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Philadelphia 76ers Season Preview! (PST Episode 690) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Welcome to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: over 13 and a half years strong. As always, we've
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: got a great show coming your way this week as
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: we dive into our Philadelphia 76ers season preview. Yes, we
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: know that the season has started with that game one
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: win over the New York Knicks.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: It was a beautiful game to watch.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: But we're going to get into our thoughts on this
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: upcoming 76ers season. I'm Jeff Warren here at my buddy
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Eric Leonard. Man, good to see you. Thank God the
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Sixers are on our screens, man.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Thank God. It's all we got left. Yes.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: What a night.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: This is my favorite time of the year. NBA is
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: my league.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Yep. And man, the Sixers showed up. the Ruin Champion
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: Night for the Knicks.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: So great.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: I even won a little money.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: Off of them. Ooh, yes, you did.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: I sent you guys that parlay, and ooh, my God,
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: what a great evening.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: It was fantastic.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: We're going to get to a ton of Sixers talk
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: on this Sixers season preview. But first, before we get
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: into it, we're just going to do all Sixers, to
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: be honest with you folks. But after what has been
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: happening with the Philadelphia Eagles, and specifically the with Jalen
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Hurts now being out for the season because of blood clots.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: We want to dive into this story before we get
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: into our Sixers season preview. So as many of you know,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: and I'm just going to give a quick recap, sometime
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: during the Eagles week four loss to the Los Angeles Rams,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts took a cleat to his left calf. He
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: didn't miss any time during the game, wasn't anything like that.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: He was able to practice after, in subsequent days that followed.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: But according to a statement that was released by the
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: team last week, he received treatment on that calf a
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: couple days, two days in fact, ahead of the game
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: against Jacksonville over in London, England. And it wasn't until
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: he got an ultrasound on that calf. The team said
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: after his arrival in London that he was diagnosed with
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: a superficial blood clot, meaning that.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: It's one that's closer to the skin basically.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: So try to make a, you know, long story, long
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: story long here, superficial blood clot can be treated, can
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: be treated with rest, mobility, pain management, things like that.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: But It wasn't until further tests actually revealed that the
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Klotz had traveled to both of his lungs for the
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: love of God. And we are all reading this across
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: our feeds thinking, what the hell is happening in Philadelphia?
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: What the hell is happening with this Eagles organization? What
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: the hell is happening with the medical staff when it
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: comes to your franchise quarterback at this point who is
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: now going to be missing the entire season because it's
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: going to take months of recovery? for Jalen Hurts and
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: what's going to happen with this team down the road
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: here as well. I mean, we wish of course, Jalen
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Hurts the best as he is recovering from this, but
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: my God, Eric, as somebody who knows a little bit
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: about blood clots, buddy, I'm going to turn it over.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: I don't mean to laugh, but I'm going to turn
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: it over to you because like, this is serious shit.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: This is real serious shit. And, and for somebody who
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: is the face of this franchise and, and means so
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: much to the city and to this team, the organization,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: how they could have treated him like this. It is
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: absolutely fucking mind boggling to me.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: It's horrendous. Um, yeah, I'm, I'm, it's good. You have
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: me on.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: I am the PST national blood clot correspondent. Uh, I've
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: had four so far in my life.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Sorry to laugh.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, But yeah, I've had a bunch, and I know
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: how they feel now, and I know exactly when to
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: go to the ER because I know what's going on
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: with my body immediately. And unfortunately, just a quick medical recap,
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: they typically form in the calf, and sometimes they are surfaced,
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: but they can become far more severe with lack of care,
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: like not getting them checked right away. And, uh, really
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: long flights, uh, are not good either, or, or car rides.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: That's great.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: Cross the pond for, like probably the worst timing easily
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: for Jalen hurts. And, uh, but still that, and, and they,
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: and because of that lack of care and the flights,
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: you know, it developed into what's called a DVT. And
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: those good goes, those go deeper into your, it probably
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: was a surface cloud at first. Those goes, those goes deep,
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: deeper into your, uh, in your blood veins. And then
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: those travel up to your lungs very quickly. And because
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: they cause PEs and they, and you can die from
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: them pretty easily. So having said all that, like I,
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: I just told you, I go to my local ER
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: when I have one, I was just there earlier this
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: year and got an ultrasound and diagnosed like that same day.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: What the fuck Rothman Institute is doing. I don't know
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: what the medical staff for the Eagles is doing. Um,
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: absolutely piss poor care. And, you know, not to sound
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: like not to sound.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Ridiculous here, but this is your quarterback.
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, this this is not the long snapper, you know,
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: it's it's chances are you got to get him on
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: the medical in the medical tent even faster if he's
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: complaining about something that could be a blood clot. And
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: I just think. We went through all the medical stuff.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: It sucks.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: He's not going to play this year. There's no fucking way.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: I know how this works. It's not just blood thinners.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: It's going to take quite some time. You've got to
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: kill off the PEs and get him through a whole
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: cycle of thinners. It's going to go until next year.
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: He's done for the year. I think it just goes
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: to the heart of the matter.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: No pun intended.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: There's a real rot within the organization and I know
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: they just won the Super Bowl, what, a year and
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: a half ago?
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: A couple years ago. Yeah.
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: But something's changed. And it can't just be the coach
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: at this point.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: He is a buffoon. He sucks as a coach.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: But him not detecting a blood clot in his quarterback,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: that's not his fault. He's definitely responsible for the culture
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: around the team itself. But to let something like this
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: go and to let Sirianni– bumble his way through a
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: season and a half now pretty much not being on
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: the same page with his coordinators not being a head
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: coach making horrible decisions yeah it's allowing all this to
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: happen like i said there's there's something rotten in the
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: organization and.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: One of the big things was like.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: This is this is like this is on the organization
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: this is on sirianni too they when they had the
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: press conference finally to discuss the hurt situation after everything
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: came out they just put Sirianni in front of a
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: microphone and walked away. And number one, that, that tells
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: me Sirianni's fired at the end of the year. That
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: was an absolute sacrifice, human sacrifice, like back in the
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: Mayan days, like that was, they cut his head off
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: in front of the press.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: To not even put a medical person out there. Like I, they're.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: Obviously fearful of like a lawsuit, but, but to have
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: him out there, he's kind of a, kind of a
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: dummy a little bit there's no way he was gonna
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: answer all those questions properly and uh that to me
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: was like they have zero faith in this guy they
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: he's he's gonna be the the pawn that gets his
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: head cut off at the end of the year um
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: but some of this has to go on Howie at
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: this point like Jeffrey Lurie is the owner he can
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: sit in his box and just be there like he
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: doesn't have.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: To be part of the culture of a team do
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: you mean you know you mean like from the standpoint
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: of you know Howie having the contract with Roth, Roth,
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: the Rothman Institute at this point.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: And that's what you mean. Okay. Because look, I, I'm
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: just going to say this.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to go into the details of it,
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: but a friend of mine who works, you know, within
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: the medical field and just has some understanding of what
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: has happened with Rothman after they were bought by bought
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: out by Jefferson.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: There, there have been, there are issues. There have been issues.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Not just with the Philadelphia Eagles, not just with other
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: sports teams as well that uses Rothman, but there have
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: been issues with athletes over the years, and I'm just
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: going to leave it there.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: There have been issues.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and Howie is the general manager. He oversees all
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: these contracts. He oversees Nick Sirianni's contract. He's the one
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: that allowed him to stay for a year and a half.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: He oversees the medical staff. That's his responsibility. I know
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: he's player personnel manager, majority of the day but that
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: that's that's not an excuse at this point like you've
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: let this completely crumble over a year and a half
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: and it's almost like this was this is like the
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: reckoning like this final like the aj brown saga was
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: a disaster last season the poopoo holes was it was
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: a disaster this big beginning of the season has been
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: atrocious and at some point like you know he gets
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: kudos for all the night the great trades and the
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: personnel picks and drafts but this this is like if
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: you're a free agent I know you still want to
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: play for the Eagles but if you're near the end
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: of your career and you you need a good medical
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: staff yeah and you want to trust the organization a
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: little bit like Do you, you know, do you kind of.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: Do you really want to come here? Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: And I, I just, I, I, I, I hated this
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: story from the start, just from a personal perspective with
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: the clot thing, but it just made me think like this,
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: this goes further beyond just the injury and how they,
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: how they handled this. They're going to face a lawsuit
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: at some point from somebody. I mean, the story recently
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: about the Margo's kid.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: That's dude.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: And got like $ 46 million or whatever it was.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: That's going to happen again if Jalen Hurts can never
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: play again. We're not even talking about the way they
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: play in the field and the horrendous losses at this point.
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: It's behind the scenes stuff.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah. It's like, that's how bad it is. We're not
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: even talking about the field stuff. Yeah.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: I mean, I didn't even watch any of the games
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: Sunday cause I was doing something else, but I was like,
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: they're not going to win this game.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: I could tell.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: It was just, it just, I was getting text messages
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: during the game. McKee's like, yeah, no shit. He's a
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: four string quarterback.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Come on.
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: Like, But I hate talking about just the organization in
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: a bad season, but that's how bad it's become with
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: this team.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Let us know your thoughts. If you're watching on YouTube,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: leave us a comment below. We'd love to get your
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: thoughts on this situation with Jalen Hurts and what this
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Eagles organization, the front office, have done or not done.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Leave us that comment and shoot us off an email.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: PhiladelphiaSportsTable at gmail.com. Love to read your email here on
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: the show and respond to it. Well, we're going to
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: take a break now. When we get back, we are
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: going to get into our 76ers season. We're going to
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: lighten up things a bit here. We're going to lighten
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: things up here. We're going to go from complete dog
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: shit to, I don't know, the bright, shiny star in
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: the sky that is the 76ers.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: There it is.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Oh, we should just have the song playing throughout the
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: entire podcast.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: I said it to you guys last night after the win, man.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: I know. I know. It's so good. All right, folks,
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: we're going to take that break. We'll be back in
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: just a bit.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Let's start our Philadelphia 76ers season preview. And how we're
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: going to be doing this is we're actually going to
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: be starting off talking NBA. NBA predictions for this coming season.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: The winner of each division. Emerging teams in the East
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: and the West that may surprise us fans this season.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Then we're going to talk about teams that we believe
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: are going to make it to the Eastern and Western
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Conference Finals. Who will make it to the NBA Finals
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: this coming season? And who's going to win the NBA championship?
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Then we're going to get into a ton of Sixers talk.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: We've got Sixers predictions, MVP of the bench this season,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the three-point shot MVP, the facilitator MVP, the defensive MVP,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: and the overall MVP of this team. Our predictions coming
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: soon here. Eric, let's get into some NBA predictions for
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: this coming season. As we like to do with our
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: season previews, like to go through divisions, give our thoughts
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: on who we think are going to win.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: These particular divisions. So I don't know where you want
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: to start.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Do you want to start with the Atlantic division and
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: who you think may actually win?
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you're going to have to remind me the.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: League names. Cause they're, they're so, I know.
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Like, yeah. Like I have them all.
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: I have the winners written down, but I can't remember the, the,
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: the league.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Okay. All right. Well, yeah. Atlantic.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously we're, you know, we're, we're talking, I mean,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: we know, I mean, I mean, does anybody think the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Brooklyn nets are going to win?
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: No, I'm just kidding. Kidding. Of course. Really? Who do
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: you have here? Here in the Atlantic?
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: I think the Sixers win the Atlantic. I think the
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Sixers win the Atlantic too. Just by a hair over Boston.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: I know Boston lost yesterday, but it's the first game
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: of the season.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: They looked really great in the first three quarters.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: Detroit just pounced on them in the fourth, but they
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: got a solid team top to bottom. If Tatum comes
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: back full strength, he was a little shaky in the playoffs,
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: but he didn't look great. I'll be honest, his first
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: game of the season, I think he has a little
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: pressure on his shoulders.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Of being the guy now. Now he's the guy.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: He doesn't have the security blanket of Jalen Brown. And
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: Paul George ain't going to give you 38 points a
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: game the rest of the season. So he looked fantastic yesterday.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Guess what? He's all yours, Boston.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: He did the same thing to us, and you fall
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: in love with him, and then he spits in your
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: face three weeks in.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Believe me, it's coming. Yeah.
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: I think the Sixers win the Atlantic just by hair.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: Okay, and you said over the Celtics, not even the Knicks.
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: I think it's going to be bunched up, like 53 wins, 52,
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: 50 wins.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: It's going to be really tight.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Okay, all right, very good. I think the Sixers are
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: going to win as well. We're going to give our
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: regular season win-loss totals towards the end here. So, okay,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: let's move on. Let's move to the Central here.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Central... who do you think I'm going, I'm going to
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: go with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yeah.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: I like the Cavs, um, for the regular season. Uh,
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: I think Evan Mobley is going to take another step
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: up this year.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Um, and just better for my fantasy team. You got him. Yeah. Nice.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: All right. Um, I had a fantasy draft at my
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: house this past Saturday and Jeff was there.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: Fun times.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: It's the only NBA fantasy, I think in the country
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: that anyone does.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Um, no, it was a lot of fun.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: And, um, I think Cleveland's going to be a really
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: solid regular season team. I don't know what's going to
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: happen in the playoffs, but they.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Have too much. Detroit lost a little too much, in
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: my opinion.
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: I don't think they're going to be able to play
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: Tobias Harris like they want to, but I think the
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: Pacers are going to be, with Halliburton back, I think
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: they're going to be really damn good. I think it's
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: going to be neck and neck with Cleveland and Indiana,
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: but I think Cleveland will just win by a little bit.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: I'll be talking about the Pacers in a little bit.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Here.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: So, uh, all right, very good.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Let's, uh, move on to the, uh, let's move on
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: to the Southeast here. I'm going with the Orlando magic here.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: This is the one I had the hardest time with. Um,
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: Orlando is trick or treat basically.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: If they're two guys, they're two stars, like really play
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: well and don't get hurt.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: That's the key for their team.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: Uh, I think they have a shot at winning that,
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: but I don't see that happening. I don't see BAM,
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: and Giannis being healthy all season to get the heat
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: to first place. I mean, they're losing by 30 points
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: right now to the T wolves at home. Jesus.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Are they? Oh my God.
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Wow. I, I, I like the Hawks to win
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: the Southeast. I think they're just an all around really
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: solid team. Uh, Jalen Johnson is, is prepared to like
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: kind of make that next step too. And they have
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: a lot in the, in the, in the, in the, uh,
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: in the trunk to make a really good trade. If
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: they want to have lots of draft picks, young players,
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: they can move from, move on. And I, I, I
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: really liked the Hawks. They're a little scary this year.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: I mean, look, the Orlando magic, I'm picking them. That's
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: kind of like one of my sleeper picks here. You know,
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: I think they could do it. I think they have
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: like a 37.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Every year they could be a sleeper pick.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah. They're one of those teams, like if they stay
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: healthy and have solid coaching, they're tied to the Jerome
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: guy last year.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: Their coach was horrendous. Yes. And for some reason, New
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Orleans picked him up. I don't understand it at all. Yeah.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: But anyway, they have a good coach this year. If
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: they could stay healthy, I could see that, but they
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: just never. Franz Wagner, I don't know if he's any
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: good anymore.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I know.
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: He's been kind of trash the last two seasons and hurt.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: If he can stay healthy and play and maybe a
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: new system, I could see them winning the division.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: But I don't know. I'm taking Atlanta.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: They got about a 37% chance to win the division.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: So we'll see what happens. Northwest, Northwest, OKC. I mean,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: I think– are you going OKC as well?
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think they're on the war path. I don't
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: know if you watched any of the game last night.
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: They played the Spurs in San Antonio.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: I was busy falling asleep watching a show with my wife.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: I was doing that before the show.
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I get it. But no, yeah.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: The, I think OKC is just, is ready, ready to
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: go out there and kill the season. I think they're
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: really pissed off about last year.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: Their second best player and probably a top 15 player
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: in the league last year, Jalen Williams wasn't even healthy,
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: barely played in the playoffs.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: And he was probably the catalyst to them winning the
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: title the year before.
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: So I think SGA wants to plant his, plan is
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: flag again is the number one player in the league.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: And if you watch the game last night, they got
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: so many guys come off the bench. They still have
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: a ton of, of draft picks and capital to make
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: trades if they wanted to. Yeah. And they're, they're just
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: poised to make another huge run. I think they're going
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: to win the Northwest by like a mile.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I, yeah, I think you said it all right there. Yeah.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Nothing else to be said. All right, let's go with
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: the Pacific here. Who are you? Who are you thinking?
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you who I'm thinking.
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: To me, it's got to be the Lakers just by default.
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: The rest of the league, I mean, Golden State is so.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: Horrendous.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: Steph Curry left the most recent preseason game limping.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: That's not a good sign. He's 35.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: The Clippers are like SMU of the early 80s, like mid-80s.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: They're like the death sentence. They're done. They have no
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: stars in place. They're in trouble for a long time,
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: and they're not very good this year. Sacramento is always
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: a fucking joke. i i hate although i i have
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: been watching darius acuff the guy they drafted pick and
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: roll with sabonis and acuff is gonna be awesome to
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: watch um i hope he keeps the bonus because i
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: would like the you know those 10 o'clock games it's
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: usually the same teams the kings are always involved i
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: like to watch late night basketball alone it Watching the
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Kings typically is really awful because they just suck balls.
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: But to have this kid that can score maybe 25
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: points a game, he reminds me a little bit of
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: this guy.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Just a little bit. Yeah.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: So I'll have fun watching him. The Lakers, the snow
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: time Lakers, the all-white Lakers.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I think they're going to win.
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: I think Luke is going to be close to an
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: MVP this year, and I think they're going to win
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: that Pacific.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: All right. Cool. All right.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: And then last but not least, the Southwest. I got
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: to go with the San Antonio Spurs.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, me too.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: I think Houston's going to make a run this year.
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: I think they got everyone back healthy. They have one
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: or two good draft picks they could use in a trade.
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: I think Durant, I think you drafted him. I think
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: he's going to have one more solid year. I heard
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: the other day on a podcast, 25-plus points a game
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: for the past 13 seasons.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: That's freaking nuts. Yeah. He's been a leak since 2007.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: My daughter was born in 07. I got married in 2007. Yes, exactly. Yes. Yes.
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: Yes. But I think they got a really good, solid
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: run in them. But unfortunately, they're, you know, they're going
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: up against the Spurs. Yeah.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: Who looked a little off last night, but whatever.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: They'll get it together. As long as they're healthy, they
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: have all the horses to make another run to the finals.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: So I think they'll run away with the Southwest.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: All right, very good.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: Well, as we're moving along here, too, with this segment,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: we want to talk about emerging teams here in the
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: East and the West that may surprise us fans this season.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: You mentioned a specific team, which was the Indiana Pacers.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: And I really think I think they could be a
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: surprise team this year. If the roster stays healthy, you
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: talked about Halliburton and that consistency that he is going
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: to be able to give the team, these contributors, these
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: main contributors, just if they can play consistently, I think
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: they're going to be much more competitive this than maybe
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: some of the outside expectations might suggest again health is
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: their biggest concern and whether they have enough continuity to
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: make a real a real sustained run though that's the
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: question but i think i think the pacers could be
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: that sneaky sleeper team this coming year yeah i don't
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: even think they're sneaky yeah i think they're going to
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: be really good i think they're going.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: To be the mix in the east um, all season long.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: It's kind of funny. The West, the East and the
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: West have kind of like flipped the past year. Yeah.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: Like the West is super top heavy and then it
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: kind of falls off pretty fast.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: I think you're going to have like two 60 plus
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: game winners in the West. And then it's kind of,
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: the dregs are going to be the dreg ish of, of,
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: you know, of, of, of the league.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: Whereas the East is like a bloodbath, man. There's a
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: lot of good fucking teams. And the Pacers are right
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: back where they were two years ago. They were in
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: the finals. They're one game from winning the finals.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: And Halliburton tears his Achilles. But that, I mean, you
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: look at their roster, Halliburton, Nance Jr.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: Nembhard, Neesmith. They got Oubre Jr.
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: which I think is a sneaky good pick or pickup
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: for them. Solid sixer. I was a big fan of his.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: Big time three-pointers at good spots. Plays good defense. They
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: still have Siakam and they have Zubac from the Clippers.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: They have a legit center. they're poised to, to, to win.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: And they got a, they got a really damn good
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: coach in Rick Carlisle, you know, who's has a ring
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: on his finger. And I think they're going to be scary.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: My sleeper team, maybe not even a sleeper because they,
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: they were pretty good last year, but I think Toronto is,
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: it has scary ass roster in the east. When I,
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: and when I said bloodbath earlier it's, there's some really
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: tough teams like Detroit, we'll fist fight you. Like that's
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: a team that is, is tough and we'll fight. The
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: Pacers are tough for Carlisle is a tough dude, tough coach.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: There's just some really hard nose teams and Toronto is
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: one of them. And that is a really solid roster.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: And I really do think if Kawhi can stay healthy,
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: he actually played like 65 games last year, which was
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: the most he's done in a while. Yeah. They have
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: the kind of roster that, can run, can get up
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: and down the court and defensively, they can just lock
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: you down, especially with Kawhi.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: Scotty Barnes. Scotty Barnes.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: Colin Murray-Boyles is a terror on the defensive end. Nalakai Smith,
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: they're just, they're really solid.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: They have R.J.
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: Barrett, they could probably move in a trade if they
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: wanted to with some draft picks.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Going back to Scotty Barnes real quick, I mean, he
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: was shooting like 38% from deep and just like, I
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: think he was averaging like 24 points a game.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: Like, He's a real deal, man.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he's not a superstar, but he's like right underneath
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: the surface of a superstar. And I honestly think Kawhi
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: is just going to show up and play hard and
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: keep his mouth shut because he got away with the
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: Clippers thing. Like the Clippers got like a 10-year death sentence.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: The owner can't even go to his own games in
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: his arena. Yeah. They lost like five years of draft
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: picks and he just gets to go to Toronto for like.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: $ 300, 000 fine. All right, cool. He's out.
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: Now, if he's smart, he'll keep his mouth shut and
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: play hard and not screw around because if Adam Silver
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: was like, that wasn't harsh enough.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: You screw up once I am, I'm coming down on you.
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: I have a feeling he's going, his, his uncle, who's
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: his agent, who's a complete disaster, who actually outfoxed one
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: of the Microsoft founders, which is insane to me. Uncle
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: Dennis outfoxed the owner of the Clippers.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: Um, yeah, that's right.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: But, uh, I think he's going to have a really
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: good year and mainly because he just wants to like
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: not get in trouble further.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: All right. Cool. Cool. Um, do, I mean, do you have, uh,
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: do you have one for the West? as well, maybe?
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: I do.
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: I really like Memphis. I don't think they're going to win.
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: I don't think they're going to win even like 35
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: to 36 games. They might win like 32 games and
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: maybe kind of sniff the play in. I just like
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: their roster. I think Boozer is going to be so
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: much fun to watch. If you like fundamental basketball, he's
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: going to be a 2010 guy almost immediately. They got
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: Cedric Howard, Zach Eady, Gigi Jackson, Ty Jerome. Who's the
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: They got Isaiah Stewart, who they got from the Pistons.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: You know, they call it beef stew.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: And mainly because he's a gigantic mother effer.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: And he'll throw down at any moment. If there's one
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: team in the league that's ready to fight, I just
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: talked about the Pistons. Memphis is the team that will
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: throw down and beat the shit out of you.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: And I haven't looked at the NBA schedule yet, but
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: when Memphis plays Detroit, where Isaiah Stewart played previously.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. you should be in front of the TV.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: Cause you might see an all out 10 man brawl
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: on the court.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: I can't wait for it.
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: It's, it's going to be a 75 to 74 game
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: and there's going to be this fight.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: And I can't wait.
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: Cause that's kind of a throwback to the NBA.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: I still love. Yeah.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: Look, I, I think that the, you mentioned the Houston
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Rockets earlier, and I think they could be that sleeper team,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: you know, that team that, uh, That may surprise us
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: fans this season. Like you mentioned with KD. Yeah, he's
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: got he's he's still got shit left in the tank.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: He absolutely does. I also think that, you know, Jabari
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Smith possibly continued development from him. And they just seem
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: to be a young core that's going to take some
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: new developmental steps this year. And I think they could
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: absolutely be that sleeper surprise team that, you know, may
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: just kind of shock everybody.
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: I think they're hoping a man Thompson makes a leap. Yeah.
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: They signed him to a big deal. He was good
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: last year, but it wasn't like the, it wasn't the second.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: Year leap people were looking for from him. Yep.
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: I think the biggest thing is Fred Van Fleet's going
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: to be back and that, that actually gives them a
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: point guard and that allows Reed Shepard to just shoot
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: threes and do his Reed Shepard thing. they put him
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: in the spot of being a point guard, ball handler, facilitator.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: It's not really his thing.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: He can do it in spots, but he, and you
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: saw in the playoffs, they got, they got demolished.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: He got eaten up alive.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: So I think, I think with Van Fleet and maybe one,
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: two more good years with Durant, I think this team's
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: actually kind of scary. And like, if they get into
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: playoffs and they have a good seating, it's kind of
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: a team I would be like, I might, I might
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: put some cash on.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Okay. All right. Very good.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: All right. Well, as we start finishing up this particular segment,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: before we go to break, Western conference finals, Eastern conference finals,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: and then who we think makes it to the finals
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: and then who's going to be the NBA champ. So
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Eastern conference finals, who do you think it's going to be?
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be Sixers Celtics. Yeah. Do you really?
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: Okay. I, I, I, I sat, I went through it,
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: you know, I love the NBA. I went through it
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: like 50 times. I was just looking like, what if
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: this happens? What if this happens?
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: And again, it's going to be a bloodbath. Yeah.
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: But I, I do think some teams are going to
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: have some major injuries with There's no way, like I said,
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: the Heat are going to have issues. Those two guys
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: aren't good enough. They're not going to play 75 games,
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: and even if they are, the Heat just aren't good enough.
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: They don't have enough behind those two, behind Bam and Giannis.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: And I think Detroit took a step back.
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: Cleveland always falters in the playoffs.
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: They have the beard. They can't get over the hump.
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: They just can't do it.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: They have Harden.
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: In the playoffs, please. It's just not going to happen.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: I think Boston will be scary in the playoffs. I
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: think Pacers like I said are going to be really
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: scary in the playoffs I think Atlanta is going to
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: be there but I just think ultimately I think if
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: Nurse does it the right way he gets Embiid and
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: and I'll get to the makeup of the Sixers, why
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: I think this too. I think he'll get Embiid, and
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: he'll get LeBron enough rest, and they'll go into the
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: playoffs with enough juice left to get to the Eastern
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: Conference Finals finally.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm going with the Philadelphia 76ers. in the Eastern
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Conference Finals, but I'm going with my kind of surprise team,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: and that's going to be the Indiana Pacers.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: Sixers, Pacers.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Because we always seem to have those teams in the playoffs,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: in the postseason, that absolutely shock us, go on a run.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, for God's sakes, look what the fucking Knicks
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: did last year. I mean, nobody would have been able
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: to predict that storyline of just game after game after game, dominance, dominance, dominance.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying the Sixers or the Pacers are going
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: to be that, but teams surprise us during the course
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: of the postseason. I think the Pacers are going to
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: be that. I'm thinking Sixers, Pacers. I think that'd be
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: one hell of a... Hell of a Eastern conference final.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to argue with you. I could easily
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: see Pacers Sixers too.
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the Pacers, I think the Pacers are
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: pissed off too.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: Like they kind of tank last year and then they
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: lost their pick to the Clippers.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: Yes. Fifth. Yes.
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: They should have just top whatever protected it. And, and
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: it's just, it's, it's a bummer because I would have
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: liked to have seen that team, even though they're in
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: my conference. I would have liked to have seen that
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: team get another draft pick and just kind of see
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: what they could do.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: But they have a solid roster now. And, like, I
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: think Halliburton's going to come in with a chip on
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: his shoulder, much like Shea's going to have this year.
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: And I think it's– I think he knows, like, we
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: were one game away from winning the finals.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: I'm pissed. Yeah.
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: I'm going with the Western Conference Finals, OKC, and the
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: San Antonio Spurs.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Same here. Same with me. OK.
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's going to be a run it back, and
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: it's– I love it because I watched a game last night,
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: and this is already like the best rivalry.
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: In the NBA. Yeah.
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: Because they're so young and so fucking talented, and they're
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: really big.
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: I got to give it to Holmgren last night, Chet.
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: He got eaten up in the Western Conference Finals last year,
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: like a joke. It was like one of the worst
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: performances by a young center ever. And he looked pretty
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: solid last night. I think he put on like 20 pounds,
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: and you could barely tell because he's a twig.
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: He has cinnamon steak. Yes.
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: And a bird chest, but, uh, he looked good. And, and, and,
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: and again, okay. See drafts like two guys. I've never
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: really heard of them. I watched some clips on YouTube
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: and I see him last night.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: I'm like, how do they do this? I know they
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: trade Lou Dordaway.
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: They put in case on bringing case in and the
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: two draft picks look good. It's like, God damn it.
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: And then they, I think they have like three picks
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: next year's draft first rounders.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: Like it's, it's, it's crazy.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: Well, in terms of the NBA finals, I do think
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: OKC is going to get to the finals this year.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: That's my pick. OKC and the Philadelphia 76ers. Is that yours? OK.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: All right. And who do you have winning the NBA finals?
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: OKC.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: OKC.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: I have the Philadelphia 76ers. I'm going to homer this shit.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: I don't care. I don't care. It's fine. I feel
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: fantastic about where this team is.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: They are the bright star on the mountain that we
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: are all looking towards.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: I don't give a shit. It's a homer pick. Fucking
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: come at me. I don't care. Philadelphia 76ers, NBA champions.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: I'm fine with it, man.
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: I just think OKC is going to be, by the
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: time they get to the finals, that roster, they're going
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: to have some kind of trade where they.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: Have another team. amazing player and.
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: It's just gonna be like and they're just gonna outrun
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: us like we're gonna be tired at the finish line
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: they're gonna make like that's just kind of what i've
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: envisioned yeah um but listen i'm also the same guy
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: that what picked texans rams for the super.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: Bowl you did yeah exactly both teams are two and
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: four doo-doo butter that's doo-doo butter.
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: Right there don't listen to me i have no clue
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: exactly All right, we're going to take a break, and
• 33:38
  Speaker 4: when we get back, we're going to dive into the
• 33:39
  Speaker 4: Philadelphia 76ers, talk about some storylines heading into this season,
• 33:43
  Speaker 4: and then give our Sixers season predictions.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: Stick with us. We'll be right back.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: The Philadelphia 76ers are on our screens. LeBron James is
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: wearing a Sixers uniform. Jalen Brown is wearing a Sixers uniform.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Life is feeling good when it comes to NBA basketball
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: if you are a Philadelphia 76ers fan. But as we
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: get into some of these storylines here, Eric, I guess
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: the biggest storyline heading into this season for the Sixers
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: is can this team actually play together cohesively with no
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: egos at the end of the day? Like, can they
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: actually do it? Will they be able to get this done?
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: And I think the maturity of all the guys on
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: this team, even the two new acquisitions and LeBron James
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: and Jalen Brown, I think everybody can, I think they
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: can put those egos aside. I think they can understand
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: what's in front of them, not just the fans expectations,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: but what their collective expectations are with each other to say, yeah,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: we're going to get this shit done. We are going
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: to put aside the egos.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: Every now and again.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's going to be egos regardless, but put
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: the egos aside because at the end of the day,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: we're actually mature adults here.
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: We're not still developing anymore.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxey is at another stage and level, which is
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: absolutely amazing. Joel Embiid, you look at him the first
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: game of the season, guy looks like he's actually in
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: shape to start the first game of the season, looking
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: great and defensively was amazing against New York Knicks that
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: first game. And then it's, I don't think the whole
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: ego thing storyline is really going to be that big
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: of an issue.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: I really don't. What are you thinking here?
• 35:27
  Speaker 3: I don't think it's going to be an issue at all.
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: The only guy I would be fearful of is Jalen Brown.
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: I think he's nearing the end of a contract and
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: he was the man last year. But he's always been
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: the consummate professional. He was always a consummate professional in Boston.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: You know, he it was always Tatum's team. And he never,
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: I don't think he really ever complained out front. He
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: might've behind the scenes and stuff, but for the most part, um, he,
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: he just played cohesively with Tatum and they, he took
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: him to a finals and he was the MVP of.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: The finals in 2024.
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: Um, so I don't think he has that in him. I,
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: and I also think the rest of the starters, the
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: bench guys, I don't care about when it comes to
• 36:09
  Speaker 3: ego stuff, but like this, the starters are all at
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: the right time of their careers and, for this to work,
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: in my opinion, LeBron's 41 years old.
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: And I think like, he knows this is not his team.
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: I think this is like the first time in his career,
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: he's here to win a title. And, you know, he
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: went to Miami. He was still like 20 some years.
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: He was in his late twenties. That was going to
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: become his team. Eventually, you know, Dwayne Wade thought it
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: was his team.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: It's just no way.
• 36:36
  Speaker 3: He went to the Lakers. That was his team from
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: day one. They brought in Luca. He didn't, Fought it
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: a little bit, and then he was like, I guess
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: this is Luka's team, and he's out.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah. He's 40 years old.
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: He's got probably two years left. I think he knows
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: this is it. He's got maybe two opportunities to win
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: a title again. And he's going to come in and
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: be the consummate professional. He's going to set the tone,
• 36:59
  Speaker 3: and I'll get into this later too. But he's at
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: the perfect time of his career. And B, some of
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: the statements he made after the game last night If
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: I just play defense and rebound and that's my role,
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: then that's good.
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: I wanted to do that for the team. I love
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: hearing that.
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: Didn't stop him from shooting some crazy three-pointers.
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: I'll get into that later. You made one of them. Oh,
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: my God.
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: There was one that I'll tell you a story about then.
• 37:27
  Speaker 3: So I love to read that because he also, like, no,
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: you know, he's been here. This is his 13th season
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: with the team.
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: I thought it was his 43rd. Yeah, exactly. He's, he's,
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: it's probably what, is he the longest running Philly athlete? Right.
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: I think so. Yeah. He's gotta be. Yeah. Um, but
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: I love to see that.
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: Like, you know, he had, he had some tremendous blocks
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: last night and good stops on defense, a couple of rotations.
• 37:50
  Speaker 3: He was covering the top. He was covering the point guard.
• 37:54
  Speaker 3: I was like, God damn, but he looks really good.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 37:56
  Speaker 3: And I think he understands his role.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: Maxie.
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: No, one's talking enough about Maxie and that he's just
• 38:03
  Speaker 3: keeps getting better every year.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: And why is that going to stop now?
• 38:07
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: Because he has better teammates. That makes no sense. Right. Exactly.
• 38:10
  Speaker 3: Like he's just going to get better. And BJ, sorry,
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: BJ is a killer. Like he has a killer mentality.
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: Yep. I think he's a born leader kind of type. Yep.
• 38:22
  Speaker 3: And I don't know if you saw the footage of,
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: and B jumped out on Brunson at one point of
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: the game at half court and fouled him.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: And BJ came up and said, what are you doing? Yeah.
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: I was like, this is a second year player telling
• 38:34
  Speaker 3: the 13 year veteran, stop it.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: Stupid. Yep. I was like that. I love that.
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: That's I want to see for my second year, third
• 38:41
  Speaker 3: round pick. Like that was awesome. And like I said,
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: Jalen Brown has kind of always been a constant professional.
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: He's extraordinarily talented. I don't think the egos are going
• 38:48
  Speaker 3: to be a problem throughout the season. They're going to try,
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: you know, Marcus Hayes, you know, those types are going
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: to try to make something up, but I don't, I don't, I, this,
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: this team, like, They've been in the league so long,
• 39:03
  Speaker 3: but minus Vijay, that I just don't think it's going
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: to work. I think this team's going to flow very
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: well this year.
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: I think it will, too.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: And what also needs to flow, though, too, is what
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: the backup center is going to do.
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: Who is that? I know, how they're going to perform.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: Can they do their job as Joel Embiid is obviously
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: going to be missing some games due to whether it's
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: load management or likely injury here. I mean, Dembona, is
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: he going to be able to really get the job done?
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: You know, that's, I don't know about the backup center position.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: And look, Nick Nurse is going to have lineup changes
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: here and there to start this season and figure out
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: what's going to happen. It may not actually be a
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: center that goes in when Joel is out. You know,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: there are... We've talked about it before. LeBron may be
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: able to take up that center position every now and again,
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: you know, if need be.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: You know, it's just.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: I think... I think we're getting past the, oh my God,
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: if Embiid's out, what the hell is going to happen?
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: Oh my God.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: I have confidence that if and when he is out,
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: this team is still going to be able to function
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: in a positive manner.
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 40:17
  Speaker 3: The one thing that jumped out to me, I talked
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: about LeBron playing the five and kind of putting around
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: guards after the kid from the Knicks towards Achilles, which
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: I thought Didn't think much about it when it happened,
• 40:30
  Speaker 3: but I was like, now I'm like, that kind of sucks.
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: It'd be nice to get 12 minutes out of him
• 40:34
  Speaker 3: a game because Bono looked terrible last night.
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: It was his first game, but whatever.
• 40:40
  Speaker 3: But you talked about the LeBron. At one point, LeBron
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: and Brown were kind of your front court, where you
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: have two forwards, center, whatever. And they had KCP, Bartlow,
• 40:50
  Speaker 3: and Simons out there together.
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: And it offensively, it looked okay. Like they, they could,
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: they could really move the ball.
• 40:57
  Speaker 3: I kind of liked the flow of the offense then,
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: but they couldn't get a rebound.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: And that's where you're going to get in trouble with like,
• 41:05
  Speaker 3: they they're going to need to eventually get an actual
• 41:08
  Speaker 3: backup center.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 41:09
  Speaker 3: Who can grab some boards because regular season can get
• 41:12
  Speaker 3: away with it. But once you hit the playoffs, I mean,
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: you know, what if they wind up playing, just looking
• 41:18
  Speaker 3: at the bigger teams, you know, Atlanta and Cleveland, just
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: teams with, with, with centers, like they'll fill the, they'll
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: fill those minutes out with somebody in February when they
• 41:27
  Speaker 3: get a buyout or something. But right now, leading up
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: to then that's, that's going to be the one spot
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: where it beats not quite the rebounder used to be anyway.
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: These are kind of shot. So that that's going to
• 41:38
  Speaker 3: be a problem right there. At least bone, unless Bona
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: gets better, but I.
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: Don't, I don't, I don't know. Can't say I can't see.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: Well, I guess we're all going to be also looking
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: at both Jalen Brown and LeBron James. And there's going
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: to be those discussions of who is the most important
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: off season acquisition amongst these two gentlemen here.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: What do you, what do you think? Cause I actually
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: think it's going to be Jalen Brown. I do. Are
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: you in that? Are you in that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• 42:08
  Speaker 3: I thought about this question when I saw in the
• 42:10
  Speaker 3: notes and I think my answer is Jalen Brown on
• 42:13
  Speaker 3: the court.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: And LeBron off the court. Off the court, yeah.
• 42:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, like LeBron's going to set the tone in the
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: locker room, the professionalism, that whole thing. I mean, we've
• 42:23
  Speaker 3: never had a guy on the road who goes to
• 42:26
  Speaker 3: the scorer's table and throws the powder up before the game.
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: Yes. And no one throws anything at him. Yeah, yeah.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: It's just like he's beloved and hated in every arena.
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: When he comes to town, everyone wants to go. Yep.
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: And I don't know if you saw Maxie walk behind
• 42:44
  Speaker 3: him when he was doing the powder.
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: No, I didn't see that. No, he didn't. He didn't
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: see it coming. And he went, Oh, like he did.
• 42:50
  Speaker 3: It's pretty funny. And Maxie, he tweeted out or in
• 42:54
  Speaker 3: his IG story was like, I got to get used
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: to this or something.
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: It was pretty. I like the chemistry of the team
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: so far, but I think on the.
• 43:00
  Speaker 3: Court, we didn't see Jalen Brown unleashed last night. And
• 43:04
  Speaker 3: I do think he, a couple of times he went
• 43:05
  Speaker 3: to the rim and, when some of the Knicks' smaller
• 43:07
  Speaker 3: lineups were out there, and he just dominated. Nobody could
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: stop him going to the rim. He had a couple dunks.
• 43:12
  Speaker 3: And I think Nurse will eventually unleash him a little
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: bit more. He only had 14 points last night, or 15.
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: And I think on the court, there's going to be
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: spots where LeBron and Embiid are just totally out. Max,
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: he's up to 30-some minutes. It's just going to be
• 43:27
  Speaker 3: Vijay and Brown. I think Brown needs to step up
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: and take over and have those nights where he scores
• 43:31
  Speaker 3: 30 points.
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: So I think on the court, it's going to be Brown.
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: Well, before we get to our next break and before
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: we get into some Sixers season predictions, and we've kind
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: of already gone through this, but the promise of this
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: team at the end of the day, at the end
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: of this season, the realistic expectations for the postseason.
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: I know I made the Homer pick to win the championship.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: But, you know, when I look at this team and
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: like from a defensive standpoint, you just and you mentioned
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: it in Embiid's post-game interview talking about, you know, if
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: I'm just here to play defense, then that's fantastic. And
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: we saw in the first game of the season against
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: the Knicks that that was a big takeaway. Joel Embiid
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: was really anchoring the defense once again. But if and
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: when also, Vijay, is going to be playing that defense
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: as well. I mean, he was the sixers primary defender
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: on the reigning finals MVP, holding Jalen Brunson to just
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: three of nine shooting from the field when Vijay was
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: the primary defender on him. And I think that the defense,
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: and we haven't even talked about Wade yet, you know,
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: and we may get to him with our sixers predictions here,
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: but his defense as well, I've talked about defense over
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: the years on this podcast every now and again, and
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: it's kind of boring because nobody gives a shit about
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: defense necessarily.
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: When they're watching NBA games, they want to see buckets. Yeah,
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: but dorks like I do.
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: I watch for that stuff, yeah. But I'm saying we
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: have this now.
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: We have defenders on this team, and if Embiid is
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: able to take what he once was and just consolidate
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: that into that defense that we just need consistently from him.
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: And then with VJ as well, Holy shit, dude. I mean,
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: this is going to be, this is going to be
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: quite the team heading into the post season. It really is.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: And, and that it's honestly one of the reasons why
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: I wanted to take them in the finals and win
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: the championship.
• 45:33
  Speaker 3: Well, just there's some lineups they can throw out there
• 45:35
  Speaker 3: defensively that are Just scary. I mean, Max, he's gotten
• 45:39
  Speaker 3: better defense every year. Yeah. He had a block on
• 45:42
  Speaker 3: Josh Hart last night. Went across the court, across the lane.
• 45:48
  Speaker 3: Most players have used their right hand. He went left
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: because he's smart. If he uses his right hand, he's
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: going to foul him. Went left, got his hand between
• 45:54
  Speaker 3: the ball and the rim and blocked it. And I
• 45:55
  Speaker 3: was like, God damn. Two years ago, he was not
• 45:57
  Speaker 3: doing that play.
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 45:59
  Speaker 3: But they've got lineups where they could throw out. Like,
• 46:02
  Speaker 3: KCP looked really good on defense last night.
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: He did.
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: KCP, Edgecombe, Embiid. sorry, Dean Wade and maybe like, and
• 46:11
  Speaker 3: maybe Maxie out there. Like that's a pretty solid defensive
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: squad there. Too bad Dean Wade didn't play last night,
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: but I think he's going to be really key to
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: the bench and the defense.
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. We'll get to that. We'll get to that for sure.
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: So, all right, should we go to break and then we'll,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: we'll do some more Sixers predictions. Yeah.
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: Sounds good. Take a break folks. We'll be back in
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: just a bit.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: We're back, and let's get into our season predictions for
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: this Philadelphia 76ers team. We're going to get into some
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: MVP talk with different categories here. The MVP of the
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: bench this season. Who do you think that's going to be, buddy?
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: I think I know who you're going to say.
• 46:56
  Speaker 3: Okay. But after last night, and after last night, I
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: had to change my pick. I think Simons is going
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: to be... the MVP off the bench. That's who I
• 47:05
  Speaker 3: was going to pick. My, my, my, my Anthony Simmons Simons. That's,
• 47:14
  Speaker 3: that's actually, that's actually who I'm picking.
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: Okay. I mean, he has shot Wade. No, I wasn't
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: going to pick Wade.
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: I may pick Wade for something else perhaps, but look with,
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: with Simons, he's shot what? 42.7, uh, 42.7%. on catch
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: and shoot threes over the previous six seasons for God's sake.
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: You know, I mean, that is, that is going to
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: be critical, you know, especially in a third, you know,
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: where this team has faltered over the years. And the third,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: we consistently see dog shit from this team, you know,
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: all the time.
• 47:44
  Speaker 3: How many times I'm mad out to you guys, the
• 47:47
  Speaker 3: third quarter step.
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: I know, I know, but you put Simon's out there
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: and if he's knocking down threes, I think he's going to,
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: it's going to be so critical of keeping some consistency
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: with this, uh, you know, flow of the game.
• 47:59
  Speaker 3: Well, it's, it's the old Amy Reed thing, like putting
• 48:02
  Speaker 3: players in the right positions to be successful.
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: Right. It's like.
• 48:06
  Speaker 3: Simon's is a starter on the nets or the Clippers.
• 48:12
  Speaker 3: You know, it's just the, also they also ran of the,
• 48:14
  Speaker 3: of the league coming off the bench and just being,
• 48:17
  Speaker 3: and just being a microwave, uh, like Vinnie Johnson, that's
• 48:20
  Speaker 3: his role. Like that's what he should do. And that's
• 48:21
  Speaker 3: what he did last night when he came in and
• 48:24
  Speaker 3: just bang, bang, bang. And in the second quarter, uh,
• 48:26
  Speaker 3: when we were down eight and just all of a
• 48:28
  Speaker 3: sudden we're down to, it was like, he came in
• 48:31
  Speaker 3: and just got us right back into it. It doesn't
• 48:35
  Speaker 3: really play a deal, but that's something we need him for.
• 48:36
  Speaker 3: And that's, I did watch file on in the preseason.
• 48:41
  Speaker 3: I liked what I saw, but the fact that he
• 48:43
  Speaker 3: didn't even see the floor last night and he was
• 48:45
  Speaker 3: doing that against like second string players in the preseason.
• 48:49
  Speaker 3: I don't know how much he's going to play. And
• 48:50
  Speaker 3: I think Simon's is going to fulfill that role. And,
• 48:54
  Speaker 3: You don't have a ton of scoring off the bench,
• 48:56
  Speaker 3: so he's going to have to.
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: Fill that role. Absolutely. I think he's going to be
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: the key off the bench.
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: All right. Very good.
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: Let's go with the three-point shot MVP of the season.
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: Who do you have here?
• 49:09
  Speaker 3: It's going to be Maxie.
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 49:12
  Speaker 3: The team shot like shit from three point last night
• 49:15
  Speaker 3: overall um but maxi's shooting just year over year and
• 49:20
  Speaker 3: his strength and the the distance he can pull up
• 49:24
  Speaker 3: from yeah like that and hit a three-pointer like it's
• 49:27
  Speaker 3: just just getting better better every year and i think
• 49:31
  Speaker 3: he'll have plenty of opportunities to to take a three
• 49:35
  Speaker 3: and there's gonna be so much collapsing in the lane
• 49:37
  Speaker 3: at times yeah Because, you know, you're going to have
• 49:40
  Speaker 3: Jalen Brown and Vijay attacking the rim and Embiid down
• 49:42
  Speaker 3: there that they're going to take a step back and
• 49:44
  Speaker 3: allow Maxie to have that little extra airspace to hit
• 49:47
  Speaker 3: those three pointers. I think he's going to have a
• 49:48
  Speaker 3: lot much easier time this season shooting three pointers.
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, absolutely. I'm right with you on that. Perfect.
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: Perfect description there for the three point shot MVP, the
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: facilitator MVP.
• 50:00
  Speaker 2: Who do you have here? I got the king. That's
• 50:04
  Speaker 2: what I got too. Yes, of course. It's got to
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: be him, right? I mean, you saw some of it
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: last night. Incredible.
• 50:11
  Speaker 3: He hit Vijay and Jalen on backdoor cuts.
• 50:15
  Speaker 2: Yep, yep.
• 50:16
  Speaker 3: And there's so much attention on Maxie and then on LeBron.
• 50:19
  Speaker 3: That starting five, if they're really humming, there's so much
• 50:23
  Speaker 3: pressure on the defense. The Knicks were phenomenal defensively last year.
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 50:27
  Speaker 3: And the Sixers kind of had them on skates last
• 50:31
  Speaker 3: night in the second half. And a lot of that,
• 50:33
  Speaker 3: you know, was just, well, I sent you the text
• 50:36
  Speaker 3: last night. LeBron was phenomenal facilitator, but then something jumped
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: out to me and I'm like, this Embiid, I'm looking
• 50:44
  Speaker 3: at my text to you for my notes.
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 50:46
  Speaker 3: The Embiid-Maxie pick and roll in the third and fourth
• 50:49
  Speaker 3: quarter was just like a microcosm of what we're going
• 50:51
  Speaker 3: to see all season and with different players, you know.
• 50:54
  Speaker 3: For some reason, the Knicks were double teaming Maxie up
• 50:57
  Speaker 3: in the top corner near half court.
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: I don't know why they kept doing it.
• 51:01
  Speaker 3: And, you know, Embiid would come up to the top
• 51:04
  Speaker 3: of the key defense would run baseline off from the
• 51:06
  Speaker 3: baseline to Embiid and then beat Embiid just had like
• 51:09
  Speaker 3: his choice of like Vijay Jalen or LeBron or Simon's
• 51:12
  Speaker 3: over here to go right to the rim and they
• 51:15
  Speaker 3: did it like four times in the fourth quarter and
• 51:17
  Speaker 3: I'm just like this is gonna happen this is happening
• 51:20
  Speaker 3: against the Knicks yes like what's gonna happen when they
• 51:22
  Speaker 3: play the Nets yes or the fucking or the the
• 51:26
  Speaker 3: Suns like it just aren't very good defense like there's
• 51:28
  Speaker 3: just They played one of the best teams in the
• 51:30
  Speaker 3: league last night and won, and they were still rusty,
• 51:33
  Speaker 3: and they're getting used to each other. I know it's
• 51:35
  Speaker 3: only one game, but you have to take something out
• 51:38
  Speaker 3: of it, and that jumped out to me. It's like
• 51:40
  Speaker 3: when those five are playing together and they're gelling, the
• 51:43
  Speaker 3: defense is only five guys out there. They're going to
• 51:46
  Speaker 3: have to double-team somebody, and it's just going to create
• 51:49
  Speaker 3: chaos for that team defensively.
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: With the facilitator MVP category here and why I pick
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: LeBron as well, and it really– it really, it really
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: saw it of course.
• 52:03
  Speaker 2: In game one.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: And this may sound elementary, but just the elite court
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: vision that he has just, it's incredible. Just identifying open
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: teammates that are going to be able to create those
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: high percentage scoring opportunities. It's like, shit, I haven't seen
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: this like it's long fucking time.
• 52:21
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 52:22
  Speaker 3: And you know, it's, it's why early on in his career,
• 52:25
  Speaker 3: you know, people, people at first, when he came in late,
• 52:27
  Speaker 3: he's the next Jordan. And it's like, yeah, after his
• 52:29
  Speaker 3: first year, I'm like, he's not the next Jordan. He
• 52:31
  Speaker 3: doesn't play like Jordan at all. And then finally people
• 52:34
  Speaker 3: figure out he's the next magic Johnson because he's big.
• 52:37
  Speaker 3: He can handle the ball. Couldn't quite shoot when he
• 52:39
  Speaker 3: first came late. Neither could magic, but he'd get to
• 52:42
  Speaker 3: the rim whenever the hell he wanted. And the passing
• 52:44
  Speaker 3: was just impeccable from the start. He's, he can pass like, like,
• 52:48
  Speaker 3: like Larry, he can pass like magic could from day one.
• 52:52
  Speaker 3: And I think you're really going to see that this
• 52:54
  Speaker 3: year when he's kind of just, when he's facilitating from
• 52:56
  Speaker 3: the top of the key, just kind of taking a
• 52:58
  Speaker 3: rest you know like like he he's 41 he knows
• 53:02
  Speaker 3: his body and like to facilitate and just kind of
• 53:05
  Speaker 3: have the defense still to respect him and come to
• 53:07
  Speaker 3: him yep those open lanes like he hit vg and
• 53:10
  Speaker 3: jalen coming off the baseline like it's just it's gonna
• 53:13
  Speaker 3: be so much fun to watch and like he's he's
• 53:15
  Speaker 3: a generational passer which i don't think a lot of
• 53:17
  Speaker 3: people like i mean most people do but like i
• 53:19
  Speaker 3: think novice fans who's like oh my god let's watch
• 53:22
  Speaker 3: this lebron and be like holy shit, this guy can
• 53:24
  Speaker 3: pass really well too. It's like, yeah, he has been
• 53:26
  Speaker 3: for his whole career, but like, this is, yeah, you're
• 53:28
  Speaker 3: going to, and he's 40, what, 24 years of basketball
• 53:32
  Speaker 3: experience on the court.
• 53:34
  Speaker 2: Like you can't teach that.
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: It's just incredible how he was creating those high percentage
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: scoring opportunities last night.
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: Like, I'm like, I'm like, man, we fucking got it here.
• 53:45
  Speaker 2: It's actually happening. My gosh.
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: All right, well, let's move on to the defensive MVP here.
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: Who's going to be your defensive MVP? And I should
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: say also, I've got my defensive MVP, but I also
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: have an honorable mention that I'm going to throw in
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: here as well.
• 54:00
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to let you go first here. It's
• 54:02
  Speaker 2: going to be Vijay. Okay, that's mine too. Vijay is mine.
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: I do have an honorable mention, but Vijay, of course,
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: my God, his perimeter defense. And he's got room to
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: grow as well. I mean, the speed and athleticism to just...
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: just challenge opposing guards, make life difficult for elite scorers.
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: It's going to be amazing to watch.
• 54:25
  Speaker 2: And not just guards, forwards.
• 54:26
  Speaker 3: I mean, he's 6'5, like 210, 220 pounds.
• 54:29
  Speaker 2: He's a big dude.
• 54:31
  Speaker 3: And he's just going to get bigger and stronger and quicker. But,
• 54:35
  Speaker 3: I mean, last year he was doing some stuff.
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: This is his rookie year.
• 54:39
  Speaker 3: He was doing some stuff that, like, true NBA veterans
• 54:41
  Speaker 3: used to do, like the best defenders in the 80s,
• 54:44
  Speaker 3: where they would guard guys with their ass.
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 54:47
  Speaker 3: So they could watch the ball and the entire court
• 54:50
  Speaker 3: as the players, he keeps the player on his ass
• 54:53
  Speaker 3: and follows the ball. And like where the balls of
• 54:55
  Speaker 3: the team, like the team's passing the ball. So he
• 54:57
  Speaker 3: could watch and guard his guy. And I was like,
• 55:00
  Speaker 3: first time I saw it, it was near the end
• 55:01
  Speaker 3: of the regular season. I'm like, you can't teach that shit.
• 55:04
  Speaker 3: Like that is like really instinctual, great defense. And he
• 55:07
  Speaker 3: has the athleticism and instincts to do it. And like,
• 55:09
  Speaker 3: I think he's just going to get better. And he
• 55:11
  Speaker 3: was he was their best defender, like perimeter defender by
• 55:14
  Speaker 3: far last night.
• 55:14
  Speaker 2: Yep, absolutely.
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: But look, my honorable mention is going to go to
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: Dean Wade coming off the bench. I think he he's
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: going to be that defensive X factor that in certain
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: opportunities in a number of games, we're going to end
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: up seeing folks. Dean Wade is going to be a
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: defensive difference maker. Just versatility, I think, is going to
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: allow him to defend multiple positions. And it's going to
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: give Nick Nurse some flexibility against some different opponents. And specifically,
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: some of those really good teams that we're looking at
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: in the East in particular, he's going to get an
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: honorable mention for me.
• 55:51
  Speaker 3: He's going to be very important when he gets back
• 55:54
  Speaker 3: from injury because without a backup center, he's going to
• 55:57
  Speaker 3: wind up playing... perimeter D and he's playing low post defense.
• 56:01
  Speaker 3: So yeah, they need him back pretty fast.
• 56:03
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: Who is going to be the overall MVP of this team?
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: We probably have the same individual and I'm going with
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxey.
• 56:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, this is, yeah, that was the one thing that
• 56:16
  Speaker 3: jumped out last and just watching this team and just his, his,
• 56:21
  Speaker 3: his progression year over year of getting better. There's, you know,
• 56:25
  Speaker 3: some of the talk was like, this is going to
• 56:27
  Speaker 3: like stun his growth because there's the ball has to go.
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: It's like, I don't think so.
• 56:32
  Speaker 3: Like the points per possession, the number of possessions per
• 56:35
  Speaker 3: game now in the NBA are through the roof to
• 56:37
  Speaker 3: what they used to be. And I'm saying that because
• 56:39
  Speaker 3: like that'll allow Maxie to still get his touches and
• 56:42
  Speaker 3: his shots. Like he always did, but they're going to
• 56:45
  Speaker 3: be better touches and better shots because of the defense
• 56:47
  Speaker 3: has to respect the rest of the team around him.
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 56:50
  Speaker 3: And between the block and the dunk and the steals
• 56:53
  Speaker 3: last night, I was like, this guy just gets fucking
• 56:56
  Speaker 3: better every year, man.
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: And with LeBron facilitating to him too.
• 56:59
  Speaker 3: Correct. And it takes, it allows Maxie to like be
• 57:04
  Speaker 3: an offensive player, not just a facilitator at times. Like
• 57:07
  Speaker 3: he can, he can score and like, I don't think
• 57:10
  Speaker 3: he's ever had the opportunity to just be a scorer
• 57:13
  Speaker 3: and he can do both. So this, this, this opens
• 57:16
  Speaker 3: up at a, sort of, just assorted opportunities for him.
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: I'm giddy, Jeff. Yes, we're giddy. We're giddy, folks. We're giddy.
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: And I guess to start closing things out here, the
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: regular season record of the Philadelphia 76ers. Eric, I am
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: going with a 54-28 record for this team.
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: What do you have? 53-29.
• 57:42
  Speaker 3: Okay. Like I said, I think it's going to be
• 57:47
  Speaker 3: the East is going to be a bloodbath. I think
• 57:48
  Speaker 3: it's like, Boston's going to have 52 wins. The next one,
• 57:52
  Speaker 3: like 51, it's going to be like one of those seasons.
• 57:54
  Speaker 3: You're not going to have a 60 game winner in
• 57:56
  Speaker 3: the East. Um, and I, I think the probably one
• 57:59
  Speaker 3: of being the two seeds, something like that, the Sixers,
• 58:02
  Speaker 3: which is fine. And, uh, because they're gonna make the
• 58:04
  Speaker 3: finals and they're going to win it according to you.
• 58:06
  Speaker 2: So, well, I mean, it's going to happen, right? We're
• 58:10
  Speaker 2: so good at this. We really are. Yeah. It's great.
• 58:12
  Speaker 2: I've doomed them. Oh my God.
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: Just can't wait to see what this season is going
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: to bring. I mean, this team is going to be
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: playing on holidays during the course of this season. I mean,
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: the schedule is going to be pretty freaking incredible to
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: watch this team here. So you got anything else, buddy,
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: before we head out?
• 58:32
  Speaker 2: I have to tell you this story.
• 58:35
  Speaker 3: I was watching the game last night, and at some
• 58:38
  Speaker 3: point in the fourth quarter, Embiid, yeah, it was like
• 58:43
  Speaker 3: two minutes left in the fourth quarter, and it was–
• 58:45
  Speaker 3: There was still time in the shot clock.
• 58:46
  Speaker 2: The Sixers were up.
• 58:48
  Speaker 3: And Bede gets it like 10 feet from three-point land
• 58:51
  Speaker 3: and all of a sudden just raises up and guns
• 58:53
  Speaker 3: up a three-pointer.
• 58:54
  Speaker 2: You know what shot I'm talking about.
• 58:57
  Speaker 3: And I don't know if it's because I stopped drinking
• 59:00
  Speaker 3: or maybe I'm 50 now.
• 59:02
  Speaker 2: I used to yell at the TV when that would happen,
• 59:04
  Speaker 2: especially him. He was my guy. Oh, my God. Pissed
• 59:09
  Speaker 2: me off so bad.
• 59:09
  Speaker 3: It's 13 seasons with us instead of yelling and screaming
• 59:13
  Speaker 3: this time like i said 13 years jeff we've been
• 59:16
  Speaker 3: engaged to this guy right you can't get rid of
• 59:19
  Speaker 3: him yep um he shut he he raises up to
• 59:23
  Speaker 3: shoot and apparently my son and wife looked at me
• 59:26
  Speaker 3: and i just went.
• 59:31
  Speaker 2: It was just deflatedness. It was deflated frustration.
• 59:36
  Speaker 3: It wasn't anger like I used to. It was just
• 59:40
  Speaker 3: flat out like, I just accept this guy, but God
• 59:43
  Speaker 3: damn it, is he frustrating? And they both started dying
• 59:46
  Speaker 3: laughing at me. I can't even recreate it because it
• 59:48
  Speaker 3: was so natural. And they both were like, Dad, we've
• 59:51
  Speaker 3: never seen that before. Vinny was like, we've never seen
• 59:53
  Speaker 3: that before.
• 59:53
  Speaker 2: It was just like, ugh.
• 59:57
  Speaker 3: You just you just melted into the love seat and
• 59:59
  Speaker 3: just kind of like went uh yeah yeah like that's
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 3: it's this guy's been in my life for 13 years
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 3: it's just oh instead of yelling i was like this
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 3: is who he is yeah am i gonna do it
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 3: you know you're yeah.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: I know exactly the shot you're talking about i went jesus.
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 3: Michelle's like what that's what i would have done like
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 3: a year or two ago this was like.
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: Oh, you.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 2: Oh, jeez. God.
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: Look, he's been frustrating in those moments for sure. But, man,
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: his defense this year I think is going to be fantastic.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 2: Well, that's the thing.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 3: But he had some great dunks and he had some
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 3: great blocks and great defensive stops.
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 2: And it's like, yeah. But then he does that. You're like, oh. No. No, don't.
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: Oh, folks, that's going to do it for us here
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: at the PST Podcast Show this week. Subscribe on whatever
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: podcast platform you're listening to us on. If you are
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: not already, subscribe on YouTube as well. Hit the bell
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: to be notified when we post new videos. And that's
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: going to do it for us. And, yeah, we got
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: our Eagles postgame show I think we're going to be
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: doing this weekend.
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 2: I've got to figure out a guest here, I guess,
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 2: to bring on.
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: It could just be me doing five minutes of the
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: team played, the team sucked.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 2: See you later, folks. I may just have to do that.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 3: Tanner for 98 yards.
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 2: Oh gosh.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 3: Ron Simpson ran for 40 yards.
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 2: Yes. I don't even know these names. Ron Simpson. Joe,
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 2: Joe Smith. Yeah, exactly. All right, folks. Take care. We'll
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 2: catch you next time.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: Thank you.