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I Created an NBA All-Disappointment Team · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:04
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to another episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beecham.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: Ladies and gentlemen, I am feeling so amazing to start today.
0:12
SPEAKER_01: I just, I don't know.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: The vibes are just always high coming off a Bears win.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, obviously this is not an NFL show, but man, oh man, when the vibes are high in the NFL for my favorite team, I just feel like I get more in a flow state when it comes to talking about these hoops.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: So y'all better hope the Bears keep this up because if they keep it up, I'm gonna continue to produce fire, fire shows.
0:32
SPEAKER_01: Before we get into today's episode, I'll let you know that if you go to enjoyball.com, we still got a little bit of merch left.
0:37
SPEAKER_01: We've been dropping these Enjoy Run Club shirts, hoodies, and hats.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: So be sure to check it out on today's agenda.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: I got a team of the most disappointed players in the NBA.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: I heard somebody say that we're about at the quarter mark of the NBA season, and it blew my mind because I feel like just yesterday we were starting a season.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: So we got like a quarter of the NBA sample size about players and teams and stuff.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I get asked quite a bit like how much sample size you need to kind of understand if a player's jump is real or a team is real.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: It's about at this point.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna talk about some of the guys that have been disappointing.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how we can talk about the NBA right now without mentioning the Lakers, considering how nice they have looked, specifically since LeBron James has been back.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna jump around the league and talk about some comments from Stan Van Gundy, the Orlando Magic, and so on.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: And lastly, I will answer your questions using hashtag ask KB, but let's get into these disappointing players.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: Now, maybe it is slightly unfair for me to do this today, because I think it's really easy to be like Trey Young's been disappointing in the minutes that he played.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: Lamelo Ball has been disappointing because he keeps getting benched in fourth quarters when the game's been good.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: But my disappointing list is different because these are the players that have been disappointing to me.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: Just not overall disappointment, if that makes sense.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: And in order to be disappointing, that means I had to have some level of expectations for you, right?
1:51
SPEAKER_01: So just think about that with the with my own lens.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: Just think about that as we talk through these players.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: Just because they have been disappointed don't mean they can't turn it up, or that I'm completely out on these players, because the first guy on the list is a guy I bought all the stock in the first moment I met him before the NBA draft that is Evan Mobley.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: I remember just a few weeks ago before we started the season, I was reading comments from Kenny Atkinson.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: I was reading comments from NBA ownership that was saying, oh, this is the Evan Mobley year.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: It's rare, it's just, I don't know.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: I know teams and players are always gonna talk about um their players in the highest regard, but I just felt like it felt different the way Kenny was talking about the way they were gonna use him in the offense.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: Ownership was talking about him being a 20 point, 24 point per game guy, and I bought all of it because I thought that last year's offensive jump was amazing.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: If, you know, progression is not necessarily linear for everybody, but Evan Mobley felt like a guy that it would be linear, and it has not been the case.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: I've just been underwhelmed with his performances.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: He has been bad, you know, and I know he's become somewhat of a punching bag, and that kind of happens in the NBA eventually if you don't get better when people expect you to get better.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: But I've just been underwhelmed by his production, and I thought that this could be a season where he can overtake, you know, in the offensive importance role at least, be higher than Darius Garland on the list.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: And as we continue to see for the Cleveland Cavaliers, that team don't really go if Darius Garland ain't there.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to Donovan Mitchell for holding it down when he can.
3:09
SPEAKER_01: But Evan Mobley, top of the list.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: The rest of this is not in any order, but Evan Mobley had to be number one on my list because I am an Evan Mobley super fan slash investor with all the rookie cards I got of him.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: Next, I want to get to a guy named Rob Dillingham.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it's maybe a bit unfair to talk about year two guys.
3:27
SPEAKER_01: I got another year two guy on the list as well, but maybe it's a bit unfair.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: But I kind of think about the situation that the Minnesota Timberwolves are in and the capital that they use to move up to acquire Rob Dillingham from the Spurs on draft night, them giving up a pick all the way in 2030 and 2020, and thinking about the Minnesota Timberwolves and how much help they need from the point guard position for Rob to basically getting close to no PT was just sad.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: Because I think I think the the NBA Twitterverse, the NBA mixtape guys love some Rob Dillingham.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: We kind of want to see him blossom.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: And the Minnesota Timbulls desperately need his type of production, but when he's on the floor, it's just a hard watch.
4:03
SPEAKER_01: They got him listed as 6'2.
4:05
SPEAKER_01: I promise you, he don't look 6'2 on that floor.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: And obviously, he he just he gets to the rim quite a bit.
4:10
SPEAKER_01: His jump shot is not falling.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: But the problem is I think the biggest hole right now in this game, and it's a lot of holes, and he got a lot of time, don't get me wrong.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: Floater range.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: Floater range, he has not been able to capitalize.
4:21
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of the smaller guys across basketball really pick apart teams by getting two feet into the paint and being able to hit a floater.
4:28
SPEAKER_01: And he just, I don't I think he's just 0 of 12 in the season, if I read that correctly.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: Insane.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: Next guy on the list is a universal one, so I don't want to uh go too far into this, but Derek White, he had a cool game against the Detroit Pistons a few nights back where you're like, oh, there's Derek White.
4:43
SPEAKER_01: But it is very interesting to see his shot diet kind of fluctuate between the last couple years of his career in Boston versus now.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: And I think Jason Tatum gets a ton of credit for not whether or not Derek White makes or misses shots, but the type of shots that he's generating for a guy like Derek White is a guy that has to initiate his own.
5:01
SPEAKER_01: We're seeing his two-point shot um diet go up like almost double of what it was last season.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: Well, last season it felt like it was found money if you got Derek White into the paint, if he was able to beat his first defender.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: And now he's just struggling.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: He's just harder to do when you don't have all of the talent around you.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: The next guy on the list is the hardest one to put on this list because I'm still all in on this dude, but the sophomore year has not been as good for my guy, Modus Buzales.
5:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was really high on him, and I'm still very high on him, but coming into the season, like, yeah, year two players don't don't ever really win most improved player.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: But if anybody was gonna do it, it's got to the point where like I just first of all, I just don't know what Billy Donovan goal is necessarily because if the Bulls aren't winning games and he's not helping develop talent, then where are we at with this?
5:44
SPEAKER_01: Where Modus has games where he's playing like 19 minutes, and I'm like, for who?
5:48
SPEAKER_01: For Patrick for who?
5:49
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
5:50
SPEAKER_01: And I'd rather him play through those mistakes.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: You hear on the broadcast a ton if you're watching a Bulls uh broadcast.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: They have like, it's not necessarily a hot mic, but you can hear him yelling, modest, modus, modest a lot, and him getting a short leash.
6:01
SPEAKER_01: I hate it, and I wish they let my boy Rocky out just a just a little bit more.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: I want to see him be more confident.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of times in last night's game or two nights ago's game versus the Indiana Pacers where he got the ball top of the key and he just he thought about his next decision.
6:14
SPEAKER_01: I hate that.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: I want him to play off instinct, he's talented.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: Next guy is Balauku Lubali.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: Balau's only played 10 minutes, 10 games, not 10 minutes, 10 games so far this season.
6:23
SPEAKER_01: And I think the toughest thing for me is trying to figure out what he looks like as an offensive player when he's done with his progression.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: I think he's undoubtedly going to be an impactful defensive player.
6:33
SPEAKER_01: You're already seeing that right now.
6:34
SPEAKER_01: But with George getting better and Sar getting so much better, he's kind of been pushed down a totem totem pole of most important offensive players and it's kind of changed his shot diet quite a bit.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: He's taken more threes than he ever has, really.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: And he just, I don't know, feels kind of out of sorts on the offensive side of the ball.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: And again, just 10 games this season.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: So maybe I should give him a little bit more time.
6:53
SPEAKER_01: But it's not a ton of structure in Washington, and it's hard for me to visualize him finding his footing offensively with the way the team is ran right now.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: Number six guy on the list is my boy Zoo.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: Big Zoo played like an all-NBA player last season.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: This year, it just hasn't been the case.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: His overall counter stats and everything look almost identical if you really look at it.
7:12
SPEAKER_01: But I think the on-court impact is probably lacking.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: And if we have time, we'll talk about the clippers a little bit more.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: So I'll maybe save some of that for later.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: But Zoo has not looked like the same player from last year.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: Some people are speculating it's because he lost all that weight and he's just not as much of a bully.
7:27
SPEAKER_01: I don't really know.
7:27
SPEAKER_01: Next guy on the list is two Mikey Kamara.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: It's something about him, and I'm gonna use Dyson Daniels as well while we're here.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: These guys that are so talented defensively and showed us at least a little bit last year defensively, you kind of expect it to just be better.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: And both of these guys are struggling from the field.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: Some of these guys, and Dyson Daniels seems like at times he's lost his confidence on the offensive side of the ball, not taking shots and completely um getting rid of the three-point shot completely in his game.
7:51
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, Tumani Camaro's defense is still pretty good.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: He's still drawing so many charges and all.
7:55
SPEAKER_01: But if the offensive game never comes around, you just look at the way teams are guarding Denny or guarding Jeremy Grant, who's having a good season, and you question a lot of the offensive fit for a guy like Tumani Camaro right now.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: He got paid.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: He's still one of the better defenders, so I'm still giving a lot of time.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: But him being able to knock down a corner-three-pointer is so important for not just him, him, but the team at large because they don't just don't have a lot of half-court offense.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: And if teams are gonna just pack the paint on Denny or throw two at him, they need a guy like Tumani to come out there and hit a couple shots.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: And with Dyson Daniels, you know, it's been good because the Atlanta Hawks have been good.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of been snuck under the rug a little bit.
8:32
SPEAKER_01: But the offensive jump that we saw him have last season, it's gone.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: It's not that good.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: It's not good.
8:39
SPEAKER_01: Last guy for me personally is Gershawn Yabusele.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: Gershaw signed to the Knicks, and I was like, oh, that's one of the best offseason signings.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: He came back from being over at France.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: He averaged, what, 11 points per game with the Knicks?
8:49
SPEAKER_01: He had three point shots.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: He was good defensively.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: Not with the Knicks, but the 76ers last season.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: And this year, I've read more stories about his weight than his on-ball play.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of crazy.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: He barely is playing on a team that could use a guy like him.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: And that's that's bad because I thought he could really play some small ball five.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: The last name on the list is not my own personal one.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: I had nine and I went onto Twitter.
9:10
SPEAKER_01: I say, hey, y'all vote down low.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: Who is a guy that should be on the most disappointing lists?
9:15
SPEAKER_01: And the name I saw more than anybody else is the name Nikola Iovich.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: Personally, I've never been somebody that looked at Nikolayovich as like as good as maybe some other people.
9:25
SPEAKER_01: He did get paid a little bit this offseason and it felt like a really good deal.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: And now there are times, or especially when they're continually getting healthy, where you question like where he's gonna fit into the rotation.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: They got a lot of good ball players over there in Miami, and Nikola Iovich might be the biggest casualty out of all of them.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: He's not hitting the shots, he's not a creator, it's just a lot.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: Those are my 10 most disappointed players so far to start the season.
9:48
SPEAKER_01: Again, we are the brand enjoy basketball, but every once in a while, you got you gotta get credit called these guys, you gotta get credit called these teams.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: When we come back, we gotta talk about Luca, Austin Reeves, LeBron James, and the Lakers.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: The LA Lakers have been really good.
10:10
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I I try to pride myself on small ball, on Kenny for Rio, my YouTube channel.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: We're not just talking about the top-end teams, the super popular teams.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: It's so easy to just talk Lakers all day.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: It's so easy to just talk about the New York Knicks.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: But occasionally I gotta step out of that and give flowers when it's due.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: This Laker team.
10:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's been good.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: It's been really good.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: And I'm trying to temper my expectation a little bit because the competition has not been amazing.
10:41
SPEAKER_01: It's been the Jazz two times.
10:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm only I'm talking about since LeBron James's comeback, by the way.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: Um the Jazz two times, the Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Pelicans.
10:52
SPEAKER_01: It's not it's not the toughest schedule, it's not the toughest stretch.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: But it's it's I was thinking about it the other day when they were going against the um Dallas Mavericks and a game in which Jason Kidd just made it a point to make sure Luka doesn't drop 45.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: So much so that the first possession of the game, it's like something I've I've watched hours and hours and hours, years worth of basketball in my almost 30 years of life.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: It felt like a troll in a sense that right off tip-off, Jason Kidd threw two people at Luka Doncic off the tip.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: He won't even half court yet.
11:29
SPEAKER_01: Luka Doncic passed it up once and one more pass to also read us for the quickest three points you'll ever get in the NBA game.
11:34
SPEAKER_01: It reminded me of like when Greg Popovich intentionally fouled.
11:37
SPEAKER_01: I think it was Dwight Howard to start a game and then they cut to Greg Popovich.
11:40
SPEAKER_01: He was like, see, gotcha, as a joke.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: Jason Kid was like, You're not doing this against us.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: And they threw two at him, they head screens, they played box at one, they did everything imaginable.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just watching this game and I'm taking my notes and I'm like, how high can the Lakers get on my overall hierarchy of contenders?
12:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: Just five days, no, I'm at this point, six days ago, we just did an episode of Numbers on the board.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: We say, hey, who are contenders versus pretenders?
12:09
SPEAKER_01: We got to the Lakers and we always like, uh, probably pretenders.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: And I saw two more games.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: I was like, no, I think they're contenders, yo.
12:16
SPEAKER_01: Right now, my hierarchy when it comes to contenders, right now, I got the OKC Thunder number one.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: I got the healthy Denver Nuggets team if they can ever get healthy, number two.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: I got the Houston Rockets number three, and right behind the Houston Rockets, the LA Lakers, and I wouldn't be too crazy.
12:29
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't call you crazy if you have the LA Lakers over the Houston Rockets.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: Notice in my top four teams, there's no Eastern Conference teams.
12:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm still trying to figure out these.
12:36
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's still trying to figure out these.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: But the Lakers have been that ridiculous since LeBron James has come back in that small sample size, very small, five game sample size.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: The Lakers have the best offense in all of basketball by a pretty good margin.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: Again, Jazz twice.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: You feel me?
12:52
SPEAKER_01: But I'm just I'm just giving you the sets as they sit.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: My favorite thing to watch is to see how these teams are trying to scheme up what I'm calling the three-headed offensive juggernaut.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: LeBron James has not had a game, right, where he was looking like last year's version of himself and even against the Pelicans.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: He's didn't play.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: But they have so much on-ball offensive talent.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: They have two, we talked about this a year or so ago, two supercomputers that will break down your defense with just a mind.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: There's a clip that went semi-viral on NBA Twitter of Luca Dante telling Rui Hachimura where to go for like six possessions to go uh straight, and they just scored on every single one of those possessions.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: Where after the game against the Clippers, Tyran Lou said, basically said, We tried.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: Remember the Lou Williams clip when he was with, I think it was Montrez Harrell, when he was when they were asking about how you guard Kevin O'Reilly.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: He said, I promise you we tried.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: That's the same vibe I got from Tyran Lou in that post-game interview talking about Luka Doncic.
13:49
SPEAKER_01: They tried everything and it did not matter.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: One of the things that because they have so many offensive weapons, and I'm talking, I'm specifically talking about like Austin Reeves at this point, be honest, because again, LeBron hasn't been able to give us a crazy offensive game just yet.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: That these teams that are blitzing Luka Doncic, sending to yada yada yada, the Lakers are completely okay with just playing 4v3 offensively.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: And Austin Reeves is just continue to turn into just an offensive juggernaut, that he's able to take that 4v3 and turn it into what feels like 4v2 and sometimes 4v1, because he is as as smart as anybody that's not one of the top 10 players in basketball.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: It's such a pleasure to watch.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: And again, I've always really enjoyed Luca.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: I've said it once, I'll say it again, that if you only can go see one NBA player play live, Luca Dante is number one on the top of my list.
14:40
SPEAKER_01: Every chance I get to see Luca Dantez play, I will because it just I think that some of the ins and outs of what Luca Dante's does kind of get lost through TV, and you kind of have to be there to see it.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: Though these teams have not been good defensively, Tyron Lou and Jason Kidd, we we give them the credit for being defensive-oriented coaches, and they're they both, again, went to their post-game interview, it's like we just don't really know what to do with this team.
15:06
SPEAKER_01: And if we add on top of like a Rui Hachimura having a good shooting game or somebody else just stepping up and hitting some shots, it's just a dangerous offensive team.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: And some of the other teams that we mentioned on the hierarchy of NBA contenders, the OKC Thunder, have the mindset of we're gonna muck it up, we're gonna get steals, we're gonna foul a hell of a ton, and we're gonna play great defense and turn those opportunities to buckets.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: The different nuggets and the Lakers are somewhat similar in the sense that their identity is that we're gonna be so damn good offensively, and as long as we can be okay defensively, that is enough.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: And we're seeing that in real time.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: One of the questions I've been asked a good amount about this Lakers team since they've been looking pretty solid recently is like, how can you explain the fact that they have such a great record, but their net rating is not as good as the OKC Thunder or the Denver Nuggets or the Houston Rockets, even though they have similar records in a few of those teams.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: And the best way I could describe it is that sometimes this feels like a get you a stop when you need a stop team.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: And that could be a dangerous game to play, right?
16:09
SPEAKER_01: We go to a seven-game series, every single possession matters, but it seems as like this is one of those teams, like, yeah, it's not that we're gonna lollygag defensively for the entire game, but like it's not our main priority.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: And then you see it when games get somewhat close, you see when teams go on a run, they can give you three to five stops in a row.
16:26
SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh yeah, this team does have an okay off uh defensive ceiling.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: And again, it could be dangerous in the postseason where it all matters, but I'm just I'm just amazed with all of this.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: The biggest beneficiary, if that's how you pronounce that word, to Luca Dontis seeing all these defensive coverages is uh Austin Reeves.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: Austin Reeves, you know, um has not hit his shots as good as we normally see him do, but he is still let me I didn't even write these numbers in my in my book, so let me let me look at these real quick because you it is so crazy to see him averaging through 15 games.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: Y'all are y'all ready for these numbers?
17:03
SPEAKER_01: 28 and a half points.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: Not minutes, points.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: Seven rebounds, or seven assists, six rebounds, 51 uh 35, 87.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: I just I don't know.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: I as somebody that you know was liked Austin Reeves uh earlier in his career, I don't know if anybody saw him being a near 30 point per game score, specifically on a team that also had two other superstars.
17:30
SPEAKER_01: He's just really good, y'all.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: And if he can get to the point where his three-point shot can fall like it did in the game versus Dallas, where he hit six of them, then it's it's really GG's.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: One thing that was so interesting is that those first two games versus the Utah Jazz for Austin Reeves at least, it felt like he was kind of waiting for his opportunity, waiting for the ball to get to him, not really pushing um pushing the tempo or pushing what he looks like as an offensive guy, just getting it in the flow.
17:58
SPEAKER_01: And even in those games where he was getting it within the flow, he had 26 points in the first game and 22 points in the second one.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: He is a guy that you can play off ball and have silent 20 to 25 point games, but he also is a guy say, man, Braun wants to be a screenster, Braun wants to do this and let Austin Reese cook, and he's been able to do that.
18:17
SPEAKER_01: After the first game versus the Utah Jazz, LeBron made the quotes in this post-game interview that said, hey man, I just I genuinely don't know why so many people was questioning whether or not I could fit alongside some of these dudes.
18:27
SPEAKER_01: And he's been able to do it.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: This is the perfect opportunity for a guy that's 40 years old that we don't know how much he really got left in the tank.
18:35
SPEAKER_01: I remember there were some fake rumors or maybe real rumors about LeBron James going into this offseason about them shifting their timeline to more Luca focused versus him.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: And it always wrote me wrong because this is the ideal situation for him.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: Have a top five player in the league, have another offensive juggernaut in Austin Reeves, and just do the other stuff.
18:54
SPEAKER_01: And right now, the other stuff for LeBron James is turning the Lakers to another version of Showtime.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: Lobs, backdoor screen.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: I saw I saw Lucas at a backdoor that led to a DeAndre Aiden uh Aliu pass versus the Dallas Mavericks.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: JJ Reddy got these boys going.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: And it's so amazing to see.
19:13
SPEAKER_01: I'll say it once, I'll say it again.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: The NBA's better when the Lakers are good.
19:17
SPEAKER_01: The NBA is better when the Knicks are good.
19:19
SPEAKER_01: And right now we kind of got both.
19:22
SPEAKER_01: It's a weird place to be in.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: LeBron, it's gonna be weird him not making all NBA for the first time in gazillion years because he's just not gonna hit that 65 game threshold.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: But I'm really intrigued with this team.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: And maybe I come back next week and we talk about the Lakers again and we're like, nah, Kenny, that team ain't the fourth highest contender.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: But I I feel that way because of what we've seen Luca Dante's be able to do with previous versions of his teams and still make it to the conference finals or make it to the NBA Finals or just give teams hell.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: He is a one-person playoff team.
19:56
SPEAKER_01: And that sometimes that's enough.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: And then when you add Braun, maybe having a game or Austin Reeves having a game, then it can be crazy.
20:03
SPEAKER_01: When we come back, I'm gonna jump around the league and just give opinions.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: Before we go any further, I want to say thank you to our sponsor over at DraftKings.
20:14
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you know all about DraftKings pick six by now, but if you don't, let me fill you in.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: It is where you can pick more or less on different players' stats for these upcoming games.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: Just pick two or more different players into your pick set and decide more or less.
20:26
SPEAKER_01: Sit back and watch and see if you made the right decisions.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, this is this is this is an interesting game.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: Y'all is an interesting game.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: On the other show, we have our leaderboards, and right now I think I'm in second place, which is cool.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: I like when I can put together a pick set for y'all that's like four picks.
20:41
SPEAKER_01: On the other show, I only can do one pick, and I'm like, ooh, which one of these, which one of these do I really love?
20:46
SPEAKER_01: Today I got four that I feel pretty good about for tonight's slate of game.
20:50
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna start off with Mr.
20:52
SPEAKER_01: Franz Wagner versus I was gonna say his former team, but it's that's not fair, versus the Chicago Bulls, who lose the original pick for him.
21:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm going more on his points versus the Bulls.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: The Bulls just have just just have not been good defensively.
21:07
SPEAKER_01: And I made the tweet a couple nights ago when they were going against the Pacers that there's so many different lineup constructions for the Bulls that would look like just the worst defenders you could ever put together.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: And that's the team that we run out with.
21:18
SPEAKER_01: Um and I think that Franz Wagner, a downhill attacker, will benefit off that because we do a very poor job protecting the rim.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: We do a very poor job of preventing people from getting to the rim.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's where Franz Wagner can really, really step up.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: And if we have time, I'll be sure to talk about the Orlando Magic a little bit more later in the episode.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: Next, even though this team has been dreadful at the record of 15 5, James Harden is still being James Harden.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: And they're going against the Miami Heat.
21:45
SPEAKER_01: And I think this is a very interesting game because the Clippers are one of the slowest teams in all of basketball, and the Miami Heat are the fastest team in ball by a wide margin.
21:52
SPEAKER_01: And I like to see the tug and pull of which team is going to win the possession battle or the style battle, if you will.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: But in this one, I'm going.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: James Harden more on assists.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: I mentioned that Zoo has not been the best version of herself with James Harden, still has been able to do a really good job when it comes to the passing aspect of the game.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: So we'll talk about that maybe a little bit later too.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: Next, I want to say Brandon Miller more on points.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: This team.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: This team who, you know, I bought a lot of stock in last season, then sold that stock.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: I'm having a lot of fun watching them.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: They're going against the Brooklyn Nets, another not so good team.
22:28
SPEAKER_01: And if there's any time for the uh the Charlotte Hornets to continue to keep going, I think it's against the the Brooklyn Nets.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: It is still weird to see their boy Brandon Miller out there with the big old shoulder piece playing through that injury or whatever, but I'm going more on his points versus the Brooklyn Nets, who did have a Danny Wolf game the other night.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: I peeped.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: Did have a Danny Wolf game.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: I saw the Brooklyn Nets fan say, hey man, now y'all gonna laugh at our draft class now.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: He's good.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, go Demon hit a big shot in the game versus the Celtics a few nights ago.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: Drake Powell looks like an NBA player even if he struggles to score.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: The last one in my pick set, I went Alex Sarr more on his points versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: I think Alex Saar's sophomore year has been as good as anybody could have expected.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: He's at 19 points per game, eight and a half rebounds, 3.3 assists.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: And I think the most fun part about what Alex Saar is doing is that he has shifted his um shot diet quite a bit.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: He took a lot of threes last season.
23:32
SPEAKER_01: He's chopped those down.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: He did not get to the basket the way you wanted him to.
23:35
SPEAKER_01: He's up there getting to the basket.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: His efficiency has gone up.
23:38
SPEAKER_01: And I was a guy that was pretty critical about his rookie season.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh man, I just I just don't see it on the offensive side of the ball.
23:45
SPEAKER_01: He looks like a completely different player.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: And the Milky Bucks need some more wins.
23:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, they went on a seven-game skid and then got a win versus the the Bucks.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: So I'm from I'm sorry, versus the Nets.
23:56
SPEAKER_01: And they got another easier um opponent here, Washington.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: But they're not easy because Alex Sar, man.
24:01
SPEAKER_01: Alex Sarr go out there.
24:02
SPEAKER_01: Who he who so that's my pick set for tonight.
24:05
SPEAKER_01: I feel pretty good about it.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: I feel pretty good about it.
24:08
SPEAKER_01: I'm putting a lot of trust in some younger players between Brandon and Alex, but you know, I think they can get it going.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: Man, Brandon Miller can hit three threes in the first quarter and be like, oh yeah, that he he's gonna hit that more.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: So again, Franz Wagner more on points versus the Bulls, James Harden more on assists versus Miami, Brandon Miller more on points, and Alex Saarr more on points as well.
24:27
SPEAKER_01: When I come back, yeah, Orlando Magic Talk.
24:30
SPEAKER_01: And then I also want to get to what Stan Van Gundy mentioned on the Zach Low podcast.
24:35
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24:39
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24:44
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24:52
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24:54
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25:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say Stan Van Gundy is turning to one of my favorite people to listen to from the broadcast to his appearances.
25:07
SPEAKER_01: And while I always don't agree with his opinions, I think he always gives you something to think about.
25:11
SPEAKER_01: And on his most recent appearance on Zach Lowe's podcast, he said, we can probably say that the best 20 basketball players in history have probably played in the last 20 years.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: He goes on to say that Nikola Jokic is probably the best player ever to play basketball.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: And while I definitely don't agree with that, I think it is very interesting the way we kind of talk about the ranking of players and so on and so forth.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: I think the premise of Stan Van Gundy's argument here is pretty sound, right?
25:43
SPEAKER_01: Every sport, everything in life continues to evolve.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: So though we may have players in the 50s and the 60s and the 70s, the 80s, or the 90s who were elite level players, as the game continues to shift and be with the game continuing to get better and better, so are the players.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: So I can agree with some of the idea behind it.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I can agree with this specific statement that the best 20 have probably come from the last 20 years.
26:06
SPEAKER_01: I definitely can't agree that Nikola Jokic is probably the best player ever because I think that when it comes to, for me personally, and this is a decision I made since I listened to this because I've been thinking about it a lot, what Stan Vagunny was saying, is that I'm just no longer trying to rank across errors.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: It just doesn't make sense.
26:23
SPEAKER_01: The game is just so much different.
26:26
SPEAKER_01: The shots that are being generated are just so much different.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: The way teams can play defense is just so much different.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: We like I remember just watching older games and just seeing what illegal defense was, and just like that's just a normal defensive possession in 2025, 2026.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: Seeing guys who objectively, if they had the green light to shoot 10 threes a game, would light it up from the 80s to the 90s, and they just don't have the same opportunity as the guys in the 2025s and the 2026s.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: And vice versa, I just I think that if you allow every single player to have the same playing field, then we would be able to rank these players, but that's not necessarily the case.
27:01
SPEAKER_01: So because of that, I'm just not ranking cross.
27:04
SPEAKER_01: So you're asking me who the greatest player of all time is.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: I say, I don't know.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: I could give you the best player of each era, I give you the best players from each era, but I just can't do it anymore.
27:12
SPEAKER_01: Specifically because we don't, we don't really talk about best player ever in the sense of just the basketball, if you know what I mean, right?
27:19
SPEAKER_01: We're not just talking about who shoots better, who does this better on the court.
27:23
SPEAKER_01: We most of the time bring in accolades.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: We bring in, you know, more team-oriented things, championships.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: Though you gotta be one of the man's to be the best player on the championships team, you gotta be one of the man's to do it six times and not lose in that.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: But you also have to recognize it is a team sport.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: I have never in my lifetime seen a single individual player win a championship before.
27:42
SPEAKER_01: So it is kind of weird to kind of bring up championships when talking about players specifically across eras.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: Now, if these two dudes existed in the same era and you want to bring up championships, that makes sense to me at least a little bit more than when you talk about a 90s player versus a 2020s player.
27:56
SPEAKER_01: And the only reason I say a little bit more because it is genuinely team building at the end of the day.
28:01
SPEAKER_01: Some of the teams that have won championships more recently is not because the individual guy, it's because the team was built very well.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: A team that just went to the NBA championship, though they did not win, the Indiana Pacers, we give so much love to Halliburton and his run because my goodness, how many uh game-winning shots can one person hit?
28:17
SPEAKER_01: But also the biggest thing about this team is that they had they can run 10 deep, that's played their system and played their style, and they hooped their ass off.
28:26
SPEAKER_01: So it's just different.
28:27
SPEAKER_01: And I appreciate that Stan Van Gundy is, I don't know, um, vocal enough to give this level of opinion because it got a lot of people talking, me included.
28:35
SPEAKER_01: And I think that the evolution of the game is real.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: I think that we have more, we have better athletes now than we ever have.
28:42
SPEAKER_01: I think um technology, even though we're dealing with so many injuries in the NBA, technology in the medical field has allowed players to come back from an ACL, come back from an Achilles, where in the 80s and the 90s, you come back from Achilles.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean, what's the picture?
28:54
SPEAKER_01: The Bernard King uh knee pitcher we had to play with that big ass brace for the rest of his career.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: There's players in the NBA with multiple ACL injuries.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: It's like, yeah, he's cool.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: You know?
29:04
SPEAKER_01: The sneakers.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: Man, go look at what Will Chamberlain was super near.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: I I wouldn't walk outside in those shoes if it was snowing because it was that thin.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: And now we got shoes like, oh, that's that's a zero bounce technology with with the with your toes don't curve.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: Keep me with the narrows.
29:21
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to Stanley Gundy.
29:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh, next we're I want to talk about is the Orlando Magic.
29:25
SPEAKER_01: They're sitting at 12 and 8 right now.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: They're 8-2 in their last 10.
29:28
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna read you the overall stats of these top uh last 10 games.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: They are seventh on offense in the last 10 games and eighth on defense.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: Talk to me, Magic fans.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: No, seriously, talk to me, Magic fans.
29:39
SPEAKER_01: How are y'all feeling?
29:40
SPEAKER_01: Because I have my opinions about what this team looks like and everything, but I'm curious what the fans feel like because it was a rocky start.
29:47
SPEAKER_01: And even in 12 and 8, you're like, okay.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: But no, you look at the way they haven't played as of recently, you feel more optimistic about what this team could potentially be.
29:55
SPEAKER_01: The Orlando Magic have never been a good offensive team, and now, right now, they are that.
30:00
SPEAKER_01: They're playing with a level of physicality that they've been able to play with in previous seasons, but I feel like it's amped up just a little bit because they're now turning their stops into transition buckets when this was like a team that got a lot of stops, but didn't run out with the best of them.
30:12
SPEAKER_01: And right now, they're one of the best transition teams in ball.
30:15
SPEAKER_01: And they it makes sense that it happens now.
30:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, and maybe it should have happened years ago because they have so many great transition players from Anthony Black, who I'm gonna get to in a minute, from Jalen Suggs to Franz Wagner, who I just feel like just doesn't miss at the rim.
30:27
SPEAKER_01: They just have so many different options that it like some of the times it's off makes, right?
30:31
SPEAKER_01: Hit ahead passes to um, I guess the 76ers the game I'm thinking about, where Anthony Black hit the 31 piece.
30:36
SPEAKER_01: Just hit a hair passes to him who's just streaking down the the left um side of the court after a May basket that led to an easy layup.
30:43
SPEAKER_01: This team is just playing good hoops.
30:44
SPEAKER_01: And even Jamal Mosley says that their increase in offensive production is based on their defense, getting stops.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: And I do feel that way.
30:52
SPEAKER_01: Before the season started, we did an episode here on Smallball.
30:54
SPEAKER_01: We talked about some of the most interesting players for the upcoming season.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: Basically, these guys are maybe the swing player for their specific teams.
31:01
SPEAKER_01: And one guy that I mentioned was Anthony Black.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: And in that, I mentioned how, you know, maybe he should transition his game for being off-ball a little bit more.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: They shouldn't run as many pick and rolls because he's one of the worst pick and roll players in all the ball last season.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: And some of that has happened this year, where one thing that bothers me about certain players, and a lot of times it ends up being the younger players, and Anthony Black still fits into that, even though he's a couple years into his career, is that they're not playing off instinct.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: They're they're they're playing a second behind.
31:30
SPEAKER_01: And I already mentioned that a little bit with uh Modus Buzelis, but I truly do feel like that was the case for Anthony Black, where it took him a half a second, a millisecond, if you will, to make decisions.
31:41
SPEAKER_01: And right now he's playing off instinct and he's using that athleticism that I feel like he just didn't use a lot in the first couple years of his career.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: He's caught a couple bodies, he's getting out in transition, he's finishing through contact, he's playing really good ball, and he is kind of playing the hybrid role that I wanted him to play coming into the season, where he's just not on ball as much as he used to be.
31:59
SPEAKER_01: Playing off ball, playing off cuts, uh playing in transition.
32:01
SPEAKER_01: That is the perfect type of player for Anthony Black to be.
32:04
SPEAKER_01: And he is one of the swing players for this team.
32:08
SPEAKER_01: I think the big question comes when you talk about the Orlando Magic right now in this run is about Paulo Benquero, where it's like, hey, this team is looking so good without Paolo.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: I think it was uh Bill Simmons that name it the urine theory where your best player goes down, you continue to play good, and then you question whether that player, your best player, is even your best player, even if he's a good ball player.
32:28
SPEAKER_01: And here's what I would say about that.
32:30
SPEAKER_01: I think objectively the team is playing more free-flowing because Palo Mancaro was top five in isolation touches before his injury, and if you eliminate that level of offensive production or eliminate those touches and you don't have the talent necessarily to bring it up, then you need to spread the wealth a little bit more.
32:48
SPEAKER_01: You need to throw the extra one more pass.
32:50
SPEAKER_01: You need to play, you know, more Iverson cuts and more horns actions because you just don't have the offensive talent that Palo Ben Caro was bringing.
32:58
SPEAKER_01: Now, I do think it's gonna be some internal thing between him and Trey Young and some of these other very good players that are missing in their team playing successfully.
33:06
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna have to look internally and say, hey, the team is doing good doing this, so I got to cut my isolation possessions down a little bit.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: I gotta cut down my late uh time or late shot clock mid-range jumpers down to fit into what this team is.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: And I think ultimately that just helps the ceiling of this team.
33:21
SPEAKER_01: I think it'd be crazy to think that this team is better without Paolo, though.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, in the regular season sense, I guess there's again there could be an argument considering the last couple games.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: But if you want to be a championship level team, which is what the Orlando Magic want to be because they gave up all them damn draft picks for Desm Bain, I don't think you get there with the the power friendship that the Orlando Magic are running with right now.
33:41
SPEAKER_01: You need top and talent.
33:42
SPEAKER_01: And Palo Bancaro is top hand talent.
33:44
SPEAKER_01: So I can't wait to see him play.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: I just I don't know whenever the hell he's gonna come back because there's been so many games where he was on the injury port, is not out but doubtful and then questionable, then he's out again.
33:54
SPEAKER_01: Um I also want to give my flowers to Jalen Suggs, who continued to be a great guy, a great ball player, and feisty as all hell.
34:01
SPEAKER_01: One of my biggest concerns for them was um, you know, they paid Jalen Suggs the year after he played really well.
34:07
SPEAKER_01: Then the next season he was banged up.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: It's like, oof, will that will that contract age well?
34:12
SPEAKER_01: Is he more like the guy that played last season or the two years before that?
34:15
SPEAKER_01: And so far he's playing like the guy that got paid.
34:17
SPEAKER_01: Last thing, and it is a very quick thought.
34:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm a little bit afraid that when we get to the postseason, that we will boil down to which team is more healthy.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: As I watch these games on a nightly basis, I'm seeing teams miss one starter, and the the game is just not as good as it should be because that one starter is missing.
34:37
SPEAKER_01: And I kind of look at the last couple years, and and injury luck has always been a thing.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to act like it's just happened the last couple years, but a lot of the teams that end up winning their series end up being the more healthier team.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm a little bit afraid with all the injuries that are happening across basketball, if that will just be the case.
34:54
SPEAKER_01: Instead of it being like these two teams at the peak of their powers, who's gonna win?
34:57
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
34:58
SPEAKER_01: Ask KB, coming up next.
35:05
SPEAKER_01: Now it's time for my favorite segment, your favorite segment, Ask KB, where you can hit us up on Twitter, on Instagram, and ask me questions.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's NBA, sometimes it's not.
35:14
SPEAKER_01: The first one comes from Nutter331.
35:16
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to him.
35:16
SPEAKER_01: I feel like he's on every single episode of this show and Pierre's show as well.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: Is there a bad team that isn't your favorite team?
35:23
SPEAKER_01: And you're taking a shot at the Bulls, I see that, that you go out of your way to watch and why?
35:27
SPEAKER_01: For me, it's the Pelicans.
35:28
SPEAKER_01: They're bad, but Dare Queen is a fun watch.
35:30
SPEAKER_01: Trey Murphy's become one of my favorite players last year when he was high in Zion when he's playing is great.
35:34
SPEAKER_01: Yes, Jay Nutter, uh, my favorite bad team to watch right now is the is just obviously the Utah Jazz.
35:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying they're a bad team.
35:44
SPEAKER_01: They're one game out of the play in right now.
35:45
SPEAKER_01: No, they're a bad team.
35:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, and the reason why I love watching him play, uh, Larry Mark is one of my favorite players to watch in general.
35:51
SPEAKER_01: I think that some of the ways he he's able to, or I guess Will Hardy's able to generate good looks for him is I don't know, it's inspirational.
35:59
SPEAKER_01: I think that Will Hardy just has a really good offensive system.
36:01
SPEAKER_01: They don't have a lot of great players over there.
36:02
SPEAKER_01: But watching Larry Mark and be able to drop 30s and rarely dribble the basketball, like some of the shots that he's taking and making, it's just literally off catches, off cuts, and so on.
36:13
SPEAKER_01: Keontae Keontae George is playing really, really well.
36:17
SPEAKER_01: And he's such a unique player because though his three-point shot is starting to turn around at least, he was averaging 20 plus points per game without shooting the ball well.
36:25
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of that had to be uh do with his free throw rate going up so much.
36:30
SPEAKER_01: And now again, the three-point shot has fallen a little bit more.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: So now you look at Mr.
36:33
SPEAKER_01: George, you say, oh man, do we really have a true building block there?
36:37
SPEAKER_01: And also because the team is so bad defensively, that somebody on the other team is gonna take off.
36:42
SPEAKER_01: Somebody's gonna have 30 to 40 every single night on the other team.
36:44
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, oh, is it gonna be a curry night?
36:46
SPEAKER_01: Oh, is it gonna be this player night?
36:48
SPEAKER_01: And it's just it's fun, it's fun with no stakes involved, fun offense is going head to head.
36:53
SPEAKER_01: I absolutely love it.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: I was a big Bryce Censorball guy before the season started.
36:57
SPEAKER_01: He next question.
36:59
SPEAKER_01: Uh comes my boy Cam.
37:01
SPEAKER_01: Cam says, How do you think the Spurs offense will look once Wimby comes back?
37:05
SPEAKER_01: They have more flu they have been more fluid and faster since he went down.
37:09
SPEAKER_01: Instead of being having post injuries and isolations um from him, which led to being more stagnant.
37:15
SPEAKER_01: Do you think they'll go back to that or reintegrate him to this style?
37:20
SPEAKER_01: I think it's more likely that they go back to the Wimbin Yama type of way.
37:27
SPEAKER_01: And the reason I say that is maybe the just a little bit of fear in the back of their mind that playing this brand of basketball that is so fast and so on, just a little bit of fear that Wimbenyama may not be able to withstand some of the high-pace, the high-pace nature of the way they're playing right now.
37:44
SPEAKER_01: Also, he's really, really good.
37:47
SPEAKER_01: So the one thing one thing I don't want to do is get away from what makes Wimbenyama great for the sense of um the other guys, because when Wimbyama has played and that system was what it was, they were still winning ball games.
37:58
SPEAKER_01: Now, I do think it is really interesting to see them be able to do this because it shows you that there can be two faces to the coin that is the San Antonio Spurs, that you see them as the Wimbanyama team.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: But uh-oh, Wimby Yama goes to the bench, and now we're playing this free-flowing game, and now De'Aaron Fox is getting downhill, and now Denva Sale is hitting his seventh clutch shot of the game.
38:16
SPEAKER_01: So I think it will be both.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it makes more sense for them to revert back to the Wimbenyama way because it was working so well before that.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: Like some of the things that you see again the best player go down and you and you watch the team be able to trust, you know, look good in those waters and all, sometimes it is a lightning in the bottle situation.
38:37
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that's is the case for the San Antonio Spurs, but it's more likely that is the case than the opposite of that.
38:43
SPEAKER_01: So let's just go back to playing through Wimby because I think it is just better for not just the season, but the San Antonio Spurs in general, if Wimbayama is allowed to just dominate.
38:53
SPEAKER_01: It's a great question, though, Cam.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: I do the Spurs fit into that too.
38:56
SPEAKER_01: Even post Wimby being out, they are still an amazingly fun team.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: And we made the joke earlier um that like maybe, because this was a big question before De'Aaron Fox came back, that maybe they don't need De'Arn Fox.
39:08
SPEAKER_01: Man, De'Aaron Fox had that 30-point game against Portland, close out a few games, 12 assists in the game versus Denver.
39:14
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, he's he's still one of them ones, believe it or not.
39:17
SPEAKER_01: I'm so happy he's continuing to show that.
39:19
SPEAKER_01: Next question comes from Tony Rodenburner.
39:22
SPEAKER_01: Is it okay for in arena fans to say what they want to players since they pay for tickets?
39:27
SPEAKER_01: Shouldn't players just ignore everything they hear?
39:29
SPEAKER_01: It's a very great, great question from Mr.
39:31
SPEAKER_01: Tony Rodenburner.
39:33
SPEAKER_01: Um, so this is coming off the heels of a couple different ones happening just this week.
39:38
SPEAKER_01: Draymond Green getting to it with a fan against the Pelicans, if I'm not mistaken.
39:42
SPEAKER_01: Zach Levine getting into a fan of his own franchise in the Sacramento Kings, and then Josh Giddy getting into it with a fan uh versus the Charlotte Hornets the other night as well.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: All three of these things happening in the last week and some change.
39:55
SPEAKER_01: So um I kind of want to tackle at least a couple of those with starting off with the Zach Levine one because it's so unique because it's not uh a road game where fans are heckling you, like in the Dre Montgreen case or even in the Josh Giddy case is like fans are gonna be fans, they root for the other team, so they may say something crazy.
40:14
SPEAKER_01: This is his own fan base, and this guy there's a seasoned ticket holder, if I'm not mistaken, going out of his way to say, man, you gotta lock in defensively and words being exchanged and him eventually getting kicked out of the game.
40:24
SPEAKER_01: I think that one is different than the other ones, where if the reports and the story that the guy that got kicked out said is that if that is true, then I don't see much of a problem with it.
40:37
SPEAKER_01: Because I think as a fan, you always just want your players to give their best effort.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: And in his mind, and Kings fans' mind, because I got some screenshots of what these Kings fans have been saying about my boy Zach Levine, in their mind, Zach Levine's not playing up to par.
40:51
SPEAKER_01: From my understanding, from his his interpretation of the story, because Zach Levine has not commented on it, from my understanding, he nobody went out of the way to call them and call each other names, so yada yada yada.
41:00
SPEAKER_01: It was, hey man, we suck right now.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: I want to see you play better defense.
41:05
SPEAKER_01: And it hit a nerve, I guess.
41:07
SPEAKER_01: So I feel like that one's more okay.
41:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't, I mean, I don't like the back and forth nature of it all, but I think that one's a little bit more okay.
41:13
SPEAKER_01: And um to the second part of the question is like, should the players ignore it?
41:19
SPEAKER_01: Ah man, it's so easier said than done.
41:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, because on a very, very, and I'm gonna say this a couple more times, very, very lesser scale, as somebody that creates content, you will see a thousand comments about how great a video was, how great of an entertainer you are.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: And then that one comment that says, Man, this was ass, it sticks.
41:41
SPEAKER_01: So I can understand it from a player's perspective of hearing your home fans saying, Man, you gotta lock in and be like, bro, I'm trying my best.
41:48
SPEAKER_01: Maybe he's not though.
41:49
SPEAKER_01: The other two instances are way different.
41:52
SPEAKER_01: Um the Giddy one, I don't know.
41:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm like, I'm right there on the like I try not to play on the fence, but this is one where I'm on the fence because I don't know.
42:02
SPEAKER_01: Josh Giddy got traded to my favorite team over a year ago.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: Over a year ago?
42:06
SPEAKER_01: Over a year ago at this point.
42:08
SPEAKER_01: And when he got traded to my team, I was like, oh, I gotta make sure I do my due diligence to try to figure out what the hell happened.
42:13
SPEAKER_01: And if you if you know the situation I'm talking about, I'm not gonna go too much into it.
42:16
SPEAKER_01: If I still don't, there's been nobody has been able to say definitively this is what happened.
42:22
SPEAKER_01: Everybody has speculation and so on and so forth.
42:24
SPEAKER_01: I don't know where to sit there.
42:25
SPEAKER_01: Um, and obviously it struck a nerve for Josh Giddy, which is surprising to me because I feel as though a lot of the road games that Giddy might play at, he may hear something similar.
42:34
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what specifically about that fan uh got him, but it's it's it's an interesting question, Tony Roden uh burner.
42:40
SPEAKER_01: And I think maybe it's a little bit more nuanced than saying like they should be able to say what they want, but the players can't, you know.
42:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, the last question that we have is an audio one, which again you can send us well.
42:51
SPEAKER_01: You can hit us up on Instagram, send us a voice one.
42:54
SPEAKER_01: This one comes from my boy Hamilton.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: My boy Hamilton.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's see what you got.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: You watch all these NBA games, you make content for multiple channels, you have two podcasts, run a company, you have a family, and of course you have other interests and activities and a life of your own on the side that we don't see.
43:09
SPEAKER_00: How do you do all of it?
43:10
SPEAKER_00: It's it's inspirational, honestly.
43:13
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Hamilton.
43:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, what I will say is that I am a lot better at time management now than I was, let's just say, even a year ago.
43:21
SPEAKER_01: Um I I I've mentioned it before, but in the in the path to get where I am at now, and I'm still trying I'm still trying to get up that path.
43:31
SPEAKER_01: I had to make a ton of sacrifices, right?
43:33
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not I'm not saying that to be like, oh, Kenny, feel bad for him.
43:36
SPEAKER_01: No, no, not even a little bit.
43:37
SPEAKER_01: But I had I did have to make a lot of sacrifices to like, you know, certain family relationships have fallen off because of my my like sticking with my work of it all.
43:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I feel like I have a better schedule now than I ever have before.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: And you know, it's from when I wake up and when I'm watching film to being with the kids to getting ready for the games and making dinners, like I really do have.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: A now like a full schedule that I try to stick to as best as possible.
44:04
SPEAKER_01: And it has changed, it has changed my house life, I would say.
44:08
SPEAKER_01: You know, everybody was happy from my understanding, but I feel like everybody's happier now that I'm able to stick to the schedule.
44:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, but also it's not as much as you think.
44:18
SPEAKER_01: Believe it or not, one thing I be having to tell people is like, man, I'm not as busy as you think.
44:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you named a lot of stuff.
44:24
SPEAKER_01: I have great other business owners with me.
44:26
SPEAKER_01: So the business aspect of it, although I'm in these meetings, I'm not like every day, I'm I'm making sure every employee is doing this.
44:31
SPEAKER_01: That's not my role within the company.
44:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, when it comes to watching basketball, it's from 6 to 12.
44:35
SPEAKER_01: That's not that crazy.
44:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, creating content can be from 12 to 3.
44:39
SPEAKER_01: You wake up the next morning to edit a video and boom, you you're right back into the swing of things.
44:43
SPEAKER_01: So it took some time for me to finally, finally figure it out.
44:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, but believe it or not, I'm as stress-free as I've ever been in life.
44:53
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to therapy, shout out to supplements, and I'm not gonna give which supplements we're taking, but I love it.
44:59
SPEAKER_01: When we come back, NBA Cup, we got our last couple teams.
45:02
SPEAKER_01: Stay tuned.
45:08
SPEAKER_01: The NBA Cup quarterfinals are set.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: We're down to our last eight teams, and I will say, man, I am a true lover of the NBA Cup for what it's worth.
45:18
SPEAKER_01: I think that it is important for us fans to like the NBA Cup.
45:23
SPEAKER_01: So it's like uh the old Simpsons meme where um grandpa is watching a Super Bowl and he's like, I gotta watch this because if it does, if we don't watch it, it's gonna fail.
45:33
SPEAKER_01: I feel that way when it comes to the NBA Cup because I think there are pieces of the NBA Cup that can transform the regular season.
45:42
SPEAKER_01: I'll say it, I I don't like the courts, but I understand you kind of have to let the average NBA fan understand what makes this game special.
45:50
SPEAKER_01: So if that means an ugly court, sure.
45:51
SPEAKER_01: If that means a neon court that glares off the face of his player, sure.
45:55
SPEAKER_01: But I think that you can see it across the league now that we're into year number three of the cup, that players and coaching staffs are taking this thing seriously.
46:03
SPEAKER_01: Teams are genuinely playing their best players, even when they're up by 15 with two minutes to go, bro.
46:08
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of insane.
46:09
SPEAKER_01: So if they're locked in, that I have no choice myself to be locked in.
46:12
SPEAKER_01: And I do believe that the one thing they can change is the neutral site championship.
46:17
SPEAKER_01: Now, I know they probably won't do that because they they're trying to test some Vegas stuff.
46:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, but the last couple championships didn't feel like championships because there it was a split of fans in there, and a lot of the fans actually didn't have an allegiance to the team, regardless.
46:28
SPEAKER_01: But if we had a championship where the number one seed had a home court advantage and the amount of pressure that would bring would be amazing.
46:34
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's still the working product.
46:36
SPEAKER_01: But I want to talk about these last eight teams and these matchups going to the semi.
46:40
SPEAKER_01: So, in Easter Conference, we got a battle of Florida with the Orlando Magic versus the wildcard team, Miami Heat.
46:47
SPEAKER_01: Talked about how good the Orlando Magic have looked.
46:49
SPEAKER_01: I cannot wait for this game in a couple days or like a week's time or so.
46:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, because I think that these teams are gonna try to scheme it up as if it is a playoff game, a winner-go-home game, where we will see the Miami Heat try to throw two at some of the better players across the team and say, hey, somebody else got to make a shot.
47:04
SPEAKER_01: Anthony Black, I just sung your praises.
47:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't trust it.
47:07
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna we're gonna send two over here to make you drop 30 on us or so.
47:12
SPEAKER_01: Then on the 2-3 matchup, we got an Atlantic division matchup where you got the Toronto Raptors versus the New York Knicks.
47:17
SPEAKER_01: The Raptors have been one of the better teams and they won their division.
47:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, and they got the Knicks, and the Knicks have been banged up, but I guess the Raptors have been too.
47:24
SPEAKER_01: We know RJ Barrett.
47:25
SPEAKER_01: It's a good game between a fast-paced defensive Orea to team versus a team that looks like when it's healthy, could be an offensive juggernaut.
47:33
SPEAKER_01: Should I give predictions?
47:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give predictions.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: Orlando versus Miami.
47:37
SPEAKER_01: I'm taking Miami to advance to the semis.
47:39
SPEAKER_01: Upset, upset, upset.
47:41
SPEAKER_01: And then in the Eastern Conference, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go Toronto.
47:47
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go Toronto in a 2-3 matchup versus the New York Knicks based on really it's a one-game elimination.
47:52
SPEAKER_01: So who who the hell knows what's actually gonna happen?
47:54
SPEAKER_01: Out west, we got the nearly undefeated uh OKC Thunder, who had the biggest point differential in NBA Cup history and the qualifiers, by the way.
48:03
SPEAKER_01: Going against the wildcard Phoenix Suns team.
48:05
SPEAKER_01: And the Suns, uh I love this current Suns team.
48:08
SPEAKER_01: I know they had a couple losses against some really good teams recently, OKC at the Denver, but I really love watching this team play.
48:15
SPEAKER_01: It's a breath of fresh air compared to their last version of this team, which was the Kevin Durant Bradley Beal version.
48:20
SPEAKER_01: They all play extremely hard.
48:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, Devin Booker is still a star.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: My boy Khalig Gillespie, who we bought stock year before the season started, is one of the best shooters in the league.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: And they're like Dylan Brooks, turnaround mid-range jumper, sure.
48:32
SPEAKER_01: If they're going in, sure.
48:34
SPEAKER_01: But they're going against OKC again.
48:35
SPEAKER_01: And OKC just had a good game against the Suns.
48:38
SPEAKER_01: Don't get me wrong, but OKC is just an undefeated team.
48:42
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna go with them.
48:44
SPEAKER_01: The 2-3 matchup is the Lakers versus the Spurs.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: And if there's any team that I know cares about the NBA Cup, it is a LeBron James-led Lakers team.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm taking him versus the Spurs, the Luca Doncers of it all, the Austin Reeves of it all.
48:55
SPEAKER_01: The LeBron James maybe being completely healthy by that time of it all.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm going with them.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: So that leaves us with Miami versus Toronto for the Eastern Conference, then the OKC versus the Lakers and the semis for the West.
49:08
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go with the Toronto Raptors advancing to the championship out east versus Miami and then OKC.
49:16
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
49:17
SPEAKER_01: Upset, upset, second loss of the season right here for the OKC Thunder.
49:21
SPEAKER_01: Luka Doncic.
49:23
SPEAKER_01: Now, if there's any team that can scheme up Luca, it might be them.
49:26
SPEAKER_01: I've seen Luka beat them in the playoffs series before.
49:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna stick with the Lakers.
49:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I did it.
49:34
SPEAKER_01: How fun would it be if I just had the one seed that's gonna win?
49:36
SPEAKER_01: That's boring.
49:38
SPEAKER_01: Lakers versus Raptors in the final.
49:42
SPEAKER_01: Uh we the North, baby.
49:45
SPEAKER_01: Toronto Raptors go on to win the third NBA Cup ever.
49:50
SPEAKER_01: Watch them lose in the first round of the uh in the court in the quarterfinals, and I got them going all the way to win.
49:56
SPEAKER_01: Either way, shout out to the cup, been having a lot of fun.
49:58
SPEAKER_01: This has hopefully been another great and classic episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beach.
50:02
SPEAKER_01: And be sure to tune in at the exact same time next week for another episode.
50:06
SPEAKER_01: Peace.