thunder defense is the greatest defense ever.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: And because we are living in the moment, it may not feel like it.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: But it's somebody that has watched every single game, and it's somebody that is looking into these numbers.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: You think about again, I'm gonna use this again, the relative defense, this is the greatest, and it's not even really close.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: I watched their game against the Charlotte Hornets Live, and there was a possession where they had a possession where on the Clark was like uh Carlson, it was Barnhouser, it was Isaiah Joe, it was AJ Mitchell, and I forget who um the fifth guy was, but it wasn't one of their normal stars.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: Because this is this is nearly, and I say nearly, an all-bench lineup.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: There was no chet, there was no Dort in this lineup.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: And when I tell you, the connective tissue that this team played with is insane when you consider a lot of those guys weren't even rotational players last season.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: This is we're currently seeing the best defense of all time.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: And because this team was already a historic defense last year, it seems like nobody cares to talk about it.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'll do it, I'll talk, I'll be I'll be the vessel, OKC fans.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: I will let the world know that if they aren't watching the Oklahoma City Thunder defense, then they're missing out on legendary things.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: And again, and this is the greatest defensive team in the league.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: Again, I'm saying all the time, but in the league, do you want to know the difference between the number one defense in the league to the number two defense in the league?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's 10 points per possession right now.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: 10 points per 100 possessions.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: My apologies.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: 10 points per 100 possession difference between the number one defense in the league right now, today, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the number two team.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: If that ain't dominance, I don't really know what it is.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: Shifting away a little bit away from the defense, I want to talk about some of the guys that have stepped up.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: And the number one guy that's gonna come onto this list by many people is gonna be AJ Mitchell, who is kind of insane that we didn't see this happen.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody saw this happening unless you were like in the locker room with AJ Mitchell, I guess.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: But I remember in the NBA Finals last year.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: Let me see exactly what game this was.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: In the NBA Finals last year, um, this is the closeout game, the closeout game for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: AJ Mitchell played 32 seconds in the first half for in the first half for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember watching this game, like, why the hell is AJ Mitchell checking into the game right now?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know, they they saw something in him, I guess.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh or was it game two?
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_02: It was game two.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: It was game two.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: He checked into the first quarter, and I'm like, man, I don't I don't know.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: AJ Mitchell didn't play a lot this first season, and when he did play, it wasn't too pretty.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, overall stats is six points per game.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, ah, a little connective guy, but right now he's playing on a whole nother level.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: We're again mentioning that the Oklahoma City Thunder are missing out on an all-NBA player, an all-defensive player in J Dub.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: So to have a guy like AJ Mitchell, who was a second-round pick just last season, be able to step into some of these minutes and have spot starts and be able to average almost 17 points per game with four rebounds and four assists is insane.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: He has a knack for just getting to the rim and getting there by his own force, like just straight up force and collapsing the defense and kicking it out and collapsing the defense and finishing at the rim has been the identity of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm obviously not going to call him mini Shea Gildius Alexander, but to have another guy that can break down the defense to that caliber, again, it's a year two player, is just gravy on top of everything.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: One of the biggest concerns, or one of the biggest things about Oklahoma City Thunder as you looked into their last postseason, or you looked into the last couple seasons, is that as far as initiators go, as far as ball handlers go, it really was Shea and then Dub.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: Now to have this third guy who's playing at this level, it just opens things up so much.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know what the lineups will look like when Dub is back, when they get completely healthy, but to have AJ Mitchell available, it's got me thinking, and I really do.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not I'm not just saying this for the sake of saying this.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: I look at AJ Mitchell and I'm like, man, I I think it's probably more than what he's even showing us right now.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: And that can be scary.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: We've talked about the whole roster construction part of basketball and how Sam Presti has somewhat figured it out.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you need your superstar player, having a lot of draft picks help you get to the point where you can draft the dub, a pick after Usman Jang, where you can draft the check, where you can draft the Josh Giddy that you can flip into an all-defensive caliber player.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like drafting and having those draft capital is really important.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: But as a lot of those guys turn into solidify stars and hoops in the shades who they traded for, or the dubs, or the check, the only way you can keep your team and sustain a lot of your team is to have rookie scale contracts that are playable.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: And right now they have a they have a ton between AJ Mitchell, between Kasen Wallace, between, I mean, I I now because they do such a good job at development, I'm looking at Brooks Barnhouse like he's a two-way guy, but he may figure it out.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: They have been amazing there.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: And they got some guys like Nicola Topis, get well soon.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: They got um Thomas Sorber, who's about to have the whole one-year sit-out, and now I got a full year with NBA dietitians and full year in an NBA facility to kind of learn the game without being in the game.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's like kind of crazy that I'm telling you how historic this defense is and how there's real levels to this that, like, even though the Denver Nuggets are playing great basketball, I don't think as of right now, they're even closer to tier of the team than Oklahoma City Thunder are, and they don't even have all their guys.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: And I say all of that, and the crazy thing about it all is that they may still have a top 10 pick just waiting for 2026 because I've been watching that Clippers team, and they good, and the Utah Jazz are better than the worst teams in the league, which we'll talk about in a second.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: They could have multiple lottery picks this year.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: The Oklahoma City Thunders Thunder have been ridiculous, and I love watching them.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's time to tell you about our sponsor over at DraftKings.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know all about DraftKings pick six now, but if you if you don't, let me fill you in as word.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: You can pick more or less on different players' stats for the upcoming games.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: Just pick two or more players into your pick set, decide more or less on different stats, sit back, relax, and see if you made the right decisions.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: Now, tonight we got a nice slate of games.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, some of these games, some of these slates have not been up to the caliber of games that we have tonight.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I put together the pick set.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: You can tell if you want, but please play responsibly.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: Let me tell you what I put together.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: The first part of my pick set.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: Donovan Mitchu, more on total points.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like I mentioned earlier, I am I'm impressed with the leadership of Donovan Mitchu, not just because of what he said in that one interview, but overall, it seems like he's got a he's a level-headed superstar.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I'm saying superstar because the man is averaging 30 points per game after a year where he was all NBA, what, second team?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: All NBA first team.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: He got on that list, last name.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I can I can confidently say superstar, and he's been on an absolute tear, whether it has been Dear's Garden the lineup or not been.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: Donovan Mitchell has been able to take over games, even their game against Memphis, where the Memphis Grizzlies seemed like they were going to win that game.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: And Donovan Mitchell's like, no, fourth quarter, I got us.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: And they've played so many games since just last week.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: They had one, two, three, four, five, six.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: This is their seventh game in 10 days.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of nuts.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe his legs won't be there, but if there's anybody I trust, it's gonna be Donovan Mitchell.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: Next on my pick set, I got Julius Randle more on rebounds.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: I want to apologize to Julius Randle.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: I want to apologize to the Minnesota Timbows fans out there because I have not talked about Julius Randle at all this season.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: And he's playing not just all star level.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: Right now, Julius Randle's playing like a legit all NBA player.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: The actual stats are 25 points per game, 25 and a half points per game, seven and a half rebounds, and six assists, 54% from the field, which is a career high.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: And Then 40%, we'll round up for you.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: 40% from three.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: He's been incredible.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: I also want to apologize because we did an episode where we were ranking the top power forwards and hoops.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: He wasn't very high on the list.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: And if he continues this, we we got no choice but to respect the man and put him high on the list.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: I went more on his rebounds.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: Next, we got a rookie here.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: I've been loving the games that I've seen from Khan Knipple.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: He did have a struggle against OKC.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like Steph Curry said, after his 49-point performance against the Spurs, everybody struggles against OKC.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm not looking at that.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: He's fine.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: The game before that, he had a great game against the Milwaukee Bucks, and I'm expecting him to have another really good game tonight as a go against the Toronto Raptors who've been playing good ball as of recent.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I went more on his three-pointers.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: The man can straight up just shoot.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: Just come into the league and average the same amount of three-point attempts as Anthony Eltwards, who literally led the league in three-pointers last year.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just gonna come into the league and just let him fly.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: And he's hitting them at a high clip.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I love that.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: And lastly, in my pick set, it's a back-to-back for my Chicago Bulls, and they're going into Denver.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not looking forward to that game.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'll be locked in.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh a C-red, baby, go Bulls.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm kind of afraid what Nikola Jokic is gonna do against the Bulls.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: I won't lie to you.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm really afraid of what he's gonna do.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: After seeing what Paul Reid did to Nikola Vusevich, imagine what anyway.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I had to decide: do I want to go points for Jokic?
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: Who, if you don't send a double, he could just drop 55 like he did against the Clippers.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: If you do send a double, he could give you a 16 assist game.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm thinking about where Billy Donovan might be.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: Instead of going points, I did go with assists more on Nikola Jokic.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: Now he will be without Christian Brown, which is one of his best passing mates, that the boys be cutting left and right.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: But I think that he'd be able to carve up a Bulls defense that has not been good, but also have to fly to get there and get in.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: And Denver's already have a home court advantage with the altitude and stuff.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: So again, I like their chance to win the game, but I really like the chances of Nikola Jokic having a video game stat line.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: So that's my pick set for tonight.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: I will say, as of recent, I've been somewhat on Lou Cole Streak.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I need to really lock in.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: Donovan Mitchell more on points, Julius Randle, more on rebounds, Con Kanippo, more on three-pointers made, and Nikola Jokic more on assists.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: I tried the method where I went less on some stuff.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like one and three on that method.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm sticking with enjoying the game and hoping for some more.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: When we come back, I'm just kind of gonna fly around the league on some things I saw this week or some things I thought were interested.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: Stay tuned.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: For those who haven't checked out DraftKings Pick 6 yet, there's an exclusive offer waiting for you.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right now, new DraftKings customers can play$5 and get$50 in Pick Six credits.
• 24:46
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• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: Pick six is available in most states, including Texas, California, Missouri, so don't be afraid to get in on the action.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: We're at the upside with Pick Six.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_02: Can't say it was surprising, right?
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you talk about when they did the announcing of the lineups before the game starts.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: Willie Green was not announced as the head coach of the Pelicans, which is like a weird way to kind of let Willie Green know that he was on the hot seat and eventually, again, he was fired.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I've had somewhat mixed feelings about it.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think that Willie Green came into the Pelicans in a situation where they kind of needed him as a coach, and I thought he did a really solid job early on.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: But obviously, he's also struggled with some things like the rotations, which is what Pelicans fans will tell you, the timeout usage.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: There's been multiple games this season where the opposing team against the Pelicans, and I'm not making this number up, we're on a 28-2 run that's happened to the Pelicans twice this season.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: Not good.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: Not good, not good, not good.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but he also has not been able to have his full roster, right?
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: This is a team that I think we recognize there's a ton of talent on it between Z, between Trey, between DeJounte, between so on and so forth.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of talent, but never talented together.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: Every time it felt like they were getting to a good swing of things, boom, somebody's going down with an injury.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: And now James Rago's taking over, and James Rago's one of the best assistant coaches in basketball, former head coach.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: So he'll be there probably for the rest of the season before they decide whether or not um he's the guy for the job.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm curious to see how these rotations change under James Rego because there was a time a few games ago where the Pelicans went against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where a guy like Derrick Queen literally did not play.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: And after that, he dropped like 20.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: And he's been one of the saving graces on the team that has not had a lot of light at the end of the tunnel.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I wonder with like Kevin Looney rarely playing after his start, will we get to the point where the Pelicans are conceding that first round pick?
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he already gave it up, but conceding the idea of that pick not materialize to a lottery pick and say, hey, we're gonna start our two rookie players in the lineup and just let the the play the ball.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it may be the smartest thing to do to just get the reps on Derrick Queen and just say, hey, we made a bad decision with the the draft stuff, with the draft day trade, but we love Derek Queen.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna let him play.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: The next thing that I've been thinking about is how bad the league actually is.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_02: Now, not in its entirety, right?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: We just talked about how cool the Knicks have looked or how great the Oklahoma City Thunder are.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: But they are, as of right now, there are so many teams that are so bad.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: The Brooklyn Nets, the Washa Woods, and the Pacers have a collective this late into the season, almost a month into the season.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: It'll be a month next week.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: They have a collective four wins on the year.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: Four wins on the year.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: Let me do some quick maths out of the 36 losses.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: Is that the quick math there?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: 35 losses.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_02: What?
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's insane.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: And that's just the Easter conference teams.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: Our West, the Pelicans, who we just the team we just talked about, they only have a few wins.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: The Dallas Mavers fired Nico like a couple hours after last episode dropped.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: They have three wins.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: The Kings can't buy a win.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: The bottom of each of these conferences have been so crazy.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: And Mark, uh, Mark Stein had a piece in his substack um basically saying that this is not the first time we've been this late into the season where we've had three teams with only one win.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: The last time that happened was 1998.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: Those teams end up being like the Warriors and the Nuggets and so on.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: But I was wondering, not just overall record goals, because not only are these teams bad, these teams don't put up a fight in a lot of cases.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: In preparation for the New York Knicks segment I put on earlier, I rewatched, oh, I'm sorry, I watched for the first time like 48 hours after it happened, Knicks versus Brooklyn Nets.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: And it this it was some of the worst NBA level basketball I've seen on my own two eyes by the Brooklyn Nets.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's bad.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's really, really bad.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I was thinking, not just thinking about the records, but how bad are these teams net rating-wise compared to other teams in NBA history that were really bad?
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: And we are currently seeing between the three worst teams in the Eastern Conference, by net rating, if it were to happen over an entire 82 game season, that's a sample size thing, but it probably won't happen.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: But let's just have some fun here with some numbers.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: If the net rating of those bottom three teams, those one to two win teams that I mentioned earlier, if they stayed the same, they would be three of the five worst teams since 1997, which they started tracking net rating.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: Three of the worst.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's so bad.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes I'll I'll I'll miss a game and I want to look at some stats and be like, oh, this game impacted them.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'm looking at advanced stats and I'm fit trying to filter out their games against the wizards.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to because everybody uh the defensive stats are gonna be inflated.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: If you have a week where you go against the Wizards and the Nets, you might walk out as the number one defense in the history of hoops.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: You just might, right?
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm trying to filter out statistics to get away from these guys.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's bad.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's really, really bad.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: Those net ratings have them in the company of the 7 and 59 Charlotte Bobcats of 2011.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: A team that I remember, uh, this is before I had League Pass, but I was of course watching the NBA.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_02: That I was like, how is it even possible to field a roster of NBA players and be that bad now?
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: And their defense, it wasn't too far.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: Matter of fact, I don't need to defend the 2011 goddamn uh Bobcast.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: They were bad.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: It puts him in the company of the 2000 Clippers.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: Now that was a little bit before my time, but that team at the end of the season ended up winning 15 games.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: They have worse net rhetoric net ratings than the 10 and 72 76ers, the trust to process 76ers.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_02: That let me actually, ooh, here's a game.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: Here's a game, and we shouldn't be playing games here.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I'm I'm I'm interested.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_02: I thought about that 10 and 72 Sixers, and I was thinking, how many of those players could I name?
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, I'm gonna look at it, but I will I will be completely honest with you if I remember a name or not.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: They fielded a total of only 18 players.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's actually surprising.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm looking at this list, I think I remember everybody.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: Is Smith, Jill Okafour, Neuron Snow, Robert Coventon, Hollis Thompson, Jeremy Grant, Isaiah Cannon, Nick Stalskis, uh, TJ McConnell, Tony Roden who had the Phineas and Ferb tattoo.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: I always remember that part.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: Carl Landry, Jakar Sampson, all of these guys, well, not all these guys, a lot of these guys ended up having like careers after this.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: I kind of expected a team that won 10 games to have dudes.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: It was like, oh, he's a two-way.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: He only played 10 minutes in the NBA.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: Nope.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like even Christian Wood only plays 17 games on this team.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: He ended up having a few seasons.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um anyway, 36-year-old Elton Brand was so pissed to be there, but it also helped him get the job that he has today with the 76ers.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: So those teams are just are just really, really, really, really bad.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I I am vowing right now to not watch another Brooklyn Nets game live.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm interested in Drake Powell a little bit, but I will watch Drake Powell footage after.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: I've I won't I can't do it.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_02: I can't do it.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: There's usually more basketball games on.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_02: Why would I watch them if there's no interest in my team?
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like if you are a neutral fan watching Brooklyn Nets game, you got a love for the game that even I don't have.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: Next scene has been on my mind.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, Jordan Walsh is kind of unleashed right now.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: He's been getting real PT, and I've always been a Jordan Walsh kind of guy.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: I've I've liked him coming out of college.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know if he'd ever like make it as an NBA player.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_02: But between him guarding like a Paolo Bencaro, um he had Tyrese Maxi in hell for a little bit, James Harden to open up their game against the Clippers.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um I feel like I'm forgetting somebody.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: Jaron Jackson Jr., he has been insane defensively.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: And now the offense is somewhat coming around, at least a little bit.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, his catch and shoot numbers are looking solid enough.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's gonna be hard to keep him off the floor, man.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he he does foul quite a bit, but I like the physicality that Jordan Walsh plays with.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm here for Jordan Walshman.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's not like the Celtics are playing for much anyway.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_02: Let's develop a guy who, if he can do this type of stuff, he becomes a real piece for them once Jason Tatum comes back.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_02: And he's like, I'm gonna give you 15 minutes off the bench and just defend my ass off and just make it really tough on the opposing team.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_02: Grayson Allen has been electric this season as well.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, you had the 10-three-pointer game and so on and so forth, but that's impressive.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: But I've been really impressed with the idea of him doubling his drives per game so far this season, doubling them.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: Because for the most part, over the last couple seasons, he's been known as a catch-and-shoot guy, a 40% shooting guy.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's great.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's all dandy.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: But they're using him in the offense sometime as a screener.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_02: He's getting to the basket, he's finishing at the rim.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, damn, I didn't know Grayson Allen had this much juice in his game left.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he's another one of those super buff guys for no reason.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I'm really I said last week that I wanted to do a Phoenix Suns thing.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_02: Suns fans, I probably need another week.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: You did go through a cupcake part of your schedule and you killed it.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_02: Now things are starting to get a little bit more difficult, and now we're gonna really get to see who you are as a team.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: There's been a few games so far this season where I watched the Toronto Raptors, and Scotty Barnes looks like a top 10 player.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, he has not been able to do that for the entirety of the season, but every time he plays against Evan Mobley, he's like, I want to eat.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_02: And that game, the levels that it will, Evan Mobley had an awful, awful game in comparison to Scotty Barnes, and I really appreciate that Scotty Barnes went out there and was like, Yeah, this is I should be higher than you on a redraft.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, couple things, Lef.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: The Houston Rockets right now have the number one offense in the league in their heavy ISO team and they're poor at isolation.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna say that again.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: They have the number one uh offense in the league, a team that is heavy in isolation, but a poor isolation team as far as points per possession.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_02: They don't get out in transition, but them boys rebound.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's so crazy, and I can't wait to see if this playstyle can sustain itself for an entire postseason run, but it is so crazy to see them miss three shots in a possession and still score.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: Eventually, Kevin Durant will get those um isolation possess points per possessions up a little bit more, but like it is so crazy to watch this team with a different identity.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: Next, we got Ask KB.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: Stay tuned.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: Now it is time for Ask KB.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_02: Only thing I do is hit us up on Twitter, man.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'll be trying to answer the greatest and the best questions that the community has to offer.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: The first one we have is from Miller mentality.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: One thing I will say, I absolutely love when y'all hit me up with questions about your favorite team.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because I think it's okay.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_02: I think people be trying to not mention their team, but like it's cool.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: And that's exactly what Miller mentality did.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he said, What direction would you take if you were the GM of the Hornets?
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: Hope your franchise star finally gets healthy at some point, or just restart and hope the basketball gods don't target the next franchise playerslash players.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, which is probably the question that they were having internally all the time, right?
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: With this front office being the front office that came after, I was trying to think of the word preceded first the the T uh went out the front office that drafted Mellow Balls.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what is our allegiance to him?
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: How much do we care about him being a focal point of the team?
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: Because you just saw 2025 draft class, we got at least three hits.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_02: At least that's what it seems like.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_02: No disrespect to Liam McNeely.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_02: I just don't have enough film tape on you.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: But like between James and Koch Brenner and Kanipple, it seems like we hit there.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_02: And if we trust our drafting ability and not look at last year, where we got um our boy Tejan Salon, we maybe are able to build some things.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: But I am one of those guys that for better or for worse, believe in Lamelo Ball.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe not, but I don't maybe believe him in the sense that he could be the best player on a championship level team, but I think that his skill set is so very particular and so hard to replicate.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it is kind of cool that even though they haven't played a ton of minutes together, Con Kanipple and Lamelo Ball have played well together, eye test-wise and advanced statistics-wise, where they have a net rating over five with him on the court together.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like that is some intriguing stuff.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and because again, we talk about the bottom of the Eastern Conference being as bad as it is, the Charlotte Hornets are already at minimum going to be like a 12 C, which I'm I know that sounds crazy, but a 12 C in a lot of cases won't be that far off from being a play-in team, right?
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_02: Again, I don't know if that's overall what they would want to do.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it is an interesting conversation, like because people were mentioning to me, like uh sneaky Anthony David, sneaky Anthony Davis team, Charlotte Horne.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'm like, nah nah, like I don't think you push the timeline that much, especially with a guy like Anthony Davis, who we will get to in the very next question.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: So to get to your original question, what would I do?
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: I would try to just get one more season, this being the season for a Mello ball, um, to see if he can get healthy because he already dealt with some stuff already.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_02: But in the games that he plays, man, you were just in that game versus the Milwaukee Bucks before he hit his minutes restriction where it all fell off.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_02: He is such a good floor general.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I bought stock in them last season, but sold the stock before the season started because I couldn't imagine a defense being good with LaMelo on the court.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_02: But now, after watching a little bit this season, I can kind of see it that you don't need him to be Mikhail Bridges, OG on an Obi-level defender.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm seeing him care a little bit more about that side of the ball.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_02: So I know it is probably hard for Hornets fans to keep waiting and waiting and waiting for a healthy Lamello ball season, but I would give it just a little bit more time because worst case scenario, he gets injured again.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_02: And you you still do have a pick in this year's draft.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_02: Best case scenario, he plays and you end up winning more games than maybe anticipated.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_02: You could say, hey, our core is getting ready to do some things.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_02: Brandon Miller may be back eventually.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I would kind of just stick around.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_02: I would maybe do more deals around the edges more than making the ultimate decision about LaMelo Ball.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_02: I would maybe want to continue to add more vets into that locker room.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_02: It seems like they're building a nice coach over there, which is a plus because that has not been a good thing for the Charlotte Hornets over the last couple years.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: So more vets.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't worry about the star players just yet.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: Next question comes from Ethan that says given the lopsidedness, one second, given the lopsidedness of the trade, which is fine.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry to pause your question.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: He said the trade.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_02: And when I first saw this question, I immediately knew what he was talking about.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: The Luca Anthony Davis trade has just been called the trade, and everybody would know what you're talking about.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: Given the lopsidedness of the trade and the magnitude of it, is it fair to say that Anthony Davis is the most underrated player in the sport?
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: The trade has completely diminished his reputation due to something out of his control, but people forget how good he really is.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: Now, I can't say I'm in every single corner of NBA Twitter.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_02: I can't say that I watch many NBA-related shows.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I can't tell you off the top of mind what the perception of Anthony Davis is and if it's warranted or not.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_02: I will give you my perception of Anthony Davis post-trade.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think that Anthony Davis came into the season out of shape, and he says that he does it every single season, but we have watched Anthony Davis for a decade.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: Now he's never looked this out of shape.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um he came into the season after an eye surgery and says that he's gonna have to have goggles.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's not really a problem.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_02: But immediately after playing five games, he went out with went out with another injury.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't, I guess, need to watch other sports shows or be in the big pockets of NBA Twitter to recognize that most people look at Anthony Davis as a high-risk guy because of the injury history.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_02: Me personally, I recognize how good Anthony Davis is, even if I believe that he may not be as good now as he was two years ago.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_02: I still recognize him as one of the best bigs in the league.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I gotta say big because he don't want to be a five man, one of the best bigs in the league.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_02: But when you take a look at, you know, I'm sure this is stemming from a lot of fan bases, mine included, saying, like, hell, if Anthony Davis is available, we don't really want him.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's not necessarily about the play of Anthony Davis.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's the lack of play from Anthony Davis.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like right now, if my Bulls were to trade for Anthony Davis and you told me we're guaranteed health, I would be ecstatic.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_02: But because we can't make that guarantee, and because I know the history of Anthony Davis, I don't want any part of the Anthony Davis business.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like that's probably the case for many teams and many fan bases out there.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_02: Anthony Davis basically was the best player on the Lakers like last year.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_02: No disrespect to Braun Brown, who made an LBAT, so maybe I'm not doing him a service here, but Anthony Davis was great.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_02: And even earlier in the season, the five games that he played, let's say four games that he played before he got injured, the overall stats were fine.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like they were cool.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if the overall impact on the winning aspect of it matched the actual stats of it all.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_02: As somebody that watched it, I felt like Anthony Davis looked like he was out of shape, that he was giving up on many possessions, that he wasn't getting back on defense.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_02: And those are some of the things that you may not be able to fix as of right now because he's he's injured.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_02: So is he the most underrated player in the league?
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't know.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what the perception is on him to say, but I think that most people are probably looking at him as damaged goods, and that's trash because Anthony Davis is such a good player, but you have to think about it.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's not in the world of 2K where you can turn injuries off.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_02: Whatever team is trading for Anthony Davis next when he becomes available, have to recognize that there's a chance that he won't be ready to hoop.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_02: And there is a report about him and the do my family having a really good relationship.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I've and the people like, oh, that means he won't get traded.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_02: I kind of feel like it's the opposite.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_02: If I have a really good relationship with somebody and I know as the person of the company that this company is is a sinking ship right now, and by design, we want to keep on first round pick.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_02: If I care about Anthony Davis, I would try to send him to a team to help him be competitive this season because it's obviously not him.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if they answer your question.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what do we have next?
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_02: I know I think we got an we got some audio questions.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_02: Let's see what y'all cooked up.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, Kenny, here's my question: Who's an end-of-the-bench guy that you think needs a bigger role in his team?
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: Love the podcast, by the way.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm always trying to listen for accents, and I don't mean just like uh Australian accent or European.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean like even in America, I'm trying to feel like, is that boy from the south?
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_02: Is that boy from northeast?
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I didn't, I didn't get actually when you started, I thought this was an AI.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_02: I thought you put the prompt into AI and then it spit it out, but then eventually you sound like a human.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's hard to say, man.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_02: I always I used to pride myself on this growing up.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, that guy, man, he just got it.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_02: He just got it.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of times, realistically speaking, if you are the 14th to 15th man in the end of a bench, usually the coach is right.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_02: You feel me?
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: Usually the coach is right, but there have been a few times in my history I'm like, oh, that boy can hoop, and then he could.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm trying to figure that out for this season.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_02: The best example I could have gave you, bro, but it's too late.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_02: People have bought the stock, is that that boy Dennis Jenkins, man.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_02: I man's been averaging 20 over the last four or five games.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_02: He's been great, but I'm late to the party, even though I had stock in him.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: If you know, you know, I had stock already.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_02: But in the case of this question, it feels like that's a cop out, can he?
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_02: Because he just gave your bulls 24.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, yeah, he did.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_02: But I saw that before.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_02: I saw him be able to do that before.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I can't use that one.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: I got two cop out answers because they're rookies just not getting PT on their teams.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_02: First one is no inside.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_02: Ain't no way you can tell me no and Seng.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: Gay can't play over Julian Phillips or uh Dalen Terry right now.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I got love for both of those dudes.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_02: They're such good guys.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_02: But you know what I mean?
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_02: You go to the G League, he drops a little 38 ball.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_02: We're like, oh, snap, let him run a little bit, Billy.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_02: Billy don't let rookies run.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_02: And the next one is Jace Richardson, a team that cannot hit an open three-point shot.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_02: I just feel like Jace Richardson can provide some of that, even if he is a rookie.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_02: The next name I got is a player.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_02: Is a player that I've had stock in since this rookie season.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_02: And the stock has to be so very low, but I refuse to sell it all the way.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know why.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I do know why, but this guy got drafted in 2023.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_02: And since then, I've held stock and I've said he just needs some opportunity.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_02: He just needs some PT.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_02: He just needs this.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_02: He just needs that.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_02: That guy is Andre Jackson Jr.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_02: And he checked to the game yesterday or a few days ago against the Lakers with the last four minutes.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_02: And he was really bad.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_02: He's really bad.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_02: He has not scored yet this season.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: He's only averaging three minutes.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_02: Last year he averaged 14.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_02: He's in a doghouse with Doc.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_02: But give him an opportunity, Doc.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_02: He can defend his butt off.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe some do something else.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_01: Another great week of basketball is ahead of us.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm going to go through like I normally do to any episodes and point out some of my favorite matchups for this upcoming week.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_02: One of them is the one for tonight on Peacock.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_02: We do have the Bucks versus the Cavs.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I I don't know.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_02: I always make the joke that the NBA runs through the central division.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_02: It was a better joke earlier in the season when the Bulls were at the top of the Sandys.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's not that great of a joke right now.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: But I do love these two teams.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: I can't say polar opposites, but they play such different basketball that it's so cool to see these styles clash where Giannis is obviously this wrecking ball that has four shooters around him, and those shooters can really, really shoot.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_02: And the Cavs at some point end up being more meticulous.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, they were the second best offense of all time last season.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: I think they're now ninth in the league currently, like not all time, but just this season.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_02: So they've fallen off a little bit and they're starting to really crank it back up.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_02: And if you know they could get healthy, then we can see what they could really be.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_02: But I cannot wait to see, you know, the big fellas over in Cleveland try to guard Giannis.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_02: And nobody really has a Giannis answer, but I'm so excited about that one.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the next one I will say is one that was in my pick set, the Toronto Raptors versus the Charlotte Hornets.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_02: Again, Scotty Barnes has been pretty dope.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the Raptors have been playing good hoops as of recent.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: They have a nice balance of being able to get into the full court, but also when they're in the half court, letting Brandon Ingram cook.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm gonna defend Brandon Ingram right here on like some of the stuff I've been seeing about people that aren't necessarily watching the Raptors games, are mentioning the efficiency numbers of Brandon Ingram, say hey, boom, boom, boom.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I do really want to say, in order to understand his role in that team, you truly do have to watch them play to know that he is a guy like a lot of the stars across the league, and he doesn't fit in the same tier as these dudes.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_02: But in the half court, if things aren't cooking up and you got three seconds left, the ball ends up in Brandon Ingram's hands because he is their best individual creator, whether it be from the mid-post and from the mid-range, from the three.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_02: So he does end up taking some shots that just like save us, Brandon, and that drops his efficiency a little bit.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't I don't look at Brandon Ingram this season and be like, yeah, man, but he's this efficient.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_02: It don't really matter.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: Next one we got the Golden State Warriors, had two back-to-back wins against the Spurs.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_02: Beautiful wins with Steph Curry being the supernova version of himself.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_02: They got the Orlando Magic and uh Florida.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm I'm just I'm just peep I'm just peeping some things because they went through a really rough run, the Warriors did.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_02: They are the team that lost to the Pacers, and the Pacers only only have one win in the season.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_02: So they had gone through a little rough patch between losing to the Pacers and losing to the Bucks without Giannis and then beating the Spurs back to back nights is pretty electric.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I just want to see if they go against the Magic team, who are starting to figure it out at least a little bit, even though they won't have some of their players, if they can jump back on and make me change my opinion about them for the third time in the in one month's time.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_02: Two of the hottest teams of the league also play that same exact night.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_02: The Detroit Pistons have not lost a ballgame in a very long time.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_02: They're going against the Atlanta Hawks, who don't have Trey Young, and just look really good.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I hate it for Trey Young, but I love it as a viewer of the team because they have like really good defensive upside and really good defensive capabilities.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_02: They run out lineups of five of the longest wingspans you can imagine on the court together and just muck everything up.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_02: K Cunningham's driving lanes may be cut off in this game.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm curious to see what it looks like from some of the other dudes if K.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_02: Cunningham is not able to have the K Cunningham type of games.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_02: Next, at the end of the night, this one is the second part of the Peacock Coast to Coast.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_02: We got the Phoenix Suns, who I promise you, Phoenix, I'm gonna get to you.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_02: This week is important for you.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_02: They got the Trailblazers, two of my favorite West Coast teams to watch.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like we mentioned, Grayson Al has been great.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Dylan Brooks is hitting mid-range jumpers, which is nuts.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, Devin Booker has been used on many different levels of the court.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_02: Mark Williams has been able to get some boards and finish through contact.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's been it's been really cool.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_02: While the Blazers kind of have Vinny Abdia going through like an all-star little nod right here.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_02: You can't you can't help but think about that for them.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_02: The day after that, um, the Warriors are still in Florida a little back to back.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_02: They got a tough schedule, all back to back, it feels like.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um that day don't really have a lot of hits, do it.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_02: We still watching hoops, don't get me wrong, but none of them are really standing out.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_02: Thursday night, on the other hand, this is gonna sound crazy, and this is the sicko, sicko me saying this.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_02: I am really excited for Kings versus Grizzlies.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_02: I won't add anything else.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_02: No contacts involved.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_02: Matter of fact, yeah, some context.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_02: Doug Christie was talking about stay on that side, because once we figure it out, yada yada yada.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_02: The reality is they won't figure it out.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_02: But if they can't beat the Grizzlies, I cannot wait to see what that press conference looks like.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's all.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's all.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's selfishly speaking.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_02: I love a good post-game pressure of somebody like a Doug Christie who will speak was on his mind.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's been another hopefully great edition of Small Ball with Kenny Beach.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_02: And be sure to tune in the same place, same time next week for more NBA hoop talk.