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NBA Draft Prospects Gems + NBA Finals Game 3 Preview · Front Runner Podcast Collective

• 0:13
  Speaker 1: hey, it's tuesday, you know what time it is.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Front runner podcast collective is back on the air.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: I am your humble host, vince, and on today's podcast today we will be breaking down the NBA finals.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: What should we expect out of game three, after that game two, where OKC look like OKC, right, and then we will get into some draft items?
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: We have some trade speculation.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: We also got some coaching news and then, because we are not far away from the 2025 NBA draft, we gotta keep you up to date on what's going on.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Right, so we will do that as well.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: But how we're gonna kick off the One?
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: You know that we start off every show talking about our audience, and why do we do that?
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Because, one, we appreciate the passion, we appreciate the love, we appreciate you joining us, and we also like to big up some areas of the country, and we like to big up some areas of the world that are downloading podcasts, and I want to give a shout out to Oregon.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Oregon, in a big way, has decided yo.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: We haven't heard a lot of trailblazer news on this pod, but we've heard enough to know that we really like what we're seeing here and I am appreciative of that.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Also, I want to shout out uh, barcelona, spain they are also downloading the podcast.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: We also need to talk about England, scotland, ireland and you would think of all places.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Right that we will be really, really popular at the United States of America.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: We are 100%.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: I did a whole podcast on middle america.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: I expect to see middle america show up for me.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: You know I'm saying so.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: With that being said, we do this twice a week.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: You know how we get down.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Tuesday and friday feel good.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Friday is is a vibe, know this, come ready to party on friday with us.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: But we are going to get into this podcast now and we have so much to get to, so let's do it.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: I want to start off with this.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Uh, just this note this was great to me.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: I, I love this.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: So don nelson, who is a legendary coach in the nba he's coached multiple franchises, sometimes he's coached him twice, but, uh, don nelson was a innovator.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: When he was roaming the sidelines, he was really like the guy who started the small ball era.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Now it was.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: He didn't understand the three.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Threes are more important than twos, but he did understand that quickness and guys who can handle the ball, shoot the ball, pass the ball are monumentally important in today's game.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: And he did a bunch of stuff with some skills, with some guys with bunch of skills and stuff like that, and he got them to play some really good basketball along the way.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: So he was honored in Oklahoma City.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: He got the Chuck Daly award from, you know, just coaching contributions, longevity in the nba, that whole situation.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: But it wasn't that he got the award and it wasn't because it was during the nba finals.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: It was what this man said during his little quest conference in oklahoma city.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: So I'm gonna get to that right now.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: So I've got to shout him out Don Nelson, you're a real G for this.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: You're a real G for for this.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Okay, he's there, he's accepting the award, he gets on the mic and instantly he becomes the most honest person in the room.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: This dude didn't even warm up.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: This is what he hit him with just right off the bat.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: He said hey, I'm wearing luca doncha's shoes in protest of the dallas mavericks trading him, and you know what he ain't wrong about that?
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: He is not wrong whatsoever, because this ain't just about luca.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: This is about how teams lose their identity, chasing the wrong plan.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Now here's the deal we could talk about Cooper Flagg, and we will later in this podcast, no doubt, because if you talk about the NBA draft the 2025 NBA draft to be precise you cannot talk about this draft without talking about cooper flag, who is the number one overall?
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Uh, he's a consensus number one overall pick.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: And here's the best part every person that you talk to who does this for a living they talk about he is the cleanest prospect that we have seen in a very long time now.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Is he as devastating as winby?
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: No.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Is he as uh, offensively polished as paulo goncaro?
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: No.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Does he have the hops of zion williamson?
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: No, but he's really really good at a lot, a lot of things, and when you're really really good at a lot, a lot of things, and when you're really really good at a lot of things, you end up getting the number one overall pick, and that's what this kid is.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: It is not hype, it is not hyperbole, it is substance and this kid is going to be devastating.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: But at the end of the, the quote that made the rounds was this you don't trade a generational player.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: You honor him, you build around him, you hang his number when it's over, you don't ship him out because the vibes got weird.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Don Nelson said what literally 80 of dallas wishes they could tweet.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, so shout out to our guy don nelson.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: It also didn't hurt that his son, don nelson jr, was a guy who, uh, was a guy who was with the mavericks for a long period of time, before the Nico Harrison regime and what have you.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: So this is really interesting.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: But he goes on to say this is what the Don was really getting at with Luka.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: He said Luka is the kind of player that franchises dream about a 6'8 point guard, walking triple walking triple double in a playoff killer.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: You don't trade that.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: You don't.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: And yes, we've seen it, it has happened.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: But you got to build around this kid and I thought they did.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: I honestly thought that the team they built prior to the trade of luca donchage was probably the best team that he had had around him since he got to Dallas.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: And I think that, because of the fact they made that NBA finals run in last year, I thought now, injury aside, calf injury aside, what have you?
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: This guy was basically giving you 38 and 9.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: How do you go against that?
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: But what did Dallas do?
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: They got cute.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: They start worrying about.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: You know, is he?
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Is he gonna break down?
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Is his conditioning so terrible that he's just going to be injury plagued?
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: He hadn't been injury plagued up until the calf injury.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: They continued to talk about his weight and what have you, and I'm not saying it was optimal, but he was putting up 35-10-10 in the playoffs, being out of shape.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: He was producing for you, out of shape.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: So if luca is putting up 60, 20 and 10 games and you can't get through whatever the little issues you have with him, this is the same stuff that we talked about with zion.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Zion.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: We talked about his conditioning and what have you and it's because he can't stay on the floor.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Luca is a completely different animal when it comes to that.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: His last two playoffs run with dallas.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: So this is just a playoffs and these are the games that we really are like focusing on, because we talk about who's real, who's not.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk about Halliburton in a second and about how he does his thing, but when Luka is putting up 31.2 points per game, he's putting up 9.1 rebounds a game and 8.4 assists.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: In the last two playoff runs with Dallas, dallas had a Picasso and they asked why he wasn't finger painting more.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: What are you doing.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Like, what were you actually thinking?
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: We love him here in Los Angeles, by the way, so thank you so much.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Now, if you want to go deeper into it, you can talk about how.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe he wasn't a blueprint Type of player that you wanted to build around, doesn't matter, you didn't.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: You didn't envision this guy To lead your team.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: I'm sure that the Sacramento Kings Didn't think that Chris Webber and White Chocolate, jason Williams back in the day was going to lead their team and mike bibby.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: I am sure we got a lot of uh naysayers when magic johnson came into the league and they were like how's a six foot nine point guard going to revolutionize the basketball, you know world?
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: And how's he gonna fit with kareem aldoo jabbar?
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: These are all these things that people, when you haven't seen it or what have you, you just don't know.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: But here's the thing you know how rare it is today's nba where every GM trigger finger stays itchy.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: You have a franchise dude now Cooper flag could also be generational.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: We thing this is 1335 wins, don Nelson, this is four teams rebuilt around a central all-star.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Don Nelson, this dude has seen a lot.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: He's seen talent come in and out of this league and he said this I learned from red albrach you keep your best players, you don't treat greatness like it's some hot potato.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: We're in an era where hot potato, gme and lucas trade might be exhibit a.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: I think the deeper message that don's protest was trying to say and yeah, he was wearing lucas nikes was a protest but the patience and how franchises have become legacies.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: You look at the spurs, you know.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: You look at the boston c with Jalen William, uh, uh, yeah.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: What am I trying to say?
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum you know how many times they failed before they won the championship last year.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: Now Dallas saw some turbulence and they hit the eject button hot.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: They was like we out, we ain't dealing with this, we're done, can't deal with Luka anymore, can't deal with 30 points and basically almost averaging a triple-double.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: We can't deal with this.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: But we will see what they do with Cooper Flatt.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: We will see what they do Now.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: We need to get into a little yeah, we need to get into what happened in Game 2 and what it looks like for Game 3.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: What it looks like.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: So obviously OKC blows out the Indiana Pacers and it looked a lot like what OKC looks like.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: And if you, if you want to be super real about the whole situation, this is exactly how game one went as well.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: It just so happens that OKC did not capitalize on the turnovers that they received, and this time they did.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: So.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: If you're looking at the two games and saying, well, what was the difference?
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: It wasn't that OKC defense was more intensified, because actually, to tell you the truth, they have they have more induced turnovers.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: In game one, it wasn't the double bigs or whatever case may be.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: You could say, well, they did play them, well they, they played together.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: I think harnstein had like 22 minutes on the court, chet had 27 minutes on the court.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: So how much actual time did they play with one another?
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: You can say, well, we got better contributions from jaylen williams and also chet hunger.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Now, that would be true.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: J-dub and chet did show out, and they showed out big time, big, big, big time.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: But you know what they also did.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: You know what the thunder did in game two, something that we love, and I'm gonna tell you right now.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: If you got a drinking game going on, everybody loves this one.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Okay, see, share the sugar.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: They passed the orange round.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: Everybody got a slice.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: 31 assists on 42 made field goal attempts.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's what I'm talking about right there.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: When you have 42 made field goals and 31 of those were assisted upon.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: That's beautiful basketball, a super beautiful basketball.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Right there.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: J-dub also scored 18 points, had 6 assists, had a 64% effective field goal percentage, which is great, and he's just proving what he's doing.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: It's just one of those situations where you know if he has a bad game he's going to bounce back and if he's not going to be the number two type of connector, they're going to struggle.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: But here's the thing that you need to look at with when you, when we talk about jason williams, 60 of his assists led directly to points at the rim or wide open threes, so he had a plus 17 net rating when he was on the court with himself and sga.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Not bad, not bad at all.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: We usually talk about the jay right level of poise that, uh, the knicks have, but okay, c is also showing that they have that same type of poise and they have that same type of concentration, because nothing rattles these kids, nothing.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: And the beauty of it is he didn't force anything.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Jay jalen williams.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: He's like listen, we are going to make the right pass, we are going to make the right play and we are going to do it every single time.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: And for people who are saying that these NBA finals are boring, well, is it boring because you just don't like really good, like executed basketball?
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Is it that you have to see the 360 dunks?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Is it that you have to see the chase down blocks from behind to get you fired up?
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Or just the level of execution, just the level of what these guys put off in the offseason to get to this level, the, the intentionality, the intentionality, the detail that these guys have put on it's impressive to me.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: It might not be what you know, it's, it's basketball gentrification.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: He makes every possession look prettier than it should.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: He makes every possession look prettier than it should.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Sga j-dub, it doesn't matter, they get buckets.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Now we're going to pivot to our guy tyrese halliburton, because he got a lot of.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: He got a lot of crap in this game too.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: And people are saying, well, he didn't take shots in the first quarter and he didn't take shots in the first quarter and he didn't take shots in the second quarter and what have you?
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: He also had.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: He also made the right plays.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: He had alex caruso and lou dort all up in his grill 24 hours, seven days a week during that game.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: Now is it one of those things where you can say, well, a true superstar would make something happen.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: You guys live in like the TikTok highlight, the YouTube reels era, because You're just saying, oh well, this dude is a problem.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: This dude is a problem when you make the right play and you the one thing that we talked about.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: So you can't have it both ways.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: You can't say your, their pace of play is their, is their other superstar, and how unselfish he is to get everybody involved and then turn around and say, oh, he's not aggressive enough In game 2.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: This is same dude.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Same dude, just so you know.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: He had the wall in his hands.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Check this out.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: I love this metric from Serea 3.6 seconds per touch In game 2.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: , which was up from 2.1.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Which was his season average.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: He only had one paint touch per quarter one, and if hallowed is not in that paint, indiana cannot be successful.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: His pass to assist ratio was 1.4.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Lowest in the whole playoffs.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Okc is not just switching, they're predicting, they're getting to the spot before he gets there, and that's the difference Is the intentionality on the defensive end that this team can produce Over and over again Is so impressive to me and is literally their superpower.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: So if people say I've said it, I will say it myself.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: I have said this.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: I didn't know if they were old enough.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: I didn't know if they've gone through enough wars to make sure that they will reach the nba finals and be successful there.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: I didn't think they've gone through the crucible enough.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: But here, here's the thing if you're going to execute on this level, it doesn't matter how, what your age is, and they prove it over and over again in these press conferences after the game, because they are not caught up in their success at all.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: And uh, we need to talk about chet a little bit.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: He had three blocks in this game.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: He was so much more aggressive, not just on designing the, the defensive terrain.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: He was the reason that Indy Took those awkward floaters and rushed kick outs.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: He was redirecting the offense Without even jumping sometimes.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Just his presence alone Was causing a lot of the stir that was going on with Indiana.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: When your opponent shoots 27% inside six feet, when Chet is the primary defender, that just lets you know that you are an elite rim protector.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: He's top three in these playoffs.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: By the way, dude is like a GPS.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: He always reroutes you into traffic.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: You think you got a lane and then, boom, chest, right there with feet planted, arms up, ready in the position, ready to take your shot and swallow it up, and then the ball is going the other way.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Now the other thing that was uh causing a lot of issue for the, for these teams, was that what sga is able to do by flicking the floor, because this is a very important stat that has her.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Okc's assist percentage was 74.2.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: It's the highest of any finals game this season.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: 74.2 percent of sis percentage is ridiculous.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's like crazy.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Like I said right, 31 of 42 shots were assisted upon.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: There's more indiana style.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: There's more indiana pacer style than it is okay c style.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: And I will say this if indiana doesn't get more uh production from pascoff siakam, uh, miles turner, uh and also our guy ben matherin, these five games that I was talking about earlier could come into play.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: It could definitely come into play.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Now, I know it sounds crazy, but Andrew Neal Hart might be the key to Game 3.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: We saw his aggressiveness in Game 1 and how successful they were.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: So I understand the big names, I understand miles turner, I understand pascal siakam and tyrese halliburton.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: But if you don't get that secondary support that andrew nimhorn and aaron neesmith can provide, if you don't get them being super aggressive on the defensive end that leads to turnovers and then gets them out into the break and allows them to be having more of a free-flowing offense, this is going to end badly for the Pacers.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: The footage screams right now that they're not being able to do what they usually do, which they can usually take the ball out the net and get it down the court and score on teams.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: The intentionality of okc's defense is saying we will not let you do this.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: We will not allow you to take the ball out of the net and then just sprint down the court and score on us, because we are going to have our defenses set.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: We are going to have our guys in good defensive positions before you get down there and, yes, you can run the ball up and down the court if you would like, but we are going to be in those passing lanes.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: We are going to be um swiping at the ball every single time, every single time, and what alex caruso did in game two, guarding the bigs.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Pascal Siakam, to be absolutely concise about what I'm talking about his job on Pascal Siakam, legendary.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: So, to me personally, indiana needs the fans and he they're going to need to feed off those fans and hopefully those fans will give them the energy they need to go ahead and produce the fast break opportunities that they are lacking right now now.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: So I am hopeful.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: I am hopeful that the Pat McAfee crew Can get the Great state of Indiana On board With what's about to happen.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Because Let me tell you something OKC Looks in game 2 like they looked all season long.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: And here's the best part OKC after losing a game, their net rating after that is plus 17.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: So they literally Soon as they lose a game.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: They are looking to punish people.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: It's like we lost, we feel bad.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: We don't like this feeling.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: How can we get rid of it?
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Oh, we'll just go and blow the next team out.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: And this is what they do.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: They lock right back in.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: They don't go.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Oh well, maybe, maybe we are too young.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: There's never a doubt about the work they put in.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: They just understand they put in the work.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: The coaches told them hey, listen, you're gonna have games like this.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Stay even kill.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: Stay neutral, and we will get through this.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: If you hear any of them talk after the game.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: They sound like coaches who have been in the league for 10 years.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: How is it that a 23 and 24 year old chet hungren and jalen williams, to be exact, sound like 45 year old men who've seen a lot of shit?
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Basically, I don't understand it.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: But this is where we are.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Okc is playing like vets.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: They are getting it in, and game three is going to come down to two things.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: One, can indiana pick up their pace?
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Two, can they get production from neesmith, nimhard, uh and mather?
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Those guys need to make sure that they are involved in this game, not just on the defensive end, but also on the offensive end.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: You need to put pressure on OKC.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: If you do not put any sort of pressure on them, they just do what they do.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: Like Rick Carlisle said in his post-game interview in Game 2, we know that SGA is going to put up 34 points.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: We can't stop that.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: That is a coach who has been around this league for a long, long time.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: He's already telling you resistance is futile when it comes to SGA.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: We need to stop the others, and I think that's what his signal was to the rest of the team.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: I think you'll see a more conservative effort to make Jalen Williams look like Game 1.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Jalen Williams, you'll see a more conservative effort to see Chet Holmgren look more like Chet Holmgren in Game 1.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Because if they look like Game 2, my prediction of OKC in 5 is still it's still out there, still lurking.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Now we need to get to a sad story, but also we need to get to a story that made me go.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Hmm, now I'm gonna say this let's just jump straight into this.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Darius Garland is having surgery on his big toe, or, as Sham Sharania said, his great toe.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: I love that post by Sham Sharania, espn.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: He said in his in his post he said Darius Garland is having surgery on his great toe and will be out for four to five months.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Now here's the best part about this whole situation Not just that it was his great toe.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Garland went back to Vanderbilt University to have this surgery.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: They said it will be four to five months of rehab.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: He did miss four playoff games, shooting 17 from three, and when he came back, he, he was just.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: He was not the same dude, he just wasn't the same guy.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: So now this also begs another question, and I know everybody's gonna sit here and go like, oh my god, you just you're trying to rip up our team.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: No, not trying to rip up your team.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: What I'm asking, though, is are we going to look at cleveland and go well darius, and go Well Darius?
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Garland was hurt and we didn't have our full complement of players, and are we going to run it back, or are we going to augment what we currently have?
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: You know how front offices are.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: We just talked about Dallas.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: They talked themselves into another year Of chemistry, chemistry, continuity, growth.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Let's run it back.
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: We preached that all year.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: This year too, but here's the thing that I want to talk about.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: This is two years in a row.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: It's two years in a row that we've been asking the same thing about Garland.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: Now, both freak situations.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: He broke his jaw last year and then lost 20 pounds, so he was not 183.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: He was playing basketball at 163 pounds, which is basically the equivalent of a high school freshman.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: How you going to guard somebody being 163 pounds in today's nba?
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: Not likely, not likely at all.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: So the calves were the number one seed in the east.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: No doubt they had 121.7 offensive rating number one in the nba, but they got exposed by indiana again in the second round.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: And now garland may be out till november.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: He's gonna be gone.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: He's gonna be gone till november.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Okay, shots off to white cliff, john, for gone till november.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: Love that song.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: It's a good song.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Go youtube, do it.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: But is it time to pick a lane?
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: Is it time for kobe altman?
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: Because we will have a reshuffle of the deck this year.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: I am expecting big time summer, summer blockbusters and I'm not talking about at amc, movie theaters or what have you, I'm talking about blockbuster trades.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: My guys and gals, we will have trades this year.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: We will have big names.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: We will have names that you know.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: We'll have names that will make you scratch your head and go why is he getting traded?
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: We will have names out there that go oh, I really like him for my team.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: You're gonna hear a lot of that.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: You're gonna hear a lot of that during the offseason.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: So stay with us and know that for every emergency pod that needs to happen, if yannis gets traded, kd gets traded or one of the super, duper, duper stars, get traded.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: Yo, boys and girls, soraya, I'm not never going to not talk about you on this podcast, even though you only bring up little stats and stuff like that and you don't want to talk on the podcast, I get it, but we will talk about you on the podcast.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: Both myself serea will be here for you to give you what you need.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: We want to give the people.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: Give the people what they want.
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: So let's go through what cleveland is looking at right now.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: I'm not breaking any news.
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: It's's been obvious.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: You got two Six foot one guards, both With max deals, both need rhythm, both need the ball, both are Primary guards.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Now Did Donovan Mitchell take a step back this year To allow Darius garland to flourish?
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: Yes, he did.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Is it still optimal to continue to run the two small guard lineup out there?
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: I've been asking this question for years and we have not seen any other more positive results than what we have seen so far.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: Early second round exits.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: This team was the number one overall seed.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: People will say they missed their window.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: I don't believe that, but people will say that.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: But if the Cavs have not learned anything from history, let me help you out.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: Do you want to be Damian lillard and cj mccollum of the east?
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: Is that what you want to be like?
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: We are our zenith.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Our summit is the second round of the playoffs and then we get unceremoniously bounced because our guard situation is too small and they can't they can't fight over screens.
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: That's where you're headed.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: Cleveland, that is where you're headed.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: There were whispers last year about garland being moved before the injury and now that window may have slammed nasha it's still cracked.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: Have slammed nasha it's still cracked.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: Because, again, the salary cap is going to be outrageous when it comes to what you're going to be able to do, how you're going to be able to maneuver, and this might be the the year.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: If you want to make a move and maybe kind of reset your books a little bit, this might be the year to do that.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: Here's a real tragedy.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: It's not cleveland and it's not mitchell.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: Is it gonna be garland?
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: It shouldn't be mobley.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: Mobley showed enough.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: He's giving off like modern day kg vibes.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: Personally, his usage rate 20.7 percent, 60 plus games where garland and mitchell both played mogli took fewer than 12 shots.
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: Evan mogli can can be your future If you let him, but if you do not Empower him, if he doesn't become like your Second dude, he's more like your third dude.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: I wonder what the ceiling is for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: And people say oh, vince, you're salty about Cleveland.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: Hey, last couple years, where y'all been second round, is what it is at this point.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: If it walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: It's probably a damn duck, just so y'all know.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: So what makes sense?
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: Who should we trade?
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: Do you trade garland?
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: Do you trade mitchell?
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: Who could bring you back the most haul?
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: Is that how we're doing it, or are we trying to bring back a specific piece?
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm saying are we trying to bring back something, something back that's spicy?
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: Is there a draft hall?
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: Is there a picks accumulation that we can get into?
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: A la with houston, a la with brooklyn?
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you, a team that they should dangle him to is orlando.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: Orlando would be a squad I would be like, hmm, I wonder what we can get out of them.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: Now here's the thing.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: I understand that cleveland fans don't want to hear this.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: They don't want to take a step back.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: I'm not asking you to take a step back.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: What I'm asking you is to reassess what your ceiling is with darius garland and donovan mitchell as your backcourt, because in a regular season it's going to look awesome.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: In the postseason it's probably not going to look as great, because defense at some point will matter and unfortunately not one of those guys is going to be able to help you with that.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: Now garland just had just is having toe surgery.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: So what, what do you think?
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: Teams like san antonio or utah or um, who was it?
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, utah was the team.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: They.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: They had an interesting comment made by their new general manager, austin ange.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: Now we know that dann Ainge is kind of like an executive officer for the Utah Jazz.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: He also overlooks the player personnel.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: But Austin said something really interesting.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: He said I don't think we're tanking next year.
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: I think we're done with that.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: So my question is is could you get garland, maybe on a little discount because of the injury history over the last couple years?
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: Now I'm not saying you're gonna get him for an absolute song because you're not gonna be able to fleece cleveland and kobe altman with that, but at the end of the day saying okay, well, we're not gonna have him for, like at least until december, which you know I mean really.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: I mean in the grand scheme of things, not that big of a deal, but trying to build continuity, kind of a big deal.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: So I could see a team trying to shortchange cleveland a little bit.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: But what is it?
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: Who could they, who could attack this situation and benefit from a point guard, who I have still a lot of?
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say just respect, but I think that if this kid was just given the keys to the kingdom and allowed to run the offense, I think he would be fantastic.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: It just so happens that he's with another guard that needs the ball a lot.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: Who could be some of the suitors for this guy?
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: Well, one you know.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: If you want to put it out there, how about we just said orlando, they need guards, they need real guards.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: Now, is there a?
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: Is there a Boston Celtics deal out there for you?
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: Interesting, because they do have Derek White, they do have Drew Holiday.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: I'd be looking more at a Derek White deal than I would be looking at a Drew Holiday deal, just because of the age difference and what have you?
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: Utah, obviously, is out there.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: The Nets are desperate for buckets and branding.
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: So I personally think that I'm not saying he's going to be moved, but it would be something that if I was kobe altman, I would look at.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: This isn't about health, it's just about timing.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: It was bad timing for him to get hurt.
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: It was bad timing because of the fact that they were the number one overall seed in the east and in a sense, they kind of just blew a window.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: We don't know what they could have been, so it kind of sucks now.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: Also, what does this mean for ty jerome?
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: Ty jerome was a six-man finalist.
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: He was putting up crazy numbers for somebody who was averaging less than 20 minutes a game.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: Our guy averaged 12.5 points a game but he had 40, 50, 90 splits.
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: So what that means is that he shot over 50 from the field in total.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: He shot over 40 percent from three and he shot over 90 percent from the free throw line.
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: Now as we got into the playoffs, ty drone got a little exposed and as the rotation rotation started to shrink for kenny atkinson, we saw our guy ty jerome's minutes dwindle.
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: Now does that mean that his price tag is going to change?
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: We will have to see as we get closer and closer to the summer and start hearing some of the buzz that comes out.
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: I've not heard that it's changing his number.
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: I think he's gonna get, probably.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: He's probably gonna get like 80 mil, probably gonna get 80 mil.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Four years.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: 80 mil sounds about right for somebody who can put up that type of production in that short amount of time.
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: But I'm telling you right now, we got, there's got to be some things that we got to check.
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: Gotta get some things squared away.
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: You know, would you do something with og and anobi?
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: Could you do something with lou doart?
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: These are just questions that I'm asking.
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: I just know, right now, what I'm looking at with Cavaliers.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: It reminds me of 2019 Blazers Energy.
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: You have a good run, but you know there's a ceiling to it.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: You don't run it back without shot creators Coming off the bench and 80 million in tax penalties.
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: That's malpractice, because Cleveland's roster is about to get super expensive because of Evan Mobley and also Donovan Mitchell, contracts are about to kick in.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: It's going to get crazy in a second.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: All I know is that Mowgli right now is looking.
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: Instead of looking like the chosen one, he's looking like your third option and that needs to change.
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: Cleveland's net rating was the second best in the NBA, at plus 9.5, but their playoff net rating in the indiana series was negative 7.3.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: Top seed but not top tier.
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: There's a big difference between the two and you don't want to end up being like that utah stigma that donovan mitchell had.
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: Like that Utah stigma that Donovan Mitchell had when it was, like good regular season team has definite flaws in the playoffs.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: So the truth is that Garland's toe injury might be a blessing in disguise.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: It might have kicked off a full onon identity crisis in cleveland.
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: The cows don't have a window anymore because everybody now is expensive.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: So what do you do?
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: Where's the move coming from?
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: Who is going out?
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: Who's staying?
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: What's everybody's thoughts on this?
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: I need some help from my people in Cleveland Hashtag.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: Let them know I'm going to need y'all on this one.
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: If you were in Kobe Altman's shoes, if you were sitting behind that desk and you had to pull the trigger, who would you let go of?
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: Would it be Garland?
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Would it be Donovan Mitchell?
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: Would it be garland?
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: Would it be donovan mitchell?
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: Would it be jared allen?
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: Or are you going to be the one with all the sentimentality and say, dog, we need to just run it back because we still haven't had our full a compliment of people because we had injuries?
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: I hope you're not the fourth.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: I know you're.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: I hope you're not the fourth option.
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: I hope you're not like let's run it back, because clearly your understanding of what this cap situation in these aprons look like is on a lower level.
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: We're gonna need y'all to step up, y'all gang, because this cap, this is not football, where the cap can be manipulated.
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: This is a real cap and there are punitive damages if you stay in that damn second apron.
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: Wait till you see the offseason, wait till you see what the hell boston has to do this year, till you see what the hell Boston has to do this year.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: Because I'm telling you, I have talked to people in that city and there are people who think there might be a absolute teardown because of what the cap and what the aprons are doing, because this is the year for Boston.
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: They stared it into the face last year, but this is the year where it becomes real punitive.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: Oh, we're freezing the draft pick seven years out.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Oh, you don't have any.
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: Uh, any way, if you stay at this level currently, you have no way to sign any free agents.
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: As far as, like, um, mid-level exceptions and things of that nature, nope, those are off the table.
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: Oh, buyout candidates during the year.
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: Okay, you might have an injury here or there.
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: Maybe you need a big, because you know, al horford is 96 years old and christoph borzingas his body kind of reminds me of a 90 year old person.
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: Just kidding crystal, just kidding, okay, just just jokes here.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: But they're going to have to make some real fiscal, responsible trades in boston.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: There's a new era coming to TD Garden.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: Trust and believe that, and Cleveland might have to follow suit as well.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: So it's, I'm not just picking on Cleveland.
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: There's going to be some serious decisions made this offseason and I bet you there will be some cost-cutting decisions.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: Speaking of decisions, we need to go to New York City.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: You know why we need to go there?
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: Because our guy Tibbs got fired right now.
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: Here's the best part.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: Here's the best part.
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: So next, fire tips okay, defense, great play your starters way too much all of that.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: There's a lot to be said on both sides.
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: Now the Knicks have Leon Rose.
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: He's looking refreshing, like he's refreshing LinkedIn right now.
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: He got keywords.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: He's looking at Jason Kidd.
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: So Saraya dropped this in the notes.
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: She says last year, last year, obviously, 51-31, really respectable season for the Knicks, top 10 in defense and in offense.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: This is Coach Tibbs to a tee, 26 in pace because Tibbs teams don't run.
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: And also Jalen Brunson he don't want to run.
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: Carl Anthony Towns, he don't want to run.
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: Now Mikael Bridges, and them't want to run.
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: Carl anthony towns, he don't want to run.
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: Now mikhail bridges, and now they want to run.
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: You had a military grade coaching presence and swapped it for a group brain storm about culture fits.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: Again, I'm gonna tell you right now, jalen brunson is not happy about this situation.
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: So the leader of the team, the guy who took less money to go there not to go there, but the second contract, he took less money to fit people in is not happy about coast hills being out.
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: So, whoever you bring in, you gotta, you, gotta win, you, gotta win this coaching hire because, I'm gonna tell you right now, the side eye from jalen brunson will be super real.
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: Let's be real about tibbs, though he did have flaws.
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: His rotations were fossilized.
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: Guys look like they were playing um in the ymca ball, ymca in may.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: But the dude coach he gave the knicks identity that they did not have and they didn't have for a long period of time.
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: This stretch of new york knicks basketball is the most successful stretch of new york knick basketball since the 90s.
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: Okay, and I'm not being over dramatic.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: It has been since latrell spreewell was wearing braids and was still culturally relevant.
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: And when you read bridges quotes he says right, you know, saying told tibbs he needed a break.
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: That wasn't just hyper, really.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: That wasn't him just like.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: Oh, I'm talking out, this wasn't like a jonathan kaminga situation.
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: Mikhail bridges is one of the stand-up dudes in the league.
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: He plays 82 games every single, every single year.
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: He plays the right way most of the times.
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: You know, when it comes to his game I sometimes want more out of him.
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: But that's more of a tactical thing, with jalen brunson basically being like the Cobra Commander of the New York Knicks.
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: But Tibbs goes to the media and says about the convoy it never happened.
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: So he just disregarded what Mikkel Bridges said.
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: And I wonder if I wonder if I wonder if our guy Bridges has something to say, because I'm sure they talked about contract right after the season.
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: Usually in exit interviews they'll talk about things like that, like hey, want to sit down with you, talk about extension and how that works.
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: And I wonder if Mikael Bridges said Yo, before we even talk about extension, can we talk about how tibbs is trying to run me into the ground?
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: He must have saw me and said oh, my god, the prophecy is true.
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: Some god did send me another jimmy butler to run into the ground, and I will do that.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: Mikhail bridges is not hearing all that.
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: Okay, he is not.
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: So we can say a lot of things.
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: But tibs got the knicks to b plus level, but because of his uh lack of rotations, lack of uh future thought process of building some sort of bench or at least building some asset additive pieces to your team, so then maybe you can trade some of these guys for guys that maybe fit whatever it is concepts that tibbs was trying to get to.
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: Now we're in a situation where he's gone and it looks like Jason Kidd Is the apple Of the New York Knicks eye.
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: Jason Kidd, who is currently the Dallas Mavericks coach, is the number one option For the New York Knicks.
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: This is going to be interesting as all get out.
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: So explain to me, because I'm a little confused.
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: I mean, if you're, if you're a knicks fan at penn station, how's jason kidd's name at the top of the board?
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: Kid is the coach you hire when you hold your team's vibes.
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: It's the way to a second round exit, not when you're actually trying to build something.
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: Kid has learned a lot since his days back in well, brooklyn and also in milwaukee.
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: A lot of people say that he's made some significant changes.
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: If you look at what dallas looked like last not this last year, but the year prior he got them to the finals, you know.
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: So I don't know what this would mean, but if Jason Kidd is coming to the Knicks, I hope that Jalen Brunson's on board with this.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: That would be my only thought process in this whole deal.
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: You're replacing a defensive ceo with a dude that moonlights as a motivational instagram slot.
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: All I know is that the defense did not get fixed until in dallas, till last year, until daniel Gafford and PJ Washington showed up.
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: So you can say he needed the horses.
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: But I will say this Tibbs built a good defense around Carl Anthony Towns.
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: Of all people, you know how hard it is to build a good defense around Carl Anthony Towns, who is your supposed rim protector.
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: That's hard to do.
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: Hard to do so now.
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: Um, blah, blah, blah.
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: This is a no drop from our girl saraya.
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: What you got here is what you don't got what.
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: What don't you got got you Business leadership principles.
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: Knicks are top 10 in net rating In offense and defense.
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: You know they had this team put together.
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: I'm sure there's things that Are going to work out through continuity or there are going to be changes made, because now, with Jason Kidd coming in, is everybody a Jason Kidd type guy?
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's going to get this job, because we gotta see if dallas is going to let him out or they're going to try to.
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: If the knicks are going to have to trade for him, we have no idea.
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: This is the best line of the day.
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: If you fire stability, you better have a genius in your back pocket, and this comes from a anonymous east talent evaluator that I spoke with said listen, I understand that maybe you don't like some of the ways that tibbs go about his business, and maybe we are.
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: We were starting to see the kind of like the genesis of what the Denver Nuggets had just went through with Michael Malone and saying, hey, play these guys and Tibbs going.
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: Nope, I don't want to play these guys and tibs going.
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: Nope, I don't want to play these guys because they don't honor our defensive principles.
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: Well, you got carl anthony towns on your team dog.
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: I know he wasn't honoring your defensive principles the whole damn time.
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: I know the little hair that you have on top of your head, carl anthony towns, was definitely challenging those hair follicles that are straining for life on the top of your head, tibs.
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: So it's kind of disingenuous for you to say that, hey, if we play these guys off the bench, we're gonna be so dramatically worse defensively in the long haul that we can't win.
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: Or let's give some of these kids a try.
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: They drafted them, they scouted them.
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: We kind of need to see them play.
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: So I don't know if it's not a akison-esque hire, if it's not a I'm trying to think of names that will hardy, will hardy, perfect example, perfect example.
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: Will hardy, that type of guy.
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: If it's not that type of guy, then I don't know what we're doing here In New York City.
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: Y'all gonna have to explain it to me when y'all get a coach.
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: Y'all gonna have to explain it Because I'm gonna tell you If it doesn't look like super genius.
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: I told you my choice last week and that's the coach out of Florida Golden, todd Golden.
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: That's who you go get.
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: That's who you go get.
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: If you trying to replace tom tibbitt, don't come with no retread action, not new york city.
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: You don't replace an internal culture builder with a system specialist from outside and expect innovation.
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: Because here's the other thing jaylen brunson and mikhail bridges and og and anovie and carl anthony towns gotta have buy-in on this new guy.
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: Here is the best line from Soraya so far, this podcast Knicks post 2000 coaching hires, 11 of them, 11 coaches in 25 years.
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: Okay, so let's do the math.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: We're averaging just a little bit above 2.3 per coaching stint.
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you right now, you can't build continuity if you are just blowing through coaches like that.
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: You just can't.
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: It's basically rebranding failure and hoping for no one to keep receipts.
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: It is absolutely.
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: I don't know what the Knicks are thinking right now, but I will say this I'll go get glass half full for a second.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: Could this be a Mark Jackson Steve Kerr thing, where, when Golden State let go of Mark Jackson, who had got them to the playoffs and whatever, and had changed the tenor and the whole deal of that team, and then they hired Steve Kerr, and then they became one of the greatest uh dynasties that we've seen in this league and reinvented basketball, and we got Steph Curry out here shooting 40 foot threes and things of that nature.
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: Okay, you better get this hire right.
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: You had an adult in the room.
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, tis was not perfect, but he gave you a direction.
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: He gave you belief and an identity, and now you're out here floating again.
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: So unless your next coach can lead, listen and learn.
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: So unless your next coach Can lead, listen and learn, y'all back in the spin cycle again.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: Alright, so we gotta talk about some draft stuff.
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: You know why?
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: Because draft is coming up.
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: I'm excited about the draft.
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: I wanna talk about Cooper Flagg, because Our guy Cooper Flagg Is Just brilliant.
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: So, because our guy Cooper Flagg is just brilliant.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: So he's 6 foot 8.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: 3 quarters Came in at 221.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: By the way, he's still 18 years old.
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: He does not turn.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: He does not turn 19 until the season starts.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: I will say this again cougar flag will not turn 19 until the season starts.
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: That is absolutely mind-blowing to me when we've never seen a prospect this polished defensively at the age of 18.
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: That's much.
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: It has so much offensive upside, you know, maybe since paulo van carroll, but with more defensive versatility.
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: Obviously you know we're not comparing the two, but I think this kid is going to be box office.
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: I think everybody's going to love him.
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: Another guy that you guys should be paying attention to, and these are like the names you know we're going to get into some names you don't know in a second, but trey johnson has been moving up the draft boards.
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: His name is weighty and so is his motor.
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: Johnson doesn't force the issue, just get, just kills you in his motion.
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: He has a low center of gravity.
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: He has very, very, um, clean footwork, smart footwork, heady footwork, strong finishing with angles.
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: He knows how to use his body and create the, the space that he needs to be able to get the shot off.
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: All these things that I love.
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: He's not just an elite at anything, but damn good at everything.
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: You can plug him into an NBA system tomorrow and he would not blink In the slightest.
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: Trey Johnson Could be one of those guys that kind of slips into the top four and we're going.
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: Oh shit, che johnson is in the top four.
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: I see him as high as four.
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: I've seen three in some spots.
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know about that, we'll see.
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: Now we need to get to ace bailey.
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: Because I want to talk about this real quick because Because we kind of Polished over this the last time we talked about the draft Ace Bailey At the Chicago Pre Pre draft combine, he measured in at 6 foot 7.
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: And a half in socks.
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: Now he had been listed the whole time At 6'10" and now officially he's 6'7 and a half in socks.
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: Now he had been listed the whole time at 6'10 and now officially he's 6'7 and a half.
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: So I'm what to make of this?
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: So I talked to a bunch of people about to talk to evaluators and and scouts and whatever.
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: This is what.
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: This is what they said um, his height doesn't disqualify him for being a top five consideration.
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: Um, it doesn't invalidate his tape which shows elite vertical pop defensive instincts I don't know who said that and downhill athleticism.
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: I have to look through my nose to say who the defensive instincts, because we're gonna get into that momentarily.
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: It doesn't shrink.
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: His wingspan, which is out there is projected at seven foot, is seven foot two.
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: So he's six foot seven and a half and seven foot two wingspan.
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: It's pretty damn good and more importantly for function than height in many schemes.
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: So let's get to it.
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: He has one of the most scalable uh traits that you can think of is that he can shoot the ball.
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: He is a three level scorer.
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: This guy can get two angles.
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: He can get his body squared up to hit a shot, no doubt about it.
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: And even if bailey is a really big wing, his frame fluidity and his vertical pod keep him in a switchable wing plus athletic score lean, which is more valuable than a true force.
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: This is true.
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: Bailey has elite second jump, explosiveness, transitions, transitional speed and he can be he can be a deterrent on the defensive end when he's engaged.
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: He can be a deterrent on the defensive end when he's engaged.
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: Those will show up, irregardless to being 6'10 or 6'8.
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: So now here's some of the snapshot evaluations that we got off of him Is that his positional versatility Graded out as an A His explosiveness, graded out as an shot creation flash, is a b plus.
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: His defensive event generation is a row certainty is just a flat b.
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: Starter upside is a.
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, this is from um.
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: Okay, this is from um talent evaluator that we have just asked a couple questions to, and he was more more than generous with his time and we appreciate him.
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: So thank you so much, fans.
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: Um, I'm not gonna cop him, but he can be a switchable wing if, like I said, motivated, he's a plus athlete and he can be a play finisher.
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: What smart front offices will do now is they'll rewatch the tape and they'll watch if bailey plays through strength, strength and closeouts, compromised by his real size.
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: They'll compare him directly with, uh, some of the other guys that are in this draft.
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: As far as that's concerned, which I think he'll, he'll score high and I think that what will end up winning out in the end is do you believe his offensive production?
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: His offensive production will be as great as people have made it out to be?
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: Because I'm still a little skeptical on that, because I think he has high hips.
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: I don't think he can get down low.
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: I think his ball handling is b minus at best and I think now his shot creation a plus.
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: Shooting off platform a plus getting to his spots, even irregardless, do I think the handle could be a lot tighter?
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: He does, he can get to his spots.
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: Now he was also getting to his spots because he was a superior athlete playing at Rutgers.
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: When you are in the NBA, you're playing against a bunch of superior athletes.
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 1: It doesn't matter.
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 1: Like the Rock says, it doesn't matter what you think, but we shall see.
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: All right, let's run through some guys that we don't talk a lot about.
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: Walter Clayton Jr I got this note.
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: You want fearless?
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: Here is your guy.
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: Clayton doesn't blink in the big moments, whether it's hitting daggers in March or pulling up from 30 off the dribble this kid is an absolute sniper.
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: Dribble this kid is an absolute sniper.
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: He made 39 percent, 39.8 percent of his uh off the catch, nearly 37 off the bounce.
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: The man was born in crunch time.
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: He was listen, he was born in the darkness.
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: You just experienced the darkness.
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 1: He's been born in the darkness and at six foot two with defensive flaws.
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: But if you have a system that allows him to fire and let the ball fly, just do think ben gordon back in the day, think jordan clarkson.
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 1: Now, a little bit simple coffee for the working man.
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: I want to hit up a couple other guys that I really want to talk about.
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: Who?
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: Asa newell.
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about asa newell.
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: Real quick, energy, length, explosiveness, all these ces.
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: Newell is a rim runner with developmental face-up game.
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: I think he has a chance to be really, really good in this league.
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: His frame he's 6 foot 9, 224 pounds.
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 1: He's 19.
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: He averaged 15 and a half points a game last year.
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: He had pretty good rebounding numbers for somebody who is, as I still think, he has some growth spurt ability.
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: I think he could grow a little bit more.
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: Now he did not shoot it well from three 29.2 percent and he only shot 74.8 percent from his free throws, which we would want that to be a little bit higher if we were really counting on him being like a sniper down the road.
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: Our hope is that he can get to like average.
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: He can get to 35 to 36 percent from three and get this closer up to 80 percent from the free throw line.
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: That's our, that's our hope for our guy.
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: Now, his wingspan for somebody 6'9, 7 feet, so it's not dramatic.
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: He does jump max vertical with 36 and a half inches, so three feet off the ground, not bad for somebody carrying 224.
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: I think this is one of those.
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: This is orlando magic pick type of dude.
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: This is a okc type of pick.
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: This is a memphis grizzly type of pick.
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: There's some, there's some teams that have like types and asa newell is one of those guys that is going to fit a type and I wouldn't be.
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't be so surprised that one of the usual suspects, ie the Thunder, memphis Grizzlies or the Orlando Magic um, snatch him up personally.
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: Now he well, we talked about his rim running and his he's an explosive leaper.
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: Uh, also, he has good soft hands to catch tough passes, which is great.
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: Uh, he corrals offensive rebounds like a jeep in traffic.
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: He is not scared.
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: He possesses the wall.
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: He does a great job of keeping it high, which is always great.
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: That means you don't allow the guards to getes the wall.
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: He does a great job of keeping it high, which is always great.
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: That means you don't allow the guards to get to the wall and swipe down on it and knock it out your hands.
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 1: Here's a solid handle when driving in a straight line.
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: So we don't ask him to do a lot of wiggle.
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: So second side initiation is basically pump, fake, show him the ball, get him out of position and then you take the ball and go straight to the rim.
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 1: If he's sitting in the corner, that's what he's doing Now his hustle, now his switch defense.
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: He's also a comfortable garden on the perimeter.
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: It gives him the ability to switch screens.
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: Garden on the perimeter, it gives him the ability to switch screens.
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: There were countless moments in the college season in which he be on an island against a quicker guard and more than handle his own.
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: So what are the concerns?
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: Passing absolutely can get careless with the basketball leading the strips or interceptions.
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: This also limits him out of short roll and picking pop opportunities because the processing on the passing not great as of right now.
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: Keep in mind he's 19.
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: Okay, he is 19 years of age.
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: Okay, he is 19 years of age.
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 1: I'm sure your judgment wasn't great at 19.
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: Now we're asking him to do something different, but I think it could come with time.
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's the most um feel worthy guy in the draft he is.
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: He based a lot of his attributes on athleticism and just raw explosivity, but he could this could be a learned trait for him.
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: Defensive discipline.
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 1: He misses rotation sometimes and he commits avoidable fouls because he's out of position.
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 1: Sometimes he's simply misread a play and like choosing to stay close or to a poor shooter rather than rotating over to contain a driving opponent shooting production.
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: He only made 29.8 percent of his jumpers as a freshman per synergy.
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 1: He proves he can extend his range.
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 1: His ability to space the floor is merely theoretical at this point, so I'm just letting you know.
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: All right, you know we got dudes who are going to pop.
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: We're going to have dudes who go into these private workouts soon.
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: We're going to hear great things coming out these private workouts.
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: I'm letting you know right now isaac new is going to be private workouts soon.
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 1: We're gonna hear great things coming out of these private workouts.
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: I'm letting you know right now acyl new is going to be a stud athlete.
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 1: Can he shoot the ball?
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: Can he defend?
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: I think he can.
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 1: The problem is is that you got to get more locked in.
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: You got to be a little more.
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: You got to be a little less aloof and more intentional with your defensive principles and philosophies and know them and be like on top of it needs to become second nature for you.
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: He's not there yet another guy who's on this list who might get some love towards the later parts of the first round Is Ryan Cogburner, a Creighton.
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: And people say Vince Ryan Cogburner, creighton.
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's 7 foot 1.
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: He's also got a 7 foot 6 wingspan.
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: Think Brooke Lopez, mike Muscala, but hopefully more Brooke Lopez.
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: He's got elite measurables for a modern five.
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: Oh, check this out in the pre-drive chicago combine okay, 66 of 103.
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 1: Three corners, homie, 66 out of 103.
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: So stretch five viability.
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: I would say check low turnover drop scheme, fit for sure, proven rim deterrent, 2.7 blocks per game, that's elite contest.
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: That's elite contest.
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: Percentages right there.
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: Okay, bigs fall in the modern drive unless they're offensive hubs.
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: Now, cult runner is not going to be that guy.
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: He'll be more of a late steal if you get them in the late teens, in the mid-20s.
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: But I think that as soon as this dude hits the court and you say, oh, he's seven foot one, but he gonna hit, he gonna knock down this corner.
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: Three for me.
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: He will start singing a different tune by a guy, ryan caulkrunner.
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: He's not going to be a guy that you can switch out on to.
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: This is definitely a guy that people will search out and want to get him in pick and roll action.
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: So you got to keep him in pick and roll action.
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: So you got to keep him in that drop coverage.
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 1: You got to keep him more like Rudy Gobert.
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: But the three point shooting alone Will get this dude on the court.
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 1: Just saying Drake Powell out of North Carolina Is an interesting prospect to me.
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: He's 6'5 with a 7 foot wingspan and a 37 and a half no step vertical jump.
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying?
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: Love that he has elite burst defensive tools.
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: He had the best no step vert at the combine.
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 1: So just so you know, link plus instincts.
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 1: Plug and play defender that's what one scout told me doesn't need usage to contribute.
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: He cuts, he uh, he creates transition in gravity.
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: Being 200 pounds, solid frame, also 19 years of age, didn't do a lot at north carolina, was hard to crack like the rotation, but he was a energizer off the bench and when he did get his chances he did produce.
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 1: He shot almost 38 percent from three um in his limited time he rebounded the ball decently well 3.4 rebounds a game on, like I said, limited minutes.
• 1:19:16
  Speaker 1: And again, his max vertical 43 inches.
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: So when you had, when he got a step, it's 43, with no step, no step, it's 37 and a half.
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: So the explosivity is off the charts.
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 1: Now when I think of this guy, I think of um, a guy who can definitely be a rotational 3 and d type of dude at the rim.
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: Powell's sheer size and strength also allows him to absorb contact on layups and when he is has the space to launch he's explosive finisher, which will tell you about his vertical spot of shooting.
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: Powell made 40.5 off the catch and shoot threes at north carolina as a freshman, comparable to his mark in high school, which was also 40.5 percent.
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: He stayed consistent percentage despite his poor free throw shooting percentages in college, which was only at 64.8 percent.
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: He routinely shot 80 percent in high school and I wonder if this was more of a.
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: You are a freshman at north carolina and the lights just got a little bit too big for you for a while and then it took you a second to coalesce into who you are.
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: Connective playmaking he keeps the ball moving with the float, with within the flow, pinging in around the floor, making slick bounce passes on the interior.
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 1: He isn't a primary creator, but he can be a second side um quick decision maker when it comes to close outs and on the break Defensive versatility.
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: He's a great athlete Super strong, long Lateral quickness.
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: He has the ability to switch across multiple positions.
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: He also has a high motor and competes at a high level and he loves to steal the ball Absolutely loves to steal it.
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: Now Some of the concerns is he a limited shot creator?
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 1: Yes, he ain't trying to dribble.
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying.
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: He ain't trying to do all that because he's okay at it, but he ain't great.
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: So stick him in the corner and let him shoot threes.
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: Or if there's extreme closeout, somebody gets reckless with the closeout, pump fake, go straight to the rim and yank on somebody.
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 1: Just, yeah, blah craziness.
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: Where he's gonna make his nuts and bolts in the league is defensive playmaking.
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 1: When he's got his hands in the passing lanes, when he's anticipating the pass and picking it off and going back the other way, this is where he's going to be in that situation.
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: Now, one more guy that I want to talk about before we get out of here, and again, the reason why we're doing this is because of the fact that the draft is coming up and I want to get some names out here that we haven't really talked about a lot.
• 1:22:31
  Speaker 1: So the next guy that I want to talk about is cedric coward.
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 1: Now, cedric coward, you go.
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: Where did I hear that name from?
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: Well, you might have heard this name because he was going to Duke before the pre-draft combine in Chicago.
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 1: And then the pre-draft combine in Chicago happened.
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 1: And why is this so important and why am I so excited about it?
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you exactly why.
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: All the measurables came in on our guy, okay, so let's get to that first.
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 1: Cedric coward got measured at the combine and he measured out at six, six feet five inches and a quarter.
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: You go, okay, whatever.
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: Seven foot two plus wingspan on our.
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: But here is the kicker.
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: If you had a question about my man's three point shooting, don't question it anymore.
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: He hit 72 of 105 threes in the shooting drills at the combine.
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: Okay, that is sick, sick, sick, loved it.
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: Everybody was talking this kid up.
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: He has rare length to height ratio.
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 1: It's a plus nine which is one of the best they've ever seen at the combine.
• 1:23:57
  Speaker 1: He has solid.
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: He has a solid vertical pop touch and emerging skill base.
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 1: His shooting sample looks real Passing instincts they flash a little bit Now.
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: His high school eval were mixed Must monitor His.
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 1: You know what he needs to do, whatever case may be.
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 1: But here's what teams are saying about him.
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 1: In the short term, this pick.
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: A lot of people think he might be wrong.
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: I don't think so.
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: I think you just got to find the right situation for him.
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: He is a 3nd dude.
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: We want you to shoot the ball and defend.
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 1: Get into the passing lanes, do your thing.
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 1: His athleticism Cowher has ideal size for a wing.
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: He has broad shoulders and long arms Think Kawhi Leonard.
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: Though he needs to add muscle, he has the frame to do so and grow into it.
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: He plays strong with the ability to absorb contact, fight through screens and crash the boards at an elite level for his size.
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: He made 38.8 percent of his threes in in three division one college seasons.
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 1: He included a 40.6 percent catch on catch and shoot threes.
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 1: Most of his attempts came off.
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: Basic spot ups.
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: That's all you want from him.
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: But it shows enough smooth footwork Off ball movement Plus flashes of touch in the mid range.
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 1: So if he can like flash to the mid range and get a shot, you know, just kind of throw the hands up in the air and then be able to get the shot off, he can do that.
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: His interior scoring is the thing that is kind of intriguing to me, because he played post in college where he displayed his dexterity scoring against contact.
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: These skills translate when you are going to the next level, when he's attacking from the perimeter too as well, whether he's driving uh by a closeout or looking for cutting chances, he's he's deleted doing that now his basketball iq.
• 1:26:15
  Speaker 1: He plays within himself.
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: He knows his role.
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: He'll relocate off ball.
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: I love that about him.
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 1: He's always constantly moving.
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 1: He's looking for cutting chances every opportunity he gets and he'll do all the little things that satisfy his head coach.
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 1: His passing is is decent.
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 1: He puts pretty good zip on the ball.
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: He delivers accurate passes, whether it's cross court kickouts or entry passes to the big man uh, with position underneath the rim.
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 1: He may not end up being a primary creator I don't think he'll doubt ever being his game but as a secondary uh deal, as a secondary initiator, he can definitely do that now on the defensive.
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 1: This is where he will make his bones.
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 1: He's super versatile.
• 1:27:03
  Speaker 1: He can guard one through four.
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: Personally, I think he has enough lateral quickness to stay in front of the little itty bitty guards, plus the strength and toughness to handle the bigger wings that he's going to face again.
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: The length itself and the energetic approach means his hands alter shots and he gets into the passing lanes on a frequent basis.
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: So when you're looking for a guy in the draft right, when you're looking for guys like hey, can we find a guy who can play some damn defense?
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 1: Can we have a guy who can knock down an open shot here or there?
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 1: Can we have a guy who can be instinctual on defense and when he sees the pass, he knows it right before it's about to happen and he immediately takes off and gets into that passing lane and picks it off.
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: You are talking about cedric coward.
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: This is one of the dudes that I am extremely high on.
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 1: I think that somebody is going to get him in like the mid-20s and they are going to be spectacularly just over the moon about their selection of this guy.
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 1: It'll be one of those things that we'll see some of it in um, we'll see some of it in summer league, but I think when he gets to his team and when he gets to training camp, that's when you'll start seeing the reports come out like oh, we didn't know he had this.
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: Well, you didn't.
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 1: Obviously you didn't listen to front runner podcast collective because we told you he had it.
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: We told you he is a absolute riser and he was going to do I just won.
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: He went from william net to like eastern washington to washington state, like he's been in just really just out there places.
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: But my man is ready to do battle in the NBA and we are excited about Cedric Howard.
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: So we are again two weeks out from the draft.
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: So know that we will continue to talk about the draft, know that we will continue to get our hands on more uh prospects and things of that nature, and the more information I get, the more information you will receive.
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: That's how it works, because I am not selfish with the information.
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 1: I want to give it to to the peoples, right, I want to give it to the people, all right.
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: All right, we are up out of here.
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 1: I want to thank sereb.
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 1: I want to thank all the frpc crew who just hours and hours of film study, hours and hours of breaking down like stats and what have you, and what this means and what this doesn't mean, and what have you.
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: I want to thank everybody involved because without them, I can't do this.
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 1: I cannot.
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 1: So, with that being said, the best part of you is you Make sure you have people that surround you, that are giving love, that are supporting you in a way where you are able to manifest your destiny.
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: Make sure that the people who are surrounding you are more like.
• 1:30:32
  Speaker 1: They're not like no people, they're more like.
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: Anything is possible if you put your mind to it, because it is.
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: The other thing is this if you have people like that around you, make sure that to acknowledge them, appreciate those who are really showing you the type of genuine love that we need to thrive and flourish in this world of negativity.
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: Now, if you are doing that and you're appreciating the people, acknowledging the people, you have people like that who are solid in your life, that means you're doing a lot of things right.
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 1: And if you don't have those people, we always have a chair for you here at front runner podcast collective, because good support is worth his weight in gold and we want to make sure that we acknowledge those who acknowledge us.
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: And, with that being said, we are up out of here.
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 1: We will see you on friday with another feel good friday pod and we will have the results of game three.
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: We'll be able to go through all that, so keep it locked.
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: Here at Frontrunner Podcast Collective, where the NBA never sleeps Sure enough, I never sleep either.
• 1:31:49
  Speaker 1: Good day to you and we'll see you on Friday.
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 1: Deuce.