Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / Is There Anyway For The Mavericks To Win The NBA Finals?

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Is There Anyway For The Mavericks To Win The NBA Finals? · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:00
SPEAKER_00: We've watched Jason Tatum grow up in this association where he has always been a team guy.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't thinking that this is his team, that he needs to be this super alpha.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: So if it does end up being uh Jalen Brown is the finals MVP or hell, Drew Holiday, would that be oh that would be a turn?
0:17
SPEAKER_00: I don't really think that Jason Tatum would care too much because he's been wanting to get that first championship for so very long.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Kenny Beach and Podcast, NBA Finals Edition.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Game number two just wrapped up, 105 to 98.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: I need you to leave a like on the episode, subscribe to the channel, tell a friend to tell a friend about the Kenny Beech and podcast.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Go over to the the audio platforms and give us five stars, listen to those episodes.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: I always look at these ratings and I I've I've adjusted my own personal scale.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: Early in this in this uh whole venture, I've been saying that I wanted the number one basketball podcast in America, right?
1:01
SPEAKER_00: And I always looked at Shannon Sharp as my my number one opposition because even though he's not exclusively a basketball podcast, he's the number one in that category.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: I've now shifted it where I want to be known as the number one basketball podcast, not led, not led by NBA talent.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Go look at those charts.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: I just I want everybody to go look at those charts when it comes to basketball podcasting.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: I think right now I am number six, and that is with me not dropping episodes very often.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: So I appreciate that, but I want to be number one.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: And yes, one of my main competitors is my other podcast who's sitting at number three.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm selfish.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: I want to take that number one spot for myself.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: Uh so leave a like, subscribe, and go to the audio platforms.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Those help a lot.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: Final score in this one is 105 to 98.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm filming this right after the game, so I don't know if Joe Mazzo is gonna give us another legendary quote or if Jason Kidd is gonna stir the pot anymore, anything like that.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: I only want to talk about the hoops, at least early in the show.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be a lot of conversations, I'm assuming, around this game.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, because when you when you have a team be dominant, and again, this is a seven-point win.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: It's not like game number one, where they led by 20 for the majority of this game.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: The ball, the Dallas Mavers really, really fought.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: But when you have a team be this dominant, and again, I'm talking about just the entirety of the regular season and the postseason, it feels like you gotta pick, you gotta pick your fights, you gotta try to build these on your own narratives and stuff.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: So I'm assuming that the conversations around this are gonna be hey, Jason Tatum cannot score the basketball anymore.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: 18 points is a final one, uh, but six for 22 with this one.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: The conversations is gonna be something we're gonna talk about a little bit later.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: Is it Jalen Brown's team?
2:35
SPEAKER_00: Is it Jason Tatum's team?
2:36
SPEAKER_00: And so on and so forth.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: I want to start off my podcast talking about the defense.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: The defense has been so phenomenal.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Ga number one, Dallas Mavericks did not eclipse 100 points.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: Gay number two, they did not eclipse 100 points.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: Right now, the Dallas Mavericks are 1 and 12 this season when they don't score 100 points.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: Seems like that's the seems like that's the recipe, right?
3:02
SPEAKER_00: The defense has been been so ridiculous.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: And and I gotta give a lot of credit to Joe Mazzula and everybody because I think one of the main things is they're making these dudes overthink their job.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: They they got these guys overthinking their job.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: Again, Luca, and we talked about about a couple weeks ago.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: Luca's an unschemable player.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: Even on this one, they forced him to turn the ball over a lot, eight turnovers to 11 assists.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: He's one of those guys that is almost impossible, if not impossible, to scheme for.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: So if we're not scheming for Luca, what can we do?
3:34
SPEAKER_00: And I guess kind of scheming, scheming for Luca is is scheming for the other guys, but I'll explain in a second.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: In game number one, Luka Donce had one assist and only six assists opportunities.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: This means that only six shots were generated off of Luka Donce's pass.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: In this one, he ended up with 11 assists.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: I would assume those like um generated opportunities is probably closer to 20.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: I could be wrong there.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, but they're making these guys overthink their job.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: PJ Washington, one for five from three.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Darren Jones Jr., 0 for 3 from 3.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: Maxi Kleba, 0 for 2 from 3.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: Uh Josh Green, 0 for 3 from 3.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: Awful.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: You even got one shot from Derrick Jones Jr.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: where he was on the top right part of the court the court.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Uh he completely airballed, completely open.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: Overthinking it, right?
4:18
SPEAKER_00: Because there is nobody within seven, eight feet of PJ, of Derek, um, of of Maxie, of of Josh Green, unless they are sitting in the corners.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: If that if this is a if this is an above the bake break three, they don't care to guard it whatsoever.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: And that makes you think, should I even take is this considered a good shot for me anymore?
4:42
SPEAKER_00: Should I try to put the ball on the floor and create another opportunity?
4:45
SPEAKER_00: And that led to uh a few turnovers from from the the guys, making them think.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: And then having Carrie Irvin come out.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: And I think through the first two games, Carrie Irvin has got plenty of looks that we know Carrie Irvin can and will eventually make.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: But I mean you're down to oh, you need it to happen eventually.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: But there are also many, many possessions where I just think Drew Holiday or Derek White or so on and so forth have just done such a phenomenal job of making it tough on Carrie Irvin.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: I think the main part of this, the main part of the offense is that obviously I think they got their first lob, completed lob of the entire series, and it wasn't even a traditional lob attempt.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: The traditional lob attempt for the Dallas Mavericks is a pick and roll with Gafford or Derrick Lively, and then boom, you play drop coverage or you decide to switch or whatever you decide to do, it didn't work out because it leads to an easy two.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: The lob that they generated was more like a fast break with Dear Jones Jr.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: being a freak axe uh athlete and going up to get it.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: So again, the bread and butter of this team has been completely taken away.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: Well, they had 50 plus lobs, 50 plus lobs through the first couple series of this uh of the playoff run, and so far they've had one completed.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: That's different.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: This is a team that generates a ton of corner three-point shots.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: I ain't got the number in front of me.
6:02
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, I can get the number though, because cleaning the glass is the greatest site.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Not in that, but cleaning the glass is such a great site.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: Let me let me quickly see how many corner three-pointers were generated.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sorry I don't got this number in front of me.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, corner three pointers tonight, that does not they attempted five.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: Five of them.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: Only five.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: And and if you want to frame a reference, I'm gonna go back to just look at their closeout game versus Minnesota, which was felt like six years ago.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: I I don't even know how long ago.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm still clicking.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: There it is.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: The closeout game versus Minnesota, how many corner three pointers did they generate?
6:36
SPEAKER_00: They generated nine, which is actually not a lot.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: But throughout the rest of their season, throughout their playoff run, that corner three-point shot, um, this one, 16, that's more like it, seven of 16 in their game number uh four or whatever.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: So this has been a team that's generated so many corner threes.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: And so far, in this, in this, it's not been the case where all of all but one of Darren Jones Jr.'s threes was above the break three.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: All but one of PJ Washington's threes was above the break three, and the one that he did make was above the break three, and then everything else is it's just it's really been the torture chamber.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, it it's it's Drew Holliday being phenomenal, right place, right time.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about his offense and his impact on this game in a second.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: But they mentioned it on the broadcast that Drew Holiday and Derek White are in conversations for the best offensive backcourt of all time.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: And it made me think like, who else would even be in the running?
7:29
SPEAKER_00: Is it like Sam Jones and company back in 1964?
7:34
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know if there is a backcourt, at least off the top of my mind, that even comes close to this.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: Like they're looking at a guy, and Luca Donce is one of the greatest offensive weapons ever to be in our league.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: And and not neutralizing them.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong, again, he still ended up with 32, 11, and 11.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: A great counting stats game.
7:55
SPEAKER_00: But making it so tough where this offense that had been really good over this entire playoff run cannot drop 100.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: And the reason why this sucks so much for the Dallas Mavericks is I thought they also played a very good defensive game where they held the Boston Celtics just one or five points.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: And in the first half, whether they hit two total threes in the first half, that is a game.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: If you're the Dallas Mavericks, you feel as though you should win.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: When you see the team that jacks up 43 pointers only hit 10, when they shoot 25% from three, you feel like you should win that game.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: The problem is you shot you shot 23% from three on almost 15 less attempts.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Joe Mazzula has been very adamant his entire time as a head coach.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: You have to win the numbers game.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: Whether you miss 10 in a row or make 10 in a row, fire him off.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: Win the numbers game.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: And through the first two games, Jason Kidd and company have lost the numbers game.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: When they had six threes, they attempted 26 while the opposing team is attempting 40.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: You're losing the numbers game there.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: Time and time again.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: And it is even worse when those guaranteed buckets that you got throughout the course of this playoff run, the lobs are completely, completely neutralized.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: Maxi Kleba in this game played a total of 16 minutes.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: He had four fouls.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: And uh there's been a lot of conversation about Maxi Kleba, right?
9:24
SPEAKER_00: So, my question after game number one, because Daniel Gaffert and because Derek Lively had been neutralized in game number one, will we see Jason Kidd use more of Maxi Kleba because he's a threat from the three three-point line?
9:39
SPEAKER_00: The answer is yes, he plays 16 minutes, but he wasn't guarded either.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: The one open look that he got turned out to not actually be an open look because Porzingis closed out and he's 7'3 with an eight-foot wingspan.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: So you got more Maxi Kleba in this one with the idea of running five out and allowing the rest to be the rest.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: But if you're running five out and the guy that's on the top wing, the above the break guy is not being guarded, it's not really that much of a five out.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: You have a guy that's pretty much playing Romer.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: And in this case, it was a lot of Derrick White.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it was Drew Holiday Roman, and those guys generated turnovers or generated difficult looks for the for the for the Mavericks.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: We did have that one play, and I'm just I'm just going all around in my notes here.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: Recai Irvin was on the island with Jalen Brown, and Jalen Brown put the clamps on and caused the turnover, which was I think a travel kind of elite.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, I still don't understand the idea of switching the Christaps Porzingis pick and rolls where he's been shooting over your guys all series long.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: I think maybe in your mind you think that he's not going to continue to shoot this well.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: Where in this one, um, four for seven, four for seven, and all of those were shooting over his opponent, and he did get that one and one.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: Like that's the Christaps Porzingis game.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: Derek Lively has gone from a guy that was leading the entire NBA in plus-minus where through the first two games, he has one of the worst plus minuses.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: Today he was a minus 15.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: That is the worst on the court, and he looks like a 20-year-old finally.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: It was inevitable.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: It's just unfortunate that it's happening in the finals versus it happening in round one or round number two, where in the first couple series, basically, um, he's been completely okay and he's been allowed to be that back end protection where the job is not it's not very cerebral.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: Like you do have to think whether or not I'm gonna drop, I'm gonna come to the point of attack.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna, are we blitzing this position?
11:32
SPEAKER_00: There's a there is a lot of thought involved, but now in this series, when the opposing team always, there is not a single minute that the Celtics play where it's not five out.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: So you're pulling me out, and I have to make some decisions because the way we're guarding Jason Tatum right now, we're throwing a hard double on Jason Tatum at the moment he commits to putting the ball on the floor.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: So now that puts me in space where I have to make the decision on whether or not I who do I guard?
11:59
SPEAKER_00: The guy that's on the wing, or do I guard guard the guy that's on the baseline?
12:03
SPEAKER_00: And there's a few different times that that guy on the baseline, who was Drew Holiday, just walked his ass to the paint and it was a pass from Jason Tatum down there.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: He's been having to think a little bit more.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: He's been struggling to play the game that he normally has played because if he's not really catching a lob, it's not much of a threat.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: The other part of the game, he's a threat, and that's him off an offensive rebound.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: The Boston Celtics have done an amazing job getting rid of that.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: It's been nine offensive rebounds for the Dallas Mavericks tonight.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: It was 10 in game number one.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: So the Dallas Mavericks, I mean, the Boston Celtics have completely flattened all of the other factors.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna out rebound us, you're not gonna force a bunch of turnovers on us.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: So it's really gonna be who's gonna hit more three-pointers, and guess what?
12:47
SPEAKER_00: Like Joe Mazzula said, we play the game of math.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: And we win that.
12:53
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13:23
SPEAKER_00: Now that I've talked about all of the stuff that I want to talk about for game number two, we gotta talk about the Tatum, right?
13:30
SPEAKER_00: Again, I think other shows are gonna lead with Tatum, but you see, I waited later in the episode to talk about it.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: Final stat line is 18 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds, a steal, three turnovers, six for 22 from the field, and one for seven from three.
13:46
SPEAKER_00: And I remember the one he hit it was in the corner because he did a like a finally um type thing.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: But I will say this and and maybe it's gonna get mean to death because for for whatever reason, Jason Tatum's, I don't want to say hated by the general public, but just like you know, there's a lot of conversation around Tatum, I feel like it's just kind of unfair.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: I thought he had a good game.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: Is that crazy?
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Like, yes, the shot, the shot is not fallen, and it has not fallen much of this playoff run so far.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: But when you talk about a player commanding the game offensively, making the right decisions for his team as the lead ball handler.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he brought the ball up the court, I don't know, the 90% of the time, it felt like.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: And I feel pretty good about 20, what, 26-year-old Jason Tatum, 25-year-old Jason, have a hold he is, 19-year-old Jason Tatum.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, and his decision-making ability where I feel completely comfortable knowing that if Jason Tatum is the one bringing the ball up the court, then we will probably generate a good look.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: Now, part of that is he has phenomenal, phenomenal teammates.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: But I thought in this one, again, with the with the Dallas Mavericks gearing their defense around making him a playmaker and preventing him from getting to the basket, I thought he made the right decision 90%, 95% of the times.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: And that 5% that's locking, it's sometimes I thought he did get to the basket, but was thinking too much about the pass instead of just going straight up.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: He had four or five layups that were on the lip of the rim and completely fell off of the rim.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: He also hit three and once.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: And I thought that he played such a good game when that double got to him.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: And he got to the paint a few different times and just made the right decision, which in most cases it felt like it was Drew Holiday cutting on the baseline or being in a dunker spot.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: He could just do a layup after layup after layup or reverse layup.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: That was just the Drew Holiday game.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: But again, I don't think Jason Tatum had a bad game.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: And I think that a lot of the conversations around Jason Tatum is because he's widely considered a top 10-ish player in basketball.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: So the conversations are hey, how can he be top 10-ish?
15:54
SPEAKER_00: Again, I'm gonna put the ish because I don't know where you got him.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: How can he be top 10-ish?
15:59
SPEAKER_00: Play 45 minutes, shoot less than 40% for the field, and his team still win basketball games?
16:05
SPEAKER_00: How can we say that he's one of the elite of the elite?
16:09
SPEAKER_00: That's that I think that's somewhat, that's somewhat fair, but I also ask you, how many people are actually in your elite of the elites?
16:18
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't know many people that's putting Jason Tatum in the conversation with Luca, put him in the conversation with Jokic, put him in the conversations with Giannis, put him in the conversations with Joel and Bede.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Like, how many people do you really see as the elite of the elite?
16:32
SPEAKER_00: Because in my personal opinion, when I when I think about superstardom, and everybody has their own personal opinion of what superstardom is.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, and and some people think that there's six superstars in basketball.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: Some people think it's 20 superstars in basketball.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: I normally sit somewhere on the lesser number, right?
16:54
SPEAKER_00: I don't believe there's 20 superstars that now there's 20 stars.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong, but super, right?
17:01
SPEAKER_00: I don't put Jason Tatum in the same conversation as some of these other guys.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: I think he's one tier below, and that's still good enough to potentially win you a championship, right?
17:10
SPEAKER_00: So I don't put him over again or in the conversation with Yoke, with Luca, with Giannis, with Shea, with Joel, with a super healthy Kawhi Leonard, with a Steph Curry.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: I don't put him in that same category.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: But I do believe he's a tier below that.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: I do believe he's in the conversation with the people that I have not mentioned.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: And that is completely, completely okay.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: Him doing what he's doing right now.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: If you go to FanDuel Sportsbook, we got to talk about the finals MVP.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: Right now, he still has the best odds at a plus 100.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: Then you have Jalen Brown at a plus 185.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: Now, that that gap is really shrunk after game number two, I'll tell you that.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: You got Luka Dodges at still plus 550, because though the series is 2-0 Boston.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: It ain't over.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: It ain't over.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: And then you got people like Drew Holiday right after that at plus 900, and then Derrick White at plus 5,000.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: Um and I saw a tweet by Kevin O'Connor from the mismatch slash the ringer.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: He was asking if the series were to end today, like it was whatever, whatever for whatever is the best out of three, who would be the finals MVP?
18:11
SPEAKER_00: I think that I think there's still a good conversation for Tatum to be in there, right?
18:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think that Jalen Brown, again, if it is just these first two games, Jalen Brown undoubtedly is the finals MVP.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: But I think you would have some people vote Jason Tatum because the way he has commanded the team offensively and how great he has been defensively.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: You know, you're asking this guy to basically guard the number one lob threat front court in basketball right now and prevent them from getting lobs.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: And he's done that very, very successfully.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: And I think when the time has come, if they do end up winning the series, that we like I don't believe that we go this entire series with Boston winning the series and Jason Tatum is shooting 38% from the field the entire series.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: But the fact that they were able to win these two games with Jason Tatum with these 12 assists and command in the game, I do believe that he will eventually win finals MVP, but anything is possible.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: Like if it ends up being Jalen Brown, I don't think Jason Tatum is going to care too much.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: That has never been like we've watched Jason Tatum grow up in this association where he has always been a team guy from the very first day he was in the locker room, from the very first playoff run.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't thinking that this is his team, that he needs to be this super alpha.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: All he really has cared about this entire time is winning a championship.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: So if it does end up being uh Jalen Brown is the finals MVP, or hell, Drew Holiday, would that be, ooh, that would be a turn.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: As the finals MVP, I don't really think that Jason Tatum would care too much because he's been wanting to get that first championship for so very long.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: It's the only thing he's really dreamt about.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: And the way this team is built, hell, it might be the first of a few.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: And I I remember, all right, now I'm getting a little disingenuous in this argument.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: But I remember um a little light-skinned, a little light-skinned brother and with the Golden State Warriors that didn't get fighting the CvP his first time around, or his second time around, or his third time around.
20:07
SPEAKER_00: All right, uh, that's unfair because I've I still believe that Steph Curry deserved that first fight of the C VP.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: I still, even to this day, I'm looking at that like that is kind of crazy that Iggy got it.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: But shout out to Iggs, shout out to him, Illinois Verio.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, but um Shaquille O'Neal talked about it on their pregame show when I think it was NBA TV, because Lord knows Turner don't get this stuff.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, where he was saying that for the majority of his championships, he wasn't considered the best player.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: You know, in his first couple championships, I think that Shaq was the best player on the few of those first couple that oh, those first three championships.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: I can pretty I could say that Shaq was the best player for two of them.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: But he's saying the consensus wasn't that Shaq, I was the best player on the team.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: His last championship, 2006, nobody would argue that he was the best player on the team.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: But everybody brings up how many championships he did win.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: I think that's fair.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter who's considered the one, who's the best player on the team.
21:06
SPEAKER_00: Because when Jason Tatum is all said and done, if he if he ends up with, I mean, I don't know if he's gonna end up with one, but it's getting looking like that.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: If he ends up with one or whether he ends up a seven, the resume will say X time NBA champion.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: It won't say two championships as the best player, one championship as the second best player, and one as a bench player.
21:26
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's not the way we look at resumes, and that's not how history has really been remembered.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: Again, Shaq is a prime example of this.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: No, no, the history is not saying that, yeah, he got four championships, but at least two of them, he wasn't the best player.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: So should Shaquille O'Neal be in top ten conversations?
21:45
SPEAKER_00: That's not the way we look at the game.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: So whether he is the best player in this series for the Boston Celtics, or he is the second best player in this series for the Boston Celtics, if they win, that's all that really matters.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: Nothing even matters, nothing else even really matters.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: At all.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I think the mindset of Jason Tatum has been dope because you did get Jason Kidd coming out before game number two saying that Jalen Brown was the best player in the series uh for the Boston Celtics, saying that he picked up Luca full court, he did all the right things, he made the right decisions, and he is the best player on the team.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I had Twitter going crazy.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: And I quoted that tweet saying he's obviously playing mind games.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: Whether he believes it or not, he's obviously playing mind games trying to get Jason Tatum to have a terrible game.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it worked.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it worked.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: I don't like of the seven threes, how many of them did we see a sidestep three-pointer?
22:33
SPEAKER_00: Like two of them?
22:34
SPEAKER_00: All of the other ones were pretty much catch-a-shoot opportunities or a late shot clock.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: Gotta get one up.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: It didn't work.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: Whether you believe Jason Tatum or Jalen Brown's the best player, it's really irrelevant when you think about the real MVP of all of this, is goddamn Brad Stevens or Danny Ainge, who set the foundation for this.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm gonna remind you, in the Christas Porzingas trade, they acquired draft capital.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: They didn't have to, they didn't have to send a first-round pick away to get Chris Asperzing.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: They acquired draft capital in that trade.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: And Christaffs Verzingas.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: Masterclass.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: Now, Danny Aynes set the foundation.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: Danny Aynes traded KG, Paul Pierce, all these other dudes to get these draft picks that ended up being Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: But eventually his time had come.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: He had made some some questionable decisions down the line.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: Jonas Garepko and I'm saying shout out to Jonas Garepko.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: He's a 2K legend.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, but Brad Stevens, becoming the front office guy, saw that this was a team that had just been too good for too long to not have one of them, one of them things.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, and there are a few years in Celtic's history, recent Celtic history, where they were just like a 500 team.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: They got swept in the playoffs not too long ago.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how many of y'all remember that.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: Like we always look at the number of six uh conference finals in eight years, but those a few of those years weren't really great.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: Like a few of those years, they weren't amazing regular season teams.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: They got it going when the postseason came around.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: So they were always okay, but then Brad Stevens said, hold on, fuel to the fire, fuel to the fire.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: Because we think that Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, if they're not already in their prime, they're entering it.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: So there's time to hit the gas.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: Jalen Brown's progression throughout this season has been phenomenal.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: And there's been, again, conversations.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: I'm like the anti-narrative police, I guess, um, because Jalen Brown has consistently been like playing with a chip on his shoulder, talking about how he's trying to prove the doubt is wrong.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: And I see people saying, like, Jalen, you got a$300 million contract.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: Nobody, bro, sometimes you need to find your own motivation.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: Personally, if this whole sports media thing ended up with me having a$300 million contract, it would be tough for me to find the motivation to continue to be better or do better at what I do.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: So it seems like Jalen Brown needs to feel like he has doubters.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he does have that, everybody has doubters, but like to feel like he's an underdog, even though he has the biggest contract in NBA history.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: I think it's okay for him to find that thing to attach himself to to hit that next level.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: Because it has been working.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: He's been great all playoffs.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: He's been great all season.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: If you go back to watch my All NBA or my um my award show, I had him as an all-NBA player.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: He didn't ultimately make it, but I thought this is the best Jalen Brown season, even though last year he was all NBA second team.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: I thought this was his best year.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: And that has carried over through this entire playoff run where he has just been good.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: Now, they made him think a little bit more than what he probably wants to today.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: He did up with seven assists and six turnovers to match it, but I think he's been great.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: Um I won't, I do also, I do also want to talk about um, and I every time I talked to uh my nephew about this on the other day at my dad's birthday party.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: He was asking about the finals.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: He's not huge into basketball, but it's the finals, so we we watching whatever.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: Um and we were we were talking about the pregame, post-game, all of that shit.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: Um language, I'm sorry.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: And that that probably lets you know how frustrated I am with the coverage.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: The way ESPN covers the finals could just be so much better.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: The pre-game show not great.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: The halftime the halftime is so bad.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: Where basically you could get away you when the halftime comes around, that is, and when you're watching an ESPN broadcast, that is a break for you to walk away from the TV for 15 minutes to do whatever the hell you want to do.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: The other, on Warner, uh of course is gonna die soon, I guess.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: Halftime shows was entertainment.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: You got the four guys, they're gonna be they're gonna be talking about X and O'S.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: Kenny's gonna run to the goddamn monitor or go on to the screen, it's gonna be added entertainment.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: Where the entire halftime show for the ESPN broadcast, it's 14 minutes and 30 seconds of ads, and it's 30 seconds of what happened in that first half.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: And I just don't understand it.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: And I also don't understand why they pick a fifth person to be on the panel, which is Josh Hart.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: And Josh Hart is a charismatic guy.
27:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, he's hilarious, he's a guy that I want to hear talk about basketball or just talk in general.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: They add the fifth guy, and he does.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if he said anything.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: He got an opportunity.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: Well, he did, he didn't say one thing.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: He got an opportunity and he only said one thing.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: So why bring him on the broadcast if we're not maximizing him as the on-screen talent?
27:54
SPEAKER_00: We talk about the ratings being down for game number one, and there are so many, so many different factors, whether it be the court not expressing NBA finals or the jersey patch being on the back of the jersey versus being front and center like it used to be, um, from it being a week stretch between the conference finals and the NBA finals.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: There are so many different factors.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: The broadcast doesn't feel like the finals, man.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: And I do believe that they've done a little bit better mixing the audio.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: You know, we did talk about how in there in the Boston Celtics last series versus the Pacers game one, it didn't feel like it was a playoff game because the way they were mixing the crowd noise versus commentary versus on court, it was a bad mix.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: I do believe through the first two games, the mix has been better.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: But that is the only bit that feels like the NBA Finals to me.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: The broadcast has not been great, the coverage has not been great.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: And in game number one, bro, in game number one, and this is not an ESPN thing, this is across the platforms because I was shuffling through channels because I was very, very curious of how this was gonna work.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: It was game one of the NBA Finals, and there was not much coverage of the the uh the game one that's about to happen in a few hours.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: Instead, we talked about Dan Hurley potentially being the coach of the Lakers, and I understand it.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: That was breaking news that day.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: It was extremely important to talk about.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: But also today is the goddamn finals.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: So we look at the report and say the ratings are down by 5%.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of factors, the coverage is one of them.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: I just kind of disappoint, I'm just kind of disappointed in that.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, and maybe I'm just getting no back back in my day.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: Back in my day, that's kind of what it feels like.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, also interesting to see no Tim Hardaway Jr.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: in this one.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: I know in game number one he played like eight minutes or so.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I thought he made sense to play because he is, he can be really bad.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: He can be dreadful, but he also can hit four threes in a game.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: And when you're losing a numbers game, a guy like Tim Hardaway Jr.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: can definitely help with that.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: Again, he got zero minutes.
29:54
SPEAKER_00: They even shortened the rotation even more because Josh Jaden Hardy only got two minutes, um, and it wasn't a beautiful two minutes for them.
30:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think that's I think that's where I end it.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of conversations also gonna be like, is this the easiest run ever?
30:10
SPEAKER_00: Like if the Celtics continue to be this good and they win in four or they win in five, it's that that's that's something that's gonna come up.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: Also, I would flip it on his head.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: Could this just be one of the most dominant teams?
30:22
SPEAKER_00: Because I think that's possible as well.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't know if there's any team that they've played, whether they were like leading up to this point that would have been healthy that would have challenged them.
30:31
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you can argue.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: Hey, if the 76ers are healthy, they they beat the Knicks.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Or even if the Knicks are healthy, they beat the Pacers, and maybe the pay the Knicks give a better run.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: Or if Giannis is healthy, hell, we see Giannis in the conference finals.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: Either way, um, I'm just looking at the things that's in front of me, and what's in front of me says the Boston Celtics have been the most dominant team all season long and they've continued that through the first two games.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: What changes would I have if I'm Jason Kidd?
30:54
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of tough to say.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: I'll probably have to re-watch game two again to have like these big changes.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: So I'll leave it at that.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, leave a like on it, subscribe, tell a friend and tell a friend that the Kenny Jim Podcast is the way to go.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I'll see y'all soon.