Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / Knicks Beauty, Mavs Achilles Heel, Jokic MVP

Transcript

Knicks Beauty, Mavs Achilles Heel, Jokic MVP · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's frustrated because Jaden McDaniels and the Kill Alexander Walker has been on his ass this entire playoff, or the fact that he's not looking like the player that we normally see him be.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, he's definitely hurt out there.
0:11
SPEAKER_00: But that can only get you so far as an excuse.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: The Minnesota Timbs have been so ridiculous.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, I picked against him in the first round and the second round.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Kenny Beach and podcast.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: On today's episode, we got to talk about the New York Knicks being up 2-0.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: Just two games away from making a conference finals appearance.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: We got to talk about the OKC Thunder, the youngest team in the league, taking a 1-0 series lead over the Mavericks.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: We got to talk about the C's, and we have an MVP, y'all.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Finally, we know it is Nicole Jokic.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about all of that today.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: Be sure to leave a like, subscribe, go to the audio platforms and give us five stars.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: I like the flow that we have right now.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, every night, well, not every night, it should be every night, but not every night.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: I do like these instant reactions to the games that I saw that night.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: Like I go on the Kenny for real channel, boom, here's a 10-minute excerpt of what I saw today.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: And then you come to the Kenny Beach and podcast for me to get under the layers of the series.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: You feel me?
1:12
SPEAKER_00: So you should be, that's me telling you, you should be watching uh both channels.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: That's just my that's just my opinion.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Let's get into it.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about the New York Knicks because they are now up to 0.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: I am filming this right after they won against Indy.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know what Rick Carlisle is going to say.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Because I thought in this one, TJ McConnell, Obi Toppin deserve to play down a stretch.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: And I I kind of understand it, right?
1:34
SPEAKER_00: If you are a head coach, you want to play your best guys, even if those best guys are not the ones that are leading you to success.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: I thought the majority of the time where the Pacers took that big lead, it was a lot of TJ McConnell, it was a lot of Obi Toppin.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: It was a lot of Jalen Brunson being out with that injury, first of all.
1:49
SPEAKER_00: I think that we should probably open with that.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: But when you when you see the Indiana Pacers start at five, kind of get bullied, get outhearted by Josh Hart and Isaiah Hartenstein, you you kind of want to see a guy like TJ McConnell, who I think he played some really good defense on Jalen Brunson, all things considered, because at this point in time, it ain't a single person on Earth that feel like he can stay in front of Jalen Brunson.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: Um so not playing those two energy guys down the stretch might have might have cost him this one.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: It was cool to see Tyrese Halliburton come out and have a really good first half, but in the second half, he didn't have those same juices.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: And it's just so insane to see a guy like Jalen Brunson be as good as he is.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: I know we've probably talked about this a million times on this channel, but uh he goes out with his injury um at the end of the first quarter, in the middle in the middle to the end of the first quarter.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: And immediately you just see the Indiana Pacers going this huge run where eventually, I think they were down by nine points when he went out with his injury, and then when going into halftime, they were up by double digits.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: Tyrese Halliburton sends shots, Ben Shepard won't miss a shot.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: And then immediately second halves open up, and then Jalen Brunson, the Knicks are running.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: The atmosphere of Madison Square Garden is back because everybody was like, oh my God, our star player's been playing basically 48 minutes for three weeks now.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: Is it catching up with him?
3:02
SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm still, he still didn't look amazing in that second half as far as the way he was moving, but he was still getting buckets and everything.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: I thought for sure that the injury was just him getting a knee to the side of his knee, but they said it was actually his right foot.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: I guess we're gonna have to monitor that.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: The big thing is OG Ananobi going out with what looked like a hamstring.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: They say it was sore, sore left, sore right foot for Jalen Brunson, sore hammy for OG Ananobi.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that's all it really is.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, because it would be uh terrible for one of those two dudes to not be at at least 90%, not just for this series, because I honestly do believe if OG on actually, I don't know about that.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say if OG Ananobi misses a game or two that they should be okay.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: They should, they should be okay.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they lack the depth, right?
3:46
SPEAKER_00: Obi Toppin and TJ McConnell are a luxury for a team like the Indiana Pacers, and New York Knicks don't really have that.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: The one guy that could have been that is Bogie Bogdanovich, but he's gonna be out for the rest of the playoff run.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: Miles McBride had some moments in last series, but so far, not too great.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: And the only people off the bench that are giving you some type of anything for the Knicks is like Preston Shouya.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: It's a it's a big.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: So hopefully OG is completely, completely healthy.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't like the way the offense looked overall for the Pacers in that second half because I look at a guy like Jalen Brunson.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: Again, the guys played 43 plus minutes over the last three weeks, and everybody on the Knicks team just having limited stamina.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: The cardio is ridiculous.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: Uh, who is it?
4:30
SPEAKER_00: Josh Hart is averaging over 48 minutes per game in the last five games because he had the 53-minute game when they were in the series versus the 76ers.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: And I just would love to see the opposing team, and because the 76ers didn't do this much either, uh, and the Pacers haven't done this specifically down the stretch, just try to get Jalen Bronson in as many actions defensively as possible.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: I'm watching the entire clutch time offense for the Pacers, and Jalen Bronson is able to put his hands on his knees because he's guarding Andrew Nimhar.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: I just would love to see an opposing coach try to take advantage of that.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: And listen, Jalen Bronson is a six-foot fire hydro dude.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: He's no slouch on the defensive side of the ball.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: But if anything, if that means that he's just working harder defensive side of the ball, then maybe his offense just takes a 3% dip.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: And that 3% might be the reason you end up winning the game.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: But these Knicks, man, they fight.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: Last series, um, when I was previewing this series, I was like, okay, you offensive rebounded thing that you did against the Philadelphia 76ers, I'm sure you could do it again because, well, they were the number one offensive rebounded team in basketball in the regular season.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: This is part of their identity.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: But I thought to myself, and I guess I think I verbalized this on the podcast too, that the Pacers would just be a different team to crash the glass on because hypothetically you crash the glass, you missed this offensive rebound, you got four people hitting the glass, and that means it's a fast break opportunity for the Indiana Pacers.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: That has not been the case.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: These guys, like the identity of the the Knicks is going to be defense, heart hustle, rebounding, right?
5:57
SPEAKER_00: But they also have a portion of their identity that that is able to be molded to what the other team is really doing.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: They're playing Pacers basketball and winning.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: Like this has not been a defensive-oriented series.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: It just hasn't.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: The first two games has been high scoring, high score, and half scoring.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: Because both teams are matching the pace, they're matching the offense.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of beautiful considering what happened in the last series, where some of these games, some of those games are very grinded out, low-scoring games.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: And in this one, it's like, hey, Jalen Brunson, give us 43.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: Hey, Josh Hart, give us 24 a career high in the playoffs.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: Dante DiVincenzo, of the eight games, and this is not a real stat, but of the eight games they played in the postseason so far, I feel like Dante DiVincenzo has hit a very big three in like five of them.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: It makes no sense.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: And like the first part of the 76ers series, he wasn't even good.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: And he's still hitting some really big shots.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: Who would have thought that the Knicks would be two games away from being in the conference finals without Julius Randle?
6:56
SPEAKER_00: You know, Julius Randle's kind of an afterthought right now.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: Everything is rolling.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure uh they'll go against the Celtics.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: And I know what I believe about that series.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: We gotta get there first.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: We gotta get there first.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm not counting out this, I'm not counting you out, uh, Indy.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: I'm not counting you out, Cleveland, but I have an opinion about what that series is gonna look like.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: But man, you feel pretty good about what the future could look like for the Knicks if hypothetically you decide to buy a little bit, and Julius Randle is one of the contractual pieces that's in that trade.
7:23
SPEAKER_00: Because everybody is playing phenomenal.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: Again, a little bit worried about that injury stuff because you have these dudes playing so many minutes.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: I've I just have flashbacks of Tom Thibodeau coaching, my favorite team, and how half of the more than half of the dudes that played under Tom Thibodeau on their stretch were out of the league in like four years or just injury prone within two.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: So I'm a little bit afraid about that, but the vibes are extremely, extremely high.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: And part of this is just them playing, uh playing great basketball in the last day of the season, where there are other teams who decided to try to lose on purpose to play with the seating.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: The Knicks said no, bring us the 76s, bring us to Miami Heat, whoever it may be.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: And the basketball gods are rewarding them.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: They have not had a game this postseason that wasn't like edge of the chair, uh, clutch moment, clutch moment.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: I think they said that they were six and one in clutch in the postseason so far, which is insane to think that they've only played eight games and seven of them have been considered clutch games.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: So shout out to the to the New York Knicks.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm very curious to see if we see um Rick Carlisle kind of ride the guys that are playing the better game in game number three.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: You definitely need that game.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: You can't go down 0-3 in this one, especially with you coming home.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: Also excited to see what type of uh performance we could get from Pascal Siakam because today it wasn't a good one.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: In the first part of their last series versus the Milwaukee Bucks, he was phenomenal.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: Like he was unguardable through the first three games, and the Knicks have made it so very difficult for him.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: And the the biggest, or not the biggest storyline, but the weirdest storyline right now is Pascal Siakam is shooting 44% from the free throw line in the playoffs.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: I don't, I'm I'm gonna look real quick because I'm here at the computer.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: What he shot in the regular season from the free throw line, I promise you, it wasn't 44%.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: He got, yes, today's game, he missed two.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: Like back to back.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm a um he shot four uh 74% in the regular season.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: Career, he's 76%.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: So to be in the playoffs right now and shooting 40% is just odd.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: Just really is.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: Mouse Turner also had a struggle of a game after being phenomenal uh in game number one.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: It's one that you want.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: And I feel I feel the same way about game number one if you're indie.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, you had some questionable calls go against you, but in game number two, you were also there there as well.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: So that's all my thoughts about this game.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: I I gotta go back and not I don't re-watch games fully, but like I want to see exactly what was happening when the Knicks went on a huge run and re-watch the clutch moment in its games to see exactly what Indy was doing in those last couple minutes offensively.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: Because my my naked eye, the first watch around, I was not impressed.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: I want to go to the OKC versus Dallas series because this was a super fun game.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: I ended up being a blowout, but halfway through the third quarter, it was it was very close.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: It's a weird stat I read this morning on Twitter that I had to bring up on the podcast.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: Dallas has never won a game one and coached Jason Kidd's three-year tender.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: Tenure, sorry.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: Um which makes no sense because they've gone on to win three of the four series that they lost game one in.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: So it's like, okay, we we lose game one.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: We're the Dallas Mavericks.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: We've done that over the last couple of seasons.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: We still walk out victorious.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: But I didn't like what I saw.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: Again, game one, let's overreact a little bit, I guess.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Luka Doncic was not moving well.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: It was at 19 total points on this one.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: Him and Kyrie Irvin combined for 36 points.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: Or was it no, no, they combined for 39 points.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: And in the last series, Kyrie was giving you 39 by himself, or Luca could give you 37.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
10:45
SPEAKER_00: So for both of them to combine for 37 or 39, it's just not gonna cut it because they don't have as much variant as some of these other teams.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: Like they need their top two guys to really look like top two guys.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: And in the last series, they did for the most part.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you can argue that Kyrie Irvin was the better player, especially when we look at those last couple games because Luca was dealing with this sprained knee.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: And the way he was limping around in this court, and to watch Shay hunt him from the first possession of the game, by the way, just hunt him.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know if that's just because of the injury or was that the game plan before the injury, they hunted Luka Doncic.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: And even before the game tipped off, you know, he he's sitting on the stanchion of the rim, you know, the the camera's paying in on him, and he looks at his knee and he smacks it around a little bit.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, oh, this ain't looking good.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: And well, he didn't look good, especially because a lot of the shots that he ends up taking, and this is whether he's healthy or not, end up being like step back, contested three-point shots.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of the shots felt like they were short, and I'm sure that has a lot to do with that knee not having the same bounce that it had.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: And let's be real, Luka Donce is not a player that has a ton of bounce.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: So, no matter what I say right now, I don't think any of it matters if Luka Doncic is not healthy or playing to the caliber that we know he can be.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: Because for the entirety of his career so far, he has been a playoff riser.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: But if his knee is messed up, it's not ideal.
11:57
SPEAKER_00: We talked about them being in the game halfway through the third quarter, where things really shifted for the OKC Thunders when Josh Giddy went to the bench and Isaiah Joke checked in.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: And um, the Dallas Mavericks won a 12-4 run before that happened.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: You know, they were down by, I think, nine points.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: They came all the way back.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: They hit some big shots from PJ Washington at right corner.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: And like, okay, we're still in this game, even though Lucas is not having it.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah Joe comes into the court and everything shifts.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: And it got me thinking about, like, I feel like every team, even the most perfectly constructed teams in basketball, are gonna have their kryptonite.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: Because no team can be perfect.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: And it got me thinking about the games that I've watched recently, specifically post-deadline for the Dallas Mavericks.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: Could I pinpoint something that might be the kryptonite?
12:40
SPEAKER_00: Again, this is just me speculating.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: I have not gone back to re-watch all these games I'm gonna talk about, but kind of to re-watch some of the moments that I remember off the top of my mind.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: Could the Dallas Mavericks Kryptonite just strictly be a five-out offense?
12:53
SPEAKER_00: Kenny, what makes you say that?
12:55
SPEAKER_00: Specifically without Maxi Kleba, by the way, because Maxi Kleba was huge in the last series and now he's not there.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: He just stretches the floor and he can guard multiple positions.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: And without him, let me go through this.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: These are counting the games that matter because the last two games of the season, the Dallas Mavericks already knew what seed they were going to be, so they weren't playing anybody.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: So they lost like 40 points here, 32 points.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: I don't, that doesn't matter.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: Their last five real losses when they were going for their playoff season.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: The last one went against the Golden State Warriors.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is their last real loss of the season.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: And I vividly remember watching this game and the run that the Warriors went on, it had Potts, it had Moody, it had Draymond is not a shooter, don't get me wrong.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: But he's a guy that creates for others from the perimeter.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: That's what I mean by that.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: You know, when I say five out, I don't necessarily mean that everybody on the court is Klay Thompson.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: But when they went on the run, and it was a slight run because the the game ended up being like a three to four point win.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't like they got destroyed in this one.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: But the run that the the Warriors went on that were, that got them that win was them going a little bit smaller and having five guys that at least are a threat to shoot.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: Don't mean that they are great shooters, but at least a threat to shoot.
13:58
SPEAKER_00: Before that, the game that they lost before that was to this OKC Thunder team, again, a team that's running five shooters all of the game, like all of the game.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: There's not a single minute where there's not five shooters.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: Because even when Jay Wheel comes on the court, he banged in with two threes last night.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: They're always gonna have five shooters on the court because Busy don't play.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: The game before that that they lost was the Indiana Pacers, who have Miles Turner, who I just mentioned in the last segment, that he's been having a crazy, a phenomenal series by his standard again tonight.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't very good.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: But another team that's gonna play five out, at least with their main lineup.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: Like Ijax comes in and then no longer five out.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: But I don't remember in this one if J Jason or Jalen Smith was the five, or was it Ijax after Ijax took those minutes, regardless.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: Before that, this one doesn't really fit my narrative if you say that.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: The Philadelphia 76ers was a loss.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: There was no jewel and beat there.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: They started Mo Bomb, but Mo Bomb only played 12 minutes, and then it was B-Ball Paul.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: B Ball Paul is not a stretcher, but he did go one for one from three in this game.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: So maybe it does fit.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: And then before that, it was the Boston Celtics with a healthy Chris Esperzingis.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: So Isaiah Joe comes into this court and it's like, what do we do?
15:02
SPEAKER_00: Because from the very beginning, from tip-off, the first possession of the game, we saw Daniel Gaffer guarding Josh Giddy, which is no surprise to get a lot of people expected that.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: But if you look at the last series, the Pelicans, it took them quite some time for them to completely buy into the fact that we want our center guarding Josh Giddy because they thought that maybe it was just better to have Chet guarding, being guarded by the big man.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: I don't really know.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: Some teams kind of don't start off this way exactly, but the Dallas Mavers weren't playing no games.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: They said Daniel Gaffer, you're guarding Josh Giddy, and that just makes it more difficult, right?
15:31
SPEAKER_00: Daniel Gaffer's a rim protect.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: I think he had three, like three really, really good blocks in this game.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: But as soon as it turns into being Isaiah Joe on the court, now we have Daniel Gaffer.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: He's got to slide back to guard Chet.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: And Chet was rolling very well when they blitzed it.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: He was popping when they didn't.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: And it just makes it harder for a guy like Daniel Gaffer.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: It makes it harder for a guy like Derek Lively.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: And Derrick Lively went to his post-game interview and he said that part of their scheme today was to switch a lot of the stuff.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: And then guess what Shea Gibbs Alexander did when he saw that switch?
16:01
SPEAKER_00: It was a cook session.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: So the offense of the OKC Thunder is just so phenomenal.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: And they might have found it, again, we're talking about game number one of a seven-game series.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: Jason Kidd just got his extension.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: I do want to say Jason Kidd is at least a good coach, at least a good coach.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: So I'm expecting in game number two, they try to remedy that a little bit.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: But Daniel Gaffer felt kind of slow in this one.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: He even missed so many shots.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: Like this man at one point was pushing Wilt for the most consecutive May shots in an NBA season.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: And in this one, there were too many times where he got the ball.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want to say he panicked because he's an NBA player who's been in these positions before.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: But I felt like he made his decision to go up just a little bit earlier than he normally would.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: And that caused some misses.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: It caused a big block from Chet Holmgrund.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: But it's just cool to see a team like OKC, the youngest team of basketball, to go out there and dominate a game like this.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: Shea Gibbs Alexander ended up being number two in MVP.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about that later in the episode.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: But he looked like an MVP in this one.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: He got a good whistle.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: I will say that.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: There was one play where he kicked somebody in the mid-area that might have been Derek Jones Jr.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: He kicked them in the mid area and it was like, not Derrick Jones Jr., that is your foul.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: But as many people I saw complain about the whistle, I want everybody to know that's not why the Dallas Mavers lost this game.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: It don't matter what the whistle says if Luca Dontis has 19 points.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: He's one of the greatest players in basketball.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: How many teams that have a usage player like this can survive a game where their best player has 19 points and any fish of 19 points?
17:28
SPEAKER_00: It just doesn't happen.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: Like that's part of the thing about building a team around a guy that has the ball this much, that a lot of the times, if he's having a bad game, you're going to lose.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: Especially if the guy that's your number two in Carrie Irvin is also not having a ridiculous performance.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: And that's what happened in game number one.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: Now, the problem with all of this is like sometimes you get to the playoffs, you have a game, and then you have a three-day break between or two-day break.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: This series is game, break, game, break, game, break.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: It's every other game or every other day.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: So Luca doesn't even have a lot of time to really rest.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: And when he was asked about it, he said that he doesn't think a single day is gonna help him.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: He said it probably will take it to the offseason for him to really heal up.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: That's a little bit frightening for me.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, OKC looks great.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: In the underrated part, I talked about how good that offense looked.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: They are still the number one defense in the postseason.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: They we saw a series against the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers, where those teams were struggling to put up 90 points.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: Somehow the OKC Thunder are still a better defense than those teams in the postseason.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: And they still have a top three offense.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: This team has this team is dangerous.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: And again, we're talking about a 1-0 series.
18:36
SPEAKER_00: They have not been pushed just yet, by the way.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: Other than gain number one versus the Pelicans, they have not been pushed.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: And I'm waiting to see when it happens because it's inevitable.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: They're not about to sweep the whole playoffs, they're gonna lose a game eventually.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: And I wonder what's gonna be the reason for.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: Will it just be a poor shooting night?
18:51
SPEAKER_00: Would it be another team exploring one of their deficiencies?
18:54
SPEAKER_00: Would it be because like even the deficiency that everybody talks about, the rebounding aspect, they won the rebounding battle by a wide margin in this one?
19:02
SPEAKER_00: Like they got a few second chance points.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: You're like, oh, you know what I'm saying?
19:05
SPEAKER_00: I think uh Chet hit that one dunk, and you just like that's a seven-foot dude.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: He it like he didn't even jump to tip dunk that one.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: So um huge game for the OKC Thunder.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: I'm worried about Luka Dontis' knee, but I will move on to the next series.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: That is the Celtics versus the Cavs.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: Now I do want to say, I have not talked about the Celtics Mux this playoff run, right?
19:22
SPEAKER_00: I think the only time we really talked about them is when the Miami Heat hit those 23 threes.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: That's like it.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: Because they've just been dominant in every other game.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: Like every other game that they've played, other than when the Miami Heat set a franchise record for most threes in the playoff game.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: Other than that game, they have been mopping the floor with everybody.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: And game number one against the Cavaliers was no different.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: In this one, they shot six of 22 from three in the first half and still went into halftime up by 10.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: What?
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Jason Tatum had 18 points on 19 shots.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: Still walked out of there feeling feeling amazing about the series so far.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: Derek White, I remember two years ago, uh, they're in their series against the Miami Heat.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: Uh game game six and seven.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: Game six and seven.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: Derrick White, I won't, I don't use the word, I won't use the word unplayable, but Derrick White's kind of afraid to shoot the ball.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: And when he did shoot, well, hell, he was breaking everything.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: And now to see him have a playoff game, or I guess this entire playoff run so far, he's been, I don't know, Michael Jordan-esque.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, he's been hitting three-point shots.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: He's been seven no, okay.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be hyperbolic, but he has seven three-pointers in game number one.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: And in a game in the first series, you could argue that he was one of the two most impactful players in that series.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: I just love to see the progression from him.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: That what we're talking about two seasons ago versus the Miami Heat, where he could not play because he didn't want to shoot, and when he did shoot, he missed everything.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: And now he's one of the more deadly three-point shooters.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: I think I saw he has the best true shooting percentage in the playoffs right now.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: And he's shooting hella threes.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: It makes no sense.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: Um Tatum hasn't needed to do anything.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of conversation around Tatum, and I'm kind of guilty of this as well.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: Where I I I like watch them, I watched their entire series last.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: I watched game number one, and I'm kind of the disappointed is not the word.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Um I just don't feel great about his offensive punch, right?
21:09
SPEAKER_00: That's how that's how I felt in real time watching game number one versus the Cavaliers.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: Like, man, Tatum, seven of 19, is not looking fluid.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, next round, when they win this series, they're gonna go against the Knicks more likely than not, and they'll probably win that series, and they gotta go against one of those Western Conference teams, and all of those teams out there that are competing are really, really good, right?
21:28
SPEAKER_00: You can't really have this many performances where this is the case.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: In the first round of the playoffs versus the Miami Heat, there was only one game where he was the leading scorer in the game.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Like that's Jason Tatum.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: That's top 10-ish player in basketball, Jason Tatum.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: That's maybe all NBA first team Jason Tatum, and and no lower second team Jason Tatum.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: And he led the the the series and scoring one time, and guess what?
21:47
SPEAKER_00: He tied with somebody else.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: I think him and and um Derek White both put up 22 in one of those games.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: 22.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: That was it, right?
21:54
SPEAKER_00: And that was my real time reaction.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I gotta go back, I gotta go back because that that doesn't matter.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Don't feel right.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: So I went back to watch specifically the um specifically the third quarter, the first quarter and third quarter with uh Jason Tatum.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: And the man is just seeing so many bodies.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: And that was something in real time.
22:11
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I watch a game and I my critical thinking cap go off.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: He's seeing so many different bodies, and then it started off with Max Struess as the main primary defender.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: But anytime he touched the ball, there's another two different sets of eyes looking at him and and and not attacking him completely.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: But it is just extremely difficult for Jason Tatum to get a shot off.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: Now, the counterpoint to that is like what star player is not seeing that, right?
22:32
SPEAKER_00: Tatum, what star player is not seeing that?
22:33
SPEAKER_00: And so far, because the team is so damn deep, it hasn't mattered.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: But I thought everything else around Tatum's game, other than him scoring, has been great.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Because when those other two eyes, other two sets of eyes are locked in on him, he's making the right play 95% of the time.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: The defense has been phenomenal.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: The only thing I want is potentially for him to take over.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
22:53
SPEAKER_00: He hasn't even had a situation where he needed to take over.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: That's how dominant the team is.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm I'm not a guy that really questions Jason Tatum's entirety because I've seen him uh go into Philly and have a game seven where he dropped 50 or go into a game six back against the wall and put up at 45.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Like I've seen him do big time stuff and big time moments.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: But a lot of people look back to that finals appearance versus the Warriors.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: And everything that I just said about there is different sets of eyes looking at him and attacking him time and time again.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: That's what the Warriors did.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: Jeremy Green has been very candid about their idea is to make it super tough on Tatum and say, Jalen Brown, we don't really trust you like that.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: So if you can beat us in a seven-game series, so be it.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: And that's how Jalen Brown ended up having the better series than Jason Tatum.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: And he got people on Twitter talking about is Jason Tatum even the best player on the team because Jalen Brown averaged this in the in the finals.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: When in reality, Jalen Brown's the amount of looks he got was a third of what Tatum got.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: Um the Cavaliers just don't have the firepower to keep up.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Like the first two possessors of the game was three-pointer uh uh Boston Celtics, three-pointer Boston Celtics.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: And you know how they always do the check-in, right?
24:01
SPEAKER_00: They do the check-in with the coach being mic'd up, and JB Biggerstaff immediately says, We're giving them exactly what we said we don't want to give them.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: Lou Corknett is just a name I need to say.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: Because when he was a boo, um, the worst coach in NBA history, Jim Boylan, said, Lou Cornette reminds him of Robert Ory.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: He said that, by the way.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's a real quote, go look it up.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, and even the broadcasters, Stacey King and Adam Amin, had to laugh at it.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: Or was it Neil Funk was still there?
24:31
SPEAKER_00: Neil Funk had to laugh at it because what the hell is he talking about?
24:34
SPEAKER_00: Lou Cornette has been phenomenal as it is a Celtic, bro.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: First play he gets into the game, immediately gets a block.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: Just holding it down.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, so shout out to Luke Cornette, Peyton Pritchard, and all the guys.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm waiting for the team that's gonna push the Celtics.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know if it's gonna happen in the Eastern Conference.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the conference finals, they'll get pushed, but I still believe that the Celtics is just gonna be the better team.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: This portion of the podcast is brought to you by Gooder.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: What is good of you ass?
24:58
SPEAKER_00: They are$25 polarized Sunnies.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: Like, like, talk to talk talk to me.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking I'm looking.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: Gooder's sunglasses are no slip, no bounce, all polarized and all fun.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: They have over 50,000 five-star reviews.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: They got a one-year warranty, they got a 30-day cash back guarantee.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: Like, come on, man.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: Did I mention that they're carbon net neutral company?
25:22
SPEAKER_00: Their Sunnies, again, are polarized and they're only$25.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: And because they're always releasing new colors and new styles, it's gonna be something there for pretty much everybody.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: They they got they got some wacky names, like um the the back nine blackout.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of dressed for a back nine, flamingos on a booze cruise, and and donkey goggles.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: Those are just three examples of some of the names.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: They're lightweight, stylish, and they do not slip off your face.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: They're perfect for cycling, running, golfing.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: If the sun is involved, the sunnies, the gooder sunnies can get the job done.
25:57
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you want to support the show, Gooder has a deal for the Kenny Beach and podcast listeners.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: If you go to Gooder.com slash Kenny, you could get free shipping on your order.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: And remember, there's a 30-day money back guarantee, so there's a 100% satisfaction rate.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: So go to Gooder.com slash Kenny so you can get free shipping on your Gooder order.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: Let's quickly talk about Wolves versus Denver.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: I'm actually so surprised that Jamal Murray only got a hundred thousand dollar fine.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: He actually did get fined for doing the money sign, either, as far as we know.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: It was just$100,000 for throwing the heated pad on the court, which is unacceptable.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: I think we can all agree because that just puts so many people in danger.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: They said the reason he didn't get his suspension because to per the where he threw the heated pad, nobody was in danger of stepping on it or whatever.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: That's BS.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: You gotta hold your emotions.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: Like you've been here before.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's not the first game that you've lost.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe he's frustrated because Jaden McDaniels and the Kill Alexander Walker has been on his ass this entire playoffs, or the fact that he's not looking like the player that we normally see him be.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: Um he's definitely hurt out there, but that can only get you so far as an excuse.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: The Minnesota Timbows have been so ridiculous.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm be honest, I picked against them in the first round and the second round.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: I just it had nothing to do with them.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: It didn't.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: I was overthinking with the Suns series, just thinking of, and then we're gonna talk about this with the Ask KB segment, by the way.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, looking at the previous games and seeing how the Suns played against the Timberwolves, I was like, okay, this makes sense to pick the Suns.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, they got swept.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: And then looking at the defendant champions and how, even though they didn't look amazing versus the Lakers, they ended up winning that series, and they are the defendant champions.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: And I've seen them be able to turn it up because last year in the regular season, they had a stretch where they lost like five in a row towards the end of the season.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, oh my God.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: And then they got to the playoffs and it was dominance, dominance, dominance.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: But last episode, I mentioned to y'all that this Minnesota Timbulls team is objectively the best team this Denver Nuggets team has ever seen.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: And you can tell Jamal Murray has not had a good series.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: Nicole, Nicola Jokic um had 39 and nine in game number one, and then and in game number two, he was bad.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: Like his 39 to nine, I was like, damn, that's a tough, that's a rough game for Yoke.
28:02
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of crazy when you think about it.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, but in game number two, it wasn't even that, and that was without Rudy Gobert being there.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, it was funny to see Rudy Gobert accept that DPO Wild Ward and make a little jokey joke about how he's thinking about not playing for game number three because they look so good in game number two.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: But I'm I'm I'm I've always said that they were contenders, right?
28:21
SPEAKER_00: I went on um uh running back, FanDuel TV, and this was three months into the season or so.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: Uh Parsons, Chandler Parsons asked me, or is it Lou Will?
28:30
SPEAKER_00: One of them two asked me if I believe the Minnesota Timbos were contenders.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: And I said yes.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: Like, there are some things about this team that I do not like that was like their clutch offense and the fact that they have a league average offense in the regular season.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: But other than that, like the defense can hold his own in most series.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: And if we have a couple great gains from Anthony Edwards, they can win almost any series.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: They didn't like that, they didn't think that was correct.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: But here we are, right?
28:51
SPEAKER_00: Here we are, two games away from being in the conference finals.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm not counting the Denver Nuggets out at all.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
28:57
SPEAKER_00: Like that is a really talented team.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: But if Murray's not looking like, not even he don't even look like he's 60%.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how how far we can how far we can really get.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Um the odds have shifted dramatically.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: Before the season started, the Minnesota Timbows were a plus six, six, six thousand six hundred to to win the finals.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: Now they're plus three hundred.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: You got a fan dude sports book.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: They are a plus three hundred to win the championship, and that's only behind the Celtics who are minus 135.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Again, it's crazy to have a team be minus, but it's late in the season.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: The only other time I've really seen teams have a minus um a minus odds to win a championship before the season started was like the 17 Warriors who are like minus 135.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: They might be might have been minus 135 as well, but the Minnesota Timbows are second in odds to win the championship, and that was just something I I did not see coming.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: Today we found out that Nikola Jokic is our MVP.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Could not have happened at the worst time.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: Could not have happened at the worst time.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: The brother is down 2-0 in a series, and he's got to go on to TNT.
30:01
SPEAKER_00: And Shaq says some stupidness while he's in the midst of having the roughest series of his life.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, I guess it's better to do it then and not have him raising his MVP trophy when they're down in a series.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but it is what it is.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: His third MVP puts him in the conversations with Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Will Chamberla, Magic Johnson, Nicole, and Moses Malone.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: Like an elite, elite class.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: It's got a lot of people talking on Twitter.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: Where does this get him ranked as of right now?
30:31
SPEAKER_00: If he retired right now, where is he ranked?
30:33
SPEAKER_00: I saw some people say as high as like 12, 13.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I go that high because I don't have like a real personal ranking.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm definitely more of a range guy.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: So this guy is either he's between number three and number six, and so on.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, all of the guys that are in that range for me have multiple championships.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: So I feel like he needs to get more under his belt as far as championship goes.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: But I do believe this is one of the most dominant offensive runs we've seen from a player.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, but all of that could be coming to an end in like four days.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: Technically, like I if they get swept, oh no, with the tail yeah, bro.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: But it could it could be done in about four days or so.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I've been impressed with the the Minnesota Timbulls.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think the coolest thing about it is that they have the number one offense in the postseason.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: They were the 17th ranking offense in the regular season, number one in the postseason.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: Number one.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: And actually, that's gonna get us to our very first ass KB.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: Um this comes from uh Hattie.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I pronounced your name.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: I met you in Houston.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: I I don't I still don't know how to pronounce your name, so shout out to you, um, Sammy.
31:33
SPEAKER_00: Um what's one thing throughout the playoffs that you have learned is way more important than you previously thought than prior years, especially about a team.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm actually gonna flip this on his head a little bit and say, like, I put a lot of stake into the regular season.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: First of all, I just love basketball, so it don't matter.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: It could be a preseason game, a surmerly game.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm invested.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: But I take a lot of stock in the in the regular season because that's like how we determine what we think is gonna happen in the postseason, right?
31:59
SPEAKER_00: This postseason, I have I've had to throw out so many things from the regular season, making it feel like it don't even matter.
32:08
SPEAKER_00: The Minnesota Timberwolves being the 17th ranked offense in the regular season, they get into the postseason and being number one.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: Are we serious?
32:15
SPEAKER_00: The Minnesota Timberwolves being the 27th ranked clutch uh team in basketball.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: They get to the postseason, they're perfect.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: What did I just watch those 82 games for?
32:25
SPEAKER_00: Other the enjoyment factor.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: So that was one thing.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: I've just, I guess I can't put that much stake in the regular season anymore.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, but the one thing I did learn that is way more important, and this has kind of shifted throughout the course or the entirety of my life as an NBA fan.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: We had our eras where the small ball lineup, the deaf lineup, I mean the Golden State Warriors got everybody in basketball thinking that was the only play, only way to hoop.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: Um nowadays, you you kind of need a good to great big to really be competitive.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: I know there are some teams out there that don't really have like the Dallas Mavericks have a two solid bigs, but they're not great bigs, but like Chet, amazing.
33:00
SPEAKER_00: You know, Luca, Jokic, amazing.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, both of the big, all three of the bigs at Minnesota, amazing.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: Jared Allen has been injured, but amazing big.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: Like it goes on and on.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: Porzingis when he's healthy, amazing big.
33:12
SPEAKER_00: Miles Turner's having a phenomenal postseason so far.
33:15
SPEAKER_00: And hell, Isaiah Hardenstein, the counting stats don't tell you how impactful he is.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: And it's just in previous years, you saw teams get to the last five minutes.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: It's like, what's our version of the death lineup?
33:26
SPEAKER_00: What's our uh Jeff Green?
33:27
SPEAKER_00: Can you run center for us?
33:30
SPEAKER_00: An entire team decided to trade everybody on the team that was over 6'6 because everybody wanted to be small.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: That was partially because they wanted space for Russell Westbrook, but still, and nowadays it's like, hold on.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: Is the twin center thing a thing?
33:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, the Cavs brought it back, they won 50 games with it.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: And then the Minnesota Timbels said, we're gonna snatch that because we're more experienced.
33:48
SPEAKER_00: We got actual Hall of Famers as our bigs right now, and we're gonna elevate it.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: So just having at least a big core that is really, really talented goes a long way.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, the next one comes from Kyle.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: Kyle says, What does OKC do in the offseason if they make the conference finals?
34:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, do they run it back with the same squad or do they cash in in their picks?
34:10
SPEAKER_00: Now, they have over 15 draft picks over the next five years or so.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think it's hard to really even say because we haven't even seen somebody expose an issue, right?
34:23
SPEAKER_00: So it would be very easy for me to say they need to go out there and go get a good backup center, uh an Andre Drummond type of center.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: Because in the regular season, they were one of the worst defenses, they were one of the worst rebounding teams.
34:33
SPEAKER_00: And in the postseason, they were too, but that's not the case.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: In the postseason, they're they're they're fine with their rebound.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: So even the idea of going to get that secondary big is not that impactful anymore because the biggest holder we thought they had in their lineup is not really a holding their lineup anymore.
34:46
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know where they go with it.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: I love the roster, though, right?
34:49
SPEAKER_00: Like a lot of people are speculating they should go out and throw four first-round picks for Kevin.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: And no, no, no.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: I love this young team.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: And though progression is not linear, I would expect these guys to just continue to grow together.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Jaden um uh Jalen Williams had a pretty bad first half last night, ended up leaving the game with an injury, and then the fourth quarter came around, he had like nine straight points.
35:12
SPEAKER_00: Like, that is the type of secondary option I want to keep.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a fan of going in and buying, going to get a superstar.
35:18
SPEAKER_00: Hell, they're off their trade deadline acquisition.
35:21
SPEAKER_00: Gordon Hayward, the man has not scored in the postseason just yet.
35:24
SPEAKER_00: Cardio King.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: So um, I don't know what the answer is.
35:28
SPEAKER_00: I would steer on the on the continuity thing.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: Sam Presley kind of said that before the season started that like it doesn't make sense for us to make any big trades now because we don't even know we have.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: And I think they know that they have a really great team, that the vibes are super high.
35:42
SPEAKER_00: The city loves them.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: They have a superstar who just ended up number two in MVP and everything.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: So let's not mess that up by with bringing the idea of bringing in somebody that's more established because the young thing has not mattered so far.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: The NBA playoffs have tipped off, but it's not too late for you to get in on the action with FanDuel.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: FanDuel is the only US sports book with over 5 million five-star reviews.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: Right now, new customers get$150 in bonus bets with any$5 winning bet.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: That's$150 to use on same game parlays, live bets, championship futures, and many more things.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: There's no better place to bet on all the playoff action than America's number one sports book.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: Just go to fanduel.com slash Kenny to get started.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: FanDuel, official partner of the NBA, must be 21 plus in present in select states.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: FanDuel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC.
36:31
SPEAKER_00: First online real money wager only.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: $5 pregame money line wager required.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: First online real money wager only.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: $10 first deposit required.
36:39
SPEAKER_00: Bonus issued with non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: See terms at sportsbooks.fanduel.com.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: Gambling problem, call 1-800-Gambler or visit fanduel.com slash RG.
36:52
SPEAKER_00: In Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: Call 1-800-NEXTSTEP or text next step to 53342 in Arizona.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: 1-800-9 with it in Indiana.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: 1-800-522-4700 or visit KSGamblingHelp.com in Kansas.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: 1-877-770 STOP in Louisiana.
37:25
SPEAKER_00: Visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland.
37:27
SPEAKER_00: Visit 1-800-GAMBLE.net in West Virginia.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: Or call 1-800-522-4700 in Wyoming.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: Hope is here.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: Visit gambling helplinepa.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: Or call 1877-8 Hope New York or text Hope New York in New York.
37:53
SPEAKER_00: The next question comes from a guy whose name is Don't Trade for Trey.
37:58
SPEAKER_00: What realistic trade options are there for the Lakers in the offseason?
38:03
SPEAKER_00: Can they really make a move to with their assets to be compet competitive?
38:09
SPEAKER_00: Or is it impossible to compete with Denver, Minnesota, whatever?
38:13
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it impossible?
38:14
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: But we talked about a last episode about a window being closed.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: We say that the Clippers window is closed.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: The Lakers' window is not necessarily closed.
38:22
SPEAKER_00: I would be kind of crazy to say that.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know if there's anybody on the market this season, right?
38:28
SPEAKER_00: Unless you could just pry a team away from a player.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: I don't think there's anybody on the market this season that A is obtainable for you and B, would put you over the hump versus some of these other teams.
38:39
SPEAKER_00: Your name is Don't Trade for Trey.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: If Trey Young goes to the Lakers, yes, they're a better team, but do we look at them going against Denver in a seven?
38:46
SPEAKER_00: Do we look at them going against Minnesota, OKC in a seven, and say, this is the team that we'll be winning?
38:52
SPEAKER_00: It's hard for me to get there.
38:53
SPEAKER_00: So I actually don't like any of the big trade options for y'all.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: And part of that is y'all don't really have that many assets.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: Those three first round picks could be interesting.
39:02
SPEAKER_00: There's a real conversation around whether it's worth investing in that for Braun when he's 40.
39:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but like a DeJounte Murray, Trey Young thing don't really uh interest me.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: Like Donovan Mitchell, mock-ups have been out there, but I feel like you could get more for Donovan Mitchell than three Lakers first-rounders, Austin Reeves, Rui Hachimura.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: Like that's if I'm the Cavs, I'd rather just not take that trade and send him somewhere else.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think there's any really good options out there.
39:29
SPEAKER_00: Rapolinka has made some good trades throughout the course of his tenure now.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: He's got some bad ones too.
39:34
SPEAKER_00: He knows more than I do, and maybe he does find that guy and the Lakers are raising Oleary O'Brien next season, but I doubt it.
39:40
SPEAKER_00: The next one comes from Aiden.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: How are we feeling about Shaq straight up telling Jokic to his face that he didn't deserve the MVP?
39:49
SPEAKER_00: That was one of the lamest things I've seen.
39:51
SPEAKER_00: It just was.
40:03
SPEAKER_00: Now, if we go down the line and you if you should kill O'Neal, and you definitely need to tell Jokic this.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: This is something that you can't keep to yourself, or hell, you can't even wait till Jokic is off the call to say it.
40:13
SPEAKER_00: If you didn't really need to tell Jokic this, there's better times than when he's celebrating the fact that he won.
40:20
SPEAKER_00: Hey, Yoke, great season, but you don't deserve this award.
40:24
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy to me.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: It was it was very uh uh very Kanye Taylor Swift.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's just time and place.
40:32
SPEAKER_00: And and Shaq, listen, he's my favorite, he's my favorite big of all time.
40:36
SPEAKER_00: He just he just is, right?
40:39
SPEAKER_00: There's there's something to be said about him just disliking the centers in general.
40:43
SPEAKER_00: Jokic has an opportunity to take his spot in the top 10 eventually.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: Again, I just mentioned a couple seconds ago where he's not there yet, but three MVPs and is is getting you close.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: And throughout the course of Shaq's uh career post-playing, he's been very, very critical of all the bigs.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: Joelle, Dwight Howard, Boogie Cousin.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: No, Boogie's the one that he he wasn't very critical of.
41:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, but but yoke, and he's and he's not critical of yoke.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong, he's not critical of yoke, but I don't I don't know.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: Threatened?
41:16
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's the word.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: Shaq, please invite me back to your podcast, brother.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm just trying to talk to you.
41:21
SPEAKER_00: Tall kid says, How do you talk about basketball so much and I get burnt out?
41:27
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I treat it like a like a job.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: Believe it or not, I am not talking basketball if there's not a camera in front of me.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: Like I do, I do this for like I do this for work.
41:38
SPEAKER_00: My day-to-day life when I'm away from this, I'm not hey, I got other hobbies, dog.
41:43
SPEAKER_00: You see how I'm dressed.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: I I play golf today.
41:46
SPEAKER_00: I should have probably buttoned this up.
41:48
SPEAKER_00: I play golf today, you know.
41:50
SPEAKER_00: I I'm getting into reading and stuff.
41:52
SPEAKER_00: Um that makes it seem like I've never read before, but um, quick quick tangent because we got just a little bit of time here.
41:59
SPEAKER_00: Um when I went on first take, first of all, it's just a lot going on, right?
42:05
SPEAKER_00: Just a full live broadcast is something I've haven't experienced.
42:08
SPEAKER_00: I'm I've experienced tons of bits of it, but most of it's like virtual or smaller productions.
42:12
SPEAKER_00: This is ESPN, whatever, whatever.
42:14
SPEAKER_00: And there are a lot of things I took away from this, this, this time.
42:17
SPEAKER_00: But the thing I was most impressed with was Molly's ability to read the teleprompter.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: Now she's been in the game for for a long time.
42:24
SPEAKER_00: She's one of the best in the game.
42:26
SPEAKER_00: But how unbothered she was, and you're like, Kenny, this is you're stupid.
42:29
SPEAKER_00: Only thing you have to do is read.
42:30
SPEAKER_00: How unbothered she was with new read.
42:33
SPEAKER_00: Like, one of one of the things had an had an error in it during our break.
42:37
SPEAKER_00: They had to quickly change it up, and she adjusted on the fly, and you wouldn't be able to tell.
42:41
SPEAKER_00: Like, that is professionalism, that is just being great at your craft.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: Some of y'all may notice I have dyslexia.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: So, reading in general is just really, really tough for me.
42:51
SPEAKER_00: And I was in that room and I was thinking, one day in my professional life, I might have to read off a teleprompter.
42:58
SPEAKER_00: I can't be afraid of it.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: I have to be prepared for it.
43:00
SPEAKER_00: So now I'm attempting to read a little bit more.
43:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's not easy it's not easy, bro.
43:05
SPEAKER_00: It's really not easy.
43:05
SPEAKER_00: Like, it's been one of those things that it hasn't hindered me in my life just yet.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: So I haven't tackled it.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
43:13
SPEAKER_00: And dyslex is not something I can just work towards and it goes away.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: But I can just get more familiar and more comfortable with it.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: Like, if you've been watching for a time, you know these stories.
43:23
SPEAKER_00: But even I think in this episode I did it with Pascal Siakam's free throw percentage, I misread those numbers like like twice.
43:29
SPEAKER_00: That's part of, you know what I'm saying?
43:31
SPEAKER_00: Um that has nothing to do with the original question, but there are just things that I do outside of when this camera is on that make it so that when the camera's on, I have so much fun with it.
43:42
SPEAKER_00: Burnout is very real, but it has nothing to do with basketball necessarily.
43:46
SPEAKER_00: It has more to do with the profession of just content creation.
43:49
SPEAKER_00: Like it has nothing to do with the what the content is about.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: The very last question comes from Canon.
43:55
SPEAKER_00: Brandon Ingram, possible trade destinations at the Shams came out with the discourse between him and Willie Green.
44:01
SPEAKER_00: If you didn't see it, there was a disagreement between Willie Green and Brandon Ingram.
44:04
SPEAKER_00: They said it was minor, but um we talked about it a few episodes ago.
44:08
SPEAKER_00: How David Griffith said they're gonna be aggressive and not be complacent, and they did not extend Brandon Ingram, or they don't plan to extend Brandon Ingram.
44:15
SPEAKER_00: So writing is on the wall, Brandon Ingram is gone.
44:17
SPEAKER_00: So I went out and I was like, okay, what can we do?
44:22
SPEAKER_00: The problem with the Brandon Ingram trade is that there will be way more teams interested in Brandon Ingram if the Pelicans' idea wasn't to stay competitive, right?
44:29
SPEAKER_00: If we're trading Brandon Ingram for some draft picks, then hell yeah, like there's gonna be multiple teams.
44:33
SPEAKER_00: Like a team like the Grizzlies.
44:35
SPEAKER_00: They don't they have like Marcus Smart, Brandon Clark, Lou Cornette.
44:39
SPEAKER_00: They can make that money match immediately in some draft capital.
44:41
SPEAKER_00: But if we the Pelicans, why the hell we do that?
44:43
SPEAKER_00: The Warriors can be interested, they got the money to match.
44:46
SPEAKER_00: They got a couple young players that could be interested in some draft capital.
44:49
SPEAKER_00: But if I'm the Pelicans, why the hell would I want that?
44:52
SPEAKER_00: The Pistons have all the cap space in the world and draft picks that matter because they suck.
44:56
SPEAKER_00: Why would I want that?
44:56
SPEAKER_00: The 76ers have three tradable first-round picks, but no real players to attach them to.
45:00
SPEAKER_00: Why would I want that?
45:01
SPEAKER_00: So it's really like these are the options.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: Derrick Jones Jr.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: swap.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's talked about it.
45:06
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's talked about it.
45:07
SPEAKER_00: You know, give one of the point guards over here, you get a wing over here.
45:10
SPEAKER_00: I think the Trey Young one is interesting too, though, because in this case, you'll be a buyer, right?
45:14
SPEAKER_00: You'd be a buyer.
45:15
SPEAKER_00: You're not, you're, it's not a one-for-one.
45:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm not giving you what picks are involved or whatever.
45:20
SPEAKER_00: But if you're trading for Trey Young, who's under contract for the next couple seasons and Brandon Ingram is going to the last year of his deal, you have to throw some more on top of that.
45:26
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that's Dyson Daniels.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that's just draft picks because they still do have two first-round picks from the Drew Holiday trade, and they got one more first-round pick that they can either take this year from the Lakers or take next year from the Lakers.
45:39
SPEAKER_00: So they can do a Brandon Ingram buy deal and not infringe on their own draft capital, which is interesting.
45:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, Adarius Garland swap could be interesting if Donovan Mitchell says, Hey, I want to be in Cleveland, but I don't really like this double guard thing.
45:53
SPEAKER_00: Or buy in on Donovan Mitchell if he becomes available.
45:57
SPEAKER_00: Now, you have to convince Donovan Mitchell to sign his extension.
45:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if he would do that in New Orleans, but I think that's an interesting thing.
46:02
SPEAKER_00: And then because of the draft picks and the younger players between Jordan Harkins, Dyson Daniels, and so on and so forth, because of those players on their roster, if Devin Booker becomes available, I would buy in on Devin Booker.
46:14
SPEAKER_00: Again, we don't know if he will become available, but I did read a rumor uh a couple days ago that he might be.
46:18
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of it, you know, unless they want to do a sign it's ready to bring DeMarta Rose and then let Brandon comes to Chicago.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: I would welcome that.
46:26
SPEAKER_00: I think that's where we end today's episode, y'all.
46:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you did enjoy it, be sure to leave it a like.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: The next time we talk to each other, man, like no joke, it's kind of crazy how quick these series go.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: The next time we talk to each other would be after game four of Pacers Knicks and after game four of Nuggets Timberwolves.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think any of those series.
46:48
SPEAKER_00: I think the next series could end in a sweep.
46:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh not likely, but it could.
46:52
SPEAKER_00: I don't think we're doing um a funeral for team that night, but we could be.
46:56
SPEAKER_00: Leave a like, subscribe, and I'll see y'all then.