Latest / The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast / NBA and NHL Playoffs Betting Update

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NBA and NHL Playoffs Betting Update · The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast

0:08
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Favorites, the podcast from the Volume Network.
0:15
Speaker 1: I am Chad Millman. We are still deep, deep, deep
0:21
Speaker 1: in the heart of the NBA Playoffs, and I gotta
0:23
Speaker 1: admit the other night, our collective boss at the Volume Network,
0:29
Speaker 1: Mr Colin Cowherd, held me at this podcast. Uh. We
0:33
Speaker 1: were discussing the Memphis Grizzlies as four and a half
0:36
Speaker 1: point underdogs to the Warriors in the final playing game
0:40
Speaker 1: for the grizz to get that a spot, and Colin
0:44
Speaker 1: was convinced he should go with the Grizzlies. And I'm
0:47
Speaker 1: like to, did you see how well the Warriors played
0:51
Speaker 1: the Lakers? And they Lakers were at full strength and
0:56
Speaker 1: the Warriors are playing with you know, uh, Steph Curry
1:01
Speaker 1: and Wan Tiscano Anderson and Jordan's Pool and they matched
1:06
Speaker 1: him step for step. Of course you're gonna take the
1:09
Speaker 1: Warriors at four and a half. Of course, the Warriors
1:12
Speaker 1: didn't cover a four and a half. I've been feeling
1:14
Speaker 1: guilty about that ever since. But the playoffs up until recently, Uh,
1:19
Speaker 1: this last game, it's Tuesday afternoon, Monday night. The games
1:24
Speaker 1: were blowouts, but there are some really fun games over
1:26
Speaker 1: the weekend. I am going to discuss the NBA Playoffs
1:30
Speaker 1: with contributor Brandon Anderson, one of our podcast regulars for
1:35
Speaker 1: the Action Network. NBA podcast with Michael Walton recent Thursday,
1:40
Speaker 1: Thunderdome champion, basketball obsessive fellow Chicagoan host of his own
1:45
Speaker 1: Chicago Bulls podcast. After that, Mike Leeboff is gonna come on.
1:50
Speaker 1: He's gonna continue his love affair with my co host,
1:53
Speaker 1: Simon Hunter. We're gonna talk NHL. But first my b yff,
2:00
Speaker 1: my companion, cryptocurrency gazillionaire. Down to one house, still looking
2:12
Speaker 1: for love, Simon Hunter, my brother. All facts, Chad, how
2:19
Speaker 1: do you not listen anything? I teach you? Bad Memphis
2:21
Speaker 1: game again, Chad, don't watch the games, just will watch it.
2:25
Speaker 1: You watch the numbers. That game literally was plus five
2:30
Speaker 1: even though eight of the money was coming on the Warriors.
2:32
Speaker 1: It bumped down to four and a half. I mean,
2:34
Speaker 1: do I need to say more? Chad? That was a
2:36
Speaker 1: layup bet in that Memphis game. So it's heartbreaking here
2:39
Speaker 1: you're on the other side of that one. I make
2:41
Speaker 1: bad decisions all the time. Anyone who has ever listened
2:45
Speaker 1: to this podcast knows throughout the year I will make
2:49
Speaker 1: impossibly bad decisions, and not only that, I have a
2:52
Speaker 1: gift for convincing everybody that it is the right decision.
2:58
Speaker 1: There's a video right now that was just posted that
3:01
Speaker 1: one of our video producers, Barbara Albert's, put together. That
3:05
Speaker 1: is me making bad dad jokes on our NBA show
3:10
Speaker 1: heat Check that we do twice a week. I usually
3:13
Speaker 1: do it with Justin Fan and Preston Johnson a k
3:16
Speaker 1: A Sports Cheetah. Throughout the show, I will end up
3:18
Speaker 1: making some joke and they are such in their heads
3:24
Speaker 1: NBA geeks Fan especially Uh, they don't respond. Ever, it
3:30
Speaker 1: just goes right over their heads. That is one of
3:32
Speaker 1: the gifts that dads have. The other gift that dads have,
3:36
Speaker 1: this is the equivalent of dad strength is being able
3:40
Speaker 1: to answer authoritatively about anything, no matter how wrong you are.
3:46
Speaker 1: It's truly a gift. I just couldn't believe you didn't
3:48
Speaker 1: open up the action app. If you just open it up,
3:50
Speaker 1: you would have saw all those signals right there. But hey, Chad,
3:53
Speaker 1: what can you do? You're I'm like you, all of
3:55
Speaker 1: us have to grind to get our winnings. You you
3:57
Speaker 1: can just open uh open up on cow Heard show
4:00
Speaker 1: and just say no don't take Memphis. So that's just
4:02
Speaker 1: how it goes. That's what I do. That's what I do.
4:06
Speaker 1: I just go against the grain when the grain is
4:08
Speaker 1: going with me. You know what I'm saying. You gotta
4:11
Speaker 1: unpack that for a second. Simon, how are you doing?
4:15
Speaker 1: How how's everything been? Are you getting positive feedback about
4:20
Speaker 1: your love life? I just want to make sure we're
4:22
Speaker 1: updating people on that. Yeah, I um actually finally sold
4:27
Speaker 1: some stock. Uh. The basically the guy who predicted the
4:32
Speaker 1: collapse in two thousand eight. He's short in Tesla right
4:36
Speaker 1: now stockwise, Michael Brin's his name. He was the subject
4:40
Speaker 1: of the book The Big Short, also played by Christian
4:43
Speaker 1: Bale in the movie The Big Short, to widespread acclaim,
4:48
Speaker 1: guy's a legend. He's never wrong everything he does, He's
4:52
Speaker 1: always a step ahead. So I basically was heavy best
4:55
Speaker 1: of them. So I've dumped all of it and I
4:56
Speaker 1: went and bought a Beamer. I bought a BMW Boy,
4:59
Speaker 1: So yeah, took Tesla money that I made in stock market.
5:03
Speaker 1: Instead of bud a Tesl, I bought a Beamers. So
5:05
Speaker 1: it's definitely I'm in a weird time right now. Chad,
5:08
Speaker 1: did you Oh my God, it's like you're having a
5:10
Speaker 1: midlife crisis because because you got dumped and like you
5:15
Speaker 1: can't spiral out of it. I need this football is
5:17
Speaker 1: gonna start back focused. What kind of BMB? Did you
5:24
Speaker 1: buy a three thirty? I so it's a g T
5:28
Speaker 1: So it's like a it's a bigger car for like
5:30
Speaker 1: a big guy like me. Did you lease it or
5:33
Speaker 1: did you buy it? Chat? Cash bro cash cash? You
5:39
Speaker 1: you walked up to the dealer and did you look around?
5:43
Speaker 1: Did you shop? Were you just like I want this car?
5:46
Speaker 1: Give it to me. I don't care what price it is.
5:49
Speaker 1: I don't know if you realize this yet. Chat, I'm
5:51
Speaker 1: overhill sign. I'm gonna do something. I study it until
5:54
Speaker 1: there's nothing left. So I've probably been on this car
5:56
Speaker 1: for like three months. Basically all I do is haggle,
5:58
Speaker 1: like I have nothing to do to call up dealerships,
6:01
Speaker 1: and I just bullshit these guys for about twenty minutes,
6:03
Speaker 1: just trying to get a good price. So finally I
6:06
Speaker 1: broke a guy's spirit after three months of torturing this
6:09
Speaker 1: guy because it's gonna be straight cash and uh, you
6:12
Speaker 1: finally hit me up. A guy up in North Jery's
6:14
Speaker 1: I went up there, No no check or anything like that,
6:17
Speaker 1: just a cash and a book back, and uh yeah,
6:20
Speaker 1: pretty much took like usually it takes like two three hours.
6:22
Speaker 1: Got a car, it took about thirty months. You had
6:24
Speaker 1: cash in a book back. You just want how much
6:26
Speaker 1: did how much? How much did the car cost? Chad?
6:30
Speaker 1: So much personal info after taxes? I think it was
6:33
Speaker 1: like thirty one And so was it heavy to carry
6:37
Speaker 1: a book back? No, no, it's it's I mean, I'll
6:41
Speaker 1: start showing cash during the football season. How funny it
6:44
Speaker 1: is where you think a lot of cash looks like
6:45
Speaker 1: a lot of money, but like literally, like a hundred
6:48
Speaker 1: k I can hold like that in my hands. It's
6:50
Speaker 1: not as asn't much money as you think when it's
6:51
Speaker 1: hundred dollar bills. But no, it's a cool feeling taking
6:54
Speaker 1: out a wad of cash and putting on the table
6:56
Speaker 1: and just being like, you know, buying her right now,
6:58
Speaker 1: but driving around with that cash in my car in
7:03
Speaker 1: North North Jersey. A little sketchy for sure, but the
7:06
Speaker 1: deal got done. Well. Listen. I I knew a guy
7:09
Speaker 1: in Vegas. I once said, we went to um the
7:14
Speaker 1: pepper Mill, the pepper Mill, the greatest old diner in Vegas,
7:19
Speaker 1: and it had this lounge in the back that was
7:23
Speaker 1: like this all night seventies themed lounge. And we went
7:27
Speaker 1: there one morning at ten o'clock in the morning. We
7:29
Speaker 1: met there and I was talking to me. He was
7:32
Speaker 1: a young guy, young guy younger than me, still much
7:35
Speaker 1: younger than me, and everybody is these days, but he
7:39
Speaker 1: was a professional gambler and we were talking and then
7:43
Speaker 1: I was leaving that morning to go to the airport.
7:45
Speaker 1: So he drove me to the airport and we get
7:47
Speaker 1: into this car that is so beat up, rust holes everywhere,
7:54
Speaker 1: like no air conditioning, and then I go to get
7:57
Speaker 1: my bag out of the I go to put my
7:58
Speaker 1: bag in the car or we leave for the airport,
8:01
Speaker 1: and there is a Duffel bag loaded with bricks and
8:05
Speaker 1: bricks of hundred dollar bills and the guy has about
8:08
Speaker 1: a hundred grand in the trunk of this car because
8:12
Speaker 1: that's what he's gonna go around town bedding that day.
8:15
Speaker 1: Um after he dropped me off, and I'm just like,
8:18
Speaker 1: can't you get a nicer car? But he's spending all
8:20
Speaker 1: his money on the bedding. That's always thinking about. No, Honestly,
8:23
Speaker 1: that's a pro move. I have a burner car to
8:25
Speaker 1: an old Chevy Cobalt. That's the only car I drive.
8:28
Speaker 1: The sports books like, I've never been followed. I've never
8:31
Speaker 1: been followed into our sports book. I've never been followed
8:33
Speaker 1: outside of a sports book. Anyone listening. If you're gonna
8:36
Speaker 1: bet large money, get a burner car, even if it's
8:39
Speaker 1: the only time he uses taking to a sports book.
8:41
Speaker 1: I never roll up in a range Rover BM do anything.
8:44
Speaker 1: I always just go in a piece of craft car because, legit,
8:47
Speaker 1: your job is to make money sports betting. There's other
8:49
Speaker 1: people's jobs that are to rob you. So I love
8:51
Speaker 1: where that guy said that, just drive a burner car. Dude,
8:56
Speaker 1: you just blew my mind with that level of inside information.
9:01
Speaker 1: That is some of the coolest That's like a note
9:05
Speaker 1: in a novel. That is some of the coolest ship
9:07
Speaker 1: I've ever heard. I'm writing that down, Bernard Car. It's
9:11
Speaker 1: gonna be my exit strategy. Is that great American novel
9:13
Speaker 1: I'm gonna write, and I'm gonna include that in there.
9:18
Speaker 1: Let's get to some NBA games. We got two experts,
9:21
Speaker 1: two guys I love. They've been doing great work all
9:23
Speaker 1: season long. Like I said, Brandon Anderson, contributed to Action
9:26
Speaker 1: Network on our podcast All the Time. Um, Michael Walton
9:29
Speaker 1: covers the news desk for US also knows the NBA.
9:33
Speaker 1: The champion, that's right, he's the champion of the Thunderdome.
9:35
Speaker 1: Knows the NBA as well as anybody. Fellas Brandon, let
9:38
Speaker 1: me start with you. Here's a question right off the bat,
9:44
Speaker 1: opening round, Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, three favorites, lose the first
9:51
Speaker 1: game of the series. How do you reimagine pricing that series?
9:57
Speaker 1: Which one of the let's think about that, how do
9:59
Speaker 1: you imagine pricing one of those series? Yeah, so the
10:02
Speaker 1: West was wild. I mean all all four series favorites
10:06
Speaker 1: lost the opening game, so that it sort of feels
10:10
Speaker 1: like the West is so competitive that the seeding is
10:13
Speaker 1: just thrown out the window a little bit. Although that
10:16
Speaker 1: shouldn't be the case. We've still got the home court
10:18
Speaker 1: advantage being being factored in, but that didn't seem to
10:21
Speaker 1: be a big advantage in game ones either. So, yeah,
10:25
Speaker 1: the the Lakers, I mean, that's the big one. That's
10:28
Speaker 1: also the hardest one to figure out what in the
10:29
Speaker 1: world to do with it. I know Matt Moore wrote
10:32
Speaker 1: about that line for Game two opened at like Suns
10:35
Speaker 1: minus two or so and flipped all the way to
10:38
Speaker 1: to Lakers minus two. What is going on with that?
10:41
Speaker 1: Like that is a huge swing. And we know that
10:44
Speaker 1: Chris Paul is hurt. We don't know how bad he's hurt.
10:47
Speaker 1: We don't know how healthy Lebron or Anthony Davis are.
10:50
Speaker 1: We don't know a lot that's happening this series. We
10:53
Speaker 1: didn't know if DeAndre Aden was going to get suspended
10:55
Speaker 1: because he has stepped a foot on the court and
10:57
Speaker 1: it's the Sun's and this is what happens when the
10:59
Speaker 1: Laker is play. Um, it doesn't appear that that's going
11:02
Speaker 1: to happen the game is tonight. We haven't heard anything
11:05
Speaker 1: but that that series in particular is is a really
11:08
Speaker 1: tough one to get ahold of until we until we
11:10
Speaker 1: actually see on the court tonight. Can Chris Paul dribble
11:13
Speaker 1: with his right hand? Like? Can he actually shoot the ball?
11:17
Speaker 1: These are things that could not happen in the second
11:19
Speaker 1: half of Game one, and yet the Sun's one comfortably anyways,
11:23
Speaker 1: and the Lakers really never even put a lot of
11:25
Speaker 1: pressure on them. Um, the Blazers Nuggets series is really fascinating.
11:30
Speaker 1: The Blazers in Game one came out and on the
11:33
Speaker 1: road just fired away. They just had more firepower. They
11:36
Speaker 1: just have I mean, they have guards. They have actual
11:39
Speaker 1: NBA guards, And sorry to the guy who's playing on Denver,
11:42
Speaker 1: but all the normal guards are out injured and it's
11:46
Speaker 1: hard to win in two thousand twenty one the NBA
11:48
Speaker 1: without guards. The Nuggets last night made a ton of
11:51
Speaker 1: shots and showed up and tied it back up at one,
11:53
Speaker 1: So we know they're gonna play with heart. We know
11:55
Speaker 1: that they're gonna gonna not go away in that series.
12:00
Speaker 1: It's hard to take away anything more than just shooting
12:04
Speaker 1: variance so far, which is not a great takeaway for podcasts.
12:08
Speaker 1: For man like, hey, sometimes you make shots and sometimes
12:10
Speaker 1: you don't, you know, make or misleague. But it's it's
12:14
Speaker 1: hard to look and say, oh, the Blazers are shooting
12:16
Speaker 1: forty percent on threes, that seems pretty good. If they
12:19
Speaker 1: make their threes, they're gonna beat a lot of teams
12:22
Speaker 1: no matter what else is happening out there. So yeah,
12:25
Speaker 1: I like the Blazers. Still. I like them going in
12:28
Speaker 1: what we've seen so far, even with the lost last night,
12:31
Speaker 1: I still feel like they're in good position in the series.
12:33
Speaker 1: They got one of the two road games for them.
12:35
Speaker 1: They're going home. Now. We've seen the Portland's, We've seen
12:38
Speaker 1: their crowds. Guys, it's awesome to see crowds, actual crowds
12:42
Speaker 1: at games again. You know MSG on Sunday going crazy,
12:46
Speaker 1: Spike Lee jumping around with the sidelines again like it's real,
12:49
Speaker 1: no no, pumped in noise finally, So this has been awesome.
12:54
Speaker 1: I'm loving it. I don't know what to make of
12:56
Speaker 1: these West playoffs, and I love that I don't know
12:58
Speaker 1: to make of them yet because it's a lot of fun. Yeah,
13:01
Speaker 1: I agree with you about MSG. We were actually just
13:03
Speaker 1: having our Like I said, it's Tuesday afternoon. We have
13:07
Speaker 1: a show called heat Check that we'll do at six
13:09
Speaker 1: thirty tonight on at Action Network HQ, and we just
13:12
Speaker 1: had our pre show meet me and Justin Fan and
13:15
Speaker 1: Christina Aventura and Evan Abrahams and Barbara Albert's our producers,
13:19
Speaker 1: and um, we were just loving how MSG was so
13:24
Speaker 1: explosive and fun. Michael, you and I are deeply in
13:30
Speaker 1: love with the Chicago Bulls. We are deeply in hate
13:33
Speaker 1: with the New York Knicks. But I gotta say, watching
13:36
Speaker 1: that game was so fun seeing the Nick, seeing the
13:40
Speaker 1: seeing the garden just electric like that. It was beautiful.
13:44
Speaker 1: It was totally beautiful, and then they lost. When you
13:47
Speaker 1: look at the rest of that series, Um, what do
13:50
Speaker 1: you think? Yeah, it's tough being uh, first off, being
13:55
Speaker 1: a die hard Bulls fan, obviously, I go into it
13:58
Speaker 1: rooting for the Knicks because of Hibs, Taj Gibson, d Rows.
14:01
Speaker 1: You almost got the whole gang back together. You honestly
14:03
Speaker 1: just need Keith Bogan's to sort of complete the circle there. Um.
14:07
Speaker 1: But in all seriousness, I like this series a lot
14:10
Speaker 1: just because I feel that it's an obvious clash of styles.
14:13
Speaker 1: You have the Knicks, who are obviously a gritty, defensive
14:15
Speaker 1: minded team, and then Atlanta that sort of went in
14:18
Speaker 1: all offense with their acquisitions, getting Buck Danovitch and then
14:21
Speaker 1: the way they sort of play stylistically. Um. I think
14:24
Speaker 1: the big X factor that a lot of people didn't
14:26
Speaker 1: consider in this series was Nate McMillan, what a different
14:29
Speaker 1: coach he is from Lloyd Pierce and how he really
14:31
Speaker 1: got this Atlanta team playing some serious defense. So, um,
14:35
Speaker 1: you know a lot of people are talking about how
14:37
Speaker 1: awesome this will be as a long series because of
14:38
Speaker 1: Madison Square Garden. Obviously, I'm a little worried that it
14:42
Speaker 1: won't be a long series. UM. I'm not gonna go
14:45
Speaker 1: as far as to say anything like the Knicks would
14:46
Speaker 1: get swept or anything. Um, but I could see this
14:50
Speaker 1: being a gentleman sweep in terms of just five games
14:52
Speaker 1: series here, because I think Atlanta has enough three point
14:56
Speaker 1: shooting to really just make this a tough matchup, no
14:59
Speaker 1: matter like even if Randall was going And then you
15:02
Speaker 1: look at Game one, Randall shot six of twenty three. Um,
15:05
Speaker 1: so I think you look at the way Atlantic can guard,
15:07
Speaker 1: you look at the way Clint Compella, and even John
15:10
Speaker 1: Collins is playing feisty on defense. He had two blocks
15:12
Speaker 1: on the steel um in game one, and John Collins
15:15
Speaker 1: isn't even really known as the defensive player. So you
15:17
Speaker 1: factor in all that in DeAndre Hunter, their young wing
15:20
Speaker 1: force coming back. I think Atlanta is underrated on defense
15:23
Speaker 1: and they simply just have too much shooting for this
15:25
Speaker 1: New York squad. Um, and that goes down to the
15:28
Speaker 1: fact that, of course Trey Young was one for three
15:31
Speaker 1: from the three point line. So you look at that
15:34
Speaker 1: and there's just a lot to take away from Game
15:36
Speaker 1: one that says the Nick should have kind of you know,
15:38
Speaker 1: should have won that game, and the fact that they're
15:41
Speaker 1: down oh one, just makes me worried for the outlook here,
15:44
Speaker 1: And that's that's actually said it's gonna be short because
15:46
Speaker 1: that's actually one of the few games a few series
15:48
Speaker 1: I bet to go seven. But back on the Sun's
15:51
Speaker 1: Lakers real quick, because I think that Chris Paul news
15:54
Speaker 1: is so huge to everything about that series where I
15:58
Speaker 1: bet that going in going seven because I thought, like
16:00
Speaker 1: the first game, I thought it was gonna be a
16:02
Speaker 1: really good matchup with two teams like back and forth,
16:05
Speaker 1: and the Son's obviously got the first one. If Paul
16:08
Speaker 1: is not what we think he's gonna be, that's that's
16:10
Speaker 1: like pretty much the end of the Sun's right. We
16:11
Speaker 1: saw the Suns last year without Chris Paul. They were terrible,
16:15
Speaker 1: and I know they've made strides this year, but without him,
16:17
Speaker 1: it just I would love to hear what your guys
16:19
Speaker 1: take is on the future out look of this if
16:21
Speaker 1: he really is hurt, because he's an old guy and
16:23
Speaker 1: this is one of those things where oh he's young Gilby,
16:25
Speaker 1: all right, he looked laboring in that second half, even
16:28
Speaker 1: though they did win. So I'm interesting to think, what
16:30
Speaker 1: do you guys think about everything that's going with Chris
16:32
Speaker 1: Faul with them? Brandon, why don't you start? Yeah, I mean,
16:37
Speaker 1: this guy, this poor guy can't catch a break. I mean,
16:40
Speaker 1: what is this like the tenth playoffs of Chris Paul's
16:42
Speaker 1: career that we get like a few games in. It's like,
16:45
Speaker 1: oh no, Chris Paul pulled a ham you again? Oh no,
16:48
Speaker 1: he's broken up, Pinky. You know, it's like this guy,
16:50
Speaker 1: this guy made a deal with the devil that like
16:53
Speaker 1: he would be the greatest most efficient point guard in
16:55
Speaker 1: regular season NBA history, but never ever actually get to
16:59
Speaker 1: stay for a playoff run. It's insane. And I mean, look,
17:04
Speaker 1: if Chris Paul were healthy, if he just was healthy
17:07
Speaker 1: and we saw what we saw in Game one. I
17:10
Speaker 1: picked Lakers in seven in the series before this started.
17:13
Speaker 1: I wanted to pick the Sons. I don't believe in
17:16
Speaker 1: the Lakers. When I look at the Lakers, I see
17:19
Speaker 1: a team that I think a month or two from
17:21
Speaker 1: now that they're gonna look at them and say, you
17:23
Speaker 1: know what, this just wasn't the Lakers year. Lebron was
17:26
Speaker 1: never healthy. Anthony Davis was never healthy, you know, the
17:30
Speaker 1: the long bubble run. It hurt all the other teams
17:32
Speaker 1: and eventually cut up to the Lakers. It just wasn't
17:35
Speaker 1: there year. But nobody's saying that right now. Right now,
17:37
Speaker 1: they're the defending champions and it's Lebron and they're gonna
17:41
Speaker 1: do it. We're waiting for it's gonna happen. I think,
17:44
Speaker 1: you know, everything is so obvious until it's not obvious,
17:47
Speaker 1: and then the other thing is obvious. And if Chris
17:50
Speaker 1: Paul is healthy, what I saw in Game one from
17:52
Speaker 1: the rest of the Sun's team would I think be
17:55
Speaker 1: enough to make me flip and be ready to take
17:57
Speaker 1: the Sons in this series. I think that they're the
17:59
Speaker 1: better team right now. They're healthier other than Chris Paul,
18:03
Speaker 1: but he is is He's the floor general. He's the
18:06
Speaker 1: one veteran on a team of so many young guys
18:09
Speaker 1: that haven't been here in this moment before, and it's
18:13
Speaker 1: it's just so much reliant on that. If like look,
18:15
Speaker 1: Campaign has been really good off the bench for the
18:18
Speaker 1: Sons this year, but Campaign needs to stay really good
18:21
Speaker 1: off the bench for the Sons in the series. If
18:24
Speaker 1: Chris Paul is out and campaign is the guy instead,
18:27
Speaker 1: and the Lakers are throwing that defense at him all game,
18:31
Speaker 1: and now that has to be how the offense runs
18:34
Speaker 1: like it's it's lights out. That's how big a difference
18:36
Speaker 1: it is. So I can't touch the series until at
18:39
Speaker 1: least see like, is this a stinger? Is he just
18:41
Speaker 1: playing through a little pain. We know he's not going
18:43
Speaker 1: to just not show up. It's Chris Paul Like he's
18:45
Speaker 1: gonna keep playing until they like cut off his shoulder
18:48
Speaker 1: and drag him off the court or something. But it's
18:51
Speaker 1: it's such a huge swing factor right now. Michael, Uh yeah,
18:56
Speaker 1: I'm sort of obviously in the same boat of Brandon
18:59
Speaker 1: in terms of Chris Hall's health is obviously the biggest
19:01
Speaker 1: thing to keep an eye out for here, Um, But
19:03
Speaker 1: I think the second biggest thing here is Anthony Davis. Um.
19:07
Speaker 1: You know, Lebron took thirteen shots in Game one over
19:10
Speaker 1: a majority of his excuse me, a majority of his
19:12
Speaker 1: shots worth three point attempts. So when you look at that,
19:14
Speaker 1: Lebron taking mostly perimeter shots is what your opponent wants
19:17
Speaker 1: to see on a nightly basis. Um. You know, whether
19:19
Speaker 1: or not he's a hundred percent healthy I don't think
19:21
Speaker 1: you're gonna see Lebron be that passive. But Anthony Davis,
19:25
Speaker 1: we've seen this from him before in terms of struggling
19:27
Speaker 1: with teams that switch, struggling with tough power forwards like
19:30
Speaker 1: Jay Crowder that can get physical. Um Son's Hall of
19:33
Speaker 1: Famer Eddie Johnson brought up a great point there that
19:37
Speaker 1: you know, Davis doesn't have great lower body strength, so
19:39
Speaker 1: he's not able to really grind out and post up
19:42
Speaker 1: even when he gets a matchup you would think of
19:44
Speaker 1: as a traditionally good matchup. UM. So, Davis shot five
19:47
Speaker 1: of sixteen in Game one. It's just the bottom line,
19:49
Speaker 1: he's going to have to perform better. I think the
19:52
Speaker 1: big key to that is when he gets Eighten or
19:54
Speaker 1: any other you know player on him, he's gonna have
19:56
Speaker 1: to take them off the dribble and try to get
19:58
Speaker 1: to the free throw line and stop rely ying on
20:00
Speaker 1: his jump shots so much. Um But outside of that,
20:03
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing is you need more Crusoe
20:05
Speaker 1: for his perimeter defense, because you know, whether or not
20:07
Speaker 1: Chris Paul's out there, Caruso is always a positive. And
20:10
Speaker 1: then I'm not gonna pole on Andre Drummond because I
20:12
Speaker 1: think there's enough people doing that. But I don't think
20:15
Speaker 1: you can start the guy. I don't think he's as
20:16
Speaker 1: much of a detriment as people paint him to be.
20:19
Speaker 1: But the Lakers, I think they went down seven after
20:22
Speaker 1: the first quarter. They can't afford to get off to
20:24
Speaker 1: slow starts anymore with how you know, rusty their offense
20:27
Speaker 1: looks at times. So I think vocal is gonna have
20:30
Speaker 1: to start someone else's center, whether that's Montrese, Harold Marcus
20:34
Speaker 1: al and just bring Drummond in off the benches a
20:36
Speaker 1: change of pace. So I think they're gonna need at
20:38
Speaker 1: least one major lineup change, and you're gonna need Davis
20:41
Speaker 1: and Lebron both to focus on getting to the basket.
20:44
Speaker 1: I felt like at the top of the West, Simon,
20:47
Speaker 1: We've talked about this, to the Top of the West
20:50
Speaker 1: with the Jazz and the Sun's, it was so suspect,
20:55
Speaker 1: and there was nobody I knew in our universe of
21:00
Speaker 1: genius prognosticators, analysts, betters, etcetera, who felt like either one
21:06
Speaker 1: of those teams were worthy of making it all the
21:11
Speaker 1: way to the finals. But the Lakers and the Clippers
21:14
Speaker 1: haven't looked like teams worthy of making to the finals
21:16
Speaker 1: either and those were the next tier of teams that
21:18
Speaker 1: everybody assumed. So what are we looking at here in
21:23
Speaker 1: the West specifically, again, we're talking one game overreaction, the
21:29
Speaker 1: one game overreaction. Simon. I want to start with you
21:32
Speaker 1: because you are the king of reading the overreaction and
21:38
Speaker 1: then buying BMW's off. It so explained to me how
21:42
Speaker 1: you look at this and then what you think about
21:44
Speaker 1: from a betting point of view, just in the West overreacting.
21:48
Speaker 1: I love good teams in the ambe have to get
21:50
Speaker 1: down two, especially veteran teams. So like the Clippers, they
21:53
Speaker 1: fit that to a team. I'm hoping they get down
21:56
Speaker 1: two to the MAVs. The MAVs are feeling good, Lucas
21:59
Speaker 1: killing it, and then we'll just see what can happen
22:01
Speaker 1: with the Clippers. They just fit that bill of this
22:03
Speaker 1: team that they seem like they have a couple of
22:05
Speaker 1: things going wrong and I can see them dropping another game,
22:08
Speaker 1: but at any point when they turn it on, I
22:10
Speaker 1: just could see the Clipper durn Away against the maps.
22:12
Speaker 1: We kind of know what the MAVs team are. Their
22:14
Speaker 1: team just based around one superstar that they cannot have
22:16
Speaker 1: hot nights, like different guys, different shooters. But in a
22:20
Speaker 1: seven game series, usually the best team is gonna win out.
22:22
Speaker 1: So I feel like there's gonna be good value on
22:23
Speaker 1: the Clippers here going into the game, too overreaction Brandon
22:30
Speaker 1: in the West, Yeah, so, I I love that. If
22:34
Speaker 1: there is a team that you are irrationally certain of
22:37
Speaker 1: in the West, now is the time, Like now is
22:40
Speaker 1: the time to grab their odds because they're all down
22:43
Speaker 1: and they're serious, Like you're getting better odds right now
22:45
Speaker 1: than you were three days ago. To me, what I saw,
22:50
Speaker 1: I have. I have doubted the this version of the
22:52
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Clippers all season. I just don't believe in
22:56
Speaker 1: what I'm seeing out there. It's a team. When you
22:59
Speaker 1: look at the matricks, you see a team that looks
23:01
Speaker 1: like good or pretty good, but makes every shot. They
23:04
Speaker 1: led the league in prepoint shooting percentage, they led the
23:07
Speaker 1: league in free throw percentage. They just make everything. And
23:10
Speaker 1: that's really great and it's a very good skill to
23:12
Speaker 1: have in the playoffs until you don't have it in
23:14
Speaker 1: the playoffs anymore. And we saw what happened against the
23:17
Speaker 1: Nuggets last year. Three games Neurow when the shots didn't fall,
23:20
Speaker 1: And we saw in Game one the shots didn't fall.
23:23
Speaker 1: The Mavericks shots fell to make her Misleague and suddenly
23:26
Speaker 1: they're down oh one. And I don't think that that's
23:29
Speaker 1: doomsday for the Clippers by any means. But the team
23:33
Speaker 1: that we saw last year, they're the big deal was
23:36
Speaker 1: they replaced Montraz Hail. They got Sergebaka. Now I could
23:39
Speaker 1: played thirteen minutes in Game one like he's a non factor.
23:42
Speaker 1: He's not healthy right now. Oh, they went out and
23:44
Speaker 1: got Ragon Roundell. They got got a real point guard.
23:46
Speaker 1: Now Roundell is part of a three headed point guard
23:49
Speaker 1: with Patrick Beverley and Reggie Jackson. Reggie Jackson is playing
23:52
Speaker 1: real playoff minutes right now. I don't feel like they've
23:55
Speaker 1: found the answers. I don't think they're going to go away.
23:59
Speaker 1: They're a team that absolutely can beat anyone. They're a
24:01
Speaker 1: team that's set up to beat the Lakers if they
24:04
Speaker 1: get there, but they put themselves the other side of
24:06
Speaker 1: the bracket, they might not actually get there to face
24:08
Speaker 1: the Lakers. At this point, I just to me, the
24:11
Speaker 1: Clippers are two high variants of a team for me
24:14
Speaker 1: to believe in. They can beat anyone, any night when
24:16
Speaker 1: the shops are falling like they can. But if they don't,
24:19
Speaker 1: I just don't see enough Plan B or Plan CS.
24:22
Speaker 1: And I think if they do make a run, it's
24:24
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of Game sixes and Game seven's,
24:27
Speaker 1: and they're gonna have just a pile up of attrition.
24:31
Speaker 1: And that's Kauai, Leonard and Paul George who don't like
24:33
Speaker 1: to play in long series of long playoff runs. I
24:36
Speaker 1: just can't buy the Clippers. What I saw in game
24:38
Speaker 1: one is the same fear as I've had all season
24:40
Speaker 1: on them. All right, So Brandon, his overreaction response is
24:46
Speaker 1: buy in on the Clippers. Simon's overreaction response is buying
24:51
Speaker 1: in the Clippers. Michael, I want your overreaction response to
24:55
Speaker 1: the West, but I want you to spend very little
25:00
Speaker 1: time on it because I want to talk about the East. Alright. Awesome,
25:04
Speaker 1: Well that will be very easy, because for once I
25:07
Speaker 1: was actually shocked. Me and Brandon are sort of aligned
25:10
Speaker 1: in our thought here. Um So I am not buying
25:13
Speaker 1: the Clippers, and that's just because I'm a Clippers hater.
25:15
Speaker 1: I'm never buying the Clippers. Um I. My overreaction is
25:19
Speaker 1: by the Mavericks. To make the NBA Finals. Um, pretty
25:23
Speaker 1: big overreaction. But when I look at the way the
25:25
Speaker 1: bracket broke, Um, I like the roster. Kristops porzingis who
25:28
Speaker 1: I you know, hate on a lot, shot one for
25:31
Speaker 1: five from three and didn't play well. And the Mavericks
25:33
Speaker 1: still beat the Clippers, So that's something to think about.
25:36
Speaker 1: And if they go on and win the series, they're
25:37
Speaker 1: gonna get the winner of the Grizzlies Jazz series. Uh,
25:40
Speaker 1: And I think they stand a pretty good chance in
25:42
Speaker 1: that series as well. So from there, I think the
25:45
Speaker 1: they are gonna be waiting on either the tired Suns
25:47
Speaker 1: or tired Lakers. And I like Lucas chances, so um,
25:51
Speaker 1: I think Lucas gonna be the best player and a
25:52
Speaker 1: lot of series Underratedly I would buy Maths futures. So
25:58
Speaker 1: man Mitchelly, he always sends us notes for some reason.
26:00
Speaker 1: He put are the Bucks back back back from? What?
26:04
Speaker 1: I did not get at all that question? What are
26:06
Speaker 1: the Bags back from? So yeah, right, Um, it's one
26:12
Speaker 1: of those where I'm not I don't like Sure Miami
26:15
Speaker 1: they're a good team, YadA YadA YadA, but no one
26:18
Speaker 1: really they don't really move the needle. It's really about
26:19
Speaker 1: the Bucks versus and Nuts. It feel like this is
26:21
Speaker 1: where we're all waiting for. So it's the obvious question.
26:24
Speaker 1: And now when you're seeing the Bucks in the playoffs,
26:25
Speaker 1: do you really think this team could take it to
26:27
Speaker 1: the nets? Michael, you start, yeah, So, Um, the Bucks
26:33
Speaker 1: are another one of the teams I'm rationally high on.
26:35
Speaker 1: I think before the start of the playoffs, I bought
26:38
Speaker 1: in on a Bucks future to win the title. Um,
26:40
Speaker 1: pretty much. It's I think Drew Holiday is maybe not
26:44
Speaker 1: an underrated acquisition at this point because everyone talks about
26:47
Speaker 1: what an underrated acquisition he is started defeats the purpose,
26:50
Speaker 1: but the guy is an excellent player. Um. I think
26:53
Speaker 1: when you look at teams in the league, even that
26:56
Speaker 1: can guard the nets, they at least have a shot
26:59
Speaker 1: because you go, Yanna Son, Katie, you know Drew Holiday
27:02
Speaker 1: on Hardener, Kyrie Middleton on the other guy, and so
27:05
Speaker 1: I think there's a recipe for success. Brook Lopez is
27:08
Speaker 1: still a big body, and p J. Tucker, I think,
27:11
Speaker 1: is you know, fresher than people realize. After playing for
27:14
Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets, we know what a vacation that can be.
27:17
Speaker 1: So I think the Bucks just have a lot of
27:19
Speaker 1: defensive versatility. Budenholzer annoys me as a playoff coach to
27:23
Speaker 1: where he doesn't mix up a strategy is enough, But
27:25
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see him mix it up a
27:26
Speaker 1: lot more and a lot more Yannice at center um
27:29
Speaker 1: when it matters against a team like the Nets that
27:31
Speaker 1: I don't think are gonna be able to guard Janice
27:33
Speaker 1: at all. All Right, So that brings up an interesting point. Uh,
27:36
Speaker 1: The East to me is just a less interesting matchup
27:41
Speaker 1: for the playoffs because it is in a way that
27:45
Speaker 1: the West isn't top heavy, but East is so top
27:49
Speaker 1: heavy with the Sixers, Nets and Box. Brandon Michael clearly
27:54
Speaker 1: likes the Box to come out of the East. Uh.
27:57
Speaker 1: If you're ranking those three, which one or is it
28:01
Speaker 1: someone outside of those three? It's definitely not someone outside
28:04
Speaker 1: of those three. The top heavy thing is right that
28:08
Speaker 1: Sorry sorry to Knicks fans. There's three and then there's
28:10
Speaker 1: everyone else and it's just not changing. So to me,
28:15
Speaker 1: the Nets Box like we're getting that series and that
28:19
Speaker 1: right now for me is my NBA Finals. Those are
28:22
Speaker 1: my two best teams in the entire tournament. The West
28:25
Speaker 1: is gonna be fun. The Nets and the Bucks are
28:28
Speaker 1: the two best teams right now. The Box have answered
28:31
Speaker 1: the bells so far. Drew Holiday is not Eric Bledsoe.
28:34
Speaker 1: They are playing their stars big minutes. They're hitting their
28:37
Speaker 1: shots in Game two, They're looking versatile. They're making a
28:41
Speaker 1: few more adjustments than what you know what but has
28:43
Speaker 1: done in the past. The Nets are still the nuts.
28:47
Speaker 1: They still have We've only seen nine games so far
28:50
Speaker 1: from Kevin Durant and James Harden and Kyrie Irving. I
28:54
Speaker 1: think we still haven't totally entirely processed just how absurdly
28:58
Speaker 1: talented this team is. Like Kyrie Irving just had a
29:02
Speaker 1: nine season and is going to be a threat to
29:05
Speaker 1: make an All NBA team, and he's easily only the
29:08
Speaker 1: third best player on this team. He has a championship
29:11
Speaker 1: winning shot, and he's by far the third best player.
29:15
Speaker 1: But also then you watch the game and you're like,
29:18
Speaker 1: these guys are playing a U ball, Like they don't
29:20
Speaker 1: even know how to play basketball right now. They're just
29:22
Speaker 1: kind of swinging it around and taking shots, but it
29:25
Speaker 1: kind of doesn't matter because they're so good at making
29:27
Speaker 1: them all And to me, those teams are just a
29:31
Speaker 1: tear above the rest. I have the Nets as the
29:33
Speaker 1: title favorite. I have the Nets winning that matchup. I
29:36
Speaker 1: just think there's just too much talent to not figure
29:38
Speaker 1: it out. I talked before about like seeing the obvious
29:41
Speaker 1: in hindsight. I think in hindsight we could look back
29:44
Speaker 1: and be like, hey, holy cow, Durant and Harden and Kyrie,
29:48
Speaker 1: this team was always gonna slaughter everyone. So until I
29:51
Speaker 1: see that not happen, I had to take the Nets.
29:54
Speaker 1: The Sixers are a clear third to me, and then
29:58
Speaker 1: I don't know, you could pick like the Hornets or
29:59
Speaker 1: some body else for fourth after that because they all
30:02
Speaker 1: have the same chance from there. Uh controversial. Hot take,
30:05
Speaker 1: hot take, hot take. Chris Middleton not that interesting of
30:12
Speaker 1: a player to me. Very expensive one though, very expensive,
30:20
Speaker 1: and I feel like, if he's going to be one
30:24
Speaker 1: of the players who is your go to guys and
30:28
Speaker 1: the compliment to Janice along with Holiday, that's not a
30:32
Speaker 1: championship caliber team. Yeah. I think that if the Box
30:37
Speaker 1: fall to the Nets or if the Bucks don't make
30:39
Speaker 1: the finals, I think but has gone probably and I
30:42
Speaker 1: think Chris Middleton might be the other fall guy. I
30:44
Speaker 1: think he becomes the Kevin Love of that team where
30:47
Speaker 1: it's like ah, we gotta blame somebody. We gotta make
30:49
Speaker 1: a change. And the problem with Joannice is that, like
30:53
Speaker 1: look we saw the other night, it came down to overtime,
30:56
Speaker 1: final possession and Janice, the reigning two time MV, is
31:00
Speaker 1: not bringing the ball up and not touching the ball
31:02
Speaker 1: because that's not his game and has to go to
31:04
Speaker 1: Chris Middleton. He may have the shot, he won the game,
31:08
Speaker 1: but he might miss the next one, and if he does,
31:10
Speaker 1: he's going to be the one taking the plam Michael
31:13
Speaker 1: Walton before we go, before we get to Mike Leeboff
31:15
Speaker 1: and talk about hockey. Mike Leeboff was a revelation to
31:19
Speaker 1: Simon Hunter on the last podcast they had never met.
31:23
Speaker 1: Leeboff started talking and Simon just blurted out, I love
31:27
Speaker 1: you so before before we get to leave off right now,
31:32
Speaker 1: if I'm betting something and I'm listening to this podcast,
31:35
Speaker 1: I gotta bet on something. What am I betting? Is
31:37
Speaker 1: it a team to win the East? Is it a
31:39
Speaker 1: team didn't win the West? Is it a finals matchup?
31:42
Speaker 1: Is it a futures play? What am I betting? Brandon,
31:45
Speaker 1: You're gonna get that question next, Uh? If you and
31:49
Speaker 1: you if you're saying, what are you betting right now?
31:52
Speaker 1: Right now, I'm listening to a podcast right now. It's
31:55
Speaker 1: tough because I feel like I already sort of buried
31:58
Speaker 1: the lead there. I kind of gave it away. But
31:59
Speaker 1: I'm all doubling down on the Bucks future to win
32:02
Speaker 1: the title. UM, My biggest thing here is just to
32:05
Speaker 1: touch on the Brooklyn Nets, soho I think people want
32:06
Speaker 1: to hear more about just because they're the exciting team
32:08
Speaker 1: that's the title favorite. Um. For their defense, they're relying
32:12
Speaker 1: a lot on a very talented young player named Nick Claxton,
32:15
Speaker 1: And for me, it's just a prove it thing when
32:18
Speaker 1: it's a player that young and it's the postseason and
32:20
Speaker 1: so far he's actually done an excellent job and he's
32:22
Speaker 1: proved it. But when it comes for me, I'm looking
32:24
Speaker 1: at like in the paint defense, and I'm looking at
32:26
Speaker 1: brook Lopez and p J. Tucker, two different style fives
32:29
Speaker 1: that I know I can do it in the postseason. Uh,
32:31
Speaker 1: And then I'm looking at Nick Claxton and DeAndre Jordan
32:34
Speaker 1: and whatever the Nets have and I'm still very worried
32:36
Speaker 1: about the defense. So I'm gonna say get that that
32:39
Speaker 1: Buck's money while you can before Janice makes all of
32:42
Speaker 1: us believers. I like it bold move, going against everything
32:45
Speaker 1: we are all saying. But that's what the champion of
32:47
Speaker 1: the Thunderdome does. Brandon, quickly give me your bed itt
32:52
Speaker 1: right now. So right now, what I love I love
32:56
Speaker 1: in a series when the team that I like better
32:59
Speaker 1: is not the higher seed, meaning that theased start out
33:02
Speaker 1: on the road. And I love this round the Atlanta
33:05
Speaker 1: Hawks and the Portland Trail Blazers. And part of why
33:08
Speaker 1: I love betting the team that is the road team
33:11
Speaker 1: is because you get to start out on the road.
33:14
Speaker 1: You might steal one of those games, but I loved
33:16
Speaker 1: about them winning the series in six. I don't want
33:19
Speaker 1: to bet on either one of these teams going to
33:21
Speaker 1: a road Game seven and having to win in Madison
33:24
Speaker 1: Square Garden with the crowd going crazy at Denver in
33:27
Speaker 1: the elevation. I don't want to bet on them in five.
33:29
Speaker 1: The series is a little too short for me. It's
33:31
Speaker 1: another another road game, Like it's Trey Young gonna go
33:34
Speaker 1: close out Spike Lee and shush him in Game five
33:37
Speaker 1: at MSG. I don't know. Maybe we saw it, but
33:40
Speaker 1: I'm not ready to get there yet. Game six that's
33:42
Speaker 1: the one. You come home, you get Game six, you
33:45
Speaker 1: get those two. Portland I think was four nine plus
33:48
Speaker 1: four ninety to win in sixt four the series. But
33:51
Speaker 1: it's still three d now Atlantaists, and like plus four
33:53
Speaker 1: ten is still plus three hundred right now. So I
33:56
Speaker 1: love zeroing in on that game six win and getting
34:00
Speaker 1: much better odds on my serious prices rather than something
34:03
Speaker 1: of a coin flip. So I'm going to Blazes and
34:05
Speaker 1: six and Hots and sex people. Lessons learned in the
34:08
Speaker 1: East since Lebron's left. Never take the teams everyone's talking about.
34:11
Speaker 1: It just never works out in the East. What do
34:13
Speaker 1: we have? We had the Toronto and make a crazy
34:16
Speaker 1: run when everyone's talking about the Bucks, everyone's talking about
34:18
Speaker 1: the Sixers. The next year we had the Heat making
34:20
Speaker 1: run to the finals. What everyone's talking about these other teams.
34:22
Speaker 1: So I've learned my lesson and as a Sixers span,
34:25
Speaker 1: I could not be happier. No one's talking about the Sixers.
34:28
Speaker 1: Take the Sixers. I think it's still plus three hundreds
34:31
Speaker 1: certain books to win the East still plus seven hundred
34:34
Speaker 1: to win it all. Uh again, if the Nets play
34:37
Speaker 1: the Bucks and the series goes six or seven, they
34:40
Speaker 1: come to Phildelphia, fild Offia wins the first game they're
34:43
Speaker 1: up one. Oh, you'll have a very easy hedge out
34:45
Speaker 1: on the nets or the bucks. So to me, I
34:47
Speaker 1: just think it's a ton of value right now in
34:49
Speaker 1: the sixers. Wow, Simon, you always come in with a
34:52
Speaker 1: really smart thing at the very end, which I love
34:55
Speaker 1: because you're so spot on. Brandon Anderson read his staff
35:00
Speaker 1: on Action network dot Com. Listen to him on the
35:02
Speaker 1: Action Network podcast. Michael Walton read his stuff on Action
35:07
Speaker 1: Network dot Com. Listen to him apparently on all of
35:10
Speaker 1: our podcast because now that's like, you know, his side hustle.
35:13
Speaker 1: So uh Fellis, thanks so much for both of you
35:17
Speaker 1: for joining. We gotta bring in Michael Leboff. Still, I
35:29
Speaker 1: don't Michael Leeboff. He runs our hockey coverage. He's the
35:37
Speaker 1: biggest Islanders fan in the world. He was texting us
35:40
Speaker 1: pictures the other day with his first day back at
35:44
Speaker 1: Nasau Coliseum. Tell me everything that's on your mind right now, Michael.
35:48
Speaker 1: I just don't understand the NBA. Still. I was listening
35:51
Speaker 1: to that conversation. Everything is so hypothetical in the NBA,
35:54
Speaker 1: Like everything everything we talk about is stuff that doesn't
35:57
Speaker 1: happen or doesn't exist. I just it blows my mind
36:00
Speaker 1: that people are so wrapped up in it and we
36:02
Speaker 1: should be talking about the NHL. The first round of
36:05
Speaker 1: the playoffs have been amazing. Nassau Coliseum was a blast. Yeah,
36:09
Speaker 1: I uh, I brown bagged a couple of naturalized tall boys,
36:13
Speaker 1: sat in the parking lot and talked with various employees
36:17
Speaker 1: of the Islanders, some peep some like great Long Island
36:20
Speaker 1: dead beats and uh, my friend who's a beat writer
36:24
Speaker 1: for the Islanders too, And I mean the Islanders lost
36:26
Speaker 1: the game. I was that, which is why I'm wearing
36:27
Speaker 1: a different hat right now because that hat that I
36:30
Speaker 1: ordered that game is been put away for to the
36:33
Speaker 1: next series. But it was. It was amazing. The one
36:36
Speaker 1: coliseum story I think this kind of wraps up my
36:38
Speaker 1: experience getting back into the barn was that the Islanders
36:41
Speaker 1: were down three one going into the third period. They
36:44
Speaker 1: score two goals to tie it, and then the melee
36:47
Speaker 1: that ensued after Islanders tied it up. I've noticed that
36:50
Speaker 1: I didn't have a hat on like a couple of
36:52
Speaker 1: minutes later, and then I looked at the guy in
36:54
Speaker 1: front of me and he was wearing my hat. A
36:56
Speaker 1: couple of minutes later, he took off that hat and
36:58
Speaker 1: realized that is in my hat and he turned around
37:00
Speaker 1: and I was like, I was like, yeah, that's mine. Um,
37:02
Speaker 1: and he goes, do you know where my hat is?
37:04
Speaker 1: And I said no, But there was also a blue
37:05
Speaker 1: hat in the aisle, so there's a hat over there.
37:08
Speaker 1: And he's like, no, that's not mine, but the hat
37:10
Speaker 1: that the guy's sitting next to that blue hat is
37:12
Speaker 1: I think that's my hat, and then gave me my
37:14
Speaker 1: hat back. But it was great. I mean we ended
37:16
Speaker 1: up in the in this like in the aisle in
37:18
Speaker 1: the staircase after the Islanders scored a goal, and that's
37:20
Speaker 1: how I lost my hat. Not only the worst story
37:24
Speaker 1: ever told on a podcast. You think so I was insane.
37:27
Speaker 1: I don't has that ever happened to you? I mean,
37:29
Speaker 1: you don't sit in like the nosebleeds. I know, you're
37:31
Speaker 1: like a courtside or bus guy on like whatever the
37:34
Speaker 1: hottest ticket in town. It's like, oh, let's go see
37:36
Speaker 1: the Knicks this year because they're good. I like the Knicks. Now, everybody,
37:40
Speaker 1: when you're sitting in the gods like that's what it's
37:41
Speaker 1: all about like you just end up wearing someone else's clothing.
37:44
Speaker 1: Can we unpack this for a second. Number one, talking
37:48
Speaker 1: about the NBA hypothetical, this this guy that, blah blah blah.
37:52
Speaker 1: How is that any different than hockey? The things that
37:55
Speaker 1: matters the most hockey fans are like the games that
37:57
Speaker 1: are played, not the like peripheral drama going on in
38:01
Speaker 1: the That's fucking bullshit when you when you talk about
38:05
Speaker 1: it right now during the playoffs, what people are talking
38:07
Speaker 1: about in the NBA. Okay, if Chris Paul is healthy,
38:11
Speaker 1: this is what's happening on the court. It's no difference
38:14
Speaker 1: than if I were to say, if you know, Doug Wilson,
38:19
Speaker 1: we're playing without a helmet for the Blackhawks. This is
38:22
Speaker 1: what would happen. I disagree with you entirely. I think
38:25
Speaker 1: that people if you wanted to have a conversation with
38:28
Speaker 1: an NBA fan right now, you could just be like,
38:30
Speaker 1: should the Hawks get this guy next year to play
38:34
Speaker 1: with Trey Young? And then they'll say, yeah, of course,
38:36
Speaker 1: and then that conversation will become a thing of like, well,
38:38
Speaker 1: it's Trey Young better than whoever else is good in
38:40
Speaker 1: the NBA. All of a sudden, the Nets had some
38:42
Speaker 1: guys that were like on a different team in the
38:44
Speaker 1: middle of the year. They're just like I want to
38:45
Speaker 1: go play for the Nets and they were allowed to
38:47
Speaker 1: do that, and like that's that to me is just
38:49
Speaker 1: not fairer, right, But whatever? And then I was listening
38:52
Speaker 1: they were talking about like, yeah, Kyrie Irving, James Harden,
38:55
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant, Like the team that has those guys are
38:57
Speaker 1: just gonna win. So what is even the point of
38:59
Speaker 1: playing the games? Like those guys are really good at
39:01
Speaker 1: basketball and they're on the same team, Like that's not right.
39:04
Speaker 1: Unlike Chat, I enjoyed the story, and I want to
39:06
Speaker 1: just say, you look like you had a great vacation
39:08
Speaker 1: to the college scene. You have a nice little taint
39:10
Speaker 1: on your nose. Uh, it seemed like you had a
39:11
Speaker 1: good time. You have to meet some people, trade hats
39:14
Speaker 1: to meet chat That would sound like a nice night.
39:16
Speaker 1: So let's just dive in the hockey though. I need
39:18
Speaker 1: to know why am I not bending all my money
39:20
Speaker 1: on the Avalanche. Avalanche looks so much better than everyone else.
39:23
Speaker 1: Am I crazy that I just keep buying futures on
39:25
Speaker 1: the Avalanche plus two seventy to win the Cup? Right now. Well,
39:29
Speaker 1: the problem was, like they play a style of game
39:32
Speaker 1: that if you try to match them in that style,
39:34
Speaker 1: that running gun up and down, you're not gonna beat them.
39:36
Speaker 1: Like Vegas is probably who they're play in the next
39:39
Speaker 1: round or Minnesota. Those those are two very good defensive
39:41
Speaker 1: teams that like to come up of the game. Like
39:43
Speaker 1: if you can turn the game into more of a
39:44
Speaker 1: coin flip against the Avalanche and slowed down and uh,
39:48
Speaker 1: that could use your size, like you can you have
39:49
Speaker 1: a chance to beat them. It's nitpicking because you're you're
39:52
Speaker 1: making up like a worst case scenario for them, which
39:55
Speaker 1: is why they're the favorite. Like, but they don't really
39:57
Speaker 1: have any insurance behind their their goaltender Philip Prubauer, which is,
40:01
Speaker 1: you know, not some teams are able to get through
40:03
Speaker 1: to to like a Stanley Cup with just one goalie,
40:05
Speaker 1: but it's not you know, it's not something you you
40:08
Speaker 1: really want to reliable backup, and they don't. Vegas has
40:11
Speaker 1: one for sure, and a couple other teams that are
40:13
Speaker 1: in the running do. So it's it's it's tough, but um,
40:16
Speaker 1: I mean I get I get it, and I know
40:18
Speaker 1: they've looked great, but they're not. Uh, they're not gonna
40:22
Speaker 1: be look as good against better teams like the Blues. Unfortunately,
40:25
Speaker 1: we're just like they were a mess all year. I
40:27
Speaker 1: don't know why they couldn't figure it out, but because
40:29
Speaker 1: they were a good defensive team for a long time.
40:31
Speaker 1: But they got going into playing an avalanche style of
40:34
Speaker 1: series and they were they were smoked. So um, I
40:37
Speaker 1: don't I don't think it's right right now it's the
40:39
Speaker 1: right time to buy. But I mean, if you are interested,
40:42
Speaker 1: maybe they lose game one in their next series and
40:44
Speaker 1: you can buy low. What has been your most miserable
40:50
Speaker 1: betting experience so far in the playoffs? I know you
40:53
Speaker 1: love misery betting on the hockey, the hockey sport. When
40:56
Speaker 1: I look in the NHL Slack channel, which is my
40:58
Speaker 1: favorite slack channel at action at this point, it's just emojis.
41:03
Speaker 1: It's just vomit emojis. So uh, what has been your
41:07
Speaker 1: least satisfying, most painful experience? I mean the whole thing.
41:12
Speaker 1: Even when you win, it's just agony. It's just pure
41:14
Speaker 1: Like last night, the Islanders won a double overtime in
41:16
Speaker 1: a game they were completely outplayed, and it was just agony.
41:20
Speaker 1: Like I I watched the game with my my dad
41:22
Speaker 1: and uh at his house with and my mom came
41:25
Speaker 1: down and she asked me why I was so upset
41:27
Speaker 1: because and she's like, they're they're tied to two, and
41:29
Speaker 1: I was like, that's that's why I'm so upset, Like
41:33
Speaker 1: we're in double overtime. It's too too If they lose,
41:35
Speaker 1: my life is over. If they win, my life probably
41:38
Speaker 1: still is over because they won't win the next game
41:40
Speaker 1: or the next game, Like it's you're just it's people
41:43
Speaker 1: always like, oh, the NHL playoffs, it's like ecstasy or
41:46
Speaker 1: or or agony. And I'm like, it's either relief or agony.
41:48
Speaker 1: Like I was relieved after the Islanders won. I wasn't happy.
41:51
Speaker 1: I'll just relieve um. And that's that's kind of like
41:53
Speaker 1: what betting on the NHL is like regardless, Like it's
41:57
Speaker 1: just you know, you just win and you're like, oh,
41:58
Speaker 1: thank God, or if you lose, you just feel add
42:00
Speaker 1: for yourself for a couple of days. And honestly, I
42:02
Speaker 1: don't know which one I like more. Uh. That is
42:07
Speaker 1: the most lee boff thing ever. That is why I
42:11
Speaker 1: think for you, I wonder which came first your personality
42:17
Speaker 1: and then a love of betting on hockey, or did
42:20
Speaker 1: a love of betting on hockey shape your personality? I
42:26
Speaker 1: think it was like my I've always kind of been
42:29
Speaker 1: like this. It's like i've i've I've never I've won
42:33
Speaker 1: one championship in my life in any sport. It was
42:35
Speaker 1: in fifth grade in BBL. Actually I took a walk
42:38
Speaker 1: off charge to win, which is great, but since after that,
42:41
Speaker 1: it was just like all painful loss after painful loss.
42:44
Speaker 1: I mean even in like my Beer League softball, you wouldn't.
42:47
Speaker 1: You can't imagine the type of games that my team
42:49
Speaker 1: manages to lose. It's just like you know, a walk
42:52
Speaker 1: off walk or something like that, or a bad error. Um.
42:55
Speaker 1: So I think that's just like when you lose as
42:57
Speaker 1: much as I have, you kind of just learned to
43:00
Speaker 1: just make do exactly what you're not supposed to do,
43:02
Speaker 1: which is like they say, oh you lose, you lose,
43:04
Speaker 1: or your learn, but for me, it's like you lose
43:06
Speaker 1: and then you feel really bad for yourself for like
43:08
Speaker 1: three or four days. And that's what that's what I've
43:11
Speaker 1: been doing for like my whole life. So I think, uh,
43:13
Speaker 1: I think that's why I've I've been me and hockey
43:16
Speaker 1: are very synergy synergistic simon so many questions. Um, Yeah,
43:25
Speaker 1: for one, I would definitely say like I obviously have
43:28
Speaker 1: been been the Islanders simply because of you, and it's
43:30
Speaker 1: hilarious to beout them. Is it always this way in
43:33
Speaker 1: the playoffs? I forget if it always has been this
43:35
Speaker 1: play but it feels like a lot of these games
43:37
Speaker 1: are really coming down to one goal, like you're not
43:40
Speaker 1: getting any value on the pluck line like this year.
43:42
Speaker 1: Is that a really common practice in the playoffs? It
43:45
Speaker 1: really depends on Like the series. The East Division, which
43:48
Speaker 1: has been Boston Washington, the Islanders are Penguiges, was just
43:52
Speaker 1: tight all year and like those those teams play a
43:54
Speaker 1: very um like grinding style of hockey, so you just
43:58
Speaker 1: won't see many blowouts in that kind of environment. Um,
44:02
Speaker 1: but there's always like matchups like that, like where people
44:04
Speaker 1: are just they expect it to be, you know, a
44:06
Speaker 1: best of seven like go go seven games. Each game
44:09
Speaker 1: is decided by a goal or two. But like, I don't,
44:13
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say that it's like a normal thing for
44:16
Speaker 1: it to be this type. I do think like one
44:19
Speaker 1: great thing about these these playoffs has been like when
44:21
Speaker 1: you watch the bubble. Last year, it was nice to
44:24
Speaker 1: have hockey on to be distracted from the absolute ship
44:28
Speaker 1: storm that was going on in the rest of the world.
44:30
Speaker 1: But um, it didn't feel exactly the same. It didn't
44:34
Speaker 1: feel like playoff hockey because it's like the crowd whatever
44:36
Speaker 1: you want to say. Um, and this year has been
44:39
Speaker 1: like very celebratory, like it's like like almost like a
44:42
Speaker 1: high school reunion in every game with the crowd, like
44:44
Speaker 1: the way the crowd is and uh like I think
44:47
Speaker 1: that that actually like the players too, like these games.
44:50
Speaker 1: They always say, oh, playoff hockey is different. Sometimes that's
44:53
Speaker 1: a cliche, but this year does look like these like
44:56
Speaker 1: the teams, like you can visibly see, are just like
44:58
Speaker 1: up for every second of the game. That the Panthers
45:01
Speaker 1: Lightning series. I don't know if you guys have watched.
45:03
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure you guys are all over Tampa
45:05
Speaker 1: Bay Lightning Ers Florida Panthers on this podcast that basically
45:08
Speaker 1: only talks about the NFL, n NBA. By the way,
45:11
Speaker 1: don't listen, don't come after us, don't don't don't be
45:15
Speaker 1: mean about it, like we're giving you a voice. We're
45:19
Speaker 1: on your side. Go after the people who don't do that. Alright, fair,
45:24
Speaker 1: fair fair, But like that series has been insane, and
45:28
Speaker 1: there's the crowd in Florida, which gets As an Islander fan,
45:32
Speaker 1: I always feel bad for Panthers fans because like the
45:34
Speaker 1: Canadian media just tries to move them around the country.
45:36
Speaker 1: They'll be like, oh, Hamilton, Ontario could use a team,
45:38
Speaker 1: let's move the Panthers there or whatever. But that crowd
45:41
Speaker 1: has been awesome and those games have been awesome since
45:43
Speaker 1: Game one, like the puck dropping Game one, it's just
45:45
Speaker 1: been insane, and I think the crowd has a lot
45:47
Speaker 1: to do with it. Um So, I think that's also
45:50
Speaker 1: playing into why these games have seemed so tighter on
45:52
Speaker 1: a razor's edge, and why like you know, when you
45:55
Speaker 1: do lose, like the agony is like that much more
46:00
Speaker 1: true story. Last night, I don't know why. For some reason,
46:07
Speaker 1: I was thinking about the Memphis Grizzlies, and then I
46:10
Speaker 1: was thinking about the Vancouver Grizzlies. Then I was thinking
46:14
Speaker 1: about Sharif abdur Raheem, and like whatever happened to that guy?
46:18
Speaker 1: He was such a great score. But then I did
46:21
Speaker 1: think Vancouver Canucks, it's great city, great team, nickname. They
46:29
Speaker 1: they had the luxury of playing a couple of regular
46:32
Speaker 1: season games against the Calgary Flames while the NHL playoffs
46:35
Speaker 1: were going on, which it's hilarious. Um, I can't believe
46:39
Speaker 1: they made them play those games. But no, the Canucks, um,
46:42
Speaker 1: I hate to break it to you, aren't in the playoffs.
46:43
Speaker 1: They were. They're pretty bad this year. No, No, you're
46:46
Speaker 1: not breaking anything to me. I'm I'm fine with it.
46:48
Speaker 1: I'm just like the name and it made me think
46:49
Speaker 1: of hockey. And you know, ovisly in this podcast is
46:52
Speaker 1: the only time I'll do it. I think. I always
46:54
Speaker 1: think the term long suffering is is thrown out way
46:57
Speaker 1: to like willy nilly, like like if you're should Waggle
47:00
Speaker 1: Bulls fan, you're not long suffering. If you're like a
47:02
Speaker 1: Manchester United fan, you're not long suffering. People feel bad
47:05
Speaker 1: for themselves, like after like six or seven years without
47:07
Speaker 1: a title, Vancouver Canucks fans like they can say they're
47:11
Speaker 1: long suffering. They haven't won everyone, They've been to a
47:14
Speaker 1: couple of Stanley Cups and and lost in I think
47:16
Speaker 1: games seven and both or six and seven, and um,
47:20
Speaker 1: that is that's a fan base like I can I
47:22
Speaker 1: can really appreciate. What would you do? We had this
47:25
Speaker 1: really funny video the other day. Amanda Rose went to
47:29
Speaker 1: the garden and she was asking Knicks fans what they
47:32
Speaker 1: would do for the Knicks to win a playoff series,
47:35
Speaker 1: and they were saying things like push my grandmother down
47:37
Speaker 1: the stairs, give away my fifteen year old son. You
47:41
Speaker 1: love the Islanders, What would you do for them to
47:45
Speaker 1: win a Stanley Cup title? Oh boy? Um, I think
47:51
Speaker 1: I would serve someone else's like life sentence or something
47:54
Speaker 1: maybe like if like if maybe, like the the jury
47:57
Speaker 1: is like a little confused, there's something I'd be like,
47:59
Speaker 1: all right, like how but I'll just if the Islanders
48:01
Speaker 1: when the Stanley Cup, I'll step in for that dude
48:03
Speaker 1: and I'll do his life sentence just then I can,
48:06
Speaker 1: just because then I wouldn't need like you don't get
48:07
Speaker 1: a TV in prison. I assume I haven't done any
48:10
Speaker 1: time yet, but um, I wouldn't need to watch anything
48:13
Speaker 1: anymore because I would just think about the Islanders like
48:16
Speaker 1: winning the Stanley Cup, and that's that would be kind
48:18
Speaker 1: of enough for me to get through it. Um. I mean,
48:21
Speaker 1: I have this conversation just the other night. I was texting,
48:24
Speaker 1: you know, Ry a couple other of our NHL fans
48:30
Speaker 1: the Islanders. I was at my brother's bachelor party and
48:32
Speaker 1: we were watching the Islanders beat the Penguins in Game four.
48:36
Speaker 1: They won, and obviously I hate the Toronto maple Leaves
48:39
Speaker 1: with an undying passion like I don't the maple Leafs
48:42
Speaker 1: and Rangers. I hate them both, and a lot of
48:44
Speaker 1: my friends think that I hate them more than I
48:46
Speaker 1: love the Islanders. But I also I think it's just
48:48
Speaker 1: one combined thing. Um, you know, my love for the Islanders,
48:52
Speaker 1: it has a lot to do with like that hatred.
48:54
Speaker 1: And the Canadians were playing the maple Leaves that night,
48:57
Speaker 1: and I told a couple of people that had had
48:59
Speaker 1: the Canadians won Game two of the first round series,
49:03
Speaker 1: after the Islanders won Game four of the first round series,
49:05
Speaker 1: that that day would be just as or maybe more
49:09
Speaker 1: meaningful than my wedding day. So that is, you know,
49:12
Speaker 1: that's where I was at mentally that the Canadians lost,
49:15
Speaker 1: so luckily I didn't have to cross that bridge. Um,
49:18
Speaker 1: but yeah, I mean, that's that's you know, I've seen
49:21
Speaker 1: the Islanders win a couple playoff series the past couple
49:23
Speaker 1: of years, but before that, for the first twenty eight
49:25
Speaker 1: years in my life, I never saw them win one.
49:27
Speaker 1: So even like these game ones or game threes in
49:30
Speaker 1: the first round series, they they really mean a lot,
49:33
Speaker 1: they really do. That's someone that has spent a lot
49:36
Speaker 1: of time in prison. You can add whatever you want, bro,
49:39
Speaker 1: you want a TV, you want a cell phone, anything
49:41
Speaker 1: you need. Don't worry, leave off. They're gonna have it
49:42
Speaker 1: for you. So it's it wouldn't be the worst thing.
49:44
Speaker 1: You want a life sentence for someone. But yeah, that's
49:47
Speaker 1: that's true. FANDOSM right there, by the way, when were
49:49
Speaker 1: you in prison? I visited friends, so that still counts.
49:54
Speaker 1: I've been inside of a prison. First. For a second, there,
49:58
Speaker 1: you t tried to pull it off like, yeah, I've
50:01
Speaker 1: done time. I've done a hard time. But really you're like,
50:04
Speaker 1: you know, you're Will Ferrell. You're visiting your in an hour,
50:07
Speaker 1: you're doing movies about it, but you haven't done time.
50:10
Speaker 1: Well I have done time, Chad, but it was in
50:14
Speaker 1: my youth and for things I don't need to talk
50:16
Speaker 1: about because they got a sponge because before I was eighteen.
50:19
Speaker 1: But no, I visit a friend in like an actual prison. Um,
50:23
Speaker 1: and yeah, obviously that people are terrified inside prison, and
50:27
Speaker 1: they should all like they look like they should be
50:28
Speaker 1: in prison. Like no movies that people are in prison,
50:31
Speaker 1: they look like kind of friendly. Yeah, in real life,
50:33
Speaker 1: it's not like that. It's terrifying, but he told me
50:36
Speaker 1: it's honestly not that bad. You get TV, you get
50:39
Speaker 1: cell phones. It's it's not as if they make it
50:41
Speaker 1: out to bate. Okay, I don't know what kind of
50:43
Speaker 1: movies you're watching, but I've never seen a movie where
50:47
Speaker 1: people in prison look friendly, long as you hard get
50:50
Speaker 1: at it. Chad old Man, what about OZ looked looked
50:55
Speaker 1: like I could do? OS is the scariest show ever.
50:58
Speaker 1: I still have nightmares about us and hasn't been on
51:03
Speaker 1: since you were like eight years old. Leaboff, we gotta
51:06
Speaker 1: go come to Game six tomorrow to Casseum, it's gonna
51:09
Speaker 1: be it's gonna be violent. I think more importantly, you
51:11
Speaker 1: should just come back next week and update us with
51:14
Speaker 1: what's happening with the Islanders and Game six. I hope
51:17
Speaker 1: they win. I hope you continue to shine as an
51:21
Speaker 1: Islanders fan and find both that relief and that agony
51:25
Speaker 1: and that then diagram that you survive in. Alright, but
51:29
Speaker 1: I mean, the offer is still on the table if
51:31
Speaker 1: you guys want to come listen. I'm not going to
51:33
Speaker 1: the fucking Colisseum to watch a hockey game for Never Loose,
51:36
Speaker 1: so I can so I can wear somebody else's hat
51:38
Speaker 1: in the middle of the pandemic. The section is vaccinated.
51:42
Speaker 1: It's beautiful people who didn't have shirts on. I wanted
51:44
Speaker 1: to cry. True story. Matt Mitchell and Mike Leeboff. We're
51:48
Speaker 1: both in a fiftieth birthday video for me and Mike
51:53
Speaker 1: Leeboff did it with his shirt off, as he does everything.
51:57
Speaker 1: I don't see the point in shirts really. Alright, Leeboff,
51:59
Speaker 1: we gotta go listen. This has been the favorite podcast
52:04
Speaker 1: from the Volume podcast network. We don't require shirts, we
52:10
Speaker 1: don't require happiness. We do require winners, and we gave
52:14
Speaker 1: some of those away for the NBA Playoffs, for the
52:16
Speaker 1: NHL Playoffs, for Michael Lieboff, for my bff, my companion,
52:21
Speaker 1: my best friend, Simon Hunter. I am Chad Mellman. We
52:24
Speaker 1: will be back on Thursday for the Thursday Thunderdome edition.
52:29
Speaker 1: Download Apple, Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. Until
52:32
Speaker 1: next time, I love you,