Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / All Defensive Teams, NBA Expansion, and More

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All Defensive Teams, NBA Expansion, and More · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:04
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to another episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beachum.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so excited to be here, and I got a lot to get to today.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about the end of the season.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: We're going to answer some of your questions.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: I got all defensive teams.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Last week we dropped an episode where we answered your questions, and one of the main responses I got, whether it be on Twitter or in the comment section, outside of people calling me crazy for my all NBA teams.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: The other thing was, Kenny, what about all defensive?
0:30
SPEAKER_00: So I went through the archives, I went through the footage, I went through whatever, and I'm giving my rough draft of what my all defensive teams could look like at the end of the season.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: So that was really fun.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to talk about some of the hot teams across basketball.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: But I want to start off by talking about how much of a drag this part of the season has been.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: And I'm trying to figure out if it's a me thing, is it an NBA thing?
0:51
SPEAKER_00: I just, I don't know.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: Growing up, my dad was an NFL fan first and a Bulls fan second.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: Not an NBA fan, but a Bulls fan second.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: But one thing he always did is post-all-star break, that is when he started to care more about the NBA.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Like, my dad's definitely a casual fan.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: And again, I've always said that casual is not a negative connotation, like people on Twitter try to make it out to be, where I can't expect him to sit down on December 7th to watch Clippers versus Jazz.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's just not something he would do.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: But post-all-star break is when he started to care more about the league.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Maybe not again sitting down to watch these games, but maybe watching some highlights.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: I used to get texts from Pops like, did you see so-and-so game?
1:26
SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest with you, I ain't really gotten many texts from him since the All-Star Break.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know if that's because the league ain't really hitting, or I don't know if it's just Pops' been too busy.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: The only text I got from Pop's about the NBA, because we still, me and Pops still be talking.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: Um made it seem like we just estranged, you know.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, one text, the one text he did send me post-all-star break was 77 points.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: That was in the middle of that bam uh outbreak of 83 points.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: That was the only time I really heard from him about the NBA.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: So he's he's like not attached to it right now.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: And I can't even call it crazy because there's so many teams across the league that like you could just pencil in for a loss.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: And as y'all know, I'm a pro-tanking guy because of the team building aspect of it all, of it all.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: There are some markets that just the way they're going to become a competitive team is by getting lucky in the lottery and potentially getting a all-star, all NBA generational talent.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: Some teams don't have the luxury of building without the tank.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: So when I say I'm pro-tank, it's not about the actual action, it's about the idea of what the tanking can bring, right?
2:33
SPEAKER_00: Because I know for sure there are teams, the fans of these teams that are like, even the diehards are maybe not tuning in right now because the team just doesn't have a lot to so, like here, here are a group of teams that when I see them on a schedule, I'm just not.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm just not.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: I'll catch it, I'll catch highlights.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: If it's a close game, I'll tune in with five minutes to go, but I'm not excited to sit down in my chair at six o'clock to watch these teams.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: Right now, the Pacers and the Wizards are both on what?
3:00
SPEAKER_00: Is it up to 15?
3:01
SPEAKER_00: Let me let me just double check this.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: They're up to um uh 15 and 16 game loser streaks as I record this episode.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: I got lucky by randomly tuning into that BAM game from start to finish.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: There was no reason for me to be there, other than maybe I just felt I felt I knew he was gonna drop 83 that game.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: No, I just shouldn't have been there.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: And I have not watched a full Wizards game like a month before that, and since there, you know, I tuned into the Pacers a little bit when Zubots was making his debut, and now he got to crack the rib, but he's done for the season.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: Those teams, I'm just like, I when I see him on the schedule, I just automatically assume that the opposing team is gonna win, and I just don't feel like there's a ton of silver lining in that.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: The Nets, you know, they've had moments in the season, like, oh, that defense for a month straight was really good.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: But now, like, they're playing players that until this point I had never heard of before.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: The Bulls.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: Only reason I'm watching the Bulls because it's my team, but Lord knows if this team was not the Chicago Bulls, but the Indiana Zyphers?
3:58
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: There used to be a team.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Chicago Zyphers.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, if that team wasn't my team, I wouldn't be watching.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: I feel like all these teams have small silver linings, like the Bulls silver lining is Modest Bluzales.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: But like, is that enough to watch a full game?
4:10
SPEAKER_00: No, you probably just watch the highlights.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Or I'll probably just watch Trey Johnson possessions, you know?
4:16
SPEAKER_00: The Milwaukee Bucks.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: They're telling us publicly there's no reason to watch our team because we're not even gonna let the big fella play, even if the big fella wants to play.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: And even that, I don't, I just don't know how true or some of that stuff out is.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: The Utah Jazz, shout out to Cody Williams.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
4:32
SPEAKER_00: He had some of his best games of his career just the last month.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
4:36
SPEAKER_00: I ain't either watched them laugh.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: He had how many points?
4:40
SPEAKER_00: Bet let me go to synergy real quick.
4:42
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
4:43
SPEAKER_00: The Memphis Grizzlies, there's some Silver Linors, you know.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: Uh Taylor Hendricks, one of my favorite players in his draft class, he's he's looking alright, you know what I'm saying?
4:51
SPEAKER_00: So that's Silver Lioners there, but they played against the Bulls last week, and I promise you there was a time where three dudes checked in, and I had no idea who they were.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: And the Warriors.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, the Warriors.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: How far a Giant can fall.
5:05
SPEAKER_00: So I say that and say that there are some of these teams that have their charm.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: Like the Mavericks have some level of charm, and mostly it, most of that is Cooper Flag.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: And then the Pelicans have a little bit of charm because they're trying to win ball games, and sometimes they do that, you know?
5:17
SPEAKER_00: And Zion is fun, and Trey Murphy is fun, and DeJounte's been putting a level of energy into this team.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: So some of the bad teams are just, it's not just every bad team I'm not watching, but it's been a tough part of the season.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: And with 12 to 13, 14 games left, I just don't know how many games I'm gonna tune in with these guys.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: And that's how we get to the point where, you know, a few days ago, the I think it was the first night of March Madness, there's a lot of conversation about, you know, the expansion, which I think we'll talk on a little bit later in the episode.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: While the NBA may not be ready for expansion because of we had that one game where the Brooklyn Nets scored the lowest points in their franchise history in a single half at 24 and they were down by 40 points at halftime to the OKC Thunder.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: And I thought there was maybe something in that conversation, but I thought it was, I don't know.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: We have to remember what the goals of those teams are.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: Like if the Brooklyn Nets wanted to come into the season as a competent roster, they could have.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: It just wasn't part of their plan.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think that that is a single example of why we shouldn't have expansion because this team is losing by 40 right now.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: That team had five first round picks, five of them.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: If they wanted to potentially get some real talent in the door, if that was their goal, they would have been able to, because there are teams that would have taken the 20, I remember, the 21st overall pick for a competent player today.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think that we shouldn't have expansion just because, you know, they are bad teams.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: I think there is something to say about the tanking of it all and how instead of it being how many teams here?
6:45
SPEAKER_00: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten teams that are actively not good or tanking, that if we add expansion now, that team is that's 12, because at least in NBA history, uh expansion team is not gonna pop into the scene and be like, oh, we're playoff team.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: I know in some leagues it's happened, the NHL and so on.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: So maybe that is a bigger conversation.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: But I have to keep reminding people that with the expansion, like vote that we will get in a few days here, actually, um, they're not just voting on expansion.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the things that they're voting on.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: The other thing they're voting on is the tanking.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: So maybe these two things go hand in hand.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: Maybe Adam Silver and his cabinet of smart people and in the league have a way to counteract tanking to the point that when we add these two extra teams potentially in 2028, 2029, that we won't have a third of the league tanking because there may not be as you may not be as incentivized to lose 15 straight, 16 straight games.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: So I think these two things can work in tandem.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know of how you can have the conversation about one and not the other, if that makes sense.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: I guess I planned on talking about expansion later in the episode.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: So since we're here, let's let's kind of run through it.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: As we know the league needs to get 23 yeses out of the owners in order for the teams to grow to 32.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: And the two markers that the NBA is looking at is Seattle and Las Vegas.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: I have not a single question mark about Seattle.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: It's been a very long time.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: You know, last time the Super Science was around, I was like a kid, like a kid, kid, kid, kid, kid.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: You know, Kevin Arrant, rookie season I had to be, oh my God, it don't even matter.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: You know, so it's been a long time.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: But as somebody that, of course, grew up in Chicago, all these VHS tapes behind here, behind me here, these are things that have been watched.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: And you talk about the 90s since the Seattle Supersonist and NBA finals team against the Bulls one year, you recognize how ridiculous that market really is.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: Even now, you think about some of our best players in the league, some of them are Seattle born.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: The see basketball culture in Seattle goes hand in hand.
8:37
SPEAKER_00: So I would be so excited to see them get a team.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, from my understanding, they still do already have an arena.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: They own the rights to the name Sonics, so there's no question mark of what the team name should be, and they take their history back from OKC, where OKC has kind of now changed to look like an expansion team, kind of instead of a team that's been around for 50 years because of the Seattle sub.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: The Vegas one is the biggest question, right?
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously in the W has been working perfectly, right?
9:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, the Aces are one of the best teams in the league.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: They won multiple championships, they got, you know, the best player uh in their league on that team.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: So I I don't really question the market necessarily from that aspect because we see in the W it has worked out.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: It's just something about Vegas in itself.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: It's somebody that's been to Vegas pretty much every single summer since 2019 for summer league, uh outside of like um COVID.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: It's it's just maybe it's just a weird place in general.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how to explain it, you know?
9:33
SPEAKER_00: It feels like maybe because I'm there for summer league, maybe I gotta go there a random day on a random month.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: But it feels like everybody there is there on vacation.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: And obviously they have they have people, they have people that live there, but it I don't know, it's just I don't know, it's a weird spot.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: It's a weird spot.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: But the counter that I don't have any other markets that I feel like will be more deserving.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: So break it on.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: You know?
9:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to see what the owners end up deciding.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Cutting the path from one of thirty to one to thirty-two for them is a lot, I guess.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: I read somewhere that if expansion does happen, um, then the those 30 owners that are already in the league get$500 million each from the sale of those teams between$7 and$10 billion.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: So that's a lot of money for those guys.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: But now they're trying to figure out if that$500 million lump sum is better than cutting the pie by two extra slices.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: It's a lot.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: Those people are kind of crazy.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, uh when we come back, we'll talk more about the NBA.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: I started off talking about how tough this part of the season is.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to give y'all some silver linings to it.
10:45
SPEAKER_00: The things that are keeping me going as an NBA fan, once we get down to the nitty-gritty, and then maybe not as interesting on a night-to-night basis, because we had the opening day of March Madness and fun stuff.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: You know, shout out, shout out to all the guys that were out there doing the things, the college athletes doing some crazy stuff.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, and instead of watching those college basketball games, I can't lie, I was watching the NBA.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: And um, part of the teams that I'm talking about right now are one of the reasons why on a nightly basis, I still can find some type of intrigue with the league.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: And the first team we got to talk about is the LA Lakers, who just continue to win basketball games.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: They are one of the weirdest teams that we've had in recent history, currently on a nine-game streak.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: In that streak, they basically had two different game winners, if I'm counting them correctly, between, well, okay, the Austin Reeves thing was a game tying shot to go to OT, and they took care of Benson OT.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: And then just the other night against the Orlando Magic, they won that one with a Luke Connard shot, which is like I made a tweet about this, but I don't understand how the Orlando Magic on two back-to-back, a sideline of the bounds and a baseline of bounds, lose a guy to the point where they get an open layup in LeBron's case, and he was fouled I guess, but maybe not fouled.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh LeBron's case, and then Luke Connard, a 50% three-point shooter, is wide the hell open.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: I a lot of that looks like coaching to me, but it also looked like brain farts from Paolo Bancaro on a few of those plays.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Either way, shout out to Orlando Magic.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh, they were looking really good, and then they regress right back to being like, ah, okay, the magic exists, and they're on the four-game loser streak with Miami, who also was looking good at that same time.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: But the Lakers are such an intriguing team because they are the clutchest team in basketball, statistically, right?
12:19
SPEAKER_00: They win all of the games in the clutch, they don't miss shots in the clutch, so on and so forth.
12:23
SPEAKER_00: Even the game before that, when they were in Miami, that was another clutch time game, the game that had that Luca had 60.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm finding joy in watching this team because this is, I won't use the word polar opposite, but this is just a different looking team in comparison to what we saw for the first couple months of the season, where they were a good basketball team, but maybe not a great one.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: And even now it's kind of hard for me to put them in the great tier because they have a less, less, like the point differential is less than the Toronto Raptors on a game-by-game basis, which is it's just it's hard to figure out the legitimacy of a team like the Lakers, where they have the head of the snake, which is one of the best players in the world, Luka Dontich, which you want to give the benefit of the doubt just by having that.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Because the NBA is the old basketball is one of those sports that if you have the best player on the court, you have a chance, you know?
13:05
SPEAKER_00: And I mean that's not the case in some of the other leagues that we have across America, at least.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, so you want to give them benefit of the doubt on that, but you also look at some of these other determinant factors.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: Where, like last year, when they went on that streak going into the end of the season, there was obvious red flags in the streak that they had, where opposing teams, I don't remember how many games they won straight, but the opposing teams during that stretch were shooting 28% from three.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: And it's just unrealistic to assume that those teams would continue to do that.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: And eventually they got to the postseason, they got their ass kicked.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: This is just a little bit different because there is no crazy statistical outliers to show the fact that they're on a nine-game streak, other than them winning every clutch game imaginable.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just I'm I'm having fun watching it.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: And I think I made a video where I'm like, they're on the edge of the contention pool because they have Luka Dontage and he's enough to carry you in a couple playoff series, but maybe not in the same vein as like, you know, the top, top, top contenders across ball.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: But also to counter that, none of the top-top contenders across ball make me feel like they're um they're not vulnerable.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: The OKC Thunder, as good as they have been, and I think they're currently on an 11-game streak right now, 11-game win streak, they still do not have J-Dub.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: And I I can't I can't help but to think that when it comes to a postseason series, they're gonna need 60, no, no, 80% of the dub that we got last season for them to win those four playoff series.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: The San Antonio Spurs are one of the youngest teams in the league, and they don't lose ball games.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: But to to what point will that inexperience matter?
14:36
SPEAKER_00: Or will it ever matter?
14:38
SPEAKER_00: The Detroit Pistons just had their star player potentially an all-NBA first team guy, unfortunately, he may not make it at all, out with a collapse lung.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: And it's not like it's an ankle sprain where you ice it up and you use what is it?
14:50
SPEAKER_00: Rest, ice, rise, rest, ice, elevation, whatever, whatever.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: It's not one of those things.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: This is a real medical ailment that the timetable can be two weeks or six weeks.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: And just because he's back at six weeks don't mean that he can't get, you know, the Boston Celtics, who are the next thing we're gonna talk about here, they feel like one of the more complete teams in the entire, not just in the Eastern Conference, but in the entire league, because their best guy is coming, has come back, even though he hasn't looked like that.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: But with 10 games left, 12 games left, who's to say he can't round his game into form again?
15:25
SPEAKER_00: So none of the top contenders feel unmessed withable.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: Like last year, even though it did take two game sevens, I went into the NBA final or went into the postseason or went all season long saying OKC is the team to beat.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: And I just I would be really surprised if they didn't win a championship.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: And again, they were a couple possessions away.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: They were torn Achilles away from maybe not even doing that.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: But I had that level of confidence in them as a team.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: Going into this one with 12 games left, I don't have a team with that same level of confidence.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: And I do feel like that maybe could make for a better postseason where there is no super absolute this is a championship or nothing year for.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, but the Lakers themselves are one of the teams that's keeping this rough part of the season really exciting to me.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: The next one, like I mentioned, is the Boston Celtics.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: More specifically, watching the Celtics with the idea of just, I don't know, having a magnifying glass on Jason Tatum.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: Last game didn't shoot it very well.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: But a lot of the times Jason Tatum is providing some of the things that the Boston Celtics need from his rebound and from his playmaking and so on and so forth.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: It's just a matter of getting his legs underneath him, making some more shots, and then you could get close and be like, oh, that's 70% of Jason Tatum.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: And 70% of Jason Tatum with 100% of what Jalen Brown and Derek White and all these guys are doing, that's a true, true contender.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: So I'm watching him on a nightly basis with a little notepad, like, okay, Tatum looks like this.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: Tatum looks like that, this uh this little stretch.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: He looks like this.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: So that is another thing that's keeping me going in this rough part of the season.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: The next one is there's a three-game difference between a five seed and a 10th seed in the Eastern Conference.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: Where right, which is nuts, right now, I'm just using them as an example because they are the five seed.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: Right now, the Toronto Raptors are the five seed, but it's not out of the, it's not likely, and I don't, I don't want Raptors fans to misinterpret this.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: It's not likely, but it's also not out of the realm of possibility that they could be a 10th seed this season.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: How is that possible?
17:16
SPEAKER_00: How is this so clumped up?
17:18
SPEAKER_00: It's not out of the realm of possibility that the Charlotte Hornets, who are number 10 right now, could jump up to five.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: Actually, I'm gonna go to one of my favorite sites, um, and I think it was Professor Zach Lowe that put this on my radar years and years ago.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: It's a place called playoffstatus.com, and you can just go in and they'll tell you the likelihood of a team finishing in what spot.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: As of right now, they have the Raptors with a 49% chance to finish top number five.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: Makes sense to me.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: Good ball club, uh so on.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: But they also have a 3%, it's again small chance, a 3% chance of being a 9 seed and a 1% chance of being a 10 seed.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: It's it's just so mind-blown to me.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: On the opposite side of that, the the the Hornets who we talked about have a 2% chance of being the five seed, which is a chance.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: It's just a chance.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: But for y'all, little wonderer, they're projecting the Raptors will finish number five.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: Number six, it's a 1% difference between the Hawks and the Sixers.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: 1%.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: So any, they basically just saying this is a coin flip.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: And then they do have the magic, and then they got ooh, then they got the Heat.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: So they basically have it that it's gonna stay this way based on the odds, but you know, these are just statistical things and not really the real thing.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: So on a nightly basis, you gotta tune in to be like, hey man, the 76ers won, but the Hawks lost.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: So just like that, the 76ers are out of the play in.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: And the 76ers have been winning games recently, so shout out to them.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: You gotta beat up on the teams in front of you.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: Last thing that's keeping me really, really into it.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Last thing that's keeping me really, really into it is the Portland Trailblazers.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: Now, you know, I wrote this script a day ago, um, where the Trailblazers were the eighth seed.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: And then last night, Darius Garland had his best game as a Clipper and they ended up winning.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: So now the Clippers are back to the eighth seed, even though they have the same record.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: The Clippers have the tiebreaker.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: So the Trailblazers are a ninth seed as if I'm as I'm recording this, but again, it's it's so up in air.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: Let me actually see what the same place has to say about the Blazers.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: They're saying the Blazers have a 47% chance of finishing number eight.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: And if being eight or nine is such a big difference, as you know, if you're number eight, you only got to win one game to get into the postseason.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: If you're number nine, you got to win two.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: And the reason I'm so intrigued with the Blazers is A, Donovan Klingon has been playing out of his mind, um, which I think is really important for this team's now and for their future.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: And I'm so excited to really get into off-season stuff where you talk about where he could potentially rank as a center.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: But the Bulls own the Blazers' pick if the Blazers make the postseason.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: So damn it, I need them in that playoffs.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Because the Bulls had, I don't know.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I guess right now we're projected to have pick number 10.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: I'll run one simulation and we ended up a pick number, so we we are pick number nine, but we have pick number nine and then also pick number 15.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: Two first round picks in this draft.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited for.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: So go, Blazers, go.
20:07
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, I'll answer one of your questions.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: Before we go any further, we're gonna say thank you to our sponsor over at DraftKings.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: You may know all about DraftKings pick six by now.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: You pick more or less of different player stats for the upcoming games.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: The way I like to do it, I like to look at the slate, I like to look at the people and look at the lines, pick some of my favorite players, put them into my pick set, look at some stats, go more or less, and then sit back, relax, and see if I made the right decision.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: We've been put together these pick sets all season long.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: If you watch numbers on the board, you may know that I'm in a lead against all of my other co-hosts with three weeks to go.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm hoping to keep that lead.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: And on this show, I'm not as accurate as on that show, and I'm not sure why.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: But we go, we're gonna do what we gotta do.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh tonight we got a really good slate.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: We got, I mean, again, Kay Cunningham is out with his lung um collapsing.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: But Lakers versus Pistons, you know, that should be really interesting.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh, be sure to tune in at 7 o'clock Eastern time to see Spurs versus Heat.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Wimediama in the Spurs versus Bam out of Bayo in the Heat, Mr.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: 83 versus Mr.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: Alien.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: Seemed like a hit.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: And then the second night of uh second game of the night is at 9:30 Eastern time.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: You have Warriors versus Mavericks, which is a game.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, that's the that's all we're gonna say about it.
21:21
SPEAKER_00: It is a game.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: So again, we got some good games coming up.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I wanted to put together a nice little pick set for y'all.
21:26
SPEAKER_00: So I'll start off by saying Jalen Durham more on points versus Lakers team.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, I do want to give credit for DeAndre Aiden.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: We put together our all disappointment team, and DeAndre Aiden was on that team.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: And since then, he he he statistically may not be doing some ridiculous stuff, but he's so bought in on both sides of the ball.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: They said he looked into the mirror and realized that he's really not him.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: And I think it that was a very important moment for him, and I hope that he uses that as fuel because, as I said in the video before, the NBA can pass you by very quickly.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if you're a former first overall pick, you know?
21:57
SPEAKER_00: And if DeAndre Aiden is going to continue to play like this, I have no doubt.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Out of my mind, that other teams after this contract with the Lakers is up.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: Other teams are going to be interested in the services.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: So shout out to DeAndre Aiden.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: But I am going Jalen Durham more on points because he has been looking pretty good without Kay Cunningham, which was, I don't want to say surprise to me.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: Definitely not a surprise, but I didn't think it was going to look this good.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: And maybe, you know, they go against this Lakers team, which has been pretty good defensively as of late.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: And maybe it doesn't go that way, but I will go more on points on him.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: Going to uh one of our peacock games here, De'Aaron Fox more on points against the Miami Heat.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: The Miami Heat have been such a defensive-oriented team for like the existence of their franchise, it feels like.
22:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, but De'Aaron Fox's speed and athleticism might be just a little bit too much for the backcourt of the Miami Heat.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna go more on points there.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Next, we got Grizzlies versus Hawks.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna take Nikhaal Zender Walker more on points on this one.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: I was very close to taking somebody on the Grizzly side, but it's somebody that doesn't really know who's gonna suit up for them on a night-to-night basis.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: One guy that I know is gonna be there is uh Mr.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: Most Improved player, maybe Nikol Zender Walker.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: He might have my vote as of today, you know, from nine points per game to 20.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: I think his minutes difference is only like six minutes per game, you know.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: So I'm he might be my guy for most improved players.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: So him versus the Grizzlies, I'm going more.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: And lastly, we got Bulls versus Rockets.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: The Rockets got a game-winning layer from Ahmed Thompson a few nights ago.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to him on that tip.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: But they're going against the Bulls.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: And the Bulls don't have many people that can dribble the ball.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: One of the people that they do have that can dribble is Josh Giddy, and his passing has been on a whole nother level.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: Last week, when we we did this pick set, we did go more on the Josh Giddy assists, and I'm doing that again.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm re-upping.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm re-upping on that.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: Even if the Rockets are a really good defensive team, I think Josh Giddy will, you know, get enough penetration to kick it out to get some assists.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Modis because I think he's gonna be the beneficiary to some of those passes.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: So that's my pick set for today.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh again, we got a pretty nice slate of games, all things considered.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, got some good teams going against some not so good teams down here.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: Hey, when we come back, I'll get into answering your questions.
24:04
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24:25
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24:34
SPEAKER_00: Carson asked me, rank the tanking NBA teams.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: He puts the Knicks, the Nets, the Kings, the Wizards, the Blazers, the Jazz, based upon structure and how well they're set up for the future.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Really love this question.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for it.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: So I think the easiest part of it all is to go Pacers number one, the team that just came off an NBA championship appearance, now added a new center in in Zuba to again get well soon from that rib injury, and potentially could have a top four pick coming into the door.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: We won't know into the lottery.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: Also, that matters a lot today, Carson.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: We don't know what the lottery is going to do.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: So the team that have a number five, if they win the lottery, then boom, they may jump up the team that's number four or even up to number three.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: So this is all based on without knowing exactly what the lottery will do and just the pieces and young players that are on the roster and the infrastructure that is there with the team.
25:22
SPEAKER_00: Like the Pacers have been a well-ran team for the entirety of my life.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: And I trust them to make the right decisions on what happens with Obi Toppin, with the luxury tax, what happens with so on and so forth.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: So they're number one.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's a big gap between them and number two, because again, this team just was on a finals run and their star players coming back next season.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: And from the pictures I've seen, brother to put on like 15 pounds of muscle, he's ready.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: I think he's ready.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: But the next team is the Washington Wizards.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: They were in a rear spot with another team on this list, the Utah Jazz, where they became buyers, even though their team is not very good.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: And though I do have my own question marks about the Trey Young, Anthony Davis acquisitions, considering the cost, I think it's worth it, right?
26:02
SPEAKER_00: Even if it doesn't work out, you didn't give up any of the young players that you really cared about.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: You'd give up any of the draft picks that were your own.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: And I think that this was a step in the right direction, the sense that it tells the fan base that we're kind of done tanking.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: We are ready.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: This is our last season.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: We might end up with a top pick.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: And now we got Trey Young, the other trade, Trey Johnson.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: We got just a nice core of young guys, plus some dudes that we know have been winners in their career.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: Anthony Davis is an NBA champion.
26:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh Trey Young, not an NBA champion, but he got to the conference finals once.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, these guys that could come in and really be impactful.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: So I have them number two because I believe in like an Alex Saar, Anthony Davis front court being pretty devastating at times.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's just as long as those two dudes can be healthy together.
26:41
SPEAKER_00: I think that front court is going to be kind of ridiculous to try to score on.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: Next, we do have the Utah Jazz, the other team that made that big trade.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: Jaren, Lowry, Keontae, Ace.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: And then, like, you know, year two of Cody Williams is interesting.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: Interesting enough for me to bring up in this conversation, you know, and then again, having that ability to go out there and get a top, top potential top pick.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna run one simulation in the tank-athon.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: They literally won the lottery.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: Wow, what are the odds of that?
27:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, I guess the odds are 10%, one of 10 is the odd that they win the lottery.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: Uh, so yeah, in this case, now they got Darren Peterson or AJ or Cam, whichever one they prioritize the most.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: And I do believe that Danny Aynes showed his hand for the first time ever.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: And I mean that as a positive thing, where we actually know the direction and his his thought process with team building.
27:28
SPEAKER_00: I said it once, I say it again, my boy Keontae George, there is a lot of pressure on him and Isaiah Collier going to two next season because the talent they have acquired with Larry Market and Jaron Jackson Jr., those guys can self-create, obviously, but I think the best versions of them are, you know, in Larry Market's case, like coming down the screen or coming off a curl or so on.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: So these guys have to step up their playmaking because it kind of is just them.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: You know, Jaron is not gonna be much of a plus playmaker.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: Larry himself is definitely not a playmaker, so it has to kind of come within from those guys.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, that's a lot of pressure for a young guy that was just like, hey, this season I'm gonna score a ton.
28:03
SPEAKER_00: And now you gotta be like, I'm I can score a ton, but I also gotta showcase some playmaking chops.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: So I got them number three.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: Number four, I do have the Brooklyn Nets.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think all of their five first round picks have shown flashes of being real NBA players.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: I don't, I'm I'm really bad at projecting ceilings for players.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: That's why you never really see me do draft work coverage because I'm like, that guy's pretty solid today.
28:24
SPEAKER_00: I'll draft the pick number one.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: They're like Kenny, he's 24 years old.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, okay, so maybe we shouldn't go that direction.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: Let's draft the 18-year-old that ain't really that good, but has the potential.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the 18-year-old with the potential ends up being the guy.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: So I just I'm bad at that.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: But I think as of today, all five of those guys look like real NBA players and maybe some upside to be way more than that.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: And the lastly has to be the Sacramento Kings.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: And it has to do with, again, the team or the ownership, but it also has to do with them basically having just one year of tanking, if you will.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this pick that they're gonna have this season will be their first like top six pick.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: What's the lowest they can drop in this?
28:59
SPEAKER_00: The uh yeah, top six pick.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, since Keggy Murray, I guess.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: So it's been a little minute, and they still have to figure out what to do with Sabonis.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: If anything, I just ran Tankathon again in the Bulls one, by the way.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: They got to figure out what to do with Sabonis, if anything, DeMar DeRose and Zach Levine, who's gonna take that player option.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: So I think they have the most question marks about the current young core and the veterans that are on the team.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: But I appreciate that.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh, because those are, I think those are the five super tank teams, right?
29:24
SPEAKER_00: Like the Bulls, they're a late tank team, so they're not in the in the same tier, I don't think.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, and all the teams that we just mentioned have already been eliminated from playoff contention, and they are the only teams eliminated from playoff contention.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: All right.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: So last episode we gave all NBA teams, and I I want to make this very clear for the second time.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: That all NBA team and this all defensive team that I put together, they're not set in stone.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: We still got three weeks left for the season.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: Things are shifted.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: Hell, something that I said or did on last week's episode, I've already changed in my own personal notebook about who was on what team.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: So it's always very fluid.
29:58
SPEAKER_00: Keep that in mind, it's always very fluid.
30:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's a lot of things wrong with the NBA.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: Towards the top of my list, is the fact that we still only have two all defensive teams.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how Adam Silver and the camp over there can tell y'all that they care about defense more than anything and not give us a third team where the the times in the last 40 years where we had expansion in the NBA, the NBA said, oh, there's too many talented players to only have two all NBA teams, so let's make it three.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: Why do we not?
30:26
SPEAKER_00: We're about to add two more expansion teams and only two all defensive teams.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: This league is too deep defensively for us to only have 10 players to wear that crown.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: How have we not gone to three?
30:37
SPEAKER_00: They don't care as much as they think they do.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: But guess who cares?
30:40
SPEAKER_00: Me.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: So I got three all defensive teams today.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: Damn it.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm giving out these flowers.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: And it actually was really tough.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: There's only a few people that I know for sure I wanted on here.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: Then the rest is like, ooh, I gotta watch some film.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: I gotta look at some numbers.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: I got, you know what I'm saying?
30:55
SPEAKER_00: So let's start off with my first team.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Assuming health and assuming the 65 games threshold has been hit.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: I got Wimby, obviously.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: I think he's the DPOY this season.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: I got Chet, I got Rudy Gobert.
31:08
SPEAKER_00: Those are the three people that, like, without looking at anything, those are the guys that I'm like, these are the guys, by my eye test, are the guys that are.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: And then it's supported by the numbers, right?
31:16
SPEAKER_00: We talked about Gobert, which was bad timing, by the way, because I talked about Gobert's defensive structure and him being a defensive system.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: And then that day they played against OKC, and it was his worst game like ever.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: On both sides of the ball.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: It was his worst game like ever.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, bro, I just filmed that episode.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: It's premiering tomorrow.
31:35
SPEAKER_00: And the one thing people are gonna remember is that that brother was trash last night.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: Damn, I can't catch a break.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: But he is um leaving that game to the side, he is one of the best defensive players that we have in this league and one of the best of their generation.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, but Wimby Chet, Chet's numbers have kind of gone underrecognized, I feel like, because it may not be as pretty or as sexy as some Wimbenyama blocks and stats and stuff, but Chet has been so ridiculous at protecting the basket.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I gotta give him that credit.
32:05
SPEAKER_00: And those three guys are locks.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: And after that, there's so many guys that I want to get on this list.
32:09
SPEAKER_00: But the end of my first team, Scotty Barnes and Derek White.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: And the Derek White one is the one I'm thinking about the most because I think undoubtedly Derek White deserves to be on one of my teams.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: But one of the reasons Derek White was on my first team and I'm a second team is because I'm like, bro, I can't, I can't have my entire all NBA team just be bigs and big wings.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: There's gotta be, there's gotta be a guard that's one of the top five defenders, right?
32:35
SPEAKER_00: So maybe not, but I wanted to just give him his respect as being one of the more steady defensive players all in the NBA, one of the best rim protectors slash shot blockers in the NBA, not just because, not at his size, but just in general, the guy is ridiculous at protecting the paint, protecting the rim at 6'4, 6'5.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: So he's had an amazing season, even if the jump shot ain't been falling as good as you want.
32:55
SPEAKER_00: He's still one of the best, I don't know, 30 players.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what number you would have, Derek White, but he's really high on that list.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: So I did give him the nod.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: And as Scotty Barnes, I think one thing that I really appreciate about Scotty is that no matter what he is asked to do defensively, he's able to do that.
33:12
SPEAKER_00: You know, what what's what's the word for that?
33:14
SPEAKER_00: Versatility.
33:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's got he maybe he's one of the most versatile defenders in all of basketball, right?
33:19
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he is number one.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, because I've seen games where he is straight up picking up the league guard, and I've seen games where this team that they're watching they're playing against doesn't have a great league guard.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: So instead he's guarding a four or he's guarding a five.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: And every single one of these matchups, he's doing an amazing job at.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: There's been multiple games this season where he's got a game-winning steal or stop or block, and he's just been incredible um as a defensive player.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, even though I said those first three were locks, Scotty Barnes is the closest person to not being a complete lock, but a lock, lock, lock.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
33:48
SPEAKER_00: So that's my first team.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: Starting off with second team, I do have Bam Adibayo.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: I think that, you know, one of the major things that we got on last episode when you're talking about defensive systems, I got a few comments saying, Kenny, what do you think about Bam Marabal as a defensive system?
34:03
SPEAKER_00: And I think it something has to be said about Bam Maraballo being a part of great defensive teams every year of his career and him having a plus on off defensive rating on those teams.
34:16
SPEAKER_00: It's not like he just so happened to walk into a great defensive team.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: No, he is the anchor, the switchable guy in every single one of these teams.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: And it continues to be the case.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: And I kind of feel bad for not having him on my list last year.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: Part of that was like, I just hated watching the Heat last year, and that was, you know, some to his doing because his offense just wasn't at the same level.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I think that because of all NBA selections like Anthony Edwards and Kay Cunningham might not make it because of injury in 65.
34:44
SPEAKER_00: I think Bam Marabal might make an all-NBA team because of it.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: Defense has been great, and then he scored 83 points in the game this season.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: Kind of nuts.
34:51
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, I'll get to the rest of my second team.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: Getting back to our all-defensive second team.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: If you missed the first person, that was Bam Marabal, moving on to the second guy.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: And I don't think I should have to say this, but I will say this.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: If you're on the same team, there is no order.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: The internet's a weird place.
35:12
SPEAKER_00: So you're like, Kenny, how can this next player be number two instead of number one?
35:16
SPEAKER_00: They're on the same Kasen Wallace.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: Boy, Kasen Kasen, Kasen Wallace is just a ridiculous hound of a defensive player.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: Another one of those guys that will take on multiple signs.
35:29
SPEAKER_00: He's a smaller guy, but we've seen him scale up defensively and do a pretty damn good job at it.
35:33
SPEAKER_00: He is a turnover magnet, and I do really value some of that.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: Like some guys that won't make this list because maybe they don't have it on a day, a possession-by-possession basis.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: But some of the stars across the league that are defensive playmakers, I really appreciate Kasen.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: I think he may be leading the league in steals and towards the top in deflections as well.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: And then he also is a uh movement defender as well.
35:52
SPEAKER_00: You know, some dudes just get steals and it's like, okay, that's that's a cool part of their identity.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: But no, even when he's not getting steals, he's clamping up.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: So I got a lot of love for Kasen Wallace.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: And I think that he should definitely be on one of the teams.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: Next one, we're doing a tandem, y'all.
36:04
SPEAKER_00: I got both of the Thompson brothers on my second team.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm in and Asar Thompson both deserve to be there.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think there is a conversation for like I'm in, or I guess even Asar, uh, for being on defensive first team.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: And I don't have an official ballot, so I don't have to, you know, pick hairs too much to try to figure out who deserves to go where, but I felt pretty good by sliding both of these guys on defensive second team.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: Both just ridiculously great at taking an individual assignment and making the most out of it.
36:31
SPEAKER_00: And when the Pistons don't have a specific assignment for Asar Thompson, I love watching him fly around defensively when he's not on ball.
36:39
SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite defensive players to watch in the entire league, just off that.
36:42
SPEAKER_00: He is a, again, just like Kasen, a disruption, this disruption magnet.
36:46
SPEAKER_00: The guy is just doing all of the craziness across the league.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I appreciate him as a defensive player.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, with the Pistons being as good as they are, their identity is the defensive side of the ball.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: If I quickly were to look at it, they are the number two defensive team in all the ball, only behind the OKC Thunder.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: And I have to look at Asar Thompson for a lot of that.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: There's another guy that we're gonna get to later in in this um that we could get to.
37:09
SPEAKER_00: But Asar's defense is just deserves to be honest with the same thing with Ahmed Thompson.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: Last or my second team.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is where the official ballot ends, and there's so many names, and I that's why I want that third team to exist, because it's just there's too many great guys defensively for us not to have a third team, man.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: But the last guy I gave it to was OG Ananobi.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: I think OG Ananobi's defensive season.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it's being talked enough about um the the Knicks are number eight in defense.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, some of that's kind of skewed because you know they have multiple games.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: They won by like 45 against some bad teams.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: But I think OG, if there's one defensive consistent guy on that roster, it is 100% OG Ananobi.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: Another one of those guys that take multiple sidemans can play on ball, can play off ball, and do a great job defensively.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: So he had to, he had to be there, if you ask me.
38:03
SPEAKER_00: That's the first two teams.
38:04
SPEAKER_00: And man, that's why I want this third team because once I got done with these, I'm like, man, so-and-so got snubbed.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: So-and-so got snubbed.
38:10
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
38:10
SPEAKER_00: So-and-so didn't get stubbed because dammit, Kenny Beatsum got a third team.
38:14
SPEAKER_00: The first guy on my third team is Evan Mobley.
38:17
SPEAKER_00: He's one of those border guys in the sense that like we don't know for sure if he's gonna get to those 65 games, but he is on pace for as of right now.
38:25
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna treat it as if he will make it with 12 games left.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: He got to play a nine of those 12.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: I think he could get there, right?
38:30
SPEAKER_00: He's playing actively right now.
38:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's it feels kind of weird for a player to win DPOY one season and maybe not make it at all the next season.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: And and I don't know.
38:43
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's just a me thing.
38:44
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's a maybe on some people's valley, he's an all-defensive first team guy coming off his DPO West season.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: But for me, I got I got bro on the third team.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: Next guy I got is Tumani Kamara.
38:54
SPEAKER_00: Tumani Kamara, first month of the season, was a guy that was on our all-defense or all our all disappointment team.
39:01
SPEAKER_00: And I didn't feel great about what he was doing on both sides of the ball, right?
39:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think that since then he's really turned it around.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: He's been more disruptive, which I really appreciate.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: And I think he's looking more and more like, you know, last year's version of him over the last couple months or so.
39:16
SPEAKER_00: So he made my third team.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: Next guy is Chris Dunn.
39:19
SPEAKER_00: And I swear, Chris, I swear, I swear, I swear, I tried to get him on one of these teams.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: But another one of those guards that will do everything in his power to try to shut down an individual player.
39:29
SPEAKER_00: And one thing you'll notice about a lot of these guys is that they're not gonna win their match.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: Like the offense is gonna overpower defense a lot of times.
39:35
SPEAKER_00: So there will be highlights of Chris Dunn getting cooked, but on a night-to-night basis, he's one of the more consistent defensive guys for the LA Clippers.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: If no, he is the most consistently great defensive guy.
39:45
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Kawhi Leonard, but I think Chris Dunn got him beat on the consistency aspect, on the possessive by possession aspect defensively.
39:50
SPEAKER_00: So shout out to my boy KD.
39:53
SPEAKER_00: Next one is interesting, um because he's not in the same vein as these other guys, because he doesn't play as much as these other guys.
40:02
SPEAKER_00: And while I truly do believe he's one of our league's best defensive players, uh the fact that he is a uh, you know, an off-the-bench guy, it just takes it down just a little bit because his the minutes that he's playing is not equivalent to the minutes that a Gobert or a Chet or a Wimby are playing guys that are playing 30 plus minutes a game.
40:21
SPEAKER_00: So it is Isaiah Stewart.
40:23
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah Stewart, I truly do believe he's one of our best defensive guys, but he's just not in a role where he can play, you know, 1,800 minutes, 2,000 minutes in the season.
40:31
SPEAKER_00: And I think I got to look at that a little bit as we're trying to, you know, uh differentiate a guy that should make it and shouldn't make it when it is that close.
40:39
SPEAKER_00: So he ends up on my third team.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: He said himself he thinks he's the best defensive player in the world.
40:43
SPEAKER_00: And I I don't, I'm not there, but I think he is a guy that's is well deserving to be in the conversations for an all-defensive team.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: And then the last guy I have on all defensive third team is Jada McDaniels, who still gets after it on a night-to-night basis.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: It was a tough one, man.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: There's some big snubs.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: Lou Dort snubbed.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: But you know what, Lou?
41:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm not messing with the other stuff.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: So this is not your year.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: Draymond Green, still really good on that side of the ball.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: If anything, if he's not making my first two, he's in conversation for that, the fictional third team.
41:12
SPEAKER_00: Stefan Castle, another guy that just sit in that chair and say, This is my assignment, bet I'm gonna lock his ass up.
41:19
SPEAKER_00: Some of the numbers, I wouldn't, I didn't have them on my personal list.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: Some of the numbers love also Igadoro, and I feel like I got to lock into some more Sons games to specifically see what the hell Igadoro is doing for him to be like he's in a tier with some of the guys that's on my first team defensively, according to the metrics.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: And that's why, again, I try to weigh both.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I got to get back to my eye test to see what the hell he's been really up to.
41:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, shout out to everybody that I mentioned.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: There is going to be like Dyson Daniels.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: Dyson Daniels in a weird spot of a season where I think a lot of the conversation about Dyson Daniels is about his lack of jump shooting and best believe is really, really bad.
41:53
SPEAKER_00: But for him to be, and I'm just looking this up right now because I had to know what it was for sure.
41:59
SPEAKER_00: The team is seven points better offensively with him on the court, even with his lack of jump shot.
42:05
SPEAKER_00: That's the best marker of his career by a wide margin.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: And the defense, they're better, of course, with him defensively on the court.
42:13
SPEAKER_00: So it's just like, even if he's not making jump shots, it has to be something said about maybe progression other places.
42:19
SPEAKER_00: I think it is really easy for us as fans to look at one specific feature, and it's a big feature when it comes to 2026 basketball, don't get me wrong, and be like, ah, that's disappointing that he can't do this.
42:29
SPEAKER_00: But there's also other parts of basketball.
42:31
SPEAKER_00: I feel like Dyson Daniels has been showcasing specifically in this little streak that they were they were just on, that 11-game win streak.
42:38
SPEAKER_00: So those are my teams.
42:39
SPEAKER_00: It was really hard to figure it out, but again, with three weeks left, I'll put together in stone actual list.
42:47
SPEAKER_00: Here's a real quick recap.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: First team, Wimby, Chet, Gobert, Barnes, White.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: Not Kobe, but Derek.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: Second team, Bam, Kasen, uh, Amen, Asar, and OG.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: The third team, Tumani, Evan, Chris, Jaden, and Isaiah Stewart.
43:05
SPEAKER_00: You let me know if I forgot somebody.
43:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I spent a lot of time on there, so I'm I'm I hope that I ain't forget nobody.
43:10
SPEAKER_00: Who the hell could I forget?
43:11
SPEAKER_00: You know, man, if I forgot somebody, please, please get on my ass and make sure I know about it.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna get back to another question that somebody asked us.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: It's from him like Shay.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: Which players look elite analytically but doesn't pass the eye test, or vice versa, which player passes the eye test, but not analytics?
43:30
SPEAKER_00: Um this I'm gonna answer the second part of that question because I feel like I immediately thought of a guy because he played for my team.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: Io DeSumo's advanced analytics always make him look like a bum.
43:42
SPEAKER_00: Like like straight up bum.
43:44
SPEAKER_00: And and since he's got to uh Minnesota, it has shifted just a little bit, but it makes him look trash.
43:50
SPEAKER_00: And like it doesn't make sense to me.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: You know, um, he gets to the basket.
43:55
SPEAKER_00: He's not the greatest finisher, so I can understand, but he gets to the basket.
43:58
SPEAKER_00: He not he doesn't miss three pointers.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: He cares defensively.
44:01
SPEAKER_00: He may not be a guy that we talk about all defensive wise, but he cares defensively.
44:05
SPEAKER_00: And he has a lot of the intangible things, uh, loose balls, uh, uh extra, extra gear to like and the analytics never like him.
44:14
SPEAKER_00: And I've never understood it because I can't just say it is a Chicago thing, because we've had people in Chicago during the Io Desumu spot that were good analytically.
44:24
SPEAKER_00: But somehow Io always looked back.
44:27
SPEAKER_00: I just never understood it.
44:29
SPEAKER_00: And that's that's why, again, got to balance the two because the analytics would tell you that the IO acquisition may not be important.
44:36
SPEAKER_00: But Io's averaging 13 points per game since going over there.
44:40
SPEAKER_00: He, you know, he's evolving his game, doing stuff that he wasn't allowed to do in Chicago.
44:45
SPEAKER_00: So that is the guy that just keep an eye out on it, man.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it does shift now that he's out of Chicago, but I just it just never showcased that Io was a high-quality role player.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm not even talking about a starter, I'm not even talking about, you know, all-star potential.
44:57
SPEAKER_00: They didn't even grade him out as a good role player.
45:00
SPEAKER_00: And that's hard to explain.
45:02
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of y'all can explain it to me, but I don't, I don't understand it.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: When we come back, uh, we'll wrap up this episode of Smallball.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: We are March.
45:16
SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the turdy, man.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about March madness.
45:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, as a guy that went into a completely blind, I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm I'm gonna be honest about two things.
45:25
SPEAKER_00: The first one is I underestimated how difficult it would be to sit down from 11 o'clock to 11 o'clock to just watch basketball.
45:34
SPEAKER_00: And it's not like a capacity thing, it's not an attention span thing.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm a father of two.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: When I was a father of one last year doing it, it was pretty easy.
45:44
SPEAKER_00: It was pretty easy, but a father of two, it's just a lot tougher to do.
45:49
SPEAKER_00: So, like, there are some big moments, some big performances, some big games that I didn't even get a second of because I was busy being uh a head of the household, big big papa in there.
45:59
SPEAKER_00: So, like, you know, so I think a guy had a 30-27 game, no idea.
46:04
SPEAKER_00: Didn't couldn't see a single second.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know what team brother played for.
46:07
SPEAKER_00: But one thing that I did get to watch um was was the game that happened last yesterday, as I recorded this episode, between Vandy and Nebraska.
46:17
SPEAKER_00: And I swear, if there was any game to watch of the tourney so far, it had to be this one.
46:21
SPEAKER_00: Again, I haven't seen them all, so maybe I'm wrong, but it had to be this one.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, just a lot of ups and downs, a lot of emotion from the crowd and the players and stuff, and a shot that was this close to falling in, a half-court heave from my boy, um, my boy Tanner, uh Tyler Tanner, a half-court heave that was this close to going in that would have sent them to the sweet six scene, but it said they ended up losing.
46:40
SPEAKER_00: Nebraska threw out the zone at Vandy, and Vandy just didn't know what to really do.
46:45
SPEAKER_00: And again, I'm not a college basketball historian, uh, but I saw a lot of tweets and a lot of videos of people talking about this game, talking about how much it meant for both teams because both of these um programs had struggled to be just competent for the last 10 to 15 years.
47:02
SPEAKER_00: So it's pretty exciting stuff.
47:04
SPEAKER_00: You know, I got maybe I I was I was rooting for Vandy, I will say, because I really I do really like uh Tyler Tanner.
47:11
SPEAKER_00: But there was a part of me that's like, man, I still got a little bit of love for Fred Hoyberg as a former Bulls coach.
47:17
SPEAKER_00: You know, I I don't think he was the problem in those years with Chicago.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: So to see him, you know, get to the Sweet 16 is pretty pretty decent, man.
47:25
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to him.
47:26
SPEAKER_00: I don't know who they got next, but shout out to them.
47:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, I've really been trying to pay attention to a lot of these prospects that are in this draft between like Acuff with 36 and 6 again.
47:34
SPEAKER_00: He's playing ridiculous basketball.
47:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, the the Houston guys have been trying to watch them a little bit.
47:39
SPEAKER_00: And what I came to the realization of that is the most awful way to watch a tourney.
47:44
SPEAKER_00: To try to dissect these kids and while they're in this moment and like in real time, it's an awful experience.
47:50
SPEAKER_00: I would just recommend, or what I'm gonna do for the rest of this tourney and maybe next year, is don't even care about that.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: Care about that after the tourney.
47:55
SPEAKER_00: Let's enjoy the game for what it really is.
47:57
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm sitting here watching Cam Booz.
47:59
SPEAKER_00: I think he had two points going into halftime versus TCU.
48:02
SPEAKER_00: And I wasn't like this, but I saw a lot of people like, man, you know what I'm saying?
48:06
SPEAKER_00: And then he ended up with 19, 11, and three.
48:08
SPEAKER_00: And then the reason they ended up winning was him changing the whole dynamic of that game.
48:14
SPEAKER_00: So, like, I just don't think I'm I'm not looking at it from that perspective anymore.
48:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm not looking at Acuff and him giving up layups and being like, oh, NBA.
48:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm just I just want to look at that 36 and 6 and be like, damn, buddy was in his bag.
48:25
SPEAKER_00: So uh from this point on, because going into it, I didn't make a bracket this year.
48:29
SPEAKER_00: This is the first time in maybe 20 years I haven't made a bracket, by the way.
48:33
SPEAKER_00: Um my unofficial bracket, I had Illinois winning.
48:37
SPEAKER_00: They got Houston, and right now they're two and a half point, um, or Houston's two and a half point favorite.
48:42
SPEAKER_00: So we'll see what happens.
48:43
SPEAKER_00: I had Illinois based on proximity, based on you know, knowing a few people on their team and just rooting for the people on the team.
48:49
SPEAKER_00: But some of these scenes have been hella impressive, man.
48:52
SPEAKER_00: Arkansas's been hella impressive.
48:54
SPEAKER_00: Michigan's been hella impressive.
48:56
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know.
48:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm having fun, even if it's not me watching every single game, every single second.
49:00
SPEAKER_00: Hey, oh, as I record this episode, there's a game going on right now.
49:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm just like, hey, I either I catch the end of it or I don't.
49:07
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not tripping either way.
49:08
SPEAKER_00: So um, really cool time of the year, man.
49:10
SPEAKER_00: The emotion is, I think, the my most favorite part about March every single year.
49:14
SPEAKER_00: To watch, you know, there are seniors that will never be able to play collegiate hoops again.
49:18
SPEAKER_00: There's some seniors that will be back for two more seasons.
49:21
SPEAKER_00: That's a different conversation.
49:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, but to see all the emotion from the fans and the players when a big shot is hit or some team is eliminated, it is one of my favorite things because it is pure, the pure love of the game is what you're getting from all of these people.
49:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's the thing I value the most.
49:34
SPEAKER_00: One game elimination is tough, man.
49:36
SPEAKER_00: You could look like the best team in the world for four months, but one game, you make one out of 18 threes.
49:43
SPEAKER_00: And just like that, you gotta go packing.
49:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, man.
49:46
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, it's another great episode of Small Ball.
49:49
SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed it, be sure to tune in at the same time next week.
49:52
SPEAKER_00: Because guess what I'm gonna be doing?
49:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be doing this show.
49:55
SPEAKER_00: Appreciate y'all.
49:56
SPEAKER_00: See y'all next time.