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NBA Playoff Truth: Who's Rising, Who's Falling · Front Runner Podcast Collective

• 0:16
  Speaker 1: it's tuesday, you know what time it is.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Front runner podcast collective is back on the air.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: I am your humble host, vince, and today's podcast.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: We will be breaking down the games from last night.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: We also take a special look at one of the games that happened on sunday night.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: As far as that's concerned, because I think it gives us a lot to what this playoffs really means, and what I mean by that is because the playoffs is the true barometer of who you are as a basketball player and also as a basketball team.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: You can hide your deficiencies in the regular season.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: There are effort um challenges, let's say, when it comes to the regular season, but the difference in the postseason, the difference.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: So we are in this weird situation call the playoffs, and I am happy.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: The playoffs aren't about who can hoop.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Everyone here can hoop.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: The playoffs ask a different question can you lead, can you adjust, can you be seen and not fold?
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: We always talk about pressure like it's something that happens to players, but in reality, pressure doesn't arrive, it reveals, and in this week it revealed a lot.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: You got guys ascending, you got guys collapsing and entire teams are being re.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: That's what makes this week different, because, while the playoffs are doing their annual purge of illusions.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: We also got the 2025 anonymous nba player poll and you know, you know it got messy, so I can't wait to jump into it.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: 158 guys, 30 teams, no names, no branding, just honesty.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Some brutal, some, but all real.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: And when you put those two things side by side on the court, off the court confessions, on the court play that's when you start to understand the gang behind the gang.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: You learn being feared still matters.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: That culture isn't just a catchphrase, it's currency.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: You realize that analytics have, because in is anymore.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: It's about who can carry the crown without losing the joy of the game, and I've said it before, but it hits differently now.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: The NBA isn't just a league.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: It's either dysfunctional families or dynasties in disguise Coaches Some are artists, others they're just trying to survive the episode.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: And now the audience is split.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Fans want story arcs, executives want efficiency, players want agency, and everyone's pulling the game in a different direction.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: So that's what this episode is about, and everyone's pulling the game in a different direction.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: So that's what this episode is about, not just who impressed, but who's depressed, and but what this season has revealed About the state of the league, and we're going to break it all down On matchups.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: We flame rotations, we zoom in on one what won the moment and who missed the window?
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: But more than anything, we're going to put this season on the couch and ask it some real questions.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: We're going to put this season on the couch and ask it some real questions like what does it say about 38% of the players in the league say analytics is bad for basketball?
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: What does it mean when a majority of the league doesn't want to be the face of the NBA anymore?
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: I in the league vote because of pure respect.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: What has happened to the middle case?
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Because that's the stuff that lasts longer than the playoff brackets.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: That's the stuff that lives longer in the group chats.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: That's the stuff that lasts longer than the playoff brackets.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: That's the stuff that lives longer in the group chats.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: That's the stuff that is quoted behind closed doors.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: That's the stuff that the game where it's going now, not just where it's been.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: This isn't just who won the game pod.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: This is what did the game tell us episode, and if you're listening to this, you already know we care about the truth behind the score.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: The beauty of this episode is not just that it's opinion, it's that it's player testimony paired with playoff viewing and observations.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: You're not just gonna know who's playing well, you're gonna know who built.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Let's enjoy this podcast.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: We got a lot of stuff to get to.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: There's so much.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: There's so much going on, so let's start there.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: We need to talk about our guy in detroit, but it was madison square garden.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Let's set the scene for you.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: This wasn't just a rogue playoff game.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: It was a trial.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: If Cade had cracked under the lights, people would have started With their empty stats slander.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Instead, he leveled up Madison Square Garden In the playoffs.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: It's like facing A browser, a Bowser in Mario 64 64 with one heart left.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Thank you, soraya, for that, because you know I don't play this game.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Kay didn't flinch.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: In his first playoff game Kay controlled every three Three points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals, but more than that, 20.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: In the first half he broke down the next drop defense he had.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: He had the walk through open.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: He drew contact.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: He slowed the pace.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: He hunted weak matchups.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Ie jalen brunson.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: This is what superstar tempo looks like.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: He wasn't reacting to the game.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Can't guard me, dog.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: You can't get me.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: You can't get me.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: Oh, sirea gave this uh comparison.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Thank alloy in horizon, scanning the terrain, exploiting every system of the nicks gave him or easily the manipulation was read and it was achieved and then the play was executed.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: These are the type of things that are next level that we're seeing from k cunningham at this stage of his career and it's good to see.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Now we also go get into our guy Dennis Schroeder.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: He had 20 points off the bench.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: He had nine in the fourth quarter.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: True six-man energy boost like a mana refill key possession down the stretch.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Detroit's offense didn't able to either take it downhill or go ahead and go ahead and the court had no answer to this situation.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: And it showed and it confused them and it was the first time where the cat stuff was there the whole season.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: And listen, he played excellent in the regular season.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: He's played excellent in the regular season.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: He's played great.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: No shade on cat whatsoever.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: But we always knew.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: We always knew that if you got somebody who had a high iq, good handle, decent size, he was going to be able to abuse Carl Anthony Towns.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Well, cade Cunningham walked in the door and he dropped 33.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Dennis has kind of switched gears in the last couple of years.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: It's been so heartwarming After that fumbled bag moment that he had in la with the lakers where supposedly he turned down four years, 84 million dollars.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: We know the story.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: He gets like the meat.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Well, he got like a bit, he got a tax mid level and then he got the minimum or what.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Have you kind of bounced around the league since then.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Now we're in this situation where he's this just grizzled vet.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: He provides leadership.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: He also provides production, sweet, sweet production with, with 52 seconds on the clock over brunson cash quote from wicker staff.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Ultimate trust I have in dennis schruder, our anonymous uh guy who basically does player development.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: This is what he said.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: It's rare to find a vet that doesn't blend into the rotation.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Dennis actively reshapes their enough to let clarity emerge.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: He gave k time, gave detroit a breath.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: That was that wasn't a six man, it was the pulse that reinserted into a frantic moment.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: So basically he's saying that he gave them life when they were looking scared.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: And I enjoy that because of the fact that you're getting insight from somebody who, because of the fact that you're getting insight from somebody who basically just breaks down tape for a living and I mean better than I do, obviously.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: But when I'm looking at this situation I'm seeing Dennis, these are the type of things we saw in LA too.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: He gave championship pedigree effort.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: He was clutch when we needed him.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: He was very reliable on the defensive end.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: It wasn't like he was this great defender, but you knew he was going to be in the right place at the right time.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Like, oh, you got the ball.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to basically shadow you wherever you go.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: I'm just gonna basically shadow you wherever you go.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Jalen Dorn, another guy who I'm getting so high on.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: I want to shout him out a little bit.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: He had 13 boards, 3 blocks.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: He played like Detroit's frontline Guardian air at this, just for his size and for just how he's cut.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: The other thing that I like about him is that he has no ego.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: His screens are just crisp, the rolls are hard and he has smart vertical contest contests at the rim.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: He's not just fouling people left and right.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: This great situation.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: You know a lot of young players could take a look at our guy Jalen during and really learn something from our our do.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: If Kate is a main character, then Dennis is the NPC plug.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: During is your tank, the player who takes damage so others can create.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: You don't notice Jalen during because he doesn't announce himself but his presence isn't always loud.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: Because he doesn't announce himself but his presence isn't always loud, sometimes it's just persistent, like pressure, like gravity, like knowing someone's there before the the shot even goes up.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Key stat for the knicks that we gotta really jump on uh, the knicks had a Brunson had a 46% usage in that game.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Now I understand that, uh, we are not confident.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: Explanation point on what he thinks of his other guards.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: But that does not show, that does not tell us what he thinks of og and anovie and mikhail bridges.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Now, my whole thing with this deal is is that 46 usage rate is absolutely too high?
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is past luka numbers.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: This is like somebody playing my career on the hall of fame level.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: And he got with no sliders adjusted.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: My man is just getting it in part.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: All great defenders but zero rim protection.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Detroit let Brunson tire himself out while stacking bodies behind switches.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: New York never adjusted with the Knicks.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Ran wasn't offense, it was a broadcast of fatigue.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: You could see Brunson hunting angles while the rest stood around like a chorus member waiting for their soloist to fail.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: The silence and their spacing was louder than any garden chant.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: We talked about this before the playoffs started and I want to bring this up because this was a thing that I said we hoped and we said, hey, the Jalen Brunson ankle injury could be a blessing in disguise because it can bring diversity to the offense.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: I thought that Tom Thibodeau saw enough of that through OG Ananu's work for the month that Jalen Brunson was out.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: I thought he saw a guy that you need other people to put rim protection.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson there.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, we're sitting there going.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: What are we gonna do?
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: This was always going to be the problem with new york anyway.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: What to do with Jalen Brunson?
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: How were we going to use him?
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Where were we going to find the respites?
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: And did we show enough offensive creation with OG Ananobi, deuce McBride and the cat, the cavalcade of others that were handling the ball for the New York Knicks while Jalen Brunson was out?
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Nope, nah.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Tom Thibodeau said we are going back and drove all of our team into the ground and they had no players left and Jalen Brunson finally broke down in a game seven in the second round.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: So where does this leave us at this point?
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Well, we're tied 1-1.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Cade had his MSG moment, which now certifies him.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm saying we like that.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I see him.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: You know I'm saying we like that.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Kate cunningham was six years up the back as you upgrade.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: He's the film to build from in a city behind him, because they're going to detroit, they're going to motown and they're gonna get it in.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: What K did under the garden lights wasn't strategy.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: It was just control disguised as calm.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: If you watched with your chest, not just your eyes, you felt it.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: It this wasn't just a moment that got too big.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: This was somebody who was really basking in it, understanding his role and doing whatever he needed to do to bring his team to victory.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Cade Cunningham grew last night at Madison Square square garden and you know who that absolutely helps the detroit pistons and the detroit pistons fans.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: We got a lot to look forward to for many a year when it comes to k cunningham shouts out to our guy we can't wait till and this is the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets basketball game Boys so loud that you he thought he was trying to turn the ball into an obedient golden retriever.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: The Warriors were up in control, but still unraveling.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: This is a note from saraya.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: This is something she sent me last night.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: She's like I know that the doves are up and they're winning, but why do I feel like we're?
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: They're about to take a trip, take a trip over their own shoelaces, because their offense is absolutely garbage right now.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: She was right.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: It was the weirdest vibe.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: It kind of reminded me of Sean from boy meets world, somehow joining the yacht crew of below deck that mix of talent and dysfunctional With this Disaster and walk away Still holding the roses.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: It's a good question, because here's the thing that I want to say the Needs to turnovers, because A lot of it is Cut Feel Pace.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: Oh, I thought you know Anticipation.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: I thought you were going here.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: Oh, you didn't go here, my bad.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: 14 warriors turnovers, 23 houston points.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Now I want you to keep that in mind 14 warriors turnovers, 23 houston points.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Why is that big?
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: We'll get to it in a second alcor and shengoon, a guy who I've been saying about the houston rockets.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Listen, please run the offense through this guy.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Please let's not play around with these jalen green minutes.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Let's not.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Let's not fake the funk anymore.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: We're gonna use Alfred all drafting, but sometimes you got enough Talent with all.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: The other column is is that he can't get you into efficient offense in the fourth quarter.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: He drives so inconsistently.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: And when he drives, he drives with no plan.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: There's no plan of attack.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: When he hits the paint, we don't know if he's passing, we don't know if he's going up for a shot or if he's trying to get fouled, or all the above all at the same time.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: You can't be going into the lane acting like you got 17 different personalities, jalen green talking to 14 of them at the same time.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: Hey man, what do you think I should do?
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know, dog, I think you should go to the rim.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: Hey man, you know that dude is wide open above the break three.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: What a niceness if you're gonna make a pass or a move to the hole.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: None of this.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: I'm stuck in the air.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: I don't know what to do.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Somebody please bail me out, because I'm so young.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: This was old Jalen Green.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: This was like year one, year two, jalen Green.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: So just saying, rockets fans, just you know, might want to talk, you might want to talk to your boy, might want to talk to your boy, you might want to talk to him.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: Sorry, sorry.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: Verticality and effort becomes real weapons.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Again we talk about the 23 points that they got.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: Now here's the other part of this situation.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: They went big Alcaron Shangoon, steven Adams who's 7'2" Amin Thompson 22 offensive rebounds, 22 second chance points.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Where's that only time this season a team had 22 plus offensive rebounds and did not break 90 points?
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: I told you that when we talked about the 23 points off turnovers, and now we do 86 points again.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: People think that I don't like Jalen Green.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: It's not that I don't like Jalen Green, I just don't like his plan of attack.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: I never thought it was going to be efficient enough to be a number one type like producer and offense.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: And it's shown, it showed.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: It showed in this game.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Talk to real.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: Hamilton shots out to mr Mr Big Shot.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Chauncey Phillips Shots out to my got a.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Sean Princeun, prince.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: I see you, player, I see you.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: I see you down in memphis.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: You're going through some right now, but I see you.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: Um, that's harsh saraya talking about my dude like that.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Okay, you can dominate the glass, but if you treat every half court set like a freestyle cypher, you're not winning many playoff minutes, and that's for sure.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Jalen green 3 for 15, no assists.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: If they're isoing stuff without a real set up, it's not a mismatch, it's a hunt, it's a panic possession.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: This wasn't Steve Kerr gambling.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: This was Steve Kerr calling Houston's bluff and the scouting held up.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Green's bag wasn't deep enough.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: He wasn't able to get into the paint because there were hands all around, they were making deflection, they were tipping.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: He wasn't having the same control over the basketball and it showed again zero assists.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: He took 15 shots of the game zero assists.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Amen and jabari are activity guys at right now.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: They're not closers.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Shangoon is the one who can create but can't collapse defense solo.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: So where's that offense gonna come from?
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: And I guess it's gonna come from drives that jalen green does.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Now speaking of control, jimmy butler out here scoring 25 points, game winning jumpers, late dunks, winning jumpers, late dunks.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Uh, kerr did say this.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: The turnovers killed us.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Um, and then jimmy said this sometimes good things come from the chaos.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Of course jimmy would say that he used to play for the miami heat.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: He loved chaos.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: Jimmy treats uh, chaos like jazz and when they get the ball, they need to get out, they need to push the rock ahead.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: They need to make good, smart decisions in the fast break situations and they need to treat those possessions.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: They.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: They show no quirk density to be able to do so.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: They show no quick rancidity to be able to do so.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: You're stuck.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: So I mean, honestly, we'll see.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: We'll see if they can find a reliable, offensive, productive person on their team.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Now the last other piece of this situation is what are we going to do about steve kerr and the war that is going on with jonathan kaminga?
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Uh, is he gonna play?
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Is this dude gonna play?
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: He is not, and it doesn't look like he's going to just throw up.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Understand that Eamon Thompson can't.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Now we get to the scary news, the scary news of the day, and it's provided by the most scariest person in the NBA.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: No, it's not Isaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: No, it is none other than Kawhi Leonard.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: There are players who fold after game one turnovers, and then there's Kawhi Leonard.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: There are players who fold after Game 1 turnovers, and then there is Kawhi Leonard who turns your trap into a trailer moment.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: So let's set the stage.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: So Kawhi's basically his story arc.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: Now then, in game two, kawhi Leonard walked into ball arena.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: One, he's still him.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: 39 points for kawaii leonard.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: It wasn't the 39, it was how it was done.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: He had 39 points on only 19 shots.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: This guy is a mid-range samurai.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: He does not miss.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: He was four, seven, also from three, and he didn't miss a free throw.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Oh, by the way, one turnover.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: This is a comment from serea, something that she had noticed.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Denver is going to show late help, not doubles.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: That's the invitation kawaii doesn't decline.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: That did not restore.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: This wasn't a comeback, it was a callback to a version of of Kawhi.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: The league tried to forget and he made us remember.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: With 39 points on 19 shots, he had a 78.9 true shooting percentage in that game, 4 misses totaled through three quarters.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Oh, check this out Players with 35 plus points on less than 20 shots and one turnover or less.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: So Kawhi joins Michael Jordan with 50.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Oh, with it, zubat's force Jokic into ten three-point attempts, and that's not by accident.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: The Clippers baited the catch, stayed home on corners and pinch only on the turn.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Think of Zubat's, like Zuko from Avatar, miscast early now found his element.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: This game, yeah, this game.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: He was crazy.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: That was a Siege of the North.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: What he was doing, he had that dude confused.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Now here's the thing yokich, still with yokich.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: He had 26 points, he had 12.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: He had 26 points, he had 12.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: He had 12 rebounds.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: He had 10 assists.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: He still had a triple-double with the 7 turnovers.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: That's very un-Jokic-like.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: Jokic was great but he wasn't dominant and that was the first time in a year where we've seen that set out loud.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: He didn't stop him, he disrupted his fluence, it to the spots that he wanted to go on the floor.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: It made it just.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: It wasn't going to be a just a walk in the park for yokich and give credit to zoo watch for doing that again.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Seven turnovers from yokich, 20 as a team, only 38 points in the paint, third lowest for denver all season.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: Dunn and harden alternated fronting the weak side lanes.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Norm powell another another stellar performance 13 points plus.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: He had.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: He had eight in the fourth quarter sparking the clippers baton.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: He was a silent connector.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: He had made two threes, had two key rebounds in that game.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: This is where ty lue's rotations get poetic.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: He's not chasing size, he's chasing matchups.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Feels like chess in real time.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: Now I will say this my guy norman powell kind of reminds me of.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Here's the one thing that I want to say about kawhi leonard and what you saw last night.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Um, this is what people kept.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: This is the situation where you sat there and go okay, if they only get healthy.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: How many times healthy in the playoffs.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: What is it gonna look like?
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: We kept saying these things, we kept asking for these things, and this is the reason why because he rekindled something last night that we hadn't seen and it was something that, when we did see it, we were just all inspired by it.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: Stew, remember in 2019 when he won that title with toronto?
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: It looked very jordan-esque.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: People said things like this, like this there's shades of jordan here, just surgical control in the mid-range.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm saying like these are the type of things that are going on with this dude thing that I do want to say is that kawaii is back and this is scary for the league.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: This is scary for everybody involved.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: I ain't happy about it because he's a clipper, and you know how I feel about clippers.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: I just I can't, I can't do it, I won't do it and and that's that.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: But hats off to kawai and his fantastic game.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: These games.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: What did we learn in these situations?
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: Yogic drifted into high post versus zuglats not ideal.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Houston offensive rebound their faces off, but it still didn't equal shot creation because they only scored 86 points.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: The Knicks have no secondary pick and roll threat right now.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: Bring back OG Ananobi, offensive creator.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Bring back OG and an OB offensive creator.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: You don't need a deep bag to win in the playoffs, you need repeatable reads in one you to realize, when you are doing all this Jalen green gyration nonsense.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: Bro, just get to the hole.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: You.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: Six-foot foot five, you look like, looking like one of the, so you can, so you think you can dance dancers out there.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: Bro, what are we doing?
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: Three of 15 is not superstar type player and you are the one who signed that contract, that two-year, basically, contract with the third year player option, so you can opt out, so you can see what the market is giving you.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: You put up another three for 15 performance and you'll see exactly what the market is going to give you.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: On jaylen green is because of fact.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: I know the talent's in there.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: I just want him to be more purposeful with his paint touches.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: I want him to have more intentionality with his drives and I want him to understand that he's in the playoffs.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: I want him to understand the moment.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: I want him to be able to capture the moment.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: I want him, him.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: So when I say these things I'm not saying these things to be super harsh and say, oh, you're, you're trash this that I'm saying hey, bro, you have a lot of athleticism, you have a lot of craft, your game and I would like you to apply it to these games that you're playing against the Golden State Warriors.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: Because here's the thing, here's the quiet part that I haven't said out loud.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: Houston a lot of people don't believe in them because they are the two seed that everybody wanted to face, because they're super young and they have not taken their playoff awards.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: This is what we're talking about with playoff, playoff, uh wars, playoff it, playoff of uh wars, playoff it, playoff of heartbreaks.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: These are all of the things that build up calluses.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: So when you get there the third time, when you get there the fourth time, shit, ask the boston celtics.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: When you get there the fifth, or, and whether you win or lose, you know that you gave maximum effort, you left it all out there and nobody has anything to say.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: But these bs drives going to the hole, these like, oh, I'm gonna step back, and I'm because I think I'm hardening all this, not yet, not yet.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: My guy returned the Mac, you know, basically.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: And then our guy K Cunningham.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: He gave his jay-z public service announcement to the msg crowd.
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: He just wanted to introduce himself.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: You know, he introduced himself properly to msg, I think.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: I think the other thing that we found out is that alfred shangoon should have a lot more plays run for him through him to map into the ground where he has nothing left after you know, six games in the second round.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: All right, we would like to, as I'm working in the coal mines or something, when he's not playing basketball, trying to tell you man, tears is cold, cold, coach, poor he cold.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: And we also found out that dennis schroeder has um elevated himself into, uh like elite veteran status, one of those guys that you absolutely need to have on a team that has any chance of doing anything successful, because he does all the little things.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: He's an irritant, he'll knock down a shot.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: He has that irrational confidence that thinks he's better than what he is, but he does.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: Also, he does understand the concept of team and when to get the ball to certain people and stuff like that.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: And Jalen Dorn is an absolute freaking beast.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: Hats off to our guy Jalen Dorn and what he put up.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: So now let's get to the big things that everybody want to talk about.
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir, we got the anonymous polling from the nba players.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: You know how players say they don't care about what the media.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: The athletic is very much worth it, but they had their.
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: They just dropped their anonymous nba player, paul baby.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: Some of these answers they're giving press conference truth serum.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: Let's go, we gotta get into this.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: There is craziness now.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: Who's the mvp?
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: Is it SGA?
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: Is it Jokic?
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: Let's see, do-do-do-do.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, so Jokic plus 19.5.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: Let's see what players said.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: They gave it.
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: They gave it to Shay.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: Most underrated, most overrated.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: Let's get into this.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: Most overrated, rudy Gobert.
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: Trey Young, still leading the.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: Nah, I'm good Club man.
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: Don't guard the ball, don't scare me.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: How you gonna be defensive player of the year?
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: Wow, that's quote.
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: That's crazy underrated.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: Love.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: Kay cunningham, norman powell, austin reeves you know we loved austin reese love game to 24 points a game when kawaii was only playing 37 games.
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: We still don't know how reese stayed here through the luka donchus trade.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: I'm still trying to get like word on how that happened, like real word.
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: Who's gonna win it all?
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, so the players overwhelmingly picked the boston celtics.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: Um, uh, basically the comment was stars, depth, chemistry, ego free.
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: It's like dating profile you can't actually trust.
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: What about the thunders and their 68 wins?
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: Best defense was still second fiddle in respect.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: Uh one, oh one random vote for jimmy butler's warriors.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: Hmm, interesting, somebody believes in the bay dub nation.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: What you think about that?
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: Oh, check this out.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: Welcome.
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: Welcome to front runner podcast collective, where we do this damn thing.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: Welcome to front runner podcast collective, where we do this damn thing two times a week and we don't fake the funk on the nasty dunk and we do it for you because we do it for the people we love this stuff and we do it for you.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: Hopefully.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: We're entertaining, we give you some information and we just broaden your horizon on the game as a whole.
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: That's our job, that's our goal here and as people who are entrusted and considered In being media, you know People who are just within the industry.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: Listen.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: This is the fastest growing podcast in long beach.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: It might be the greatest podcast of all time when it comes to the nba.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: We don't know.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: Scholars will debate this, but for right now, let's get back to some of these awards.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: Alright, okay, let's see who else.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: What's another one that's gonna go?
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: There's Stewart Number two.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: People scared to skip steven adams man scared of him.
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: He's just so big.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: You know, you gotta be scary to get votes while you sit on the bench and sweats dog fear.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: Doesn't care about minutes.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: James johnson has hasn't been that active.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: He's played like 84 minutes in like the last two years or something like that.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: All right, coach, who's the coaches that people really respect in the league?
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: The players sound off and they say mark dagnall of okc, coach poe down in miami, kenny atkinson in cleveland and joe mozilla in boston.
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: They love mark dagnall, though.
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: They love the vibe that he gives our building.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: Hey, don't, don't hate on keith.
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: He's going through some stuff right now.
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: You see the team.
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: You know what's going on.
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: All right, so players hate the 10 minute uh quarter idea.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: They said it would destroy the nba middle class idea.
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: They said it would destroy the nba middle class job changes completely.
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Strong feedback on gambling fatigue, refs favoring stars.
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: Some of y'all better stop yelling at the refs to play by the players.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: The golden state warriors, the oklahoma city thunder, the boston celtics and the los angeles clippers.
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: Wow, okay, okay, worse, worst organizations.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: Identity from the top to the bottom.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: That's not culture talk, that's result.
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: That sound pressy, doing what a lot of execs claim.
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: They're all about saying hey, we have a culture here, this is what we're looking for, this is what try.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: This kind of individual we want to bring into the team.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: These are the type of players and the mindsets that we want to attach our investments to.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: Shouts out to Steve Ballmer for being the anti-micromanager CEO.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: That's from Soraya.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: Oh, check this out.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: Some teams luxury apartments with no heat are duplexes with real warmth.
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: Players notice who wants to be the face of the league.
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: Spoiler.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: Not many went by.
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: Yama and Halliburton are all rising wave stars, but the title of face of the league feels more like a burden than a crown um to do.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: We heard the lebron um quote on pat mcafee, but I'm gonna say this we want guys to be authentic.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: Then punish them when nope town bro, they're not here to be like listen, let's give you this like in-depth, like real world or love island type confessional.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: How do you feel about that?
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: Oh, this is one that we got to talk about officiating by it.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: The officiating mice too much favors the offense and just inconsistency, let's see, let's see.
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: Let's see players hate and just inconsistency.
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: Let's see, let's see.
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: Let's see Players hate the 10 minute quarter thing, shorten the season If it can't cut back, let's see.
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: So basically, they're saying that some of the refs favor the stars.
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: Well, what are the stars doing?
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: Are the stars driving to the basket?
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: Are they being more aggressive when it comes to initiating contact?
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: Or, you know, are you just hating Because you ain't getting no calls?
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: Step your game up, you know, I don't know, I don't know what to tell you.
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: Seem like it'd be pretty easy for you to go to the hole too.
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: You ain't gonna?
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: Let's shout out sam amick and josh robbins from the athletic, who put this poll together.
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: It was an absolute gold mine of information.
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: I was super excited about tearing into it, but sam amick and josh robbins are good reads.
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: Uh, I love sam, these players who are out here listen.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: Some of the some of the concerns are valid.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: Right, if you're not having the, the heat situation in in the apartment for the little ones, whatever, I understand that.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: If you're complaining about the scrutiny of the league or the scrutiny of the media, it's been like this the whole time.
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: Dude, it's gonna give and take the whole time.
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: This the whole time, dude, it's gonna give and take the whole time.
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: Peter vesey used to eviscerate people on in on the nba, on nbc, before the games, and it's no different now.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: The only difference now is that you have the social media part of it, the social media aspect of it, where now the world can chime in on the take that the talking head gave and then it becomes and don't know what's up.
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: They don't know how.
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: They don't know what's up.
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: They don't know how the sausage is made because they ain't in there doing it.
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: You could not worry about them whatsoever.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: You get paid a lot of money.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: Yes, there are some things that I do not believe that you should have to go through.
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: I don't think anybody should be talking about your family members.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: I don't think anybody should be talking about your race, your creed or you know what your sexual orientation is.
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: I don't think anybody should be talking about that.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: I don't think anybody has the right to talk about like, oh you, you cost me a bet or whatever.
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: I don't think anybody has the right to talk about like oh you, you cost me a bet or whatever.
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: I don't think anybody has the right to talk to you about that.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: But if we are a fan and we're displeased because you didn't play well and then like maybe the, the, the guy in your city that does the, the, the guy in your city that does the, whatever the radio block, I'm gonna talk.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: I'll talk to media anymore because it's all derrick dog, that's a.
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: That has a lot to do with your social media habits.
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: That has a lot to do with how much time online you spend.
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: Are you doom scrolling?
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: I know there's gonna be a lot.
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: A lot of the guys in the nba.
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: They go through a lot of shit they do.
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of stuff that goes along with being in this nba.
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: That's not just bouncing that ball, shooting that ball in that hoop and getting a rebound.
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of minefields that they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis, whether it comes to, uh, corporate alliances with you know when inside the organization, or you know which shoe deal to go to or which you know script to deal with, or whatever.
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: The case may be not tolerated anymore.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: It's been going on since the dawn of time and I will tell you if you have a 3 for 15 type night, we're still gonna talk about it.
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying.
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: If you're gonna be about it, be about it.
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: Be about about it.
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: But you can't just take the good and then say I'm gonna just go ahead and discard this back.
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: It's got to be a whole encompassing package and you got to embrace all of it and understand.
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: Just like michael jordan said, I missed a whole hell of a lot, whole hell, a lot more than I made those and, with that being said, I like to thank sereaaya, I'd like to thank the whole FRPC crew, I'd like to thank the audience, because here's the thing We'd also like to shout out the state of Maryland.
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: We have seen a big boom in Maryland.
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: It has been quite impressive that the district Maryland, it has been quite impressive that the district that the Metro DC area, the DMV, is showing love to Front Runner Podcast Collective.
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: And that just leads us to this.
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: Tuesday and Friday for your listening purposes and also your viewing purposes and also your reading purposes this, what the hell are you talking about?
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: Reading purposes?
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you asked because that, because that on our website, which is frpcpodcastpageio what no?
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: Io?
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: And then you go to the blog section and the first blog that you will see will be the blog that will go with this particular podcast.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: I think it's great, uh, push you forward and remind you who you are.
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: If you got folks like that in your life, celebrate them, text them, facetime them, hug them, let them know that they truly matter to you, because growth hits different when you're surrounded by love, support and real ones.
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: And if you're building that type of circle, you start here with Front Runner Podcast Collective.
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: You start with us Because we've always got a seat open for you, always With this podcast, on Tuesdays and Fridays.
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: You know, too, because we have been negligent to the draft, but we are not going to be negligent to that mistress anymore.
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: We will be talking big draft stuff on friday.
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: Keep it locked here.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: Make sure you turn on that notification bell, make sure you are following us on your podcast platform.
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: Friend, tell a friend.
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: You know which friend you can tell.
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: You can tell us, you can hit us with a five star rating and then say in the comments yo man, vent, you're doing a really good job.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: We really love the podcast.
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: We really love some of these segments, we really love some of your insights, things like that.
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: That will feel on me, that will feel serea, that will heal the crew and we will continue to do the things that we do right.
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: That's because that's what we do.
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: So again, you guys, stay breezy, stay okay, and we'll see if it works.
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: Again Breezy, stay Uggy and we'll see if it works Uggy.