Latest / Stugotz and Company / The Big Stu-ey: Lebron's Helicopter (w/ Tom Haberstroh)

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The Big Stu-ey: Lebron's Helicopter (w/ Tom Haberstroh) · Stugotz and Company

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Tom Haberstroh is with us, Taylor. He is the enemy.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: He is the new sideline reporter for the Philadelphia 76ers.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: The Knicks are going to raise a banner tonight in
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: front of Haberstroh and that entire team.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: How'd you get that gig, Tom? That's a pretty good gig.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: I mean.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I talked to Anthony Simons and Jabari Walker because
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: I've been doing the Blazers broadcast the last three years. Yes.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: And so Caleb Love, I don't know if that name
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: rings a bell. I know Taylor remembers Caleb Love and
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Ryan Rupert. They're all former Blazers, so it has nothing
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: to do with LeBron coming or Jalen Brown.
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: It's all got to.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Do with the Blazers guys. What do you imagine the
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: scene's going to be like tonight at Madison Square Garden
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: as the Knicks raise a banner?
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Well, I think this is like the fourth or fifth
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: time that LeBron James has been at a jersey, or
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: not a jersey retirement, a ring ceremony. I don't, I
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: think the tickets right now are like the get-in price
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: is $ 1, 200 or something like that. Might be the most
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: expensive ticket in Madison Square Garden Knicks history. So it's
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: going to be nuts. And considering that Jalen Brown is
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: going to be there, LeBron James and Bede, all of
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: these guys are Knicks rivals over the years. And so
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: I expect that it's just going to be insane.
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: Tom, I feel like we initially bonded over you living
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: in Charlotte when I lived in Charlotte. You're still living
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: in Charlotte?
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll be commuting up for these games.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Just like LeBron.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: It's so crazy. It's wild. I mean, this came across
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: my desk like a month or two ago, and it
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: was like, well, how am I going to pull this off?
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: And I remembered I was the guy who said okay
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: to being a broadcaster for the Blazers from Charlotte. where
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: the games are tipping off at 10 o'clock at night,
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: and I'm calling the game with Kevin Calabro and Lamar Hurd,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: and Brooke Olsendam, and I thought that was crazy. But
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: going on the road to cover a team that's the
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: most exciting, interesting, fascinating team in the NBA right now,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: I just thank LeBron that I'm not the only one
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: who's going to be commuting into this. So thank you, LeBron,
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: for laying down the path for me, not just once
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: in my career back in 2010, but also in 2016.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: It is, I mean, 2026. It's been 16 years, guys,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: since I met you.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, not you, Taylor. It's been a few years,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: but for Stu Gatz and Izzy, I remember Izzy walking
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: around the media room in Miami and like flip-flops. I
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: don't know if he still do that. Oh, wow.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: I don't remember that.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: That is highly unprofessional, man.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Geez.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: He had his column in the Miami Herald.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: I mean, his shit didn't stink, man.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: None of ours did.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: I mean, we had LeBron.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: Tom, next time something comes across your desk, go ahead
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: and send it across my desk.
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: You and flip-flops, man.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: What's going on?
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: It's Miami. Come on. It was Miami. It's different. That
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: was wild. It was like that's the first NBA locker
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: room I had ever been in was in Miami. Like
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: I had been just like a numbers nerd, as you know,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Stu Gotts coming in and felt like I was in
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: way over my head because any job covering the NBA–
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: is such an opportunity to be in those locker rooms.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: But the first locker room you get in is LeBron James,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade. And so that was, I was
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: thrown into the fire on that one. And it was,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: it was a blast. I mean, he was there for,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Four seasons I stayed for six, and I miss Miami
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: all the time. We can talk about them later, but
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: this Sixers season, I can't believe it's happened. I was
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: there covering the Friday night game against the Celtics, the
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: preseason finale, and I'm staring at LeBron in his 23
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Philly jersey, and I'm just like... It didn't feel real.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: It still doesn't feel real. I don't know if it's
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: the same for you guys. It just this is so crazy.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: It is wild. I wanted to ask you in terms
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: of fit.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: Because we saw him with Luca and Luca without the
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: ball is useless. It's like cereal without milk. But with
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: these other guys, Jalen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, Edgecombe, they can't
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: play or maybe more used to playing off the ball.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: But is there one of those guys that you think
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: might sort of disappear a little bit more often than
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: the other? Maxie maybe, probably not Jalen Brown given his motivation.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Well, you guys remember this. When the Heat started 9-8
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: that first season, it felt like the sky was falling.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: And Dwayne Wade and LeBron James had a hard time
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: with figuring out the touches. They kept talking about taking
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: turns and how awkward that was. And they didn't want
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: to step on each other's toes. They wanted to come
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: out and have the best for each of them. But
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: it still was, no pun intended, a process for them
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: to figure this out. And that was not a fast team.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: They didn't play up-tempo in ways that I think Nick
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Nurse wants this team to play. And that will sort
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: itself out. If you're playing in the open court, of
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: the four top guys last season in fast break points
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: per game, number one was Giannis Antetokounmpo. in fast break
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: points per game, and he's in Miami. The next three
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: names on that list are in Philly. Jalen Brown, Tyrese Maxey,
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: and LeBron James. So if they get slowed down in
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: the half court, I think you might see guys feel like, oh,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: I didn't get the touch there, I didn't get the
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: ball there at the end of the shot clock. But
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I think this team wants to play up-tempo, and part
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: of that might be just getting out ahead of the
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: whole ego usage rate your turn, my turn thing. Because
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: once they get out in the open court and they
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: have the second highest transition percentage in the preseason, they
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: want to run. And with LeBron, that was different in LA.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: I don't think Luka Doncic wanted to run, but I
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: think Tyrese Maxey and Vijay Edgecombe and Jalen Brown, I
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: think they all want to run. And we'll see how
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: long they can sustain that because it's going to be
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: a long season. And we know in Miami, like Man,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: when you get all those stars together, it's going to
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: be hard to maintain a top five pace. But Eric
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Spolster did it with pace and space. And the other
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: night I was there, LeBron James dropped a little pace
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: and space and how he wants this team to play.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: A little bit of a two-parter here. With Joel Embiid,
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: it's obviously difficult to predict health and injuries, et cetera,
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: except for Joel Embiid. You can pretty much predict that
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: he's going to miss a decent amount of time.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: And Anthony Davis. Oh, and Anthony Davis.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: That's the easiest one. But if you were to sort
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: of find, let's just assume relative health for these guys,
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: is there a weak spot?
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Is there, is it depth?
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: Is it something there that you say, hey, this could
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: be their Achilles if it doesn't seem to come together?
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: Well, speaking of Achilles, I don't know if you said
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: that on purpose, but Ariel Huckporty tore his Achilles in
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: the preseason, the backup center for Joel Embiid. And unfortunately,
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: that's going to be a hole for the roster. Anytime
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: you lose your backup center in preseason, that's going to
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: be a hit. But also when you got a guy
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: like Joel Embiid, who I think for this team to
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: maximize their uh, their championship window here is he's got
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: to be healthy. And the, the big thing out of
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: training camp is he's lost a lot of weight. And
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Tim Duncan used to preach. This is as you get
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: older and it's tough for all of us. I mean,
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: I'm not speaking for Stu Gatz cause he's in tip
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: top shape, but we got to slim down and take
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: some of that weight off of our joints and, and
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: beat has done that so far. So good. Uh, and
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: he's looked healthy. He dunked in the scrimmage. That that
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: exhibition scrimmage in front of fans and the season ticket holders.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: And he said afterwards, that's the last dunk of the season.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: I'm not dunking anymore. And then on Friday, he dunked
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: again and surprised himself. He said he was possessed. So
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: the guy the guy wants to get after it. He
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: wants to play. He wants to play above the rim.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: But I think he's. you know, this, this injury to
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Ariel Huckporty is really unfortunate because I think he was
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: going to have a breakout season out of New York
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: last year, winning the championship. And he was gonna have
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: a big opportunity. So Adem Bona, Jabari Walker, Dean Wade,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: and LeBron James are going to have to play a
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: lot bigger now that Huckporty is hurt, but that certainly
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: no team wants to have a player suffer an Achilles
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: injury like that. But certainly with the 76ers, they're going
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: to have to adjust.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: So, you know, Part of the issue with the Sixers
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: and everybody else in the Eastern Conference is going to
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: be the conference's depth. And that's, you know, there's pretty
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: much no easy games, it feels like, throughout the season,
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: or at least, you know, looking at it early on.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: You mentioned Giannis and Miami. In the preseason, their pace
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: was even greater than it was last season. It seems
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: like they're going to play super fast. You mentioned Giannis'
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: fast break points last season. That's what potentially worries me
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: about the Heat. Not so much early on in the season,
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: maybe a couple injuries because that's hard to maintain, but
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: just maintaining that throughout the season. What do you think
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: about Miami's look, Miami's roster makeup, and whether they can
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: maintain a high level of success throughout the year?
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's easier said than done. Look, every coach in
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: the preseason, they always say the cliche like, yeah, we
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: want to play fast this year. We want to play
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: with a high, high pace. And ultimately it's like Mike Tyson.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Once you get punched, everyone has a plan until they
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: get punched in the face. It's kind of how I
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: feel about teams in the NBA when they say they
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: want to play fast.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Well, let's talk in January. And I asked Nick Nurse
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: the same question is like, how do you implement that?
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: like the habits in preseason training camp to sustain high
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: pace and uptempo playing style throughout the season. And he said, yeah,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: it's definitely a challenge. But with this group, LeBron James
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: loves to play in the open court, get the kick
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: at head passes. And I think the same thing for
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Spoh's guys is a lot of those guys love playing
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: up-tempo basketball. And Davion Mitchell, if you see it right now,
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: Yahoo Sports, where I write and do podcasts with, I picked...
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Davion Mitchell as my most improved player of the year,
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: because I think this style of play next to Giannis,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: he's going to get a lot of open looks. He
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: slimmed down like Embiid. I talked to his shooting coach,
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: Brandon Payne, who is the shooting coach of Stephen Curry. Uh,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: if you're good, by the way, if you want to
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: maybe call that guy.
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Um, well, Steph or the coach.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And he said the heat were pretty direct in
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: the exit interviews last year for Davion Mitchell is, uh,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: they wanted him to get in better conditioning, lose some weight,
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: work on the diet. And he did that right away.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: And he's looks, he looks a lot thinner, a lot
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: faster in the open court. And I think in this system, uh,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: you're going to see Davion Mitchell, I think going to
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: take a big step forward. Because Klay Thompson loves the
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: open court. That's really hard to pick up Klay Thompson
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: in the open court when you're running back in transition,
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: trying to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo and the freight train that
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: he is. I think a lot of those guys are
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: going to love playing in an up-tempo style. It's just
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: when they have aspirations to win a championship, guys like
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Klay Thompson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Giannis Antetokounmpo, they've had championship aspirations,
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: and hopefully they're able to maintain that pace throughout the
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: season and in the playoffs.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Tom, Izzy had a hot take a week or so
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: ago about the Boston Celtics. He thinks, at best, they're
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: a play-in team. Do you agree?
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: I don't.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: I think the Celtics are going to be good, man.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: I think Tatum's going to be the MVP.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: How about that? There's my hot take.
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: Tatum, MVP.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, I thought you said Peyton, like Peyton Pritchard. I
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: was like, now that is special.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: Although I do have Hugo Gonzalez as MIP.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Now you've gone too far.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: That kid, and I say kid because I think he's
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: 20 now. He might be still 19, Hugo Gonzalez. He's good.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: He dropped 21 against the 76ers on Friday.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: He looks good. I mean, that travel was veteran-level travel
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: that he had in that game.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: Seven steps. It's insane.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: So you think the Celtics are going to be really good?
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: You think they're going to be good?
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I think they're going to be really good. I think
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: the Peyton Pritchard breakout season is going to happen. I
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: think he might be an all-star this year. I'm not
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: going to say MVP like with Tatum, but I think
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: the Boston Celtics, the way that they play and Mitchell
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Robinson is going to be awesome for them. They do
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: this thing called the possession game where they want to
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: get as many possessions as possible, get as many shots
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: up as possible. It's why they like to take early
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: shots and not turn over the ball because they really
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: value those possessions. I think Mitchell Robinson is going to
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: be huge for them. And I wouldn't be surprised if
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: they won the East this year in the regular season.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: It's just a question of whether they're going to miss
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: that star power in the postseason next to Jason Tatum.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Because it's going to be, man, I have like Tom
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: title tears every week on my sub stack. I have
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: six teams. Six East teams at the four-star tier. I've
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: got OKC and San Antonio at the top.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: And then all in that second tier, I've got six
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: East teams. It's just, I don't know how this is
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: going to shake out. It's going to be a ridiculous season.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: And that NBA draft reform, people aren't talking about enough.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: The fact that they're penalizing the bottom three teams, they're
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: going to have fewer chances at getting a top pick
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: in the draft.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Love that.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Every night this year in the NBA, more than we've
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: seen since covering the league, every night is going to be...
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: A battle, because there aren't going to be teams trying
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: to lose this year in ways that they have been
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: in the past.
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: Well, here's my thing with the Celtics, though, is yes,
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: I agree with you. One of those guys, a Hauser,
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: a Gonzalez, a Pritchard, one of those guys is going
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: to have to take a huge leap because, A, I
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: don't think Paul George is going to be there for
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: 70 plus games. And I feel like Peyton Pritchard's already
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: had his breakout. Like, I think he's bumping up against
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: his ceiling a little bit. And then you throw in
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: the fact that maybe Mitchell Robinson doesn't play a bunch
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: of games as he normally doesn't. And Jason Tatum, who
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: knows what kind of recovery you're going to be talking
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: about over a full season. To me, again, in a
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: very deep Eastern Conference, you can shoot the three as
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: much as you want and try to get as many
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: as possessions, but you need somebody to be consistently there
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: for you. And I just don't know who it's going
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: to be behind Jason Tatum.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: I mean, we didn't even talk about Indiana, Toronto. I mean,
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: it's going to be one of those teams, those seven
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: teams in the East is probably going to miss the playoffs.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: So it does feel like right now we all want
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: to say, Hey, East champion contender, Boston Celtics, Toronto. I
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: could see that happening. But just as a matter of
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: pure math that there's only eight teams that can make
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: it into the playoffs for the East, one of those seven,
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: there's a pretty good chance that they'll fall out of
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: the playoff picture. So I understand why one of those
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: teams might have a down year and just completely fall out.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: The Celtics, though, I just... I mean, Derek White could
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: be that guy you're... He's going to step up, but
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: he has he lost his three point shot. He might
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: have gotten a little yips last year and just could
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: not figure out his three points. But man, if he
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: gets that shot back, you're going to see an all
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: star season out of Derek.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I love that, dude. But yeah, his shooting last
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: year and a half hasn't been great. You mentioned the Pacers.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: I contend that there's nobody more motivated now. than Tyrese Halliburton,
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: given the last time we saw him play, he was,
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: you know, 30 minutes from an NBA title, right? And
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: then he hurts his Achilles, and now here he is
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: with a team that might be better than that squad,
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: at least a better fit, a couple of good additions.
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: What do you think about the Pacers and their chances
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: to be, you know, that surprise top four seed.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: In the East? Vietia Zubat's addition, too. So, Miles Turner
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: was kind of like a shop-locking, spacer player, But Zubats
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: is a whole different. He's a great defender, a guy
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: who's super skilled, good passer, rebounder, just a big body.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: He's going to get a ton of putbacks. He's actually
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: in this preseason Tyrese Halliburton's number one assist target. Like
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Zubats is fitting in very well. It got acquired at
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: the deadline last season for Benedict Matherin with the Clippers.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: And that was a big, big trade because not only
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: did they lose a top five pick, by making that
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: deal for Zubats. They are going to use him a
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: lot with Tyrese Halliburton as a great defender and pick-and-roll partner.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: I think Hallie's going to love playing with that guy.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: And I also think that, man, Pascal Siakam, Neesmith, Nemhard,
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: they are so excited to be trying to win again
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: because they played so well two years ago in the postseason.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: And, I mean.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: If they made it back to the NBA Finals, would
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: any of us be surprised given what they did two
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: years ago and just blowing the doors off of the
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: Eastern Conference?
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: Taylor would be.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, me and Taylor. I mean, we have the Knicks
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: going 82-0.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: We're going back to bat, Tom.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: Starts tonight.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Did you know they had the worst? This is me
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: geeking out. They had the worst point differential in the preseason.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: No. Preseason, please.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: It's I don't know. Carl Anthony Towns stuff.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm winning a championship of me.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Gosh, Hart not getting his extension. I'm just saying.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: Losing Mitchell Robinson and having the worst defense and point
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: differential in the preseason. Not a great start. But you
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: know what? Doesn't matter. Once that banner goes up at
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Madison Square Garden tonight, no one's going to care about
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: preseason net rating.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: If Tyler Nichols playing in the game, Tom, I'm not
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: worried about that game. No offense to Tyler Nichols.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: You offended him. I mean, Tom, who's the team in
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: the NBA that no one's talking about that we should
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: be talking about more?
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Okay, this is super deep cut, but the Memphis Grizzlies,
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: they're going to be really good this year. Really? Cam
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Boozer is the best prospect in the class. Caleb Wilson
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: had an amazing summer league. I have high hopes for him. A.J. DeBonta,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: a stud from BYU, can get to the cup. Great shooter.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Don't know about his three-point shot translating yet. Unfortunately, he
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: had an ankle injury. Darren Peterson, awesome two-guard potential player. Uh,
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: brand Bradley Beal type. That's a Florida guy there. Izzy.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: I think my favorite, I think those guys are good,
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: but Cam Boozer is the real deal. Ty Jerome, Zach
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Eady are not household names in the NBA yet. I mean,
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: of course, Zach Eady at Purdue was, was a household name,
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: but I think this Memphis Grizzlies team is going to
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: be a winning team in the Western conference. And they
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: are going to be the sleeper. I had in my
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: title tiers that they are on my title tiers as
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: a one-star title contender. Might be a little too early, guys,
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: but I was early on OKC, mentioned them as a
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: title contender before they made the leap, and same with
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies are my pick.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: Get on the bandwagon now, guys.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: I'm on a jazz bandwagon, Tom.
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: They're good. Will Hardy... Lowry Markkinen, Jaron Jackson Jr., and
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: Keontae George, after he gets that extension, their offense is
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: going to be awesome. There's no doubt about it. It's
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: just they've been the worst defense in the last three
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: years in the NBA and breaking records doing that. So
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: can they play good enough defense to win 45 games
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: in the Western Conference? Remains to be seen.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: All right, Tom, get out of here. Enjoy the season.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Enjoy tonight. I know the helicopter is waiting. We will
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: have you on in a couple of weeks to talk
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: about Wake Forest, okay?
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. College football playoff, here we come, boys. Go Deacs.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Enjoy tonight, man.