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My NBA All Star Ballot · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:04
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to another episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beecham.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: I feel so good to be back.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: We had to run a rerun.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: A rerun last week.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: Because around this time, seven days ago, I was in my basement, grown ass man in the fetal position with the flu, the super flu.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna call it the superfluo man.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: I done had the flu a few times in my life.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Nothing beats whatever's going on right now.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: I had every symptom you could imagine.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: I had vomiting, I had chills, I had a fever, a 104 fever, which I didn't know this, but 104 can get pretty dangerous if it's sustained for a long time.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: So um I was sitting down there and, you know, I hate to not have an episode prepared for y'all, but it was just no way.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: The only thing that I'm still dealing with seven days later, sometimes my voice can crack a little bit.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I might have to get off screen to cough a little bit.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: But other than that, your boy is back.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: And man, I missed a lot, didn't I?
0:55
SPEAKER_00: Seven days without talking hoops feels like an eternity to me.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: We are in the dog days, which is like if there's any time to miss an episode or to get sick, it's like kind of right now because you're not learning anything new halfway through the season.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: But boy, I missed it.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: Before we get into the episode, I want to let you know that me and the boys have a live show in Los Angeles for All-Star Weekend.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: I'll be sure if you're watching on YouTube that the link will be in the description, or you can scan the QR code that will be on screen.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: We have a great show planned.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, if everything goes perfectly, special guests.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to make no promises, but special guests, some names that we have, we have fillers out for.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: They like, yeah, they're interested.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: So if you're in the Los Angeles area around All-Star, please come show us some love.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: And also later today, as we get this episode out, it is MLK Day.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: And y'all know MLK Day is for, you know, mem remembering uh Martin Luther King Jr.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: and all he did for America, but also is a day for basketball.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: So be sure to tune in to Peacock and NBC to see a huge, huge slate of basically hoops starting as soon as you wake up.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this episode premieres, I think, at 11 o'clock Central Time, and I'm looking at the schedule.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: As soon as this episode is done, you can just switch channels.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: You got Bucks versus Hawks.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: Come on, man.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, feels weird that we won't have Grizzlies playing on MLK Day for what?
2:10
SPEAKER_00: Like the third or fourth year in a row.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, but they're in Berlin hooping, they're doing their own little thing.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: But uh, yeah, be sure to tune in to Hoops because Hoops is great.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: All right, what am I doing today?
2:21
SPEAKER_00: Today we're gonna be talking about NBA All-Stars.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it will be also announced.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: There it is, here on uh Peacock and NBC, the starters of the NBA All-Star game for the 2026 game.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'm gonna give my own personal ballot.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: First up, I'm gonna let you know that my ballot literally means nothing.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm just a guy that watches basketball.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: I don't have an official vote to anything yet.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm just a guy that watches a lot of basketball and like to give my opinion.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: So here are my uh my preambles when it comes to this NBA All-Star stuff.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: Personally, I'm not one of the people that that vote with the idea of the game in mind.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: There was a period of time in my life as a guy that was covering this sport where um I would read articles and listen to podcasts who also didn't have official votes, but also just watchers of basketball like me.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: And they would have somebody off of the ballot because, well, their style of play is not very fun.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: And the all-star game is supposed to be about fun.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: I say that's BS.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: It's not about fun.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: It's never been about fun.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: Well, I can't say never.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: I think the last time I had fun in an all-star game was Cleveland, where Steph Curry hit a gazillion threes.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: I remember that being in attendance.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: And before that, it was like 2020, right after Kobe's passing and right before the world shut down.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: Those are the last times I had fun during an all-star game.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: I look at it the same way I look at All-NBA.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: The All-Star game is a snapshot of the league giving honors to the best 24 players in basketball.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's not end up being the best 24 because the Easter conference is trash.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: But but I look at it that way, and it is a way we look back on players' career, man.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: Imagine, imagine if we snubbed a player that obviously is a super impactful All-NBA, all-star, impactful level player, but because he doesn't play fun, his resume at his end of career says zero all-stars.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Cut it out.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: So I don't give a damn about whether or not the game is fun or not.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: This is about accolades and this is about everything along those lines.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: The way I kind of looked at it was I broke it down into conferences as you should.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: I know this year is different where it's not East versus West, it's America versus World, but there's a multiple American teams and one world team, and it's up to Adam Silver to fill these roles if people don't hit the right crazy.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: It's it's a lot.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm just going very static.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: Here's 12 players in the East, 12 players in the West, and Adam Silver, you do the rest.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: You put them on the right team, wrong team.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't really care.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: So I'm looking at the Eastern Conference, and I I suggest that everybody watching this try to do their own all-star ballad that has 12 names in each conference, and you'll probably run into the same thing that I run into.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: The Eastern Conference is just bad.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: And it's just like a it's a grander scheme than that.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm not even just talking about the top end talent who's all-star worthy, yada, yada, yada.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: It's like uh the Pistons still can't score, even though they still find out ways to win games.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: The Boston Celtics are probably still missing Jason Tatum, probably not.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: The Knicks have turned the calendar and they can't win ball games.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: It's just the Cavs, who we looked at as a team to be impactful, will get you going and make you feel like they're back, and then they lose to the Utah Jazz.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: It goes on and on and on, and then that trickles down to the All-Stars.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: The first thing I did, I was like, these are my locks.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna I'm gonna write down the players that with no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
5:23
SPEAKER_00: There is no bubble.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: These are the guys that will 100% be in the game.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: I got to eight names in Eastern Conference.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm like, okay, what's the bubble?
5:32
SPEAKER_00: The bubble had four names.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: So there really is no real life snubs in the East.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: We all know who the all-star people are, so let's just quickly, quickly go through it.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: Starting off in no particular order, other than these were the the way I looked at it was through the standings.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, K Cunningham, he's at 26, 9.5 and 6, as you know, and he's been absolutely incredible.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: You know that the Pistons are the surprise team as I record this episode 30 and 10, which is phenomenal.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: It's it's even more phenomenal when you look at their recent stretch, where it's like scoring has just become something that they just cannot do.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: And that's why I keep telling Pistons fans that I am pro uh Pistons going out there and making some level of move, even if it's not the grand all be all trade, the four first-round picks for the next superstar player alongside Kay Cunningham.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm just watching this team play, and it feels like if it's not going through Kate, it's not getting into the basket.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: In their last couple weeks of hoops, they are the 25th ranked offensive team in basketball.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: But first, by wide marginal defensive end, that's their identity, as we know.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: But I start to look at, you know, the playoffs, the eventual playoffs.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: This team is competing for a championship now, and I watch, you know, some of the other teams that might be able to, I won't use the word hang with them defensively, but make it so that these games are super low score, and he's like, man, who outside of Kay Cunningham could do some things?
6:46
SPEAKER_00: That's not what this is about.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: It's really about K Cunningham being phenomenal.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: He has been all that, the perfect leader for this super young and super great uh Pistons team.
6:55
SPEAKER_00: So easy.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: Lock him up.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: The next lock, of course, is Jalen Brown, 29.75 and six.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I said five assists for K for Jalen Brunson.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, for Jalen Brown, Jalen Brunson's next spoiler.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: For Jalen Brown, he's been ridiculous.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: He does not miss.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: And even in the games where things may be not looking too great, you can really count on Jalen Brown to be the saving grace for Boston.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: And I cannot wait for Jason Tatum to come back because we talked about how the Easter Conference is bad.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: Even if Tatum is at 60, 70%, whatever it may be coming off an Achilles, I feel good about this team competing, dog.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: This is crazy.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: This is so crazy, man.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: Before the season started, we were talking about how the Pacers and the Celtics may be going through gap years.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: And boy, that we hit on that Pacers one.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: My goodness, that team is awful right now.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: By design, by design, kind of.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: Where the Celtics is like, nah, we got Joe Mazzula as our coach.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: We got Jalen Brown, who like genuinely is a superstar right now.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: You know?
7:59
SPEAKER_00: And then when Tatum comes back healthy, there's a world where this Celtics team has two top 10-ish players involved.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: Like, there's no way you convince me that Jalen Brown has been top 10 this season.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: You convince me he's been top five this season.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: That's nuts.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: Don't talk to me about no on-off numbers.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm not, I'm not doing that.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: Next name, we're gonna put on the list of, of course, Jalen Bronson, the king of New York.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: Right now he's out with a little ankle or whatever, ended up being in uh the team desperately needs him.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: My goodness.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: It is a rough watch out there.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: He is 28, 6, and 3, still one of the clutchest men in basketball, still one of the guys that I trust the most when the game is on the line.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: You put the ball in his hands and say, hey, go get to work.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: This stretch for them is just a little bit scary because we know that this is a team that is trying to win a championship and the defense is as bad as it ever has been.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: And you're not like sometimes a team loses their best player, and that best player is somebody that we look at and say, hey, he's not a defensive-oriented guy, but he's out of the lineup and it's like, hey, things are gonna coexist a little bit better defensively, things are gonna look better.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: That has not been the case, and that's scary where the five foot 11 point guard that can't guard is not on the court and y'all still are struggling.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: They're 27th in defense in the last two weeks.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: That's inexcusable, if you ask me.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, I don't know.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: Jalen Brunson has to be there offensively to kind of carry that load, and it's it's a lot, but I still love me some Jalen Brunson, man.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: Whether it be um him being the focal point of him playing a little bit more off-ball as we get deeper into the season, love me some JB.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: So, right now, those are my top three guys Kay Cunningham, Jalen Brown, Jalen Brunson.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: Have to make a little spoiler.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: That won't be the only Jalen that we give some love to um uh in this episode because it's a few, it's a few of them, and a few of them are hooping at an all-star level.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna take a quick break and then we'll come back with more NBA All-Star Voting.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: The next name we're gonna get to when an NBA All-Star locks is, of course, Scotty Barnes, 19 points per game, five and a half assists, eight and a half rebounds.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: And the reason we love Scotty Barnes is for multiple reasons, right?
10:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, he is one of the more impactful defensive players in ball.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: I just love a guy that will be um really about it on that end when it comes to stopping the opposing team best player.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: I recognize there are some players across basketball that we look at as elite level defensive player, but their job is to not be on ball.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: Their job is to not guard the best player and more play in the help or be a roamer or so on and so forth.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: Scotty Barnes has been superb in both of those roles.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: And I would say for the most part that this team, this Toronto Raptors team, has been better than I anticipated.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: Eventually, I did come around and say this is a playoff team, but I don't think they would be this good, even given, you know, when you account for the fact that some of these games are literally running zero centers.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: And I gotta tip my cap to Kyler Murray Boyles, who's been able to come in as a rookie and have a few really ridiculously great games.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: You knew where he would be defensively.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: There was no ifs, ands, or buts about that when he was a prospect, but he's doing more than that, obviously.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: He he's he's fighting on that glass.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: The offense is gonna come around, but I do see him play making them pocket passes and so on.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: So Scotty Barnes deserves all the credit in the world.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: I remember before the season started, we were having the conversation on numbers on the board that if the Raptors were in this exact spot, actually, a team that was top five in the Eastern Conference, who did we believe would be the guy that would make the all-star game?
11:16
SPEAKER_00: And I've just without a doubt, it has to be Scotty Barnes.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: Because I didn't think there was a world where this team was going to be um a great offensive team, right?
11:25
SPEAKER_00: I thought that they had an opportunity to be a good offensive team, which is exactly what they were.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: But if they were going to be a good team in general, it would have to be the defensive side of the ball.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: And it has been the case.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: They're up to the sixth best defensive team in the league.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: I didn't realize they got that damn high.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: They're here, they're making it work.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: And Scotty is one of those guys that the overall counter stats will never show the true impact.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: Because I just read him with 19 points per game.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: Like the other guys that we mentioned before him were 28, 29, and 26, right?
11:52
SPEAKER_00: So that 19 is like, oh, there's really not.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: No, it really is crazy.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, and even when you compare him to his previous sales uh uh statistically, he's like, yeah, is he really having a great season?
12:01
SPEAKER_00: If you say like last year the numbers are almost identical, and the answer is just yes.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: It's one of those players that you have to watch to get the true, true impact of him as a player.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: Even in the games where I feel like he's not um scoring in the way that he can get to this 19.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: He's just overall is impacting the game on every single level.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: Uh, one of my favorite games of the season is the game where he had the 20 rebounds and he goes to the bench and he is as tired as Chris Kamen at one time.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh, all right.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: That is number four.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: Number five on my list is, of course, Donovan Mitchell.
12:29
SPEAKER_00: He is 29, 5.7 and 8.6.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: 39% from three on 10 attempts, man.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: That boy has been liked out, and we know that you know some few catcher shoots in there, but that guy's also creating for himself.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: And though the Cavs have been the most disappointed team of the season so far for me, I can't help but to watch him and say it ain't uh it ain't really his fault.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: We had the whole conversation about what it takes to be a superstar, what it takes to be a great player in his league.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, he said to himself, like I mean to the medium, that they're at the point as a team that he can't have an off night.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: And that was crazy to say in real time, but it also was the case that if he had a game where he had less than 20, or he had a game when he was shooting 30-something percent from the field, the team just felt like they didn't have a chance.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: And right now they're slow, again, just slowly, slowly adding more wins than losses, and the team is slowly and slowly becoming more healthy.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, but Donovan Mitchell 100% deserves to be a lock here.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: He's been incredible.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: Another absolute lock in the starter, Tyrese Maxie, 30 points per game, seven, uh 6.7 assists, 4.4 rebounds.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: This kid here, what can I say about Tyrese Max that hasn't already been said?
13:38
SPEAKER_00: The jump shooting has come around again.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: Last year was a bit iffy of a year when it comes to the overall counting stats of the three-point shooting.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: That now he's back to the 40% three-point shooter we've known he's been.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's that season he's to 44%, 43%, but like now it's back at 40%.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: He is one of the literal most unguardable players in basketball.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: And y'all know I got a soft spot in my heart for the smaller dudes that really give you fits.
14:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's why I really like Jalen Bronson too.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: Caylon Bronson doesn't even have the athleticism of Taris Maxie.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: Tarys Maxie is zooming straight through you.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: Jalen Brunson's got a stop start, stop, start, stop, start.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: But both of these guys are elite.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: He had a play the other night in that game versus the Cavs.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: They um eventually ended up losing, where he's on the right side of the court, right wing.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: He gets past the first defender, and he's wrong foot takeoff, high off glass.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: It had to be like a nine-foot floater, high off glass.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: The man is just so crafty at the rim.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: And you think about the fact that he's going super speed and he can process the game to the point where he knows that he wants to make that specific move and that, and it was this close to being blocked, and high off the glass.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: He is a true pleasure to watch.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: And the 76 is R2, honestly.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: Especially if Joel Lam B is gonna do some of the stuff he's been doing lately.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: Uh-oh.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: I think we talked about them two weeks ago.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: We move on to go to another lock.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: The last Jalen that I have.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: No, it's not the last Jalen that I have.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: The second to last Jalen we got is Jalen Johnson, 22.88 and 10.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: So they obviously make the huge trade at the deadline.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: They go out there, um, they trade away Trey Young, they bring back CJ McCullum.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: And I've never seen a player get traded to a new team without being an all-star and have a green light the way CJ McCullum had in these first, what, three or four games.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: That man came in and said, Trey Young, who, give me literally all of the shots that Trey Young was taking.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: I want every single one of them.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: And they was giving it to him.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: Jalen Johnson is such a peculiar, peculiar player because I really like his game.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: We all know that he's more of a full court and three-quarters court offensive player versus a half-court player.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: And because of the half-court or the lack of half-court creation and how much of a struggle it can be, um, it makes me feel like the Atlanta Hawks are going to have to be a team that continues to add, right?
15:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh, people saw this Trey Young trade as we're just giving the keys to Jalen Johnson.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: They kind of are, but it won't be Jalen Johnson as your 1A.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: I mean, maybe, maybe he proves me wrong throughout the course of his career because he is only what 23 years old, 24 years old, but I don't see him as the 1A guy eventually when the Atlanta Hawks are back to really compete for a championship.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: I think he's gonna be in a superb 1B or um a two completely, but he has been incredible this year.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: Last guy that I was like, no if, ands, and buts about, of course, is Giannis Tedakumpo.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: What can I say about Giannis?
16:19
SPEAKER_00: Oh, what a season the Bucs are having.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: The one safe grace I had about Giannis and the Milky Bucks is that, you know, when he did go down this injury, you looked at the stats and it was something along the lines of we, they 13 to 9 when Giannis has played.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: 13 to 9 ports very well.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: It's like a fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, boom.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: You know, anything can really happen get to the postseason.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: Now they're at the point where that 15-9 or whatever, 13-9 is like 500-ish.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: And now it adds even more pressure to a team that already had a ton of pressure because it's not just simply we got one of the three best players in the world, best player in the conference in a bunch of shooting.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: That ain't the recipe no more.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: They need just overall better players.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: And we just had a week where Ryan Rollins, who had been phenomenal all year long, just really struggled and he's giving thumbs down.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about Giannis to the crowd.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: Then they lose that game by a gazillion points.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: They have another game versus Spurs, who I think they lost by 18 points, but at one point they were down by 33.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: And it's just a lot going on.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: But if Giannis is happy and Giannis is saying he's not requesting the trade, I guess that's all that really matters.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: So those are the eight guys that off the top of my mind, immediately when I thought about the Eastern Conference, was a lock.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Those dudes are 1% in the game.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: And I go through the rest and be like, okay, who's uh who are some two B's, so on and so forth?
17:32
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you my on the bubble.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, it's only 12 names total.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: So these guys are also in the game.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: Jalen Duren is here.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: I think Jalen Durin's stats is like 17 points and yada yada.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: This team's a defensive-oriented team.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: And coming into the season, I was a bit iffy about Jalen Duran.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: He was a guy that gave you flashes, and I mean amazing flashes.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: But the question was, what type of uh contracts will the Pistons be willing to give Jalen Duran?
17:56
SPEAKER_00: What level of player will he be in the grand scheme of like ranking top centers and hoops?
18:00
SPEAKER_00: And then he came out this year, he put the ball on the floor, he created for himself.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: He was more locked in defensively.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: He's the pick and roll defense had gone to a whole nother level.
18:10
SPEAKER_00: And I think that is enough for him to be on the number one seed and the second most important guy on the number one seed.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: That is enough for me personally to put him into the game.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: Then we get to Norman Powell, Storm and Norman.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: Who would have thought that that little bow-legged man could go out there and do the things that he's doing?
18:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he is at 24 points per game, about four rebounds, about three assists, 41% from three.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: I really admire his game because you know exactly where his head is at every time he touched the ball.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: He is a 32-year-old player that is having a career year, coming off a year that he also was in the conversation to make it.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: Western Conference is insane.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: So obviously he didn't make it.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Out East, these are the numbers on a solid team in the Miami Heat, two games over 500 as I record this episode, that say that, hey, he's an all-star.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I am a guy that's like, I want to make sure that every good team is represented when it comes to the All-Star game.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: And in this point, Eastern Conference, two games over.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: You're you're represent you're a good team.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: And the question turned into Norman Powell versus Bam Manabayo.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: Spoiler, I don't have both of them, I just have Norman Powell here.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: And I think the thing that puts it over the hump for me is the offensive input and I'm sorry, output for Norman Powell.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: I did have a really good argument for Bam Manabayo, even though he did have that two-week stretch where he was just really struggling offensively.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: And that argument was if you think about the Miami Heat, what do you think of?
19:28
SPEAKER_00: You don't think about the 20th ranked offense, you think about the fourth-ranked defense.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: And in order to get the fourth ranked defense, Bam Manabao has to be connecting everything.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: And he has been doing that.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: But I still walked away looking at Norman Powell.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: And I think that if Bam's offensive output was just slightly better, I would be willing to give him the nod.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: Right now he's third on the team in total points per game.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: And then the last couple, he got a 29-point game, a 22-point game, and a 30-point game.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: So, so maybe by the time the All-Star game happens, the NBA will give him the nod.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: But um this this team, when it was looking great offensively, was a lot of Norman Powell just getting to his spots and creating for himself.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it is a surprise that a lot of these Bam Matabaio numbers that we're looking at are getting better now that they're running a little bit more pick and roll.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, we'll talk about the last couple players on my bubble, aka N for the Eastern Conference.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: Before we go any further, I'm gonna say thank you to our sponsor over at DraftKings Fellas.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: You know all about DraftKings pick six by now.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: Pick more or less or different players' stats for the upcoming games.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: Pick two or more different players until you pick set, decide more or less on some stats, sit back, relax, and see if you made the right decision.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: This is where I'm rocking today.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: Like I mentioned earlier, we got a full slate here on Peacock and NBC.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: And I want to try to, I want to try to pick something from every single one of these games.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: You know, give me a little bit extra to watch this game for.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: So starting off, we got Bucks versus Hawks.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: I decided to go Jalen Johnson, Jalen Johnson more on PRA.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, some people on Twitter call him the PRA man.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: The man knows how to field that stash sheet and it gets a milky bucks.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: I think he has an opportunity to do that very well.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: Whatever the number is, give me that more.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: The next game we got is the OKC Thunder versus the Cleveland Cavaliers.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: Now, J Dub without a little hammy as I record this.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what the hamstring injury could look like, but if he is not playing in today's game, then I want to go in on maybe the number two, the new number two, and that's gonna be Chad Holmgren.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm going more on points with Chet Homegren.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: Chet versus Mobley versus Allen.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: I like that matchup for Chet Homegren.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: Give me the more on his points.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: Then we get Dallas Mavericks versus the New York Knicks.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: Cooper Flag, Carnthony Towns.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: This one I'm going just a little bit further down.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: Oh, maybe this guy should have been somebody that was on my bubble.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I guess if he didn't have a two week stretch where he couldn't shoot.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: He probably would be on the bubble.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: OG, I don't know, B.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: Give me the more on the points.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: OG, again, other than that, two-week stretch has been phenomenal in the season offensively and defensively.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: I want to go more on his points.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Then we get Celtics versus Pistons.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: Maybe my favorite game of the night.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: This game is going to be incredible.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: I've said I've made the decision here.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: I want to go between the two all-stars that we mentioned, the Jalen Brown and the Kay Cunningham.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: But maybe I should go another way and go Derek White.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: Derrick White had a game that day where he took four shots or five shots.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: I think he's here for a little bit of redemption.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to go more on Derek White points in this one.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: Because I think that they're going to throw a lot of Jalen Brown.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Jalen Brown's got a lot of different defensive schemes thrown at him this season.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: But I'm going to go Derek White.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: I think he's he's prone to go out there and hit a couple three-pointers and get that more.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: Those are the games.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: Switched in between on MLK Day.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: We got more games, don't get me wrong, but I'm just looking at the ones here on Peacock and NBC.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: Because we do got like, as crazy as it is, if Larry Marking and it's playing this Jazz Spurs game is maybe one of my favorite games of the day.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: Wimbayama, the ball, Wimbayama, ball, Kelda Johnson, the hoop, and then you got Larry Marking and Keontae George.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: I kind of like that matchup.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: The only game here that is not really intriguing to me is that Pacers versus 76er game, man.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, Pacer fans.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: I just haven't been able to, I just haven't been able to really lock into the Pacers at all this season.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: When you're having a season where you're not really playing for anything, and then also the younger guys that I may have had interest in in the in the Jarrels Walkers of the world are also struggling.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: It's just not much incentive for me to lock in on a live game.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: Trust, I will see when Pascal Siakam is hooping, man.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: I'll see that box score, go watch the moments, but I cannot get myself to watch this game live.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: Specifically, if there's other better games on the docket, right?
23:51
SPEAKER_00: Why I divide my attention to half and when one real bad game versus one real good game, when I can just get the good game 100% and to give y'all something to talk about.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: All right, let me go over it again.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: We went right up top.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: Jalen Johnson, PRA more.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: Chet Homegrun, points more.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: OG Anobi points more.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: And then lastly, Derek White points more.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, we got more.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: Look at that, look at that.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: We got more NBA All-Star ballots.
24:21
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24:48
SPEAKER_00: So we talked about Jalen Durham being in.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: We talked about Norman Powell being in.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: That leaves me with two spots left.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: And believe it or not, as crazy as this sounds, because like I mentioned, I'm I'm usually a traditionalist.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: I'm a guy that, hey, if your team ain't winning, I don't give a damn about the stats.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't care how good of a points you are averaging.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: If the team is not winning, but who else am I gonna put here?
25:12
SPEAKER_00: You want Derek White?
25:14
SPEAKER_00: You ready to make an all-star?
25:15
SPEAKER_00: No.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: I would love to put somebody on the magic.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: Paolo hasn't played his best season.
25:22
SPEAKER_00: Franz was out.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, by the way.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: Desmond Bain started off too slow.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: So they may be the only.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: Man, I'm looking at it.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: They're the only true playoff team that won't be represented today by me.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: Huh?
25:33
SPEAKER_00: Michael Porter Jr., welcome to the NBA All-Star Game.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: I cannot believe that I am here making this statement.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: But the man has been so incredible.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: And you consider that the Eastern Conference just doesn't have a lot going on.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: This is where you can sneak in.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: 26 points per game, seven and a half assists, three.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: I mean, seven and a half.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: Oh, oh, he ain't doing that.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: Seven and a half rebounds, three assists, 40% from three on nine attempts.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: He has been ridiculous.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Just straight up ridiculous.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Now, he does have the underlying number numbers that make you say that hey, he's not just a good stats, bad team guy, because the team is just better with him on the court.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: Um his basketball reference nicknames are MPJ Showtime and Never Swing the Rock.
26:18
SPEAKER_00: That's genuinely on his basketball reference.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: Um MPJ, welcome in.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: Now we have one last spot for our Eastern Conference All-Stars.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: And I actually have two names here.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: I have Pascal Siakam, who we love, but you know what that team looks like.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: And Carl Anthony Towns.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: Candidly speaking, I have not loved this Car Anthony Towns season.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: We know the Car Anthony Towns offensive talents.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: That is without a question.
26:47
SPEAKER_00: Right now he's at 20.9 points per game and 11.5 rebounds, three assists.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: The three-point shooting is starting to look better, but it isn't the 42% three-point shooter that we saw the last year or the year before that, or the year before that.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: Um I'm ultimately gonna give the nod to Cap.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: I don't feel great about it, I'm being honest with you, but I'll give it to Carthony Towns.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sorry, Pascal, you're gonna have to get snubbed.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: All right.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: So one more time through Cade, Jalen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Scotty Barnes, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxie, Jalen Johnson, Giannis, Jalen Durham, Carthony Towns, Norman Powell, and Michael Porter Jr.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: is my Eastern Conference.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: Now, out west, my goodness, somebody elite is getting snub today.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: Somebody elite is getting snub today.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna start off with the locks.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: Shea Gildis Alexander's at 32 points per game, six and a half, or six assists and four and a half rebounds.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: No words can be said differently about Shay that I haven't mentioned already.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: The efficiency of the season.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: I mean, even though this is a streak that does not matter in the grand scheme of life, that 20-point per game streak still being active and being so very close to Will Chamberlain.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: I gotta tip my cap to that.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: He's been incredible through all the injuries of his teammates, of a dub, of a Hartenstein, of a so on and so forth.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: You can always count for Shay for being Shea.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: And that's even with the decrease in free throws, um, not just for him, but for the entirety of the NBA since the start of January.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: The team just went on a nice little run where they beat the Spurs, they beat the Rockets all within like a week's stretch.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, oh, okay, here's that team that just won a championship.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: Shea, shout out to you.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of the Spurs, Victor Wimediamas, 24 and a half, three assists, and 11 rebounds is obviously good enough.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: He is the best defensive player on the planet.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: He just had a game with my number three guy, Anthony Edwards, where they were going back and forth down the stretch.
28:41
SPEAKER_00: Anthony Ewards had a career night.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I hate when a player has a career night in a crazy career night where it's almost 60 and it's all for not.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: But but I mean, Anthony Ewards was meant missing big Rudy Gobert in the backhand, so they ain't really have the defensive infrastructure no more.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, but Wimedyama and Anthony Ewitts obviously are here.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: And man, I just can't believe how good of a player he is and how good of a shooter he has become through his career.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, because that was not on the scouting report as a true rookie or as a freshman um in Georgia and then coming in as a first overall pick.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: They said he was gonna be bouncy, they said he was gonna be flashed, but they never thought he was gonna be one of the best three-point shooters in ball, and he's been able to do that.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: Next, Nikoliokic, obviously.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't care about the games played.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: He's too good of a player to not have an ass.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: Um maybe in real life he will have an injury substitute, but in the Kenny Beecham, small ball with Kenny Beachum ballot, I couldn't care less about him missing the amount of games he's missed, which I think at this point is just 10.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, uh 29.6, 11, and 12 and a half.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: Best player in the world numbers, best player in the world output and team.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: Next, we got the two guys in Houston at Kevin O'Rant and Alprin Shangoon.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: For a moment, I was thinking to myself, maybe Alprin Shangoon is a um, maybe he is a bubble type of guy, but they missed him, right?
29:53
SPEAKER_00: He had a little stretch where he was out a few games, and you desperately saw that they needed a guy like Alprin Shangoon out there.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, he's been great.
30:00
SPEAKER_00: Kevin O'Reilly has been as consistent as possible.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: Somehow I still watch this team, and even though they have one of the best net ratings, they have one of the best defenses and offenses, I'm still struggling with it.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: I can't I can't explain it any deeper than that.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: I'm still struggling with it.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: I feel like there's something missing, and I don't know if that missing thing is gonna be the reason why I won't pick them to win a championship.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: But for an all-star ballot, those two guys have lived up to everything you could have imagined.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: Next, we got on the list Luka Doncic 33.6, which is still nuts.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: Bro, there's sometimes Luca's going into halftime with 24 points, it's like, yeah, another day at the office with Luka Doncic.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, I know the discourse around Luka has not been the best.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: It actually has been pretty, pretty bad.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I I'm gonna say this again.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to the Lakers, I think it's very important they don't use his deadline and panic, right?
30:46
SPEAKER_00: This is a team that Luka Doncic fell into your lap.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like you'd be doing yourself as a franchise a disservice if you use some of your assets, this deadline, for a team that obviously is just far away.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: I think it's okay if Luca go out there and get his stats, the players that you care about, the Reeves of the world, the bronze of the world, the guys that are under contract that you care, let them continue to get their cohesion a little bit and then use the offseason or next offseason too to really build the Luca type of team.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, this team sucks.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Just straight up.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: This team is not very good, but Luca give you a night, LeBron gave you a night, and sometimes that's enough.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: I still love watching Marcus Smart go out there and defend, uh, even in this older age.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: Next, we have D Book.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: Now, for a minute, D Book was a bubble guy for me.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, which felt weird.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't even really know why.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: I mean, maybe because the counting stats isn't as I mean, it's 25, 6, and 4.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: The efficiency is down.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: He still can't hit his three-point shot the way we know he he could.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, but the team as a whole deserves Devin Booker representing them.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: Because not only has Devin Booker been doing what I just read, those counting stats, he's completely bought in defensively.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: He's competing on each and every screen.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: He's competing on each and every night.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: The playmaking is something they desperately need.
32:05
SPEAKER_00: And when it comes to their half-card offense, he's as important as anybody, right?
32:08
SPEAKER_00: So sorry, Devin, that I even had you when I started this as a bubble.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: You see, I moved you up to the absolute lock.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Devin Armani Booker.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: Number nine on my list is, of course, Steph Curry.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: And then this again is not in any particular order other than their current standings, right?
32:24
SPEAKER_00: Steph Curry is not the ninth most important player in the Western Conference by any means.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: He's at 27 and a half, five assists, and about four rebounds.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: It is so amazing that some of our old guys, between him, KD, Harden, Kawhi, Braun, all these guys are still having phenomenal seasons, even if all of those guys won't make my all-star battle today.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: Seth Curry deserves everything and anything.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: So I'll move on to number 10, which is Denny Abdia, another lock.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: We have to right now I'm at the 10th lock, by the way.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: There's only 12 spots.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm on my 10th lock today.
32:55
SPEAKER_00: 26 points per game, seven rebounds, seven assists.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: This team, I think at this point in time is about to hit 500, which is great for everybody involved.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: They're one game under.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: Juhal, they just came back not too long ago.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: But the reason Denny is here is not just because of the counter stats.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: It's not just because he leads the leagues and league and drives.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: It's that this team, who basically had no offensive identity when it comes to the half-court, needed Denny to do everything he's done on the season.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: He's lived up to it completely.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how I could have an all-star ballot with that being the case.
33:27
SPEAKER_00: Then making the playoffs is so important for them.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: It's so important for me.
33:30
SPEAKER_00: So I'm hoping that they continue to do it and they continue to get people healthy around Denny so it won't just be the him show and letting him rock.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: I have 11 locks, by the way.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: Because the last guy I have as a lock is Jamal Murray.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: The Denver Nuggets are 7-3 without Jokic.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: How is it even possible for that team to win as much as they have?
33:54
SPEAKER_00: Part of that is this guy, Jamal Murray, playing on a whole nother level.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: They're eighth in offense in the stretcher, 23rd on defense.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: Honestly speaking, they're pushing a little bit above their weight.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, opposing teams only shoot at 31% from threes since Jokic went out.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: But who cares?
34:07
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, your job is to make sure that the tie does not flip when Jokic goes out.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: And some I was the guy's like, hey, we might see them end up falling into the play-in.
34:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh-uh-uh.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: They continue to win ball games.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: They're maintaining three seed without best player in the world production.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of that is Jamal.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: It's Peyton.
34:28
SPEAKER_00: It's good that they do have um Aaron Gordon and Brown back, even though both of them haven't looked amazing since they've come back.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: So Jamal Murray is my last lock.
34:39
SPEAKER_00: We have one, two, three, four, five players that I have to debate between in order to get that very last all-star spot.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: Let's walk through my bubble players.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: Honestly speaking, I know one guy I'm leaning towards, but I haven't made my full decision just yet.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: One spot in the Eastern Western Conference, five names.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: The first on the bubble name is none other than Chet Homer.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: Chet Homer is having such a ridiculous season.
35:11
SPEAKER_00: Like he is the favorite to win DPOY after Wemby may not, you know, get the 65 game threshold.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: He is at 18 points per game, eight and a half rebounds, and only a measly one and a half assists.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: But he is leading the league, leading the league in defensive field goal percentage at the rim when contesting.
35:29
SPEAKER_00: And y'all know me, I'm a defensive-oriented guy.
35:31
SPEAKER_00: I love a big fella that can prevent the easiest shot in basketball from going in.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: Even if the offensive input isn't as good as some of the other guys we may have mentioned in this um in this episode from down the line, this would be the lowest PPG of anybody that we would even be in the conversation.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: But the defensive impact is so large on a night-to-night basis on a team that their defense truly is their identity that it's impossible for me not to have him in these conversations, even if the offensive numbers aren't ridiculous.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: Now, I do want to say for Chad Homgren, this is his most efficient season in the league by a wide margin.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: So he's obviously better offensively as he has been over the last couple seasons.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, but again, I'm only comparing him to the other people that may be in these conversations.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: The next guy on the list, Julius Randle.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: Hey, Julius Randle's having a ridiculous season.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: I read a stat that said in the in the minutes where it is Julius Randle and no Anthony Edwards.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: Let me make sure I get my numbers right because I don't misrepresent Julius Randle in this conversation because he has been so ridiculous in the minutes.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of that is him being used as like obviously the absolute hub of the team when there's no Anthony Edwards.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: He's lived up to everything they could have imagined for him with that uh new contract and all.
36:39
SPEAKER_00: Um the numbers are when there's Julius Randle and no Anthony Edwards so far this season is 514 minutes.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: They have a net rating of a plus 8.72.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: That's a win.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: I mean, when they're together, it's only a 4.56.
36:52
SPEAKER_00: So they're playing better with just Julius Randle and without Anthony Edwards.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: Now we flipped that, and it's just Anthony Edwards and no Julius Randle.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: That's a negative net rating of one.
37:01
SPEAKER_00: So Julius Randle has lived up to everything you could have imagined for him.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: And again, another one of the guys that may not actually make my ballot, but I will be remiss to not mention him in his phenomenal season.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: Well, what was the actual counting stats again?
37:13
SPEAKER_00: 22, 7, and 5.5.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: Amazing year so far.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: And if I'm gonna go there to Minnesota, Rudy Gobert is on the short list, man.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: We talked about Chad having the lowest number of points per game in the conversation.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no, not anymore because Rudy Gobert is here.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: 11 points per game.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Kenny, what are you doing?
37:33
SPEAKER_00: 11 rebounds per game.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Kitty, what are you doing?
37:37
SPEAKER_00: Rudy Gobert's great.
37:39
SPEAKER_00: He just truly is.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
37:41
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, man.
37:42
SPEAKER_00: I know he's a he's a wishy-washy looking player.
37:44
SPEAKER_00: He touched all the microphones and shut the world down.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: I understand why players and people wouldn't like him, man.
37:50
SPEAKER_00: But defensively, again, outside, outside of Wimbiyama, I don't think there's a defensive player in the world that is better than Rudy Gobert right now.
37:58
SPEAKER_00: Chet is a close second right there, but I don't, I think it truly is Rudy.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: And he has the best on-off defensive swing in all of basketball.
38:07
SPEAKER_00: And he's always had, no, he's had like two seasons in his prime where it wasn't necessarily the case, but he's always been a guy that has had a type of swing like that.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: And even this year is one of the biggest swings of his career, right?
38:19
SPEAKER_00: Team is just better defensively and like like best in the league good when Rudy Gobert is on the court.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: And like I mentioned, I don't care about, like, I don't want to watch Rudy Gobert in the all-star game.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I don't want to see him touch the ball.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: But when I'm thinking about accolades, I'm thinking about the way we remember players, having an extra all-star appearance.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: If he does, if he is deserving, is important.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: Right now he's at three all-stars.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: I think there's a world he could be for.
38:44
SPEAKER_00: This is the most efficient season from the field.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: And that's also incorporating the fact that he actually has been getting in his bag every once in a while.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: Now, his bag ain't that deep and ain't a duffy, but he got a bag, and it's just small, but sometimes you pull some rabbits out of it, and boom, you got something.
38:58
SPEAKER_00: Next name, of course, Kawhi Leonard.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: Kawhi Leonard, man.
39:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, the knock that you would have on Kawhi Leonard is the fact that the Clippers are still clawing their way to try to make a play-in spot.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: He is 28 points per game, six rebounds, three and a half assists.
39:14
SPEAKER_00: Dude, this season from Kawhi, he oh, he's two percentage of points away from 50-40-90.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: I had a guy that I was leaning towards, and now I'm thinking about Kawhi Leonard as the number one favorite.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: Do I care that it's in his building, in his arena?
39:34
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a little bit.
39:35
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure that plays a little bit.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: It is kind of weird.
39:37
SPEAKER_00: There's like we got it in Utah, and all of a sudden, Larry Markin is an all-star caliber player.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: The man was after 15 years before that.
39:44
SPEAKER_00: We got into Cleveland, Jared Allen, and Darius Garland.
39:47
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the All-Star Game.
39:49
SPEAKER_00: When was the last time we had Indiana?
39:51
SPEAKER_00: Tyrese Halliburton, All-Star.
39:54
SPEAKER_00: Um the last time we didn't have a city representing uh having a player representing the city at the All-Star game.
40:03
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
40:04
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's enough for Kawhi Linda to be in it.
40:06
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: Last name on my short list is Larry Markner.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can laugh all you want about the Utah Jazz not being a good basketball team, about how the Utah Jazz gave 144 points to a uh Dallas Mavericks team.
40:19
SPEAKER_00: Can I read you the starting lineup of that Dallas game?
40:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, in a game where the Dallas Mavericks golly.
40:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh matter of fact, it's not worth it.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: It's not worth it.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: I'm matter of fact, it is worth it.
40:32
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't understand.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I do.
40:36
SPEAKER_00: Larry Marketham, when he plays, he's 28 points per game, seven rebounds, 2.2 assists.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Larry Market, right?
40:43
SPEAKER_00: You know, he's playing, he's playing really good.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: When Larry Marketing plays so far this season, the team is just five games under.
40:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I don't have an argument other than Larry Marketing puts up a lot of numbers, and that's my boy.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: They gave up 144 points to a team that started Najee Marshall, Brandon Williams, Jaden Hardy, Caleb Martin, and Dwight Powell.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: A guy I had never heard before, Miles Kelly, played 20 minutes and looked incredible.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: So the Jazz probably don't deserve an all-star of season.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: But I did want to show my boy Larry Market a little bit of love.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: So after giving you my five bubble players, here are the two people that I'm leaning towards.
41:27
SPEAKER_00: First one is Chet Holmgren, second winning is Kawhi Leonard.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: Kawhi Leonard is actively dealing with an injury.
41:33
SPEAKER_00: So maybe there's a world where that's just enough for him not to make it.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he makes it and he gets an injury replacement.
41:38
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the injury replacement is Chet.
41:40
SPEAKER_00: But I do think that that Chet Holmgren has a conversation to be an absolute lot considering the defense.
41:46
SPEAKER_00: Like second most important player on a team for a lot of it that look legendary.
41:52
SPEAKER_00: Maybe not legendary, still, maybe all uh championship worthy.
41:56
SPEAKER_00: Best team in the league.
41:58
SPEAKER_00: Best team in the league traditionally gets like two at least.
42:02
SPEAKER_00: Is Shay that?
42:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he is that.
42:05
SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna go Kawhi Leonard as my last guy in, with Chet Holmgren being his injury replacement if he's not ready to go.
42:16
SPEAKER_00: It hurts.
42:17
SPEAKER_00: And now I'm thinking to myself, does Chet Holmgren have an argument versus somebody that has it a lock?
42:22
SPEAKER_00: Does he have an argument over Jamal Murray?
42:24
SPEAKER_00: I just don't think he does, considering Jokic goes down and Jamal Murray and the company continue to be great.
42:29
SPEAKER_00: Does he have a conversation over Denny?
42:32
SPEAKER_00: Other than the team success?
42:34
SPEAKER_00: No.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: Not over Curry, not over Book, and not over any of the other guys because they got the regular season wins and the crazy stats to count for.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: So I mmm.
42:45
SPEAKER_00: Is there an argument?
42:47
SPEAKER_00: Oh, this is about to ruffle some feathers.
42:48
SPEAKER_00: And I don't even know how I feel about it, but I'm gonna put out the is there an argument for Chet Homer to be an all-star with Alper Shangoon?
42:57
SPEAKER_00: I'll let you sit on that one.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: I'll let you sit.
43:00
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's just unequivocally.
43:01
SPEAKER_00: No, Kenny Alper Shagun's a 22 point per game score, basically.
43:04
SPEAKER_00: Chet Homer's a 17 point per game score.
43:06
SPEAKER_00: But if you if you value that other side, maybe it is a little bit closer than the count stats may say.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: And also the Houston Rockets as good, too, like good enough to have two all-stars when just two days ago before that last win, they were in the play-in.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: See, these are the conversations you gotta have for yourself.
43:25
SPEAKER_00: I guess it's just a matter of when the ballots get shifted in.
43:27
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, the actual all-star starters are gonna be announced on uh Peacock and NBC.
43:33
SPEAKER_00: But that's my ballot.
43:34
SPEAKER_00: Let me read you again my Western conference.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: We got Shay, we got Wimby, we got Jokic, we got Anthony Edwards, we got Kevin Oran, Alper Shangoon.
43:44
SPEAKER_00: I did I convince myself the chat thing?
43:46
SPEAKER_00: No.
43:46
SPEAKER_00: We got uh Doncic, Booker, Curry, Denny, Murray, and then Kawhi with Chet Homer being an injury replacement.
43:58
SPEAKER_00: Woo! That was it's that was tough.
44:02
SPEAKER_00: The again, the Eastern Conference, we j I just flew through the East, man.
44:06
SPEAKER_00: The Eastern Conference was just so very easy.
44:08
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's get to some ass KB.
44:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna start off with this one from John Morant's show.
44:12
SPEAKER_00: Uh, how much of a sample size is needed to turn your stock around?
44:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm referring to Zeke Najee.
44:18
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, Zeke Najee love.
44:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, playing well with his recent minutes on a hampered nuggets team.
44:24
SPEAKER_00: How much does a team need to see before they're willing to trade someone trade for someone in a situation like that?
44:31
SPEAKER_00: A lot more than what we've seen.
44:33
SPEAKER_00: Zeke Najee was a guy that I had as a breakout player maybe two and a half years ago, and then he proceeded to just be pretty pretty bad.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: This stretch is more intriguing now because for a long time there is a pillar, um, a portion of Nuggets Twitter that was like Kenny, get ready to learn Zeke Naji, because we're about to trade y'all Zignaji for Iodesumo, straight up one for one.
44:57
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we throw you some seconds.
44:58
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, bro, cut it out, man.
45:00
SPEAKER_00: Zignaji was it feels like an immovable contract.
45:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, Yokichat went down from like a game or two.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: And even in those games, Zignaji couldn't play.
45:08
SPEAKER_00: And I was just like, oh no, it's raps.
45:09
SPEAKER_00: But now you're seeing that there is something there.
45:12
SPEAKER_00: There is a real NBA player in there.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: And I, if I am the Nuggets or am a guy that's going to try to pop that player off to get somebody a little bit better, because he went from a guy with zero value or maybe three value out of 10.
45:23
SPEAKER_00: And now we add some second round picks on top of that, and boom, we might be ready to add to our actual core, somebody that's making around the$8 million mark.
45:32
SPEAKER_00: So I would say John Morant show just a little bit more, just a little bit more of a sample size to make him somewhat of an asset.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: But as a a completely non non-starter, I think he's out of that conversation.
45:44
SPEAKER_00: I think you look at him and say, there is a real NBA player there.
45:47
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, we got a little bit more of Ask KB.
45:57
SPEAKER_00: Next question comes from B-Ball Luke.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to B Ball Luke.
46:01
SPEAKER_00: Can you still have a defensive liability?
46:03
SPEAKER_00: He put those in quotation marks, by the way, as your top one-two player on a title contender.
46:08
SPEAKER_00: Offenses are so smart.
46:09
SPEAKER_00: Coaches, so good at scheming.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: Is there a pathway to still have a Bronson, Luca, Trey, etc., on a legitimate title winner?
46:19
SPEAKER_00: Luke is a very good question.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: It is something that I've thought about a lot over the last, I don't know, maybe two years.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, basically since Dallas made it to the final.
46:28
SPEAKER_00: And for what it's worth, that team was just overmatched by that self-desteam.
46:32
SPEAKER_00: That team was well coached.
46:33
SPEAKER_00: They had the butt they just had overall top to bottom better roster.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: The other team just ended up having Luca.
46:37
SPEAKER_00: But if you watch that series, you saw how much they picked on him defensively and how much they made it difficult to for him offensively.
46:43
SPEAKER_00: And it's just like, yeah, you have that conversation.
46:45
SPEAKER_00: Can you win with Luka Donchitch?
46:47
SPEAKER_00: A conversation that Nico Harrison decided, no, no way in hell we can win with him.
46:50
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna trade him away for somebody that's not a defensive liability, but an all-around liability.
46:55
SPEAKER_00: Um the short of the answers for me right now is yes.
46:59
SPEAKER_00: I think you still can win a championship with a defensive liability type of guy.
47:05
SPEAKER_00: Now, that defensive liability type of guy, again, has to be a Luca, it has to be a Brunson, somebody that offense is so overbearing.
47:12
SPEAKER_00: I can't say yes about Trey Young.
47:13
SPEAKER_00: I feel like his offensive ceiling compared to those other two options is just a lot lower.
47:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I do think that we are turning the page a little bit, right?
47:21
SPEAKER_00: Where you you can't just be the best offensive player and think that that's gonna be good enough.
47:27
SPEAKER_00: Hell, you can go through history, and I just feel like there's not many cases for that to be the way anyway.
47:32
SPEAKER_00: Think about all the teams that have won a championship almost ever.
47:34
SPEAKER_00: How many of them do we look at and say, yeah, um that that team, their best player couldn't defend, but boy, did they they end up winning.
47:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, I guess Jokic is the best example of it, but I think that because he is a big, it's just a little bit more is different because his his size, even if he is not a great defensive player, um, his size is enough to be his his size is enough where his floor as a defensive player is higher than the floor of a defensive player of a Brunson or a Luka Doncic, right?
48:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, especially if you put the right coach around him because you very rarely will see him on an island where Luka was on an island with Tatum and Brown for an entire series or Jalen Brown or Jalen Brunson is in every single action.
48:18
SPEAKER_00: But he could go down the line, Giannis, LeBron, Kawhi Leonard, Durance, I mean, LeBron again, even Curry.
48:26
SPEAKER_00: Curry for a long time.
48:26
SPEAKER_00: It felt like that was a conversation around him, but he shut that up very early on, where he wasn't a bad defender.
48:32
SPEAKER_00: He just happened to be the worst defender of the five.
48:34
SPEAKER_00: That'll make him a bad defender.
48:36
SPEAKER_00: Goddamn had Draymond Green and Iggy back there.
48:38
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know what I'm saying?
48:38
SPEAKER_00: Klay Thompson.
48:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, so we just haven't really had it where in the modern era where you have been able to have uh, you know, just a zero on defense.
48:49
SPEAKER_00: But even these guys that we're talking about, specifically a guy like Luca, um, I think on a nightly basis, the brother is definitely a zero, right?
48:59
SPEAKER_00: On a road to the finals, that wasn't the case.
49:01
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
49:02
SPEAKER_00: Maybe in the finals, whether because his knee was all messed up.
49:05
SPEAKER_00: You remember his knee was bleeding every single goddamn game?
49:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, that he kind of turned into that.
49:09
SPEAKER_00: But leading up to that, those series before that, man, he was competing.
49:12
SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, you don't have to be a defensive star where I think teams just need you to compete defensively, even if you have the offensive load of those other guys.
49:21
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that answers your question, uh, B-ball, but I'm happy, um, B-ball loop, but I'm happy that you end up asking.
49:27
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, that was another great episode of Smallball.
49:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, and hopefully I won't get sick again for the rest of the year, so I won't miss an episode.
49:36
SPEAKER_00: I want to remind you that we are doing that live show in Los Angeles.
49:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, we still have tickets.
49:42
SPEAKER_00: I think we're like two thirds of the way full, so you may want to get to tickets while you can.
49:46
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's not the biggest of venues, but also not the smallest of venues.
49:49
SPEAKER_00: There's a world we're doing some meet and greet and so on and so forth.
49:52
SPEAKER_00: Guess all the above.
49:54
SPEAKER_00: As always, I love you.
49:55
SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next time.
49:56
SPEAKER_00: Peace.