Latest / The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast / NBA and NHL Playoffs Sneak Preview

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NBA and NHL Playoffs Sneak Preview · The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast

0:08
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Favorites the podcast from the Volume Podcast Network.
0:14
Speaker 1: I am Shad Milman, Chief Content Officer of the Action Network,
0:20
Speaker 1: and we do have an action packed show because NBA
0:24
Speaker 1: Playoffs coming up next week, NHL Playoffs starting very soon,
0:29
Speaker 1: we at Action Network cover it all. So in a
0:33
Speaker 1: few minutes. Matt Moore Raheem Palmer, the hosts of our
0:37
Speaker 1: very own Action Network podcast, also hosts, analysts, commentators of
0:44
Speaker 1: our NBA bet stream that we've been running all season
0:47
Speaker 1: long with our friends at Yahoo and the n b
0:50
Speaker 1: A and regular writers and analysts on Action network dot com.
0:54
Speaker 1: They are joining the podcast. We're gonna talk all things NBA.
0:57
Speaker 1: What is up with the Knicks, what is up with
1:00
Speaker 1: the Lakers? What are we gonna do with the East?
1:03
Speaker 1: What's happening with the Utah Jazz in the West? Are
1:06
Speaker 1: the Warriors Lakers really going to be the best rated
1:09
Speaker 1: game for the entire playoffs, even if it happens the
1:12
Speaker 1: first weekend of the playoffs. Plus, I want to talk
1:16
Speaker 1: NHL Playoffs with our Action Network senior NHL fan. I
1:22
Speaker 1: call him that because he cares about hockey more than
1:24
Speaker 1: he probably cares about anything else in the world. Mr
1:26
Speaker 1: Michael Leeboff. You might remember him as the co host
1:31
Speaker 1: of The Twenty Dollar Hockey Show, which was the cheapest
1:35
Speaker 1: studio show ever produced about betting on hockey. But first,
1:40
Speaker 1: my bff, my companion, Simon Hunter, well chat looking at you, man.
1:46
Speaker 1: That was a good opening. Body. That was a solid
1:48
Speaker 1: three minutes, no breath, You just were flying through that
1:50
Speaker 1: whole thing. I was flying by the seat of my
1:52
Speaker 1: pants and thinking about how excited I am regarding this show.
1:56
Speaker 1: I think it'll be amazing because the NBA and the
1:59
Speaker 1: NHL coming down to the ends of their season, and look,
2:01
Speaker 1: it's been a weird freaking year. Even if we feel
2:04
Speaker 1: like in this universe we are coming out of COVID,
2:08
Speaker 1: we're all getting vaccinated, we're all starting to see people again,
2:11
Speaker 1: we're all being more social, these two sports started under
2:15
Speaker 1: a cloud of uncertainty, right. We did not know what
2:17
Speaker 1: was going to happen. They did not have fans in
2:19
Speaker 1: the stands, We did not have the vaccine yet, we
2:21
Speaker 1: didn't know how seasons we're going to progress, if seasons
2:24
Speaker 1: were going to progress. The fact that we're getting the
2:26
Speaker 1: playoffs in a time that is resembling something a little
2:29
Speaker 1: bit more normal I think it's fantastic and we should
2:32
Speaker 1: all be enthusiastic about it. Um. But simon, before we
2:38
Speaker 1: get there, one of the things that you've done brilliantly
2:43
Speaker 1: on this show, in now your third season on this show,
2:48
Speaker 1: is you have been so completely transparent about what you're betting,
2:52
Speaker 1: how much you're betting, why you're making decisions, and also
2:57
Speaker 1: you are in it only for the people who are listening.
2:59
Speaker 1: You'd do not make money off of the picks that
3:03
Speaker 1: you give people. Until two or three months ago, you
3:06
Speaker 1: weren't even a full time employee of the Action Network.
3:09
Speaker 1: You weren't getting paid for the information you were sharing.
3:11
Speaker 1: So you were doing it out of the goodness of
3:13
Speaker 1: your heart, trying to make people smarter, and through that
3:16
Speaker 1: people got to know you. You were so authentic in
3:19
Speaker 1: the way you describe what's going on in your head
3:22
Speaker 1: about insecurities. And this past couple of months, we've talked
3:27
Speaker 1: a lot about your heartbreak, about your breakup. You brought
3:31
Speaker 1: it up on the show, and now a lot of
3:34
Speaker 1: people are asking what's happening, how are you doing? It's
3:39
Speaker 1: time to share with the people. Yeah, there is nothing
3:43
Speaker 1: a guy once more to be vulnerable in front of
3:45
Speaker 1: five other guys. I mean, this is this is perfect.
3:48
Speaker 1: I mean, if I could open up my heart right
3:50
Speaker 1: now and just show you my soul, this is exactly
3:53
Speaker 1: the sign is referring to. It was the fact that
3:56
Speaker 1: we have Rory Leland from The Volume Network producer h
3:59
Speaker 1: Matt Show Action Network producer plus for Heeman Matt Moore
4:03
Speaker 1: waiting in the wings. We're all in the zoom here
4:05
Speaker 1: so everyone can see each other. But this is the
4:08
Speaker 1: world we live in right now, and you know we're
4:10
Speaker 1: all close and there's no reason to not be vulnerable
4:13
Speaker 1: at any time of any day. I believe that sincerely,
4:16
Speaker 1: So uh share with us what's happening. And this is exactly,
4:21
Speaker 1: This is exactly why when I started here I used
4:23
Speaker 1: the fake last name and I wanted to blur my face.
4:25
Speaker 1: These are all the reasons. Um yeah man. Basically, I
4:32
Speaker 1: was with a check who um I've known for a
4:35
Speaker 1: long time and pretty much was like the classic like like, dude,
4:41
Speaker 1: I'm I'm crazy if you want to get to the
4:43
Speaker 1: truth of it, like I am like legit this, like
4:45
Speaker 1: I bet sports professionally, so I am twisted in the
4:47
Speaker 1: head and like my my my move. I would say
4:51
Speaker 1: for a good six seven years as I would find
4:54
Speaker 1: a summer love and then just disappeared ghost as soon
4:57
Speaker 1: as August said, bro, like, as soon as football season
4:59
Speaker 1: came around, I would just disappear. And the chick was trouble,
5:03
Speaker 1: but she had money and she could have like laugh
5:06
Speaker 1: at a joke. So I was like, all right, I'll
5:09
Speaker 1: let this chick right through the season, and yeah, man
5:12
Speaker 1: end up catching feelings and I knew it wasn't long
5:15
Speaker 1: term because like I told you, she didn't want kids.
5:20
Speaker 1: So I pretty much was like, I can flip that
5:24
Speaker 1: I can get her to want kids. And as you
5:26
Speaker 1: can tell, I lost. Um, not that I lost, I
5:30
Speaker 1: gave up because I was just like, I'm getting old, man,
5:32
Speaker 1: and it's like I don't know how long the boys
5:34
Speaker 1: can swim for, so I gotta start looking. And uh,
5:39
Speaker 1: basically I thought it wasn't gonna be that bad and
5:43
Speaker 1: i'd get back out there. And it's been absolutely terrible,
5:45
Speaker 1: just I think because of COVID, Like I'm not an
5:47
Speaker 1: online dating kind of guy, Like I can talk to
5:49
Speaker 1: chicks in person, and uh, I can't find chicks anywhere.
5:54
Speaker 1: I've been going to libraries, no chicks. I've been going
5:57
Speaker 1: to uh, you know, the supermarket. Everyone's married, so it's
6:01
Speaker 1: it's been tough. But I told you, I luckily have
6:04
Speaker 1: people have hit me up. And I like this girl's
6:07
Speaker 1: Facebook picture at three in the morning by accident, and
6:10
Speaker 1: she's still willing to go on a date with me
6:11
Speaker 1: this week. So who knows, Chad, Maybe this is the
6:14
Speaker 1: week it turns around for your boy. But yeah, I've
6:16
Speaker 1: been pretty much dead inside for about three months now,
6:19
Speaker 1: all right. So number one, as we've just as we
6:22
Speaker 1: discussed this morning when you and I, you and I
6:24
Speaker 1: were talking this morning on the phone, very early. You
6:27
Speaker 1: texted me, so can we talk? I called you back
6:29
Speaker 1: that second because that's what I do, because I love you.
6:32
Speaker 1: And Um, whenever you talk, I feel like I'm in
6:37
Speaker 1: an episode of The Mayor of Easttown or I'm in
6:42
Speaker 1: the SNL skit in which they're talking about the murder
6:47
Speaker 1: dirt er my dirner has been murdered. Um. Number one.
6:51
Speaker 1: Number two, I love that you felt like you were
6:55
Speaker 1: ever in control of anything that was happening in your life.
6:59
Speaker 1: Regarding the lady I ghost him at the end of
7:01
Speaker 1: the summer, Oh, I let her stick around. Uh, And
7:05
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden it's turning. It's turning fast.
7:08
Speaker 1: I think, A, that was your first mistake. B. I know, heartbreak.
7:14
Speaker 1: I'm so sad for you. Um. You know I've been
7:19
Speaker 1: married for twenty three years and almost twenty three years
7:23
Speaker 1: and uh, before that, I did get broken up with
7:27
Speaker 1: and it was very painful. So that was like thirty
7:29
Speaker 1: years ago at this point. And then it sucks. It
7:32
Speaker 1: totally sucks. I remember it was high school, really and uh,
7:38
Speaker 1: and this girl broke up with me and I was
7:39
Speaker 1: so upset. I came home. I'm sitting on the top
7:43
Speaker 1: of my bed and I'm watching SNL and I'm eating
7:47
Speaker 1: frozen Saaly mini cheesecakes. They used to come like four
7:51
Speaker 1: in a box. You put them in the freezer. You could,
7:53
Speaker 1: you know, take him out in Newkem or whatever. Came home.
7:56
Speaker 1: I was eating him just out of the box, frozen.
7:58
Speaker 1: My parents, who always went out later than I did,
8:02
Speaker 1: uh and got home later than I did, came home.
8:07
Speaker 1: My dad saw me, My mom saw me. My mom
8:10
Speaker 1: looks at my dad. She goes, you got this. He goes,
8:13
Speaker 1: I got this, and then he says to me, you
8:15
Speaker 1: got dumb Tom. I go yeah, he goes, I'll see
8:18
Speaker 1: you in the morning. That was it. You gotta find
8:23
Speaker 1: those cheesecakes, Simon, you gotta eat those cheesecakes. You gotta
8:28
Speaker 1: you gotta feel the fields. You gotta get back out there.
8:31
Speaker 1: I'm excited to getting back out there, and that you
8:34
Speaker 1: found someone to stock on Facebook who's still willing to
8:36
Speaker 1: go out with you after you kinda, you know, weirdly
8:41
Speaker 1: liked one of her pictures. Got it? Man, If you're
8:44
Speaker 1: if you don't stock someone's social media before you get
8:47
Speaker 1: a going a deal with them, you're a certified serial
8:49
Speaker 1: killer in my book, at least, because you've got to
8:52
Speaker 1: be crazy just to meet up with these people and
8:54
Speaker 1: you can see all of their stuff online. It's it's
8:56
Speaker 1: the That's the only reason I like the Internet. Like
8:59
Speaker 1: I only going for two things. I go on to
9:00
Speaker 1: post pics and talk ship to people on Twitter, and
9:03
Speaker 1: I go on Facebook and Instagram, stock hot xes and
9:05
Speaker 1: just to see how people are doing. That's pretty much
9:07
Speaker 1: my use for the Internet. The falling in love, Uh
9:11
Speaker 1: make you rethink how you will manage your relationship going
9:14
Speaker 1: forward during the next football season, No, dude, um uh no, uh.
9:22
Speaker 1: If this chick, if she's the winner, dude, that I'd
9:24
Speaker 1: be so happy. I hate dating, Like now that I'm
9:27
Speaker 1: single again, I hate it. I she can have a
9:29
Speaker 1: lazy eye and a limp, and if she's cool, I'm
9:32
Speaker 1: gonna marry her. I don't care anymore. Like I think
9:35
Speaker 1: that's what happens. You hit the thirties, you're just like whatever.
9:38
Speaker 1: But we all got issues. I got issues, I got baggage,
9:41
Speaker 1: so like that. That's the hardest part. When I tell
9:44
Speaker 1: people my profession chat, every chick's first thought is like,
9:47
Speaker 1: this guy's gonna lose the house. That that's immediately their
9:50
Speaker 1: first thought. So anytime I go on dates, it's probably
9:53
Speaker 1: like the tenth date, I finally tell him what I do.
9:56
Speaker 1: But now I can tell them I'm a senior analysis
9:58
Speaker 1: that the Action networks. Maybe that will be like less
10:00
Speaker 1: threatening to her, but I don't know. Man, it's I'm
10:03
Speaker 1: obviously have to give updates now on the show because
10:05
Speaker 1: this is my life now. But I'm i'd be line
10:08
Speaker 1: if I wasn't saying I'm terribly nervous. I do want
10:10
Speaker 1: to bring in Matt Moore and Raheem Like, obviously Matt More,
10:13
Speaker 1: you know he lives a boring single uh life of
10:18
Speaker 1: a married father like I do. Raheem lives in Philadelphia.
10:24
Speaker 1: We've never actually talked about if he's dating anybody or not.
10:27
Speaker 1: But more importantly, I continue to love that you frame
10:32
Speaker 1: this as someone's going to win, Like, whoever wins is
10:36
Speaker 1: going to get me. This fantastic guy who you know,
10:42
Speaker 1: who's a gambler, that's the winning ticket. Matt Moore, you
10:47
Speaker 1: have something to say here. What I love here is
10:49
Speaker 1: that he's scouting Facebook. He's trying to find an edge
10:53
Speaker 1: in dating. Like he's literally like he's gonna be running
10:57
Speaker 1: stats and numbers to find out, like what the edge
11:00
Speaker 1: is on dating partners. You have to respect it. Chad
11:03
Speaker 1: also like she can have a lazy eye in a limp. Right,
11:09
Speaker 1: let's talk about, uh, finding someone who could be your
11:14
Speaker 1: soul mate. Let's talk about someone who is beautiful inside
11:17
Speaker 1: and out. Let's talk about someone who shares your values.
11:21
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter. I'm thirty, I gotta get it done.
11:25
Speaker 1: Let me find the person. Thirty isn't even that old.
11:27
Speaker 1: You know many people I'm friends with who had kids
11:29
Speaker 1: into their forties. Raheem, You're you're like barely keeping it
11:34
Speaker 1: together over there. I'm our first things first, I just
11:37
Speaker 1: turned thirty five, and you guys know, I was a DJ,
11:40
Speaker 1: I was in a music industry, but there's a period
11:41
Speaker 1: of my life where I was basically professional gambler. And
11:44
Speaker 1: I think Simon's kind of playing this wrong. See. I
11:46
Speaker 1: used to tell people that I built models to simulate
11:50
Speaker 1: the outcomes of games and find the inefficiencies with embedding markets,
11:54
Speaker 1: and then that actually got people intrigued. So it doesn't
11:57
Speaker 1: sound like you're just some de degenerate who's just done
12:00
Speaker 1: get off, you know, the house or anything like that.
12:02
Speaker 1: So after that we get into this discussion, they'd be like, yo,
12:05
Speaker 1: so where do you find these inefficiencies and stuff like that?
12:08
Speaker 1: And I just think, Um, you're still a baby, Like
12:11
Speaker 1: you're still finding out who you are. Um, women your
12:14
Speaker 1: age and still finding out who who they are, So
12:17
Speaker 1: you can't you can't really rush it. I think you
12:18
Speaker 1: gotta let it happen organically. You got some sad news
12:22
Speaker 1: for you, man. You never people never stopped figuring out
12:25
Speaker 1: who the hell they are. That's the worst part about life.
12:27
Speaker 1: Like everyone keeps saying they're like, oh, you're younger, you're twenties.
12:30
Speaker 1: People are still figuring it out, dude. I know people
12:32
Speaker 1: in their fifties that are like, I don't know what
12:33
Speaker 1: I'm doing, man, I got no clues. So I'm with
12:36
Speaker 1: you on that, but no, for me, my flex is
12:39
Speaker 1: a girl fast me what I do. Like, yeah, I
12:41
Speaker 1: tell him I'm a pro gambler, but it's not like
12:44
Speaker 1: like you tell a guy you're a pro better. Yeah,
12:46
Speaker 1: that guy's into when you tell a chick that, I
12:48
Speaker 1: feel like they used to red flex. So I'm gonna
12:50
Speaker 1: try your thing. But it sounds a little too nerdy
12:52
Speaker 1: if I start breaking un Like, yeah, I got models
12:54
Speaker 1: that I build up, but it does sound nerdy. But
12:57
Speaker 1: they're gonna assume you have money. They are. They know
13:00
Speaker 1: that though, because I bring them to my shorehouse. That's
13:02
Speaker 1: that's the move. I'm like, you want to come to
13:04
Speaker 1: the beach for a day because, like, like Chad just said,
13:06
Speaker 1: I'm a weird dude. I need to find a chick
13:08
Speaker 1: that meets my weird So it's like, that's what I'm saying.
13:10
Speaker 1: This is one of many dates I'm assuming I'm gonna
13:12
Speaker 1: be going on because like for me to meet that
13:14
Speaker 1: chick took like ten years man. But like at the
13:16
Speaker 1: same time, I was living in Vegas, like you ain't
13:19
Speaker 1: gonna find a wife in Vegas. So I basically was like,
13:21
Speaker 1: I want to find me a nice Jersey girl, but
13:23
Speaker 1: I've come to find Jersey girls. They got edges, man like,
13:26
Speaker 1: they've been through their ringer with these Jersey guys. So
13:29
Speaker 1: it's definitely tough these Philly Jersey girls, let me tell
13:32
Speaker 1: you that much. Why don't why don't we start by
13:36
Speaker 1: instead of using the phrase chick, that's let's call them
13:42
Speaker 1: women and respect the process that you are going to
13:49
Speaker 1: be going through. Go into the experience thinking I am
13:53
Speaker 1: not looking to to find someone who is going to
13:57
Speaker 1: win me. I'm looking to find someone who is going
14:00
Speaker 1: to be an excellent partner and be a wonderful guide
14:04
Speaker 1: in this life I'm trying to lead. And if I'm
14:06
Speaker 1: lucky enough to have children with this person, then I
14:09
Speaker 1: hope that we can do it together with joy and
14:13
Speaker 1: harmony and respect. Because if there if you're scouting their Facebook,
14:17
Speaker 1: they're scouting this podcast. So I also would record sent
14:21
Speaker 1: a shift in our approach here. Yes again, fake name boys,
14:25
Speaker 1: I'm ahead of the game. You don't think I'm not
14:27
Speaker 1: ahead of the game. No chicks gonna know I do
14:29
Speaker 1: this show. You think I'm gonna brag about this show
14:31
Speaker 1: I do in the Action Network. But I appreciate that.
14:34
Speaker 1: I appreciate you saying, let's talk some hoops, Chad, all right,
14:38
Speaker 1: let's get some hoops. Let's get into some hoops. We
14:40
Speaker 1: got ra team, We got that more. I think we
14:43
Speaker 1: do have to start with the New York Knickerbockers, because
14:46
Speaker 1: while we can talk about the Sixers, we can you know,
14:49
Speaker 1: running away with the East. We can talk about the
14:51
Speaker 1: Lakers fading in the West, the Knickerbockers at the four
14:55
Speaker 1: seed in the East and maintaining during the first half
14:58
Speaker 1: and then getting stronger into the second half. Raheem, did
15:03
Speaker 1: you make any plays on the Knicks? Are you a
15:06
Speaker 1: buyer on the Knicks? What are your feelings on the
15:10
Speaker 1: next I didn't make any plays on the Knicks, but
15:13
Speaker 1: you know, I actually I made a player on the
15:15
Speaker 1: Knicks the other day against the Clippers. I had a
15:16
Speaker 1: money line plus like two seventy five or something like that.
15:19
Speaker 1: I had a big bet on that. But I mean,
15:21
Speaker 1: like Future Wives, I haven't made any plays for me.
15:24
Speaker 1: I mean, when you look at this next team, there
15:25
Speaker 1: four from defensive rating and they're non garbage time minutes,
15:28
Speaker 1: they're gonna play defense. You know, Matt saysters all the time,
15:31
Speaker 1: but you know Thibbs teams, they can't take it up
15:34
Speaker 1: another level because they play at such a high level
15:36
Speaker 1: in the in the regular season. I think the biggest
15:39
Speaker 1: difference in this next team over the second half of
15:42
Speaker 1: the year is that offensively they're there, They've gotten it going.
15:45
Speaker 1: I mean, this team is like second and three point
15:49
Speaker 1: um shooting percentage, And if you can hit the three
15:51
Speaker 1: and play defense, I think you're a scary team in
15:53
Speaker 1: the in the playoffs. Like I mean, I think, you know,
15:55
Speaker 1: against the Hawks, I think they're really live. So um,
15:59
Speaker 1: I might myself on them in the first round if
16:01
Speaker 1: they played the Hawks. I don't know if I feel
16:05
Speaker 1: that way against another team, but I think it's gonna
16:07
Speaker 1: be a tough out for anybody. Matt Moore, Uh, what's
16:11
Speaker 1: interesting to me about Tom Thibodeau's teams having having you know,
16:16
Speaker 1: got to know him very well as a coach from
16:18
Speaker 1: when he was coaching the Bulls. They are known for
16:22
Speaker 1: being incredibly intense defensively and he really grinds his players
16:27
Speaker 1: almost down to the bone, but they're they're much better
16:32
Speaker 1: offensively then you would expect, and so what you're seeing
16:35
Speaker 1: from this NIXT team to me is really interesting. Yeah.
16:38
Speaker 1: I mean they've just taken a bunch of steps forward.
16:40
Speaker 1: I had the over on their win total in preseason.
16:42
Speaker 1: We had that on Action Network, and I didn't feel
16:44
Speaker 1: great about it because it's the Knicks, and how do
16:46
Speaker 1: you feel good about betting the over on the Knicks?
16:48
Speaker 1: But I think Barrett's may have jump. Randall has been fantastic.
16:52
Speaker 1: I think if I'll say this, I do a lot
16:54
Speaker 1: of work on m VD. If a voter has Randall
16:57
Speaker 1: on the ballot, I don't think that's a mistake. I
16:59
Speaker 1: think can make an argument for a lot of guys
17:01
Speaker 1: on the ballot. I think having Randalls somewhere between third
17:04
Speaker 1: and fifth that's a defensible position given how well he's
17:07
Speaker 1: played for them. A guy has gone into the radiars,
17:09
Speaker 1: Reggie Bullock just giving them a shooter on the perimeter.
17:11
Speaker 1: That's been great. The Rose pickup has been good. Quickly
17:13
Speaker 1: has been good. They lost Mitchell Robinson and they've just
17:16
Speaker 1: kept on Chuck and Newlands. Noel has picked it up.
17:20
Speaker 1: I think it's impressive. Tips has done more adjustment this
17:23
Speaker 1: season to adapting to modern n b A. Then we've
17:27
Speaker 1: seen from him in his previous stops in Chicago at
17:30
Speaker 1: the later end of that and then in Minnesota. So
17:33
Speaker 1: there's a lot of promising signs here. I'm just gonna
17:36
Speaker 1: have to go and take the historical precedent though, when
17:40
Speaker 1: it comes to TIBs and the postseason, because, like right
17:42
Speaker 1: he mentioned outside of two thousand, fourteen, fifteen tips in
17:46
Speaker 1: the playoffs is against the spread. I mean, it's just
17:53
Speaker 1: they play at such a high level and you you
17:55
Speaker 1: watch that, like, here's a good like indicator if you
17:57
Speaker 1: want to get past if you want the metric analysis
17:59
Speaker 1: as A and Knicks have one of the highest close
18:01
Speaker 1: out rates via second spectrum of any team in the league.
18:04
Speaker 1: Like they just close out shooters more. That's a sign
18:06
Speaker 1: of effort. The problem is in the playoffs, everybody tries,
18:10
Speaker 1: and I think they're gonna have a really hard time.
18:11
Speaker 1: The Hawks matchup is one that I'm gonna have to
18:14
Speaker 1: really dig in before I figure out what the angle
18:16
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be going in with is. But before we
18:19
Speaker 1: get there, my starting position as I am looking to
18:22
Speaker 1: fade New York in the playoffs, despite being impressed with
18:25
Speaker 1: the success that they've had in the regular season, Sam,
18:29
Speaker 1: and you have any follow up there? Yeah? Is there?
18:33
Speaker 1: Like I know that they had that crazy run where
18:35
Speaker 1: they were just covering and winning for it felt like
18:37
Speaker 1: two to three weeks straight. Uh. Are these the kind
18:40
Speaker 1: of teams that you have a little bit of pause,
18:42
Speaker 1: like you were just saying heading into the playoffs, because
18:44
Speaker 1: that's that's one of those that was not We're not
18:46
Speaker 1: saying it's flukey like you guys are saying they're playing
18:48
Speaker 1: better defense and offense, but we're already know the value
18:50
Speaker 1: is gonna been up so high. This is the one
18:52
Speaker 1: of the public's favorite team that the Knicks. Everyone loves
18:55
Speaker 1: the Knicks, So like you just said, won't there always
18:57
Speaker 1: be value and just taking another spot, especially in the
18:59
Speaker 1: post season where you said the guys career lifetime in
19:03
Speaker 1: the postseason, that's pretty incredible. Yeah. I think for me,
19:07
Speaker 1: it's it depends on the matchup, right, Like the Hawks
19:09
Speaker 1: are not going to be a public team, and that's
19:10
Speaker 1: gonna be a really underrated team with Nick Millan that's
19:13
Speaker 1: got a very good playoff track record. You got like
19:15
Speaker 1: there's question marks there. It's Trey young and and Collins
19:18
Speaker 1: who haven't had playoff runs. Julius Randall hasn't had a
19:21
Speaker 1: playoff run quickly as it had a playoff run Barrett.
19:23
Speaker 1: It's two inexperienced teams, and I lean a little bit
19:26
Speaker 1: towards Atlanta there. I think the opposite is true. If
19:28
Speaker 1: it winds up being four five and it's the Heat,
19:32
Speaker 1: I think that goes the other way, and I think
19:34
Speaker 1: the public is probably on Miami. But Miami to go three. Oh,
19:38
Speaker 1: I've kind of dominated them. I think that that's another
19:41
Speaker 1: one where I just think the Heat are gonna have
19:42
Speaker 1: the edge, and if the Knicks fall to six like
19:45
Speaker 1: that will be really interesting. If it's Nick's Bucks, with
19:47
Speaker 1: how much everybody kind of goes against Milwaukee, that one's
19:52
Speaker 1: gonna be very interesting to see where the public comes
19:54
Speaker 1: in on them, what the numbers are like for that series,
19:56
Speaker 1: because the books are gonna have to make the Bucks
19:59
Speaker 1: that the favorite. But I feel like the public is
20:02
Speaker 1: going to come back in wanting to fade Milwaukee for
20:04
Speaker 1: a third year in a row. So you mentioned the Hawks,
20:07
Speaker 1: uh raheem. You mentioned the Hawks uh as a potential
20:11
Speaker 1: playoff matchup for the Knicks. I watched the Hawks Wizards
20:14
Speaker 1: last night. It's Tuesday, afternoon when we record this. Last night,
20:19
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook got the triple double record, setting a new
20:22
Speaker 1: career high for triple doubles two, beating Oscar Robertson UH
20:27
Speaker 1: in a one point loss to the Hawks. Classic Russell
20:31
Speaker 1: Westbrook game. In that He's got twenty plus assists, twenty
20:35
Speaker 1: plus points, you know, eleven twelve rebounds. It comes down
20:39
Speaker 1: to the last shot of the game, and Russell Westbrook
20:42
Speaker 1: with four seconds left, he's a triple teamed three pointer
20:46
Speaker 1: that clanks off the bottom of the rim right after
20:49
Speaker 1: having an incredible game. My question is this, and I've
20:52
Speaker 1: said this on our show heat Check that we do
20:55
Speaker 1: on Wednesdays and Thursday nights on Action Network HQ six
20:58
Speaker 1: pm Eastern. UH. Matt and Raheem do it together with
21:01
Speaker 1: Chris Raybond on Thursdays. I did with Justin Fan Preston
21:03
Speaker 1: Johnson on Wednesday. UM. Has Russell Westbrook cheapened the triple double?
21:11
Speaker 1: Has he? Is it become so commonplace as to make
21:15
Speaker 1: it seem as if it's not as big an accomplishment
21:18
Speaker 1: as it should be. I feel like maybe he has
21:21
Speaker 1: cheapened it a little bit. But am I being a
21:23
Speaker 1: hater Raheem, you are not being a hater. You know,
21:27
Speaker 1: when he first averaged a triple double door his MVP season,
21:30
Speaker 1: I was the biggest hater of all. Obviously, I had
21:32
Speaker 1: Hardened twenty to one to win m VP that year,
21:35
Speaker 1: and I felt like Hearten was robbed. Thankfully, we have
21:38
Speaker 1: met on Hair who actually voted for hard But I mean,
21:40
Speaker 1: for me, when I look at his MV, when I
21:42
Speaker 1: look at his triple doubles, I mean it started out
21:45
Speaker 1: that year in Oklahoma City. Basically, his teammates were letting
21:48
Speaker 1: him get rebound in order to push it up the break.
21:51
Speaker 1: And then when you have a usage rate, you're pushing
21:55
Speaker 1: the pace so much and you have the ball in
21:58
Speaker 1: your hands so much, you're gonna get the decision, You're
22:00
Speaker 1: gonna get these points. So I think it's more of
22:02
Speaker 1: a thing with volume more than it is, you know,
22:05
Speaker 1: an accomplishment. To me. Now, I'm not gonna diminish his accomplishment,
22:08
Speaker 1: but I'm just I don't value it as much as
22:11
Speaker 1: we did in the past, because we know, we understand
22:13
Speaker 1: usage and he's always had one of the highest in
22:16
Speaker 1: the in the league since he left the Rant. Right
22:19
Speaker 1: But and Matt Moore I think you take issue with this. Look,
22:22
Speaker 1: a lot of guys have high usage rates, and we
22:25
Speaker 1: understand what high usage rates are. A lot of guys
22:28
Speaker 1: get a lot of volume play. Nobody else's average the
22:32
Speaker 1: triple double the way he has, and it came within
22:35
Speaker 1: the style of play. I think you could argue that
22:38
Speaker 1: as it became something that was more and more part
22:40
Speaker 1: of his trademark, there were probably opportunities where he did
22:43
Speaker 1: pat his stats a little bit, especially on the rebounds.
22:46
Speaker 1: But Matt Moore, you completely disagree with Hume. Look, this
22:50
Speaker 1: stuff has to be put in context, which is difficult. Right.
22:52
Speaker 1: If you want to have like the right conversation about this,
22:54
Speaker 1: I think you have to look at statistical production. The
22:56
Speaker 1: NBA is up like we have. It's playing little bit
22:59
Speaker 1: faster than has over the last twenty years. Not as
23:01
Speaker 1: fast as the seventies, but pretty fast. Statistical accomplishment is
23:04
Speaker 1: up there, Like, there's a reason why we're seeing four
23:06
Speaker 1: of the top like all four of the top offensive
23:10
Speaker 1: teams this year have the best offensive ratings in history. Um,
23:13
Speaker 1: but here's the big key is that when you talk
23:15
Speaker 1: to players like this is a differential that I think
23:16
Speaker 1: separates the analysts from the players. I think you have
23:20
Speaker 1: to consider both sides of that argument. The players will
23:23
Speaker 1: talk a lot about how it's not easy to have
23:26
Speaker 1: high usage rates. It's difficult to create that many shots.
23:31
Speaker 1: It takes a lot of effort to grab that many boards,
23:34
Speaker 1: even if you have Steven Adams clearing it. And I
23:35
Speaker 1: gotta be real clear on this, like the stuff with
23:38
Speaker 1: the rebounds gets it's yes, his teammates would allow him
23:44
Speaker 1: to get the board, like Steven Adams with box out guys,
23:47
Speaker 1: so he could get the board. The reason is when
23:50
Speaker 1: Russ started a break, their offensive efficiency went out by
23:53
Speaker 1: about two points per hundred possessions, which is massive. Like
23:57
Speaker 1: they are more effective when Russ had the ball and
23:59
Speaker 1: with dreaming up court. Coaches talk about this all the
24:02
Speaker 1: time with him, just the fact that he plays so
24:04
Speaker 1: hard end to end every night, which is funny because
24:07
Speaker 1: he doesn't play the herd on defense, but the coaches
24:09
Speaker 1: still love him for it. Um The assists, yes, are
24:13
Speaker 1: kind of a rope function of how much he has
24:15
Speaker 1: the ball. Like, Russ isn't a phenomenal passer, he's not Yoki,
24:18
Speaker 1: he's not hardened, he's not Lebron, but he is very
24:21
Speaker 1: good at understanding how to manipulate a defense and find
24:24
Speaker 1: the guy and get guys and positions to make the
24:27
Speaker 1: shots that they need, and being that kind of heliocentric
24:29
Speaker 1: center of an offense is not easy, and I think
24:31
Speaker 1: the accomplishment is impressive. I think that it is. I mean,
24:35
Speaker 1: it's obviously historic and he's going to be remembered for it.
24:38
Speaker 1: You have to consider all these things in context, and
24:41
Speaker 1: there are reasons to kind of take those kind of
24:42
Speaker 1: a positions, But I do think at this point Russ
24:45
Speaker 1: is a The other big thing the win rate. When
24:48
Speaker 1: he has a triple double, his teams win at better
24:51
Speaker 1: than the six clip. He helps him win games. That
24:55
Speaker 1: to me is like the point of everything. If you're
24:57
Speaker 1: doing something statistical and it doesn't help you win, like
25:00
Speaker 1: Jordan Clarkson shooting three thirty three times last night, that's
25:03
Speaker 1: one thing. Bo When Russ pulls his triple double action,
25:07
Speaker 1: it helps his team win, and that I think is
25:08
Speaker 1: what matters most. I will say that last night I
25:12
Speaker 1: watched that whole game with my younger son, who I'm
25:15
Speaker 1: raising with my beautiful wife, who I love and respect,
25:18
Speaker 1: and I hope Simon finds that same kind of happiness
25:22
Speaker 1: and partnership with whoever wins the race to be Simon
25:27
Speaker 1: hunters uh wife and person that carries his child. Um uh.
25:35
Speaker 1: I was watching the game, watched the whole game, and
25:37
Speaker 1: of course I get a text late in the fourth quarter,
25:40
Speaker 1: and I looked down and start responding. And that's when
25:43
Speaker 1: Russ gets his final rebound needed for the triple double.
25:49
Speaker 1: And you've never seen a child go after a parent
25:52
Speaker 1: for being on their phone more than this one went
25:56
Speaker 1: after me because I am always on him for being
25:58
Speaker 1: on his phone. Up might come up, and and that's
26:01
Speaker 1: what you're gonna get, Simon. When you finally do find
26:03
Speaker 1: a wife and raise children, they will come after you.
26:06
Speaker 1: Do we need to worry? Does the NBA need to
26:09
Speaker 1: worry that it's very possible the Lakers and Warriors meet
26:13
Speaker 1: in a play in matchup and that ends up being
26:16
Speaker 1: the highest rated, most intense playoff moment of the entire
26:23
Speaker 1: NBA playoffs. Matt More, I'll start with you. I think
26:27
Speaker 1: it's gonna be the highest rated because you've got Steph
26:30
Speaker 1: and Lebron in a one game playoff Like that's just
26:33
Speaker 1: absurd in terms of what it brings. I don't know
26:37
Speaker 1: it was gonna be the most intense, because I think
26:38
Speaker 1: a game seven if you sometimes the series surprise us,
26:41
Speaker 1: and especially like I look, I'll tell you this, there's
26:44
Speaker 1: a very good possibility that it does. It winds up
26:46
Speaker 1: being like what if the Warriors beat Lebron, he falls
26:49
Speaker 1: into the one eight versus the Jazz, a very good
26:51
Speaker 1: team that I would expect him to beat by that
26:53
Speaker 1: series goes seven, the number one team versus Lebron trying
26:56
Speaker 1: to go back to back. Or let's say that there's
26:59
Speaker 1: a very good ability that the Lakers move up to
27:01
Speaker 1: six this week depending on what happens, that would be
27:04
Speaker 1: a Lakers Flippers first round. That would be an absolute monster.
27:08
Speaker 1: I will say this though, whatever it is, it's gonna
27:10
Speaker 1: have to be Lebron. If Lebron falls out of the
27:12
Speaker 1: playoff play in, if he loses twice in the playing tournament,
27:15
Speaker 1: then the ratings are gonna be a pretty big disaster.
27:18
Speaker 1: I don't think that's bad for the league. I think
27:20
Speaker 1: they need to rebuild an audience belt around the other
27:22
Speaker 1: stars that they have, because eventually Lebron is not gonna
27:23
Speaker 1: be around, and you need to build teams up, franchises up.
27:28
Speaker 1: But if they want the big hit, the big serotonin
27:31
Speaker 1: hit of the ratings. It's gonna have to be around
27:33
Speaker 1: Lebron the Lakers. Steph Curry is, you know, one of
27:38
Speaker 1: the biggest stars on Earth and you have Lebroad who
27:41
Speaker 1: is arguably to go. That would be That's the matchup
27:44
Speaker 1: everybody wants to see. But I think it's not guaranteed
27:47
Speaker 1: that's gonna happen. I mean, the Blazers have the Jazz, Suns,
27:49
Speaker 1: and Nuggets and they could realistically lose all three of
27:52
Speaker 1: those games and they just have a one and a
27:54
Speaker 1: half game lead over the Lakers. I think that will
27:56
Speaker 1: be the highest you know, ratis series, but I think
27:59
Speaker 1: I mean game. But I think the series everybody wants
28:02
Speaker 1: to see his Lakers versus Nets, and I think that
28:05
Speaker 1: will be the most intense series and you know that
28:08
Speaker 1: will have high ratings. And if that doesn't happen, I
28:12
Speaker 1: think that's going to be the letdown because everybody, you know,
28:15
Speaker 1: with the NBA um Man always talks about it all
28:17
Speaker 1: the time. You bet, the narrative and a lot of
28:21
Speaker 1: by coming into this year, we assume that it was
28:22
Speaker 1: gonna be Lakers Nets. So if that happens, everybody's tuning
28:26
Speaker 1: in so I don't even know if Steph Curry and
28:29
Speaker 1: Lebron can match that. Dad, I cannot take this West
28:33
Speaker 1: Coast talk anymore. Can we please talk about some musicast teams?
28:37
Speaker 1: How how do the Sixers and Knicks if that doesn't happen,
28:40
Speaker 1: wouldn't that be a huge ratings? I mean to one
28:43
Speaker 1: of the top five, top four markets. I know Lebron
28:46
Speaker 1: obviously he's the king, but I feel like that would
28:48
Speaker 1: that would pull some eyeballs and I feel like you'd
28:50
Speaker 1: be really competitive. Like they're both two teams where you
28:53
Speaker 1: have a lot of star power. Obviously with the Sixers
28:55
Speaker 1: and the Knicks, they just always draw people. That's just
28:58
Speaker 1: how the Knicks are. So I feel like that's a
29:00
Speaker 1: sneaky one that could get really big rades because, like
29:02
Speaker 1: we always talked about, it's not a ten pm start,
29:04
Speaker 1: this will started like seven thirties, seven o'clock. I always
29:06
Speaker 1: feel like that helps. That is a really good that Simon,
29:10
Speaker 1: you just made an excellent point and not at all
29:12
Speaker 1: the Homer point because you love the Sixers. Here's my
29:15
Speaker 1: last question, because I do want to get to leave
29:17
Speaker 1: off and talk about the NHL. If right now, Raheem,
29:21
Speaker 1: you go first, if you're making one value bet on
29:26
Speaker 1: uh NBA futures, who is your value bet right now?
29:32
Speaker 1: I've been saying it all year. I like the lost
29:34
Speaker 1: Leston Los Angeles Clippers to win the NB Game title.
29:37
Speaker 1: I think they have two wings and Kawhi Leonard and
29:40
Speaker 1: Paul George, who can't you know, defend. They could score.
29:44
Speaker 1: They have they have, They have the best office in
29:48
Speaker 1: the league, the number one three point shooting team in
29:50
Speaker 1: the league. I think Ty Roundel was just a huge
29:53
Speaker 1: upgrade over Doc Rivers. I've never really been a huge
29:56
Speaker 1: fan over of Doc Rivers, even though he's improved this
29:59
Speaker 1: Sixers roster. But I think they got rid of their
30:01
Speaker 1: biggest liabilities and Lou Williams and Montrez Harrold, who couldn't defend,
30:06
Speaker 1: and we knew they couldn't defend, and we knew that
30:08
Speaker 1: they would get picked on in the playoffs. I wasn't
30:10
Speaker 1: as high on the Clippers last year because of those
30:12
Speaker 1: two guys, and it got rid of them. They got
30:15
Speaker 1: rid of Doc. I love this Clippers team. I think
30:18
Speaker 1: if they're healthy, they're gonna win the championship. Clippers currently
30:22
Speaker 1: plus five fifty to win it all. I did bet
30:26
Speaker 1: on the Lakers last week when they dipped to four fifty. Uh, Matt,
30:30
Speaker 1: Matt Moore, what do you have to say for yourself
30:32
Speaker 1: on this? So I've got a bunch of final matchups
30:37
Speaker 1: positions on Nets, Clippers and Nets Lakers. Um I did
30:40
Speaker 1: put in a small position on Bucks to win the
30:42
Speaker 1: East last week. Uh, my biggest one right now, right now,
30:47
Speaker 1: you can get Pacific to beat the Atlantic Division versus
30:51
Speaker 1: Division in the finals. So that's Lakers or Clippers or
30:54
Speaker 1: Sons to beat either Sixers or Nets in the finals
31:00
Speaker 1: plus two forty. That to me is great value. The
31:02
Speaker 1: Nets are a great team, they're they're title favorites. I
31:06
Speaker 1: think that there's a number of ways that they can
31:08
Speaker 1: get toppled. I can see the Bucks getting beating the Nets,
31:11
Speaker 1: and then the Sixers beating the Bucks. There's a bunch
31:13
Speaker 1: of outs to that. Meanwhile, if you just don't believe
31:17
Speaker 1: in the Jazz, if you're just like I do not
31:19
Speaker 1: believe in Utah, which is a pretty defensible position. If
31:22
Speaker 1: you're at our playoff primer on Action Network, then you're
31:26
Speaker 1: in good spot there with Pacific to beat the Atlantic
31:28
Speaker 1: at plus two forty. So that to me is the
31:30
Speaker 1: best value on the That is really interesting. M I
31:34
Speaker 1: like that. I like both those bets. I like Raheem
31:36
Speaker 1: Clippers plus five fifty, I like Pacific. Uh winning the
31:41
Speaker 1: NBA title of plus two forty um really really interesting.
31:48
Speaker 1: Can I just ask real quick, why why are people
31:51
Speaker 1: sleeping on the number one seed in the East. I
31:54
Speaker 1: don't get the Sixers lost to Kauai Kai had a
31:58
Speaker 1: magical run and then last year was with the bubble,
32:00
Speaker 1: like like no one's talking about that. He is if
32:02
Speaker 1: they're really a truly contender. So I'm looking at a
32:05
Speaker 1: Sixers team that has a bunch of superstars and they're
32:09
Speaker 1: going against the next team that they seem like all
32:11
Speaker 1: three guys can't stand this court at the same time,
32:13
Speaker 1: and a Bucks team that they choked every year? Is
32:16
Speaker 1: am I crazy? Thinking? There's just so much value on
32:18
Speaker 1: the Sixers, who again they're the one seed right now
32:21
Speaker 1: and people are not talking about them. Is if they
32:23
Speaker 1: can win it all this year? So Sixers, I think
32:26
Speaker 1: the big thing with them, I think plus three to
32:28
Speaker 1: win the East, there's probably value one. There's a couple
32:31
Speaker 1: of things you gotta keep in mind. Uh. I did
32:33
Speaker 1: this whole thing on what to look for in playoff
32:35
Speaker 1: teams are gonna succeed in the playoffs versus the regular season.
32:37
Speaker 1: Two things. If we're gonna simple it down, it's this,
32:39
Speaker 1: you want to have to be able to play defense
32:41
Speaker 1: a lot of different ways, and you want to have
32:44
Speaker 1: guys that can hit jump shots off the dribble because
32:46
Speaker 1: of the way the teams will scheme you. The Sixers
32:49
Speaker 1: are light on guys that can hit jump shots off
32:51
Speaker 1: the dribble, like and Be the is a he's a
32:54
Speaker 1: Comba breaker like he will bend those matchups. But there
32:58
Speaker 1: are solves for and Be the involved doubling. And then
33:01
Speaker 1: you're relying on like Zacoby Simmons. So you're talking about
33:04
Speaker 1: Seth Curry, no Kenny Green, no Shake Milton a little bit,
33:08
Speaker 1: but that's a lot to ask for. And defensively, and
33:11
Speaker 1: beat is one of the most impactful defensive players in
33:13
Speaker 1: the league, but he has to drop and pick and
33:16
Speaker 1: roll coverage. You can't play him at the level he's
33:18
Speaker 1: just too big. And so that if you can't change
33:21
Speaker 1: those those schemes, that gets you in real trouble versus
33:24
Speaker 1: different teams, especially a team like Brooklyn. That's why I
33:27
Speaker 1: think that there's reason to doubt them, and then you
33:29
Speaker 1: get into like a potential matchup versus any of the
33:31
Speaker 1: West teams, and that becomes even even trickier. But I
33:34
Speaker 1: do think here's the big thing. You're still gonna be
33:36
Speaker 1: able to get a good value on them at different stages,
33:39
Speaker 1: Like you will still get them as a dog in
33:41
Speaker 1: an Eastern Conference finals matchup, you will still get them
33:43
Speaker 1: as a dog in a finals matchup, Like you'll be
33:45
Speaker 1: able to get good prices on them the whole way.
33:49
Speaker 1: Right now, I don't think it is where the best
33:50
Speaker 1: value is actually gonna be found on them, you know,
33:54
Speaker 1: I think, Um, the problem. I'm a Sixers fan, so
33:57
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously I would love them to, you know,
33:59
Speaker 1: go to the NBA Its and win. But the biggest
34:01
Speaker 1: issue with the Sixers is they don't have a guy
34:03
Speaker 1: who can break down the defense and get his own
34:05
Speaker 1: shot at a star level like Tobias is pretty inconsistent.
34:10
Speaker 1: You need, uh, you know, Kyrie, Irvin, Kevin Durant, James
34:14
Speaker 1: Harden Brooklyn happens to have three of those guys, Like
34:17
Speaker 1: we don't have anybody. Um, Also, we're just third teeth
34:20
Speaker 1: and three point shooting. So I think you know, some
34:22
Speaker 1: of the other teams like the the Nets, in the
34:24
Speaker 1: in the Bucks, they're gonna outscore us from three. And
34:27
Speaker 1: then also I just I think it's one of the things.
34:33
Speaker 1: One of the issues with MB is that he can't
34:35
Speaker 1: stop a double team. So we we did the bed
34:38
Speaker 1: cast the other day where you know, they're playing a
34:41
Speaker 1: New New Orleans Pelicans team, and they zoned up and
34:45
Speaker 1: they couldn't get the ball to n B. And when
34:46
Speaker 1: they got the ball to n B, he can't pass
34:49
Speaker 1: it around. They had all these turnovers and there's no Zion,
34:52
Speaker 1: there's no Ingram. But that was a game. So I
34:55
Speaker 1: think teams are gonna be watching that tape and they're
34:58
Speaker 1: gonna see that if you double NB, he's not gonna
35:01
Speaker 1: be able to get the ball out and no one
35:03
Speaker 1: else is gonna be able to create their own shot.
35:05
Speaker 1: So that's the issue with the Sixers. But the one
35:07
Speaker 1: thing I will say is that with the Sixers having
35:09
Speaker 1: the number one seed, I like to bet on the
35:12
Speaker 1: cumulative effect of series. So I give an example the
35:16
Speaker 1: two thousand and sixteen Warriors. They had to play the
35:18
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City Thunder and they went to seven games before
35:21
Speaker 1: playing the cast, while the Calves beat up on a
35:24
Speaker 1: Raptors team. So with the Bucks in the in the
35:29
Speaker 1: in the Nets, they're playing in the second round of
35:31
Speaker 1: the playoffs. They have to play the Sixers after that,
35:34
Speaker 1: while the Sixers are gonna have a weaker opponent. Now
35:37
Speaker 1: I'm gonna read you some stats. I wrote this article
35:39
Speaker 1: last year on how team perform after seven games series.
35:43
Speaker 1: Teams that win games seven of a series in the
35:46
Speaker 1: following series there thirty two and forty seven straight up
35:50
Speaker 1: in game one of the following series that Teams that
35:53
Speaker 1: win games seven are thirty three and forty six straight
35:57
Speaker 1: up in the following series altogether. So if Nets play
36:00
Speaker 1: to play the Books and that's the seven game series
36:03
Speaker 1: and they have to go through the Sixers next, So
36:06
Speaker 1: I think that's where to value in the Sixers last.
36:09
Speaker 1: Is that that cumulation effect that those are both incredible answers.
36:14
Speaker 1: And what I love is that in the middle of it, Raheem,
36:16
Speaker 1: talking about his favorite team, the Sixers, just took a
36:20
Speaker 1: deep sigh when he talked about what their fatal flaw
36:23
Speaker 1: could be. It sounded like Simon does when he's talking
36:26
Speaker 1: about heartbreak. Matt Moore, Raheem Palmer, NBA experts extraordinariy for
36:37
Speaker 1: Action Network, host of the Action Network NBA podcast, which
36:40
Speaker 1: is truly outstanding, and it's I gotta say. I've said
36:43
Speaker 1: this to you guys before. It is not easy to
36:45
Speaker 1: do a weekly podcast betting about the NBA, but you
36:48
Speaker 1: guys take such a wide lens approach to the narrative
36:51
Speaker 1: of the NBA, especially with the m v P voting,
36:54
Speaker 1: and you guys are so smart about it. So well
36:56
Speaker 1: done on that. Well done on the coverage, well done
36:58
Speaker 1: on the bed cast, well done, and everything well done
37:01
Speaker 1: on this podcast. Thank you for joining, Thank you for
37:04
Speaker 1: getting Simon through the initial stages of his heartache. Thanks guys,
37:07
Speaker 1: hanging there, hanging there all right. Next up on the podcast,
37:11
Speaker 1: we are talking NHL because guess what, it's not just
37:14
Speaker 1: NBA playoffs, it's NHL playoffs. No one loves the NHL more.
37:19
Speaker 1: No one is more connected to the NHL. No one
37:22
Speaker 1: loves the Islanders more. I would promote his own Islanders podcast,
37:27
Speaker 1: even though it's not part of the Action Network family,
37:29
Speaker 1: because he's currently dressed in his Islanders hat and his
37:32
Speaker 1: Islanders jersey. Shamanad High School's very own the Pride of
37:37
Speaker 1: Long Island. Michael Libaff. I just don't know how you
37:44
Speaker 1: guys do it with the NBA talk. I was just
37:46
Speaker 1: in like the green room listening to that, and it's
37:48
Speaker 1: just this this NBA culture of just like talking about
37:51
Speaker 1: the same thing over and over again instead of like
37:53
Speaker 1: the real drama. It's like we have in the NHL
37:55
Speaker 1: where we didn't even decide when the playoffs are going
37:57
Speaker 1: to start until late last night. So I mean we
38:01
Speaker 1: got to follow, get them to follow a real league,
38:03
Speaker 1: one that has all their ducks in a row, like
38:04
Speaker 1: like the NHL. This is drama. It's like the the
38:07
Speaker 1: NBA slogan was like, we know drama. They don't know.
38:10
Speaker 1: I don't think you know the first thing about drama,
38:12
Speaker 1: I really don't. I did not even know they had
38:14
Speaker 1: settled on the date for the NHL playoffs, which is
38:17
Speaker 1: why I have been vague about when the NFL playoffs
38:19
Speaker 1: are starting. Yeah. Yeah, last night they made the big announcement.
38:22
Speaker 1: They should have. They should have made like a TV special.
38:24
Speaker 1: That's what the NBA would have done, right, Like, they
38:26
Speaker 1: would have got an hour long special announced when the
38:29
Speaker 1: playoffs start. And but yeah, they snuck it in there
38:31
Speaker 1: after uh, actually right after the Islanders and Bruins played.
38:35
Speaker 1: I'm actually very relieved because my my adoring wife is
38:39
Speaker 1: a Bruins fan, and U like, we're in a we're
38:41
Speaker 1: in a really great stage of our relationship right now, um,
38:44
Speaker 1: And so she, her and I don't have to battle
38:47
Speaker 1: in the first round of the playoffs, which is a
38:49
Speaker 1: huge relief for me, Um, especially like I said, like,
38:52
Speaker 1: it's just the relationship couldn't be going better at the moment.
38:55
Speaker 1: So I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled about all this. Why do
38:58
Speaker 1: you think it's going so well? We were in a
39:00
Speaker 1: good like synergy right now. We were just at a wedding,
39:03
Speaker 1: like celebrating more people in love, a couple of old friends.
39:06
Speaker 1: And now we're just you know, we're just riding that
39:08
Speaker 1: wave and it won't get halted by a brutal first
39:11
Speaker 1: round playoff series between the Islanders and Bruins. For the record,
39:16
Speaker 1: a nobody loves love more than me. I've said it before,
39:20
Speaker 1: I'll say it again. Huge fan of love. Number two.
39:24
Speaker 1: Leeboff did not know that we spent the first twenty
39:26
Speaker 1: minutes of this podcast talking about Simon wallowing in his
39:29
Speaker 1: heartache and being on the lookout for love. So the
39:32
Speaker 1: fact that you're bringing up the fact that you and
39:34
Speaker 1: your wife, your beautiful wife who is a nurse and
39:37
Speaker 1: gives of herself, especially during the time of COVID, are
39:42
Speaker 1: in such a good place. It is the measure of
39:44
Speaker 1: a man if he can find true love. Simon, I'm
39:48
Speaker 1: learning a lot from there. This is the first time
39:50
Speaker 1: I bet you, dude, you are the strangest person. I
39:53
Speaker 1: love it. You are like cracking me up. Man. I
39:55
Speaker 1: could watch you just do stand up and just rank.
39:58
Speaker 1: You should just go up there and just talk about
40:00
Speaker 1: whatever is going on and the Islanders or whatever. Man,
40:03
Speaker 1: you should just start putting YouTube bigs up because I
40:04
Speaker 1: watch it. I just love your vibe, your energy, everything
40:08
Speaker 1: about it. Man. I mean the fact that we're just
40:10
Speaker 1: sitting here talking hockey. I don't even care. I'll talk
40:13
Speaker 1: whatever Leaveoff wants to talk. You want to talk for
40:15
Speaker 1: Mere League, bro, I love hockey. Look from Mere League.
40:18
Speaker 1: I am here to talk to this guy because your
40:20
Speaker 1: personality is truly amazing and it's a gift to this
40:23
Speaker 1: Action Network. Thank you, Simon. That that is something that
40:26
Speaker 1: I wish you had told Chad and my other bosses
40:29
Speaker 1: before the review cycler and whatnot. I would have would
40:32
Speaker 1: have got a nice bump or something. You got promoted
40:35
Speaker 1: and you got a bump. What are you fucking talking about?
40:37
Speaker 1: Bigger one? Bigger one like it would have been on
40:39
Speaker 1: the board or something swimming in cash right now Danish croner.
40:43
Speaker 1: But I don't know what else to say. So, I mean,
40:45
Speaker 1: I'm very excited to explore your personality and maybe we
40:48
Speaker 1: can find you a person like like my beautiful Emily.
40:51
Speaker 1: Oh my god. The more you talk, the more I
40:53
Speaker 1: fall in love. Man, you are your truly poetry emotion.
40:56
Speaker 1: Let's talk hockey a right, Chad. We want to get
40:57
Speaker 1: to know or should we be taking these big dogs?
41:00
Speaker 1: Is this a crazy year for hockey with all this
41:02
Speaker 1: interdivisional playing the playoffs? Like, are you thinking big dogs
41:05
Speaker 1: this year? Like it's going to take the cup this season? Well,
41:08
Speaker 1: it's funny you say that, actually, so usually, yeah, the
41:10
Speaker 1: NHL is much more kind to underdogs than um other sports.
41:14
Speaker 1: But this year I think it was like sixty two
41:16
Speaker 1: point seven percent of favorites of one and that's the
41:19
Speaker 1: first time it's been over sixty since two thousand thirteen
41:23
Speaker 1: or so, which was another lockout, short and year with
41:26
Speaker 1: a very uh divisionally focused schedule, so there might be
41:29
Speaker 1: something there. But yeah, so it's been a true horror
41:32
Speaker 1: for me betting the NHL this season. But I mean
41:35
Speaker 1: it's even when even when I do well, it's still
41:37
Speaker 1: a true horror because like there's just nothing. The worst
41:40
Speaker 1: part of your day is definitely watching the game you
41:43
Speaker 1: bet on in the NHL. I don't know if other
41:45
Speaker 1: sports are like that. I mean, I guess the NFL,
41:47
Speaker 1: because like that, that is just a terrible sport to watch.
41:50
Speaker 1: You know, you're just sitting there and watching this two
41:53
Speaker 1: minutes of action in a four hour window, um, while
41:56
Speaker 1: you're hungover. I just I don't understand it at all.
41:58
Speaker 1: But it's different kind of horror, right, Like this is
42:02
Speaker 1: much more like deep existential horror, whereas the NFL is
42:06
Speaker 1: much more just like just boring, boring horror. I guess. Um. So, yeah,
42:10
Speaker 1: it's been it's been tough, But I mean the thing
42:13
Speaker 1: is now these teams, the way the brackets are set
42:15
Speaker 1: up by each team is gonna be playing their own
42:17
Speaker 1: little mini tournament within their division. Uh, And there's very
42:20
Speaker 1: few mismatches in the first round, and in a sport
42:24
Speaker 1: like the NHL where upsets do happen with with quite regularity,
42:28
Speaker 1: like in UH in the playoffs, like we saw the
42:30
Speaker 1: Blue Jackets beat the Lightning and they swept the Lightning
42:33
Speaker 1: two years ago. UH as a one as an eight
42:35
Speaker 1: over the one and the Lightning were the best regular
42:37
Speaker 1: season team since um the like UH nine, the basically
42:42
Speaker 1: like original six expanded, I believe or something like that,
42:45
Speaker 1: in like some something like thirty years, they were the
42:47
Speaker 1: best the best regular season team. UM, I just don't
42:51
Speaker 1: really see many. I don't think they're gonna be huge underdogs.
42:54
Speaker 1: I think like the Predators will be UH and the
42:57
Speaker 1: Blues will probably the two biggest underdogs on the on
43:00
Speaker 1: the slate, I guess in the first round, I think
43:03
Speaker 1: the Predators. That the series line is out for the
43:05
Speaker 1: Predators and Hurricane series and Nashville's plus one ninety to
43:08
Speaker 1: win the series. Well, I would assume St. Louis, whether
43:12
Speaker 1: they play Vegas or Colorado, will be in kind of
43:15
Speaker 1: a little a little shorter than that, but like in
43:16
Speaker 1: that kind of range. So like you shouldn't expect any
43:20
Speaker 1: huge numbers out there. UM. That being said, I do
43:22
Speaker 1: think like if you if you look towards if you're
43:25
Speaker 1: if you're just looking for an NHL team to root for,
43:27
Speaker 1: um and you want to get like emotionally invested with
43:30
Speaker 1: a future bet before the playoffs. There are some decent
43:33
Speaker 1: prices out there. Uh And I'll start with like the
43:36
Speaker 1: Winnipeg Jets, because I actually think the Islanders are a
43:38
Speaker 1: decent price and I don't want to start off both
43:40
Speaker 1: like my Homer bias. But the Jets are have been terrible,
43:43
Speaker 1: which is this is this is how I want to
43:45
Speaker 1: sell the Jets. They've been really really bad for the
43:47
Speaker 1: last month. But they've been going through a lot of
43:49
Speaker 1: injury issues and uh, they were they've been in the
43:52
Speaker 1: playoffs basically like they haven't had much to play for
43:54
Speaker 1: for the last month. Uh So a lot of I
43:56
Speaker 1: think a lot of people are gonna be backing off them,
43:58
Speaker 1: and they'll be playing the Edmonton Hiler is most likely
44:00
Speaker 1: in the first round, and Connor McDavid obviously is and
44:04
Speaker 1: maybe the best NHL player we've ever seen, but he
44:07
Speaker 1: the outside of him and Leon Drivet Sidle like that
44:09
Speaker 1: team is is pretty much mediocre. So if Winnipeg does
44:13
Speaker 1: catch Edmonton in that first round, they can upset them,
44:15
Speaker 1: and they have the best goalie arguably the best goalie
44:18
Speaker 1: in the league, maybe outside of Vasilevsky on on the Lightning.
44:22
Speaker 1: So in the NHL, it's like all about getting a
44:24
Speaker 1: hot goalie in the playoffs. And Connor Hella Buck who's
44:26
Speaker 1: a goalie for the Jets, probably has the best chance
44:28
Speaker 1: of of carrying a team, willing a team through a
44:31
Speaker 1: series upset like that. I love that. This, this is
44:34
Speaker 1: what's said about um, what's been going on in the
44:38
Speaker 1: past fourteen months. I talked to Leeboff several times a week.
44:43
Speaker 1: I talked to Simon several times a week. And I
44:45
Speaker 1: can't believe Simon has never met Leeboff and gotten to
44:48
Speaker 1: experience what you gathered from the first three minutes of Leeboff.
44:53
Speaker 1: Of Leeboff talking is what we have all known on
44:56
Speaker 1: Action Network for years. Uh. And so I'm glad you
44:59
Speaker 1: wreck and as that it speaks your ability to uh
45:02
Speaker 1: understand human nature. Simon, Um, we should talk a little
45:06
Speaker 1: bit about leadoff your sort of best value bet for
45:13
Speaker 1: the Stanley Cup. If it's all about goaltending, if it's
45:16
Speaker 1: going to be about value, if hockey is about misery
45:19
Speaker 1: and betting underdogs, is there a lengthier value play right now? Yeah? So,
45:27
Speaker 1: like I said, like, it's either the Jets, but I
45:29
Speaker 1: do I do think that the Islanders there twenty to
45:32
Speaker 1: one right now. For most of the less like three months,
45:35
Speaker 1: they've been in between like twelve to sixteen to one.
45:39
Speaker 1: But like the Jets, they've they've had a little bit
45:41
Speaker 1: of a dip right before the playoffs, and a lot
45:43
Speaker 1: of that has to do with an injury to to
45:46
Speaker 1: one of their best players and also the fact that
45:48
Speaker 1: they've been been in the playoff picture pretty much like
45:53
Speaker 1: cemented in a playoff spot for a long time now.
45:55
Speaker 1: Because they were for the first like thirty eight games
45:58
Speaker 1: of the season, they were one of the best five
46:00
Speaker 1: on five teams in the league. Uh. I think they
46:02
Speaker 1: were fourth in expected goals at five on five. They
46:06
Speaker 1: were second in high danger chance share. So that just
46:08
Speaker 1: shows you that, like they're the team that's dictating tempo
46:11
Speaker 1: on the ice at five and five and they were
46:13
Speaker 1: third in in five and five gold differential. Uh. And
46:16
Speaker 1: then andrews Lee, their captain, got hurt and they had
46:18
Speaker 1: to kind of patch things together. They made a couple
46:21
Speaker 1: moves at the trade deadline, and their form just dipped
46:24
Speaker 1: a little bit. As a team, like they're very uh,
46:27
Speaker 1: detail oriented team under Barry Trots, who's an incredible coach,
46:31
Speaker 1: and he you know that it takes a little while
46:33
Speaker 1: to learn their system, so when you when you integrate
46:35
Speaker 1: a new player into it, it does, uh take a
46:37
Speaker 1: little bit like things kind of get thrown off a bit.
46:39
Speaker 1: And it seems like Kyle palm Mary, who was their
46:42
Speaker 1: big trade deadline acquisition, is really starting to get his
46:45
Speaker 1: feet under him in the system. And the other thing
46:48
Speaker 1: is like they have one of the best defenses and
46:51
Speaker 1: one of the most reliable goaltenders in the league and
46:53
Speaker 1: Simeon varlam Off and they have a good back up
46:56
Speaker 1: another Russian, Ilias Sirokin. So it's like this they are
46:59
Speaker 1: built to be a good playoff team. But their dip
47:02
Speaker 1: and the fact that they're playing the Penguins in the
47:04
Speaker 1: first round of the Penguins UH took six of the
47:07
Speaker 1: eight games they played in the in the regular season
47:09
Speaker 1: against the Islanders, UH is kind I think that to
47:11
Speaker 1: put people off, and and let's make that first of all,
47:14
Speaker 1: that series price is going to be probably longer than
47:17
Speaker 1: it should be. I think at anything like one forty
47:20
Speaker 1: one thirty five, I would I would still bet the
47:22
Speaker 1: Islanders and one is I think just a good price.
47:25
Speaker 1: It's you're you're buying low on a team that has
47:27
Speaker 1: shown it is one of the best four or five
47:30
Speaker 1: teams in the league for a long time, and this
47:33
Speaker 1: in the season, and they have a great coach and
47:35
Speaker 1: like it said, great goaltending, good defense, and like those
47:38
Speaker 1: of those uh six losses to the Penguins, two of
47:41
Speaker 1: them came in overtime, which is a coin flip, so
47:43
Speaker 1: that it could have easily been four, four and four
47:46
Speaker 1: in that season series. So I just I think you're
47:48
Speaker 1: you're getting in at a good time, which which obviously
47:51
Speaker 1: we but we all know it's pretty important in betting U.
47:54
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's like the Jets the Islanders, I think
47:56
Speaker 1: you can maybe make a like the Lightning are eight
47:59
Speaker 1: and a half to one. I think that's a little short,
48:01
Speaker 1: but just because they have a tough first round. They
48:03
Speaker 1: have to go through Florida, who has been a great surprise,
48:06
Speaker 1: and then they have to go through Carolina, who's one
48:07
Speaker 1: of the best teams in the league to get through,
48:09
Speaker 1: but they get Nikita kutre Off back. He's he was,
48:12
Speaker 1: he is one of the best players in the NHL.
48:13
Speaker 1: You played all season. But they kind of just like
48:15
Speaker 1: let him heal his hip in anticipation of them making
48:19
Speaker 1: the playoffs and then he would join the crew. So
48:22
Speaker 1: like they're in my mind they're still the best team
48:24
Speaker 1: in the NHL, and you're getting them as like the
48:26
Speaker 1: fifth favorite right now. So look, if you're if you
48:28
Speaker 1: want to shop towards us quote unquote safer pick, it
48:31
Speaker 1: would be the Lightning. If you want to take a
48:32
Speaker 1: couple of shots, it would be between the Islanders and Jets.
48:36
Speaker 1: True story. The last sporting event that I went to
48:42
Speaker 1: and probably Leeboff you went to and many of us
48:44
Speaker 1: at Action Network went to before everything shut down was
48:47
Speaker 1: an Islanders game at Barclay's. Uh literally like the weak
48:52
Speaker 1: things shut down. We were in a suite given to
48:55
Speaker 1: us by our friends at the NHL. Thank you very much.
48:58
Speaker 1: And um, I can't believe we didn't get COVID. Yeah,
49:03
Speaker 1: that was that was unfortunate because it was at Barclay Center,
49:06
Speaker 1: not Nasal Caliseum, which will be this is it for
49:10
Speaker 1: the casseum before the Islanders moved because well, you know
49:13
Speaker 1: we I think the call seems like the most romantic
49:16
Speaker 1: building at sports. Uh still it's it's very small. Uh,
49:19
Speaker 1: there's one concourse. It's uh, it's known. One of its
49:23
Speaker 1: most iconic features, if you want to call it that,
49:25
Speaker 1: is that it's bathroom lines are about seven people deep
49:29
Speaker 1: no matter what, because there's like six bathrooms in the place.
49:31
Speaker 1: For long island dead beats like myself, like it's it's
49:36
Speaker 1: it's a beautiful place. It's like what sports should look,
49:39
Speaker 1: smell and sound like. But now they're moving to ubs
49:42
Speaker 1: right next to Belmont uh in next season, So it
49:45
Speaker 1: is it is a shame. Maybe you know, when they
49:46
Speaker 1: when they make it to the Stanley Cup finals, maybe
49:48
Speaker 1: we can get you guys in into the barn for
49:51
Speaker 1: to experience that. We'll get Simon to drive up. You
49:54
Speaker 1: guys can finally meet and maybe Nurse Emily can come
49:56
Speaker 1: and she can bring someone that we think Simon can
49:59
Speaker 1: fall in love with and it will be happiness made
50:03
Speaker 1: in hockey heaven. Known as the Nasau Coliseum. I mean,
50:08
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of people who fell in
50:11
Speaker 1: love and maybe started a family at NASA Coliseum, Simon,
50:14
Speaker 1: So they wanna be wanna be all that rare. The
50:16
Speaker 1: parking lots are notorious for some some let's say rated
50:20
Speaker 1: our activities. I guess, well, wherever your mind wants to
50:24
Speaker 1: take you. That's exactly what I mean. You're the best
50:26
Speaker 1: love I could. I would you should do a YouTube
50:28
Speaker 1: video if you speaking eloquently about the coliseum, the fact
50:31
Speaker 1: that you love it so much. And again, I'm not
50:33
Speaker 1: gonna say anything about it because how passionate it is
50:36
Speaker 1: to you. I'm heartbroken they're leaving there. I feel your
50:39
Speaker 1: pain through the screen. I'm sad they're leaving you. Have
50:41
Speaker 1: you ever been there? I have, but for a concert,
50:44
Speaker 1: not hockey. What concert did you go to? God? I mean,
50:47
Speaker 1: I can't believe about to say this. Uh nickelback, Wow,
50:52
Speaker 1: I know I was like thirteen, Well Dimon wants to
50:55
Speaker 1: be a rock star. I can't imagine what that was like.
50:58
Speaker 1: But I always say, like when people say like, oh,
51:00
Speaker 1: I've never been there, I just like, well, have you
51:01
Speaker 1: ever been in like a basement for like a house
51:04
Speaker 1: party that's like sequestered in a basement where the ceiling
51:06
Speaker 1: is kind of falling in? And I'm like, yeah, I
51:08
Speaker 1: was like, well, then you've been there. Leave off the
51:13
Speaker 1: charming Mike, leave off running all of our hockey coverage
51:16
Speaker 1: at Action Network. The on the mend, Ready to fall
51:20
Speaker 1: in love looking for a soul mate, Simon Hunter. Thank
51:24
Speaker 1: you very much both of you for being on the
51:27
Speaker 1: favorite podcast from the Volume podcast Network. Go subscribe to
51:32
Speaker 1: our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com, backslash the Volume,
51:38
Speaker 1: downloaded Apple podcasts from Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.
51:43
Speaker 1: We will be back on Thursday for the Thunderdome. Until then,
51:49
Speaker 1: I love you, Ye