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NBA Awards After One Month · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:04
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to another episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beach.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: And can you believe it?
0:08
SPEAKER_00: We're over one month through the NBA season.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: It feels like just yesterday we were talking about how great this season is going to be.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: And now we're here.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: We've got game-winning shots.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: We've got 50-point gains.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: We got brawls.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: We got legends coming out after the future of the NBA.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: It's a lot going on in the league.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: And with us being one month into the season, I thought it would be a perfect time to give out some awards, ladies and gentlemen.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: So today, I'll be filling out what would be an official ballot for NBA awards if the season were to end after one month.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to make this very, very clear.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: This is not a prediction for the rest of the season.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: I am saying that instead of it being an 82-game season and say it was 15 or 16 games, this is my MVP, this is my rookie of the year, and so on and so forth.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: And maybe we'll do this again after three months and see exactly how things have shifted.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: But I'm just using the sample size that we have today.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: And in my opinion, that makes it more fluid, obviously, but also more difficult.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: Because some of the awards you kind of project, oh, this guy's gonna win DPOY because he's an alien.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: But that guy also is out with an injury.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: So can he win DPOY today in my episode?
1:11
SPEAKER_00: I don't really know.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: Now, I am a guy that normally likes to play by the rules at least a little bit.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: And y'all know that the NBA has a 75-game minimum threshold for an 82-game season.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna talk about that a little bit later in the Ask KB.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: But doing the mathematics, that is about 79% of games need to be to be played for you to be eligible for an award.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: I wanted to kind of keep that conversion rate.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: So if your team has played 15 games, you have to appear in at least 11 of those to be eligible for the small bar with Kenny Beachum um NBA award show.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Let's get to the biggest award, the one that you care about the most.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: Honestly speaking, the most difficult award over the last couple seasons, because it's boiled down to these last two dudes, Shea Gears, Alexander, and Nicole Jokic.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: Before we get into that, I do have a top three when it comes to my ballot.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the number three spot.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Because as much, as hard as it is to pick between SGA and uh Nicole Jokic for the one spot, I think it's really tough to pick the three spot between Luka Doncic and Giannis because right now Giannis technically fits in, even though he's missed the last couple games.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, he barely gets to that threshold.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: But I think ultimately, it's kind of like a coin flip.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give a little bit of a nod to Luka Doncic as my number three spot.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: That is no disrespect to Giannis.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: He was my preseason pick to win MVP.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, but Luka being able to come in and average what he's averaging and keep the Lakers afloat amidst a bunch of injuries, is pretty impressive.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: Now, Giannis don't really have that much of uh, you know, support behind him as far as the team goes.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: You're kind of seeing it now with him being out.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: But I'm just gonna give the slight nod to Luca for the three spot, but y'all care about number one, more do y'all care about number three.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: This is, I think this is gearing up for another one of those seasons where whoever you have in this one spot, whether it be Shea or whether it be Jokic, I can't argue that you are wrong.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: I think it's gonna be the beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: The ballot or the award should be given to this guy because of your personal preferences when it comes to NBA players.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: Jokic's resume is insane.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: SGA's resume is insane.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: Let's stick with Jokic, 30 points per game, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, 62% from the field, 42% from three, and 86% from the free throw line.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: SGA is averaging 32 points per game, five rebounds, 6.6 assists, 5340, 90.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, and if he were to complete this over a whole 82 game season, this would be the highest point per game anybody's ever averaged while being 50, 40, 90.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to do this for 82 games.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: We'll see if Shay can do it, but that would be insane.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: That's that will be higher than Steph Curry's, that would be higher than Larry Birds, two of the most classic 50, 40, 90 candidates.
3:36
SPEAKER_00: How am I going to decide?
3:38
SPEAKER_00: Now, Shay's ballot is mostly like this.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: I am an absolute madman.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: I have a two-point percentage that is in the same realm as like a Shaquille O'Neal in his prime, but I am a guard shooting mid-range jumpers.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: I am currently the leader on the best team in the league, and we might be the best regular season team of all time.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, I don't know.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: I there's still a lot of games to be played.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: We have the greatest defense of all time and still have an elite level offense, though my secondary guy and J Dub has been out for the entirety of the season.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: I've been shouldering the load of the offensive side, specifically through the first three quarters, because I have set in seven or eight fourth quarters this season because we have as a team been that dominant.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: And the games that I do play the fourth quarter, guess what?
4:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the top fourth quarter scores in all of basketball.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: That's a that's a good argument, right?
4:26
SPEAKER_00: Argument for Jokic is sometimes it is simple as I am the best player in the world.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it really is that simple.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: Jokic kind of has that.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: Him over the last couple seasons being able to hit the three-point shot the way he has, basically completing the cycle of the circle that is all of the different points you need as an offensive player, being like the perfect offensive engine, maybe the best offensive engine that I've seen.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: And he's still doing that to this day, where they did lose a game to the Bulls and the Kings over the last week or so.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: But the game that mattered the most, it felt like was against the Houston Rockets, another contender level team.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: And he was able to dominate in that performance.
5:05
SPEAKER_00: Even when Aaron Gordon going down with an injury, even with Christian Brown being out, both of these guys have the luxury to add to their resume starter players out.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, I decided after one month to give it to Shea Gilgis Alexander.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna tell me that the on-off numbers are gonna be similar, a lot of the advanced stats are gonna be similar.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: Now, the counter stats, he'll never be able to really compete and the assists to rebound things with Jokic, because Jokic might be the best passer of all time, and he is a significantly better rebounder with him being a center and all.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: But if the numbers and the advanced numbers are gonna be similar, I may break it down to the more dominating.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: Now, I know that can be controversial.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: That can be controversial in the whole stratosphere.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: Maybe this changes by April of 2026.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: But today, I would give that award to Shea Gildis Alexander.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: One thing I have not talked about as far as a plus for Shea is that he has one of the highest usage in all the basketball at a 36.4%.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: But his turnover rate is as low as anybody that has had that level of usage at 6.5.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: For him to be on this team that is a uh turnover magnet as far as like what they're causing other teams to do, and for him to be on the other side, the guy that has the ball all the time and not turn the ball over, obviously he's gearing them up for win after win after win.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: But there's always a conversation.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: Because of that, I want y'all to let me know.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: Hit me up on Twitter, hit me up in the comment section if you're YouTube watching.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: Let me know who your MVP is.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: Because again, if you have Jokic, I can't say you're wrong.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: While we're here, I want to talk about Coach of the Year.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, you you would expect me to go MVP rookie of the year.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: I want to go on my own personal order because I think coach of the year, based on the first month, there's a lot of different candidates as well.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: My number three spot, I'm gonna give to Dark Oryakovic, which is insane because through the first week of the season, I was on Twitter like, man, I don't know if Dark Oriakovic is gonna make it to Christmas, right?
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Because I thought that defensively they didn't have an identity.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: There was times where they played against uh the Houston Rockets, and they were sending doubles at times where I didn't think they should send doubles, and it felt like nobody's really communicating too much.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: But since then, they've clicked the defense as looked as good as ever.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: They found their offensive identity as a team that's gonna run, and when we're in a half court, we're gonna do some pretty cool actions and get Brandon Ingram the ball or generate some open looks for a menu quickly on a high screen.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: I've been enjoying Raptors basketball, and I think Darko Rayakovic, now that he's finally got some pieces around, it showcased to us that he can be a really good coach.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: My number two guy is gonna be JB Bickerstaff.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: He's probably the favorite to win it right now.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: If I was going to, I didn't look at the betting spots or anything.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: But with the team being on a what 11, 12 game win streak after just a few years before he got here, or one year before he got here, his that this same exact team started 2-25.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: That's a testament to building a culture, a great team, and getting everybody bought in.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: But my number one spot is gonna go to Eric Spostra.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I understand that the Miami Heat do not have the best record in all of basketball.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: They don't have the best offense, they don't have the best defense, but right now they're sitting at 11-6.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: And I do find a lot of value in teams or coaches that can come in and change the identity of the team, especially on a team that we've seen this Miami Heat team be a slow-paced, uh, methodical team for like 20 seasons.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: Well, however long Eric Spose has really been there, for them to get out of that cover zone, have this free-flowing offense with no ball screens, still have an elite level defenses right now sitting at number three, and that's without Bam playing some games, without Norman Powell playing some games, with Tyler Hero not being there at all this season.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: I think that if there's any time to get Spo that award, it has to be now.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: He's like people who say, who was the best uh coach of this era?
8:42
SPEAKER_00: Eric Sposher's name comes up very often, and the brother don't even have an award to prove it.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't think he's ever gonna have the same amount of wins as a uh Mark Dayton or even you know Adleman over there in Denver.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: They don't they won't have that level of wins.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: But again, I value changing so much about your team in one singular offseason.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: This is basically what you imagine new coaches do with the same roster.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, JB came in and then now Monty Williams is out, and he just changed the culture.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: Eric Sposter had the culture that he built and he still has that, but also changed the system, the identity of the entire team.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: I can't explain to you how hard that is.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: Usually a coach has to get fired for the identity of a team to shift.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: It didn't happen for Eric Sposter.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: So he is my guy.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: I do want to give my flowers to Jordan Ott, a new uh coach here in the NBA.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh the Phoenix Suns just have a different feel to them this season versus last season.
9:34
SPEAKER_00: E may also deserve some votes for them to have one of the best offenses in basketball without being able to shoot or isolate or do whatever and still have one of the best out there.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: Um I'm trying to think of some other candidates.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: I mean, JJ Redick, he missed LeBron for the majority of the season.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: And Luca missed some time.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: And there they are.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: They're still a pretty solid team right now.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, we will get to some other fun awards like rookie of the year and sixth man of the year.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: Now let's get to rookie of the year.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: Everybody knew that the 2025 draft class was gonna be nice.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how many of us thought it would be this nice because a lot of these dudes are really playing great basketball to start their career.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: Some of them have only played four minutes as a lottery pick.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna say which team drafted that guy or which coach is not playing his rookie, but it's it's one guy I'm looking at right now with four total minutes while the guy before him has played 450 and the guy after him have played 400, and both of those guys look amazing.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: I hate when we do that.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, like we go back and we look at the draft board, and it's like your team is squished between two Hall of Famers.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: I hope that's not the case.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm rooting for you.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's get into this, though, because um the first few weeks of the season, a guy that jumped onto the seam was a course, VJ Edgecomb.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Right now, 15, 6, and 4 are the overall counting stats.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, his efficiency has dropped a little bit.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: And that's that's completely fine.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: Remember, these are rookie-level players, and I don't know if anybody thought that that first two weeks shooting was going to be sustainable for a rookie who didn't shoot it extremely well in college.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, he still is a really critical part for this Philadelphia 76er team that is trying to win ball games.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: So obviously, with his efficiency going down, it's not as good.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: Where at one point, you know, we looked at him as the guy outside of Cooper Flag.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately for him, he's dropped a little bit, but I still do value some of the stuff he can do.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, Valdez Drexel Edgecomb, the third or junior, is my number three spot.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: My number two is the guy that was unanimous uh first overall pick in Cooper Flag.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: He is at 16, 6-3.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: I really do appreciate that Jason Kidd and company did not wait for an entire year to change the fact that he was uh playing point guard.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: It was a bit iffy to start off the season.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: Um it's like before he even plays, like, oh, he's gonna play the a point.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: And I know at Duke he did a lot of ball handling and everything, but the NBA is a whole different monster.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: These guys are more athletic, these guys are smart on the defensive side of the ball, and I'm not completely sure if Cooper Flag should be playing at that point guard position.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: And over the last couple games or so, he has not.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, and he has looked better.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Like he had a game the other night against the Pelicans, a really good game between Derek Queen and him, where he had 29 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two games before that against Portland in the overtime game, 21 points, five assists, eight rebounds.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: He's starting to put it together, and the defense is starting to look better and better.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think his competitive nature and his defensive IQ is one of the things that people really enjoyed about his time and Duke and his time with whatever high school team he played.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: And now it's starting to really showcase for himself.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: And I really do appreciate that, you know, post I guess Nico Harrison, they're putting him in a better position to win his minutes as far as like him getting better, because they're they're starting those lineups that has either a Brandon Williams or before that a D'Angelo Russell, just some floor setters, and it's opening the game up for Cooper to play a little bit more off the ball, cut a little bit, still getting his isolation touches, still getting those reps up, but playing off the ball more, which I think is overall better for his game.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: But the guy, when it comes to rookie of the year today, based on the first month, is Con Kaniple.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: He is at 19 points per game, six rebounds, three assists.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: And I went into the good old stat head, and you know, I like to one thing I do in my spare time when I have time on uh stat head is to try to make those graphics.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: You know that graphic that's like these players average this many points, this many assists, this many field goals per game, this many, this and that.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: And then it's like Larry Burr, Michael Jordan, Thaddeus Young, LeBron James, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: I like to try to make those outlier graphics.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: It's so fun to me because you can make anybody look amazing if you do it that way.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: But you don't need to, you don't need to make Cooper or Conquer Nipple look amazing.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: He's kind of just doing that on his own.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: He is, this is this is what I did, and I was hoping to see more names, but no.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: He is the only player in NBA history to average 18 points per game or more with this level of three-point frequency and accuracy as a rookie.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: He, like I mentioned for Shea Gilles Alexander, is sneakily having a 50-40-90 type of season as a rookie.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: He's 49% from the field, so one percentage point away.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: He's 42% from three, and then 89.2% from the free throw line.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: Listen, rookie walls happen, sophomore slumps have all of these things.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: So I don't expect this level of efficiency to be for the entire season, but boy, if it does.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: There's been a lot of conversations about this team over the last week because of the report about LaMelo ball, maybe one and out.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: He refuted those reports, but I know the Charlotte Hornets fans in my life was like, man, if LaMelo went out, we cool.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: If LaMelo went out, we cool because they got Connipple.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: I love that he's not being pigeonholed or typecast as a sitting in the corner shooter or come off a screen shooter.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: He is used in ball handling.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, the Charlotte Hornets have already, their guards have already set more screens this season than all of last season.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: Remember, we are one month into the season.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: Con Kanippo is setting uh screens, LaMelo Ball is setting screens, Trey Man comes in the game and setting screens.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: And I love it because not these guys are never going to be um the Steven Adamses of the war as far as getting the defender stuck on those screens.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: But I've seen Con Kanippo in the short roll, pass it to the corner, and Miles Bridges may have hit a hit, uh missed that shot.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: So we're seeing him like that.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: We're seeing him on handoffs, we're seeing him off screens.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: He's basically not equal balance, but he's being used in so many different ways.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's super beneficial for a guy that kind of is like we know he can shoot, but the rest of it's kind of a Blake Canvas, right?
15:21
SPEAKER_00: Let's try to mold him to continue to do so many other things on the court.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: And he's been able to do that.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: And I again I've watched him a little bit at Duke.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: He did have that stretch where Cooper Flag was out when he was had the ball a little bit more.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: When I asked um uh my boy Pierre, who's way more into college basketball than I am, he told me that was the moment of time when he felt really good about Conkiniple as an NBA prospect because he was used on the ball a little bit more.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I I can see it.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: So Con Kani Nipple after the first month is my rookie of the year.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: And it's so weird when you do a stat head thing and you put specific uh criteria and only one name pops up.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: The only thing I said was 18 points per game, five three pointers a game and 40% from three.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: That's not like that's not that crazy.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: Oh, in rookie, I'm sorry, in rookie, and Conkinpple is just by himself.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of amazing.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: Let's get to sixth man of the year.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: We actually got a pretty decent race here.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: You know, there has been years we're like, uh, six man of the year, I guess we give it to this guy.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: I guess we give it to that guy.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: It's an actual battle right now.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: It's not one of those Lou Williams years or Jamal Crawford years.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: We're like, that guy's about to do what he's gonna do.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: But we do got some real great candidates.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: I'll start off with my number three spot.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go with Reed Shepard, who's averaging 16 points per game on 50% from the field, 49% from three.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: And this is coming off like the first game of the season was so insane, if you really think about it.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: That was, you know, uh Reed's first time getting minutes in the post-Fred Envelope thing, and everybody had their eye on him this is against OKC.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: Everybody had their eye on him because he felt like the swing player when it came to whether or not the Houston Rockets can compete for a championship.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: Would Reed be able to be a real ball player after last season as a rookie, not really doing that?
17:04
SPEAKER_00: And in that game, it was a really, really rough watch.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of people got turned off to Reed Shepard as a player, and this is a testament to him and his his um ability to keep his head down and continue to stay at work because since then he's been doing some amazing things.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: If I get rid of those first two games, which is both losses for the Houston Rockets, his numbers are insane.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: The field goal percentage is up to 52%, 49% from three in those games.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: And overall, that would have made him 14 points per game.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: The other night, even though they lost in this game, they were down by a ton of points to reset, protecting against the different Nuggets, and boom, he walks out of the first half with 20 of them things.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: They were talking about on the broadcast how the Houston Rockets players look at him and say, bro, if you dribble more than twice or don't shoot that ball, we on your tail.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: And he's been able to get that confidence from the veterans in that locker room, and he's a straight-up shooter.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: Movement, catch, and I love that because again, like we mentioned earlier, this is not a team that has a ton of shooters.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: So if he's going to be able to provide, it's impossible for us to ask him to shoot 40% from or 50% from three, but if he's able to provide good three-point shooting in his minutes, win.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: Number two on the list is a surprise guy to many people this season.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: AJ Mitchell was 16-4-4.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: He did start a few games this season, but the threshold for six men of the year is 51% of games played off the bench.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: And it's 16-4-4.
18:21
SPEAKER_00: Last year, second-round pick got a little bit of burn, but not enough burn.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: Played a little bit in the NBA finals, but not a lot.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: For him to come out and be able to create, get two feet in, helps the offense.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: And I've talked about AJ Mitchell just last week, so I don't want to reiterate some of those points, but he's been phenomenal given the fact that he was a second-round pick and that nobody expected it.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: And then lastly, sixth man of the year, the winner of my sixth man of the year award is gonna have to go to Jame Jacquez, who's at 16, 7, and 5.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: And now that I'm looking at it, I get, I guess we got a lot of Miami Heat representation today.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: And for good reason, Jame Jacquez, I've used this um explanation for another guy on their team, and that guy is Norman Powell.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: When Jame Jacquez wants to be a north-south player, he absolutely can.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: He's already a really good passer for a size, but sometimes he sees a defender in front of him that he thinks is inferior to him, and he goes right through their chest.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: No dribble moves, no corner steps, no sidesteps, no euro steps.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: It's just straight through the chest of the opposing player.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: You have to get strong because Juan Wick is coming in and he's gonna do his thing.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: And this is coming off the season where he was really bad.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Rookie season, you know, he's one of the runner-ups for rookie of the year.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: Then sophomore year, he saw his minutes per game drop by 10, his points per game drop, and he felt like he was in the doghouse.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: And now with this new offense and everything, even though he has not been able to shoot it just yet, he is still one of the more impactful players on this team.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: I have to give him love.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: And it seems like it's a point for him to be that initiator off the bench because even when it was no Tyler Harrow and it is no um Norman Powell and it's no Bam out of bio, he didn't just get inserted into the starter role.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: They really valued what he does off the bench.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, we'll get into defensive player of the year and most improved player.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Before we go any further, I want to say thank you to our sponsor over at DraftKings.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: You may know all about DraftKings pick six by now.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: You can pick more or less on different players' stats for the upcoming games.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Just pick two or more different players into your pick set, decide more or less on different stats, sit back and relax and see if you made the right decisions.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: As always, I try to put together a nice little pick set for y'all.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: Last week's pick set, I truly don't remember if it hit or not.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, I don't, I don't remember.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: But hopefully I get y'all good today.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: I have a little theme of today's pick set.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: For whatever reason, I'm feeling like in a in the big man mood.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: I want to show some love to some big fellas that are playing in tonight's game.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: So this is what I got.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna start off with Donovan Klingan rebounds versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Of course, again, no Giannis in this one.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: And Donovan Klingon over the last couple games has been an absolute monster on the offensive glass.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: The Milwaukee Bucks are not a small team by any means, but they're definitely not one of the bigger teams either.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: And I do think that Donovan Klingon benefits when he's playing against a team that doesn't have a ton of huge center play in his game versus the Golden State Warriors.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: He had five offensive rebounds.
21:12
SPEAKER_00: He had 10 offensive rebounds against the Bulls, seven offensive rebounds versus the Suns, seven offensive rebounds.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: You get what I'm saying?
21:18
SPEAKER_00: This guy is a rebounding machine as long as he's not in foul trouble.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: He's been doing a pretty good job this season of staying out of foul trouble.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: So I really love his matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks on that glass.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: Next, Mr.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: Jokic, maybe the MVP of the first month.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: Also going rebounds versus the Grizzlies.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: We talked about his stats earlier.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: 13 rebounds per game.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: The Memphis Grizzlies do have Zach Edy back, which is dope for them, but Zach Edy can't do anything against a guy like Nicole Jokic.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: And with Aaron Gordon being out, they I mean they already were with Michael Porter Jr.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: being gone, Aaron Gordon needed to step up his rebound and play, and he's gone as well now for the next however many weeks.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: So it gives Nicole Jokic even more of an opportunity to.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: To get more boards.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: The first game without Aaron Gordon, he got 13 rebounds.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: He got 18 rebounds in a game just a few games ago.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's a great rebounder against the Bulls.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I should just go again.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Whatever team's going against the Bulls, rebounds.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: We're going more on him.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: And also, if I didn't mention a couple seconds ago, more on Donovan Klingon's rebounds.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: Next, Nicholas Claxton.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: Listen, we were all fans of Nicholas Claxon coming out of college.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: I really loved his first couple seasons.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: Now he's up on this Brooklyn Nets team that is a struggle to watch for me personally.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: They did get a win against Boston the other night, but he also could be a rebound in machine.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: He's had 11 against Boston.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: He had 11 against Boston the day a couple days before that.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: And then he got eight, eight, and five.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: So maybe this could be a five-day, but I do like his rebounds against the New York Knicks.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going more on that.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: And lastly, Big Vooch.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: Big Vooch versus the Pelicans.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: I got a feeling that Derrick Queen is going to want something.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to use the word revenge now, but the Bulls were one pick before Derek Queen, and a lot of people in Bulls fandom thought that Derrick Queen was going to be our pick.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: We didn't draft him.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: We drafted somebody else.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: But I like Voos' matchup.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: I actually like the Nikola Vusevich thing that went semi-viral in NBA Twitter, where he was calling out his team after a one-point law, one-point win, I'm sorry, against the Washington Wizards, a team that had a uh a point differential of minus 17.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: We snuck out of there with a win.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: And the last two men report just said that, uh-oh, we should have got called for a foul on that Keontae uh or that Keyshawn George play.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: So we probably shouldn't have won in the first place for the ref to swallow the whistle.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: But Big Vooch has been one of the few guys that are actually getting rebounds in the games that matter.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: Again, against Miami, we were losing by 40, so it didn't play a lot.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: But 12 rebounds, 12 rebounds, 8 rebounds, 9 rebounds.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: I like Vooch's matchup against the young front court of Derrick Queen and Eve Missy, and I don't know, does Kevin Looney get some burn?
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: So that is my big man, more rebound uh pick set.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: I will try to check back in next week to see if I made the right decisions, but I I'm excited about this one.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: I am excited about this one.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: Rebounding is up if you didn't know.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: Rebounding is up.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, we will get into DPOI, most improved player, and award that everybody forgot about.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: Clutch player of the year.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: Do y'all care about it?
24:18
SPEAKER_00: I do.
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24:44
SPEAKER_00: So we mentioned earlier the 79% threshold in order to qualify for the small ball with Kenny Beachum NBA award ballot.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: And the question is maybe you already looked it up as we've been waiting.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: Does Victor Wimbenyama still qualify?
25:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he does.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: So the DPOY for me is Victor Wembinyama.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: Okay, he he did it.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: He is a late alien.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants to attempt shots at the rim.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: But uh-oh, when you do, it's a block.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: And it's a good block, too.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: It's one of them fun blocks.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: Tip it to yourself for going to Fazbreak.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: Everybody knows that Victor Wimbyama is the best defensive player in all of basketball.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: And there's nothing I can say right now that has not been said yet about Victor Wimbenyama.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: Um I'm hoping that when he comes back from his injury, we we don't have to worry about anything else.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: So I'm giving his award today, and we're gonna talk about uh two and three, too.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: One guy that would be my number two, unfortunately, he this is so crazy because most people qualify for this.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, LeBron doesn't qualify.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't gonna be in these awards anyway.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: Most people do qualify for this, except for Bam.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: Bam Monaballo would have been my number two.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm really looking at how much Miami Heat love I'm giving.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: And it's not on purpose.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: I don't have any allegiance to the Miami Heat.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: Whether they win or lose, I don't care.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: But I'm just admiring what's going on.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: Uh Bam Monaballo, if he did qualify for my award ballot, he would be in this top three.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, he does not.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, again, a Miami Heat are still a really good defensive team.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: Let's get into number two and number three, though, because honestly, number two and number three um could be the real battle for DPOY, right?
26:15
SPEAKER_00: Depending on how much time Victor Wimbayama does miss this season, it could be another situation just like last year, where Wimby was the favorite to win.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: I remember loading up the sports books last season in January, where Victor Wimbyama for an award that had to be announced in three months was a minus 750.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: On an like, that's so crazy to me.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: And then he got injured and is like, oh, somebody else got to get there.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: And for a minute it was Jaron, and then at the end of it ended up being Evan Mobley.
26:41
SPEAKER_00: And that might be the case again, depending on what's going on with Wimby and his injury stuff.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: So the official number two, since Bam does not qualify, is going to be Chet Homer.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: And we talked about it a hundred times, how this is the most uh the most impactful defensive team of all time.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: And Chet Homer plays a big part of that, right?
26:56
SPEAKER_00: I think Chet Homer himself has hit a big leap, uh, mostly on the offensive side because he's been asked to do more, especially with JW and out right now.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: He's at seven, oh, I'm sorry, 19, 7.5, and then just 1.6 assists, but we don't really care about that.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: The defense is still really good.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: He is averaging um the one block, one and a half block and the one steal, and just playing overall great defense.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he's protecting the paint, but sometimes he's running these double bigs, so he's more on the perimeter or more as a roamer, and he's doing a really good job there.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: My next guy, I'm gonna give the nod to Giannis.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: I saw Giannis's DPO last season statistics and compared it to his now statistics defensively, and they're almost identical.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: And I think on a game-to-game basis or a day-to-day basis, when you think about Giannis or you think about, you know, the Milwaukee Bucks, you don't really think about the defense as much as you did, I don't know, six years ago.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: But he's still really good in that area, man.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: And you're still feeling his absence with his injury.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: So I I went on and gave it to him.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: I tried to give some love to some wings and some guards and like all of that, but it's so hard for me to get away from valuing like a Swiss Army knife slash, do it a little bit everything, defensive guy like Giannis, who's roaming all over the place, or a straight up wing protector, because obviously the number the two, the layup, the dunk is the easiest shot in the game.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: So if we have a guy like Vic Victor Wimayama that can make your point guard do a Nash dribble instead of land it up, or Chet Homegrain who can meet you at the rim with good body control and protect the paint that way, it's always, in my opinion, going to be more valuable than an individual guard who can only guard one guy.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: I look at a center as guarding not a person but a spot, and these guys have been able to do that.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: I still do want to give love to number 27 over there in Minnesota.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: I think we need a bigger sample size, but I wouldn't be surprised by by the end of the season he's back in these conversations because he is still doing great things.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: The first couple weeks of the season, I'm like, ugh, maybe 2-7 ain't really got it as much as he used to.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about Rudy Go Bear for the people home.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he don't got it like he used to.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: But as the defense continues to turn around, like granted, they have not won against any good team just yet.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: As the defense has started to turn around, I'm seeing that man be back to two years ago version of himself.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: His on-off numbers defensively are staggering.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: He's still in the top, what, five percentile?
29:17
SPEAKER_00: Let me lie, I'll just double check that really quick.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: I think he's still in the top five percentile in on off defensive numbers.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: That's still crazy for a guy that is in his 30s.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't move as good as he once did.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: Let me double check this.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man, he's in the one the 99th percentile.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: I was underdoing it.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: He's in the 99th percentile on off numbers defensively.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: His team is 19.7 points better per 100 perceptions defensively when he's on the core.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: The only people better than him is the mascada.
29:48
SPEAKER_00: I thought that number would change, though.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: I talked about this like the the first two weeks of the season.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: I talked about this, and it has not got uh worse, so I guess he's just him.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: And then Quentin Jackson of the Indiana Pacers, and then it's Rudy Gobert, and then it's Draymond Green, then it's Zach Edy.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: So it's like Rudy Gobert is still able to do it now.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: He kind of levels it out a little bit because the team is significantly worse with him on the court on the offensive side.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: But do we care about that?
30:12
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: I mean, kind of.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we do actually.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: All right, the last award, I'm sorry, not the last award because Class Player of the Year exists.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, the last award that you care about is the most improved player award.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna work um my way from number three to number one.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: My number three spot is gonna go to Denny Abdia, who went from last year a 16 point 16.9 point per game guy to a 25.9 point per game guy.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: And now that I'm I'm saying that jump aloud, I'm questioning my order again.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna keep it where it is because my run of show is my run of saw, and I don't like to go off of that.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: But a nine point per game increase, the efficiency is better this season, the passing is better this season.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Ah, this might be a Denny Abdi award.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: I can't lie.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: I can't lie.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't know.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: I mean, these other two guys, let me explain.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: Let me explain.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: I think that Ryan Rollins, who is my number two spot, is really what this award should be about, in my opinion.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: I've never been a guy that is enjoyed when like a guy like John Morant got it.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: No disrespect to Ja, but this guy was a number two overall pick.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: He was already everybody's darling, and then he got better, which is great.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: It was just great.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: But like he also was the number two pick in the draft.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: So we knew or we had a real good inkling that this guy was gonna be a really good player, and then he won it.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: And then it had a little domino effect where a couple great players won the award.
31:33
SPEAKER_00: It's like, ah, I kind of like the idea of being an NBA nobody and jumping into not just a starter, but an efficient and good starter.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Last year, he played, I'm talking about Ryan Rollins, played in 56 games, right?
31:46
SPEAKER_00: Good efficiency, really good efficiency for for his role.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, his numbers are really good with Damian Lillard.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: He averaged six points per game, though.
31:55
SPEAKER_00: This year, he's up to 18 and a half.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: That efficiency that was really good at six points per game is higher this year.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: And if you ask the Bucs fan, they value him second to Giannis, right?
32:07
SPEAKER_00: As far as their organization with him being at what 24, 23, he's not even 24 yet.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: A 23-year-old guy, they look at him as like, oh, he's a real part of our future.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: So going from a guy that was a second-round pick that got cut for some reasons, ended up on a couple different teams to finding a homie Milwaukee and averaging nearly 20 points per game, that's kind of what the award is to me.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: So you're like, Kenny, why is he not your number one?
32:31
SPEAKER_00: Because Jalen Duran exists, and Jalen Jalen Duran is like doing some stuff that no, I couldn't have expected.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: His points per game are also up by 10.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: His um his defense has been like really, really good.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: We question his defense for the last couple seasons.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the reasons why he didn't have a conversation with the organization about a contract extension because they didn't know if he'll ever be able to really guard the pick and roll.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: And now he's one of the best pick and roll defenders statistically in the game of basketball.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: He's got a great face-up game.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: I gotta give it to Jalen Duran.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: I got to.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: Because he's gone from cool starter to like all-star, like, you know, can he get a vote or two for all NBA?
33:06
SPEAKER_00: Like that, that type of jump I value maybe a little bit more than a Ryan Rollins one.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: And the last award we're gonna get to before we get to your questions at Ask KB is the Clutz Player of the Year.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: I was joking a little bit when I said I care about this award.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how long it's gonna take for me to look at the award with some level of significance.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'll give I'll give you my three.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: And my number three spot, I'm giving it to Shay.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: Though he doesn't play fourth quarter as often when he does play, it's because the team needs him and usually pulls through.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: As you can see, their team does not lose basketball games.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: My number two spot is gonna be Tyrese Maxie, who could get clutch player of the year.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the best uh beginning player of the year, the best he plays every single minute, is a joke I'm trying to make right here.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: But he still closes out a ton of games, and they've been in a lot of clutch games this season, and he's been able to hit some big time shots.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: And my number one spot is Mr.
33:54
SPEAKER_00: Fourth Quarter himself, Kay Cunningham.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we throw that nickname around.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: I think it's one of them things that you take it away from a player.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: So De'Arn Fox had it a few seasons ago, DeMar DeRozan had it a year before that, and now we're giving it to Kay Cunningham, who's averaging 12 points per game in the fourth quarter alone, which is really hard to do, and he's doing it on a team that is actively in a double-digit win streaker.
34:16
SPEAKER_00: Those are my awards, my personal awards.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: But as I said earlier, this is always a conversation, right?
34:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it will be fluid.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: So when we come back in a few months to try to do this at the halfway point of the season, I'm sure my DPOI might be different because what if Wimby doesn't hit the threshold?
34:33
SPEAKER_00: I don't really know.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: Maybe most approved player Ryan Rollins jumps up to 26 points per game.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, I'm gonna answer your questions and ask KB.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned.
34:48
SPEAKER_00: Now it's time to get into my favorite segment where I answer your questions.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: The first one is gonna come from Jake.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Jake has been a diehard.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: He replies to every single tweet.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you, Jake.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: He says, Does the NBA need to change the 65-game rule again?
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a 60.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: It's ridiculous that Wimby might not get an award hashtag asked B.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: I do want to say earlier in the first segment of the show, I misspoke.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: It said 75 games, instead of 65 games.
35:11
SPEAKER_00: My apologies.
35:12
SPEAKER_00: The numbers always kick my ass.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: If you if you're new around here, that's probably something you didn't know.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: But 65 game threshold, what do I believe about it?
35:20
SPEAKER_00: Now we have what a three-year, three-ish year sample size of the 65 game rule.
35:25
SPEAKER_00: And this is one of the few times where I felt that, but I'm gonna say ultimately no.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: Off the top of mind, Wimby is like the only casualty, if you will, to the 65-game rule because I just went back to look it up.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: There was the first year post that um being incorporated where we saw some players that we had been missing over the last couple seasons just play more games.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: Zion played a ton of games when he was only averaging 38 games per season.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: That was the first year of the thing.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: Kawhi Leonard was averaging 52 games, he played 68.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh Paul George is averaging 50 games, he played 69.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: LeBron James' averages was up.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: Anthony Davis played 70 plus games that first year after the 65 game threshold.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: Same thing with Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Janssen, all these dudes have missed time the previous season.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: So I think the intentions are good.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, because he because the only reason you would do it is because you can't tell the history of the league over the last two seasons without seeing the name Victor Wimbayama.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: And if he does not hit that 65 games, he won't be in the record books.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
36:25
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes I look back on seasons, the 2004 season.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: What do I need to remember about that?
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, so-and-so was all NBA this season.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: You won't be able to say that about the two 2024-2025 season or 2025-2026 season.
36:36
SPEAKER_00: That's the argument for.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, I I kind of agree with the 65 games.
36:42
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you're you're suggesting getting it to 60.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't know how much that even helps Wimbenyama, you know, because we don't know what this injury is going to look like.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: He's going to be reevaluated.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: What if he ends up at 56?
36:52
SPEAKER_00: Do we need to drop it again?
36:53
SPEAKER_00: So I'm okay with us getting just a little bit more sample size when it comes to these things before we change it.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: I think ultimately that threshold has just been better overall because players have been playing.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: Now, the start this season, everybody is injured.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, so maybe Adam Silver should do on a per year basis.
37:09
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he he shifts it halfway through the season, maybe that's 65 turns to 60 because he recognized that this guy has a hammy, this guy has a hammy, this guy has a hammy.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Um ultimately, I'm gonna say no though.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: Next recustom X.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: Who would you rather build a team around?
37:23
SPEAKER_00: Palo Ben Caro or Alperin Shangon?
37:25
SPEAKER_00: And boy, when I got sent this question from producer Christian, I thought about it for quite some time.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: I thought about it for quite some time.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, I went with Alprin Shin Gone.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: I'd rather build around Alper Shangon.
37:41
SPEAKER_00: I think that the ceiling of Palo Bencaro is higher, right?
37:44
SPEAKER_00: If you can somehow get him to completely continue to mode, because before his injury, he was starting to do some things that I really enjoyed in his game, get into the basket more, finishing through contact, all of that stuff.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: If you can completely get him to buy into that and stop settling a little bit more, his ceiling is so much higher.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: But Alprin Shangun has showed us over the last two seasons that A, even though he is not the driving force of an elite level defense, that he is a competitive guy on that side of the ball.
38:08
SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, from my center position, if you're not going to be an all-defensive kind of guy, I just want you to be competitive, especially if your offensive game is going to be as good as it has been.
38:17
SPEAKER_00: I know he ain't had the last the last game or so where his yokes weren't really his best game, but on a night-to-night basis, I think I just maybe trust the floor of Alper and Shingoon a little bit more than the floor on Palo Bencaro.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going with Shingung.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: And if you were to ask me this five months ago, I'll probably just go straight to Palo Benquero without even thinking twice about it.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: But things change.
38:43
SPEAKER_00: Opinions change, and that's okay.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: Next, we move on to another Jake.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: We got two Jakes in one episode.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: What the hell?
38:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh, what is the minimum or maximum and realistic amount of all defensive team players the Thunder will have?
38:54
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, that is a really good question.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: So I already told you that in my personal opinion, Chen Holmgren is one of the finalists for DPOY this season.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: I think that Lou Dort, if he hits the threshold of the game's play, because he did miss a little bit of time to start the season, he is a guy that can make it.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: I think Kasen Wallace is undoubtedly on this list.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: If he plays the game, this game's requirement.
39:19
SPEAKER_00: Kasen Wallace came into the league as a good defender.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: I think he is going to a whole nother level.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: He is shutting down players, bro.
39:25
SPEAKER_00: He is shutting down different offensive plays.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: He is all over the place.
39:29
SPEAKER_00: So that's three.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: Caruso won't get it again because he doesn't he doesn't play the, I think it's 20 minutes per game in a certain amount of games.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: He's never gonna get that, but I'm gonna put him on the list because y'all know how much he flies around.
39:41
SPEAKER_00: And like that could be an argument for iHeart.
39:45
SPEAKER_00: Probably not because remember it's a 15 spots.
39:47
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna say I think they have potentially four all defensive level guys.
39:53
SPEAKER_00: Four?
39:55
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying it again to myself because that don't even make sense to me.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm not computing.
39:58
SPEAKER_00: Again, like I mentioned, Caruso won't actually make it, but four of those guys.
40:02
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, and Jay Dub's gonna play eventually.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: He won't hit the threshold again, but he's gonna play.
40:06
SPEAKER_00: So they have that's nuts.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: That's nuts.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: That's nuts, Jake.
40:10
SPEAKER_00: And your name is Westbrook Rod.
40:12
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if you're rocking with OKC or you're rocking with Russell Westbrook.
40:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure, but hopefully you ain't leave OKC when Russ did because you just missed out on the championship.
40:20
SPEAKER_00: The next one comes from Justin Marble that says, Hey, Kenny, huge fan.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: I've been watching you since the beginning of 2018.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the support, by the way.
40:26
SPEAKER_00: And I'm hella proud of you and the guys.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, I'm 22 and gonna have my first kid in June.
40:32
SPEAKER_00: Do you have any advice for me?
40:36
SPEAKER_00: Whew.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: First of all, congratulations to you and your significant other.
40:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, becoming a father is a life-changing thing.
40:43
SPEAKER_00: Then there's there's a few ones that I've said before on the show, but I'll reiterate for maybe you didn't see it.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is not something for a newborn baby necessarily.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, but as she or he continues to get older, your kid continues to get older.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: Reminder that uh their childhood is just another day for you, or another day for you is their childhood.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: So in the days where you feel like you just work your eight to ten hours, however many hours you work, and you're so tired, you want to go home and just sleep, reminder, take the kid to the park.
41:09
SPEAKER_00: Go play a little bit, teach a lesson.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: You know, all of those things are really important.
41:12
SPEAKER_00: And um, that's one thing I really valued for my dad who was working 12 hours a day.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: He still was there to go to every sport and event from the moment I was in T-ball, um, even though I knew he was dead tired.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: And I never, I never saw it.
41:25
SPEAKER_00: It was like he was just there.
41:26
SPEAKER_00: No, he was there cheering, he was everything, and uh, that kind of helped me become the person I am today is some underappreciated things that I knew, I know that your child would appreciate.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: On the other side of things, um, assuming that you and and your significant other are doing this together, do not be afraid to be a good partner in the grand scheme of things because it's really tough on the woman's body to deliver a child.
41:49
SPEAKER_00: Um and she may be bedridden, she may need you to do this, she may need you to do that.
41:53
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's your responsibility, because she's giving you the greatest thing, which is a child, that you you make sure that she's okay.
41:59
SPEAKER_00: You make sure that she feels good physically and mentally, because it is a lot of uh hormones and stuff that go around that you know you won't be able to relate to, I don't think.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: But you need to accept and be there, ask questions, make sure she's okay.
42:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, and try to get sleep where you can.
42:15
SPEAKER_00: Try to get sleep where you can because uh that that the first month or two, boy, not even just that.
42:21
SPEAKER_00: My my youngest is just turned four months today.
42:23
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to her.
42:25
SPEAKER_00: And she now has to change this.
42:27
SPEAKER_00: This is a basketball podcast, by the way.
42:28
SPEAKER_00: She had we had to change her swaddle because she's now rolling in a certain swaddle she was using, if she rolled in it, it would be bad for her.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: So now I feel like we're retraining her to sleep because she was so used to the first four months to be in that one swaddle.
42:40
SPEAKER_00: So it feels like it's day one again.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: I ain't sleep a lot yesterday.
42:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I appreciate every single moment.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
42:46
SPEAKER_00: So appreciate the moments.
42:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh recognize that it's their childhood, be as active as possible, and be a good partner.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: I think those are the things that I would recommend for uh new fathers out there in the world.
42:58
SPEAKER_00: We got another question from Henry that says, Do you think the Cavs should trade Darius Garland?
43:04
SPEAKER_00: My short answer is no.
43:06
SPEAKER_00: And the reason it is, no, is that we've now had a pretty decent sample size when uh the toe injury has happened for Darius Garland to show that the offense is not nearly as potent without him.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: And it's not even just the numbers, it's like the visually, the ball is not swinging, players aren't moving as much, and it's so reliant on Donovan Mitchell.
43:26
SPEAKER_00: And shout out to D.
43:27
SPEAKER_00: Mitch because he's able to put that backpack on and average 30 and still help the Cavs be a really good team.
43:33
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know if I want him to have to average 30 for us to win ball games.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: Darius Garden alleviates a lot of that pressure.
43:40
SPEAKER_00: And if you're trading Darius Garland away, obviously you're getting some things in, and that might they may change the the way of your team.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: But I just think he is so individually valuable that the two times he has come back this season from that toe injury, you can tell, even if you didn't watch the game, you can look at the scores, you can look at the most of the box score and be like, oh yeah, Darius Garland played in this one.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: Because the assists are up, the offensive output is up, and he does that.
44:04
SPEAKER_00: And they need bodies, man.
44:06
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna ultimately say no.
44:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think I think that if they flame out in the playoffs, this conversation will be uh happen, it would happen a lot.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: But I like the idea of keeping them together.
44:15
SPEAKER_00: We don't have a great sample size of them in the postseason because again, the toe injury for him um and this the sample size that we do have is pretty poor.
44:22
SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna I'm gonna throw him out the window just a little bit on that and say that that was just by circumstance and not the real deal.
44:30
SPEAKER_00: DG should be around, man.
44:32
SPEAKER_00: And if you want to trade him one, I'm sure there's boy, there's a lot of teams that won't Darius Garland.
44:36
SPEAKER_00: Because though he can play on ball as he sold over the last couple seasons, he can also play off ball and be pretty damn good.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, we will preview next week of NBA basketball.
44:53
SPEAKER_00: As always, we have a great week of hoops ahead of us.
44:57
SPEAKER_00: I want to say very early on, um, happy Thanksgiving to my American viewers out there.
45:01
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, you got some friends and family, and you go out there and eat as much as you can.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: Have a cheat day.
45:06
SPEAKER_00: You deserve it.
45:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh, let's get into some hoop talk, though, because tonight we have Cavs versus Raptors.
45:11
SPEAKER_00: The Raptors are one of the hottest teams of basketball.
45:13
SPEAKER_00: And we mentioned the Cavs, maybe not looking as good as we anticipate to start the season.
45:17
SPEAKER_00: This is a really big matchup.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: I know it is just a month into the year, but I think we're gonna learn a lot about both of these teams.
45:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think they play against each other like two more times in the next week or two.
45:26
SPEAKER_00: So uh maybe we just look at it like a series, I guess.
45:29
SPEAKER_00: But this first one is is important because though the Raptors are 11-5, they have not played a crazy competition.
45:35
SPEAKER_00: This is one of their real schedule hitters right here, and I'm curious to see how well they defend against a team that has a higher offensive ceiling than some of the other teams they played in the last week or so.
45:45
SPEAKER_00: Uh, next, we got the Bulls versus Pelicans.
45:49
SPEAKER_00: I already talked about why I'm looking at that one, the Derrick Queen versus the fake minutes of Noah and Singay.
45:54
SPEAKER_00: Houston Rockets versus Suns, another one of those teams, just like the Toronto Raptors, who have started off the season really good, but didn't really beat many good teams.
46:01
SPEAKER_00: They had the great, great comeback win against the Minnesota Tim Bulls just a few nights ago.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: So that's their first real great quality win of the season.
46:08
SPEAKER_00: And now they're going against a contender in the Houston Rockets.
46:12
SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to see that.
46:13
SPEAKER_00: They're excited to see Shin Gong being guarded by, you know, the big fellas over in Phoenix between Mark Oso and Nick Richards.
46:21
SPEAKER_00: They kind of got a little bit of everything there.
46:23
SPEAKER_00: I can't wait to watch the Jazz play the Warriors.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: I am at this point of the season where I have not missed many Jazz games, bro.
46:29
SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of crazy.
46:30
SPEAKER_00: Larry Mark is one of my favorite players in the league.
46:32
SPEAKER_00: That's been widely known, but he's averaging 30 this season.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: So he was my favorite, one of my favorites.
46:36
SPEAKER_00: He was averaging 16.
46:37
SPEAKER_00: So the Nazi's almost doubled that, of course.
46:39
SPEAKER_00: But him and uh Keontae George hitting a whole nother level just makes me really enjoy their games.
46:44
SPEAKER_00: And the the Warriors, you know, I you never know.
46:49
SPEAKER_00: Like even the games they're supposed to win, they can end up losing to the Pacers.
46:52
SPEAKER_00: They can end up losing to the Bucs without Giannis, they can lose to some of these not so great teams.
46:57
SPEAKER_00: So I think that might be a nice little game, man.
47:00
SPEAKER_00: Then on Tuesday, we're back with the NBA Cup.
47:03
SPEAKER_00: Some of these games are not going to matter in the grand scheme of the Cup standings.
47:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, and maybe I should have spent a little bit of time to talk about some teams clinching their way into the playoff of the cup.
47:12
SPEAKER_00: But looking at it from outside of the cup or lands, the Clippers play against the Lakers.
47:18
SPEAKER_00: The Battle of LA, the Clippers have not looked great.
47:20
SPEAKER_00: James Harden said the 55 piece against the Charlotte Hornets, which is nuts.
47:23
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to old man James for still being able to do it.
47:26
SPEAKER_00: But I love any time the Clippers and Lakers play against each other, regardless of what the schedule really is.
47:31
SPEAKER_00: So can't wait for that one on Tuesday night.
47:34
SPEAKER_00: It's a small slate I'm looking at.
47:36
SPEAKER_00: Usually Tuesdays will give us, you know, eight or nine games.
47:39
SPEAKER_00: Nope.
47:40
SPEAKER_00: Not this time around.
47:41
SPEAKER_00: The Pissers are trying to continue their streak against the Celtics, who again lost to the Brooklyn Nets not too long ago.
47:47
SPEAKER_00: They're better than that, though.
47:48
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna give a little pass.
47:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give a little pass.
47:50
SPEAKER_00: But they got them there.
47:52
SPEAKER_00: We got Knicks versus Hornets, which is cool.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we get down to the Nash Televised game, which is Timber Wolves versus Thunder.
48:01
SPEAKER_00: I want to see Anthony Edwards and company get their revenge.
48:05
SPEAKER_00: You know?
48:06
SPEAKER_00: I want it to be a great competitive game, but I would love to see Ant-Man go out there and kill.
48:11
SPEAKER_00: There's speculation on NBA Twitter that there's this burner Instagram account that belongs to Anthony Edwards.
48:16
SPEAKER_00: And before the season started, they put a little a little post up, a little photo dump.
48:21
SPEAKER_00: And one of the pictures in the photo dump was related to Shake Yo just Alexander, talking about his goals for the season to be higher on the list than number two.
48:31
SPEAKER_00: Mmm.
48:32
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
48:34
SPEAKER_00: And in order to be the best, you got to beat the best, Ant-Man.
48:36
SPEAKER_00: So I can't wait to see if you could get that done.
48:38
SPEAKER_00: But also later in the night, we got Warriors versus Rockets.
48:41
SPEAKER_00: A little postseason thing last season.
48:43
SPEAKER_00: Went to seven, get a little rematch, rematch here.
48:46
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
48:46
SPEAKER_00: And then even with Wimbenyama being out, I've been having fun watching the Spurs.
48:50
SPEAKER_00: A lot of it has to be uh do with DR Fox.
48:53
SPEAKER_00: And good old reliable, Mr.
48:56
SPEAKER_00: Good All Reliable.
48:57
SPEAKER_00: Harrison Barnes is still going out there and he is hooping.
49:00
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, Thanksgiving, we got nothing.
49:02
SPEAKER_00: That's that's a football day.
49:04
SPEAKER_00: We all we all know that's a foot, that's a football day, man.
49:06
SPEAKER_00: And then we get to Friday night where we get Magic versus Pistons again.
49:10
SPEAKER_00: The Magic have started to be a good defensive team again, so that's fun.
49:13
SPEAKER_00: And then again, uh Pistons are doing their thing.
49:16
SPEAKER_00: Battle with the ass.
49:18
SPEAKER_00: Wizards versus Pacers is that day, too.
49:20
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just saying, every night of the NBA season, if you can't watch some hoops, you should watch some hoops because there's going to be something on.
49:30
SPEAKER_00: Then we get into the weekend.
49:32
SPEAKER_00: In that game or in that night, we got Bulls versus Pacers.
49:36
SPEAKER_00: And this may not mean nothing to y'all, but this means the world to me.
49:40
SPEAKER_00: Because the NBA runs to the central.
49:41
SPEAKER_00: And I love anytime we go against a central division team and we get a win.
49:46
SPEAKER_00: If you did enjoy this episode of Small Bow with Kenny Beach, then be sure to tune back in at the exact same time next week.
49:52
SPEAKER_00: Love y'all.
49:52
SPEAKER_00: See you next week.