Latest / The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast / Chad talks NBA Playoffs with Matt Moore

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Chad talks NBA Playoffs with Matt Moore · The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Favorites the Podcast. I am Chad Millman
0:14
Speaker 1: from the Action Network. We've had another exciting weekend of
0:18
Speaker 1: NBA playoffs. Um, So, my guest today is gonna be
0:23
Speaker 1: n b a senior writer extraordinary for the Action Network,
0:28
Speaker 1: Mr Matt Moore, covering the league as no one else
0:31
Speaker 1: can inside everybody's head. How's it going, Buddy? Going on
0:37
Speaker 1: man the first time a long time. I'm super excited
0:39
Speaker 1: to be on this show. That intro music kid. I
0:41
Speaker 1: just got very excited. Oh I love that. Thanks for that.
0:44
Speaker 1: We appreciate it. Um, Listen, I've been all over these
0:49
Speaker 1: NBA Playoffs. I'm having a blast with them. Uh this
0:52
Speaker 1: series themselves that they don't they don't come across as competitive,
0:57
Speaker 1: but every game feels like they are intense, even the
1:02
Speaker 1: Celtics Pacers. Like yesterday, the end of that Celtics Pacers game,
1:05
Speaker 1: you know the the um with about twenty five seconds left,
1:10
Speaker 1: the Pacers hit two straight three pointers and nobody really
1:15
Speaker 1: thought that they were going to come back. But there
1:20
Speaker 1: after they hit the second three pointer, the Celtics through
1:25
Speaker 1: the ball and bounds and the Pacers were a fingertip
1:29
Speaker 1: away from getting that ball back. And having a chance
1:32
Speaker 1: to cut that lead to three. Like to me, that
1:34
Speaker 1: was indicative of how sort of competitive and um exciting
1:39
Speaker 1: these series have been. Yeah, it's been I've I've loved it.
1:44
Speaker 1: Like the series are all probably gonna wrap up early,
1:46
Speaker 1: which is actually fine because it's like then we get
1:48
Speaker 1: onto the better matchups. But you look at like Sixers Nets,
1:51
Speaker 1: the Nets have had a chance and two of their
1:53
Speaker 1: three lasses to get another win. They took a really
1:57
Speaker 1: rough one the end of the night. The other day
1:59
Speaker 1: versus Philly and the game four Laws where it was
2:01
Speaker 1: so bad Sean Marks got himself suspended for going into
2:04
Speaker 1: the locker room after the game to argue about a
2:06
Speaker 1: call um. You know, all these games that have really
2:09
Speaker 1: been closed, like Houston Utah's a situation where Utah was
2:12
Speaker 1: up against it and at the end of the game,
2:14
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell had a wide open three pointer, uh to
2:17
Speaker 1: have a chance to win. And part of it is,
2:19
Speaker 1: you know, as much as these these series have kind
2:23
Speaker 1: of gotten out of control, especially like I've noticed what
2:26
Speaker 1: we do if you're betting on them, there's been a
2:28
Speaker 1: lot of sweats, like this whole weekend either eight games
2:31
Speaker 1: and I was sweating about six of them. Um, and
2:34
Speaker 1: it makes it I think a lot more fun to watch.
2:38
Speaker 1: But even every game other than I would say other
2:40
Speaker 1: than the than the Bucks and the Pistons, which just
2:43
Speaker 1: hasn't been competitive. Every series has had either a narrative
2:49
Speaker 1: inside the series itself, between two players or between the
2:54
Speaker 1: teams more broadly, that has made it much more competitive.
2:57
Speaker 1: Like I'm looking right now, Boston for enough then Warriors
3:01
Speaker 1: up three one, Blazers up three one, Rockets up three nothing, uh,
3:05
Speaker 1: Raptors up three one. Obviously, Bucks up Um three nothing.
3:09
Speaker 1: I'm not looking at uh and like I'm sorry, and
3:13
Speaker 1: and like you look at the Blazers in the thunder
3:15
Speaker 1: obviously Lillard and Westbrook. The intensity there is so much fun,
3:23
Speaker 1: Like there's you have to take a side in this
3:26
Speaker 1: series based on one of those two players. It is fascinating.
3:30
Speaker 1: And I feel like Lillard actually takes this much more
3:33
Speaker 1: personally then Westbrook does. What do you think, Yeah, I
3:38
Speaker 1: think so because Dame has always been since early on
3:42
Speaker 1: his career he fell underappreciated UM and Russ because of
3:46
Speaker 1: the way that he approaches everything, Like like Russ respects
3:50
Speaker 1: Dame a lot, but if he respects you, that just
3:53
Speaker 1: means he goes harder at you. That's how he's like,
3:55
Speaker 1: he's going to trash talk you more, he's gonna run
3:57
Speaker 1: you down more. That's just how he's wired. And so
4:00
Speaker 1: for Daniel liked, these playoffs are really about him kind
4:02
Speaker 1: of validating how good he is. And Dame's also like
4:05
Speaker 1: he's put in a whole lot for him for himself
4:07
Speaker 1: to get better, Like he's made more improvements I think
4:10
Speaker 1: than almost anybody amongst the star players this season in
4:14
Speaker 1: raising his game to a new level because he's better
4:16
Speaker 1: on defense, he's better at passing pretty much everyone in
4:19
Speaker 1: the league. Like talking to lead executives, I asked a
4:21
Speaker 1: question the day to a bunch of folks of is
4:24
Speaker 1: there a better leader in the league than Damian Lillard
4:26
Speaker 1: and and there was only like a handful of responses
4:29
Speaker 1: for other guys. H and everybody else was like, I
4:31
Speaker 1: think you're right, Like I think it's Dame. Like Dame
4:33
Speaker 1: is just like the way that he's leading this team
4:35
Speaker 1: because he's the guy. There's nobody else on that team
4:38
Speaker 1: that has at his level, and he's guiding them and
4:41
Speaker 1: they are on a track where a Western Conference Finals
4:43
Speaker 1: appearance is realistic for a team without its starting center,
4:47
Speaker 1: and that's really amazing. So I have three questions off
4:52
Speaker 1: of that one. Uh, how do you improve leadership? What
4:57
Speaker 1: did he do to improve his leadership? I think, you know,
5:02
Speaker 1: he's always been really good at it. I think one
5:04
Speaker 1: of the things that he's done more this year is
5:08
Speaker 1: he's even less Like he's always been kind of cold
5:10
Speaker 1: blooded in terms of those big moments like Dame time,
5:13
Speaker 1: but this year he's been He's managed to find that
5:16
Speaker 1: there's a frequency you have to maintain during the regular
5:18
Speaker 1: season that exists between we gotta stay focused and we don't.
5:23
Speaker 1: We can't push too hard. You push too hard and
5:25
Speaker 1: guys elementally and emotionally burn out. Uh, you don't go
5:28
Speaker 1: hard enough, you don't take it seriously, and you're gonna
5:30
Speaker 1: lose games that you shouldn't. And he has to find
5:33
Speaker 1: that frequency of keeping guys engaged. Like the work that
5:35
Speaker 1: he did with Nurks before Nurkus went down wasn't incredible,
5:38
Speaker 1: Like I I covered use of for two years in Denver,
5:41
Speaker 1: and that kid has a lot of problems with his
5:44
Speaker 1: attitude and his mentality. You know, he does the wrong
5:47
Speaker 1: things and he gets frustrated and whenever you would watch
5:49
Speaker 1: Blazers game. If there was a bad stretch of Nurks
5:52
Speaker 1: play you, there would be a shot on the bench
5:54
Speaker 1: and there's Dame in his ear talking to him if
5:57
Speaker 1: he would get involved in some nonsense with another player.
5:59
Speaker 1: Dame was in the European Life. We put like, we're
6:01
Speaker 1: up right now, don't mess with this, just stay focused.
6:04
Speaker 1: And he knows his guys and what they need and
6:08
Speaker 1: all of that stuff. I think really like, you can
6:10
Speaker 1: be the player that hits the big shots and that's
6:12
Speaker 1: you know, that's leadership, and be the guy that's in
6:15
Speaker 1: the gym earliest, and that's leadership by example, and that's
6:17
Speaker 1: the most guys lean on. But Dame's a vocal guy
6:20
Speaker 1: where he actually just he invested himself and his teammates.
6:23
Speaker 1: That's something I think that separates him from everybody else.
6:26
Speaker 1: All right, So that's number one. Number two, you mentioned
6:30
Speaker 1: improvements he made. While he doesn't always make the All
6:34
Speaker 1: Star team, there's no doubt he is a virtual All Star.
6:38
Speaker 1: How does a guy who's that good make improvements to
6:41
Speaker 1: his game. I think the biggest thing is defense, Like
6:45
Speaker 1: he was a real liability for a long time defensively,
6:50
Speaker 1: and it really held him back and this year he's
6:53
Speaker 1: just given himself more. And it's funny just that's so
6:56
Speaker 1: often and stuff it's just physical, Like it's just physical
7:00
Speaker 1: where um Like, this year he's healthier and that's fundamentally
7:04
Speaker 1: changed what he's able to give on that end. And
7:06
Speaker 1: a lot of times we ask like defense is just
7:08
Speaker 1: all about effort and all offense. Look, you just can't
7:10
Speaker 1: physically do it because you can't take the hits. But
7:12
Speaker 1: he's jumping in front of screens. He's been smarter on
7:14
Speaker 1: that end. He found ways to be impactful. Um, I
7:17
Speaker 1: think all that stuff has really helped. I think his
7:19
Speaker 1: passing has gotten like a little bit better. It's always
7:22
Speaker 1: been good, but he's really figured out how there's this
7:26
Speaker 1: kind of zone that guys gonna do when they hit
7:27
Speaker 1: their their absolute prime, where they're in control of the game,
7:31
Speaker 1: and no matter what tactical adjustments you make, they make
7:34
Speaker 1: you pay for it. And that's where Damon is. So
7:36
Speaker 1: if they if they bring if that weak side corner
7:39
Speaker 1: guy is coming over just two steps, just two little
7:43
Speaker 1: steps too far, he knows how to manipulate the defense
7:46
Speaker 1: to get that guy to engage even more and then
7:48
Speaker 1: find the passing angle to hit the guy in the corner.
7:51
Speaker 1: And he's got guys knocking down shots, which obviously helps,
7:54
Speaker 1: but being able to do that is huge. I mean,
7:56
Speaker 1: you know at this roster and there's a bunch of it.
7:58
Speaker 1: That's one of the reasons, like I'm just on with
8:00
Speaker 1: this series. There's a bunch of guys on this roster
8:02
Speaker 1: that I'm just like, he can't be serious with this,
8:04
Speaker 1: Like this can't this team can't go to the Western
8:06
Speaker 1: Conference finals. Like Dame's great, CJ is great, but Eni's
8:09
Speaker 1: canner is starting. Jake Lehman is a huge contributor. Like
8:13
Speaker 1: up and down this roster, there's a bunch of guys
8:14
Speaker 1: that you just are like, this can't be for real,
8:17
Speaker 1: and you ask what's the big differential? And they do
8:19
Speaker 1: play well together and stops as an amazing coach. But
8:23
Speaker 1: Dame is a guy that's making it all work and
8:25
Speaker 1: and like so far in these playoffs, I think Damian
8:28
Speaker 1: Lillard has been the m v P of the playoffs. Well, look,
8:32
Speaker 1: coming out of the Western Conference, you know you're gonna
8:34
Speaker 1: get the Warriors and Rockets. And I loved yesterday. Uh
8:38
Speaker 1: at the end of the game, Lisa Salters just talking
8:40
Speaker 1: to Clay Thompson and he's like, we know our opponents
8:44
Speaker 1: are up three nothing, um, and that they might get
8:47
Speaker 1: an extra day arrest, So we got to close out
8:49
Speaker 1: the Clippers next this week. Like he's already clearly looking
8:52
Speaker 1: ahead to UM to the Rockets, right, he didn't even
8:57
Speaker 1: try to shy away from the fact that, uh, they
9:00
Speaker 1: looking past the Clippers in this series. Um, but that
9:02
Speaker 1: means you're getting the Blazers, the Thunder, the Spurs or Denver.
9:09
Speaker 1: Are there the potential opponents? Hey, forget about the fact
9:13
Speaker 1: none of those teams are going to drive sort of
9:15
Speaker 1: ratings and viewership. Who do you think ends up being
9:19
Speaker 1: the hardest matchup for the Rockets or the Warriors? And
9:23
Speaker 1: I'm projecting a little bit here to see if there's
9:25
Speaker 1: any value futures value on any of these teams. I
9:30
Speaker 1: don't think there's much value. And the reason is U
9:33
Speaker 1: Santonio doesn't have nearly the firepower UM there in the
9:37
Speaker 1: series with Denver because of Denver is inexperience. UM. I
9:41
Speaker 1: think you know, okay, see, obviously, being down three one,
9:44
Speaker 1: you can't put any value on them. Okay, See's the
9:46
Speaker 1: one team that if they were if they get this
9:48
Speaker 1: thing back to okay see for game six. Now, all
9:51
Speaker 1: of a sudden, it's like, all right, that's when I
9:52
Speaker 1: would start jumping on it because, okay see, legitimately matches
9:55
Speaker 1: up with both Golden State and Houston better than they
10:00
Speaker 1: match up with Portland. I know that sounds crazy, but
10:02
Speaker 1: it's true because of how they defend and how their
10:05
Speaker 1: offensive structured, Like there's just a better chance for them
10:08
Speaker 1: against like they give Houston. Houston wants no part of them.
10:11
Speaker 1: They want no And I'll tell you, okay see, was
10:14
Speaker 1: was actually hoping to get into a bracket with Houston,
10:17
Speaker 1: Like they were fine if Houston had won the third
10:20
Speaker 1: seed and they were the three six, okay see, was
10:22
Speaker 1: fine with that match. They would they took Portland anyway,
10:24
Speaker 1: They're like great, we were four oh against them in
10:26
Speaker 1: the regular season and nurks out. But they match up
10:29
Speaker 1: better than that, um Denver. The problem is Golden State
10:32
Speaker 1: in Houston, like Golden States better than them, just is
10:35
Speaker 1: flat out better than them, and Houston has a just
10:39
Speaker 1: a huge matchup advances. Utah matched up with with Houston
10:42
Speaker 1: the worst. The team that matches up second worse with
10:44
Speaker 1: Houston is Denver. In the Western Conference. So if you're
10:47
Speaker 1: looking at this like the best team if you want
10:49
Speaker 1: to try and get value, if you do want to
10:50
Speaker 1: take a long shot and headge it with somebody from
10:52
Speaker 1: from that Golden State, Houston bracket the best long shots Portland's.
10:56
Speaker 1: I think Portland's versus Houston would legitimately be a battle.
11:00
Speaker 1: Portland has a few ways to counter what Houston does,
11:04
Speaker 1: and even though Canner would make it really difficult, Portland's
11:08
Speaker 1: got the ability to go a little bit smaller and
11:10
Speaker 1: with Myers Leonard playing like a little bit like a
11:12
Speaker 1: human being, it would be okay. It would have to
11:14
Speaker 1: be an offensive series, but with where Portland's offenses humming at,
11:18
Speaker 1: I do think they would have a legit chance versus Houston.
11:23
Speaker 1: All Right, So Portland, like if you're gonna put money anywhere,
11:27
Speaker 1: like you take a little bit of a flyer on
11:30
Speaker 1: Portland or whatever their price is, uh on the hope
11:33
Speaker 1: that maybe the Rockets get past the Warriors and then
11:36
Speaker 1: Portland can game a little bit with Houston. That's interesting. Yeah,
11:42
Speaker 1: I think it's the best place that I would probably
11:44
Speaker 1: probably go full Like if you're looking for if you're
11:47
Speaker 1: looking for a long shot, and you're like well one
11:48
Speaker 1: about the Warriors, because I just think that there was
11:50
Speaker 1: most dominant. Um. Then but if you're like, but I
11:53
Speaker 1: want to have to do like a little bit more
11:54
Speaker 1: interesting to up by my percentages, take Portland's if you
11:58
Speaker 1: because you're concept is right, Well, if Warriors get past Houston,
12:02
Speaker 1: then the Warriors are gonna win. But if Houston gets
12:05
Speaker 1: past Golden State, Portland can beat Houston. So like that
12:09
Speaker 1: would be the combos that I was looking at to
12:11
Speaker 1: kind of had the value on a long shot. All right,
12:15
Speaker 1: you mentioned yesterday that you were sweating a crap load
12:19
Speaker 1: of games. You're betting like a madman, and things are
12:23
Speaker 1: going pretty well for you. Man. I had such a
12:28
Speaker 1: rough start to this season to the point like I
12:30
Speaker 1: was getting legitimately freaked out by how bad this season started,
12:33
Speaker 1: because Utah and Boston were terrible. Um. The home teams
12:38
Speaker 1: were winning at an un a frankly just unreliable rate. UM.
12:43
Speaker 1: Like on December I was eighty three and one fifteen
12:46
Speaker 1: and I was freaking out. And I've climbed all the
12:49
Speaker 1: way out of the cellar, and in the playoffs, I've
12:51
Speaker 1: been really good. The best thing I found in the playoffs, um,
12:54
Speaker 1: and it's been great, like working at Action, having access
12:57
Speaker 1: all our tools and mean able to think about things
12:59
Speaker 1: for the perspective and bouncing stuff off with justin fans
13:01
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. It is I've really been hitting
13:04
Speaker 1: these team totals is instead of looking for the combined
13:08
Speaker 1: total because in the n b A a lot of
13:10
Speaker 1: that gets really out of whack on the fourth quarter
13:13
Speaker 1: with both free drows um and how one team will
13:16
Speaker 1: just basically like surrender and then they go through these
13:19
Speaker 1: huge droughts and it can mess with your your combined best.
13:22
Speaker 1: But if you're targeting a team performance, specifically in a
13:25
Speaker 1: playoff matchup where the variables are controlled, I'm having a
13:29
Speaker 1: lot of success there. UM, like being able to to
13:32
Speaker 1: know like, okay, I know that, UM, this series has
13:36
Speaker 1: been a bog and these teams can't score one another
13:39
Speaker 1: because of the matchups, and these numbers are consistently higher
13:42
Speaker 1: than what they should be at UM, there's real value
13:45
Speaker 1: I think in looking at it from those perspectives. The
13:47
Speaker 1: team totals are an area where UM, I feel like
13:51
Speaker 1: I my analysis based off of how these teams interact
13:54
Speaker 1: has more value even than the combined total. And so
13:59
Speaker 1: when you're looking at a team total. Are there certain
14:02
Speaker 1: teams who have just been consistently reliable for you. So
14:08
Speaker 1: one of the ones that's been really solid has been
14:09
Speaker 1: Houston taking the over on their point total versus Utah
14:14
Speaker 1: because essentially, like there's been this kind of feeling that
14:17
Speaker 1: because you saw his defense is so valuable. Utah has
14:20
Speaker 1: been a team to really hammer against in the playoffs,
14:24
Speaker 1: and we're not gonna see them for much longer, but
14:26
Speaker 1: they're a team that the analytics, if you look at
14:28
Speaker 1: their analytics profile, it's so strong, like they have all
14:31
Speaker 1: these really their offensive numbers look way better than they
14:34
Speaker 1: do when you watch them live. Their defensive metrics are
14:36
Speaker 1: so good, and so the lines on them have always
14:40
Speaker 1: been a little bit exaggerated because of that, and playing
14:43
Speaker 1: against that knowing like, look, Utah is really going to
14:46
Speaker 1: struggle to score here, and the perception that Houston's got
14:49
Speaker 1: this bad defense when Houston's second in defensive rating UM
14:53
Speaker 1: since the All Star breaks, Like that's been a big key,
14:56
Speaker 1: is playing the Houston under or the Houston over in
14:58
Speaker 1: the Utah under um. The other one's been you target
15:01
Speaker 1: these teams that just seem like they simply cannot get
15:04
Speaker 1: the job done um and in certain situations also understanding
15:07
Speaker 1: the dynamics. So like yesterday Golden States over under was
15:10
Speaker 1: was one twenty two and a half, Like that's a
15:13
Speaker 1: crazy high number when it was a game four on
15:17
Speaker 1: a Sunday at twelve thirty, after the Warriors had two
15:20
Speaker 1: days off in l A, Like that was an easy
15:22
Speaker 1: one to go ahead and be like the Warriors aren't
15:24
Speaker 1: putting up one two on a fight to the better
15:27
Speaker 1: end Clippers team on a Sunday twelve thirty, Like these
15:31
Speaker 1: little targeted situational positions are really where you want to
15:35
Speaker 1: be at Like I'm on Milwaukee on on over one
15:37
Speaker 1: fifteen versus Detroit in a closeout game on the road,
15:40
Speaker 1: which one fifteen seems like a high number when you
15:43
Speaker 1: look at it. Milwaukee hasn't scored less than one nineteen
15:47
Speaker 1: at all in this series. And that's what Joanna thought
15:49
Speaker 1: and Combo having a down series. If Jana has a
15:52
Speaker 1: big night, they're gonna put up one thirty easy on
15:55
Speaker 1: this Detroit team. Targeting these little matchups because I noticed
15:57
Speaker 1: that those numbers are always a little bit more controllable,
16:01
Speaker 1: uh than the the combined totals seem to be. So
16:05
Speaker 1: what do you think of Houston? What is the team
16:07
Speaker 1: total for the Rockets right now? What are you gonna
16:10
Speaker 1: do about it? It's over one oh five and a half.
16:13
Speaker 1: And I'm definitely on the over um. You know, if
16:16
Speaker 1: we look at last game, they had an absolutely apocalyptic
16:20
Speaker 1: night or just an absolutely horrific night from James Harden,
16:23
Speaker 1: one of the worst playoff games I've ever seen him
16:25
Speaker 1: play like he was oh of fifteen, Um that totals
16:28
Speaker 1: all the way up to one of us one o nine.
16:30
Speaker 1: Now it's moved up and I'm still I'm gonna be
16:33
Speaker 1: on the over um. Houston. I think they're gonna get
16:37
Speaker 1: a better night from Harden. And this is also like
16:39
Speaker 1: in a Game four situation where Utah is clearly if
16:41
Speaker 1: you've read the postgame quotes from last game, they're so deflated.
16:46
Speaker 1: I don't know how much fight they've got left in them,
16:48
Speaker 1: Like they swear like, oh, we're gonna come out, We're
16:49
Speaker 1: gonna give it hard, and you could try really hard.
16:51
Speaker 1: But if Houston is going to have a bounceback performance
16:54
Speaker 1: from Harden at all, then they're gonna be able to
16:57
Speaker 1: put up a big number regardless. And one ten for
17:00
Speaker 1: the Rockets is just such a low bar given their efficiency.
17:04
Speaker 1: Barmont at this team plays the low pace anyway, and
17:06
Speaker 1: they still consistently put up these numbers. So if Utah
17:09
Speaker 1: has any slips defensively, they're gonna have big problems. The
17:12
Speaker 1: other one I really like tonight is the Jazz under
17:14
Speaker 1: it one oh six. They can't score on Houston. Houston
17:17
Speaker 1: switches everything and they drop versus Ricky Rubio, and their
17:20
Speaker 1: entire scheme is we're gonna stay home on the two
17:23
Speaker 1: shooters that Utah presents in Kyle Corby and Joe Ingalls.
17:26
Speaker 1: When they're on the floor, We're gonna drop versus Rudy
17:28
Speaker 1: Gobert with Clunt Capella, who can contest the lab uh
17:32
Speaker 1: And we're gonna make Ricky Rubio beat us off the dribble.
17:34
Speaker 1: It's gonna be Rickie Rubio and Donovan Mitchell have to
17:36
Speaker 1: beat us. And Mitchell had a great start to that
17:39
Speaker 1: last game and then faded, and that's kind of how
17:41
Speaker 1: he's been this year, hot and cold, and Rubyo can't
17:44
Speaker 1: do anything offensively. So I don't with how slow Utah
17:48
Speaker 1: or Houston plays the game. When all those dribble dribble
17:50
Speaker 1: drible isolation possessions. I can't see the Jazz putting up
17:54
Speaker 1: over one oh five, so I don't. I'm I'm way
17:56
Speaker 1: harder on the under for Utah tonight. All right, So
18:00
Speaker 1: you like Milwaukee over one, the Rockets over one oh nine,
18:05
Speaker 1: Utah under one oh five. Um, let's move to the
18:09
Speaker 1: East for a second, because the Celtics, after having a
18:13
Speaker 1: horribly sort of under delivered kind of regular season, Uh,
18:20
Speaker 1: come out and swoop the Pacers, who I think a
18:21
Speaker 1: lot of people thought might be a really hard matchup
18:25
Speaker 1: for them. And now they go in and as soon
18:27
Speaker 1: as the Bucks finished off the Pistons, they're going to
18:29
Speaker 1: go in against the Bucks. Give me your take on
18:31
Speaker 1: that series. This was really fascinating in that this is
18:37
Speaker 1: gonna be a great test of how much the resumes matter. Um,
18:43
Speaker 1: Milwaukee has done everything for us to believe in this team.
18:46
Speaker 1: Like I I've I got in the on them way early.
18:50
Speaker 1: I got them in preseason. After I went out and
18:52
Speaker 1: talked to them in preseason to the feature on them,
18:54
Speaker 1: I was like, there's something going on with this team.
18:56
Speaker 1: This team can make a run. So I took a
18:58
Speaker 1: long shot bets on them to the East and the
19:00
Speaker 1: Pacers to win the East, and I'm looking really good
19:02
Speaker 1: with Milwaukee. Boston struggled all year long, and like Kyrie
19:07
Speaker 1: has been saying, we're gonna hit our shrines in the
19:08
Speaker 1: playoffs get here. They have Indiana, like you mentioned earlier,
19:13
Speaker 1: had chances in almost all of those games. There wasn't
19:16
Speaker 1: a game in which Indiana just trailed the whole way
19:18
Speaker 1: and did not have a chance in it. It It was
19:20
Speaker 1: that they were right within range and could not get
19:23
Speaker 1: enough offensive firepower. That series is gonna be fascinating with
19:26
Speaker 1: Milwaukee because the Celtics are going to dare On and
19:30
Speaker 1: Combo to try and get past them with multiple guys defending,
19:34
Speaker 1: and they're really gonna probably dare those shooters. But the
19:36
Speaker 1: shooters from Milwaukee have been excellent, like they have been
19:39
Speaker 1: led out, and not just Chris Middleton, but Eric Blitzo,
19:42
Speaker 1: Tony Snell and especially Brook Lopez. They're gonna really challenge them.
19:46
Speaker 1: And I think on defense, Milwaukee has been great this year.
19:49
Speaker 1: They had a lot of problems with Boston their first
19:51
Speaker 1: matchup with with where the Celtics with pick and pop
19:54
Speaker 1: with Horford, but the Bucks added Nicola Merritag and can
19:57
Speaker 1: now play a lot smaller with both Merritage d J. Wilson.
20:00
Speaker 1: So they've got this ability to switch these things and
20:03
Speaker 1: counter the Celtics small ball lineup. This is a fascinating
20:06
Speaker 1: one and like I've been on Milwaukee, I think there's
20:09
Speaker 1: very value. I've wondered, like we're just overthinking this and
20:12
Speaker 1: is in Milwaukee just the best team in the Eastern
20:14
Speaker 1: Conference and maybe the NBA. But man, the Celtics are
20:18
Speaker 1: still in the Eastern Conference. That you're getting plus three
20:20
Speaker 1: hundred on Boston still this morning, the let's fresh out
20:23
Speaker 1: of the presses, You're still getting Boston at plus three hundred.
20:26
Speaker 1: That's really good return for a team that we thought
20:28
Speaker 1: was the absolute best team in the Eastern Conference coming
20:30
Speaker 1: into the season, that just beat a really tough Indiana team. Milwaukee,
20:34
Speaker 1: I think is gonna have a lot of trouble adjusting
20:37
Speaker 1: to the heightened competition level where Boston has had to
20:41
Speaker 1: fight in all these games versus Indiana. Milwaukee's just rolled
20:44
Speaker 1: over Detroit. I'm really gonna be curious in that game
20:47
Speaker 1: one line about what the spread is gonna be, and
20:50
Speaker 1: I'm leaning Boston Game one. I gotta take some more
20:53
Speaker 1: time to think on where I'm gonna be coming down
20:54
Speaker 1: on the series price. Westgate just came out with those numbers,
20:58
Speaker 1: um for the advanced series prices. But it's gonna be,
21:00
Speaker 1: I think, really interesting to see what that number comes
21:03
Speaker 1: out down to. It. I'm gonna have to really think
21:04
Speaker 1: about that one, because this is gonna be a great matchup.
21:07
Speaker 1: So what do you think is the better matchup in
21:10
Speaker 1: the finals. Let's say, let's say we're gonna get Celtics
21:14
Speaker 1: and Bucks and Sixers and Raptors. Of those four teams,
21:19
Speaker 1: who do you put your future money on from the East,
21:24
Speaker 1: Especially for you, if you've already if you've already had
21:26
Speaker 1: if you already got a Bucks ticket, Yeah, I've already
21:29
Speaker 1: got the Buck ticket, then it's definitely Celtics. Um. I'm
21:31
Speaker 1: not sold on either of the teams in that two
21:33
Speaker 1: three matchup. Like Toronto came out and COUI played awesome
21:36
Speaker 1: in these finals two of the final three games versus Orlando.
21:39
Speaker 1: But that series went exactly how I thought it would,
21:41
Speaker 1: which is Toronto always losenes game one. It's like an
21:44
Speaker 1: immutable law of the universe that Toronto has to lose
21:47
Speaker 1: game one of every series. Uh. And then they've corrected,
21:51
Speaker 1: they figured out Orlando. They made adjustments and their talent
21:54
Speaker 1: is one out the Sixers. They've gotten two games where
21:58
Speaker 1: things went a little haywire and they came out ahead.
22:01
Speaker 1: And the game we're in bed missed, Reddick and Harris
22:04
Speaker 1: hit ten three pointers. That's not who the Sixers are
22:07
Speaker 1: and so like that was the big reason I was
22:10
Speaker 1: so in on the nets was, Oh, the Sixers don't
22:12
Speaker 1: take many three pointers. The Nets take a time that
22:15
Speaker 1: gives some value on the nets. But when them bib
22:17
Speaker 1: was out, they just started bombing from three um and
22:20
Speaker 1: in a series versus Toronto, I don't think that that's
22:23
Speaker 1: gonna hold up. But Toronto, I think does have compleatnesses.
22:25
Speaker 1: I think that they haven't found a team that Orlando
22:28
Speaker 1: is not the team that's gonna challenge them inside, especially
22:30
Speaker 1: with marcasoul in terms of making him move in space
22:33
Speaker 1: the way that the Celtics and the Bucks would. So
22:36
Speaker 1: to me, like getting plus three hundred on the Celtics,
22:40
Speaker 1: it was there were lower numbers than that earlier in
22:42
Speaker 1: the season, and I grabbed aheads then. But if you're
22:44
Speaker 1: on the Bucks now, I would definitely be hedging with
22:46
Speaker 1: the Celtics. But they're the best value remaining based off
22:49
Speaker 1: of having Kyrie that can close games and elite defense.
22:52
Speaker 1: They're gonna get Smart back at some point, and they
22:55
Speaker 1: figured out a rotation. Things are going I think so
22:57
Speaker 1: well for Boston that if you're gonna hedge, now of
23:00
Speaker 1: time to get it on the Celtics. Alright, here's another
23:03
Speaker 1: one for you. If you're looking ahead to next year.
23:07
Speaker 1: These are the teams that have Like I have watched
23:09
Speaker 1: these teams, I've watched most of the playoff their playoff games. Um,
23:13
Speaker 1: these are the teams that make me most excited about
23:16
Speaker 1: next year. Clippers, Pacers, Nets. Do any of those teams
23:24
Speaker 1: have a chance to rise? Are they worth a futures
23:28
Speaker 1: ticket for next year the way the Bucks have risen
23:31
Speaker 1: this year? Slam Yeah, So the going sense in Brooklyn
23:41
Speaker 1: from around the league, not from Brooklyn, but this is
23:44
Speaker 1: around the league. There's been a lot of commons. I've
23:46
Speaker 1: heard so many of the marquee free agents get mentioned.
23:49
Speaker 1: What you know, how you should watch out for there
23:51
Speaker 1: is Brooklyn like there is an expectation that the Nets
23:53
Speaker 1: are going to be able to at least be in
23:55
Speaker 1: the room with all of the marquee guys. Kevin Durant Kyrie, Irving,
24:00
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, that they're gonna get in the
24:03
Speaker 1: room with all those dudes and they're gonna offer a
24:07
Speaker 1: great coaching staff. They've revamped the culture. They have a
24:10
Speaker 1: roster that's got good guys that you want to play with.
24:13
Speaker 1: The vibe is good, the building is awesome. You get
24:16
Speaker 1: to play in New York and you don't have to
24:17
Speaker 1: play for Dolan. That's a huge advantage for Brooklyn. So,
24:22
Speaker 1: like there's real noise about them landing a marquee free agent,
24:25
Speaker 1: and they're odds are gonna be absolutely preposterous because like
24:28
Speaker 1: there's not enough sense there for it to actually be
24:30
Speaker 1: like a likelihood the way that it is, like, oh,
24:32
Speaker 1: the next are definitely getting Kyrie or Katie. I've heard
24:35
Speaker 1: more stuff about the Nets and I have the Knicks
24:37
Speaker 1: over the last couple of months. So if if after
24:40
Speaker 1: the season is over and you're looking to Ham or
24:41
Speaker 1: something high, the Nets would have a softer Eastern Conference
24:44
Speaker 1: because as good as the Bucks are on the Celtics
24:46
Speaker 1: and the Raptors will still be good, there's gonna be
24:49
Speaker 1: an opportunity I think there for a team to really
24:51
Speaker 1: rise and make a shot at it. Brooklyn is the
24:53
Speaker 1: one team that I would target. What about the Pacers, though,
24:56
Speaker 1: like I love their lineup if they have Oladipo, they
25:00
Speaker 1: feel a lot like the Nets. To me, it feels
25:02
Speaker 1: like they have a team of really good passers of
25:06
Speaker 1: really good parts. You get Oladipo back, and all of
25:09
Speaker 1: a sudden, you're adding It's almost like you're adding that
25:11
Speaker 1: high profile, high high score who can elevate a team
25:16
Speaker 1: into the next level. You know, what I look at
25:19
Speaker 1: for them is wait until the division on its come
25:21
Speaker 1: out over the summer, and then and then grab them
25:23
Speaker 1: on the division to win the Central like bank on
25:25
Speaker 1: a little bit of Milwaukee regression and Indiana, nabbing one
25:29
Speaker 1: or two key free agents and then making a real push.
25:32
Speaker 1: And he has really good Like they're they're really good,
25:35
Speaker 1: but there's a couple of issues. They're one, we just
25:37
Speaker 1: don't know what Oladipo is gonna look like when he
25:39
Speaker 1: comes back or win, Like there's just no way of knowing,
25:41
Speaker 1: because he was not supposed to play on that knee,
25:45
Speaker 1: and the doctors had kind of been like, this is
25:47
Speaker 1: really risky, and he wanted to do it, and then
25:49
Speaker 1: he suffered that injury, and that's a major one that
25:51
Speaker 1: takes a long time to come back from, Like it
25:54
Speaker 1: takes a long recovery time to get back on your
25:57
Speaker 1: feet after that injury. Um too like their ability to sign.
26:01
Speaker 1: They've got a lot of cap space so they can
26:03
Speaker 1: make a big addition, Like Kimba Walker is a guy
26:05
Speaker 1: that I would really be interested in to see if
26:07
Speaker 1: like Kimba Walker wants to leave Charlotte and he doesn't
26:09
Speaker 1: want to go to New York or l A or
26:11
Speaker 1: Grampular and the star profiles if he's like, no, I
26:14
Speaker 1: want to go somewhere with a good culture where I
26:16
Speaker 1: can win. Indiana the place where he could go. But
26:18
Speaker 1: even though they add a guy like that, like they're
26:19
Speaker 1: not gonna get Kevin Durant, They're not gonna get a
26:21
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving. You're gonna get one of those like B
26:24
Speaker 1: level A A minus B plus stars that they do
26:27
Speaker 1: sign there. Indiana hasn't had great success there because it's
26:30
Speaker 1: Indiana and that's just always gonna be difficult. Um. They
26:32
Speaker 1: do have a couple of a bunch of guys that
26:34
Speaker 1: are gonna have to figure out contracts with and keeping
26:36
Speaker 1: that manageable as difficult and the final thing is their
26:38
Speaker 1: shank profile. Like I love McMillan as a coach. I
26:41
Speaker 1: think he's done excellent work. Their defense is awesome, but
26:44
Speaker 1: they're one of the least efficient teams in terms of
26:46
Speaker 1: three point rate in the league. And then uh, and
26:47
Speaker 1: then you look at this Boston series, like, what's it been?
26:50
Speaker 1: You need you guys that can knock down shops and
26:52
Speaker 1: can do it from the outside, especially off the drible
26:54
Speaker 1: like Tatum and Kyrie have killed them in this series.
26:57
Speaker 1: That's how they swept him was with that dynamic and
26:59
Speaker 1: so with out that kind of level, I think it's
27:01
Speaker 1: really risky. I do like them on the division off,
27:03
Speaker 1: but to get to the Eastern Conference that can't get
27:05
Speaker 1: in on it. So a team like the Pacers, what's
27:10
Speaker 1: the point for them, Like you really realistic look look
27:14
Speaker 1: at it. Unless they draft perfectly and they win in
27:19
Speaker 1: sort of a three to five year window where maybe
27:22
Speaker 1: they resign a kid who they hit the lottery on,
27:27
Speaker 1: who they draft in the right spot. So they have
27:30
Speaker 1: a very small window. They're never going to get that
27:33
Speaker 1: marquee free agent. How do they ever get over the hump?
27:37
Speaker 1: You have to find one of those years where you
27:38
Speaker 1: split the gap. So look at that bracket we talked
27:40
Speaker 1: about in the West right where the three best teams
27:43
Speaker 1: according to most I won't put Utah out here, but
27:46
Speaker 1: most people do. The three best teams in the West
27:48
Speaker 1: according to most people, if you asking, are Golden State, Houston,
27:52
Speaker 1: and Utah, and all three of those teams wound up
27:55
Speaker 1: in one side of the brackets. So now you've got
27:57
Speaker 1: this situation where it looked if Denver wins game five
28:00
Speaker 1: tonight and they go ahead and they take care of
28:02
Speaker 1: business versus the Spurs, which they should, they're a better team,
28:05
Speaker 1: They've got a lot of matchup advantages versus Portland's. Denver
28:08
Speaker 1: can very easily be in a Western Conference finals and
28:10
Speaker 1: they don't match up with Golden Stagers Houston for sure,
28:13
Speaker 1: but we just don't know. If injuries do occur, that
28:17
Speaker 1: opens the door for Denver to sneak into the finals,
28:20
Speaker 1: and that would be wild. But that's like what you're
28:22
Speaker 1: looking for with Indiana. And even if that doesn't happen,
28:25
Speaker 1: even if you can't think in of the finals, the
28:26
Speaker 1: Nuggets making the Western Conference finals would be a huge,
28:30
Speaker 1: huge season for them With a young core that's still developing.
28:33
Speaker 1: It builds confidence. It's gonna add to your free egent profile.
28:36
Speaker 1: That's the kind of thing that Indiana can pull off
28:38
Speaker 1: is if they get next year, if Kawalilea Toronto and
28:42
Speaker 1: Toronto falls off and then the two best teams in
28:44
Speaker 1: the East are Milwaukee and Boston, well if those teams
28:47
Speaker 1: wind up in one four and one side of the bracket,
28:49
Speaker 1: that opens up the door for Indiana make your run.
28:52
Speaker 1: You get to the Eastern Conference finals and that's one
28:53
Speaker 1: a really good season to anything can happen and three
28:56
Speaker 1: of builds, don't it That helps your ability to maybe
28:59
Speaker 1: sign a key free agent. The other thing with them
29:01
Speaker 1: is they've got a lot of internal improvement. Like Oladipo
29:03
Speaker 1: is gonna get better when he gets back. I have
29:05
Speaker 1: confidence because of his work, ethic and attitude. Miles Turner
29:08
Speaker 1: with a serious defensive Player of the Year candidate this year.
29:10
Speaker 1: He's a building block. So Bonus was a serious six
29:14
Speaker 1: man candidate. They've got all this young talent on manageable contracts.
29:17
Speaker 1: I really like the rookie point guard aeron Holiday too,
29:20
Speaker 1: Like they're gonna have opportunities for them to hit the
29:23
Speaker 1: right gap. Teams like Indiana, it's always gonna be about
29:26
Speaker 1: can you have that one special year. It's never about
29:28
Speaker 1: can you build a sustainable dynasty. It's can you have
29:31
Speaker 1: one special year where you're able to split the gap.
29:33
Speaker 1: That's how it always is with them. I also love
29:37
Speaker 1: the Clippers. I love watching that team. I love all
29:40
Speaker 1: the guys on that team. Yeah. There, their attitude is infectious.
29:47
Speaker 1: The fact that they've they've managed to keep that attitude
29:49
Speaker 1: with as many changes as they've made over the last
29:52
Speaker 1: two seasons is an incredible UM Doc's got a really
29:55
Speaker 1: good chance to Coach of the Year. It's either gonna
29:57
Speaker 1: be Food and Holes or Rivers. I'm pretty confident based
29:59
Speaker 1: off of the voters I've talked to. UM and Rivers
30:03
Speaker 1: is I think really responsible for their attitude. But it's
30:06
Speaker 1: also like you have to give credit to a lot
30:08
Speaker 1: of those guys that are overlooked, Like Patrick Beverley was
30:10
Speaker 1: to throw in with the Houston trade and he's always
30:12
Speaker 1: gonna be mad about that. He he has been playing
30:15
Speaker 1: on spite his entire career, just trying to prove everyone
30:18
Speaker 1: wrong about him. Um Lou Williams has been better than
30:22
Speaker 1: I ever thought he could be this year. Like he
30:23
Speaker 1: was always a guy who got buckets and those guys,
30:26
Speaker 1: I'm kind of like, great, you can get a bucket.
30:27
Speaker 1: I can find a lot of guys get buckets. But
30:29
Speaker 1: he he managed the second unit so well. He led
30:32
Speaker 1: the league in bench just this this year, had a
30:34
Speaker 1: great net rating. Uh. Daniel Gallinari finally stayed healthy for
30:37
Speaker 1: a season. He had a really good run. Um. The
30:39
Speaker 1: only question with them is like what their roster gonna
30:41
Speaker 1: look like, because they'll clear out a lot of guys
30:43
Speaker 1: and reconfigure things if they land a marquee free agent. Um.
30:47
Speaker 1: The strongest buzz around Kauai remains the Clippers, and if
30:50
Speaker 1: that's what happens, you have to kind of start looking
30:52
Speaker 1: at how do you best build around Kawhi Leonard. But
30:55
Speaker 1: I really like the course they've got there. I love
30:57
Speaker 1: Montrose her I've been high on him since Louis They'll
31:00
Speaker 1: I was high on him with the Rockets. I'm high
31:02
Speaker 1: on him with the Clippers. Like that's the guy that
31:04
Speaker 1: I want on my side, because he and Beverly are
31:06
Speaker 1: two goods. They're gonna go for your throat every single
31:09
Speaker 1: possession of every single game. Um, I'll tell you what
31:14
Speaker 1: lou Williams he is Uh. Making himself into a potential
31:20
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer. There's been That's an interesting question. It's like,
31:25
Speaker 1: if he wins all these six man awards, if they're
31:28
Speaker 1: spread out across teams and he doesn't have any serious
31:31
Speaker 1: playoffs success, can he can he make a run for
31:34
Speaker 1: the Hall. I think we're kind of skewed, but it's like, um,
31:37
Speaker 1: look at his longevity. Two. That's part of it is
31:39
Speaker 1: they do that, then the league forever to get a
31:41
Speaker 1: lot of respect uh from players, and that winds up
31:44
Speaker 1: been flouncing the Hall motors a lot. Um, Like Carmel
31:48
Speaker 1: Anthony is going to make the Hall based solely off
31:51
Speaker 1: of his team USA UM, longevity in the NBA and
31:54
Speaker 1: his college championship because about how great of a player
31:57
Speaker 1: he wasn't the the NBA because he never playoff success um,
32:02
Speaker 1: but he was able to put together enough of a resume.
32:04
Speaker 1: And like, I think lou Is probably gonna be one
32:05
Speaker 1: of those guys. He's not gonna be first, second, or
32:07
Speaker 1: third ballot, but I think he'll hang around and have
32:09
Speaker 1: a lot of conversations and players will stump for him
32:12
Speaker 1: because players will always go over those dudes that he'd
32:15
Speaker 1: give you a bucket That's what I was thinking yesterday,
32:19
Speaker 1: Like hearing the way the announcers talk about Lou Williams
32:23
Speaker 1: and the way that they talk about players talking about
32:26
Speaker 1: Lou Williams, and the fact that he sort of has
32:29
Speaker 1: bloomed during these playoffs. From a broader media perspective, it
32:33
Speaker 1: feels like he's a guy who scores a lot of points,
32:38
Speaker 1: does it in unselfish ways, comes off the bench, leads
32:42
Speaker 1: his team in scoring, win sixth Man of the Year
32:44
Speaker 1: multiple times, ends up his career as the leading sixth
32:48
Speaker 1: man scoring uh score in NBA history. Like all of
32:52
Speaker 1: a sudden, you've got a drumbeat for a wait a second,
32:55
Speaker 1: this guy was kind of amazing and belongs to be
32:59
Speaker 1: in deserves to be inshrined. Yeah, and the only question
33:04
Speaker 1: is gonna be you know one the playoffs, says I
33:07
Speaker 1: think is going to hurt him. Um, he never really
33:09
Speaker 1: had that signature run right, Like he never had a
33:12
Speaker 1: year he was the sixth man Toronto on his best shop.
33:15
Speaker 1: They ran into the calves as raptors always did. Um,
33:19
Speaker 1: you have to have that one kind of season where
33:21
Speaker 1: things go right. Maybe that's next year. You know, I
33:23
Speaker 1: will say this, like if they go on if they
33:24
Speaker 1: get quite Huonard and they make a deep playoff run,
33:27
Speaker 1: I think that's going to dramatically change his chances. And
33:30
Speaker 1: a lot of people would freak out at this and
33:31
Speaker 1: be like, you can't be serious about lou Williams being
33:33
Speaker 1: a Hall of Famer, and like, look about like what
33:35
Speaker 1: I think or whatever your standards are for getting into
33:37
Speaker 1: the Hall, it's about It's about what the standard has
33:40
Speaker 1: been for the Hall and continues to be. And the
33:42
Speaker 1: threshold I think is often in some places lower for
33:46
Speaker 1: guys than people expect, and then some places higher. I
33:50
Speaker 1: think that's a great way to put it. Um My,
33:56
Speaker 1: I'm just I got distracted for a second, so I
33:57
Speaker 1: was trying to think of how to phrase this question.
33:59
Speaker 1: My twelve year old is a massive NBA to two
34:02
Speaker 1: K player. Oftentimes he will play the legends against like
34:07
Speaker 1: the modern day superstars. So his team this past week
34:11
Speaker 1: was Steph Lebron Janice Harden and I think uh Russ
34:21
Speaker 1: might have been on that team against Oscar Robertson, Michael
34:26
Speaker 1: Jordan's Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, and I think he threw
34:33
Speaker 1: in Dominique wilkins Um set a line for that for
34:38
Speaker 1: that game, I'll put the modern team minus two and
34:47
Speaker 1: a half. Um. I think he got factor in the
34:50
Speaker 1: three point edge there. So many of those guys in
34:52
Speaker 1: the old team are just to be uncomfortable shooting theories
34:55
Speaker 1: like Jordan's going to try and keep them in it,
34:56
Speaker 1: and we'll keep them in it. But I think if
34:59
Speaker 1: you're gonna because how that goes, and plus if we're
35:01
Speaker 1: assuming that we're using like a standardized officiating somewhere in
35:06
Speaker 1: between where those guys played and the modern game, Harden
35:10
Speaker 1: and Lebron are still gonna draw enough free drows to
35:13
Speaker 1: be able to create the separation at the end, because
35:15
Speaker 1: I think the Robertson is probably gonna struggle a lot defensively,
35:17
Speaker 1: like Meek would have a lot of issues. I think
35:19
Speaker 1: that's in that game trying to make the correct kind
35:21
Speaker 1: of like rotations on the baseline, Like Jordan's gonna attack
35:24
Speaker 1: the ball handler, um, And the problem is like he's
35:27
Speaker 1: probably don't go after Hardened, But then STEP's gonna be
35:29
Speaker 1: back out at thirty five ft with nobody guarding him,
35:31
Speaker 1: and he's just gonna be raining it down because those
35:33
Speaker 1: guys gonna be like, you can't shoot from there? Yeah, Yeah,
35:36
Speaker 1: I can that's that's how the game is played now,
35:38
Speaker 1: and they would just be baffled. So I'll put the
35:40
Speaker 1: line at two and a half because of the mental edges.
35:43
Speaker 1: But if we're talking about you know how good, I
35:47
Speaker 1: think that that's maybe the best way for me put it.
35:49
Speaker 1: I did that Legends team is better. I think the
35:52
Speaker 1: modern team wins. Matt More, that is such a phenomenal
35:57
Speaker 1: breakdown within spkins of me giving you the two teams,
36:06
Speaker 1: I'm astonished and I am admiring what you just did.
36:12
Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time thinking about a lot
36:14
Speaker 1: of random stuff about the nbah AD, so I'm well
36:16
Speaker 1: prepared to pretty much any question at this point. My
36:19
Speaker 1: favorite part was the Dominique Wilkins breakdown. Analyzing wilkins deficiencies
36:26
Speaker 1: on defense and his inability to handle coverage was phenomenal.
36:32
Speaker 1: Gotta be able to maintain space on the floor, man,
36:34
Speaker 1: that's how the modern game is played. To be really weird.
36:36
Speaker 1: Talking about individually checking guys, that's one thing, but the
36:39
Speaker 1: way of the game of all with pick and roll
36:41
Speaker 1: it changed. You have to be able. It's part of
36:43
Speaker 1: the thing with guys now in the league. You have
36:46
Speaker 1: to be so It's not just about speeding athleticism. Your
36:49
Speaker 1: timing has to be perfect on every rotation or you're
36:52
Speaker 1: giving up open threes. And more than anything, the analytics
36:55
Speaker 1: has changed that in terms of you can get a
36:58
Speaker 1: guy that's a much better shooter or and score. But
37:01
Speaker 1: if you're generating open looks consistently for three point shots,
37:03
Speaker 1: you're gonna win the math game, and that's all that
37:05
Speaker 1: really matters. Matt Moore, great job breaking down the NBA playoffs.
37:11
Speaker 1: Great job breaking down what we should be thinking about
37:14
Speaker 1: for next year when we're talking about teams who want
37:17
Speaker 1: to take for divisions or conference or championship futures. Great
37:22
Speaker 1: job breaking down my twelve year old son's NBA two
37:24
Speaker 1: K matchups. I appreciate it. Thank you for coming on
37:27
Speaker 1: the Favorites. Thanks for having me man. This has been
37:33
Speaker 1: the Favorites. Get it at Apple podcast, download at radio
37:37
Speaker 1: dot com, Slash, the Action Network, or wherever you get
37:42
Speaker 1: your podcasts. Until next time. Thank you,