Latest / Front Runner Podcast Collective / WCF's Preview - Ant vs. Algorithm: Why Thunder–Wolves Is the NBA’s Real Final

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WCF's Preview - Ant vs. Algorithm: Why Thunder–Wolves Is the NBA’s Real Final · Front Runner Podcast Collective

0:14
Vince Carter: it's tuesday, you know what time it is.
0:16
Vince Carter: Front runner podcast collective is back on the air.
0:20
Vince Carter: I am your humble host, vince, and on today's show it's real simple, folks.
0:26
Vince Carter: We're here four teams, two series western conference, eastern conference finals.
0:33
Vince Carter: The winner of these two series will meet in the NBA finals.
0:38
Vince Carter: If you are wondering why I am so hyped about this, two reasons.
0:44
Vince Carter: This ain't about narratives, folks.
0:47
Vince Carter: This ain't about rigged lottery balls.
0:51
Vince Carter: This is not about west coast or east coast bias or anything like that.
0:57
Vince Carter: We got a bunch of teams from the heartland of america.
1:02
Vince Carter: The great folks of the Oklahoma City area, rise up today, thunder up, because today is your day.
1:12
Vince Carter: You host game one of the Western Conference finals.
1:18
Vince Carter: People say it is a stepping stone to the NBA Finals.
1:23
Vince Carter: Not so quick.
1:24
Vince Carter: Not so quick Because Anthony Edwards is on the other line and he has a message for the Thunder.
1:33
Vince Carter: I have slayed dragons, I have slayed White Walkers and I will slay the Oklahoma City Thunder, no doubt.
1:45
Vince Carter: So we will be previewing both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals and also we will give you our picks for who is going to take these series.
2:01
Vince Carter: I am so glad that the audience has joined us today.
2:04
Vince Carter: I am pumped.
2:09
Vince Carter: I am ready to go.
2:09
Vince Carter: It has been a phenomenal weekend of basketball, conversation and just ultimately getting to this place where we can have this podcast.
2:19
Vince Carter: So, without further ado, I would like to say, first and foremost, thank you to the audience.
2:28
Vince Carter: Numbers are bonkers.
2:31
Vince Carter: Again, I would like to thank the fine, fine folks of Florence, italy, of all places.
2:43
Vince Carter: Florence, italy of all places, dusseldorf, germany, of all places, and I hope I'm saying this right, I really do.
2:51
Vince Carter: I have practiced this, but I'm also American and we butcher everybody's language, so I'm going to apologize before I say this, but shout out.
3:06
Vince Carter: So I'm going to apologize Before I say this, but Shout out To Is it Barcelona, españa?
3:16
Vince Carter: The folks from Spain have Shown up In a big way.
3:23
Vince Carter: Listen, we're global.
3:26
Vince Carter: It's cool.
3:27
Vince Carter: I'm digging it.
3:30
Vince Carter: Soraya is digging it.
3:31
Vince Carter: She appreciates you.
3:32
Vince Carter: She appreciates you.
3:35
Vince Carter: She doesn't get on the pod, but, trust me, we will have notes from her All throughout this podcast.
3:40
Vince Carter: She will be hitting us up With a bunch of her thoughts and also maybe some key stats to fill in the blanks of what we're looking at here today.
3:51
Vince Carter: This preview is just Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals.
3:56
Vince Carter: We have no draft, we have no news, we have nothing else.
4:00
Vince Carter: That will be feel good.
4:01
Vince Carter: Friday If you're looking for draft stuff, go back last Friday A whole bunch of draft stuff.
4:09
Vince Carter: But on today's podcast we got to break these four teams down.
4:13
Vince Carter: They deserve our attention, they deserve our praise and we are going to give them All the hype.
4:21
Vince Carter: We are going to lead you into the team's hype videos for the western conference and eastern conference finals with our own basically hype podcast for them.
4:34
Vince Carter: Does that make sense?
4:35
Vince Carter: Is everybody on board?
4:38
Vince Carter: Well, damn, let's get.
4:42
Vince Carter: And we will start in the West, because tonight is the first night, the first night of glory.
4:52
Vince Carter: You can blueprint a dynasty.
4:54
Vince Carter: You can stack assets like poker chips, pray to lottery gods and build a team that has 68 wins before anyone knows their names by heart.
5:07
Vince Carter: You can run the best net rating in the modern nba top tier defense, deep rotations, players who switch, stunt, recover, cut like they've been coded by synergy itself.
5:26
Vince Carter: Shout out to synergy we have lost you, my friend, but my journey to come get you back starts today.
5:37
Vince Carter: That's a whole nother podcast.
5:40
Vince Carter: We don't have time for that.
5:41
Vince Carter: We don't have time for that.
5:42
Vince Carter: That's a whole other podcast.
5:43
Vince Carter: We don't have time for that.
5:43
Vince Carter: We don't have time for that.
5:45
Vince Carter: But here's the truth the Thunder have to face.
5:48
Vince Carter: None of this matters when they face the apocalypse.
5:54
Vince Carter: Has a jumper and goes by the name of Anthony Edwards.
5:58
Vince Carter: He did not survive.
6:00
Vince Carter: Lebron and Luka he sent them home, both of them not survive.
6:09
Vince Carter: Lebron and luca he sent them home, both of them two hall of fame processors in one locker room, paired mid-season like some marvel trying to reboot the multiverse.
6:16
Vince Carter: Then he walked through the golden state warriors like a man who's been here before Steph Curry or not, jimmy Butler, draymond Green, championship DNA all gone.
6:31
Vince Carter: He's not looking for respect, he's looking for something to bury.
6:38
Vince Carter: Next, anthony Edwards is on a kill mission.
6:42
Vince Carter: Minnesota didn't just win.
6:45
Vince Carter: They defend structure, they ruin predictions, they erase certainty.
6:53
Vince Carter: And now they're up against the juggernaut, the team that we've all talked about throughout the whole season, the historic net rating, sga as the MVP.
7:05
Vince Carter: What is the limit of this team?
7:09
Vince Carter: They have so many first round picks that, even if they have an injury, it's almost like they can regenerate a limb, just like that.
7:17
Vince Carter: Sga Is a cold geometry and Ant Is a raw combustion.
7:26
Vince Carter: And now these two will meet.
7:30
Vince Carter: This is a series, not celtics, not nicks, not 76ers with their process prayers and second apron blues.
7:41
Vince Carter: This is is where the NBA changes shape.
7:44
Vince Carter: It is Anthony Edwards versus the algorithm.
7:50
Vince Carter: Let's get started.
7:50
Vince Carter: Let's be clear From the jump, oklahoma City did everything right.
7:56
Vince Carter: There's nothing wrong with what they've done.
7:58
Vince Carter: They've run through people, they've beaten the shit out of people All year.
8:05
Vince Carter: They didn't trade for stardom, they curated it.
8:08
Vince Carter: They didn't chase headlines, they built habits.
8:16
Vince Carter: 68 wins, a plus 12.8 net rating, top 6 in pace and efficiency.
8:26
Vince Carter: No one in the west touched that number since the warriors pre kevin durant.
8:32
Vince Carter: It's not just about winning, it's it's about how they're winning the stretch.
8:40
Vince Carter: They stretch you horizontally, they switch on contact, they recover, they memorize your sets.
8:52
Vince Carter: And now we talk about SGA, we talk about Shea Gildress Alexander and for my Oklahoma City Thunder fans who know me, tell your friends it's about to go down today, because this is a celebration, this is a coronation, if you will, of one of the slickest, one of the smoothest, one of the most balletic athletes we have in the sport today.
9:24
Vince Carter: Shea Gilgis Alexander is not just a basketball player, he's Mikhail Baryshnikov with some damn Nike zone.
9:35
Vince Carter: That's what he is.
9:37
Vince Carter: He's a surgeon.
9:39
Vince Carter: He doesn't blow by you, he dissolves you.
9:51
Vince Carter: 57% true shooting percentage leads all playoff guards in paint touches.
9:55
Vince Carter: Highest efficiency in the float game.
9:56
Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying.
9:57
Vince Carter: So the float game stays nice.
9:59
Vince Carter: You know we have a very physical playoff series.
10:02
Vince Carter: All the series has been very physical.
10:05
Vince Carter: Playoff series.
10:06
Vince Carter: All the series have been very physical.
10:08
Vince Carter: We have talked about in ad nauseum how different playoff basketball is to regular season basketball, but that has not affected our guy, sga, shea, gilders, alexander has gone through the playoffs like, oh, these games they mean a little bit more now.
10:28
Vince Carter: Oh, okay, well, that's kind of cool.
10:31
Vince Carter: It's hardened with humility.
10:36
Vince Carter: Luka with less waste, dane without the baggage.
10:41
Vince Carter: And you surround him with the likes of Jalen.
10:45
Vince Carter: Jalen Williams, whose footwork is whispered, hardened, but intention scream Iguodala.
10:55
Vince Carter: Chet Holmgren, who plays like a 2k to click a 2k glitch, rendered in glass and in the wingspan department.
11:06
Vince Carter: This dude is seven foot two with a seven, seven, seven, eight wingspan.
11:14
Vince Carter: This dude is playing on the perimeter like, okay, yeah, the jumper was not as saucy as maybe the first round, but still, the confidence in the jumper, the confidence in the mid-range, to be exact, and also his ability to hit the boards and also be a weak side rim protector, is monumentally important.
11:37
Vince Carter: But I do want to get to the hero.
11:41
Vince Carter: I do want to get to the unsung hero of the oklahoma city thunder, and that is my guy, alex caruso, who guards like he's cosplaying bruce brown in a hoodie.
11:54
Vince Carter: This isn't a rebuild, it's an absolute reveal.
11:59
Vince Carter: This is a mech gala yo, we are coming out party.
12:03
Vince Carter: A met gala yo, we are coming out party.
12:12
Vince Carter: And we about to show that thing.
12:14
Vince Carter: We about to show that thing.
12:18
Vince Carter: But here's the catch for all the efficiency, they just barely escaped the second round because Jokic is a bad, bad man.
12:24
Vince Carter: Nikola Jokic is the greatest as far as right now.
12:32
Vince Carter: This dude is the baddest basketball player on the face of the planet.
12:36
Vince Carter: What he was able to do, how he was able to pull that team to a game seven gives.
12:45
Vince Carter: We got to give him some respect on this.
12:48
Vince Carter: Yes, shea Gildas Alexander is no doubt the NBA MVP, but Jokic didn't have MPJ really because he had one shoulder.
13:02
Vince Carter: Gordon's leg was cooked because he had a hamstring gray too.
13:07
Vince Carter: And the nuggets bench well, it's as shallow as a kiddie pool and still game seven happened.
13:17
Vince Carter: Why is that?
13:19
Vince Carter: We talked about it on the last part, but let's get into it now.
13:27
Vince Carter: We have been saying all through the postseason the oklahoma city thunder are young and people didn't want to hear it.
13:36
Vince Carter: They didn't want to hear all that.
13:38
Vince Carter: They were like you are hating on our team.
13:41
Vince Carter: No, playoffs are hard, bro.
13:44
Vince Carter: Gotta understand it's repetition.
13:47
Vince Carter: They know your traits, they know your, they know your tendencies.
13:51
Vince Carter: They know which way you like to go.
13:53
Vince Carter: They know your counters.
13:55
Vince Carter: Do you have counters to the counter?
13:57
Vince Carter: And guess what, through the crucible of the playoffs so far this year, oklahoma City has passed every test.
14:08
Vince Carter: Now they go up against Minnesota and Anthony Edwards.
14:15
Vince Carter: It's not numbers, it's a case study.
14:19
Vince Carter: He is a problem in the playoffs.
14:25
Vince Carter: Anthony Edwards, is that equation that you found out in math class?
14:32
Vince Carter: Whatever you want to talk about, if you want to talk about statistics, if you want to talk about trig or whatever, remember when we finally got a problem that was like, not solvable.
14:42
Vince Carter: I think it also happened in algebra too.
14:44
Vince Carter: We got a problem that wasn't solvable, was the answer.
14:48
Vince Carter: It wasn't solvable.
14:49
Vince Carter: Guess what people finding out that anthony edwards is is hard to solve.
14:57
Vince Carter: He's taking out names again, like he's on a revenge tour from the future lebron lu, luka Steph, jimmy, dre Not when they were past their prime.
15:11
Vince Carter: Well, we can talk about Luka, I mean not Luka.
15:15
Vince Carter: We can talk about LeBron, but LeBron scoring 25 every game.
15:20
Vince Carter: So I don't know he got like extended prime Every game.
15:22
Vince Carter: So I don't know he got like extended prime In every series.
15:26
Vince Carter: The Timberwolves look less Like a, you know, like you can sit here and talk about they were a lower seed All you want.
15:36
Vince Carter: There was like one game separating Like the third seed From the seventh seed.
15:43
Vince Carter: You know these teams won close to 50 games or 50 games or whatever the case may be.
15:49
Vince Carter: These are good teams and with every series they look more and more confident.
15:58
Vince Carter: Okc is perfect on paper, but Ant is just one of those forces of nature that writes his own script.
16:11
Vince Carter: This is what happens when the best system meets the loudest story.
16:16
Vince Carter: Let's get into the timberwolves for a second.
16:21
Vince Carter: This isn't A Cinderella run.
16:26
Vince Carter: Remember, anthony Edwards Was staring down Luka In a Western Conference Finals last year, right, and then Luka went to the finals.
16:43
Vince Carter: It's the same thing.
16:45
Vince Carter: The first victim was the Los Angeles Lakers.
16:47
Vince Carter: You went, I went into it thinking, well, anthony, maybe is he ready, he's 23.
16:55
Vince Carter: We're asking a lot of a 23-year-old.
16:58
Vince Carter: Oh no, anthony Edwards was definitely up for that test.
17:02
Vince Carter: A team with LeBron James and Luka Doncic, you know, and one of the boldest mid-season acquisitions that we've ever seen.
17:12
Vince Carter: The wildest trade deadline coup in league history.
17:15
Vince Carter: It didn't matter.
17:17
Vince Carter: Two of the smartest basketball minds ever assembled in the same film room and Ant walked in like cool story, now watch me cook you.
17:29
Vince Carter: Cool story, bro, nice, nice, uh, nice, uh.
17:36
Vince Carter: Challenge old man, but I'm still gonna hit this 27 footer right in your face and then I'm gonna laugh at you.
17:44
Vince Carter: Lebron at 40 is still a playoff orchestrator.
17:48
Vince Carter: Luca, who obviously has come over and has joined the lake show.
17:53
Vince Carter: It's still lethal in ball screens and deep reads, but without a big, without a log threat that could really challenge the Timberwolves.
18:06
Vince Carter: This was ABC.
18:06
Vince Carter: This was always going to be closing and those doors closed pretty easily.
18:14
Vince Carter: Instead, they broke the Lakers.
18:17
Vince Carter: Edwards made them look slow.
18:20
Vince Carter: He turned defense defensive coverages into opportunities.
18:25
Vince Carter: He matched lucas usage with smarter cuts.
18:29
Vince Carter: He beat lebron with physicality and energy.
18:35
Vince Carter: We will be talking about the others down the road, but we got to give our love to ant edwards right now and the wolves closed out this series.
18:44
Vince Carter: There was no celebration at all.
18:48
Vince Carter: There was no like.
18:49
Vince Carter: We in the locker room.
18:50
Vince Carter: We feel good.
18:51
Vince Carter: We're like, we're so happy to get to the next round.
18:53
Vince Carter: Now on to the next one.
18:56
Vince Carter: This was very bella, check-in in the way that aunt in the in the minnesota timberwolves moved after that series, walking back to the tunnel like man checking off, checking off a name.
19:09
Vince Carter: Boom, we out next up golden state.
19:11
Vince Carter: Let's see what's up.
19:12
Vince Carter: And this time the names were even heavier steph curry changed the game.
19:20
Vince Carter: Greatest shooter of all time.
19:22
Vince Carter: Jimmy butler, self-made superstar also, he has been kind of like the boogeyman of the east for literally about five years now, pretty much since the 2020 started.
19:37
Vince Carter: He was a deadline mercenary move.
19:40
Vince Carter: They picked him up.
19:41
Vince Carter: A lot of people didn't know if it was going to work out because of kind of how he ended everything in miami.
19:47
Vince Carter: But jimmy butler was a revelation in the bay and they are happy to have him.
19:56
Vince Carter: The warriors tried to reboot one more time and ant kicked, kicked in their operating system.
20:03
Vince Carter: And now let's not duck the context steph was injured 13 minutes into game.
20:11
Vince Carter: One that matters, okay, that matters.
20:14
Vince Carter: I'm not gonna sit here and tell you the ant ripped through a whole, a complete golden state warriors team, because that would be fraudulent of me, to your disservice as the listener of this podcast, and we appreciate you so dearly.
20:29
Vince Carter: Jimmy disappeared, dre got exposed and Edwards he leveled up, not with volume but with vision In game 5.
20:45
Vince Carter: 22 points, fine, but 12 assists.
20:49
Vince Carter: He bent the game without needing to dominate it.
20:53
Vince Carter: He hit 5 threes, dropped dimes on the move, he blocked 3 shots just to flex his 2-way credentials.
21:02
Vince Carter: Like yo, I do this on both ends, so you know I get into all the vip parties.
21:10
Vince Carter: I'm kind of a big deal.
21:12
Vince Carter: Let's be honest.
21:14
Vince Carter: Nobody believed in minnesota back in january nobody.
21:18
Vince Carter: I'm sure the hell didn't.
21:20
Vince Carter: They were 22 and 21.
21:22
Vince Carter: I repeat, in january.
21:25
Vince Carter: The minnesota timberwolves were 22 and 21.
21:30
Vince Carter: Randall looked like a square, peg connelly was too old, devon chenzo was hurt and we kept on talking about man this, carl anthony towns trade does not go well.
21:45
Vince Carter: This looks like a gamble from the front office on life support.
21:51
Vince Carter: But anthony edwards has something in his tool kit that we didn't know about or we were starting to know about.
22:00
Vince Carter: Let me take that back.
22:01
Vince Carter: We were starting to know about it because we have like two, almost three months of of evidence.
22:08
Vince Carter: We noticed that anthony edwards was taking a lot more threes and we were worried because we were worried about oh, is he being less aggressive now?
22:17
Vince Carter: What?
22:18
Vince Carter: What is this?
22:18
Vince Carter: No, no, no, no.
22:21
Vince Carter: He turned the three-point shot into a freaking weapon.
22:25
Vince Carter: Do you know that he led all of the nba in total three-pointers made anthony edwards, 23 year old?
22:38
Vince Carter: Anthony edwards, not steph curry.
22:40
Vince Carter: Who else is another guy who shoots a lot of threes?
22:44
Vince Carter: Not Jason Tatum.
22:45
Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
22:48
Vince Carter: Tyler Herro shoots a lot of threes, not him.
22:50
Vince Carter: No, no, no.
22:51
Vince Carter: Who's some of them itty bitty guys that shoot a lot of threes that I'm not remembering?
22:57
Vince Carter: Oh, jordan Poole shoots a lot of threes Nope, not him.
23:00
Vince Carter: Mm-mm.
23:02
Vince Carter: Zach Levine no, no, no, it was Anthony Edwards.
23:09
Vince Carter: Anthony Edwards led the NBA in three-point shooting.
23:14
Vince Carter: I want to talk about how we always talk about development.
23:19
Vince Carter: We talk about how, you know people develop and you know we're always concerned with, like the guys, guys who are the rookies, and then you get through their first year, they get into the second year and then they get into the third year and then we kind of we kind of lose the development aspect of what goes on.
23:37
Vince Carter: But again, the great ones, they see something in their game and they go.
23:44
Vince Carter: You know what?
23:44
Vince Carter: I would like to fix that?
23:46
Vince Carter: I would like to be better at this, but when they get better at something it's such an impactful uh, part of their arsenal, then this segment isn't about trade grades or cap sheets.
24:03
Vince Carter: It's about what happens when A athlete Just gets tired and says I got to work harder.
24:13
Vince Carter: You understand that.
24:15
Vince Carter: Anthony Edwards went to the Paris Olympic Games.
24:19
Vince Carter: He looked at Kevin Durant, he looked at LeBron James and he looked at Steph Curry and said these guys are great.
24:28
Vince Carter: What do they have that I don't have?
24:32
Vince Carter: What's the secret to their success?
24:37
Vince Carter: He looks like I got to go to work.
24:41
Vince Carter: These guys are working harder than I am.
24:43
Vince Carter: I cannot, I can't have this.
24:45
Vince Carter: This will not stand.
24:50
Vince Carter: He got defiant.
24:52
Vince Carter: Then the Wolves made the trade.
24:53
Vince Carter: They turned Julius Randle Into a playoff menace.
25:00
Vince Carter: We'll talk about him a little bit later.
25:03
Vince Carter: Mike Conley didn't seem so old and jayden mcdaniels he was turned into a soul thief on defense.
25:11
Vince Carter: And then there's anthony edwards, who is just the complete belief system.
25:17
Vince Carter: So, yeah, the lakers are gone.
25:19
Vince Carter: Yeah, the warriors are gone, and espn and adam silver are probably really pissed off about that.
25:27
Vince Carter: I don't care, I'm a laker fan and I don't care.
25:33
Vince Carter: Anthony edwards is legit and if he's gonna rip through people like the hulk, beating up Loki yo and telling him that he is a puny god, basically I got no problem with this.
25:49
Vince Carter: Now let's talk about SGA and Ant, and then we'll get to the rest of the squads.
25:58
Vince Carter: Okay, I understand that you guys want to get to that, but we got to talk about the big time stars, right?
26:05
Vince Carter: This is Bradad pitt and george clooney together.
26:08
Vince Carter: This is um chris evans and like tom cruise doing something.
26:15
Vince Carter: What's the new cat?
26:17
Vince Carter: I know I'm gonna miss one.
26:18
Vince Carter: Uh oh hey, chris pratt is part of that situation.
26:23
Vince Carter: Benedict Cumberbatch is part of that situation.
26:27
Vince Carter: We talking about stars, baby Leo DiCaprio level Shay doesn't just manipulate games, he dictates time itself.
26:38
Vince Carter: He doesn't force anything, he lulls, he paces, he processes.
26:44
Vince Carter: His drives aren't violent, they're surgical.
26:50
Vince Carter: Shea leads all remaining playoff guards in paint touches.
26:54
Vince Carter: He's converting floaters at a higher clip than anyone with a 25 usage rate, and he does it with an economy of movement that feels inevitable.
27:09
Vince Carter: It's like watching a great editor at work cut here, pause there, fake here.
27:16
Vince Carter: Suddenly your health defender is a frame too late.
27:21
Vince Carter: Those who edit know the real ones know I do my editing.
27:28
Vince Carter: I'm trying to tell you I'm a jack of all trades.
27:32
Vince Carter: Around here, the thunder are an orchestra and shea.
27:40
Vince Carter: And Shea is the conductor.
27:43
Vince Carter: He plays the same speed when he's up 12 or down 6.
27:48
Vince Carter: And now he's walking into the emotional matchup of his career Again against a man who brings an earthquake every time.
27:59
Vince Carter: He smiles, and that would be one Anthony Edwards.
28:10
Vince Carter: Ant isn't a player, he's a feeling.
28:11
Vince Carter: The kid plays like the playoff gods owe him something.
28:13
Vince Carter: He talks all.
28:15
Vince Carter: He talks a lot of trash and he's already seen the last episode.
28:21
Vince Carter: He moves like gravity doesn't apply to him when he's downhill.
28:27
Vince Carter: This kid is bouncy.
28:29
Vince Carter: Shout out to our guy javon evans, of nxt wwe fame, when he says that boy is bouncy.
28:38
Vince Carter: We can also apply that to one, anthony Edwards, as well.
28:44
Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
28:46
Vince Carter: That boy is bouncy.
28:47
Vince Carter: Just like Javon Evans Shouts out to our guy I love wrestling.
28:54
Vince Carter: Wrestling is cool.
28:58
Vince Carter: He just needed LeBron Lucas, steph Jimmy and Dre.
29:02
Vince Carter: He just ended them, not through attrition but through brute force.
29:09
Vince Carter: He averaged 27 a game, 56% true shooting percentage.
29:17
Vince Carter: He's doing it while defending the best perimeter scorer every night.
29:24
Vince Carter: By the way, he challenged lebron james in that first round.
29:30
Vince Carter: He was like I will, oh you want to go off.
29:32
Vince Carter: We're gonna cut your water off right now.
29:34
Vince Carter: Home boy.
29:35
Vince Carter: He gets 39 on self-created threes, top five drag screen scoring and when it's late he's hunting.
29:46
Vince Carter: This isn't a star playing well, this is a mythology building being written In real time.
29:54
Vince Carter: Because here's the thing, if Ant gets past SGA and he gets to the finals, this is one of the most impressive runs we've ever seen.
30:09
Vince Carter: And we're going to start saying the name that we started to invoke last year again because and here's the thing we are creatures of habit and we we want to assimilate things right.
30:23
Vince Carter: So when we see something, we go that's that, that's that, that's that right.
30:29
Vince Carter: The name that you heard last year and it was early, it was too early was michael jordan.
30:37
Vince Carter: Now, I don't throw in that, I don't throw around that name lightly, and I'm not saying that Anthony Edwards is anything Like Michael Jordan, because, let's be honest, anthony Edwards is 23.
30:52
Vince Carter: With a beautiful jump shot, jordan did not have a beautiful jump shot at 23.
31:00
Vince Carter: Oh no, that came at 27.
31:04
Vince Carter: Think about that.
31:11
Vince Carter: We're talking about an all-time great right.
31:12
Vince Carter: Like LeBron and and Jordan are battling for the GOAT debate at this point, anthony Edwards is 23.
31:18
Vince Carter: He's just as bouncy as Michael Jordan, but his, his outside shot, is way more weaponized than Jordan could ever realize until basically his literally last year of being 20.
31:34
Vince Carter: This isn't a star playing well.
31:36
Vince Carter: This is a tactical fork in the road for the OKC Thunder.
31:41
Vince Carter: For OK to win, shay needs to slow the game.
31:46
Vince Carter: Do not allow Anthony Edwards to feel comfortable.
31:52
Vince Carter: Get Minnesota rotating force go bear and read into decisions, not reactions.
32:00
Vince Carter: If he's playing, pick your poison On delay screens and pocket passes.
32:07
Vince Carter: Yes, sir, okc's model holds.
32:10
Vince Carter: For Minnesota to win, they gotta muck it up.
32:32
Vince Carter: No-transcript, this idea home.
32:35
Vince Carter: Watch Shea Gildress, alexander, turn down the vault.
32:41
Vince Carter: Listen, I love Mike Breen, I love whoever is it who is doing it this year?
32:46
Vince Carter: It's ESPN, right.
32:47
Vince Carter: So, mike Breen, I love Mike Breen.
32:50
Vince Carter: He's a, he's a great, great commentator.
32:56
Vince Carter: But turn down the volume and then put on either some classical music, put on some jazz, some, like you know, some jazz fusion, maybe, if you, if you feel a little tropical, put on some calypso, or put on some, um, some uh, afrocentric, uh, beats.
33:19
Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying.
33:21
Vince Carter: And then watch shea gilgis alexander move.
33:25
Vince Carter: He moves differently.
33:29
Vince Carter: Um, and what I want to bring up now, my wrestling fans will know this there is a uh, there's a tag team that just got called up from NXT and it's uh, nathan Frazier and Axiom.
33:43
Vince Carter: They called them Fraxium.
33:45
Vince Carter: Now, uh, axiom is actually a kid.
33:50
Vince Carter: Now, if you know the Indies, like I know the Indies a kid is.
33:55
Vince Carter: You know he's dope, he's dope.
33:57
Vince Carter: But Axiom and Nathan Frazier have been brought up to the SmackDown audience.
34:04
Vince Carter: But if you look at them when they come out they do some sort of like slow motion thing but kind of speed them up where it looks like they're blurring that movement, that flow movement is kind of what shea does and I'm so, I'm so, so sorry that it's a roundabout way to get there.
34:25
Vince Carter: So I wish I was a little more efficient with my words, but I had to explain it that way because I was trying to play it out in my dome piece to give it to you.
34:34
Vince Carter: So if you've ever seen like either, like like reeds flowing in the wind, just you know, gliding in the wind or whatever, but they feel like they're in control of what's going on.
34:50
Vince Carter: That's what Shea, gildress, alexander look like.
34:53
Vince Carter: Now here's stats for you.
34:58
Vince Carter: Shea is shooting 71 at the rim in the postseason.
35:03
Vince Carter: I'm gonna say that again.
35:07
Vince Carter: And actually, before I say that again, shout out to uh, I won't, you know, I can't give them the love, can't give them love.
35:12
Vince Carter: You know who.
35:13
Vince Carter: You know who this is.
35:14
Vince Carter: You see the cup.
35:14
Vince Carter: If you see the cup, you know what this is is you see the cup?
35:24
Vince Carter: If you see the cup, you know what this is.
35:26
Vince Carter: Coffee is amazing and I love it so much.
35:27
Vince Carter: Now, shea gilchrist alexander again shooting 71 at the rim in the postseason.
35:31
Vince Carter: That's stupid, that is absolutely obscene and it's actually probably very unmoral for what is happening in the NBA right now.
35:43
Vince Carter: And Edwards has generated more gravity assists, passes after drawing two defenders than anyone but Jalen Brunson in the playoffs.
35:55
Vince Carter: One, one star punishes bad angles, the other creates them with a look and a jab.
36:05
Vince Carter: Step Now, because of what really is not just who gets to the finals, but we, who comes the next face of the league's next era.
36:24
Vince Carter: Now, I have long said that victor, win by yama of the san antonio spurs is next.
36:33
Vince Carter: But these two, these two, these two guys Shea Gilgis Alexander and Anthony Edwards have a chance to rewrite history.
36:47
Vince Carter: They can rewrite the history books right now Because, as we have plainly laid out, oklahoma City, their cupboards are far from there.
37:01
Vince Carter: This isn't one of those things where, like bill simmons was talking about the celtics over the weekend or, yeah, over the weekend he was talking about how they have to kind of tear it down.
37:12
Vince Carter: You know, because of the tatum injury, because of what has gone on.
37:16
Vince Carter: They have to tear it down.
37:17
Vince Carter: They're not.
37:18
Vince Carter: It's not economically feasible for them to keep everybody.
37:21
Vince Carter: They're already up in the second apron.
37:24
Vince Carter: They need to go ahead and start paring down payroll because they're not going to be able to compete this year, coming up due to the ruptured achilles of jason tatum.
37:34
Vince Carter: Oklahoma city does not have that damn problem.
37:38
Vince Carter: You know why?
37:39
Vince Carter: Because they still are sitting on 13 first round future picks.
37:45
Vince Carter: Also, they are sitting on another 26 second round picks, bro.
37:52
Vince Carter: These dudes got 39 picks in the next six years.
37:56
Vince Carter: Still, still, sam Cresty.
38:05
Vince Carter: We are not worthy, my guy.
38:06
Vince Carter: We are not worthy of you, and I don't know what they're paying you in Oklahoma City.
38:11
Vince Carter: But this show is not enough and I'm going to cape up for Sam Cresty right now.
38:18
Vince Carter: I'm not your agent, my guy, but I would like to be.
38:25
Vince Carter: And if I can't be your agent, at least let me be your hype man for a second.
38:29
Vince Carter: Okay, and oklahoma city thunder fans.
38:32
Vince Carter: I told you this is a celebration of your team.
38:37
Vince Carter: I have been one of the biggest supporters of your squad since last year.
38:45
Vince Carter: I was the one telling you hey, you have a big three, don't worry, you're good.
38:50
Vince Carter: Chet hungren is a guy.
38:52
Vince Carter: Jalen williams is a guy, by the way.
38:55
Vince Carter: Way, we even said that our guy, cason Wallace Is a dude and, by the way, has he shown up during the playoffs?
39:05
Vince Carter: He's 20 years old, by the way.
39:08
Vince Carter: He's 20.
39:09
Vince Carter: 20.
39:10
Vince Carter: Doing his thing, sam Cresty Finds him, he Identifies, finds him and and go gets them.
39:21
Vince Carter: That's what he does now.
39:24
Vince Carter: Are there going to be some stinkers in that bunch?
39:27
Vince Carter: 100%, because the draft is a process of human beings.
39:31
Vince Carter: Human beings are flawed.
39:33
Vince Carter: We might have the best intentions, we might feel like we have a lot of intel on this person, but you know what we don't have, what we cannot calculate, what we cannot analyze.
39:47
Vince Carter: Yet we can't analyze want, we can't analyze the habits and we can't analyze.
39:58
Vince Carter: To really be great, you have to be born.
40:02
Vince Carter: I think a lot of people need to start really understanding this.
40:07
Vince Carter: Yes, jordan was brilliant and whatever, but I'm gonna tell you what he did during the day probably wasn't too glamorous.
40:18
Vince Carter: Kobe Bryant RIP our guy Laker, legend His habits as far as what he was doing to get these results.
40:35
Vince Carter: I'm sure to the layman out there, absolutely boring, like why do I?
40:42
Vince Carter: This is tedious, I have to do all this to be great.
40:47
Vince Carter: Can I just go out and just dunk on somebody and then you know, fame hits me.
40:50
Vince Carter: Yeah, that's famous.
40:54
Vince Carter: We're talking about great and Sam Presti is great.
41:01
Vince Carter: He, sam Presti Is great, he is great at what he does, he's constructed this team and he told you, he told you last playoffs, when everybody, when Ron, was burning down, he was like we were going into this playoffs, we were going to assess what we needed and playoff run was going to give us a lot of information and then we will make the necessary moves.
41:28
Vince Carter: Afterwards.
41:29
Vince Carter: Boom, he goes out last offseason and goes, gets alex caruso, gave up Giddey and not a first round pick in a in a group.
41:41
Vince Carter: This dude got Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey, that's it.
41:46
Vince Carter: Then he got Isaiah Hartenstein free agent signing and he just kept drafting, kept drafting, continues to draft and this team is really, really good.
42:01
Vince Carter: We love Oklahoma City.
42:03
Vince Carter: We love how they've been built, we love just the philosophy of it.
42:07
Vince Carter: Shots out to Mark Dagnall and his coaching and what he's been able to do.
42:12
Vince Carter: We love all of what goes on in Oklahoma City.
42:15
Vince Carter: If this comes down to tempo, the series.
42:21
Vince Carter: If it comes down to tempo spacing and control, okc wins Behind Shea Gilgis, alexander's Orchestration, but If Ant draws doubles, which he will by the second quarter, if McDaniels can stall Jalen and also if he can stop a little bit of the big situation as well, like the Chet Hungren situation.
42:54
Vince Carter: Now, randall will also be tag team on chat, so we will see how that works out.
43:01
Vince Carter: We will then get a answer to this question.
43:05
Vince Carter: Can there be somebody else?
43:06
Vince Carter: But remember, when we're talking about the face of the league, it's just like how highlander there can only be one.
43:14
Vince Carter: So let's get into the matchups, the metrics, metrics and the mayhem of the Western Conference Finals.
43:20
Vince Carter: And, by the way, just so you know, what we're going to do is we're going to have two parts.
43:26
Vince Carter: We're going to have an Eastern Conference Final preview as well.
43:29
Vince Carter: We're going to break it up into two parts, but we're just going to.
43:32
Vince Carter: You know there's going to be some magic that happens in a second.
43:35
Vince Carter: Okay, so Tempo Tug of War.
43:38
Vince Carter: Going to be some magic that happens in a second.
43:43
Vince Carter: Okay so tempo, tug of war.
43:44
Vince Carter: Sga right now he's striving in control aggression, number one in the playoffs.
43:46
Vince Carter: In defensive rating 107.5.
43:48
Vince Carter: Top five in nearly in early offense points.
43:53
Vince Carter: Sga 29.8% assist percentage.
43:59
Vince Carter: But does it all under 100 box plus minus?
44:06
Vince Carter: What makes them.
44:08
Vince Carter: Terrifying is they don't need to run, they can walk you to the gallows, then score before you realize the floor has shrank.
44:19
Vince Carter: Minnesota is the opposite script, 24th in tempo.
44:25
Vince Carter: But when Ant hits the gas it's warp speed and it's just obliteration for the other team.
44:34
Vince Carter: Other team they're eighth in the playoff playoff offensive rating because they're they're a strike early, especially off rebounds and broken coverages.
44:44
Vince Carter: Ant leads all remaining playoff players in points scored within nine seconds of the shot.
44:52
Vince Carter: Clock reset translation.
44:55
Vince Carter: He sees space and then he takes your soul and then you're probably a poster or there's some sort of ig shot of him, like raising up on you on like a 26 foot three point jump shot and then basically saying, man, you ain't got no shot against me tonight, but good luck.
45:17
Vince Carter: Mark dagnall doesn't just coach coverages, he disguises them.
45:24
Vince Carter: Expect this is what you should expect from the oklahoma city thunder.
45:28
Vince Carter: So this is what I will be watching for and hopefully this is what you will be watching for.
45:34
Vince Carter: Veer switching in drag action, sga hands.
45:38
Vince Carter: Veer switching in drag action, sga hands, hands.
45:43
Vince Carter: And off to jaylen williams mid drive.
45:44
Vince Carter: See how um aggressive their top locking is off, staggered sets forces naz or mcdaniels into back cuts they don't want.
45:56
Vince Carter: And then the high drop into contains check bluffs at the level, then recovers late with verticality.
46:07
Vince Carter: These are all things that were seen on the tape in game six versus denver.
46:14
Vince Carter: Okc pre-rotates from the strong side twice in one possession, then funnels the drive baseline into Caruso Chet Wall.
46:23
Vince Carter: It's not just athleticism again, it's orchestration.
46:28
Vince Carter: We will continue to bring up and beat that into the ground.
46:35
Vince Carter: Now what does Minnesota do?
46:36
Vince Carter: Well, chris Finch is a very smart coach and he ain't scripting movement.
46:43
Vince Carter: He's manufacturing two-on-ones baby Watch for a double-drag action.
46:48
Vince Carter: Randall pops, rudy rolls, eagles check has to pick a poison.
46:54
Vince Carter: Good luck, chet.
46:56
Vince Carter: Empty corner delays noggs ghost catches chet in rotation delay.
47:03
Vince Carter: We'll see.
47:05
Vince Carter: Chet is long and he is fluid in motion.
47:10
Vince Carter: Horn twist looks.
47:13
Vince Carter: This is the conley randall um combination that I'm talking about here.
47:15
Vince Carter: So they like to use this where conley randall um combination that I'm talking about here.
47:18
Vince Carter: So they like to use this where conley um can get the ball, then kind of go off like a horn set unit.
47:27
Vince Carter: Randall's usually involved with the initiation and sneaks into the second side slot and then boom, we got.
47:35
Vince Carter: We got lanes, we got people going downhill and now you're in the blender.
47:40
Vince Carter: When Minnesota uses delay sets with Reed as an initiator.
47:46
Vince Carter: They score 1.22 points per possession.
47:52
Vince Carter: That's better than the Warriors peak motion sets in 2017.
47:58
Vince Carter: Why do I say it that way?
48:01
Vince Carter: What do we think of the 2017 Warriors?
48:04
Vince Carter: Exactly, my point, exactly.
48:11
Vince Carter: This is from Soraya OKC is closing five SGA Jalen, caruso, chet, hartenstein.
48:18
Vince Carter: Net rating check this out.
48:20
Vince Carter: Positive 18.4.
48:22
Vince Carter: That's crazy.
48:25
Vince Carter: Defensive rating 97.3.
48:29
Vince Carter: They shutting the water off on people and they can switch one through four and contain with double rim deterrence because you got chet and hartenstein in that also.
48:39
Vince Carter: By the way, caruso, sick, sick post-ups holding yokage was that ridiculous?
48:48
Vince Carter: Was that crazy for you to watch that?
48:51
Vince Carter: Yokage is literally 80 pounds heavier than alex caruso and a Alex Caruso in the playoffs is literally standing.
49:02
Vince Carter: Jokic up now listen, who didn't happen the whole entire time?
49:06
Vince Carter: Because Jokic is great, but somebody six foot four battling against somebody seven feet and having a success is ridiculous.
49:17
Vince Carter: Now, minnesota, on the other hand, aunt Colleen McDaniels, randall Nas now keep in mind, I want to read that again aunt Edwards, mike Connelly, jaden McDaniels, julius Randles and Nas Reed.
49:35
Vince Carter: They have a positive net rating of 15.7.
49:39
Vince Carter: Without Gobert, equals full spacing.
49:44
Vince Carter: Reed plays the flop.
49:46
Vince Carter: The Reed plays as a floating five, dragging Chet into hell.
49:52
Vince Carter: This is the pressure point that we've been talking about.
49:55
Vince Carter: Pick a poison, naz cooks and delay actions.
49:59
Vince Carter: Okc has to bring help.
50:00
Vince Carter: Re-turns, those swings into drive and pop rotation that cracks the shell.
50:06
Vince Carter: These are the things that we're looking for in game one.
50:10
Vince Carter: In game two, we want to see what it looks like when these two teams are bringing their best actions against one another, and how does either one of them defend it.
50:24
Vince Carter: But look for this tonight, look for it.
50:29
Vince Carter: Adjustment watch list that I'm paying close attention to is this Will Chris Finch trap SGA at the level and Forrest Reeds from Chet?
50:44
Vince Carter: Will we make chet a decider?
50:45
Vince Carter: Will okc invert ball screens and pull randall into perimeter defense?
50:49
Vince Carter: Ha ha ha, you hope so.
50:51
Vince Carter: You hope so.
50:52
Vince Carter: Will we see a zone?
50:56
Vince Carter: Look from minnesota, because I'm gonna tell you right now, okc did not look comfortable through the uh denver zone.
51:06
Vince Carter: Okay, also, it slows okc's flow and then ant gets to rest.
51:13
Vince Carter: Hint, yes, 2-3 zone is coming, stunting to the corners For sure.
51:23
Vince Carter: This series won't be won by stars alone.
51:26
Vince Carter: I told you we were getting to that.
51:32
Vince Carter: It's going to be six mini stretches where lineups shrink, matchups flip and rotations have to survive without help.
51:39
Vince Carter: Ok's system is immaculate, but Minnesota's found something dirtier and maybe even scarier.
51:47
Vince Carter: Stats say one thing the film it says this might be closer than what anybody is ready for.
51:55
Vince Carter: We had a couple of questions come in and again I want to shout out people who actually have listened to the podcast and have decided to send us questions.
52:04
Vince Carter: We will go ahead and give you that email again.
52:08
Vince Carter: You go to frontrunnerpc at gmailcom and you send me an email and guess what?
52:18
Vince Carter: If it's a good question, it's going to get read on the air.
52:23
Vince Carter: My guy NBA prophet Hit me up.
52:25
Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying.
52:26
Vince Carter: He hails From the great state, the great state Again Of Minnesota.
52:35
Vince Carter: He said Wolves Got the best wing defender and they got the best.
52:44
Vince Carter: Again of minnesota, he said wolves got the best wing defender and they got the best chaos engine left in the playoff.
52:48
Vince Carter: Stop talking about seeds.
52:49
Vince Carter: They're him coded.
52:51
Vince Carter: Yo, that's that's.
52:52
Vince Carter: That's deep.
52:53
Vince Carter: I like this.
52:54
Vince Carter: Let's talk about this real quick.
52:56
Vince Carter: Um, I am big on jay mcdaniels.
53:02
Vince Carter: I I, I love him.
53:04
Vince Carter: I think he is spectacular when he is able to activate his offense, his defense is really, really good.
53:13
Vince Carter: He fouls a little bit too much sometimes for me, but it's not like fouls, it's not like cat fouls a little bit too much sometimes for me, but it's not like fouls, it's not like cat fouls, it's more like he's super aggressive and sometimes the way the referees will call his game will dictate how aggressive Minnesota can be with their extended defense.
53:35
Vince Carter: So I'm with you on their wings.
53:38
Vince Carter: I'm with you on their wings.
53:39
Vince Carter: I'm with you on the defense.
53:41
Vince Carter: Also, we got to give a shout out to Julius Randle For giving a shit on defense in the playoffs and you can sit there and say, well, shouldn't he give a shit on defense In the playoffs?
53:54
Vince Carter: These dudes make a lot of money, bro, and the one thing they don't like doing is getting embarrassed.
54:00
Vince Carter: And I don't care where we are in the year.
54:03
Vince Carter: We can be in literally the the final days.
54:08
Vince Carter: Literally the four horsemen could have come, the horns could have sounded.
54:14
Vince Carter: You know I'm saying like the apocalypse is, is is on.
54:19
Vince Carter: And if julius randall don't want to make a rotation because he feels like he is not gonna have the right angle and he doesn't want to get dunked on or look stupid, a lot of dudes give up in that situation.
54:32
Vince Carter: But we ain't seeing it right now.
54:35
Vince Carter: There's a lot, lot of effort being laid out right now.
54:43
Vince Carter: This has come from my guy Trade Machine Fan.
54:46
Vince Carter: Sga's got Gobert in hell by game two.
54:48
Vince Carter: That drop coverage don't move me, ha ha.
54:56
Vince Carter: Spoken like someone who never rotated off chat pick and and flowing over verticality.
55:02
Vince Carter: Gobert is gonna need help, but that man still is a wall with elbows.
55:06
Vince Carter: That's why my girl, saraya she had that because she loved this question, because she was like this dude in oklahoma city is telling us that goberic's trash and she did not like that.
55:21
Vince Carter: She didn't.
55:21
Vince Carter: And here's the thing.
55:22
Vince Carter: Here's the thing that we need to talk about with Soraya.
55:26
Vince Carter: There's some French Canadian in her.
55:30
Vince Carter: Yeah, yeah, yes, sir, not saying that rudy is her favorite player, I'm just saying I've seen a canadian's jersey, I've seen a canadian's jersey and I wonder if there is a little, a little nod, a little lean to our, to our friends who brought us the Lady Liberty that sits at Ellis Island.
56:02
Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
56:04
Vince Carter: The Statue of Liberty.
56:05
Vince Carter: Viva la France, viva la Revolution, viva la.
56:13
Vince Carter: The people have spoken.
56:19
Vince Carter: Cat Life.
56:20
Vince Carter: Can we admit that trading cat was actually a goat level vision?
56:26
Vince Carter: Randall about to average 25, 7, and 5.
56:32
Vince Carter: And still be mad about something?
56:34
Vince Carter: Now, I don't know about the goat level vision.
56:41
Vince Carter: That's crazy.
56:42
Vince Carter: But we're not calling it wrong.
56:47
Vince Carter: Randall's playoff play and his aggression has found a use.
56:53
Vince Carter: Clearing out Draymond, switching onto wings and keeping ant clean late is being monumental his play.
57:03
Vince Carter: We have been waiting for the pouting julius randall.
57:07
Vince Carter: This is what we have seen over his tenure in the nba.
57:11
Vince Carter: When we got to the postseason, nuh-uh, not this year.
57:16
Vince Carter: Not gonna happen, not gonna happen.
57:20
Vince Carter: Haha.
57:24
Vince Carter: Chill with stats.
57:24
Vince Carter: I love this one.
57:25
Vince Carter: Y'all stat nerds picking OKC by net rating, like Ant ain't knocking off half the Team USA alumni list.
57:34
Vince Carter: Good call, good call.
57:42
Vince Carter: I love this.
57:43
Vince Carter: Tell them net rating.
57:43
Vince Carter: Don't block shots or hit pull-ups off drags.
57:46
Vince Carter: You know, off of spain.
57:47
Vince Carter: Pick and rolls.
57:48
Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
57:49
Vince Carter: The thunder are a system and is a system breaker is a system breaker.
57:56
Vince Carter: You know what I'm saying?
57:57
Vince Carter: That's Soraya, see Ant's at that one.
58:01
Vince Carter: Sga is nice.
58:02
Vince Carter: When Ant is playing like the NBA is a Netflix doc about him.
58:06
Vince Carter: Dude got the last dance edit mid-series.
58:10
Vince Carter: This might be the truest thing I've ever heard from somebody.
58:15
Vince Carter: Ant is kind of touching some Jordan stuff for me.
58:20
Vince Carter: You know he's writing mythology with a side of memes.
58:25
Vince Carter: I'm trying to tell you Alright, we loved All Of the numbers.
58:35
Vince Carter: We love All of the numbers, we love all of the structure.
58:39
Vince Carter: But playoff basketball it's personal and y'all clearly came with receipts, delusion and occasional w takes.
58:52
Vince Carter: Keep them coming.
58:54
Vince Carter: I'm telling you right now hit us up on x.
58:58
Vince Carter: It's at front runner pc.
59:00
Vince Carter: It's also the serea.
59:02
Vince Carter: Our producer is at rea.
59:05
Vince Carter: Underscore fudge frpc.
59:07
Vince Carter: If you got something that you want and it's good enough, it will make the pod just like this.
59:15
Vince Carter: We got emails, we got things that came to us and it comes in just like this.
59:21
Vince Carter: It's pretty organic.
59:23
Vince Carter: We love to banter back and forth with our audience.
59:27
Vince Carter: I appreciate this because this is really our first like level of like people like checking in on us and we get to respond to the people.
59:39
Vince Carter: So shots out to all people who brought questions.
59:43
Vince Carter: Keep them coming.
59:45
Vince Carter: If they're good, you know they gonna hit the air and you're gonna get love and we're gonna say yo shots out to you, my guy or my girl.
59:54
Vince Carter: So again, go to the email frontrunnerpc at gmailcom or on twitter, right either way, and let us know and then we will go ahead.
1:00:13
Vince Carter: And if it's good, we got a friday pod right.
1:00:17
Vince Carter: Something will make the friday pod guaranteed role player roulette.
1:00:21
Vince Carter: I love this.
1:00:22
Vince Carter: Sereo put this in for us.
1:00:24
Vince Carter: Superstars set the tone, but it's the side pieces that swing the game.
1:00:31
Vince Carter: Let's play role player roulette and to on today.
1:00:39
Vince Carter: Our today's contestant is none other than nas reed.
1:00:43
Vince Carter: Not the rapper, not the vibe, the bucket getting footwork sorcerer big off the bench, who's low-key torching playoff rotations?
1:00:59
Vince Carter: yes, sir, 46.7 from three in the post season, I will say that again, 46.7 percent from three point land.
1:01:09
Vince Carter: He's also a plus 3.5 offensive box plus minus.
1:01:15
Vince Carter: That's stellar.
1:01:17
Vince Carter: Best wolves delay action initiator by a mile in minnesota's lineups with reed plus randall again 15.7 net rating outstanding.
1:01:30
Vince Carter: This is truly the dude if we are talking about bench dudes getting it in.
1:01:38
Vince Carter: This is the dude that we are looking at for the minnesota timberwolves, make no mistake about it.
1:01:45
Vince Carter: Here's the other thing.
1:01:47
Vince Carter: He's not just a shooter, he's a matchup problem.
1:01:50
Vince Carter: You can't drop against him, he'll fire from 25 feet.
1:01:55
Vince Carter: You can't blitz him.
1:01:56
Vince Carter: He, he'll fire from 25 feet, you can't blitz him.
1:01:57
Vince Carter: He slips into an open pocket like a ghost and if you switch Smalls he'll just Jab Step you into oblivion Off a ghost screen.
1:02:11
Vince Carter: Nas hits a hesitation Step Back 3, while Chet stuck deciding between helping on Ant and contesting.
1:02:20
Vince Carter: Welcome to the stretch five chess match.
1:02:25
Vince Carter: Oklahoma City definitely gets its equal time, but we can settle on one with Oklahoma City.
1:02:35
Vince Carter: No, no, they got dudes.
1:02:38
Vince Carter: We talked about Caruso and his brilliance with his defense.
1:02:41
Vince Carter: Mark Dagnall's perimeter nightmare Dude, oh Caruso.
1:02:48
Vince Carter: 3.7 steals per 100 possessions, 42% from deep.
1:02:56
Vince Carter: Yes, sir, he's knocking down the trade bucket at a nice little sturdy level of 42%.
1:03:04
Vince Carter: By the way, alex Caruso had a box plus or minus.
1:03:12
Vince Carter: He had a box plus or minus.
1:03:14
Vince Carter: The other game it was like positive 38.
1:03:18
Vince Carter: His defensive box plus or minus.
1:03:18
Vince Carter: He had a box plus or minus.
1:03:18
Vince Carter: The other game it was like positive 38.
1:03:18
Vince Carter: His defensive box plus or minus.
1:03:21
Vince Carter: For the playoffs, by the way, a ridiculous 5.8.
1:03:26
Vince Carter: He is plus, 5.8.
1:03:29
Vince Carter: Defensive box plus or minus.
1:03:31
Vince Carter: This is Like Early Days, alonzo Mourney right, this is Ben Wallace.
1:03:48
Vince Carter: Okay, like we talking about, like if they had defensive box plus minus when Bill Russell was playing and I know for the youngins out there, oh, he played against milkman and like accountants and like insurance brokers and da, da, da da.
1:04:01
Vince Carter: Listen, that dude was long in whatever case may be, but let's go into like, let's go into modern day, okay, let's just go into modern day.
1:04:13
Vince Carter: But a positive 5.8 defensive box plus minus is absolutely shit, bad shit, crazy.
1:04:21
Vince Carter: Okay, that is dumb.
1:04:23
Vince Carter: There's nothing about that that you can sit there and go.
1:04:27
Vince Carter: Well, this is clearly some sort of made up stat.
1:04:31
Vince Carter: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
1:04:33
Vince Carter: No, this dude is getting in.
1:04:35
Vince Carter: If you saw what he did against yogich in that game seven, that shit was criminal.
1:04:40
Vince Carter: And now we got this dude, this maniac running against minnesota in the western conference finals.
1:04:48
Vince Carter: But my guy, ac fresh, is not alone, because I told you that case and wallace, 21 years and already defends like a secret service agent on expresso three shots of expresso, mind you, combined with a net rating in the playoff lineups of a positive 11.6.
1:05:17
Vince Carter: So anytime that Alex Caruso and Kaysan Wallace are on the court together, they are a positive 11.6.
1:05:30
Vince Carter: And we wonder why OKC won 68 games this year.
1:05:35
Vince Carter: We wonder they guard like their housing depends on it.
1:05:41
Vince Carter: Caruso stunts, rotates, tags low and still contests high corners.
1:05:50
Vince Carter: Wallace is everywhere.
1:05:52
Vince Carter: He's chasing over screens contesting on on pull-ups, bodying up in isos.
1:05:58
Vince Carter: You want to, you want to, uh, stat, you want something to kind of like keep your lookout for, like to see how this series might end up.
1:06:13
Vince Carter: When naz reves scores 10 plus points off the bench, the Wolves are 71.
1:06:20
Vince Carter: In the postseason I will read that for you again when Nas Reeves scores more than 10 points off the bench, the Wolves are damn near unbeatable they are 71.
1:06:34
Vince Carter: Kicking everybody's ass, okay, and not 71.
1:06:36
Vince Carter: Kicking everybody's ass, okay, and not caring.
1:06:38
Vince Carter: Now, caruso plus Wallace, both Post defensive rating under 103.
1:06:48
Vince Carter: Okay, see, undefeated, undefeated.
1:06:53
Vince Carter: So I will say that again when Caruso and Wallaceace both defensive rating under 103, okay, see, undefeated.
1:07:03
Vince Carter: This ain't filler.
1:07:06
Vince Carter: This is matchup math.
1:07:08
Vince Carter: And now we get to what everybody came for how this shit gonna play out.
1:07:15
Vince Carter: You came for like predictions right, that's what you came for.
1:07:20
Vince Carter: I got those for you, don't worry, we set the stage and now we bring it home, because that's what we do here at front runner podcast collective naz read.
1:07:31
Vince Carter: He's gonna bring the chaos in the paint with range.
1:07:34
Vince Carter: Caruso and Wallace Will bring structure to the perimeter With violence.
1:07:40
Vince Carter: Trust me, if OKC contains Nas Reed, without scrambling, the machine keeps humming.
1:07:48
Vince Carter: But if Nas Reed Get clean looks In that second unit, it could crack the Thunder's help timing and the series.
1:07:59
Vince Carter: So Minnesota Timberwolves win If.
1:08:06
Vince Carter: Shots out To my incredible staff that put this together, shots out to Vance.
1:08:14
Vince Carter: I want to shout out my guy Cole, new, not new to me, new to y'all, new to y'all.
1:08:24
Vince Carter: I told you I got a team.
1:08:26
Vince Carter: It's coming.
1:08:29
Vince Carter: Anthony Edwards has been a revelation in the postseason, averaging 26.5 points a game, 8 rebounds and 6 assists per game.
1:08:40
Vince Carter: His ability to take over games, especially in clutch moments, has been pivotal to the team's success and he maintains this level.
1:08:49
Vince Carter: The Wolves have a strong chance of winning Julius Randle If he's been instrumental, instrumental, in his playoff run.
1:08:59
Vince Carter: The much maligned power forward is averaging nearly 24 points per game in the playoffs.
1:09:08
Vince Carter: He's scoring frequently, but it's the physicality that can challenge OKC's front court, his bully ball, especially If he can draw fouls and get to the line.
1:09:23
Vince Carter: They're going to have an issue in OKC.
1:09:26
Vince Carter: And then we talked about Najri.
1:09:28
Vince Carter: We talked about how good he is.
1:09:29
Vince Carter: He's going to have to bring the heat, the energy.
1:09:32
Vince Carter: What have you Now?
1:09:34
Vince Carter: Their defense, the minnesota timberwolves defense, needs to disrupt okc's offense.
1:09:41
Vince Carter: How does that work?
1:09:42
Vince Carter: Well, we're talking about one of the greatest defensive centers that this league has ever seen, in rudy gobert.
1:09:50
Vince Carter: We also talk about taking him out and then having just a lineup that's absolutely switchable at all levels If you have a determined Julius Randle, nas Reed, who is very light on his feet.
1:10:06
Vince Carter: And then again, I cannot express enough how much I love McDaniels.
1:10:11
Vince Carter: I love McDaniels a lot because of the fact that this guy does not care about who he is guarding.
1:10:19
Vince Carter: He doesn't care about your credentials.
1:10:22
Vince Carter: He don't care about your, your impact or your impressions on social media.
1:10:28
Vince Carter: He don't care about when you go live, that you get over.
1:10:34
Vince Carter: You know 35 000 on your lives or whatever the hell.
1:10:39
Vince Carter: He don't care about that.
1:10:40
Vince Carter: You know what he care about stops getting rebounds, being physical and basically just shutting you down.
1:10:52
Vince Carter: So if they get the, if they get the locked in jayden mcdaniels, they get what we've been seeing from julius randall, naz reed.
1:11:01
Vince Carter: If he, like we said, if he scores more than 10 points, it's a wrap.
1:11:04
Vince Carter: They usually win.
1:11:05
Vince Carter: And anthony edwards is a superhero.
1:11:08
Vince Carter: Well, vince, that's nice.
1:11:11
Vince Carter: What about oklahoma city?
1:11:13
Vince Carter: You've been telling us all year about the historic net rating.
1:11:17
Vince Carter: You've been telling us all year that this is a great team and that they are going to bring the ruckus when it comes to the playoffs.
1:11:24
Vince Carter: That's what you have been saying to us the whole year.
1:11:27
Vince Carter: It doesn't stop.
1:11:29
Vince Carter: Now we got reasons why Oklahoma City, if they win right, we got.
1:11:35
Vince Carter: We got that.
1:11:35
Vince Carter: Shea Gilgis, alexander, obviously, if he continues his MVP level play, sga has been outstanding, averaging 29 points, a little bit below his season average, but that's still phenomenal 6.4 assists and damn near 6 rebounds a game in the playoffs.
1:11:58
Vince Carter: His efficiency and leadership are crucial to okc's success.
1:12:07
Vince Carter: Now what is really going to give okc a lot of success is their defense.
1:12:15
Vince Carter: Their defense is elite.
1:12:17
Vince Carter: Okay, this is the best defense, the scariest defense that we have seen in in a while.
1:12:25
Vince Carter: This defense.
1:12:28
Vince Carter: Now a lot of people want to talk about Detroit 2004, and that was a great defense.
1:12:33
Vince Carter: Do not get me wrong, that was a great defense.
1:12:34
Vince Carter: Do not get me wrong, that was a great defense.
1:12:36
Vince Carter: But I want to take you a little bit further back.
1:12:40
Vince Carter: Okay, I want to take you just a little bit further back and we're going to talk about 1996.
1:12:49
Vince Carter: And the reason why we want to talk about 1996.
1:12:53
Vince Carter: Is that Somebody who has a silhouette of his legs spread out dunking a basketball is coming to nbc in the fall.
1:13:11
Vince Carter: Michael jeffrey, jordan, that team, the, the, just how pippen and jordan wouldn't let people get across half court.
1:13:23
Vince Carter: You had to be there to see it.
1:13:27
Vince Carter: It was two, six foot seven, six foot six dudes just saying hey, bro, you about to really be embarrassed Because we are going to go through a four minute stretch where we don't let you pass out court.
1:13:40
Vince Carter: We're going to take your cookies and we're going to dunk them in some milk and we're going to eat them right in front of your face and if you call your mama, we're going to slap the shit out of you.
1:13:52
Vince Carter: Call your mama, please, please call your mama.
1:13:57
Vince Carter: Please call your mama, because we love violence, trust and believe.
1:14:03
Vince Carter: Now, why do I talk about that in such a romantic form?
1:14:07
Vince Carter: Guess what?
1:14:08
Vince Carter: What do I see from okc?
1:14:10
Vince Carter: Okc boasts the best defensive rating in the playoff 101.6.
1:14:16
Vince Carter: Their ability to force turnovers bulls like turnovers and convert them into points, as seen in game seven.
1:14:29
Vince Carter: Win over denver when they forced 23 turnovers 23.
1:14:34
Vince Carter: Okay.
1:14:35
Vince Carter: This is nic.
1:14:36
Vince Carter: This is Nikola Jokic.
1:14:37
Vince Carter: We talk about Nikola Jokic as he will get us a bucket Any damn time he wants.
1:14:43
Vince Carter: This is the greatest basketball player Right now Walking God's green earth.
1:14:50
Vince Carter: And they made him look mortal.
1:14:53
Vince Carter: They made him look human.
1:14:58
Vince Carter: You know how rare it is To make a god Look human.
1:15:03
Vince Carter: We talk about it In these movies, right, we talk about it.
1:15:10
Vince Carter: Well, okay, so you did it, they did it.
1:15:18
Vince Carter: That dude went home and he gonna be playing with his horses and he is not playing in a Western Conference Finals because of their defense.
1:15:27
Vince Carter: We also saw Jalen Williams, who had a horrendous game 6, like the type of game 6 that would make you basically turtle and probably not show up for game 7.
1:15:45
Vince Carter: Right, jalen Williams came out and absolutely dominated in game 7.
1:15:53
Vince Carter: This dude said no, this will not be my story, and shout out to him because we love jalen williams, we love j dubb, we loved.
1:16:04
Vince Carter: We called chet and jalen williams part of a big three with shea gildas, alexander last year, 24 points in game 7.
1:16:14
Vince Carter: Now I want to tell you something.
1:16:16
Vince Carter: This man went 3 of 16 in game 6.
1:16:24
Vince Carter: He was the reason they lost, the reason.
1:16:27
Vince Carter: He said it himself.
1:16:32
Vince Carter: Showing his grit against Denver Was the literal key for them winning that game.
1:16:43
Vince Carter: Now, does home court play an advantage or play a role in this series?
1:16:48
Vince Carter: As the top seed, oklahoma City has home court advantage.
1:16:54
Vince Carter: We all know that, their fans and their familiarity with their arena.
1:17:00
Vince Carter: But their fans, oklahoma City Thunder fans, thunder the fuck up.
1:17:08
Vince Carter: It's going to be loud, it's going to be raucous and people have been saying and we will get to the Eastern Conference finals preview momentarily or in the second, in the second, uh, we're gonna have a second um part to this.
1:17:34
Vince Carter: It's going to be part one, western conference, part two eastern conference, all dropped in one day.
1:17:42
Vince Carter: Magical podcasting is great, but paycom center has been like lit.
1:17:51
Vince Carter: It's been stupid.
1:17:52
Vince Carter: It's so loud like you can't hear yourself.
1:17:54
Vince Carter: Think in that place, and these fans are going to be rabid because they are close.
1:18:00
Vince Carter: They are close to the goal, baby, and we can't wait to see it.
1:18:05
Vince Carter: We can't wait to see the energy.
1:18:08
Vince Carter: And for the okc thunder, who have been waiting for this for a while now, ever since the days of Russell Westbrook, kevin Durant and James Harden were roaming the court for the OKC Thunder, their time is now.
1:18:27
Vince Carter: The door has been cracked open and while okc enters as the favorite with a 63.2 percent in our model's probability, the timberwolves momentum and the star power make this a series that is highly competitive, because the brilliance of Anthony Edwards Continues his stellar play and I do not think he will be deterred by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
1:19:07
Vince Carter: But you want?
1:19:08
Vince Carter: You want a prediction.
1:19:13
Vince Carter: The Thunder Take this series in seven.
1:19:19
Vince Carter: I believe I called it a big three last year.
1:19:25
Vince Carter: Shea Gildress, alexander has made the step.
1:19:27
Vince Carter: He's a modern day.
1:19:29
Vince Carter: I'm going to get a lot of shit for this.
1:19:32
Vince Carter: I don't care.
1:19:33
Vince Carter: I don't care what anybody says about me.
1:19:36
Vince Carter: I want to give this a little gravity right now.
1:19:41
Vince Carter: So just bear with me.
1:19:43
Vince Carter: Lay the cut real quick, okay, like I said.
1:19:46
Vince Carter: Okay, see, it's gonna win this in seven games.
1:19:48
Vince Carter: This is gonna be a highly competitive series but sga is going to give us.
1:19:54
Vince Carter: It won't be Steph, it won't be Steph Like you know what we know of Steph but it will give us that same type of feeling that Steph gave us.
1:20:08
Vince Carter: Because, remember, for us basketball sickos, we've been watching Shea Gildress Alexander Eurostep balletically for years, but the casuals haven't.
1:20:25
Vince Carter: They have not seen it, they have not experienced it.
1:20:29
Vince Carter: Welcome to the most beautiful brand of basketball that you have ever seen.
1:20:36
Vince Carter: Welcome to the most body controlled athlete that we have seen in probably 20 years.
1:20:51
Vince Carter: Shea Gildress Alexander is the NBA's MVP and he will be OKC's MVP and he will lead them to a 7 game victory Over a very, very game, a very battle tested Minnesota Timberwolves team.
1:21:13
Vince Carter: So this is no disrespect to the Timberwolves team, so this is no disrespect to the Timberwolves At all.
1:21:19
Vince Carter: Baby, unfortunately, they got a bazooka and you just got a rifle.
1:21:26
Vince Carter: They got a lot.
1:21:28
Vince Carter: They got a armada OKC has a fucking armada and you got Two submarines.
1:21:37
Vince Carter: Homie know, I'm saying like we talking about big difference here.
1:21:41
Vince Carter: They are gonna come at you at waves.
1:21:43
Vince Carter: This is where we finally get to the point where depth matters in the nba and the okC Thunder have a lot of it.
1:21:54
Vince Carter: Shout out to Sam Presti again.
1:21:57
Vince Carter: Now, that will end the Western Conference Finals preview.
1:22:03
Vince Carter: I'd like to thank Soraya.
1:22:04
Vince Carter: I would like to thank the FRPC crew for all of what they do and the numbers and what put this together.
1:22:12
Vince Carter: Okay, there is a part two coming.
1:22:14
Vince Carter: We got to do the east, we got to do the knicks and pacers, and we got to have the same damn energy for that that we did for the western conference finals preview.
1:22:28
Vince Carter: So, again, I'd like to thank my crew, serea, my producer, who was, who came in with notes, also helped us with stats.
1:22:36
Vince Carter: I'd like to thank the rest of the crew.
1:22:41
Vince Carter: Man, we cannot do this without the audience, though, so I hope you like this, be a friend and tell a friend about the podcast.
1:22:50
Vince Carter: Okay, and now the best part of you is you Surround yourself with people who are going to support you, who are going to lift you up in times of need, who are going to carry you when you can't walk Right.
1:23:06
Vince Carter: You know what I'm talking about the real ones that are in your life.
1:23:09
Vince Carter: Now, if you got real ones in your life, if you got real G's in your life, you got to appreciate those people.
1:23:21
Vince Carter: You will tell them how much you appreciate them, show them too, like take them somewhere, do something with them, hug them, send them a text, facetime them if they like that.
1:23:31
Vince Carter: But if you're building something like that and you're spotting the people who are, who are exhibiting these behaviors, and then you're like spotlighting and showcasing it, that means you're a well-adjusted individual.
1:23:47
Vince Carter: And if you're building a squad, I just want you to know there's always a seat for you here at front runner podcast collective, because when you are doing it and you are doing it with people who really support you and love you and you do it back to them, it just makes a whole hell of a world of difference and I hope that your crew brings as much energy as we did here for you today.
1:24:17
Vince Carter: So, without further ado, we gonna get up out of here.
1:24:22
Vince Carter: We have a part two that literally I'm about to record right now.
1:24:28
Vince Carter: But y'all be easy and we will see y'all ass down the road.
1:24:35
Vince Carter: Deuces.