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The Second Round Of The NBA Playoffs Have Been Elite · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:05
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to another episode of Small Ball with Kenny Beecham.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: The second round of the playoffs going into you thought immediately where the Cavs have been one of the best teams of basketball.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: We'll see them in the conference finals.
0:15
SPEAKER_01: The Celtics are the defended champions.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: We'll see them in the conference finals.
0:18
SPEAKER_01: OKC just ran through every single team in the regular season.
0:21
SPEAKER_01: We'll see them in the conference finals.
0:22
SPEAKER_01: It was really only one series that a lot of people were thinking about, right?
0:26
SPEAKER_01: Well, the the underdog is leading three of the four series.
0:31
SPEAKER_01: And the one series that the underdog isn't leading, it's a 1-1.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: So not even the favorite is out there doing some crazy stuff.
0:36
SPEAKER_01: This is a ridiculous second round.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
0:39
SPEAKER_01: I was going back and listening to uh episodes of uh numbers on the board, which you should also be watching.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: And I hate how dismissive we became on some of these matchups.
0:50
SPEAKER_01: We're not doing, I'm not falling for that again.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: I'm not just gonna assume because a team did this in a regular season, the Knicks are 0-4 against the Celtics, some of the being big blowouts, that that means that the postsease is gonna come around and that's just who it is.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: I think we may have spent three total minutes talking about really what could happen in the series, and we all walked out saying Celtics in five.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: Pierre's a Knicks fan.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: He said Celtics in six.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: He gave his team an extra game.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: My prediction is already up.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: Two games into this series.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: This is insane.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: So before we hop into it, I'm gonna remind you to leave a like on the episode, subscribe to the channel, go over to the audio platforms, leave five stars.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: The playoffs have been amazing, and I'm trying my very best to bring you coverage on this, on Numbers on the Board, on Kenny for Real.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: And we also got teed up with Pierre and Dreese and his episode just dropped yesterday.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: So be sure to check that out.
1:37
SPEAKER_01: I'm one of those people, or at least I used to be one of those people that couldn't get enough of basketball content.
1:43
SPEAKER_01: So I would listen to seven different podcasts talking about the same game because it's so many perspectives, you know, and you should be that too.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: Now I can't say I do that now because I mentioned this in the interview recently.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: I felt like last year, going back at the end of every season, I do a little recap of myself.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: I go rewatch my videos and do whatever, trying to figure out how I can be better for the next season.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: I felt like when I was listening to other people's shows that I was being influenced.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: Not saying that I was taking away uh takes or anything, but let's say hypothetically I was listening to uh Zach Lowe.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: Zach Lowe's got a new show, and I still haven't listened to it.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: That's how dedicated I am to my craft this year this year.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: But like last year, Zach Lowe may have said something that stood out to him.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: And the next time I watched the Celtics play, I was thinking about what the hell Zach Lowe said.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: You feel me?
2:27
SPEAKER_01: So I thought that kind of you made my content look so similar to some other people, and I was like, I can't do that this year.
2:33
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not watching or listening to a ton of NBA shows, but you should.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you already you already here.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: So go listen to the other shows too, man.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea what we want to start.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: Actually, I do know where I want to start.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: The Knicks.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: The Knicks.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: I listen.
2:55
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of different ways this series could go.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: This was very last, if I'm saying like the probability.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: What are the probabilities?
3:03
SPEAKER_01: Two games in, how do you expect this series to go?
3:05
SPEAKER_01: Will it be 1-1?
3:06
SPEAKER_01: I could see that happening, even though the Knicks didn't beat the Celtics at all in the regular season.
3:09
SPEAKER_01: Could it be 2-0 on the Celtics side?
3:11
SPEAKER_01: Home court advantage at the TD Garden.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would guess that was number one.
3:16
SPEAKER_01: The Knicks being up 2-0 is insane.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: Not only are they up 2-0, they're up 2-0 with two 20-point second half comebacks.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: We always say in 2025 basketball, no lead is safe.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: But you but usually 20 points with four minutes to go in the third quarter, you should be good enough to retain that lead, unless you are a team that is trying to actively lose.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: We've seen some teams have a lead like that and say, oh, my starter is not playing for the second half.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: The Celtics are a championship team.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: They've blown two 20-point leads.
3:49
SPEAKER_01: The first time in playoff history where somebody has blown two second half 20-point leads in back-to-back games.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: It is a lot.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to spend some time talking about the Knicks because this is the most the Knicks have been buzzing in like ever, I guess.
4:05
SPEAKER_01: Because I mean, last year's playoffs are pretty fun, right?
4:07
SPEAKER_01: We got a seven-game series versus the 76ers, and then things kind of fell apart after that because of injuries and all.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: And things were hot then, but now you guys are up 2-0 on the defending champions.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: There's a couple people I want to give credit to, and I'm going to start off with the head of the snake.
4:23
SPEAKER_01: That I was going to say Jalen Bronson.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about Tom Thibodeau.
4:26
SPEAKER_01: What?
4:27
SPEAKER_01: Tom Thibodeau.
4:29
SPEAKER_01: Walking away from their series versus the Detroit Pistons.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: I thought to myself, okay, Tom Thibodeau is going to go into this next series, maybe get a game, maybe get two, and then he's probably going to get fired.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: Because the way he wants to play is not in line with the roster that Leon Rose had orchestrated.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: In my mind, Tom Thibodeau was going to be canned, or they're going to mutually part ways, which is a way people will be saying it nowadays.
4:59
SPEAKER_01: Because Tom Thibodeau has been a dinosaur.
5:02
SPEAKER_01: He loves his old ways.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: He always has.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: As somebody that got to uh follow a team that he coached here in Chicago for what, six, seven years, I recognize even then when before the NBA was my job, talking NBA was my job, that this man did not like to make adjustments.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: He had something that he knows that's gonna perform well.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: And if it doesn't perform well, so be it.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: That was bad luck.
5:24
SPEAKER_01: Next game it will.
5:25
SPEAKER_01: And then the next game it will.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: If the second game didn't do it, then the next game it will.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: Oh my God, now we're down 3-0.
5:30
SPEAKER_01: This series so far, Tom Thibodeau has completely scratched his normal traditional defensive schemes, which again is so mind-blowing.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Tom Thibodeau came into the scene as like this this, I don't want to say use the word pioneer because I feel like that might be pretty strong here, but like this defensive guru, right?
5:47
SPEAKER_01: You think about his time with the Boston Celtics when he was with Doc Rivers and some of his other stops, he was known for the defensive side of the ball.
5:53
SPEAKER_01: Ice, ice, ice, yeah.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: Tom Thibodeau did all of that.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: And he found the thing that really works in the NBA.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: But in the postseason, it's been a struggle to make that thing happen, make that thing work.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: So going into this, when I did my three minutes of coverage on this on this series, I was talking about how there is somewhat of a formula to beat the Boston Celtics.
6:14
SPEAKER_01: As good of the Boston Celtics are as a defended champion, they're not invincible.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: This is not the Golden State Warriors when they had Kevin Durant.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: Like this team can lose a seven-game series.
6:23
SPEAKER_01: And the Orlando Magic kind of put together a little blueprint to say, hey man, this is how you can you can really get under the skin of the Boston Celtics.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: You really make them think part of that was just eliminating the three-point shot completely.
6:35
SPEAKER_01: The Knicks have not done that necessarily, but like they've been physical.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: Game number two is one of the most physical games that I've seen the the Knicks play as the aggressor.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: Because I truly do believe that in their first round series versus the Detroit Pistons, they weren't the aggressor.
6:49
SPEAKER_01: They were reacting to what the Pistons were doing.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: In game number two, Cardi Detail was beating people up, man.
6:54
SPEAKER_01: In game number two, Ojani and Nobi is everywhere.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Josh Hart is everywhere.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: So the Orlando Magic laid this blueprint.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately, for the Orlando Magic, they don't have any offense to kind of show the defensive blueprint and say, like, hey, we can win these games because of it.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: The Knicks have taken some of that.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: The Knicks are not a team in the regular season that was really okay with conceding switches.
7:17
SPEAKER_01: They recognize we have Jalen Brunson.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: He is 5'10 and a half, maybe.
7:20
SPEAKER_01: We have Carnity Towns, who the last time Carl Anthony Towns played full-time center, it was so bad that the team had to go acquire one of the greatest offensive players of this generation so he can move up to the four-man, so somebody could be on that back end.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: It had been bad defensively for Carltony Towns.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: They don't want to concede switches.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: They want to play to drop coverage.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: They want to let O'Jan and Obi and Mikhail Bridges be these point of attack guys.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: But now in this series, the Boston Celtics are hunting and they're getting what they want.
7:46
SPEAKER_01: They're getting the switches they want, but they are not capitalizing.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: And I just didn't expect the Tom Thibodeau team to be okay with conceding like that.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: Jalen Brunson's playing in space.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: Carnthony Towns is playing in space.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: I saw a stat earlier that said when they've used Carnthony Towns in the pick and roll so far, the Celtics are scoring 0.8 points per possession.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: Carnegie Towns, man.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: Insane.
8:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, he did have a really good defensive um run last year, right?
8:14
SPEAKER_01: When you think about the Sun series and what they did to the Denver Nuggets when he played for the Minnesota Timbulls.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: But like that again is with them having a Rudy Gobert for a lot of those minutes on the back end or so on and so forth.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: Right now, Carnegie Towns doing some good stuff.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: And now he kind of does in some little stretches have his own Rudy Gobert because Mitch Rob is playing phenomenally this series.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: So he's got Joe Mazzula scared.
8:38
SPEAKER_01: Joe Mazzula fouled Mitchell Robinson, not to send him to the free throw line because he saw that OG Ananobi was about to check into the game for him.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: He would rather all defensive caliber, OG Ananobi, be be on the ass of Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown than let Mitchell Robinson touch the court.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: Insane.
8:55
SPEAKER_01: So Tom Thibodeau, you get a ton of credit through these first two games.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the hell he's gonna have for the rest of the series, but I'm gonna tip my cap right now into Tom Thibodeau because I just did not see them being able to change their defensive um rules, their defensive um uh ideals.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: And they have.
9:13
SPEAKER_01: And I don't believe the Celtics were necessarily prepared for these things.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's gonna matter um for the rest of the series.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: I don't think Joe Missoula has coached a very good series, but we're gonna talk about that.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: Before we get to, again, the Celtics that continue to give our flowers, Jalen Brunson has been the closer of the entire playoffs.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: I think he's leading the whole playoffs in total points, but he's leading the fourth quarter in total points by like 100.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: Like he is killing the game.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: And even last night, or I guess two nights ago, as you're watching and listening to this episode, Jalen Brunson having a great offensive game.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: And then a fourth quarter came around.
9:43
SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, I'm Jalen Brunson.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: I can draw a foul, hit two free throws, and put us up by one.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: Right?
9:48
SPEAKER_01: One thing that we can say right now, through the first two games, is that the Knicks have had the best player on the court both games.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: And that guy has been Jalen Bronson.
9:57
SPEAKER_01: Well, I guess in game number one, until we got to the fourth quarter, it was OG Anobi.
10:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then last like last night you might argue that it was Josh Hart.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: For the most part, the Knicks have had the best player on the court.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, OG Ananobi has been flying around like crazy.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I hate that we get to the point now where NBA players have to campaign for themselves to make all defensive teams.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: I think it's so easy to be like, hey, the Knicks were whatever defense in the regular season.
10:24
SPEAKER_01: So we just not even go look at them as having an all-defensive candidate.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: It's like what team defended well, and we're gonna pick the best defenders on that team.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: OJ Ananobi was on the Knicks' defensive rating, was 12th in the regular season.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: That's actually a lot higher than I thought.
10:38
SPEAKER_01: They must have put it together towards the end of the year.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, and Ojian and Obi had the campaign, like, yeah, I truly do believe I should be all defensive first team.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: We were like, uh, should you?
10:46
SPEAKER_01: Should you?
10:47
SPEAKER_01: I had him on my second team for what it's worth.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, but the way he is guarding right now, I mean, Tatum is struggling.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: Brown is struggling in those possessions.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: Mikhail Bridges has come up with some huge defensive stops.
11:00
SPEAKER_01: And in that second game, Mikhail Bridges keeping them afloat in the fourth quarter.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know if that's gonna get remembered through history.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't, again, we don't know what's gonna happen at the end of the series.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: Who's gonna win, whatever, whatever.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: But game two, TD Garden down by 14 points.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: No Brunson on the court, no cat on the court.
11:17
SPEAKER_01: Mikhail Bridges' 9-2 run.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: His own personal 9-2 run.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: Momentum shifts.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: Those stars get back into the game, and Mikhail Bridges can kind of relax a little bit.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: It might get lost throughout history, but that little stretch there should be remembered.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: Now we're gonna remember his ripaway steal from Jalen Brown in game number one, and then his help defense on Tatum in game number two at the end.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: But like again, that little stretch, because I also reminded you that he was what, oh, oh of eight from the field until that fourth quarter?
11:45
SPEAKER_01: Where like the Knicks fans that I follow on the timeline was saying, damn, five first round picks.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I guess so.
11:52
SPEAKER_01: That's one thing I hate about fandom, by the way.
11:54
SPEAKER_01: This man gave a game-sealing steal just two nights ago, and just because he's struggling to shoot tonight, you want to you wanna talk bad?
12:01
SPEAKER_01: Ty Jerome has been phenomenal for the entire the entire season, and he just shot one of 14, and now people burning pictures of Ty Jerome?
12:10
SPEAKER_01: Don't let fandom do that to you.
12:11
SPEAKER_01: If you listen to this show, you're probably in the right hairspace, but don't let fandom do that to you.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: So the Knicks going up to all, and you know, going back to Madison Square Garden, it's it's some it's some really cool stuff.
12:26
SPEAKER_01: I think the NBA is better when the Knicks are good.
12:29
SPEAKER_01: I think the NBA is better when the Lakers are good.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: I know it pains me a little bit to say that last sentence, but it's a truth.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: It really is the truth.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: Um personally, I would also miss the Met Gala to watch my favorite team play a playoff game.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: Me and Chalamet.
12:45
SPEAKER_01: We're right here with it.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: We're right here.
12:47
SPEAKER_01: Spike Lee, he went to the Met Gala instead of watching game one.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: We give him a pass.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: He was there every night when the Knicks won 20 games.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: So we go we're gonna give Spike a pass there.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: So, all right, now that we're giving our flowers to the Knicks and the incredibleness that has been the Knicks, we have to talk about the other thing because I think that's actually the bigger and better story.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: I'll be honest with you.
13:07
SPEAKER_01: The Celtics, the team that went out and dominated the regular season last year, went out to the postseason and dominated the postseason last year, came into this season, was still really good, don't get me wrong.
13:18
SPEAKER_01: Not as good as the previous year, but still pretty damn good.
13:21
SPEAKER_01: And we talked about this like three months ago, right?
13:24
SPEAKER_01: Like three months ago.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: We went, I went through the history of saying, hey man, we always give the defended champion a little bit too much credit.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: Right?
13:34
SPEAKER_01: I went through the history, right?
13:35
SPEAKER_01: After the year, the ball, the the Denver Nuggets won a championship, they were the heavy favorite for the majority of it.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: Even though the year after that, they didn't look nearly as good.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: The year after the Lakers won a championship in the bubble, we come back, and though they were like a seventh seed, everybody still had them winning the championship because that is the thing that we've seen.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: The last time we saw them, they were the best team in the world because they had the Larry, best team in America, because they had the Larry O'Bron trophy, right?
13:58
SPEAKER_01: That is our last memory.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: But we sometimes we we sometimes don't look at what it is in the right now.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: Teams catch up, players play differently.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, hell, they were the best shooting team of all time last year.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: This year, not so much.
14:11
SPEAKER_01: They're shooting 25% from three in these first couple games.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: So the story is more about how the defending champions look so far away from defending champions that it's kind of scary.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I've seen I don't want to be hyperbolic, and that's usually my character, so let me take a step back.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: A team coming off a championship, but also coming off a really good regular season, right?
14:35
SPEAKER_01: Because again, I'm thinking about the Lakers.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: They won the championship, then they had all the injuries, and then they were the 70s.
14:39
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't surprised that they did not advance to the championship.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
14:43
SPEAKER_01: I'm not I wasn't surprised of that.
14:45
SPEAKER_01: But this is a Celtics team that won the championship, came back, still ended up being one of the top teams in the league, still took care of business in their first round, and then got to a second round opponent and was like, nah, we we we're not that same team.
15:02
SPEAKER_01: They don't, they're not playing the same, they don't have the same energy, their heads are head down like body language.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: It's not something we talk about a lot on the spot, but the body language is nasty.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: I've I've never seen people clamoring at the hands like they've never been in this position before.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: And that's who the that's who the Celtics look like.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: Like it has been so very mind-blowing.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: There's so many people we can point to.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: Let's start off with their head of the snake.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: Missoula Ball can't be and probably won't be uh the reason they win a championship again.
15:36
SPEAKER_01: If they do end up coming back and winning the series and winning the next round, then winning the next round, it won't be because of Missoula Ball.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: It will be because they've transitioned a little bit.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: In game number one, they missed the most amount of threes in playoff history.
15:48
SPEAKER_01: And then everybody was like, no way they tried to do that again.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: And then it got so bad that in game number two, they started off the game with a couple threes, but every time they touched the paint and they scored in the paint when it was Jalen Brown being guarded by Josh Hart, the fans were on their feet.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: Not because this was a good bucket, but because they weren't, they haven't been used to seeing their fellas get to the basket.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: So they did kind of shift it a little bit and then they reverted to their old ways.
16:12
SPEAKER_01: Missoula says after the game, I thought we got some really good looks, and they didn't ultimately go in.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: And I went back, does he got a point?
16:19
SPEAKER_01: And and honestly, yeah, I think he does have a point.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: You have like three open three-pointers in that last couple stretch, uh, a couple minutes stretch.
16:27
SPEAKER_01: But I think my major problem with it all is the way these shots are being generated.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's gonna be games where you don't hit shots.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna happen.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: This team has done a very poor job of getting good looks.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the numbers say as far as what percentage of open shots are open because I remember when um when the Bulls played the Lakers earlier in this season.
16:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, that was the Josh Giddy game.
16:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh, go watch that highlight reel if you ain't.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: I watch at least once a day.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: And I remember going through like the NBA tracking day, and it was like, the Bulls hit a crazy amount of fourth quarters in this, in this crazy amount of threes in this fourth quarter.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: I wonder how many that the NBA decided were open slash guard slash whatever.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: And I watched those games, I watched those shots, and the way the NBA tracked an open three was not the same as what my eyes saw.
17:30
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what the tracking day to say to say, oh man, of the 100 threes that they've missed so far in this series, 70% of them have been open.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what that is, but I promise you that's not really what it is.
17:41
SPEAKER_01: They are not generating good looks.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: They're just not generating good looks, man.
17:46
SPEAKER_01: And it's frustrating.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: I'm team enjoy basketball.
17:49
SPEAKER_01: Damn it.
17:49
SPEAKER_01: I've I've started and been, we've been building this company under that mantra.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: But when I'm watching this Celtics team, specifically these last two games, I'm not enjoying basketball, y'all.
18:00
SPEAKER_01: This team has so much offensive talent to look the way that they look against the Knicks team where their defense was the biggest question about them being able to do anything.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: They are hunting switches and not scoring on switches.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: I don't think Missoula has coached a really good game, man.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: I truly don't think he has yet.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's that's gonna happen in game three and on, but this has not been it.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: And then we get to our star players.
18:32
SPEAKER_01: And I swear, oh, I swear to God, Jalen uh Jalen Brown better be texting Jason Tatum saying thank you because he's kind of he's behind Jason Tatum.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: Nobody's talking about how horrible Jalen Brown was in that second half of game number two because Jason Tatum was worse.
18:46
SPEAKER_01: Because their best player looked awful.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: And Jalen Brown, who is the Finals MVP, an all-NBA player, an all-star player, looked awful as well, but nobody cares because Jalen, Jason Tatum was worse.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: So I he better be thanking Tatum for taking all lead today.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: But we do gotta we gotta talk about Tatum.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: I gotta preface this.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: I am a Tatum fan.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: I like Jason Tatum.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: Hell, I got three of his signature sneakers, baby.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: I think he's got one of the best signature sneakers in in the game.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: In Indianapolis, we interviewed him.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: He's a very good guy, very cool guy, and a very good basketball player.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: In this two-game stretch, let me take a step back.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: I was about to be this is some of the worst I've ever seen an all-NBA first team player play.
19:31
SPEAKER_01: Some of the worst.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: And I don't I don't think it's any way you can say otherwise.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: Last year when they went on that run and Jason Tatum got to the point where he was struggling from shooting, he was doing everything else, that was okay.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: They were going against teams that were banged up as well.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: They were going against teams that just didn't have enough talent compared to them, so they were able to just win, even though their best player was struggling from shooting the field.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: Listen, Jason Tatum uh was playmaking well, he defended well.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: I thought he had, for what it was worth, though his shot was not falling, as good of a playoff run as you can have if your shot is not falling.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: They cannot win with that being the case again.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: The teams are better, they're healthier, and your teammates are not as good right now.
20:14
SPEAKER_01: So, what are you gonna do, Tatum?
20:17
SPEAKER_01: How do you showcase that you really are Superman like that trailer that just dropped this morning?
20:22
SPEAKER_01: How do you react?
20:23
SPEAKER_01: And game number one, they were awful.
20:27
SPEAKER_01: There were three possessions in the fourth quarter where Tatum gets to switch onto Jalen Brunson, and it resulted in a sidestep three.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: One of those sidestep threes was so bad that we were watching this game in this studio, and Pierre, the Knicks fan, jumped out of his seat and said, That's exactly what we want.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: The five-time All-NBA player.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: That's how the Knicks fans feel about that sidestep jump shot right now.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: In game number two, you can see that he recognized that maybe I was tripping.
20:57
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna get to the basket or attempt to get to the basket.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: And now he is finishing like two years ago version of him.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: Two years ago version of him was not a good finisher at the rim.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: And in this series, in game number two, he got to the rim and missed like six bunnies.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: How are you react, Tatum?
21:16
SPEAKER_01: Your team is only up by 10 points.
21:19
SPEAKER_01: The momentum has shifted in this fourth quarter.
21:21
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to Mikhail Bridges.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: You check back in with five minutes to go.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: What is going to happen?
21:26
SPEAKER_01: And the answer was um bad shot.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: Get the switch with seven seconds to go and result to nothing.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: Open three-point in the corner.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: You did get that one.
21:38
SPEAKER_01: But the thing that bothers me the most is that they're not even attempting anymore to have uh to make the Knicks think on the defensive side of the ball.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: How will the Knicks react if you put them in rotation?
21:49
SPEAKER_01: Now it's hard to put a team in rotation and switching everything, but how how how do you think they're gonna react?
21:54
SPEAKER_01: When you come down with five minutes to go in a game that you have the lead in and you have four possessions that Don't the ball doesn't touch any other hands other than the first guy.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: You're playing into the other team's game plans.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: That's what they want.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: They don't want you to swing, swing, swing so you can get an open three.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: They would rather you go one on five.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: And it felt like it was like, damn, I've been I've been struggling.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: I gotta do something.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: Or I'm gonna take OJ Ananobi by myself to the to the baseline and take a turnaround mid-range two.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: I'm one of the best defensive players in the league.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: How do you respond, Zero?
22:28
SPEAKER_01: The game is on the line.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: They have the one play.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: Tatum gets right to the basket, just right past Mitchell Robinson.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: Didn't even get Mitch Robin an opportunity to react.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, no, that's beautiful.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: The game is still in the balance right now.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: You can win this game.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: They go down.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: I think that's the possession where Jalen Brunson gets fouled.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: He has two free throws.
22:46
SPEAKER_01: Now you're down by one.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: And you try to run the exact same thing.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: The exact same thing.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: This time around, OJ and Nobi did a fucking phenomenal job blowing it up.
22:52
SPEAKER_01: And Mitchell Robinson did a phenomenal job of preventing you from doing that same thing.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: You get to the left side, and then you stop.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: And you recognize, oh snap, I am in trouble.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm not even gonna shoot it at the rim.
23:07
SPEAKER_01: This is really insane.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: I just don't know how the biggest of big Tatum fans can even say anything positively about this series so far.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: You just can't.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: Seven of 23 in game number one and five of 19 in game number two.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: And then again, you go down the stretch, and it's like just bad offensive basketball.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: And Tatum's one of the best we have in this league.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: But you would think that based on these two games, that Tatum has never been in a big moment before.
23:43
SPEAKER_01: Tatum has a 50-point game seven.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: Reminder, Tatum has a 50-point game seven in his career.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: When they played their series, oh, what series is this?
23:56
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's gonna bother the hell out of me.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: Let me see if I can find it really, really quick.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: What game am I thinking about?
24:02
SPEAKER_01: There is a there is a series.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: Okay, let me let me let me set the table here.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: There is a series where in game number five against whoever it was, the Celtics shit the bed.
24:11
SPEAKER_01: They look like a team that had never been in a big moment, whatever, whatever.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: Tatum has a horrendous game number five.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: And then in game number six, Tatum is amazing.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: He might have had like a almost 40 points or so on and so forth to force a game seven, and his team ended up winning that game seven.
24:25
SPEAKER_01: Was that against Milwaukee before?
24:28
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, it's Milwaukee game.
24:30
SPEAKER_01: Okay, boom.
24:30
SPEAKER_01: This is the exact game I'm thinking about.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: So in game number five, um, and this is 2022 versus the Milwaukee Bucks, second round in the playoffs.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: In game number five, the Boston Celtics shit the bed.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: They didn't score in the last like four minutes of the game, if I remember correctly.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: And this is a Giannis 40-point game.
24:44
SPEAKER_01: Giannis is a phenomenal this entire series.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: And just like that, they are down uh 3-2 in this series.
24:52
SPEAKER_01: They go back to Milwaukee.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: Tatum has 46 in this winter go-home game.
24:57
SPEAKER_01: He has 46 in this winner go home game.
25:01
SPEAKER_01: So this is a guy that has been in these big time moments and succeeded before.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: So now that we get here, it's surprising to me that we're we're having this conversation for basically the second year in a row.
25:13
SPEAKER_01: Last year, again, his teammates were able to mask over because Derek White shot phenomenally, Drew Holiday had games, or he was the best player on the court, and Jalen Brown was amazing as well.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: So, like him not shooting well didn't matter too much.
25:24
SPEAKER_01: And then in this series in 2022, if you remember, this is a Grant Williams game.
25:28
SPEAKER_01: Um this is a Grant Williams game, yeah.
25:31
SPEAKER_01: Well, what what a time, what a time.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, either way, um, he has not been good.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: Then the year after, or uh then the player after him and Jalen Brown, like I mentioned earlier, should be thanking this, brother.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: Because his second half last night, I just don't even know what to say about it.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: I thought he was pretty damn good in that first half.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: Maybe this is a Celtics team, pretty damn good in that first half where he's taking advantage of the smaller defender and Josh Hart, taking him down to the paint, posting them up, yada, yada, yada, using that big ass size, big ass body.
26:00
SPEAKER_01: And then in the second half, that just died.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: I think he had more turnovers than Phil Ghost made in that second half.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: Just like scary basketball.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what happens.
26:11
SPEAKER_01: Because the talent is there still, right?
26:13
SPEAKER_01: The talent's still there still.
26:14
SPEAKER_01: I would be a jackass to say this series is completely over.
26:16
SPEAKER_01: It could be over, but I'm not I'm not writing them off completely based on these first two games.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: But if they did in the blues, it's not a surprise anymore.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: And this was their last dance either way, right?
26:26
SPEAKER_01: This team was was going to be broken up, if you will, um because of second apron stuff, because of the new owner.
26:34
SPEAKER_01: So we knew that somebody's gonna get traded, whether it be Porzingis, Drew Holiday, Derek White, somebody's not gonna be on this team next season.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: So they wanted to go all in because they love this group so much.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: And it it won't it won't happen.
26:46
SPEAKER_01: They won't be able to do it again, I don't think, if they keep playing like this.
26:49
SPEAKER_01: Just won't.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: Porzingis not being able to play in second halves or uh in the game number one and only giving them what 14 minutes or so in game number two is a is a under talked about storyline.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the hell he is dealing with, but he's been out of basketball.
27:03
SPEAKER_01: He he left in March, and now we are in May, and he's still dealing with stuff.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: So again, I'm I'm hoping he's okay, but him not being able to play is putting too much um responsibility on a guy like Al Horford, who like I feel like Al Horford is my dad's age, man.
27:21
SPEAKER_01: He's not, but I that's what I feel like.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: That's how old Al Horford be looking sometimes.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: Al Horford should not be taking 11 shots in the playoff game, not at this age.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: He can still give you a lot of good stuff.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: I just don't want him taking that many attempts.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: So that's a long time to talk about one series, dog, but that series is really like the biggest mind-blowing series of the playoffs so far.
27:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, before we get to some of these others, oh yeah, oh yeah, and Tatum and Brown.
27:43
SPEAKER_01: This is my notes.
27:44
SPEAKER_01: Tatum and Brown have just two Mayfield goals apiece in the fourth quarter of this series.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: Two.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: Um that that yeah.
27:52
SPEAKER_01: But before we go on to the next series, I want to let you know that FanDuel is offering a no-sweat same game parlay this weekend of the playoffs.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: Just build your own parlay, activate the no-sweat token and lock in your bets.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: And if it loses, FanDuel will refund you in bonus bets.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: You can you can tell me because I'm about to give you a little something I cooked up for Saturday afternoon game.
28:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't know why we're getting the afternoon game in Master Square Garden.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: It should be a night game, but regardless, afternoon game um Knicks versus Celtics.
28:20
SPEAKER_01: My first one.
28:21
SPEAKER_01: Jalen Brown redemption, 20 plus points.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: Feels pretty simple.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: He is shooting 27 shots a game, it feels like he could give us a little 20 ball.
28:29
SPEAKER_01: Jalen Brunson, three May Threes.
28:30
SPEAKER_01: Josh Hart, eight plus rebounds, and lastly, Tatum to record six or more assists.
28:36
SPEAKER_01: All you got to do is tap into fanduel.com slash Kenny to tell me or build your own.
28:42
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29:07
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29:14
SPEAKER_01: Right now, you know I'm looking at round two of the playoffs.
29:18
SPEAKER_01: Those young guards and the Cleveland Cavaliers going against the Pacers defense, it might be kind of nice.
29:23
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29:28
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29:34
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29:38
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29:47
SPEAKER_01: All right.
29:48
SPEAKER_01: Let's go around.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: Matter of fact, let's stay here in the Eastern Conference as we talk about the Indiana Pacers being up 2-0 on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
29:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh got nothing but love and respect for the Pacers.
29:57
SPEAKER_01: Them being able to come back down by seven, eight points or 40 seconds to go a few different times in the three-game stretch is still ridiculous to even comprehend.
30:06
SPEAKER_01: But um they've been taking care of business, man.
30:08
SPEAKER_01: They've been really taking care of business.
30:09
SPEAKER_01: It felt like a like one of those games for the Celtics or for the Cavaliers.
30:15
SPEAKER_01: We know that we are underman, that we have two All-NBA caliber players, two All-Star caliber players out, but everybody, we're gonna be better than the sum of our parts.
30:23
SPEAKER_01: Is that the saying?
30:24
SPEAKER_01: Max Struce comes in and have has a good game, even though he turned that damn ball over on the inbounds.
30:28
SPEAKER_01: Sam Merrill comes in and shoots it very well.
30:30
SPEAKER_01: They just had a lot of different people come in and step up, but they ran out of gas.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: Donovan Mitchell put together one of the best playoff performances we've seen.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it was really that good.
30:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, just get into the basket, get into the rim, get into the free throw line time and time again.
30:44
SPEAKER_01: And I do believe all of that contact and all of that aggression did get him to the point where he may have uh just completely died out towards the end of this game, lost all of the energy necessary to keep them afloat.
30:55
SPEAKER_01: And the Pacers chipped away, chipped away, chipped away, and won this win.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: And they are up 2-0 on the Cavaliers.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: Two games away from making another conference finals appearance.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: As of right now, we don't know what's going on for game number three, right?
31:07
SPEAKER_01: All of the guys that did not play, Hunter and Mobley and Garland, are questionable as I record this episode.
31:12
SPEAKER_01: So fingers crossed that they play because I ain't got no dogmas fight.
31:15
SPEAKER_01: I want I want to see these healthy teams go against each other.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I would I do want to talk about Halliburn.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: I do want to talk about Halliburn.
31:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, as you know, when Tarry's Halliburton was drafted, there's a little story here, a little personal story about Tarys Halliburn.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: When Tarry's Halliburton was drafted, I hit him up.
31:33
SPEAKER_01: Didn't know him yet.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: But he was just drafted by the Sacramento Kings.
31:36
SPEAKER_01: I think it was what pick number 11, pick number 12, I forget exactly what it was.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: He gets drafted, and because I've seen, I saw him, it's pick number 12.
31:44
SPEAKER_01: I saw him in Dom 2K's stream.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: Dom 2K is another creator on this platform.
31:48
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to Dom, one of the OGs as well.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: And they were they was just chilling, and I know Dom.
31:53
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, man, introduce me to your boy.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: And I get into the DMs of Tyrese.
31:56
SPEAKER_01: Yo, bro, I know you're busy.
31:57
SPEAKER_01: I know you just got drafted, but if you got 20 minutes, bro, do you want to you want to just do you want to do this?
32:02
SPEAKER_01: You want to do my podcast?
32:03
SPEAKER_01: You want to just do some content?
32:04
SPEAKER_01: He said, for sure.
32:05
SPEAKER_01: So this is the first time meeting him hop on a zoom call, and he's just a good dude.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: And the title of that video is why the Sacramento Kings won the draft.
32:15
SPEAKER_01: At this point, I'm being honest with you, I'm kind of glazing.
32:19
SPEAKER_01: I don't watch college basketball.
32:21
SPEAKER_01: I had no idea who Tyrese Halliburton was two months before I hit him up in the DMs.
32:25
SPEAKER_01: So why they won the draft, he could have been a bum.
32:28
SPEAKER_01: I couldn't, I wouldn't know.
32:29
SPEAKER_01: But from that interaction and him just being so cool, I became a fan.
32:33
SPEAKER_01: And now he sends me shit.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: Um pumas.
32:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's been cool, really, really cool to watch his progression.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm basically getting to.
32:44
SPEAKER_01: It's really cool to watch his progression.
32:45
SPEAKER_01: And there was a piece on the athletic um that dropped, I think either today or yesterday, um, talking about how he, I know uh this is kind of a thing in Warriors Land right now, has found his joy back in basketball after having a little stretch where it was a bit wishy-washy, right?
33:02
SPEAKER_01: And then 13 people out of 90 decided in the NBA, players in the NBA decided that he was the most overrated player in basketball.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: And since then, he's been on an absolute tear.
33:11
SPEAKER_01: I think that one of the worst parts about fandom um is you're only as good as a start.
33:18
unknown: Right?
33:19
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's so geared up, so ready for the NBA season that everybody's locked in for that first couple weeks.
33:23
SPEAKER_01: And if you somehow struggle through the first couple weeks, that is gonna carry throughout your name for the rest of the year, basically.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: And vice versa.
33:30
SPEAKER_01: If you have a guy that is killing a game through the first two weeks, you're shooting 60% from three, everybody's gonna remember you as that's part of you, and not, oh, these last 20 games, he ain't really been on that.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: Tyrese's first five, maybe six weeks was not a Tyrese Halliburton that we know.
33:45
SPEAKER_01: I don't got no intel on this, but a lot of people speculated.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about um people that write articles and reporters speculated that he was still dealing with some injury stuff.
33:52
SPEAKER_01: And he didn't look really good.
33:54
SPEAKER_01: And then eventually, I don't know if he got a hell of a chiropractor or he got that he got shot up with that same stuff they shot Jalen Brunson up after he went down in that pacers uh piston series.
34:05
SPEAKER_01: But he looks healthy, he's getting around the corner.
34:08
SPEAKER_01: We were critical about him getting to the paint and not going up to finish at the rim.
34:11
SPEAKER_01: And since then, it feels like he's been listening.
34:14
SPEAKER_01: And to have this is this is something the clutch gene.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: Damn it, I'll say it.
34:20
SPEAKER_01: Some people have it, some people don't.
34:22
SPEAKER_01: I do sometimes question whether or not this is a real thing, or if it's all just basketball and all just luck, whatever.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: But when you see the stat that I think uh it was Carson from Nerd Sess that I saw had it first.
34:32
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if anybody else was before him.
34:34
SPEAKER_01: That this season, in the last two minutes of a game, he is a 10 of 11 on tying or going ahead jump shot or shots is such an insane stat that it is something that they they would have said about Will Chamberlain.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: 10 of 11 is disgusting.
34:55
SPEAKER_01: Him missing a free throw, I don't think it was on purpose, but maybe it was, maybe you'll say it was.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: Him missing the free throw, Miles Turner tapping it out to him, and him getting his own board, and them just saying, I him saying I got this, is a legendary moment, regardless of what happens for the rest of the series, regardless of what happens for the rest of this playoff run completely.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: That is a moment that I will remember forever as an NBA fan.
35:16
SPEAKER_01: Because there's no way that should have happened again.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: So he's been great.
35:22
SPEAKER_01: Aaron Neesmith, when I think I may have told this story before on this channel as well, the Pacers traded away Malcolm Brockton.
35:31
SPEAKER_01: And there is a old, I want to say bleach report, I want to say an old bleach report clip or meme that was like what the Pacers got back in the Aaron Neesmith trade, and it was the meme of SpongeBob having a paper clip, a piece of string, and something else.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: Fuck, I feel I'm I'm a SpongeBob guy too.
35:51
SPEAKER_01: I can't remember what else is in his hand.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: Basically saying that for Malcolm Brogdon, they got nothing.
35:59
SPEAKER_01: They traded for Malik Fitz, Jawan Morgan, Nick Stowski, Daniel Tice.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: A first round pick that they traded away that ended up being Julian Strather and Aaron Eesmith.
36:10
SPEAKER_01: So in the re in real time, I can see why you would think that.
36:15
SPEAKER_01: But Aaron Eesmith has been a really good ball player for now three years since he's been in Indiana.
36:21
SPEAKER_01: He went from a guy that in his last year in Boston only played 11 minutes per game.
36:24
SPEAKER_01: He shot 39% field, 29%, or 27% from three.
36:28
SPEAKER_01: His first year in Indiana, he basically wins the starting spot.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: And he goes to a guy that's averaging 10, 42% from the field, 36% from three.
36:37
SPEAKER_01: And since then, he has been more efficient and more efficient.
36:40
SPEAKER_01: And the one thing I'm loving about his playoff series right now, his playoff run right now, is how aggressive he is defensively.
36:49
SPEAKER_01: My goodness.
36:50
SPEAKER_01: This man will get he is he is really seeing how far he can go before the refs call him for something.
36:59
SPEAKER_01: Bumping, grinding, everything.
37:03
SPEAKER_01: And if the shot is falling too, I mean, there was a point in the season where he was shooting 50% from three before he went down with his injury.
37:08
SPEAKER_01: He ended up ending the season at 43% on four attempts.
37:11
SPEAKER_01: But what an amazing pickup from something that people memed being a bad pickup.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: He's been great.
37:18
SPEAKER_01: I think it was Joel Moran of um Pick Aside that put together this whole thing that was like, we need to give um what is it, Kevin Pritchard more love for the type of teams that he's been able to build, right?
37:32
SPEAKER_01: Because he's made good decision after good decision, and then executive of the year just got put out.
37:37
SPEAKER_01: And shout out to Sam Prestey, a guy that definitely deserves it.
37:41
SPEAKER_01: Um I think it was I think it was his daughter.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: I think it was Kevin Pritchard's daughter that was like, there's not 16, there's not 16 different front office people better than my dad.
37:54
SPEAKER_01: I kind of like that.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this is Joel Moran's tweet.
37:57
SPEAKER_01: Um Kevin Pritchard is one of the best GMs in basketball over the past three years.
38:03
SPEAKER_01: He traded for Pascal Siakam, Obi Toppin, Aaron E.
38:06
SPEAKER_01: Smith, Tyrese Halliburton.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: He drafted Nim Hart, Ben Mathurin, Jarrus Walker, Isaiah Jackson, who I forgot existed because of his injury.
38:13
SPEAKER_01: Get Wilson, Ben Shepard.
38:16
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty damn good.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: And what makes it even better is that the market is Indiana.
38:21
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't have the luxury of being in this big ass market.
38:24
SPEAKER_01: This this place that has the beautiful weather, this place that got a gazillion skyscrapers and the beach front that's beautiful.
38:30
SPEAKER_01: He's doing the shit in Indianapolis.
38:33
SPEAKER_01: And not only is he making these decisions, he's making sure that the guy, the good guys that he he acquires or the good guys that they draft, want to stay around.
38:43
SPEAKER_01: They got a really good front office, a really good infrastructure over there.
38:46
SPEAKER_01: They're like Tyrese Hallibur is basically saying that there's no other place in the world I'd rather play basketball.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, Pascal Siakam sign this extension immediately.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: Now I probably would too if it was that much money, but you get me.
38:59
SPEAKER_01: So shout out to the Pacers.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if there's anything else to be said about that series other than I want the Cavs to get healthy, but I also respect the Pacers, simply put.
39:11
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's out of Ben Mathra.
39:13
SPEAKER_01: Just been holding it down when necessary.
39:14
SPEAKER_01: They were down by 20 points.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: Ben Mathra is one of the few people that was really in them in them trenches and getting to the basket and being aggressive over and over again.
39:20
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, let's go to Timberwolves versus Warriors.
39:25
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna spend a ton of time on this one because is that that's the the tonight's game?
39:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
39:30
SPEAKER_01: So I'm I filmed these videos, I'm filming this video on Thursday, so you're not hearing it's a Friday.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: So I don't want to go too much into it because damn it, we don't know what's gonna happen in game number two.
39:37
SPEAKER_01: But I will say the Steph Curry injury stinks.
39:40
SPEAKER_01: Injuries are a part of the game.
39:41
SPEAKER_01: You know, I feel like every single team right now has dealing with something.
39:44
SPEAKER_01: Um unfortunately, or the thing that the Warriors are dealing with is the best player, you know.
39:51
SPEAKER_01: Like it's different than saying Porzingis, who's really important, being out.
39:54
SPEAKER_01: It ain't it ain't their best player.
39:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh, for the Warriors, it is.
39:58
SPEAKER_01: And I do want to give a ton of respect for what they did in game number one, them and being able to hold it down after Steph Curry goes out with like what 13 minutes played, and Jimmy Butler, when uh things were not looking as great, put his foot down and stop this game, stop them streaks.
40:13
SPEAKER_01: We saw Pat Spencer get into the game, and they played like 13 people, it felt like the Warriors did.
40:18
SPEAKER_01: So I want to give them a ton of credit.
40:20
SPEAKER_01: But Steph Curry being out stinks.
40:23
SPEAKER_01: As a new true fan, I just love Steph Curry, watches Steph Curry play, but it it does change the series, obviously, right?
40:31
SPEAKER_01: And I was thinking to myself when I was asking the guys this, you know, Steph Curry, they said he'll be reevaluating in the week.
40:37
SPEAKER_01: And with a week, we're talking about game five.
40:39
SPEAKER_01: But it's not like he'll be back game five.
40:41
SPEAKER_01: He's reevaluating game five, and these hamstrings can be disgusting.
40:44
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know exactly when he'll be back.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: And I was asking, like, could they still do it?
40:50
SPEAKER_01: Like, do you think Minnesota's that overpowering that there's no chance that the Warriors win if Steph Curry doesn't play until game six?
40:58
SPEAKER_01: And the consensus from the guys is basically like, yeah, they can't win this without Steph Curry.
41:05
SPEAKER_01: Can Buddy Heel continue to his hot streak?
41:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
41:08
SPEAKER_01: But I I think I kind of agree.
41:11
SPEAKER_01: It's been a little minute since Jimmy Butler has been putting up that 40-point playoff game.
41:15
SPEAKER_01: I think that's probably what they're gonna have to need in order to make it happen.
41:19
SPEAKER_01: That's why I'm praying that we get like the best uh timeline possible for Steph Curry for him to be back.
41:25
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, the Wolves probably are in the driver's seat just based off that alone.
41:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, they've been shooting it awful for the last two games.
41:35
SPEAKER_01: The last game that they beat the Lakers, and then game number one versus the Warriors were awful shooting nights.
41:41
SPEAKER_01: You get that meme of Anthony Eward seeing the three or hearing the three-point percentage and like take being taking a step back.
41:48
SPEAKER_01: But because this game is happening tonight, I ain't got a lot to say about it.
41:52
SPEAKER_01: We'll see what happens in game number two.
41:53
SPEAKER_01: Go let go watch Kenny for Real because I'll be doing a recap of that later tonight.
41:57
SPEAKER_01: Then we get Thunder versus Nuggets, the Nuggets still game one.
42:00
SPEAKER_01: We made a Kenny for Real video in real time of everything happening and Coach Mark Daytonall losing the first game of his career, if it feels like.
42:16
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to Mr.
42:17
SPEAKER_01: Nugget, but him you know doing the foul up three and not wasting enough time.
42:21
SPEAKER_01: We've we've talked about it time and time again.
42:23
SPEAKER_01: We were asking how will they respond?
42:25
SPEAKER_01: And they responded with a nasty ass game.
42:29
SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
42:29
SPEAKER_01: Coach Mark Dayton had a crazy quote or a great quote after he was like, I don't look at this as a response game.
42:35
SPEAKER_01: I think we just play like we normally play.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: They put almost 150 up on the Nuggets, and the starters or both of these teams basically didn't play the entirety of the fourth quarter.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: Just saying.
42:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, when you're the underdog and you win a game one, losing game number two is not that bad.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: Losing game number two by 43, then you start to be like, what's going on here?
43:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh it was just not a good Jokic game.
43:05
SPEAKER_01: And I know Nuggets fans would talk about the whistle.
43:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, because I think OKC is just is also doing the thing I mentioned about Aaron Eastmith trying to figure out what they could really get away with.
43:15
SPEAKER_01: And game number one, I thought that they were physical as hell.
43:18
SPEAKER_01: Didn't get a good, I'm talking about OKC didn't get a good whistle.
43:20
SPEAKER_01: That's how we get to the point where Chad and everybody's in foul trouble from their side.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: This game around, they were physical as hell, but those same whistles weren't happening.
43:27
SPEAKER_01: But even with that said, I don't think that is the reason why you lose by 43.
43:31
SPEAKER_01: I just don't.
43:32
SPEAKER_01: I thought that they turned these boys over time and time again.
43:36
SPEAKER_01: They basically played the perfect OKC playoff game.
43:39
SPEAKER_01: This is a team that's gonna turn you over.
43:40
SPEAKER_01: There's a team that's gonna want to get out on the break.
43:42
SPEAKER_01: And if they they forced 20 turnovers in this game, six of them coming from Big Yoke Yoke himself, another four of them coming from Brody Russell Westbrook, who uh got into it a little bit with Jay Jay Will after he pushed Yoke earlier in this game.
43:55
SPEAKER_01: So I this is still another intriguing series.
43:58
SPEAKER_01: I still feel pretty good about.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: OKC Thunder.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: I said after their game one, even though it was a bad loss, nothing about it made me change my opinion on how this series should go.
44:08
SPEAKER_01: I think that OKC has been the better team so far, but that also was a case the first two games of the Clippers series.
44:18
SPEAKER_01: So who knows?
44:18
SPEAKER_01: The Denver Nuggets always find a way.
44:20
SPEAKER_01: You cannot count them out under any circumstance.
44:23
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's enough playoff talk.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: I think.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
44:26
SPEAKER_01: We got uh ask KB.
44:32
SPEAKER_01: Or you can hit us up on social media, whether it be Instagram, whether it be whatever, and ask me some questions, and I'll do my very best of answering them.
44:41
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
44:42
SPEAKER_01: The first one comes from if Steph Curry won another championship and finals MVP, would that put him in the GOAT debate?
44:48
SPEAKER_01: That is from Jolie Allen.
44:51
SPEAKER_01: Uh one, two, three.
44:55
SPEAKER_01: No.
44:56
SPEAKER_01: I don't believe so.
44:58
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, it gets him higher in that list.
45:00
SPEAKER_01: But goat GOAT debate, I don't believe so, man.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, and and again, Curry is one of my boys.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: I love him.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: But another championship and another finance MVP, I don't think that puts him in GOAT conversations.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: I think that puts him top five conversations.
45:12
SPEAKER_01: Is that fair?
45:13
SPEAKER_01: Is that fair?
45:14
SPEAKER_01: I think that could get him in top five conversations.
45:15
SPEAKER_01: Hell, some of y'all probably got him top five right now.
45:17
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I think I have him closer.
45:20
unknown: Hmm.
45:21
SPEAKER_01: I think I mean off the top of my head, I probably got him like ninth.
45:24
SPEAKER_01: Maybe.
45:24
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
45:25
SPEAKER_01: I don't do top 10 lists or anything like that.
45:26
SPEAKER_01: But I don't think another championship finance MVP would make me look at him and say, yeah, better than Braun, better than Jordan.
45:34
SPEAKER_01: That would that's a tough bridge for me to cross.
45:36
SPEAKER_01: Is it possible for someone like Jamal Murray to have a Hall of Fame case?
45:40
SPEAKER_01: This is from Matthew Dang.
45:43
SPEAKER_01: Now, let's say, let's say Jamal Murray's career continues on this trajectory where he may never make an all-star appearance.
45:49
SPEAKER_01: I just don't see it.
45:50
SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean, a bunch of championships could definitely put you on that edge where you're like, oh, maybe, baby.
45:57
SPEAKER_01: I just don't see it, man.
45:58
SPEAKER_01: I was trying to figure out in the ape in the NBA modern era, so I'm sure there are people in the basketball hall of fame from their ABA years or so on and so forth that are in the Hall of Fame without an all-star appearance.
46:09
SPEAKER_01: I just don't think that's the way it works, you know.
46:11
SPEAKER_01: Like, let's even if he wins three championships as the second best guy, I still don't think that would be good enough for him to make the hall if he continues to go without all-star appearances, without other accolades like an all-NBA or, you know, so on and so forth.
46:25
SPEAKER_01: Majority of the people in our hall have had peak years where they are making all-NBAs or they're making all-star appearances and so on and so forth.
46:32
SPEAKER_01: Jamal Murray's peak happens to be April to June instead of October to February.
46:38
SPEAKER_01: So he never makes the all-star game.
46:40
SPEAKER_01: So I'm just gonna say a pass.
46:42
SPEAKER_01: I just don't, I just don't see it.
46:44
SPEAKER_01: Watching the playoffs this year, what team slash player matchups are you hoping to see in the future?
46:49
SPEAKER_01: Me watching the Singoon game is making me excited for a Spurs versus Rockets series.
46:54
SPEAKER_01: That is from Trutt Fowler.
46:57
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm sorry to tell you this.
46:59
SPEAKER_01: Shingoon might be playing in Milwaukee soon, buddy.
47:01
SPEAKER_01: So don't get ready for that type of series unless you're thinking the Milwaukee Bucks are going to the No, let me chill.
47:05
SPEAKER_01: Let me chill, let me chill.
47:06
SPEAKER_01: Now, I always like to see the good center matchups, right?
47:10
SPEAKER_01: So um if if we I really wanted to see another series where we get Timberwolves versus Duggets.
47:18
SPEAKER_01: Is that cool?
47:19
SPEAKER_01: Can I say that?
47:20
SPEAKER_01: Because I like Rudigo Bear.
47:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, I've obviously we got the the ones that could have happened, like a Lakers versus Warriors.
47:27
SPEAKER_01: The Lakers didn't do their part just because it's Braun um versus Steph Curry.
47:32
SPEAKER_01: I know they're in the opposite conferences, so it would have to be a championship, but seeing a seven-game series where the Thompson twins are going against each other, they would never guard each other, by the way, but the Thompson twins are going at each other will be amazing.
47:42
SPEAKER_01: Because why would you put your best defender on their worst offensive player?
47:45
SPEAKER_01: So they'll never guard each other.
47:46
SPEAKER_01: But just small stuff like that.
47:48
SPEAKER_01: I feel like I can find the beauty in every single potential matchup.
47:52
SPEAKER_01: Every single potential matchup.
47:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the Chicago Bulls versus the Lakers in the finals will be kind of cool.
47:58
SPEAKER_01: Maybe next year.
47:58
SPEAKER_01: Maybe next year.
47:59
SPEAKER_01: And the last one comes from Ian Bates that says realistically, what does Devin Booker's future look like with the Suns?
48:06
SPEAKER_01: Bright.
48:07
SPEAKER_01: Pun intended.
48:08
SPEAKER_01: Devin Booker's not going anywhere.
48:10
SPEAKER_01: And if he does, we ride in the streets.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're asking me what the Suns' future looks like with Devin Booker, that's a different question because I don't think that's bright at all.
48:17
SPEAKER_01: But as far as Devin Booker with the Suns, I don't think that we're gonna see him get traded to the Pistons or him get traded to the Rockets, like some people are mocking up.
48:25
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think it would take like a King's ransom type of offer, and I just don't know if teams are ready to give that type of offer.
48:30
SPEAKER_01: I also just really like one-team guys, and Devin Booker is one of the one-team guys that I just enjoy.
48:36
SPEAKER_01: He means so much to the city, he means so much to the org that it would be kind of weird to see him get traded.
48:40
SPEAKER_01: So his future with the team is bright.
48:43
SPEAKER_01: The team's future is not because I watched that that uh interview with the new guy that they just whoo! The new guy that they just hired, dog.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: I feel for y'all sons fans, and that's me saying that.
48:54
SPEAKER_01: That's me.
48:55
SPEAKER_01: My team stinks.
48:57
SPEAKER_01: I feel for you though, bro, because he was giving, he was giving such the political written out on a napkin by my boss answers I've ever seen.
49:10
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how many times he used the word alignment in that interview.
49:13
SPEAKER_01: 37.
49:14
SPEAKER_00: You have to create that identity, build that that alignment, and then you have to, as I said, execute that that vision.
49:23
SPEAKER_01: Um it might be a tough little stress, Sun's fans.
49:27
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry to do it to you, man.
49:28
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry I'm even bringing it up.
49:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, I I just I think it's Matt Ishbier.
49:37
SPEAKER_01: He hired his homeboy.
49:40
SPEAKER_01: He hired his homeboy.
49:43
SPEAKER_01: And hiring your homeboy to help you at a moving company is a lot different than hiring your homeboy to run a goddamn organization.
49:50
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what the hell is going to happen.
49:52
SPEAKER_01: Maybe Devin Booker won't be a son because of this guy.
49:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think that's this is where we wrap today's show.
50:00
SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed it, be sure to leave a like, subscribe.
50:03
SPEAKER_01: Like I mentioned, I'm trying to every single day give y'all a Kenny for real video, which is real reactions right after games end.
50:12
SPEAKER_01: So if you have not been tuned in there, go check it out.
50:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, go check out T double PR.
50:18
SPEAKER_01: Go check out Numbers on the Board.
50:20
SPEAKER_01: I do want to say we got something special coming up on Numbers on the Board.
50:25
SPEAKER_01: Just gotta wait.
50:26
SPEAKER_01: You just gotta wait and see.
50:27
SPEAKER_01: Appreciate y'all.
50:28
SPEAKER_01: I'll see you next episode.