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I Updated my NBA Power Rankings · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:04
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to Small Ball with Kenny Beachum.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: On today's episode, I want to rank the top 10 teams in basketball a quarter of the way through the season.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: Can you believe it?
0:14
SPEAKER_01: We're one fourth of the way through the season already.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: I feel like just yesterday the Lakers were good.
0:19
SPEAKER_01: Also, I want to talk about the Spotify rap.
0:21
SPEAKER_01: Listen, it happened a couple days ago.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: If you were an Apple music person, I don't know what to tell you.
0:26
SPEAKER_01: Listen, I don't know what y'all do every single year.
0:29
SPEAKER_01: But I got so many tweets, so many uh things on Instagram about Spotify Rapped.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: And I kind of want to read y'all some of the stats of this little show that we put together, me producer Greg, and the rest of the Enjoy basketball team.
0:41
SPEAKER_01: According to Spotify Rapped, we were a top 52, I'm sorry, top 10 show for 52,000 people out there.
0:50
SPEAKER_01: And this is just Spotify.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: This don't account for y'all, YouTube viewers or the Apple people, again, all three of y'all.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: 52,000 is an insane number.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: We were top a top five show for 26,000.
1:00
SPEAKER_01: And we were the number one podcast listened to for 5,200 people.
1:06
SPEAKER_01: That is kind of insane, man.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, and the reason I'm telling you that is I want to tell you how much I appreciate all the support we've got.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: You know, we just got past Thanksgiving, and uh, you know, we go around the table, just good old-fashioned kid vibes where it's Thanksgiving and you with the family, and we all give one thing we're thankful for.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: I had to say y'all.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: And there is some of my older um family members that didn't really understand what the hell I was talking about.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: But this was before I even knew the numbers of y'all supporting the show.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: But I mentioned how much that support has mattered, right?
1:39
SPEAKER_01: And it's been so good that Spotify has nominated us for breakout creator of 2024.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: Little me smallball with Kenny Beachum.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of insane because we're we're competing with Haley Welch of Talk to a Fame.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: We're competing, competing with some people from TMG Studios, some from Barstool.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: The list goes on and on.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: And again, we would not get nominated for those type of things if y'all weren't showing love.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: So thank you, thank you, thank you, man.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, this show, my other show also had a bunch of top tens, top fives, and number one.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: I just, I don't know, remember the times where nobody ever cared about what the hell I had to say about basketball?
2:13
SPEAKER_01: And here we are.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: 52,000 fans was like, hey, Kenny's in my top 10.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: Insanity, insanity.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: So we have the top 10 teams in basketball as of today.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: I want to remind you, my power rankings, I don't care about your history.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: I don't care about what you did last season.
2:28
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking at this sample size of the first quarter of the season, and this is all fluctuating, right?
2:33
SPEAKER_01: Again, earlier the season, the Lakers were one of the top three teams.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: Now I didn't even think about putting them in the top 10 because that's how bad it is got for them.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: Second shot at the Lakers, by the way.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: Here's my top 10.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: Number 10.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: Ignore the fact that they lost about 100 points a couple nights ago against the uh Timberwolves.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: The Clippers, the Clippers have been such, I mean, was such a blind spot for me going into the season where I was doing my power rankings or my standings rankings.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: And I think I had the Clippers as a 13th seed, kind of looking at the Kawhi Leonard injury, looking at Paul George being gone, looking at a 38-year-old, 36-year-old, 35-year-old James Harden somewhere in there.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: And like, nah, this team ain't got it.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: Well, they are way better than expected.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of that has to do with the defense.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: I think that if it wasn't for Kenny Atkinson doing some great things, or if it wasn't from Jamal Mosley doing some great things, we'd be talking about Tyron Lou being a coach of the year candidate.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: And it makes sense, right?
3:25
SPEAKER_01: This team has an identity of being one of the best defensive teams in basketball, and they got one of the best floor raisers in the history of basketball as their primary guy.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: James Harden's having a ridiculously bad efficiency season, and nobody really cares because the team is still able to be good enough on the offensive side of the ball with James Harden as the guy.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: And getting into some cool, cool NBA nerd stuff, I am so happy that Jordan Miller has been breaking into the rotation over the last couple days because he was a guy in summer league.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: If I'm not mistaken, he might have won Summer League MVP, but I watched him twice, sat down and watched him twice at the Thomas and Mac this um offseason.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, yeah, this guy looks like a real, real NBA player.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: My question was, what is his role going to be on this Clippers team?
4:07
SPEAKER_01: And they've given him an opportunity over the last couple games to kind of be like this primary ball handler as Kevin Porter Jr.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: has been in and out with injuries.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: And some of these games, he's getting a lot of garbage time in.
4:16
SPEAKER_01: Reminder, they lost by 50 something points, it felt like the other night.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: And then they beat another team by like 40 a couple nights before that.
4:22
SPEAKER_01: So he's got a lot of garbage time, but I am so impressed with the way he's been hooping.
4:26
SPEAKER_01: He's like a he's a tall, he's a forward, but he dribbles so low to the ground and he's such a big stocky body that it's not a lot of people that have been able to really stay in front of him or prevent him from getting to the basket.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: Uh in other teams, when he is playing real minutes, right?
4:40
SPEAKER_01: Other teams have opted to put the worst defender or smallest defender on him because we don't really know much about Jordan Miller.
4:47
SPEAKER_01: One game it was Fred Van Vleet, one game it was Jamal Murray, and he's really just like, oh, smaller defender, let me cook.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: And he has.
4:55
SPEAKER_01: Bro, I know again, there's a size difference between him and six foot even, maybe Fred Van Vlee, but Fred Van Vliet is one of them stocky, big guards that you're not gonna move from very often.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: I remember I clipped this.
5:06
SPEAKER_01: He put his shoulder into Fred Van Vleek's chest, and Fred Van Vlee damn near was in the second, second uh row of the stance.
5:12
SPEAKER_01: Jordan Miller, man, get on the radar if you haven't been really locked in.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: But also you still have I don't I didn't even know how it's possible.
5:19
SPEAKER_01: They were a quarter of the way through the season and Norman Powell is still shooting over 50% from three.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't make any sense.
5:25
SPEAKER_01: And then recently, this is something I saw this morning on Twitter.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: Bill Simmons, the pod father, said Kawhi Leonard is expected to return to the Clippers lineup before the for Christmas.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: His exact quote, my Clippers guy, I was gonna do a Bill Simmons impersonation.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I can do it.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: I can't get that Boston accident there.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, my Clippers guy was telling me Kawhi's coming back before Christmas.
5:46
SPEAKER_01: I think he's ramped up.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: He's ramped up and ready to go.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: And then it goes back to the question if they are able to hold down the fort, which they have been able to do without Kawhi Leonard, what happens when he comes back?
5:58
SPEAKER_01: This has changed the dynamic of this team where they go from a team that we were kind of wishy-washy about their future assets.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: Will they be willing to trade this and that with Kawhi Leonard being back and then being 14 to 10 at the moment?
6:10
SPEAKER_01: Will they be a team that is buying?
6:11
SPEAKER_01: Remember, they still have PJ Tucker technically on the team, but not with the team.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: And that's$10 million in contract or somewhere around that.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: You still have Bones Highland who in a garbage time gang could get you 20 points, you know.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: So I'm just curious to see exactly how much they keep that foot on the pedal.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, the Zubach and James Harden pick a rose, one of the better ones in basketball through the first couple weeks.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: And though it's not as good now as it was then, it is still an effective offensive play.
6:37
SPEAKER_01: And I can't even uh spend 20 minutes talking about Chris Dunn because I think you would click off the video, but Chris Dunn is one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: Before the season started, I called him five through seven, like he's one of the five through seven best defensive guards in ball.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: I think you can make a real legitimate argument this season that he's number one.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Now, granted, the offensive side of the ball is so hit or miss.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: Some games he's gonna turn the ball over when it's 30 seconds left and you're gonna lose.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: And some games he's gonna hit four threes.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: But the defense is so good with him and Derrick Jones Jr.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: that you gotta keep him on the court.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to Van Gundy.
7:12
SPEAKER_01: My number nine team is the Bucs.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: The Bucs went from a team that through the first two weeks of the season, I was saying, hey, I'm out.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm done.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm not sitting here saying that this Bucks team has a chance after what I was seeing.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: And they rattled off, what, nine or ten before they lost the other night to the Atlanta Hawks?
7:30
SPEAKER_01: But this is this is the thing that scares me just a little bit.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: They're still good enough to be on this top 10 list, don't get me wrong.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: But of those games that they won, we're talking about the Pistons, the Wizards, the Heat, the Hornets, the Pacers, the Bulls, the Pistons again, and then the Raptors.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: That's about as cupcake as a schedule as you can get.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: Now, you take care of business.
7:51
SPEAKER_01: Now, you gotta take care of business because Erland sees you lost the Memphis Grizzly without John Morant and so many other people.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: So you gotta take care of business.
7:57
SPEAKER_01: I'm not taking anything away from that, but I am curious to see what's gonna happen.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: Last night they lost to the Atlanta Hawks, the Hawks at this point.
8:03
SPEAKER_01: Super confusing team, but at least good enough to win against good teams, whether it be the Cavaliers or the Boston Celtics or the Milwaukee Bucks.
8:10
SPEAKER_01: They lost that game.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: But coming up, they got the Celtics, they got the Nets, they got the Magic, they got the Calves.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna really get a feel of what this Milwaukee Bucks team really is.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: One of my favorite under-the-radar things about them right now is AJ Green.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: AJ Green's been phenomenal.
8:25
SPEAKER_01: Um, I I think I love when we get a specialist in basketball.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: Now, a lot of the times we talk about specialists, it's gonna be three-pointers, it's gonna be your Steve Novaks, it's gonna be your Cal Corvers, it's gonna be your JJ Reddicks, it's gonna be your AJ Greens.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, that's probably the most, I guess the least exclusive specialist archetype there is in basketball.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: AJ Green fits that where I don't know if he's attempted a shot at the basket this season.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: Last time I checked, it was a it was a no.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: His job is to sit on that perimeter and shoot that damn peel.
8:52
SPEAKER_01: But one thing I think is underrated about AJ Green is he's a pretty smart defender.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: Like smart defender doesn't always translate to good defender because I do think that his lack of athleticism has let him down sometimes.
9:04
SPEAKER_01: But I do normally watch this team and think to myself, AJ is in the right place at the right time, but unfortunately, he just wasn't gifted the same tools as some of the other people across basketball.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes that's that's good enough, right?
9:16
SPEAKER_01: When you have a guy that is a specialist like this who can shoot 46% from three through the first 25 games of the season, having defense that is decent is enough for you to really be a part of the rotation.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: And what we've noticed over the last couple weeks during this win streak is Pat Connenton, who had been a staple in the Milwaukee Bucks rotation.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: He was asked last season, not looking that great this year as well.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: His minutes are practically gone in favor of AJ Green.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's the right decision by Doc Rivers.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: We got the report this morning that Chris Middleton, Chris Middleton is coming back tomorrow, and I think that is the game versus the Celtics.
9:48
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna tell you right now, that's probably the game of the night.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: And I can't wait to see exactly what's gonna happen because they had said that he was clear to play a little while ago, but he he didn't feel comfortable with it.
9:59
SPEAKER_01: And when I see stuff like this, I'm always gonna side with the player because you know your body more than any expert, more than any doctor.
10:06
SPEAKER_01: If you're feeling some type of way, this is outside of basketball.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: You feel it some type of way, trust your body, you feel?
10:11
SPEAKER_01: And Chris Middleton said that he wasn't ready, and now he is.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: And luckily enough, they were able to hold down a four after that really slow start.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: And as of today, they have climbed their way up to the five seed of sitting at 11 and 10.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: And I want to remind you that last year, when we did see Giannis Dame, Chris Middleton, and Brooke Lopez on the court together, they had a plus minus of plus 14 and some change.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: That's a real four man.
10:33
SPEAKER_01: And if Chris Middleton is looking anything like he looked in the playoffs, I don't expect him to look that good early.
10:38
SPEAKER_01: But if he ever gets to that point, it's a team that's back to being a dangerous team.
10:42
SPEAKER_01: I do want to talk about Giannis.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: We're a quarter of the way through the season.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people will say Nicole Jokic is the MVP.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: His team is sitting at 11 and 8.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: He's doing everything.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the man is practically, let me see exactly what his averages is as uh in this moment.
10:58
SPEAKER_01: He's practically averaging a triple double.
11:00
SPEAKER_01: No, not practically, he literally is uh averaging a triple double with 30 points per game.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: 30 points per game.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: Now I remember there's a time, and this is supposed to be a Giannis segment, but here I am talking about Jokic.
11:11
SPEAKER_01: There was a time in Jokic's career where I was super frustrated with him because he didn't shoot the damn ball.
11:16
SPEAKER_01: Now he's taking 20 shots a game, including four threes on 52%.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: Anyway, he's averaging 30, 13, and 10.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: I don't, I'm not here yet to say that he is officially the MVP.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: There's so much basketball left.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: Giannis right now is averaging 32, 11, and 6.5.
11:33
SPEAKER_01: And he is having his most efficient year of his career again.
11:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't even know how that's possible for him to do it again.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: His effective field goal percentage is 62%, and that would be a career high.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: And it's not just a career high.
11:46
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he also has diversified his portfolio just a little bit.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: Like a lot of the times we talked about Giannis throughout his career, they were trying to badger Giannis about taking the three-point shot.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: At one point, he was averaging almost five, three pointers per game.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: That was his championship or not his championship year, his MVP season in the 1920 season when he also won DPO.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: He's taking five, three points per game.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of asinine.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm looking at it now, five years later.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: I love this version of Giannis.
12:10
SPEAKER_01: The no settle for three Giannis, bro.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: There were some times last season where I felt like he bailed teams out.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: Every time he took a three, I felt like he was bailing a team out.
12:17
SPEAKER_01: Nowadays, it just doesn't happen.
12:19
SPEAKER_01: He's attempting 0.7 of those things.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: But what he has improved on, and you've probably seen it on Twitter, the the extra bag work from Giannis, that mid-range jumper.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: That boy, that mid-range jumper.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: Man, I ain't had these numbers pulled up, but I'm looking into them as we speak.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: That mid-range jumper has become a part of Giannis's bag.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: And I don't remember which of the famous trainers it was, but he was quoting it with the eyes emoji, just knowing that, like, hey, Giannis learned that from here.
12:45
SPEAKER_01: But he's been using it more and more.
12:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm always going to refer to this one game because it was engraved in my mind because I was watching it with the guys and we were all like enamored with it.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: The one game against the Pistons like three weeks ago, where they go into overtime after that bad call that sent Ron Holland to the free throw line.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: And in overtime, he had two jump shots and then a three, like two mid-range jump shots in the three.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: Is like, oh, there's nothing you can really do.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: Right now he has attempted this season.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: 74 long mid-rangers, 74 long mid-rangers.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: He's shooting 49%.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: Mm-mm.
13:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't know what else I can really say.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: The on courts or the on like stats line is not gonna match Jokic because Jokic is again 30 and 13 and 10.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: But I do believe we have a race here, right?
13:30
SPEAKER_01: And that's all I really care for.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: I don't like when awards are like given to a player after a quarter of the season because it kind of I don't know.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes a player is that dominant, and sometimes a player does have that much of a wiggle room above the competition.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: And Jokic, again, in my opinion, is still the best in the world, but I'm just saying that Giannis is in the conversations as well.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: And that was something I predicted going into the season, where uh Giannis had become underrated, I think, in the general public.
13:55
SPEAKER_01: And I was saying that there's uh a way this season for him to get back into best in the world conversations, and I think he's kind of playing that way.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: One thing I did notice about the Bucs before we move on to the seventh, I'm sorry, eighth ranked team, and something that we should monitor as we go against some of these better teams across basketball over the next, I don't know, uh, week or two, is occasionally when they go against a team that is extremely aggressive on the glass, like an Atlanta Hawks who's top five in offensive rebounding, they kind of roll over and let you do that.
14:26
SPEAKER_01: Last night's games I watched, they had the Atlanta Hawks had 40 points in the paint in the first half, a lot of second chance opportunities.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: So it's just something to monitor throughout the rest of the season as they go against some of these better teams.
14:40
SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, shout out to the Bucks.
14:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to see exactly what you do next.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: Number 18.
14:46
SPEAKER_01: New York Knicks.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: New York Knicks, man.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: Uh, right now they have the second best offensive basketball.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: And damn it, they had the best offensive basketball yesterday, but they dropped, they dropped to number two.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: It's percentage points, but they dropped to number two.
14:58
SPEAKER_01: But we gotta be uh realistic around here.
15:00
SPEAKER_01: And don't you look now?
15:01
SPEAKER_01: They're up to 20th in defense.
15:03
SPEAKER_01: Come on now.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: What's the recipe?
15:06
SPEAKER_01: When you when you change the identity, we all knew what they changed the identity for.
15:09
SPEAKER_01: We just didn't know if it was gonna work.
15:11
SPEAKER_01: When you when you traded away a guy like Julius Randle or Dante DiVincenzo and you lose an Isaiah Hardenstein and you bring your car into the towns, we understand that you're sacrificing that defensive side of the ball to make one of the most uh one of the best offensive basketball.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
15:25
SPEAKER_01: They did that.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: And now that the defense is slowly cramping up, creeping up.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: Now, a lot of times, in order to do the thing that they want to do, you have to at least be top 15.
15:36
SPEAKER_01: You got to be at least top 10 on that side of the ball.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: But I'm just not putting it out of the realm of possibility.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: Mikhail Bridges has now strung together two good games.
15:45
SPEAKER_01: He had the 31-point game against the Pelicans in the 19-point game against Orlando, where he shot 61% from three on from the field.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: And they they looked at Orlando in their face on National TV and said, y'all don't want no smoke, and ran them boys out the gym.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: And it was, as a neutral fan, I was kind of sad about it because I wanted more people to kind of talk about the Orlando Magic.
16:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and it's it's happened a few times.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: I guess we're talking about the Magic later.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: Spoiler, they're on this list.
16:10
SPEAKER_01: Uh, that a few times where the Orlando Magic have had, I don't know, the opportunity to play on those nasty televised games.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: It feel like they just don't come out and play.
16:19
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if the lights are too bright.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: It was Madison Square Garden, but they've uh struggled in those nasty televised games.
16:25
SPEAKER_01: But with that win, the New York Knicks secured their spot in the NBA Cup semis.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: Come on, man, they're there.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: And if you go to FanDuel Sportsbook, we got the odds for the winners right now.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: The favorite is the OKC Thunder at plus 280.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: Second, though, is your New York Knicks at plus 330.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: And I like those.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: The only other team I like a lot more is the Houston Rockets at plus 700.
16:47
SPEAKER_01: Come on, man.
16:47
SPEAKER_01: If there's any team that I think is gonna get up to win this, it's gonna be the team like the Knicks, where Josh Hart said he won a new AP watch.
16:53
SPEAKER_01: And I believe him.
16:55
SPEAKER_01: I truly do believe that he's gonna want to win that watch.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: Or it's gonna be that young team, like the Pacers of last year.
17:00
SPEAKER_01: No, they didn't win it.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: LeBron and them did, but that young team like the Houston Rockets, that's hey, this is our first time being in a situation like this, those are the teams I would lean to a little bit, but it's also hard to bet against OKC after the way they play.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: But that's FanDuel Sports Book.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm just curious to see.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: I told you I was a huge fan of the NBA Cup the moment it was announced, and here we are.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: I mean, one of the games, was it the Spurs versus the Suns game a couple nights back where the Dallas Mavericks hit the win by six points, and they did win by six points, and now you see like the the uh Suns players are looking at the scoreboard trying to figure out how much they gotta win back in order to advance.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: Come on, man.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: It shouldn't matter.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: But I was like, it does.
17:41
SPEAKER_01: The Bulls played against the we're gonna talk about the Bulls for no reason, played against the Boston Celtics last week, the day after, day after Thanksgiving.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: I think it was the day after Thanksgiving.
17:50
SPEAKER_01: The Bulls at that point, they're alive, baby.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: We win the game against the Boston Celtics, we're going to Vegas.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: And I told my dad as we were watching this this Bulls game, if the Bulls win this, I am flying to Vegas to watch them play if they make it to the you know the Vegas.
18:03
SPEAKER_01: And me and my dad are standing up watching this random regular season game for the Bulls.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: That's what Adam Silver envisioned.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Me and my dad, if I would have taken up somebody who took a picture of me and my dad and said the Adam Silver, he would have been smiling ear to ear.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: But I'm also pissed at Adam Silver for one reason.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna talk about that later in the show.
18:21
SPEAKER_01: But the Knicks are number eight.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: Jalen Brunson is still as steady as possible.
18:25
SPEAKER_01: Like I know his counter stats are not gonna look the same, and I think that's a good thing because he had what the highest, um, the highest usage rate in the second half of the season.
18:33
SPEAKER_01: This year he's 25-7 and this 25-7-3.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: Come on, man.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: That's that's so great.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: And as they slowly get to the point, I think Precious Achua was questionable.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: So they're starting to add some of those rotational bigs back, and Mitch Robbs should be back in a month or so.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: I like watching this team.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: At the bare minimum, the Knicks are a super fun watch.
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19:51
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19:54
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19:58
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19:59
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20:00
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20:05
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20:08
SPEAKER_01: Number seven is the Grizzlies.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: Man, I got a tweet like an hour ago.
20:14
SPEAKER_01: Hey Kenny, before the season started, I should have screenshotted this so I could say your name.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: Before the season started, you were really high on the Grizzlies.
20:21
SPEAKER_01: I just I honestly don't remember me being high on the Grizzlies, but sure.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: And they've been exceeding expectations, and you ain't talked about us yet.
20:27
SPEAKER_01: What's the deal?
20:28
SPEAKER_01: The deal is you don't be watching the the plethora of content that I put together.
20:32
SPEAKER_01: How about that, brother?
20:33
SPEAKER_01: You're looking at one channel.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: But the the Grizzies are the only team in basketball.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
20:39
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
20:39
SPEAKER_01: These these are one of those stats.
20:41
SPEAKER_01: Remember the stat where Thaddeus Young was in conversations with Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson, LeBron James.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: I'm doing one of those, one of those stats where I'm picking and choosing what matters.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: They're the only team that is top six in offense and defense.
20:58
SPEAKER_01: Because you know, usually you talk about top five, top five, you know, the round numbers are just so much better.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: They're the only team top six in both, where they're the number five offense and the number six defense.
21:07
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you got me.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: You got me.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: But it is a testament to their versatility, is a testament to their depth that they have the opportunity to do this because they have been banged up as all hell.
21:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, the normal Memphis Grizzly way.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: Jalen Wales, and I mentioned this in passing, but I want to talk about it um at length here.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: He has been my favorite rookie this season outside, outside of Modus Buzelis.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: And I guess Jeremy Cain, but Jeremy Cain don't really count.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: He came into this team that had, in their mind, their starting lineup ready.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be John Moran, it's gonna be Marcus Smart, it's gonna be Desmond Bang, it's gonna be Jaren Jackson Jr.
21:45
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be Zach Eady.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: That is our starting lineup.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: That's what we're projected to do.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: Hey, former DPOY?
21:51
SPEAKER_01: How do you feel about coming off the bench?
21:54
SPEAKER_01: Because this second round rookie deserves a start.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: Is that crazy?
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Is that not crazy to anybody else?
22:02
SPEAKER_01: That's how good Jalen Wells has been.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: The other night, and they lost this game.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: It was a tough watch because it was 27 free throws one way.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: And that game against the Dallas Mavericks.
22:15
SPEAKER_01: Jalen Wells was tasked with guarding Luka Doncic.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: And the ball tips off and it goes to the Dallas Mavericks.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: And guess who was there to pick that man up three-quarters court?
22:26
SPEAKER_01: It was the rookie, Jalen Wells.
22:28
SPEAKER_01: Now, for what is worth, Jalen Wells had a hard ass time.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: Luka Doncic dominated that game.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: But I just like the enthusiasm from the young rookie to say, hey, this game I am guarding Luka Doncic.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to do it very well.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: But this game, I'm going to guard Luka Doncic.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: And that's going to be my assignment.
22:46
SPEAKER_01: And he had games.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: Hold on, hold on.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: I got it written down here.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: He had games where he did that the game before that, Tyrese Halliburton, the game before that, DeJounte Murray.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: The game before that, Kay Cunningham, the game before that.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: You get what I'm saying?
22:59
SPEAKER_01: He has had the primary ball handler assignment for every game this season that he started as a rookie, a second round rookie.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: Second round rookie.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: That is insane.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: And not to mention that he hits his shots.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: And the only thing I can say occasionally, it feels like he wants to call his own number.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: But hell, I kind of like that.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: I kind of like that the rookie is like, hey, I ain't touched the ball a little bit.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: Let me do my thing.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: So shout out to Jalen Wales.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: Jaron Jackson Jr.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: won a DPOY a few years ago.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: Didn't even get a single all-defensive vote the year after that.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: How is that possible?
23:31
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
23:32
SPEAKER_01: But he should be getting all defensive votes this year.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if he's in DPOY conversations necessarily.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: Because I know I said earlier I hate giving an award to somebody this early, but that's goddamn Wimby's ward to lose at this point.
23:43
SPEAKER_01: He's been phenomenal.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: The defense is 11 points per possession better when he is on the floor.
23:49
SPEAKER_01: That's in the top 90-something percentile.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: That is in that's an elite level defensive player.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: And I think part of it has to do with, you know, when you start along Zach Edy, Zach Eedy has a responsibility to guard the actual center.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: Or in this new lineup where Zach Edy is out with injury, Brennan Clark was guarding the um Daniel Gafferts of the world, the Derek Lively's of the world, while you can allow a guy like Jaron to do what he did in his DPOY season and just be this ultimate help defender and be an alternate roller.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: Like there's a few players in my lifetime off the top of my head that was just super elite at that.
24:21
SPEAKER_01: You do have Draymond Green, of course, maybe one of the three best people at that role specifically.
24:27
SPEAKER_01: The DPOY Giannis years, that was also up there.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: I think Jaron is having a full case of being able to do that.
24:34
SPEAKER_01: And he's doing that without blocking as many shots as he did in his DPOYC.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: So I want to give Jaron his love because those reps where he was the number one option last season has come and it's helped him a lot this year, where he now does have Desmond Bain, who's not looking great this year because that oblique injury.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: He's still not shooting the ball well, but he's still a positive player just because he's Desmond Bain.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: But having Desmond Bain back and having John Morant back has just opened the game up so much from Jaron.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: And then one of the things about the Grizzlies is that I feel like they got too many good players.
25:02
SPEAKER_01: Because no Vince Williams, no Gigi Jackson, no Zach Edy.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: They still have a potential 10-man lineup without three real rotational pieces being suited up.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: Like legitimately good players.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Santi Obama is fifth on this team and scoring with 14 points per game.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: Pip Jr.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: Pip Jr.'s a real NBA player, 11 points per game.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: J.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: Huff, Jake La Rabia.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: The list goes on and on.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious if they're going to do some type of consolidation trade.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: I know there's a lot of Marcus Smart rumors, maybe a team that's interested in a former DPOY can get them and they can get something for the future, or they get something that helps them more immediately right now.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: But they have been a super fun watch, specifically when John Moran is there because you know Ja, you know 12, you know what he can do.
25:42
SPEAKER_01: And um, I think his passing this year has gone to a whole nother level.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: He's still a little bit of a home run hitter.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: He's uh a Mark Aguire, sometimes a Giancarlo Stanton where it's home run or nothing, where he's throwing passes off the backboard that lead to a turnover, but boy, when he throw that pass off the backboard and Zach ED is there, or Santi Odama is there, it's electric.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: Love me some Ja Morant.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: Even though he said he's trying to not dunk anymore.
26:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how I feel about that, Ja.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: If that means you're gonna play more games, I'm all for.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm tired of seeing you on that sideline.
26:12
SPEAKER_01: So if that means you're gonna play more games, shoot, sure.
26:14
SPEAKER_01: Number six on the list.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: We mentioned him earlier, the Orlando Magic.
26:18
SPEAKER_01: It's something about ugly basketball that gets me, man.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: It's something about ugly basketball that just gets me going.
26:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh, they have one player in the league that's that's barely, barely above league average in three-point shooting, and that's Gary Harris.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: They have two players above league average in effective field goal percentage, and that is the two centers, Goga Battazi and Mo Wagner.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: That's how bad their offense really is.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: Right now, it's in that 23rd.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: They're cursed, they can't have a top 15 defense, it's never gonna happen again, I guess.
26:45
SPEAKER_01: But their offense is so bad, but their defense is so good that they're like, we're good.
26:51
SPEAKER_01: We're good.
26:51
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, no Palo Bancamero for the last month or so, but they're just chilling, bro.
26:55
SPEAKER_01: They're chilling and winning games.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: And if it wasn't for them getting blown out by the New York Knicks a couple nights back, they might even be higher on my list.
27:01
SPEAKER_01: But defensively, they're gonna run you off the line, force you to take mid-range jump shots that you do not want to take, and they won't let you score in transition.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: You can get out on a break.
27:09
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to score on the Orlando Magic.
27:11
SPEAKER_01: They they are a lot like on the string.
27:14
SPEAKER_01: And I thought that there was a world where the defense didn't look as great this season.
27:18
SPEAKER_01: I know they're incorporating a great defensive player in KCP, but I was thinking about the more communication part of it all.
27:23
SPEAKER_01: You only have a couple months, a month to really get it going from training camp to the start of the regular season.
27:28
SPEAKER_01: It's been a seamless fit defensively between KCP.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: I love that Anthony Black is now the backup point guard because Cole Anthony fell off, which sucks because I like Cole Anthony a lot.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: Like he's a great interview, he's a great player, a great person.
27:41
SPEAKER_01: So I wish that his season wasn't going as bad as it is right now.
27:43
SPEAKER_01: But I like Anthony Black as that backup point guard pretty damn steady.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to your Orlando Magic and Franz Wagner has been everything you could have wanted for your secondary guy stepping up.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: And I just saw an interview where he said that Paolo Bancaro is the best player in the world.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: Gotta support your boys, right?
28:00
SPEAKER_01: Gotta support your boys.
28:01
SPEAKER_01: But you know what?
28:02
SPEAKER_01: No, hell no.
28:03
SPEAKER_01: Because I support my boys more than anybody in the world.
28:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm never gonna say Mike is the best rapper on the planet because he put out an album.
28:12
SPEAKER_01: Now that's not fair because Paolo is at least good.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, number five team, a team that we talked about maybe last episode, so I'm gonna spend a lot of time on it, is the Houston Rockets.
28:22
SPEAKER_01: The identity man, again, something about ugly basketball.
28:25
SPEAKER_01: Now, their offense is a lot better than the Orlando Magic offense, but something about teams that get all into you and make you turn the ball over and get all until you make you take shots you don't want to take.
28:35
SPEAKER_01: Right now, they have the second best defense in all of basketball.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: And I didn't even realize their offense was top 10 now.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
28:42
SPEAKER_01: The game against the OKC Thunder a few nights back was one of my favorite games to watch this season.
28:47
SPEAKER_01: Fred Van Vliet had an awakening because heed is actually love Fred Van Vliet.
28:51
SPEAKER_01: You want to know why?
28:52
SPEAKER_01: He's one of those players that is gonna take a lot of ridiculous shots.
28:57
SPEAKER_01: He is a about six-foot point guard, not super fast, not super athletic, get into the basket, and in general, it's just pretty tough for him.
29:06
SPEAKER_01: So he's gonna take a lot, and I mean a lot of heavily contested shots, a lot of super tough shots, and because of that, his efficiency could teeter, right?
29:15
SPEAKER_01: He can be a bad offensive shooter occasionally.
29:18
SPEAKER_01: But because this man almost never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever turns the ball over, he's always gonna be a plus point guard because of that.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: He always will be.
29:28
SPEAKER_01: He's one of those defenders, again, top, top two defense where he's smaller, but he still's gonna compete and he's still gonna be damn good.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna have a good defensive point guard that doesn't turn the ball over.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: I think his assistant turnoff ratio is like six to one at this point.
29:41
SPEAKER_01: That is good enough for him to have the nickname Steady Freddy.
29:45
SPEAKER_01: He's steady Freddy for sure.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: And that game against the OKC Thunder, he became more than Steady Freddy.
29:50
SPEAKER_01: That was boy, that was one of them games for Freddy, man.
29:52
SPEAKER_01: And he hit the long, long, long shot.
29:54
SPEAKER_01: And that was like the icing on the cake.
29:57
SPEAKER_01: In that game, he ended up with 38, 14 free throw attempts.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: The game after that, zero free throw attempts.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: The game before that, two free throw attempts.
30:06
SPEAKER_01: The game before that, one, the game before that, zero.
30:08
SPEAKER_01: Something happened in that game.
30:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, it was Freddy.
30:12
SPEAKER_01: It was not even just Freddie, it was all-star Freddie.
30:14
SPEAKER_01: And me and the guys did another um predicting all-stars.
30:18
SPEAKER_01: Or I did it with six rings of steel slash Matt, the last episode on this show.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: But on Numbers on the Board, the other podcast we did, we did a um all-star ballot.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: And I it's so hard.
30:27
SPEAKER_01: I think that they deserve some representation.
30:29
SPEAKER_01: And the the closest guy to that is gonna be Alpern Shangun, who I think is taking a step defensively this season.
30:35
SPEAKER_01: You know, you get to late in fourth quarters, at least over the last couple weeks.
30:37
SPEAKER_01: They feel so comfortable with him having that touch, him taking the shots, and making those decisions, which I appreciate.
30:42
SPEAKER_01: But it's so hard to get him into that all-star game.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: And the forward position out west is so damn deep.
30:48
SPEAKER_01: I hope that he does end up making it.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: I ain't even got to mention the Tarot twins, who are still doing their part.
30:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I guess I will.
30:55
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to him.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: I love the little moment where we had of Dylan Brooks and Shea Garrison Alexander, teammates on Team Canada, getting to a little scuffle, laughing at off and so on and so forth.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: Number four on this list is the Dallas Mavericks.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: Just made a video about the Dallas Mavericks and their game against the Memphis Gridges a few days back, so I won't bring those points back in.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: But this is probably the deepest team Luca Dontis has had.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: And this is without them having, you know, even good Klay Thompson at this point.
31:22
SPEAKER_01: He hasn't been good.
31:22
SPEAKER_01: Full stop.
31:23
SPEAKER_01: He hasn't been good.
31:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, he's on the Ministry Strictor right now, coming off his injury and everything.
31:26
SPEAKER_01: So I hope he does get back to being a good shooter and everything.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: But we do have Najee Marshall having such a great season.
31:32
SPEAKER_01: We do have PJ Washington, one of the better glue guys in basketball if you're really locked in.
31:36
SPEAKER_01: Derek Lively has been phenomenal on both sides of the floor.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: Kyrie Irvin is as efficient as ever.
31:41
SPEAKER_01: And that's saying something because Kyrie Irvin has always been hella efficient.
31:44
SPEAKER_01: And then Luka Donch has missed those five games.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: And since coming back, he's looked like the MVP Luka Donchis that we expect.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: So this team has been so damn good, and I'm curious to see how if they and how they continue this little stretch here.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: Number three on our list is the OKC Thunder.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: OKC's offense is finally turning.
32:04
SPEAKER_01: Early in the season, they got their things done on the defensive side of the ball.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: They were the best defense in basketball.
32:08
SPEAKER_01: Not even just that.
32:09
SPEAKER_01: For a time, they were the best defensive team in the history of basketball by a lot, and we knew that wasn't going to sustain itself.
32:14
SPEAKER_01: And the offense was like middle of the pack.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: We're like, okay, I'm sure they'll figure it out.
32:19
SPEAKER_01: And they have.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: Over the last two weeks, uh, they are fifth in offense, and it's brought their overall rating to seventh.
32:25
SPEAKER_01: So they're seventh in offense, first on defense, and that first and defense is by one four-point, which is insane that they're still able to do this with them having that stretch where they didn't have a center.
32:33
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah Hartenstein is back, and he's making you realize if you were a skeptic about his contract, he's making you realize how good of a player he really is if you weren't really paying attention in the postseason last year.
32:44
SPEAKER_01: And I think the ceiling is still, we still don't know the ceiling of this team just yet because we haven't seen Chet and IHeart playing the same game.
32:51
SPEAKER_01: And I think that the defense being this good without that is insane.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm sure Coach Mark Dayton is going to experiment with having both of these centers on the court at the same time.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: What could that look like?
33:02
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how you score them.
33:03
SPEAKER_01: I just don't I genuinely do not know.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: They have so many great defenders.
33:07
SPEAKER_01: Alex Caruso has been out of the lineup.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: He can't hit a shot right now, but he's one of the better defensive perimeter players of basketball.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: Ludor is still doing his thing.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: J Dub, I'm starting.
33:16
SPEAKER_01: So for a while, J Dub had been the most underrated player in basketball.
33:19
SPEAKER_01: I thought, but I think most people are still are waking up and somehow still feel like he's underrated.
33:25
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't, I don't think, let me see what his overall counter stats are.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: I don't think his counter stats do him justice.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: He's 22, 6, and 5, 50% from the field.
33:34
SPEAKER_01: I genuinely do not believe that that is doing the justice that it should, of how impactful and how good of a player this man really, really is.
33:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm I've been a fan for a while.
33:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm never gonna stop singing his praises.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: He's that good of a player.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: Where you talk about the perfect fits alongside a Shea Gilgis Alexander, you're not gonna find a more perfect fit than Chet Homegren, and you're not gonna find a more perfect fit than Jay Dub.
33:58
SPEAKER_01: And OKC has just done it right because they've drafted well, they've got the guys that were waived on one team.
34:03
SPEAKER_01: Hey, Isaiah Joe, you want to come move for us?
34:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just become a real rotational player.
34:07
SPEAKER_01: Aaron Wiggins, you want to come move for us?
34:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like they got it all.
34:11
SPEAKER_01: And some people call me an OKC Glazer.
34:14
SPEAKER_01: I think I just recognize greatness.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: How about that?
34:16
SPEAKER_01: And to have a team that is what the fifth youngest team in basketball be this damn good, I don't know how many people are really appreciating how rare that is.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: This team is electric and the offense is coming around.
34:32
SPEAKER_01: It's a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous team.
34:34
SPEAKER_01: All right, we're down to our top two.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: You have an idea who they are, what order do we have it?
34:38
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have the Cavs at number two this time around.
34:40
SPEAKER_01: Um they're still the most efficient team in basketball, and it's kind of scaring me.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: The worst thing that could happen is they'd be this efficient.
34:53
SPEAKER_01: From like, listen, you go look at their shot chart as a team, it ain't a single neutral spot on that zone.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: Everything is scorching hot, nobody misses from nowhere, and that scares me.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: It jail is scared.
35:04
SPEAKER_01: You I don't know if they're gonna be able to shoot this well from three all season long.
35:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
35:08
SPEAKER_01: Their defense has kind of shifted a little bit over the last couple weeks where they start to give up a ton, and I mean a ton of threes, and that was one of the reasons why they lost back-to-back games against the Atlanta Hawks.
35:15
SPEAKER_01: But even with that, they're still amazing.
35:18
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
35:19
SPEAKER_01: So I'm just I'm just a little a little bit worried about the advanced stats, things coming back down to earth eventually.
35:24
SPEAKER_01: But even with all of that said, I know DG got injured in the last game.
35:27
SPEAKER_01: Hopefully he's gonna be out there soon.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: Still love the the double big lineup.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: Never never I never wavered on that.
35:34
SPEAKER_01: Still love Donovan Mitchell as my 1A.
35:36
SPEAKER_01: And um, I love watching this team play.
35:39
SPEAKER_01: And then as you can imagine, the best team in basketball as today is the Boston Celtics.
35:43
SPEAKER_01: And it's one of those teams that because they are so good and and you know, so consistent, they just don't get talked about enough, which is fine, I would say.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: Hell, if my favorite team is the best in basketball, but nobody talked about them, I wouldn't give a damn.
35:56
SPEAKER_01: I'm watching the best team in basketball.
35:57
SPEAKER_01: But they had a game the other night against the Pistons, no Jason Tatum, no this guy, no that guy.
36:02
SPEAKER_01: Didn't matter, like it didn't matter.
36:03
SPEAKER_01: Granted, it's the Pistons and all, but they have somehow carved out a way to have four all-star caliber.
36:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying all of them are all-stars, but four all-star caliber players in Tatum and White and Brown and in Porzingis, and then still be able to have the depth where Peyton Pritchard, as of today, is the most efficient shooter in basketball by a margin.
36:25
SPEAKER_01: Where Sam Hauser, it's like Sam Hauser would be a top seven rotational player on pretty much every team in basketball.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: You still have Lou Courtnett, who lost some of the minutes because of the man's cada came in, but now he's back to playing a bunch.
36:38
SPEAKER_01: They just are doing their part.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: And the super unfortunate part for them is living up to expectations is born.
36:46
SPEAKER_01: And that's what they're doing.
36:48
SPEAKER_01: We want to talk about the teams exceeding expectations.
36:50
SPEAKER_01: The Cavs, they exceed expectations.
36:51
SPEAKER_01: They're Linda Magic, Lost Palo, exceeding expectations.
36:53
SPEAKER_01: Or you want to see the exact opposite.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: Oh, this team ain't looking good.
36:56
SPEAKER_01: But them living up to expectations, and these are crazy expectations coming off a championship.
37:01
SPEAKER_01: Them living up to it, there's not a lot to say about it.
37:03
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
37:04
SPEAKER_01: I still somehow find it that Jason Tatum has been underrated 28, 8, and 5.
37:11
SPEAKER_01: 28, 8, and 5.
37:15
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
37:15
SPEAKER_01: And he just put his head down, he goes to work.
37:18
SPEAKER_01: Put his head down, go to work.
37:20
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm gonna be in this commercial.
37:21
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm gonna get a new ruffles flavor.
37:23
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
37:23
SPEAKER_01: That's Jason Tatum.
37:25
SPEAKER_01: And I like it.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: So that's my top 10 teams in basketball as of today, December 5th, a quarter of the way through the season.
37:32
SPEAKER_01: You let me know in the comment section what you agree with, what you disagree with, what we got next is producer Greggs and come on.
37:38
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna do your favorite segment, five out.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: Greg, how we feeling?
37:50
SPEAKER_01: How was the holidays?
37:51
SPEAKER_00: Holidays were good.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: Got to play ball a few times, saw some family, went to a wedding, and you know, I heard you were six, so I think I had a bit uh I had a better time than you.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:00
SPEAKER_01: Well, people don't know the enjoy basketball team here.
38:03
SPEAKER_01: Like if we fielded a real hoop hoop team, I think we would do pretty damn well.
38:08
SPEAKER_00: Would you have a center?
38:11
SPEAKER_01: My boy D.
38:11
SPEAKER_01: Mills, he's six, well, he's six four, but he's like 380 of real, real power.
38:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's a big guy.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: He's a big guy.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: Draymond.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: So I would probably I would probably like uh I'll probably coach.
38:21
SPEAKER_01: You know, I'd probably I'd probably be on the sideline and let you P Mike and D Mills do the hooping.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: Austin, another producer on the other show, he's a real hooper.
38:29
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying, if there's any other network that want to hoop, we got hoopers here.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: Put money on it, yeah.
38:35
SPEAKER_00: Um talk to me.
38:36
SPEAKER_01: What we got for five out.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: First one for five out.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: So I know you're not a rankings guy.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: You might hate this question, but let's say Jokic wins his fourth MVP, but does not win another championship.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: Does that move the needle at all for you in terms of him advancing in the all-time rankings of either big men or players in general?
38:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think so.
38:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm like anti-ring culture.
38:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, of course, rings matter.
39:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that they don't matter in the grand scheme of things, but a person having an extra ring over Nikola Jokic is not gonna deter me from having him in if he went to you're talking about fourth MVP.
39:11
SPEAKER_01: I think we have to talk about him being 10 through 16, 10 through 16 best player of all time, even with one championship.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: Now, if he gets a championship and the ring, he's in that top 10.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: Uh, because in my mind, of course, you want to see a player win championships to solidify their legacy as a team player and a winner and all, but it takes so much to win.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: And as I look at that team, I mean the support and cast numbers-wise is worse than like the old seven cavaliers.
39:41
SPEAKER_01: It's that bad.
39:42
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not faulting Nikola Jokic for not winning another championship if it doesn't happen.
39:47
SPEAKER_01: I know the biggest thing, I know this is gonna be over five minutes, but I want to talk about this, a good conversation.
39:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, the biggest thing, because I I made a tweet the other day, this is actually perfect.
39:55
SPEAKER_01: I said, um, Giannis doing what he's doing during the Jokic dominant era is is um bad luck.
40:03
SPEAKER_01: It's just bad luck.
40:04
SPEAKER_01: And people are like the Jokic era, and I would agree that maybe it's not the era, maybe I'll stretch it a little bit, but this four to five year stretch that he is currently on is one of the best four to five year stretches I've ever seen, right?
40:16
SPEAKER_01: So Giannis doing what he's doing, which is 30, 13, and six, and barely getting talked about is super bad luck to me.
40:23
SPEAKER_01: And then people will say, Well, Jokic has in his championship run, he didn't play against a single uh over 50-win team or any time in his championship or in his postseason run.
40:33
SPEAKER_01: He's never played and won against a 50-win team.
40:35
SPEAKER_01: And I just find that so disingenuous because the time that we were in the damn bubble when we played 70 games, the Clippers won 49 games in the 70-game season.
40:45
SPEAKER_01: They were on pace to be a 50-win team.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: The Utah Jazz that they beat in that series in the series before, they were on pace to be a 50-win team.
40:52
SPEAKER_01: So I just think I'm not a ring guy.
40:55
SPEAKER_01: I love rings, obviously.
40:56
SPEAKER_01: I wear one myself, but it wouldn't matter to me if he didn't get one.
41:00
SPEAKER_01: He could still be in that top 15 without more than one championship.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: You're right.
41:06
SPEAKER_00: This will go over five minutes.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: So I have another question on that.
41:08
SPEAKER_00: If he does win a ring and a fourth MVP this season, you mentioned he goes into the top 10.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: Is he above Steph Curry if he if that happens?
41:17
unknown: Wow.
41:19
SPEAKER_01: Is he a cause Steph Curry in my mind, um, and I yeah, I don't love rankings, but let's do it.
41:23
SPEAKER_01: Steph Curry in my mind is somewhere between like eight to eleven.
41:29
SPEAKER_01: Give or take.
41:30
SPEAKER_01: So would he go across oh my goodness?
41:34
SPEAKER_01: You stumped me with that one.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: You stumped me with that one.
41:37
SPEAKER_00: That boy would have heart, too.
41:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I would have to really, really think about that.
41:42
SPEAKER_01: Because of course, what Steph Curry has done to the game is as being one of the most influential players ever and being a winner through through the entire time and then getting that one.
41:51
SPEAKER_01: Like, no disrespect to the KD ones.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: I'm not a person that ranks rings, but that one without KD, or without KD, the second one without KD, is just incredible.
42:03
SPEAKER_01: And I don't ooh, I can't hey, listen, I you got me.
42:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
42:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I'll have an answer.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: Jokic hasn't changed the game as much as Steph, mainly because he's just not as popular of a player, but in terms of his unique style and his kind of one-of-on-eness, it is on a similar, similar level.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: And also, I would say the two of them, probably along with with Prime Jordan, are the two or three best or most impactful offensive players of all time.
42:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I couldn't I couldn't argue that.
42:33
SPEAKER_01: I would I would throw Braun in there too, obviously.
42:35
SPEAKER_01: Um I wouldn't argue that at all.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: I think that Steph Curry will always be more influential than Jokic, mostly because of the way the game has shifted post Steph Curry coming into the league.
42:46
SPEAKER_01: Where like there's nothing that Jokic is doing that other teams in basketball feel like they can replicate.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: Where with Steph Curry, it was like everybody's just gonna shoot threes now.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: We want everybody to do what he's doing.
42:57
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna attempt to do that.
42:58
SPEAKER_01: With Jokic, he's he's so much of a one-of-one and so much of a freak of nature that other teams of basketball they can try to replicate it.
43:05
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna put Nicole, we're gonna put uh Joe L and B.
43:07
SPEAKER_01: He's now gonna be our hub.
43:08
SPEAKER_01: A lot of teams are running center as their hub.
43:10
SPEAKER_01: But even then, it won't translate the same where some of the Steph Curry stuff has translated across other teams where the Boston Celtics, 60% of their shots are three pointers.
43:19
SPEAKER_00: There's also just more people that are coming into the league that either look similar to Steph in terms of stature and can do some sort of imitation of him as a shooter.
43:30
SPEAKER_00: There's not many massive, super high IQ can shoot, can dribble, can pass dudes coming to the league.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: So there's less of a less of a sample.
43:39
SPEAKER_01: Other than uh Cal Philipowski, who told us at his draft interview that his comp is Jokic.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: Well, speaking of Duke Big Men, that comes to my next my next thing here.
43:51
SPEAKER_00: If Cooper Flags, if he comes into the league and he presents basically as a more athletic Franz Wagner, which I think is around his.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: floor, but let's say that's who he becomes.
44:02
SPEAKER_00: Is that worth tanking for?
44:08
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
44:09
SPEAKER_01: Because if that that's the floor, because right now Franz is an all-star.
44:12
SPEAKER_01: We can agree on there.
44:13
SPEAKER_01: If the floor is all-star, borderline all NBA player, I think that's enough, right?
44:19
SPEAKER_01: Um I I would say 100% I would say yes to that.
44:23
SPEAKER_01: I think his defense has the ability to be better than Franz and Franz is a good defender, obviously.
44:28
SPEAKER_01: But um I've watched him quite a bit again.
44:29
SPEAKER_01: I'm locked into college hoops this year, at least a little bit.
44:32
SPEAKER_01: And him as a help defender has been pretty damn cool to see and they got the big win the other night.
44:37
SPEAKER_01: I would say that it is worth tanking for.
44:39
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, even last year's draft you had teams tanking and it didn't even have a 1A guy at the top of it.
44:45
SPEAKER_01: So we'll never be able to get rid of it completely.
44:47
SPEAKER_01: There's always going to be something where your team is bad.
44:49
SPEAKER_01: You're trying to convince your fans that this next best best this next guy is going to be the next best thing for our city and all.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: But I I do believe in the Cooper flag hype.
44:58
SPEAKER_01: I think what he does is real and translatable and I do believe that he can come into the league and at one point be an all-star at minimum I went on this rant the other day um we were doing a playback stream playback playback slash enjoy b-ball where we watch games live with the audience so if you are interested come come pull up um and we were watching the game last night oh man I let me let me remember which game this is I think it was 76ers versus whoever and I went on this rant part of my rant Orlando Magic part of my rant was because I was so damn hungry you know you get hungry you start to get an angry and anxious and stuff and I got clipped a lot like a lot of people are hitting me up with this clip and I I want to talk about the fouling while up three because I hate it I absolutely hate it.
45:48
SPEAKER_01: Now granted you don't have to talk to me about X and O's I understand that statistically I even I even read the goddamn study this morning you have a higher probability of winning the game if you foul while up three from a consumer's perspective is only what I'm speaking of I hate it more than almost anything in basketball.
46:08
SPEAKER_01: Where do you sit on this Greg?
46:10
SPEAKER_00: I totally agree and honestly when I'm playing like if I'm in a men's league and we're in this situation a lot of people will say like on my team let's foul we're up three there's like you know 10 seconds left or whatever I do feel like it's almost cheating the game like it's not natural to basketball.
46:26
SPEAKER_00: So I don't feel good even doing it even if it's better as a competitive advantage.
46:30
SPEAKER_00: But it's so funny I did send this clip that you that you're talking about to my friend earlier today because I thought it was interesting and what he responded with is like well he's got to say how this would change like what is how would it change because you could easily just go first deal or hit somebody and make and make it not seem like an intentional foul.
46:48
SPEAKER_00: So what is the real solution?
46:50
SPEAKER_01: That is a tough part right because at the end of the day if they let's say okay let's say we changed the rule boom if you intentionally foul we're up three it's a it's counted as a technical right so it's more free throws and ball.
47:01
SPEAKER_01: Then we add more time to the game because now they're going to go to the monitors to figure out did it look intentional.
47:05
SPEAKER_01: So I don't I'm not even saying I have the solution that is something that Adam Silver Adam Silver probably doesn't even give a damn but we had the game um it was Celtics versus was it the Celtics Cavs game last week where the last 30 seconds took 17 minutes because they were fouling each other over and over and over and over again and I'm just like again I feel like an Ohead like this is one of the few times where I feel like an oh head where I'm watching the games I'm like I won an opportunity as a consumer again strictly as a consumer to see Donovan Mitchell or Jason Tatum take a game winning shot.
47:41
SPEAKER_01: And on the other side of this I remember um was that playoffs last year the Indiana Pacers didn't foul up three and then they gave up the game tying shy goes overtime and they lose and we like Rick Carlisle what the hell are you doing?
47:51
SPEAKER_01: So again people don't have to explain to me the X's and no's of it all but as a consumer I want the opportunity to see the shot that could lead to overtime.
47:59
SPEAKER_00: From a consumer perspective it does kill the momentum of end of games and it limits opportunities for big game tying or game winning shots um but like in the same way that the NBA instituted the rule of advancing the ball to have court when you call a timeout um you know under what is it a minute or whatever like there's got to be something similar that increases the entertainment for the end of the game.
48:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah and I don't even know if this is a genuine like Adam Silver probably doesn't give a damn about it right it's it's maybe so minuscule um that it's not even something he's worried about and I'm not even saying he should be worried about it but actually I am hell yeah I am Nash TV game should not take 17 minutes for one minute of gameplay.
48:36
SPEAKER_01: No way.
48:37
SPEAKER_01: Fix it Adam fix it damn it that's all I got so we're gonna do ask KB all you gotta do is go to the enjoy small ball Instagram account send us a message send us a voice message I'm here to answer every single question again I appreciate you let's see what we got hi Kenny uh love your videos love your content keep it up by the way um I have a question um who is your favorite niche player in the NBA currently um mine uh example would be AJ Green who just shoots at threes just that um and you can see it on the shot chart so he's niche in that way um who would who would your favorite niche player be in the NBA?
49:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah love your content keep up the good work thank you thank you you see he scared me he was like caressing my eardrum when he first came in that's uh I jumped a little bit um I I hate doing this because I feel like I've said this man's name a hundred times on this podcast so far Hayward Highsmith is probably my most niche love of an NBA player bro he just doesn't do anything too wrong he's one of the most hard nosed defenders sometimes just smaller guards a lot of times it's the best wing on the team I just love the way he plays he kind of embodies what he culture is supposed to be I know that's kind of wavered over this season and all but it's probably him and I I don't know who else would even fit for this like I mentioned my love for Jalen Wells but he's only 20 games to his NBA career who the hell knows if he's gonna stick like that Chris Dunn is is probably number one after watching him in Chicago and wanting to see him be great and him I'm gonna call him great but living up to the point we can come back to the association and get a real-time contract and start games that's pretty damn cool and then I've been a Delano Banton fan since his Celtic days where I made a video of players that I thought were gonna have breakout seasons.
50:38
SPEAKER_01: I had Wendell Carter Jr.
50:40
SPEAKER_01: on their list missed that one Delano Banton on this list missed that one even though he's he's good now but I did have Jalen Johnson as long as I hit one of three shots I'm I'm cool.
50:51
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
50:52
SPEAKER_01: That's slightly below three uh league average from three but I'll take it and uh Delano Banton I still like a lot hi Kenny here's my question how do I get my friends to start watching basketball I'm the only one that I know who really watches basketball every day and I want my friends to start watching it so we're gonna have someone to talk to about it.
51:16
SPEAKER_02: How do I go about that?
51:19
SPEAKER_01: Thank you that is a problem I've never had my friend but I'll try to give you my best answer because all of my friends it's damn near prerequisite to be my friend you have to at least like basketball a little bit like I I got some homies that don't watch it like we do, right?
51:33
SPEAKER_01: We're not talking every single night but they at least keep up with the league enough that when we did Friendsgiving last weekend we sat around the table and talked some hoops and my boy John was able to contribute at least enough to be a part of the conversation I think and I don't even know what levels that your friends are at.
51:48
SPEAKER_01: Like do they know literally nothing I think you start off with watching a game with them.
51:54
SPEAKER_01: That is probably my biggest thing I can say like you you know he comes over to the crib the homies come over to the crib you put on the game now unfortunately you can't pick and choose what's going to be a good game you might get a 40 point blowout and so on and so forth.
52:04
SPEAKER_01: But in my experience with especially with my wife who's not a hoop head but she can watch hoops with me when you see somebody else get excited about something it's easy to kind of fall into that as well so if you say hey I want you to come over to watch Bucks versus Celtics with me you know you can be like hey this guy right here this Giannis dude watch what he can do.
52:24
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna be like Michael Jordan's Space Jam long arms dunked from the free throw line you see this Jason Tatum guy he's one of the more one of the best players of basketball too and he got this side step uh signature move that you need to look out for and also they just shoot a bunch of three pointers it's good you have to really ham it up if you got a group chat with the homies every day send the best highlight you can get John Morant dunked the ball from last month hell send it to the group chat give them them high flying moments to get them to stay locked in it's it's hard to do though because when I first got into soccer I tried to get the guys into it and nobody I mean absolutely nobody took me up on it.
53:01
SPEAKER_01: Soccer of course is a slower game than the NBA so you got more highlights here or there but it is tough man.
53:07
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people just aren't really into it and I think that's okay.
53:10
SPEAKER_01: I think you could probably benefit from if your real life homies are not interested try to find some online homies.
53:15
SPEAKER_01: Seriously we've been able to build a good community here at Smallball.
53:19
SPEAKER_01: We've been able to build a good community at NOTB where they have whole group chats with just people that love hoops and those group chats have turned into real life friendships where they go to the movies and hell we had a uh two people start dating because of our podcast it so if the real life homies ain't it check outside I appreciate you watching or listening to this episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beecham and again keep the Spotify raps coming if you got them bro they do nothing but put a smile on my face to see how many people um really enjoyed the show where the Spotify raps will have some juggernauts in the podcasting world and then send that number three as little old me.
53:59
SPEAKER_01: Like I love that type of stuff um and I look at these numbers and I told myself I wasn't gonna be numbers based for the rest of my creator career.
54:07
SPEAKER_01: It's hard not to look at these numbers and bookmark them and say next year I want um a hundred thousand people having me top 10 and so on and so forth.
54:14
SPEAKER_01: But either way thank you so much for the support let me know what you agree or disagree with with these ratings or these rankings and I will see y'all next week