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The Pacers Continue to Defy the Odds · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to another episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beach, and we are finally in the NBA finals.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: But not only are we in the finals, we just saw an amazing upset.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: The Pacers were 10-point underdogs heading into game number one in Oklahoma City, who's had the best home court advantage all season long.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: And they come out there and in the last four minutes of a game do what they do best.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: We'll just come back.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Just come back victory.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: After comeback victory.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Game winner.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: After game winner, they continue to surprise the world.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Before we get into the episode, I'm gonna remind you to leave a like on the episode, subscribe to the channel, go check out the other shows on the Enjoy Basketball Network, whether it be teed up or numbers on the board.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, tomorrow, Saturday, on Numbers on the Board, we're doing a live episode.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's something we did years ago when we were named something different.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: We can't talk about that name anymore.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: We were named something different.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: We used to do Saturday live streams all the time.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: And now the CNBA finally is like, let's run it back.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: No better time.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about a game winner.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Come on, man.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: We also got something for you.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mentioned that on the last episode that at the end of every single season, um, I A, take my wife out to dinner.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for holding it down for eight months why I couldn't leave the house.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: But I also go back and look at all of the content I produce on the year.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: And my goal is to always be better next season compared to this year.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I've already done some of the deep diving because we had what five days without NBA basketball and I didn't know what the hell to do.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: And right now I would grade my coverage about a C.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Somewhat disappointing.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying my very best to get better.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: But you can actually help by hitting the link in the description.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Visit voxmedia.com slash survey because again, we're trying to plan for the future of small ball.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: And we want to hear you out so we can make the show better.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Again, that is voxmedia.com slash survey to give your feedback.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know where we start when it comes to this game.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know where we start.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, an absolute banger.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I don't want to do a lot of time on like the conversation that led up to this NBA finals because even though I'm not in those circles, I see those tweets, I see the clip-outs from other shows of people talking about this about to be a bad finals or it's bad for the NBA, or certain certain players, not this, or certain certain team had an easy path.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're talking about game one.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: This is a seven-game series.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Hell, I wasn't around for 2001, but I remember 2001.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've watched that entire series.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: I saw Allen Iverson come out and drop as many points as he did and take a game against the historic Lakers just to lose in five.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the hell is gonna happen.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: But game number one, regardless of what happens for the rest of this series, showcases that both of these teams belong to be here for one and gave us an amazing game.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: This game, this series is already better than a few series we've got over the last 10 years, just based on game one.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Just based on game one.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think we start off with the head of the snake.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and actually, I I've said that before multiple times in the show.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes I talk about the head of the snake being the superstar, and sometimes I talk about the head of the snake being the coach.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: In this case, I'm talking about the superstars, the best players on the court, Shay Giuse Alexander and Tigris, Halliburton.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Shea Gius Alexander started off this game taking like 11 shots in the first quarter.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: He ended up with 30 field goal attempts.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that has been a conversation for a lot of people about like, I don't want to call the selfishness necessarily, but him having this high shot total while the rest of the team um didn't.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this team ended up having 39 makes and only 13 assists.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was a point of emphasis for the Pacers that we'll talk about in a second here.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: But I personally have just one little thing that I I question when it comes to some of these shots.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Is it feels like when his team is against the wall, um, Shea tries to get them all at one time.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Also thought in the fourth quarter he wasn't as aggressive hunting his shot versus hunting the contact.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that would be one of the things that I want to see change.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: But also his other stars, his other guys, his all NBA player Jay Dub, his all defensive slash third best player Chet Hunger didn't come along for the ride.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Where I kind of understand him being overtaxed and taking some of the tougher shots because if dub is not gonna hit his shot, dub hit one.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, I saw a stat this morning from um Joke Star that said that Chet and J Dub combine for 28 shots.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: They only made one jump shot the whole game.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Is that even second?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: What?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: That makes sense.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, starting in the fourth quarter, J Dub had his own personal 6-0 run, but all of those were like layups, get into the basket, and then the one turnover from TJ McConnell that ended up in a breakaway dunk, and that was when they had the largest lead of the game on the broadcast, and they fumbled since then.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I kind of understand Shay Girls Alexander going out there with like, I gotta, I gotta be able to score because it don't seem like nobody's coming along for the ride.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And nobody really did outside of like Dort hit five threes, which is amazing.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: I thought Caruso had an amazing game.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I thought Isaiah Hartenstein and his seven 17 minutes was pretty good.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: And that's also a conversation we're gonna talk about.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: They switched up the lineups for OKC in the beginning of this one, which I thought was interesting.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, if they win this game, nobody cares, right?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: But they ended up losing.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: So now we got a nitpick, right?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: I thought Shay, if I was grading his first NBA finals game, 38 points, three assists, five rebounds, I would give it a solid, I would give it a solid B.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: I would give it a solid B.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: 38 points is like one of the highest debuts you can ever get, only behind like Allen Iverson and a few other people, but I would give it a solid B.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then on the opposite side of things, Tarys Halliburton, I don't know how we can like he's just the most confusing star player we have in basketball.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I wasn't making content around the Steve Nash era.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I was literally a kid, right?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: I remember watching Nash.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: I just re-watched 05 series versus the Dallas Mavericks again because again, we were bored for five straight days.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I got an understanding of who Nash was as a player, but Halliburton is in that weird mode of star player that could impact the game without having 30-ish points.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: I truly do believe that through the first 42 minutes of this game, this was a really subpar Tyrese Halliburton game.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: He was getting off the ball very early, and I'm sure that was one of the things they wanted to do, but he's getting off the ball very early.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: His usage rate was low.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you look at his lowest usage rates of the entire season, at this point, he's played 82 regular season games in however many postseason games.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not about to do the math right now.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: And all three of his OKC games, the two in the regular season, the one in the postseason so far, are in the bottom 10 when it comes to his usage rate.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: One of them, it felt like he didn't have the ball at all, and that was in December when they played against each other.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: And this one, not too much higher on that list.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: But then the fourth quarter came around, and I thought that his fourth quarter was pretty damn good.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, he hit the shot.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's one thing that we're gonna talk about a lot.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: But the fourth quarter, he's two or four from the field, he has two rebounds, he has one assist.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I thought that one of the shots they ended up creating for Miles Turner to one that skint the backboard from the left wing.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: And again, nobody ever tries to hit backboard from the cornerslash wing spot.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: It just happened to be that way.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: That was Tyrese Halliburton being used as a screener.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And they did that quite a bit in this game, but I don't feel like they did a great job maximizing him as a screener until we got to that fourth quarter.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if that was uh fatigue, a laziness from OKC's side for them to allow him to be a screener and be so successful there.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: But that is where we saw Halliburton play his best basketball.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there were times earlier in this fourth where he got to the basket and he attempted a shot at the rim.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Hello?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: He attempted a shot at the rim.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: That was something he wasn't really doing.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: He wasn't breaking down defenders through the first three quarters.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: He wasn't getting two feet in.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: And in the fourth quarter, again, he hits the biggest shot of the game, maybe the biggest shot of his career.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: But before that, it was somewhat of a struggle.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Andrew Nimhart was so damn good today.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: He was so good.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: Fourth quarter alone, he has eight points, three assists.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: He gets to the foul line two different times.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he plays really solid defense.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Again, we're talking about uh, it feels weird to say that when the guy that his primary matchup is Shea Gives Allen ended up with fucking almost 40 points, he had 38 points.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: But for what it was worth, I thought Nimhard did an okay job.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: I truly just believe that Shea is going to be able to score on almost anybody in the series, but I thought Nimhard did a solid job.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: But the last possession of the game is 20 seconds to go.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's him versus Shea on an island.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Shea versus Nimhard on the island.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Shea gets an up fake and Nimhard stays on his feet, which is something that he had not done earlier in this game.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Where I don't know if y'all remember that little play where you know these Canadian basketball team teammates ended up pushing each other a little bit.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it ends up being a foul on Nimhard as Shea puts him away, then he gets to the free throw line, and before he gets the ball from the free throw line, Nimhard walks with him and pushes him back.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like they got this competitive um thing going on.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: But Nimhard hadn't done an amazing job staying down.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought in this fourth quarter, or in that play specifically, with 20 seconds to go with the game is on the line, he stayed down and had Shea take a tougher shot.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's a shot that we've seen Shea make literally in this game before.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: But on this one, him staying down, Nimhar staying down, caused them to get that miss.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: How did he even get that shot off?
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about 0.1% chance of getting that shot off.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: He did, and it goes in.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just, I think I saw talking Jake, it may have been talking Jake from John Boy, and he's not even a goddamn basketball guy, um, as far as I know.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: He called them the Possum Pacers.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I I can't lie, I kind of like it.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna play there for three and a half quarters and boom, hit AI in your face, getting stops.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and for them to win this game shows the resilience of this team.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: In the first half, they have 19 turnovers.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: 19 turnovers.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it got so bad that they talked about on the broadcast if they do like the Google ad.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and this is always super funny because it's like after Damian Lillard got in, you know, after Jason Tatum got injured, it was like there is a 200% spike of people Googling how long does it take to recover from an Achilles injury?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: And in this one, they're like, there's like a 200% spike on the most turnovers in the NBA finals game.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's the way we were headed in this first half.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: 19 turnovers to this team.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: But what I tweeted at during halftime is like, even though they were down by like 10 or 12 points or whatever, I have to get credit to the Pacers for even being in this game because with 19 turnovers, they only allow nine points off those turnovers.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Some of that is because we have dead ball turnovers, which helps the opposing team or helps you because the opposing team can't go on the break.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: And some of that was them just being prepared to get back on defense.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: The Pacers run a run, the Thunder wanted a run, and both teams made it uh one of the top points of emphasis to not allow the opposing team to go on the run, to run on the fast break.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought they did an amazing job there.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: And as long as you keep this Pacer team in the as they stay in the game, they're always gonna have a chance.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's what they've taught us throughout the course of this postseason.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I mentioned it in my recap yesterday that like I was trying to do a little bit of research this morning as well, trying to figure out what is the consensus.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, most, I'm gonna see if I can find something else, most clutch playoff run in NBA history.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I I remember some names, but I don't want to talk about stuff that happened in the 80s.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Damn it, I don't really know.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the name that comes up a lot is 2010, 2011, Dirk, right?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: When they go on their championship run and end up beating the Heatles and everything.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um actually, it's an article that CBS just posted.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my God.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's it's titled Tyrese Halliburton is on the verge of besting Michael Jordan, LeBron James for most clutch playoff run in NBA history.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: It is so insane to think about it because they're they've had multiple times throughout this playoff run where they we're down to like the probability, the the winning tracker.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's 99 point something for the opposing team.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: And they end up winning that game.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yesterday, with nine minutes left on the clock, I got a screenshot that says they had a 99.3% chance of losing losing this game.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that was after J Dub got his breakaway dunk after the turnoff from CJ McConnell on the inbounds play.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: They won that game.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: We have a game in the first round where they do it to the Bucs.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: We have a game in the second round where they do it to the Cavs.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: We have game one versus the Knicks where they do it against the Knicks, and now game one versus OKC.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And in each one of those games, Halliburton has been the guy to hit the shot.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Where again, if he doesn't hit that shot, they end up losing.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: The conversations around Tyrese Halliburton are dramatically different today.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: They're just different.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm sure you turn on ESPN and they talk about his lack of aggression or how Lou Dort balled him up.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: And dammit, Lou Dort was balling them up for a lot of this game.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, when his team needed him most, guess who was there?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Mr.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: Tyrese Halliburton.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, in this article, and this article is written by Sam Quinn at CBS.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: I want to give the credit there.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I haven't been able to read it, but the other clutch series that he's mentioning is uh two uh 1998, Michael Jordan.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: He scored 76 points with eight assists, six rebounds with three steals, three blocks.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: God damn.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um what the hell?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and this is in the clutch games.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, whoo, I'm like, he dropped that in a single game.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Hell no.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: 2007, LeBron James.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, you get the shot at the top of the key versus the Pistons, one of the most uh the one of the best shots of LeBron James' career, and then Dirk in 2011.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: And now we have Tyrese Halliburton ended up in that spot.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the difference between Tyrese Halliburton and those other guys is like MJ is the goddamn goat.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: LeBron James, the goddamn goat.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm a I'm one of them co-GOAT type of guys, just like uh Jason Kidd and and Grant Hill were co-rookie of the years.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: I have co-GOATs fight me.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then Dirk is like one of my goats.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: He's not the goat, but like he's one of my top three favorite players of all time.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: All of those guys are like primary score first.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess that's LeBron James's joke has been like, I'm not a score first guy and I lead the league in all-time score.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: But like these guys are dudes that will give you 30s to 40s and to 50s to whatever you need.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Halliburton is not in that mode of player.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: So to have this different kind of star, this different kind of closer, it's just different for the league.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I have in my notes from last night that I didn't get to um during my recap.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I got no dog in this fight.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think regardless of who ends up winning the series, it's gonna be an amazing story for the NBA.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: If it is the Pacers, this is one of the most improbable, if not the most improbable champion in the history of this sport.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they were not even close to becoming favorites to win a championship, even though they were coming off a conference finals run, nobody believed in them.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: So it's either the most improbable, the most improbable champion of the NBA history or one of the most dominant teams in NBA history.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's like we could, we, we win regardless narratively.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I got no dog in this fight.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: But what I do have in my notes is based on the way this Pacer team has can conducted themselves throughout the course of the playoffs right now, how are they not like America's team right now?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: There's a small market, a team that didn't have to acquire all of their talent by having one great free agency run where they have six MVPs and former MVPs and you know top 10 players in the league.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: They have a star that I know that people call him the front runner, but Tyrese Halliburton is a very likable guy, and I'm not just saying that because he's my guy.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: Look at any interview of the dude.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: He he's just down to earth and cool, in my personal opinion.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: They got a legendary coach and Rick Carlisle, who has been the underdog in a lot of series throughout his life and walked out of there victorious.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: They have an amazing fan base.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: How are they not the team that everybody's rooting for?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: OKC also kind of fits MO, and I know that there's a portion of OKC that's like OKC um haters is like, oh, they get to the return line too much.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, they maul people defensively, yada yada.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Both of these teams are very likable, but like based on the playoff run that the Indiana Pacers have given us, I'm surprised I'm not seeing more people like being like, that's the team I want to see win.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: The underdog is always gonna have the advantage, right, when it comes to the people falling in love with them.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: But I feel like we haven't got that.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like all the clips I've seen on social media are people talking negatively more than positively.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: The easy I cannot wrap my head around the idea of a team having the easiest path in the history of the league.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then so what?
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: So that's one thing Pierre has got us doing a lot.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody says something negative, you just say so.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: I remember at the beginning of every single finals over the last five years, somebody has written an article or went on TV and said so-and-so team has set the easiest path ever.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: 2,000 Lakers.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: We got the goddamn bubble.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, you won a championship because you guys are four months off.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: 2021.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: The Suns shouldn't have been there.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: The Suns shouldn't have been there.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: They beat on this team and this team and this team.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: 2022.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like the oh my god, y'all gonna make me out and try to spaz out.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, remember the Denver Nuggets didn't beat a single 50-win team on their path to a championship.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: They their path was so easy.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: They played against an eighth seed and then a five seed, then a seven seed, and then an eighth seed again.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: The Boston Celtics stormed through the Eastern Conference last year, the easiest path ever.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: It was so easy that people convinced themselves that the Dallas Mavericks would win their finals when the the goddamn Boston Celtics were just that good.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: And now we get to 2025 and you we're repeating, it's like clockwork every single.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to see them say that about the Bulls next year when we make it to the finals.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: It was the easiest path.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, so I'm here, ain't I?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: And the Pacers are here, and not only are they here, they flipped the odds a little bit.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: They were not even close.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: They were like the OKC Thunder had one of the best betting odds of all time to come to the finals.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Minus 700 is insane.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's on tier with like the 2001 Lakers who we referenced earlier.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: The 2001 Lakers lost one game in the postseason, they lost one game of 15 and one.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And and they still have like they're in the same contention when it comes to the bet knots.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: And now with game number one, I don't know what it's at right now, but I'm sure they ain't that high of a favorite anymore because it is game one.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've also seen three teams in plus this one game of the opposing team really, really trying to hunt Tyrese Halliburton.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that the the OKC Thunder got away from that a little bit.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he did get got on a few different times, like out of a timeout, you got the backdoor cut.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think it might have been Dort on the backdoor cut out of timeout.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Great drawing of play from Mark Dayton, where you had to have Tyrese Halliburton make a decision on what he's gonna do and end up being the open layup.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: All these teams have tried to hunt Tyrese Halliburton, but it hasn't really been successful.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm trying to figure out what that means.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because Halliburton had been in a camp of like negative defenders.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, let's let's not beat around the bush.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: So you talk about the negative point guard defenders in basketball.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Tyrese Halliburton was not at the bottom of that list, but he was, you know what I'm saying?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, think about what happened last year in the postseason.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: He got hunting like ridiculously last year in the postseason, specifically when we got to that series versus the Boston Celtics.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know he didn't play every single game, but they were hunting him in the games that he ended up playing.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think he what played a game and a half, two games or something.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: They were hunting him.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: And now we've seen, we've seen a bunch of different teams try to do it.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: We saw the Milwaukee Bucks try to do it.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: We saw the Cleveland Cavaliers try to do it.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: We saw the New York Knicks try to do it.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: And now through game number one, they tried to do it again, and it hasn't been relatively successful.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the advanced stats say.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how many points per possession is given up on the switch.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I don't know if that means that we should start respecting Halley Moore as a defender.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: He obviously is still not towards the top of that list.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Don't mix up these words.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: But as far as him being in that bottom tier, I don't know if we can still be there.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: He does have good hands.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like a lot of bad, bad to mediocre defensive players from the guard position have good hands.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of them do.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like James Harden hasn't been a great defender in his career, but damn, he's got some of the best hands in the league, so it makes up for it.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: And he's got the big body.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: But Halliburton has big hands.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, in the series versus the Cavaliers, they hunted him like crazy.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: And for a four-minute stretch, he held his own.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think he got two blocks and a steal in that same stretch.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: So he's been a competitor on that side of the ball.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm struggling to figure out do we rank him higher, or is that more of a team thing?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes teams are hunting him and they're not getting the matchup that they want, right?
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: Where like Neesmith just won't allow you to do it.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I know it didn't happen a lot in this game necessarily, but like Neesmith fighting over those screens are not allowing him to get that switch.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: And M Hard is starting to take a page out of their book as well.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I just don't know if they're doing an amazing job of hiding him or he's just been competitive.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a little bit of both.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's probably something out of pot A and pot B when it comes to his defense.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: But so far, there hasn't been a place where opposing teams can hang their hat.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: And we talked about it before on numbers on the board, where because the Pacers are severe underdogs, they have to try to figure out exactly where they can find the advantage or not allow the opposing team, the OKC Thunder, to capitalize on the advantages that they have.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: The way they found their advantage in this game was with their three-point shooting.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: OKC is always going to be a team willing to give up three-point shots, which is insane because I read something before the series or something I didn't even recognize.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Again, we talk about OKC being a legendary defense.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: They were number one in paint defense, in fast break defense, and three-point defense.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: Literally, league of his own.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: No team has ever been able to do be number one in all three of those metrics.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: But part of them being number one in three-point defense is like A's like shooting variants for sure.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: But but also the three pointers that they give up are the three pointers they want to give up to the people that they want to give them up to.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought the Pacers basically took where they were given, especially in that second half, took what they were given and maximized on them.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Obi Toppin had such a terrible first stint where I even tweeted, like, they got to get Obi out of this game.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: The lights might be a little bit too bright.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Eventually he settled in.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: He ended up hitting five big threes, and they were all open.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: These are exact threes, these are the exact shots that OKC wants you to take, but they took advantage of those threes.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Only one um the two threes that Tyrus Halliburton hit in this game were OKC being so damn active that the pump fake for Halliburton had the defender just fly past him and he hit both of them.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: Nimhard on an island on his own.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Again, we got to give him so much credit for that fourth quarter.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: On an island on his own, bag work, step back three.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: We talked about Nees Smith, 0.1 trigger.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: At least that's what it felt like.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Back to the threes in the fourth quarter for Miles Turner.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: These are shots that OKC wants to give up.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: But the Pacers hit him.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: Thomas Bryant, has he missed a three-pointer in the last two games?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think so.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: He had three against the Knicks in the closeout game and then one in this one, another corner three.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: TJ McConnell.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: The teams continue to give TJ McConnell the shot.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: He's taking it.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: And TJ McConnell is in a unique spot.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: He had the lowest, he's tied for the lowest plus-minus in this entire game, by the way, him and Case and Wallace.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: But the advantage that TJ McConnell has is that he's one of the people that just breaks down his defender on every chance he gets.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: And again, we're talking about a minus 13.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: But like in that fourth quarter, the first couple possessions, other than the turnover that I mentioned earlier with J-Dub, he gave them really good minutes.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I know the plus-minus says I'm aware of it, but he gave them good minutes.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure that we're probably going to see a little bit in game number two or more of Tyrese Halliburn and TJ McConnell on the court together.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: But again, we're going a little bit ahead of ourselves.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: I was just fascinated with the resiliency from the Pacers.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's again, it's not new.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: We've seen it in every single series so far.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: But for them to have 24 turnovers and all of this and still win is insane.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now, as much as it was the Pacers taking things away, taking this game away, I thought that OKC got lazy down the stretch.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that OKC got away from what makes them special.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: I thought they allowed the Pacers to dictate the pace of this game and dictate the whole feel of the game down the stretch.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: Where it felt like, I mean, the fans felt it for sure.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: The fans were really quiet for those last three minutes or so.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: But it felt like they were thinking to themselves, oh shit, not again.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Game one versus Denver.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: We kind of been here before.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we don't want to do this.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to do that.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it put them in a game where they were already very ISO-heavy to even higher isolation frequency in their fourth quarter.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: And it got to the point where the ball wasn't moving.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: They were starting their offense very late, and that is a superpower of the Pacers as well.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: The Pacers have been a team to basically stop the opposing team from really going out there and playing their exact game.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: And the fourth quarter, OKC got away from all of that.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was interesting to see that Coach Mark went away from the double big lineup.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I understand it on paper, right?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you think about some of the previous series where they'd be, you know, versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, they're running traditional big lineups where Rachelus Rand is not a big, but he's a bruisery guy, 6'9, very physical dude.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: Those double big lineups that help there because they're going to have Gobert on the backside as well.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: You think about them playing against Jokic, he's the best big in the league and one of the best bigs of all time.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: You think about them playing against like Zach Edy and some of the other dudes.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: So like running the double big lineup makes a lot of sense in some of those previous series.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they just thought that because the Indiana Pacers are not this super physical, super offensive rebound team, that we would just go for the smaller guy in Casey Wallace and just wreck uh force havoc, wreck havoc.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: And they did that, right?
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: When we're talking about 19 turnovers in that first half, they were successful there.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: But the thing that was confusing to me, if we are nitpicking a game where they lost by one, is that they didn't run a single second.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Not one second where both of the bigs were on the floor together.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Chet ends up playing 23 minutes.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: Isaiah Hardenti ends up playing 17 minutes.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I would just try the lineup up.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: It has been successful for you in this postseason.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: It has been successful.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And there's nothing about what the Pacers want to do, at least in my opinion, and maybe I end up being proven wrong here by game two if they do try this, that makes me think that the double big lineup can't be successful or as successful as it has been for the rest of the playoff run so far.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that down the stretch, them going away from Chad, and listen, Chad did not have a good game.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: He did not have a good game.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I think part of that is because throughout the first couple uh runs of the playoffs, the first couple rounds, they've been able to let Chet Homer and play free safety.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: We put him on McDaniels, we put him on Aaron Gordon, we put him on non-shooter here, and we allow him to just live in the paint because that's where he is best.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: He's going to deter a lot of shots, he's going to block a lot of shots.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: There's no place for him to really do that versus the Pacers because they are the best three-point shooting team in the postseason.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're shooting 40% from three the entire postseason run.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: There's no real place for him to be, but still, like I think about the offensive rebounds they gave up in that fourth quarter, and some of that is just not happening if they have Chet Homer on the floor.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: So again, we're nitpicking in a game where they lost by one, in a game where they had control for 44 minutes of this game.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: For 44 minutes of this game, they were in control of it.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: I thought they missed a lot of shots that they would normally make.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think that we're after game number one, and this is a bad part about the NBA Finals.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: We have three days to kind of just talk about it.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure that if I turned on my TV today, this morning, the thing we're gonna talk about is J Dub.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: The thing we're gonna talk about is Shaq and them not showing up for game one offensively for this team.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: One jump shot made is insane, and that was a J-Dub three.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Every other jump shot they took was just was off.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't overreact though.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: I know Shey Gius Alexander came to the podium and said it's just another game.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I also don't overreact to him.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: Because you still are the better team here.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna I'm gonna talk out both sides of my mouth there.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm gonna play um devil's advocate for myself.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: You have a better offensive game than you if you are the Pacers.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: Hell, you might have four more better offensive games if you are.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, if you are OKC.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: Dub will hit shots.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: Chat will come along for the ride eventually.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: And some of the threes that you end up missing, you shot 36%, which ain't as bad, will fall.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: But also, what Tarry Taliburn and Pascal Siakam said after game number one is true.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: They didn't play a good game.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: They stayed in it.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: They turned it up with four minutes to go, but they didn't play a good game.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: Do you believe that the Pacers will have 24 turnovers again in this series?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, because that's how good OKC is at forcing turnovers, but also maybe not.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: So if you ask me today, after game number one, where am I leaning?
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Where am I leaning in this series?
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still leaning OKC's way.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: But I got a little bit more confidence in the paces.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: I can't lie.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, my original prediction was OKC and FI.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's still on the table, but damn, it don't look that good.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's still on the table now.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um but what a game number one.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: I I think that we could go for a very long series.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that we go for a very long series because again, we've been we've been talking hoops every single week since October, but I don't want it to end, man.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: I truly don't want it to end.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anything the Pacers can do differently to like, you know, I'm sure both of these teams are going to make adjustments because it's really a chess match out here, right?
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: You don't want to go with the same gameplay even though you won.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anything that they found in that four-minute stretch that they can bring into the next game?
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mentioned, yeah, Halliburton being used as a screener a little bit more.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, their smaller ball lineups actually was pretty successful for them when they went small versus small.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think the Pacers walked out of there was a slight favorite, um, smalls versus smalls.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um is Mark Dayton gonna play AJ Mitchell next game?
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: Probably not.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think he probably shortened some of that rotation.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: It was interesting to see him check in.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I'm excited.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for the rest of the series.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: And and you should be too.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: And you should be too.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you go to FanDuel Sportsbook, man, it's already time to think about game number two.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: Go to FanDuel Sportsbook.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: I got a little a little parlay.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Now you can either tell me or you can build your own again as FanDuel.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: What I'm thinking for game number two is Aaron E.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: Smith's two threes.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: Been liking the way he's been shooting this entire season.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I I cannot believe how quick of a release he had on this the three-point he hit in that fourth quarter.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: I it was insane.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: I got two threes from Aaron Neesm.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: Pascal Siakam's rebounding has not been really um a talking point so far in this postseason.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: He would have games where he had four rebounds, five rebounds, seven rebounds.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: I got him for eight plus.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking that they're gonna go back to another small ball lineup down a stretch.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just, again, doing some type of prediction.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I got him for eight plus boards.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: I got Chet Homegrin for 10.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: That shouldn't be too much for Chet.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: He got six last game, so the odds have shifted a little bit away from it.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna go for 10 for Chet Homegrin and two made threes from Lou Dore.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe Lou Dorr already hit all the threes he'll hit for the series.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe not.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he's just like that.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they say what?
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: Role players play better where?
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're absolutely right.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, role players do play better at home.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: The NBA playoffs are underway, so don't miss your chance to bet on all the clutch shots and legendary performances with FanDuel, America's number one sports book.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: FanDuel is your best place to find your favorite player props.
• 31:13
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• 31:17
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• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Plus, after the game tips off, you can combine live prop bets with the same game parlay for a chance for a big win.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: Right now, you know I'm looking at round two of the playoffs.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: Those young guards and the Cleveland Cavaliers going against the Pacers defense, it might be kind of nice.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: So if you don't already have FanDuel, it's not too late to jump into the playoff action.
• 31:48
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• 31:54
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• 31:58
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• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Next, let's get into some Ask KB.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: The first one comes from Evan.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: Evan asks, Do you have any advice for people trying to make it in the content world?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: Recently dropped out of nursing school after realizing it wasn't for me and started working full-time at my job.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm trying to make it in the sports world.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I know what I'm talking about, but building an audience is hard.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um hell yeah, it is.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's why I don't take none of this for granted.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, it's so hard to build an audience.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: I I got lucky.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think you have to get lucky, first of all.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think you have to get lucky in the content creating space.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: You can have the greatest content of all time and may not get eyes on it because you weren't lucky, because the TikTok algorithm, the Reels algorithm, or the YouTube algorithm is not hitting your stuff and nobody's able to click on it.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: You can have some dog shit content and have millions and millions of views, right?
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a matter of getting lucky.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought I got lucky in the right place.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: In 2025, becoming a creator is tougher, right?
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: It is just it's it's tougher in the sense that the market is saturated, and I'm not using that in a negative connotation.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: There's just a lot of people trying to make it as a creator because being a creator is an amazing job.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: I've been able to do it for years now.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: So um I will give you the advice I give everybody on this.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure you're using every platform.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: Even if you're not a short form creator, you have to.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: You have to, you have to, you have to drop TikToks, you have to drop shorts, you have to drop Instagram reels.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because even if your conversion rate is, let's say, 10% from TikToks to YouTube, because at the end of the day, you want to be a YouTuber.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say that again.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, as a creator, you want to be a YouTuber or a streamer, especially if you want it to be your job.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: I know a lot of creators on TikTok that have millions of followers and get millions of views that are struggling to pay bills.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be honest with you.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: As a YouTube creator, as a streamer, there's just a higher floor.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: There's a higher floor to your create or your the money you make and also higher ceiling.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the the top guys that are making money on TikTok are doing it through brand deals.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like what the fashion creator, um, wisdom K, I think is his name, he talked about his brand deals.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: He made like$3 million.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: This is his words, not math, so I'm not pocket watching.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: He told us this.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_01: He made like$3 million, but that was on brand deals.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now in the YouTube space, you can make$3 million without brand deals if the audience is right and the views are right.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I would really focus in on being a short form creator too.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: I would really focus in on my titling and my thumbnailing because at the end of the day, if they don't know your name, the thumbnail is the first thing they're gonna they're gonna notice.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I'm lucky enough where I don't have to fucking worry about thumbnails.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: I have videos with zero thumbnails and people click, and I appreciate you for that, by the way.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: But for a new creator, that is so, so very important.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: I would also say, even though it is 2025, uh please, please find people around your same level and network.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you got a following of 400 people and somebody else is making cool content that you like with 400 people as a follow, collaborate.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: Now y'all got 800 fans, and now you collaborate with somebody else, and now it's 1600, and then you do it again, it's 3200, and then that's the most doubling I can do.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um try to be entertaining as well.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's the last thing.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta find what the market is for you.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, in the sports world, there's so many different markets.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: There's a hot take market.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not shitting on no market by the way.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think we all have to coexist.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: There's a hot take market, there's an X's and O's, just full-on basketball, basketball, basketball.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out to the people that do that, because that damn show ain't me.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's the combination of the two where I think a lot of people sit.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's the more fun conversations that you have.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: There's the narrative-driven creators.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_01: You have to find what your lane is and just try to kill it in that lane, man.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: You have to try to kill it in that lane.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: The next one comes from Matt.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: How would this NBA season be remembered?
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: It seems like every year it has to be one defining moment that will always be remembered in NBA history.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: The really easy answer is this is the Luka Dontage's trade year.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: This is the year that Nico Harrison decided to trade away one of the top three players in basketball to shorten his championship window.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like, regardless of what happens in this finals, again, I can say that if the Pacers win, it will be the most improbable champion of all time.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Or if the Thunder win, it's one of the best um individual seasons from a team ever.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that when I look back on 2024, 2025, I'm like, do you remember the year that Luka Donish became a Laker?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like that's what it's gonna end up being.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's no other, there's no other way around it.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: That has to be it.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um because that was the craziest week in NBA history, I think.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_01: That individual night, everybody's trying to figure out if Shams got got hacked uh or or if it was real.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, we're even they've been out of the playoffs for a long time, and even now people are still talking about the trade.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what the hell happened, especially now that they got the lottery, they won the lottery and everything.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's easily it.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would also remember it personally as the year Josh Giddy hit that half court shot.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, it's not a lot of great moments in my Bulls fandom.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: So this regular season game that didn't matter has to be high on my list, dog.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: It has to be high on my list.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um LeBron James defending Luka Doncic.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: Do y'all remember that?
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going back to Luca stuff.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: I you asked, I'm gonna ask.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_01: Luke um LeBron James said when a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king, the palace becomes a circus.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is LeBron.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: LeBron.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_01: I also saw a clip, um, a video of LeBron James golfing in Hawaii.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_01: So them days is coming, y'all.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: LeBron James starting to golf.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like it's like one of the four horsemen.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he's counting down the days, bro.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: He didn't he gonna get caught with that bug, man.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: He'd be like, do I really want to play 82 more regular season games, or do I want to sit on the course for 100 years?
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um also Chris Paul um had some quotes that scared me a little bit when he was talking about his next chapter.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: Basically saying that the last eight years, um he's been away from his family because he's been playing in this different city and this different city, and his family lives in Los Angeles, and he doesn't want that to be the case.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: So it basically just says, I am I want to play for the Clippers or the Lakers, or I'm probably gonna retire.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not ready for that.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not ready for that.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not ready for my boy CP3 to be dumb, man.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: So uh Clippers call his phone, man.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: Call his phone.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be a Laker, damn it.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: Call his phone.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: We don't make him be a Laker 13 years too late.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: Call his phone, man.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, his exact quote is I talk to my family about it.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_01: My son just turned 16, my daughter's 12.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: The past six years, I live without them.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: I've been away from them for the last six years.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's the conversation I want to be a dad, which is insane.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: My my family, my daughter has been away for two days.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: Two days.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm going crazy at home.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: I've been not able to do anything but work because that's the only way I'm not thinking about her.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: So for him to be away for basically six years, now granted he was making a lot of money in that time, but that is, I can't even imagine.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, please, somebody in LA, go sign my boy Chris Paul, so he can A continue to play basketball and be with his family, be a family man, be a family guy.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, last thing we got on the agenda before we get out of here.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: Time tipping of that fire.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like the last person to talk about it, but I ain't had no other place to really talk.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: So he gets fired.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like the day we were doing the podcast, like two hours after we've wrapped up the podcast, which is like terrible timing.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: How about we just start dropping news at 9 a.m.?
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_01: So everybody can talk about it later in the day.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, he gets fired.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I have conflicting feelings about it.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: So if if there's articles that come out that says that basically Tom Thibodeau lost the locker room, then yes, you fired a coach because if they don't want to play for the head coach, then they're not gonna play for the head coach.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: But also, Tom Thibodeau, I've watched Tom Thibodeau's entire career as a head coach.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen him get fired from Chicago, I've seen him get fired from Minnesota.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_01: And but all of those teams that lose him or fire him end up looking like shit.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the Knicks team just has more foundation than that Bulls team has a better foundation than Minnesota did post-Time Thibodeau.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: But he is so good at winning games.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you can say that there's a ceiling to it, right?
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: But he also just let the Knicks to the conference finals too.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: If that's a ceiling, that's a damn good ceiling.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody can't win a championship.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_01: And he never mind, I was gonna bring up the boys again.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I have conflicted feelings about it because yeah, if he's lost the locker room, then you have no other choice but to fire a good head coach.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: I know that a lot of people hated some of the rotations.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I personally went on my videos like the beginning of the fourth quarter, you don't have no Jalen Brunson or Cardinal Towns, the opposing teams on a 6-0 run.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: You still don't sub them in.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: I understand it.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: I understand playing his guys too many minutes in the regular season doesn't allow them to find a way where Delon Wright or Landry Shamit can be effective players come postseason because, damn it, they didn't get the reps.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: I understand a lot of the negative Tom Thibodeau conversation.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_01: He is very far from a perfect coach, but he's pretty fucking good.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: And if you look at all of the coaches that would be available, I don't know how many of them are better coaches than Tom Thibodeau.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_01: They may have a better, better grasp of the locker room or of the media or so on and so forth.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_01: But as far as basketball coach and maximizing your talent and winning a ton of regular season games, there's not many people better in the world than Tom Debido.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: And now we don't know who their next guy is as of right now.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: We don't even have a real idea.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_01: I tweeted right after he got fired.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: What do Knicks fans want?
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: They mentioned the Johnny Bryant guy that's been an assistant coach.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know much about him.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um he was one of the finalists for the Suns job.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_01: They went a different direction.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't have an opinion about the Suns hiring, by the way, because I don't know the guy yet.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um so maybe he's the guy that's just the conversations in the locker room become better.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: It also becomes really, really nasty because Tom Thibodeau and Rick Brunson are like this.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: And Rick Brunson, I don't know if you know that, he's the father of the star player in New York.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: So if Tom Thibodeau's gone, does that mean Rick Brunson is gone?
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because when new coaches come in, new coaches typically want their own coaching staff.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: So if I'm new coach A and you're telling me that I can't bring my own guys, then like that job is less appealing to me.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a weird place to be if you are the Knicks.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_01: The most successful season in 20 plus years.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: And now we're going to the Zoffseas, like, damn, maybe they're gonna make some trades.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_01: Damn, they gotta find a new coach.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_01: Damn, what about this lineup?
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_01: Damn, what about that lineup?
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's just different.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's different.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_01: Usually you make the conference finals for the first time in a long time, it's like, hell yeah, man.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_01: Great season.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_01: Tip that cap off.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: This team is like, I don't know.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_01: The conversations around the Knicks are as if they lost in the first round.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think they had a net rating of zero, though, in the postseason.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_01: They just found a way.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they overachieved.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they overachieved.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a net rating of zero and you get to the conference finals, maybe you overachieved.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's a Tom Thibodeau thing.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's a Jalen Brunson thing.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's a OG Adanobi thing.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's a Mikkel Bridges thing.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: But that job is not an easy one, especially if Rick Brunson's gonna be on that coach of staff.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: And that that don't make, I don't want to make it seem like he's a cancer or anything, but it becomes really difficult.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_01: There's been reports about like, you know, Knicks players being in on the reason why Tom Thibodeau gets fired.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: But he's no longer the coach of the New York Knicks, and he's got three years,$30 million still guaranteed to him.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_01: So like I don't know if Tom Thibodeau's gonna be in the conversations for any other coaching job, but I I think he should just be chilling.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: Go to the crib, relax for a little bit.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: If I was guaranteed to make$30 million without doing no work, guess what I'm not doing?
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_01: No fucking work.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_01: Tom Thibodeau do that too, man.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_01: You've been in the league for too damn long.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: Take a day off, take a year off, take a two years off, do some broadcasts.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: I want to hear that raspy ass voice saying ice on the broadcast or something along those lines.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: Pace, pace.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's what uh Jeff Teague was saying.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think that's where we wrap up today.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: Next time we talk to each other, whoo, I want to recommend you go check out the Kenny for Real channel.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_01: We are dropping nightly recaps of these games.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I guess it's not nightly because the games are nightly, but um post-game recaps of these.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, I think the next time we talk will be after game number three.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_01: But if you want to hear my opinions about game number two, that is the place to be.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: We also have numbers on the board, which I'll give opinions over there as well.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_01: I will, since we have three days between games, go rewatch the second half of this game to figure out if there's anything I missed.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: But as of today, I'm excited.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget to go to voxmedia.comslash survey so we can get your feedback so we can better the show.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_01: And next year, I'm gonna give y'all an A podcast.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate y'all.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: See you next time.