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NBA Opening Night Reactions: Thunder Make a Statement, Wemby Struggles · The So-Called Sports Analysts

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the episode of the So-Called Sports Analyst. I'm
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: your host, Joshua Garcia. Followed up with my co-host, Ryan Varela.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: You can find us on all platforms, YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, Apple,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: wherever you listen to podcasts at, you can find us
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: on everything. We're back with another basketball. Start of the
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: season just happened last night. As you can see, it
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: was a rough one for me. But Ryan, how did
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: you feel last night?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: I felt like I was on top of the world
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: last night after that performance from the OKC Thunder. Yeah,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: I don't know. That just showed who the Thunder are,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: you know? Just that championship DNA. Just the best defense
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: in the league when everyone is clicking. And just the
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: depth of this team. I think, no doubt, man of
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: the match, as we like to say when we're talking
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: about soccer. or football, my bad, would be Shea Gilgis-Alexander.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: He played incredible. I thought he was the best player
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: on the court. And yeah, it goes to prove everyone
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: who we're talking about free throw merchants, talking about he's
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: going to struggle with the new push-off rule, with the
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: arm push-off that they're enforcing now, which we did see
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: get called a couple times. We saw it get called
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: on Jeremy McCain. Yeah. He does it more... He does
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: it a lot. Like, in that mid-range, whenever he does
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: that stop, he... Yeah. He's, like.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: They called it, like, immediately. They didn't even.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. Like, and I think that's a good rule, too.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: I like it that they're... I like that they're doing that.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: And.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: It didn't affect SGA at all, and it just shows
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: how his scoring prowess, and it didn't matter how good
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: you regarded him, he was still going to get his bucket.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: He was still getting to his spot, doing what he
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: needed to do in the mid-range. He was hitting threes.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: He shot three for seven, which I think is going
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: to be more of... Like we can see that more
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: from him this season because I do think he worked
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: on his three this season or in the off season.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: And I think he's going to take him at a
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: higher clip. I say like seven to nine ish a game,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: which is higher than what he's usually taken. But yeah.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: And the impact Jalen Williams has on this basketball team
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: when he gets onto the court. Yeah. He didn't have
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: the best scoring night, but when we, when we needed him,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: he was able to go in there and just drive
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: to the rim and just break down the defense whenever
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: he could. And then his defensive, like what he does
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: on the defensive side is just, is not, I feel
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: like people forget because he didn't play as much last season.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: What he does, he was an all NBA player. He
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: was an all defensive team player. And he, I think
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: it was just such an amazing game from him, even
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: though the stats don't fully show that. And Chet Holmgren.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: I just want to talk about Chet Holmgren. What he
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: was able to do on that court, it just, he wasn't,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: we're in the offseason, right? And everyone is talking about
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: how Chet is weak and how he looks washed, how
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: they're already going to move on from him. What's the
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: trade package to get him out of here? And yeah,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: because of that game seven performance and as a fan
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: of Chet Holmgren, the past couple of years going through
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: high school and all that, it was sad to see.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: But last night, we saw what he was capable of
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: whenever he's not scared, whenever he steps up to the
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: plate and does what he needs to do. Holding, and
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: it wasn't entirely him, but being able to hold Wimby
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: to one for 13. And we can talk about Wimby
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: had a bad shooting night, but we also have to
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: credit the OKC defense on how they played him and
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: how they made changes from prior matchups. And I think
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: that Chet had an amazing game. He was only three
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: for eight from the field and he went to the
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: line a lot, which I think is a good sign
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: because that means he's driving and he's getting to the rack.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: And that's what he needs to do. Whereas in the
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: conference finals, he was more so scared. He would just
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: fumble over himself. He would take mid-range shots that just
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: aren't efficient. It was just a bad sight. And then
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Jared McCain coming off the bench, it shows our depth.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Ade Mara going out there, guarding Wimby, blocking Wimby, sprinting
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: down the court and finishing a lob. It shows his ladder.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: It was such an amazing sight to see. And yeah,
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: I think this was such an amazing game for the
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Thunder as a whole. And it just shows you what
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: they can do at a full clip and what they're
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: able to do when everyone's clicking. And you want to
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: talk about this first?
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I went very in-depth on the Spurs on this game,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: on the Silver, Black, and Pop, on my Spurs podcast.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: But I think with the San Antonio Spurs, the Spurs,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: I think, were the better team in the second half.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: I don't think anyone can really disagree with that. I
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: just think, but when Victor Mbanyama goes one for 13
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: from the field, this team's not going to walk away
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: with a win against a team like Oklahoma City Thunder.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I think no team's going to walk away with a
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: win like a win against Oklahoma City Thunder playing like that.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: There's a reason why the Spurs are number one and
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: number two in everybody's power rankings. And that's because they're
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: so evenly matched across the board that if one slip
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: up by one player happens, it alters the entirety of
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: the game. And this was Victor Wimbanyama. And no matter what,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: no matter how you spin it, Victor Wimbanyama, each and
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: every single night, no matter if he's having a bad
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: offensive night, is the best defensive player in the world
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: bar none. And he was still the best defensive player
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: in the world in this game. Let's just be honest.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: He had six blocks. One still deterred many shots. But
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: on the offensive end, the struggle was real. And it
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: makes me question a little bit of things like, what
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: did he really work on in the offseason? Where was
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: a go-to move? Where was more decisive passes? Where was
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: the ability to take on defenders inside the restricted area?
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: And I'm not saying he had to be like Shaq.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: I'm just saying, where's the finesse? Where's the looking for contact?
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: I just didn't see it often. And I think that
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: hurt this team a lot because if Victor Wimbanyama is
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: not hitting a shot, this team, in reality, it's going
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: to be tough for them to create anything because now
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: they can zero in and defend everybody evenly instead of
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: just solely focusing on Victor Wimbanyama. That gravity wasn't felt
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: last night. Yeah, last night. It just wasn't felt when
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: we were watching the game like it had been last
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: season in the matches for the Oklahoma City Thunder where
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: the Spurs walked away with eight wins. I think he
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: has to step up. I don't think he'll ever play
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: another game like this.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: He's going to be his worst true 97%. He's never
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: going to do that ever again.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Now he knows how they're going to approach this with Ademaro,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: with Isaiah Hardenstein, with Chet Holmgren, with Jalen, with J.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Will.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: All these bodies that they have now. He knows the
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: factors that are at play. The Spurs will adjust. I
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: think the Spurs came out lackadaisical. They were definitely the
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: slower team at the beginning of this game. They looked unprepared.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Definitely the three-guard lineup is something you still have to
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: get used to. You can definitely tell they're still trying
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: to work out the kinks to that. I think if
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Tobias Harris comes back, it changes up just a little bit.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I think one of them may go to the bench,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: either Dylan Harper or De'Aaron Fox. Because that second unit
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: even looked a little bit slower as well with the
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: lack of a ball handler. So there was a lot
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: the Spurs can improve on in this game. Devin Vassell
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: didn't play very well. He got into foul trouble earlier.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Kelton Johnson didn't have a great game in this one.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: And the Spurs severely got outplayed for the entirety of
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: the game. Like I said, they did have a better
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: second half. I think if you watch it, they really did.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Besides that little last bit of the fourth quarter where
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: the Thunder kind of re-separated again and solidified the game.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Other than that, the third and fourth quarter were the
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Spurs' game. They just could never really get back within
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: like eight points, seven points. They dug a hole that
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: was way too.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: Deep in that first half.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was always an arm's length away. Yeah, they
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: never really got fully... into the game and made it like, oh,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: they're really going to win this game. It was more like,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: we're coming back, but the hole's too deep already at
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: this point. And if Victor Mbanyama's not offering anything offensively,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: it's kind of going to, the team's not going to
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: really get going and do what they need to do
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: to walk away with a win. But as far as
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Oklahoma City Thunder, I'm going to start with Chet Holmgren.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Chet Holmgren, as a basketball fan, I don't think that
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: he had this great game, like people are saying. But
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: I think he had a good game. I think he
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: did his job and he played his role. And I
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: think as basketball fans, one thing we need to stop
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: doing is comparing him and Wimby. Let's be honest, Chet's
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: never going to be on Wimby's level. Like, he's just
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: never going to get to that point in his career.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Wimby will never be on Chet. Nah, whatever, bro. He'll
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: just never get to that level. And I think they're
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: trying to push that narrative over and over again every
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: single time the Spurs and Thunder play against each other
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: about this rivalry, which is kind of getting overplayed. I
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: feel like I don't even want to talk about it anymore.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: But I do think.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Seeing him technically... the media started. I just think they
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: both feed into it, if I'm being honest. Chet plays
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: a little innocent boy, and then Wimby plays the asshole.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: This is how it's going to go. But yeah, I
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: think having him play like this is going to be
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: more exciting for this matchup. Because last year, I'm not
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: going to lie, He was depressing as hell to watch. Like,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: it was moping around, drop shoulders, head down, getting bullied.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Like, not answering the call.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: And I think having this type of Chet Holmgren, not
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: that he's going to be this, like, I don't think
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: he'll ever be, like, dropping 20 against the Spurs. But
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: I think, like, if he plays solid defense, okay offense,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: and just does his job, Oklahoma City Thunder's results are
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: going to be a lot better than they were last year.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Let's just be honest. He's that good of a player for.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: This to happen.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: But I do think that they also found a reason,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: which we'll probably can talk about here in a second,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: why this may be a problem for Chet Holmgren as well.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: They found another one. And his name is Ademar. Like,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: he played well in this game. He was aggressive. He
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: was unafraid. I don't think, like, he didn't have, like,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: a big game per se that really, like, He just
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: had big time plays in his minutes. Yeah, he had
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: big moments in the minutes that he played. And there
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: are moments that really pop out at you in this
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: game where you're like, wow, I can see the potential
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: of this guy. I can see where he does end
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: up becoming a problem for teams this season and for
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: the San Antonio Spurs. You can definitely see it. I
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: do think that Wimby will adjust to what was presented
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: to him, but... I do think Ade Mara is a
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: really good player for this Oklahoma City Thunder. I know
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: I was hating on him after Summer League, but he
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: looked really bad in Summer League. No one can really
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: tell me he didn't. But as far as last night,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: he looked really good. And the Spurs just didn't look good.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: No one on the Spurs really... But okay, I lied.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: De'Aaron Fox had a good game besides that Boonehead turnover.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: De'Aaron Fox looked good. I think he looked the best
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: out of the team. De'Aaron Fox looked really good. I
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: think the three of them looked good.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: I think the three of them looked good.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: I don't think Castle looked as good as they did.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: I feel like it was Castle and then two.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: I think Castle looked better than both of them.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Well, Dylan was kind of hurt, so.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: No, yeah, he was. But I just think he was
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: knocking down some big-time threes and big moments. And then
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: I think even Darren Fox had that turnover towards.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: The end of the game. Yeah, I think that was interesting.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: I want to talk about that, actually. Where... The Thunder were...
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: We were living and dying by the Stephon Castle 3,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: which I think is... And he was hitting them. No,
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: he was hitting them. Yeah, I'll give him props for that,
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: but I think... I understand why they did that, and
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: it's interesting to me. And I thought it was pretty cool,
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: I guess, to see the Spurs, like, counter that by
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Stephon Castle making that. And I just want to... I
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: wonder if teams are going to start doing that. I
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: know he made them a couple of times in this game, but...
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: What did he shoot in the postseason? He didn't shoot bad. Yeah, exactly.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: That's what I'm saying.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: They were trying to do the same thing, and he
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: was knocking him down. I think the only time is
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: when the Spurs just struggled against the Knicks. All the
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Spurs struggled. It wasn't just him. But they were trying
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: to do that to him in the postseason, and he
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: was just like, okay. And he was just shooting him
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: a makeover. It really gave me satisfaction seeing it, to
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: be honest. Yeah, I thought it was cool.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Being able to see them. Yeah, I thought it was
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: cool to see him counter that. And I wanted to
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: talk about the Spurs offense.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: He doesn't have a bad shot either.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: No, I don't think he has a bad shot. I
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: think it was worse in his first year, obviously. And
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: he definitely worked on it. Yeah, it's way better. But
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: I wanted to talk about the Spurs offense. Hold on,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: let me.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Talk about SGA real quick. Let me talk about SGA
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: real quick. I will say, there's a reason SGA is
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: the back-to-back MVP. He showed up in this game. 50%
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: from the field. 32 points, 6-4.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: He had six stocks, too, by the way.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I was about to get to that. I
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: think that his defense in this game, three steals, those
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: two blocks that were back-to-back, and that block at the
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: end of the game on Stephon Castle to seal it,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: basically to solidify and really take the soul away from
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the San Antonio Spurs in that one, he showed up.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: He had an MVP-like game in that game. He had
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: a best-in-the-world-type game. He answered the call. And I think
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: to me, we often... I've never been the one to
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: really hate on SGA. I just hate on him because
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: he plays for the Thunder. But I think people forget
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: how good he is at basketball. And the free throw
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: merchant narrative, though sometimes is true, but that's for a
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: lot of players. More often than not for SGA. But
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: he only went to the line four times last night.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: He just dominated us offensively. And Big players show up
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: at big moments. And I don't think Wimby has matured
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: to that yet. I mean, he's still only 22 years old,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: 21 years old. She is 28. So we just learned
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: that last night, by the way. But yeah, he has
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: that experience. And last night, he just looked ready and
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: prepared for this matchup.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a little more on that. I feel like It
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: just looked like the Thunder had this game circled on
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: their calendar.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they were more prepared.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: It was, like, you know there were all these narratives.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: And I know they saw this stuff on social media.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: I know they're socially, like, active on social media. Jared
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: McCain is on their freaking team. Like, that dude is
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: literally the most social media guy in the NBA. So...
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: I know that they saw this and yeah, they just
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: came out firing and it was satisfying to see as
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: a Thunder fan. But I want to go in a
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: little bit on the Spurs offense. And I do believe
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: when horrible shoot night, I think is going to be
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: the worst of his career, but I feel like they
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: got to set him up better too. You can't just
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: expect him to just go. I was watching a video.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: He it's a, he's a trainer. His name's Ryan something.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: I don't know, but yeah, And he was talking about
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: how they were just giving the ball to him in
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: the triple threat. They give it to him near the
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: three-point line, that one where he traveled. He's just in
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: the triple threat. And there's no– like you were saying,
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: there's no movement. There's nothing to be had for him
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: to be able to create– And it just allowed for
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: the Thunder to be on him. The off-ball movement was terrible.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: The off-ball movement was terrible last night.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: And I think that's what sparked y'all's second half was
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: the ball movement because it did look better in the
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: third quarter. And I think that was y'all's best quarter
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: because of that. And y'all were able to move around.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: And y'all were getting a couple of those top of
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: the key threes or like the corner threes that OKC
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: struggles with. But... It's just one game, but still, I
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: feel like you can't do that and expect your best
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: player to play good when you give him the ball
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: and everyone focuses on him. You put him at the
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: elbow and he's in the triple threat. What's he going
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: to do when everyone's attention is on him, but there's
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: no movement? So literally, they could just play straight up
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: or they can just double him or... like just cause rotations.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: And I think that's what OKC thrived at yesterday. And
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: we saw them making great rotations on the defensive side.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: And it wasn't as hard to guard. It may have
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: been in the playoffs because there was just no movement.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: And I think if you want to be able to
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: get windy in this offense, you need movement. And that
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: is literally what the Spurs are. When you think of
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: the Spurs, you think of movement.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: They didn't have that last night.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: They just didn't have movement. It was weird to see.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: And the best offense came whenever they were attacking. And
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: that caused movement because of the penetration.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Well, that's when he started drawing fouls. He started getting
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: to the free throw line a lot in that third quarter.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just think that they got to do better
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: on that end. And yeah, I don't think Wimby will
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: have another game like this, but they just have to
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: do something better to be able to enable their best player.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: He only had... It was just a lob. That's all
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: he scored. The rest, it was nothing else. So I
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: think they got to hone in on that maybe. It's
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: just one game. But yeah, that's my take on the
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: Spurs offense.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, they were definitely lackadaisical coming out. I remember
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: I texted the group, I'm like, lazy offense, no ball movement,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: chucking up shots, settling for contested jumpers. It just wasn't
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: fluid basketball and I think Mitch Johnson definitely needed to
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: put his foot down in that first half and really
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: get us back on track but I feel like they
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: tried for a second because I think there was a
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: spurt in that first half where the Spurs were down
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: big and they were playing some like a really really
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: good defense towards the end of that end of that
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: second quarter but they just couldn't score they literally could
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: not put the ball in the basket I don't know
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: if you remember that sequence.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah like it's just a little.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Really yeah I think he like when we kind of
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: took over that little that little moment where he was
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: just playing some solid defense and and the entirety of
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: the team was, but they just could not score on
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: the other side. It just wasn't happening, and then the
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Thunder scored, I think, two buckets, and then it kind
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: of just died down, and it went into the half,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: and yeah, it'll improve. It's one game of 82. I'm
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: not worried at all. I think we lost to Oklahoma
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: City Thunder. Am I supposed to be like, I'm pissed
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: because it's a rivalry, but we lost to, my opinion,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: the second best team in the NBA. I'm not worried
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: about that. I think other teams are going to have
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: to be worried about us. And Wimby's not going to
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: go one for 13 again. I think if Wimby hit
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: five shots in this game, it changes the entirety of
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: the game. I'm not expecting him to go 13 for 13,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: 10 for 13, but if he goes five for 13,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: I think this game looks completely different. I think they
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: respect him a little bit more if he's knocking down something.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. But yeah, I want to talk about
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: the Celtics and Pistons game.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, nice.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: What's it called? Paul George looked... So good out there.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: It was crazy.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: I don't think he'll do it again though.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: I don't know. And Jason Tatum looks so bad.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: So bad.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: It was, and that is not what you want to
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: see after trading Jalen Brown. Like it just shows Jason
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: Tatum is going to have to step up. It shows
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: their weaknesses. This game showed their weaknesses, but also show
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: their strengths is their outside shooting. And we've known that,
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: that they're out, they shot 40% from the three. That's
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: what they do best. but what they they need to
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: get to the rim and that's what jalen brown did
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: for them and he was able to do that and
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: jason tatum is gonna have to become that for them
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: and he's just i don't know and i think jason
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: tatum is one of the best players in the league
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: and he's just gonna have to prove it and he's
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: gonna have to show everyone why he is that i
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: think yeah paul george looked amazing his fit into this
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: team looked really good i don't know if he'll he's
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: i don't think he's gonna do this every night but
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: if he can average a solid like 17 20 points
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: around there i think it'll be good and just jason
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: tatum lead this offense and i think he needs to
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: take reins and fully just unlock what he is because
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: he's better than this. It's sad, annoying to see that,
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: if I'm being honest. And yeah, I thought Mitchell Robinson was,
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: it was all right. I don't know. I don't think
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: they have, they don't have much depth at the big.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: We saw Luka Garza just get absolutely bullied by Jalen Durant.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: Like how, when it comes to playoff basketball, what are
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: they going to be able to do? And Namesh Keita
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: ended up having the most minutes. And he did, I
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: think he played better than the both of them. So
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: we'll see how that goes. But I don't know how
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: they're going to be able to trot Luka Garza out
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: there whenever, if they want to like play him as
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: a big, because he was just getting absolutely bullied by
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: Jay Linder, just bully ball. And I think that as
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: for the Pistons, I thought Duncan Robinson towards the end
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: of that game, bro, he was like, Jimmy Neutron, bro. Like,
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: I don't know. He just... He looked fired up. And
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: I thought.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: And Javante Green's pretty good.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: Javante... That Javante Green, like, when you think of... When
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: I think of the Pistons, I think of, like, the
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: past year. I think of Javante Green because of J.B. Bakerstaff. J.B.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Bakerstaff is always going back to Javante Green. Javante Green's
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: always going to be his guy. He's just always going
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: back to him. And he plays such a big role
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: for this team. I think... Cade did what he had
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: to do. Jalen Duren shows why he was paid. I
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: think whenever, like, you give him the ball and he
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: has a chance to bully someone, he's going to try.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: That's why he uses his strength and physicality is to
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: do what he did last night or yesterday. Yeah, and
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: I thought that it was a good come-from-behind win by
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: the Pistons, and I thought that it was the crowd
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: played into it too they just started getting fired up
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: because it looked it didn't look good the first half
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: and then coming out they just absolutely went played better
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: yeah no i think definitely i became victim of this
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: as well i think everyone else i think it's got
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: so good that we kind of just felt like the.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Pistons got worse for some reason when in reality they
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: really didn't and i i still have my question marks
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: come playoff time but that's a long time from now
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: And I do think that opening up the season against
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics proved to be a good matchup. And
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: they answered the call. And Cade Cunningham didn't do anything
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: absolutely insane in this game. But I think as a collective,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: this team played some pretty great basketball, especially defensively. I
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: think holding the Boston Celtics to 113 points is actually,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: in today's standards, really good. Because if we look at
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: tonight's scores, they're all like 130s in the 140s. And
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: a couple of blowouts. So I do think that this
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: game was played very good defensively. And yeah, I think
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Jalen Dern even had a point to prove as well
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: after signing his contract that he is worth the money.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: 8 for 13, 22 points, 9 boards, and kind of
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: controlling the defensive end as well. Asar Thompson, he really
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: offers nothing offensively besides some athletic off-ball movement type of stuff.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: But the 11 rebounds in this game, gosh, like he
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: was really getting on the board using his athleticism to
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: really create opportunities for his basketball team. And it really
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: proved to be a deciding factor, I believe. And as
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: far as, like, the Boston Celtics, I think Mitchell Robinson
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: cannot be your starter long term. He's definitely just, like,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: a big moment type of guy.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: He's an energy guy.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a big moment type of guy, but he cannot
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: be your go-to starter. And I think this is going
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: to be a downfall of the Boston Celtics. Not that
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: they're going to downfall and spiral into, like, a– but
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: as a downfall, as, like, it's going to cost them
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: in games, the lack of big man depth. Like, I
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: understand Luka Garza, Namus Keita– Mitchell Robinson. But when you
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: say those names out loud, do any of them scare you?
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: No.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Not a single one of them scare you.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: Especially not on the defensive side.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson, yes. But not when he's dealing with an
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: ankle problem in six minutes of the game. And only
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: three rebounds? You bring this guy in to be your
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: starting five, and he gets three rebounds.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Bro, come on. This is the guy we brought in
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: who was playing like that against Wimby, and he only
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: got his three rebounds? That is not something you want
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: to see. Mm-hmm.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and as Paul George, I don't think he'll do
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: this performance again, but hey, that's pretty good coming out
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: party for your Boston Celtics debut. And as far as
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, he was definitely on track to be biggest
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: bum of opening night until Victor Wimbanyama just laid a stinker,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: and I really wish that Victor Wimbanyama just at least
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: went 7 for 23 instead of 6 for 20, but
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: we kind of got the edge on that one, 1
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: for 13. But in reality, if you ratio it out, No,
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: we're still worse. Vic Roman still played a worse game. Yeah,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: he played a pretty bad game. I was trying to
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: spin it our way. Yeah, it's not really going to
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: work out that way, is it? But no, the Detroit Vistons,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: they definitely showed that, A, we're still a top dog
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference. Don't get it twisted. All these
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: teams may be added some superstars, but we're still here.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah. and we can go into the Sixers and the
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: Knicks game.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's going to be a fun one
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: to talk about.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: This one surprised me because if you listen to our
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: last pod, I'm not very high. I wasn't very high
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: on like, I'm not very high on the adding superstars
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: together to make some super team. I don't know. I
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: just feel that you have to just as a collective
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: be a good team. Look at the Spurs and look
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: at the Thunder. I don't know. That's just not how
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: it works anymore. And I think that ego plays a
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: big part into that. But I think that the Sixers
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: team looked a lot better than I had thought. And
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: it showed... I was concerned. One of my concerns was
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: their defense. And I think... With all of these offensive
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: players being on the team, it allowed for Joel Embiid
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: to step up on the defensive side, which I think
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: he looked pretty good in. He had three blocks, two steals.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: And I think he looked pretty good in that way.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: Also shedding some weight. So this is going to maybe
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: help him be faster, be quicker on the defensive side.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: And just Tyrese Maxey, they're giving the ball, letting him
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: take the reins. And I think it is so cool
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: to see I absolutely love Tyrese Maxey, and I love
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: what he's become as a player. And when you look
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: at the box score, you see Jalen Brown, LeBron, it's
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: insane to see to me. And I think they just
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: all played a perfect role in this team. Even Anthony
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: Simons coming out here, dropping 13 on 50% shooting, doing
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: what he needs to do. We see Jalen Brown just
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: doing the usual. There's a lot of efficiency. Yeah. Yeah,
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: they're going out there, doing what they need to do,
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: letting Tyrese just operate, do what he needs to do.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: And we see from... From the starters, we have LeBron,
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: seven assists. Joel, six assists. Jalen Brown, six assists. Tyrese,
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: five assists. That's crazy to me. And I think they're
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: only going to get better on the offensive side. I
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: think the only problem, like my worry, is the defense.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: But if Joel Embiid stays healthy, and that's a huge if,
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: I think this team will be pretty good. I don't
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: think they're going to be how everyone thinks they are,
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: but they're going to be above what I thought they
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: were going to be. As for the Knicks... it's the
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: og and mikhail bridges annual regular season games finals i
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: feel like this is something they they always do though
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: in and i felt like it was a talking point
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: going into the playoffs was like they wanted to they didn't.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: Even want these guys you from it kind of hinders
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: you from OG showed, oh, dang, he's a really good
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: basketball player, but then in the regular season, you're just
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: kind of, hmm.
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know if you remember this, but.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Is he an all-star? You know, like, it's kind of
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: one of those things.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: People... I feel like fans were like, can we get
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: Mikel or can we get OG out of here? Are they...
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: One of them needs to get gone.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Definitely Mikel.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they were talking about that because they just have
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: so many nights like this where they're just inefficient and
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: they just aren't as contributive to the team as they
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: need to be because... Although they probably are there for
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: the defense, they still need to put up offensive numbers.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: They still need to have good offensive games to be
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: able to win the games. JB can't do it all.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: Cat can't do it all. And I think that Cat
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: had a pretty good game. And JB, not the best.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: Shooting six for 19, not very good. But, yeah, I
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: thought Andre Drummond coming on, I thought he looked pretty good.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: He looked good.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: I loved watching Andre Drummond yesterday.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah. He had 12 points and 14 boards, and I
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: think that was huge.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Some second-chance opportunities, some putbacks.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: Maybe a good Mitchell Robinson replacement, you know? And I
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: thought that was— he played good.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: He's developed his game a lot, too, as well, Andre Drummond. Like,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: he's kind of developed what he wasn't. I think it's probably, like,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: his peak of what he is going to be in
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: the NBA at this point.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: Moment right now. I can see that. And I thought
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: he played a really good game. Him and Cat actually played,
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: they matched minutes. They went 24 each, so that's interesting. But, yeah,
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: do you have anything else to say about this game?
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, let's look at the Philadelphia 76ers in this one.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: LeBron James was playing, like, a 5-1. the five position
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: at times in this game. Like he was just the
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: point center, you could say, for the Philadelphia 76ers. Like
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: offensive club type. Yeah, and especially on defense as well.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: Like he had a great game defensively. Like he was
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: just controlling the narrative, telling everyone where to go, and
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: just locking people down at his old age. And I
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: think one downfall maybe as well for the 76ers is
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: some depth behind Joel Embiid. I understand that Adam Bono
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: was there, but he kind of got a little bit
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: banged up in this one. And they just don't really
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: have a guy that will scare you outside of Joel Embiid,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: especially at least in that five position in the front court.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: I really do think that they really need another big
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: man to solidify this team just a little bit. But
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: like you said, Tyrese Maxey has really come into his
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: own in this NBA. One of the best players that.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: That we have, especially as a scorer. I remember watching
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: him play the Spurs a couple of years ago and
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: we went into double overtime and he was just dropping
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: 42 on us. And it was really fun to watch
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: him do that. And then Vijay Edgecombe didn't do much
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: in this game. However, like, I just think there's so
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: many mouths to feed right now that even Jalen Brown
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: was getting the offense ran through him a lot, a
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: lot in this game. And LeBron James is just the
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: perfect role player now. He's not trying to be the superstar.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: He's not trying to be the number one guy. He's
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: just trying to win basketball games, and that's why he's
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: the GOAT. He's willing to accept his role, 14, 9,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: and 7, in your debut at 43 years old. That's
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: why you're the GOAT. And I think it's only going
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: to get better for this basketball team, especially the more
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: and more games they play with each other. They're going
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: to turn into a problem. Obviously, barring injury, they only
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: did a nine-man rotation in the first regular season game.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: So we'll have to wait and see if they add
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: someone else for depth or if they like to go
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: deeper in some of the guys they already have on
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: the roster. As far as the Knicks, I feel like
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: the Carl Anthony Towns contract situation is kind of a
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: distraction for them. I think that a team that was
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: so gelled together, this is going to cause a rift.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: They're not willing to pay. He's not willing to sign.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: And it's gone into the regular season. OG and Inouye,
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: like you said, they have these games now and then
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: where they just look like regular players. And I do
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: think they played higher than who they actually are in
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: the finals. I mean, everyone is. It's the NBA finals.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: But that's not... I think people were kind of coming
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: into the season expecting them to be like that every
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: single game. Like how the effort that they were giving,
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: basically the ceiling that they reached as a collective, especially
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: in an OG and Inouye who... played amazing. And during
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: that playoff run, they expect them to do that every day.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: And that's just not reality. Oklahoma City Thunder have a
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: bunch of guys who can come in and step up.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: There's a reason why they've had such a deep roster.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: It's for nights like this. It just didn't happen for them.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: They went cold multiple times from three-point range. They weren't
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: hitting their shots consistently. If we look at Even Jalen
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: Brunson in this one. It was a good game, but
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: it wasn't a great game. You're not going to remember
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: this Jalen Brunson game in opening night versus Philadelphia 76ers.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: It's just going to be one of those things where
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: he's going to have to improve as well. I think him,
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, Victor Mbanyama, some of these stars, sure, you
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: can say in ways they had a great game, like
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: Wimby defensively, but you still need to produce more, especially
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: to walk away with a win against some big-time matchups.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: You want to win those.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: You want to assert your dominance on the league and
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: show that even though that they're also a contender, we
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: are as well. And I think the Knicks really missed
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: that opportunity. As far as Andre Drummond, Andre Drummond looked
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: really good in that, at least in that first half.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: Like he was really controlling the board, second chance opportunities,
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: imposing his physical will on people, being a threat on
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: the inside to any driving ball handler so they can
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: dish it off to him. That is really what the
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: role that he was playing and it worked out pretty well.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: I wonder how that's going to pan out to be
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: moving forward. He also has improved his free throw shot
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: as well. Not drastically, but it's improved. And I do
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: think that maybe his addition to this team is going
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: to be pretty big for them.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: In the long run. Yeah, I agree with that. I
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: just want to run over some games where we don't
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: have to go into depth on them. Unless you want to.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: I didn't really get to pay attention too much tonight,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: to be honest.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, not to... As for probably the most... Watched one,
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: or like the one we tuned into most. Maybe like
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: the Timberwolves and the Heat. Anthony Edwards is absolutely going berserk.
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: 45 points. And I think that's two or three. They
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: were putting up the stat. 40 plus point games in
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: the opening night. And the only other people above that
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: is Will and MJ. So that's interesting. We saw the
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: firepower of... of what Minnesota can become with LaMelo at
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: the helm. And when you're taking the ball out of
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: Anthony Edwards' hands coming up the court. And I think
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: this is, like we were talking about last time, I
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: think I love having a dynamic point guard with a
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: lethal score. It's probably one of my favorite things to
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: see in the league. And this is what this is.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: It's insane. You're able to have a point guard like
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: LaMelo and then– insane score like Anthony Edwards. And we
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: saw that tonight. He dropped 45 points. LaMelo shined in
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: with 21. Jaden McDaniels had 17. And then he does
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: what he does on the defensive end. And I would
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: say my only probably my only caveat with this team
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: or worry would probably be depth as well. I would
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: be a little scared about the depth. Yes, they have
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: They have Isaiah Evans, who I think is who's going
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: to be who's going to have to be a volume
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: shooter as a rookie. They have Ayo, who has been
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: amazing since coming over here. Jalen Clark, who's been they've
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: used a little bit. And then Terrence Shannon, Bone Thailand,
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: who they use from time to time. And I think
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: someone who's going to have to step up is Yohan Beringer,
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: who they traded. Did they trade? Oh, they didn't trade
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: for him.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they drafted him.
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: Okay, he's going to have to take a bigger step
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: since Nasri. He has some Spurs last year where he
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: has some size. I think he's going to have to
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: just– well, he's going to be the backup big here,
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: so I think he's going to have to do– he's
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: going to have to step into a new role.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: Don't disrespect Trey Lyles like that, Spurs legend. All right,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: don't disrespect Trey Lyles.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: I was listening to the game, and it was like
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: Trey Lyles– his sixth team in 11 years. He wasn't
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: in the NBA last year because he played for Real
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: Madrid in Spain. That's tough. I need a Trey Lowe's
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: Real Madrid jersey.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: I want a Jabari Parker Barca jersey. I'm not going
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: to lie to you. I really want that. And I
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: want Marco Bellinelli's MVP Italian jersey. So that's why I
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: need it.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: You should, bro. Honestly. As for the Heat, Giannis played
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: so well. Just going back to what he does. And
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: I think... What we're going to have to see from
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: this team is just better three-point shooting, which was like
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: a concern coming into the year. They shot 24% from
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: the three. And yeah, that's just not going to get
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: it done. And when you have Giannis on the court,
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: he needs three-point shooters. He attacks the rim, creates drive penetration,
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: so then he, therefore, he can kick it out. So yeah,
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: I think this is going to be a concern. I
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: think Davion Mitchell played good. He had 11 points, 11 assists,
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: 5 turnovers, which is something he's going to have to
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: work on. Some of them were clumsy too. He would
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: just be running and he would try something and it
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: would just go out of bounds. So yeah, I think
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: that this team... I think it's going to come down
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: to three-point shooting, honestly, because I think that Giannis can
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: carry a team just because of how good he is,
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: but it's just going to come down ultimately to how
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: they can shoot the three ball.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, as far as what we saw from the Minnesota Timberwolves,
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: I think this is going to be the scary part
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: of them. Now they have offense without any trouble. They're
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: really going to put up a lot of threes, and
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: they're going to make them more often than not, especially
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: with LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards. Anthony Edwards, that was
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: a big-time game to have versus a big-time team in
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: the Miami Heat in Game 1. He really made a
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: statement on where his intentions are this season, and that's
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: going to be ultra-aggressive. He's going to be an aggressive player.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: He's going to put up shots. He went 9 for
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: 17 from the three-point line.
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: Putting up insane amounts of shots.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And he only missed 13. He made 16 for 29.
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: That's a pretty good ratio, if you ask me. lamella
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: ball as well like he was very aggressive in this
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: one you can tell he was playing freely he was
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: playing with a lot of fun questionable call that probably
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: questionable no call maybe was probably a travel on one
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: of those threes but it don't matter he scored it
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: and then y'all's guy jenny mcdaniel's he just has a
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: good game in this one eight for 11 efficient from
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: the field eight rebounds just doing the dirty man's work
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: some doing some big time jobs for the minnesota timberwolves
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: ready go bear actually look good defensively in this one
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: i mean he always looks good defensively he controlled the
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: board swell with 15 rebounds creating a bunch of opportunities
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: for Anthony Edwards, for LaMelo Ball to really get going
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: in this one. And I think Io DeSumo as well.
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: He's definitely going to be a six-man-of-the-year candidate for this
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves team. He might even be the favorite, probably
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: in my opinion, if one of the Spurs don't get
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: moved to the bench to be the six-man-of-the-year. Because I
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: think if Dylan Harper or De'Aaron Fox are coming off
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: the bench, I'm sorry, I don't care who you are.
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: You're not going to win six-man-of-the-year with those guys at
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: the helm. But definitely, I would assume it was going
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: to be in the conversation. And I think in this game,
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: it just showed why he is. And as far as
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: the Miami Heat, I think in that first half, Giannis
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: looked amazing. Like, I think him and LaMelo both had
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: 16 points in that first half. Giannis was really dominating.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: I think he only missed, like, one shot. But then
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: when that second half came around, I just think that
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: the Timberwolves came out with a better game plan. And
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: they kind of contained them a little bit better overall.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins, I think, has to be a little bit better.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: I think one thing that we did ignore with this
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: team is depth, like you were saying. Because if Andrew Wiggins,
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: I don't think he's the third star no more on
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: a championship team. I think maybe once a couple years
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: ago in his prime, he could have been the third
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: option in a championship team. But right now, he just
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: hasn't shown that for a couple of seasons. His defense
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: is kind of taking a step back. And I think
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: they need him to step up. big time for this
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: team to really have an opportunity to compete for an
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: NBA championship and then they just don't really have a
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: bunch of guys I will say like Pele Larson.
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: And um honestly is someone I want to see Pele
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: Larson like yeah he definitely just got paid and.
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: He was out there for too long to only have
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: two points like.
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah he has to step up for them and I
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: think he is a crucial part of this team because
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: like you said they don't have depth so yeah I
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: think it's It's going to be an interesting season for
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: the Miami Heat. You have any other specific games you
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: want to go over?
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: No, I can't really get into much of them without
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: talking out of my butt because I really didn't have
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: time to watch a lot of them. I will say that.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: I want to shout out Walker Kessler.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, shout him out.
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: You can go.
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: Shout out that. No, you can go. You can cover
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: this one. I didn't really get to watch the Lakers game.
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: I didn't watch much of it either, but I saw
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: the first half, and Luka Doncic was absolutely flaming the
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: actual Lindenberg, Linderborg, which is like a terrible matchup to
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: have as a rookie. The first person he guards. First game. Yeah,
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: you go and guard Luka. What was the NBA moment?
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: First game?
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: Literally, he had a half-court shot, and they were yapping
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: back and forth during the first half. Luka had a
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: half-court shot to end the half, and Yaks was walking
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: back to the locker room, and Luka's following him and
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: is telling him something. You're getting dog walks by Luka Doncic.
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: He had 23 in the first half, which is insane.
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I just want to... Walker Kessler, I think
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: I talked about it last pod. We probably talked about it, where...
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: I said he was going to be big. I thought
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: he was going to be a big signing for this
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: team and that he was going to do good. And
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: he showed that this first game. He had 26 points,
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: 12 for 12. And I think that's the Luka Doncic's effect.
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: When you give him a big who's competent, this is
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: what happens. We saw with Derek Lively. We thought Derek
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: Lively was going to freaking feed families, man. Injuries.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: It was injuries.
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: And then, like... I don't know, just Luca. Mamu. Doing
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: what he does. Yeah, Mamu. Mamu being out there. Call
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: him a little two for five. I love Mamu. And yeah,
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: I think this is going to be an interesting team
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: to watch throughout the season. Zaire Williams starting. That's interesting.
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: He had a good game, four for seven. And then
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: he did good on the defensive side. I really like
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: Matisse Dybul starting for them. I just think he's an
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: interesting player and he's like a really good defender. So
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: it's pretty cool to see that. And then Austin Reeves
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: doing what he does. The Warriors are... It's over, man.
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: It's over. Steph can only do so much.
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: I think they got to start selling some of these players.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: They got to start selling.
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: They're too old. I feel bad for Steph. He only played... Well,
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: it was a blowout. But he played 21 minutes, had
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: 23 points. What else do you expect from the guy?
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: If the Spurs send De'Aaron Fox in for three first-round
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: draft picks, do you think the Warriors take that?
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: I don't think they'll ever give up Steph.
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess it's up to him, really. If he
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: wants to go, he leaves. But if not, he's staying
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: for sure to the end of his career.
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: I really got nothing else to talk about.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, me either. I just want to talk about Luka
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: and Walker Kessler. But other than that, yeah, nothing much.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: Sounds good to me. Thank you all for tuning in
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: to this episode of the So-Called Sports Analyst. We reviewed
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: opening night of the NBA season and even some of
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: day two. We hope to catch you on the next one.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: You can find us on all platforms at YouTube, Spotify,
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, wherever you listen to podcasts that we're there
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: at the So-Called Sports Analyst or TSCSA. Just give us
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: a shout. Please leave a like, comment, and subscribe. We'll
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: catch you on the next one.