Latest / The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast / NBA Roundtable with Justin Phan, Matt Moore & World Wide Wob

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NBA Roundtable with Justin Phan, Matt Moore & World Wide Wob · The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Favorites, the podcast from the Action Network.
0:13
Speaker 1: Gyam Chad Millman. We are coming out of All Star Break.
0:17
Speaker 1: We are going into the second half of the NBA season.
0:20
Speaker 1: All Star Break was glorious. The All Star Game was amazing,
0:25
Speaker 1: and I want to talk about that. We're going to
0:26
Speaker 1: talk about Rookie of the Year race that are esteemed panelists,
0:30
Speaker 1: maybe sweating those panelists. Justin Fan our director of betting
0:35
Speaker 1: Analytics a k A. The Fan Wagon, a cult status,
0:40
Speaker 1: beloved NBA better Rob Perez a k A Worldwide Web
0:44
Speaker 1: senior writer here at the Action Network, also Twitter phena.
0:48
Speaker 1: Matt Moore, longtime NBA writer, our senior NBA analyst. But first,
0:55
Speaker 1: here's the main thing. The main thing fellas I got
1:01
Speaker 1: to explain the elm ending. So the elm ending. Originally
1:05
Speaker 1: this was called the hybrid duration format. It was popularized
1:10
Speaker 1: by the Basketball Tournament, the summer tournament that has been
1:13
Speaker 1: going on the past couple of years. Essentially, what happens
1:16
Speaker 1: is a guy named Nick Elm. Dr. Nick Elim, who
1:19
Speaker 1: was a professor at ball State right now. He's a
1:21
Speaker 1: basketball fan. He had a desire to eliminate the need
1:25
Speaker 1: for intentional fouling. The NBA adopted this for the All
1:29
Speaker 1: Star Game to try this format. Essentially, what happens is
1:33
Speaker 1: a point total is set and the game is played
1:37
Speaker 1: to that point total. So in this instance, at the
1:41
Speaker 1: end of the third quarter, Teamy Honest was leading Team Lebron.
1:45
Speaker 1: I think it was one thirty three to one. In
1:49
Speaker 1: honor of Kobe Bryant, the NBA decided they would add
1:52
Speaker 1: twenty four points to whoever was leading to the total
1:55
Speaker 1: points scored of whoever was leading at the end of
1:58
Speaker 1: the third quarter, and then both team played to one seven.
2:01
Speaker 1: Whoever got to one seven first won the All Star Game.
2:04
Speaker 1: It was an untime quarter. You gotta get stops. First
2:08
Speaker 1: team to one fifty seven wins. It was amazing And
2:10
Speaker 1: for those of us who were in the stadium. While
2:12
Speaker 1: I was in the stadium, I was in the stadium,
2:14
Speaker 1: it was an incredibly intense atmosphere. Were like you could
2:19
Speaker 1: see players jumping up. It really felt like something they
2:22
Speaker 1: cared about in a pickup game. Wob you were there,
2:25
Speaker 1: give me your take on what you saw and how
2:27
Speaker 1: you felt. A couple of raw emotions and takeaways from
2:30
Speaker 1: from that game. On Sunday, in particular, is I think
2:33
Speaker 1: the NBA has figured out the in season tournament. They've
2:37
Speaker 1: gone back and forth here whether they're actually going to
2:39
Speaker 1: do it, if the players are, will care, and honestly,
2:41
Speaker 1: will the fans even care? And I don't know much
2:45
Speaker 1: that could have happened in that in season tournament to
2:47
Speaker 1: make the fans care unless there is draft playoff implications.
2:51
Speaker 1: But after watching this format unveiled itself and you brought
2:55
Speaker 1: up the t VT, the Basketball Tournament which is played
2:58
Speaker 1: during the summer. Not every NBA fan watch that or
3:01
Speaker 1: even cared about it, to be honest, But what this
3:04
Speaker 1: did was just bringing a fresh a freshness to the
3:08
Speaker 1: league that you know, we've we've never seen before with
3:12
Speaker 1: the ten best players in the world play, making them
3:16
Speaker 1: play at this level. I've never seen an All Star
3:18
Speaker 1: game played with that intensity, and maybe in part it
3:21
Speaker 1: had to do because this was the the Kobe Bryant
3:23
Speaker 1: Memorial game, But that ending just instigates all sorts of
3:28
Speaker 1: defensive effort, which is like people were out there taking charges. Chad,
3:31
Speaker 1: when was the last time someone took a charge in
3:33
Speaker 1: an All Star Game? And when was the last time
3:35
Speaker 1: we saw the ten basketball players, no matter what country
3:39
Speaker 1: you're from in the world on the same floor, playing
3:42
Speaker 1: as if it was a playoff game Team USA versus
3:45
Speaker 1: Spain back in the oh eight Olympics is probably the
3:47
Speaker 1: closest comparison that we've ever had. And it's funny that
3:50
Speaker 1: we got this from an All star game. It was
3:52
Speaker 1: an exhibition. Now it has some criticisms and critiques like
3:56
Speaker 1: everything else out there that's brand new, But in terms
3:59
Speaker 1: of like convincing people's minds about change, it did a
4:02
Speaker 1: great job. They just need to make sure that these
4:05
Speaker 1: type of games don't end at the foul line. If
4:07
Speaker 1: you're playing pick up and it's point game, you don't
4:10
Speaker 1: end the game at the foul line. That's just the
4:12
Speaker 1: language of pickup. So instead of adding points there if
4:16
Speaker 1: it's point game, my suggestion would be to subtract points
4:20
Speaker 1: from the other team so that natural basket has to
4:23
Speaker 1: be scored there to win the game. So that's very
4:26
Speaker 1: NBA Street Game breaker esque. That's my only thoughts on
4:29
Speaker 1: how to make this even better than it was. Matt More,
4:33
Speaker 1: long time reporter for the NBA WOB, makes a great point,
4:36
Speaker 1: like Kyle Lowry at the end of the game, multiple charges,
4:41
Speaker 1: Janice and Lebron banging in the post at the end
4:44
Speaker 1: of the game, be honest with a great block, like reviews,
4:48
Speaker 1: substitutions like situational play, all of it. It was the
4:52
Speaker 1: best of the NBA at the highest level. What was
4:55
Speaker 1: your takeaway? Yeah, it was awesome. I mean this fundamentally
4:58
Speaker 1: changes a lot for what think, what the you can do.
5:00
Speaker 1: They're good at capitalizing on ideas when it works. It's
5:02
Speaker 1: really great to see them try something that everyone was
5:05
Speaker 1: a little skeptical of and have it work because the
5:07
Speaker 1: league needs so much innovation. I think right now with
5:09
Speaker 1: where it's at and having this kind of be a
5:11
Speaker 1: win is great. One slight correction, the nine best players
5:15
Speaker 1: in the world in Kemba Walker. In the fourth quarter,
5:18
Speaker 1: you see the level of intensity. So like, here's just
5:21
Speaker 1: like a baseline example of it. The first quarter had
5:23
Speaker 1: ninety four points scored, the third quarter had eighty two
5:26
Speaker 1: points scored. The fourth quarter was thirty three twenty two.
5:29
Speaker 1: Get into that number. The intensity level just ratcheted. Guys
5:33
Speaker 1: trying on defense. This is the first year I'm sad
5:36
Speaker 1: I missed the All Star Game. Like I've always had
5:37
Speaker 1: a problem with the fact that they just don't try
5:40
Speaker 1: and then this point like it really worked, like they
5:42
Speaker 1: actually tried. You know what I mentioned the N season tournament.
5:45
Speaker 1: I think this opens up all sorts of possibilities for
5:48
Speaker 1: what the league can do with the N season tournament.
5:51
Speaker 1: Like maybe instead of going four full quarters and games,
5:54
Speaker 1: they do shorter tournaments. Like the guys have to play less.
5:57
Speaker 1: It's not as much of a of a rest problem
5:59
Speaker 1: for them. They play shorter games, going to a certain
6:02
Speaker 1: number and play it out that way, it turns into
6:04
Speaker 1: more of an exhibition. But it also might become more
6:07
Speaker 1: fun and each possession matters. This is the biggest thing,
6:10
Speaker 1: because I've been thinking a lot about why football and
6:12
Speaker 1: basketball are different. I've done this for years, but especially
6:14
Speaker 1: recently with my Chiefs winning the Super Bowl and how
6:17
Speaker 1: much fun that was. Every possession matters in football, and
6:21
Speaker 1: you're never going to generate that in the n b A.
6:23
Speaker 1: But that's how that last quarter felt, and that's what
6:27
Speaker 1: makes for the best sport. I thought it was a
6:28
Speaker 1: win all around. Justin fan you may be the best
6:31
Speaker 1: NBA better in the world. You literally move lines the
6:35
Speaker 1: second you make a decision. Your gamblings are Give me
6:38
Speaker 1: your take on the elam ending from a betting perspective.
6:42
Speaker 1: Good for fans, bad for fans. What do you think? Yeah,
6:45
Speaker 1: I thought it was great for fans. As someone who's
6:47
Speaker 1: experienced a Hunter Kate swings and DFS and sports thing before,
6:50
Speaker 1: I thought it was kind of awesome that we're exposing
6:52
Speaker 1: the next generations this early on. These kids like sitting
6:55
Speaker 1: in the lower section just sweating these quarters by quarter,
6:59
Speaker 1: just play by play, and and there's Hunter k m
7:02
Speaker 1: the line on each corpse that was I thought it
7:04
Speaker 1: was kind of awesome. But the biggest takeaway from all
7:07
Speaker 1: this was that stakes matter. It has to feel like
7:10
Speaker 1: something is on the line for players and fans to care.
7:13
Speaker 1: And for the NBA, the biggest thing here is that
7:17
Speaker 1: you have to take this and you know, carry it
7:19
Speaker 1: to other aspects of your product. And really the biggest
7:22
Speaker 1: issue where we're seeing a lot of the decline and
7:25
Speaker 1: ratings and local television that works down is that the
7:29
Speaker 1: regular season doesn't feel like it matters anymore. And that's
7:33
Speaker 1: really the biggest issue that the league has to resolved.
7:36
Speaker 1: And one thing you see here is that when players
7:39
Speaker 1: and fans are invested, when they feel like stakes matter,
7:42
Speaker 1: when there's something on the line, then they're gonna buy in.
7:45
Speaker 1: And you know, one idea that I like is that
7:48
Speaker 1: if you let teams that the highest seeds pick their
7:51
Speaker 1: first round opponents, I think that's a really great idea
7:53
Speaker 1: to reward regular seadn't play. We'll have teams competing for
7:57
Speaker 1: highest seeding till the end of the regular season, and
7:59
Speaker 1: then honestly, you can make a TV event out of it,
8:02
Speaker 1: the way they do with the lottery, the draft for
8:04
Speaker 1: the All Star Game. How awesome would it be to
8:07
Speaker 1: unveil first round matchup plot? You have a representative from
8:11
Speaker 1: each team picking your opponent team by team. So for me,
8:15
Speaker 1: anything not at the core product of the of the NBA,
8:18
Speaker 1: that's like, the results of games should be geared towards entertainment.
8:22
Speaker 1: The NBA already owns the off season. They already owned
8:24
Speaker 1: social media with Twitter, so and anything else related to
8:28
Speaker 1: that should be geared towards entertainment and resolving the issue
8:32
Speaker 1: that the regular season should matter more than it does.
8:34
Speaker 1: Right now, I freaking love that idea. The idea you know,
8:37
Speaker 1: Baseball is proposing this, right Baseball is proposing that teams
8:41
Speaker 1: can choose who they get to play, and it potentially
8:44
Speaker 1: sounds disastrous, right, because those teams all of a sudden,
8:48
Speaker 1: you know, they're the one is choosing the four, and
8:51
Speaker 1: then the four can crush them and it leads to
8:53
Speaker 1: actually greater drama. But the idea that this all of
8:57
Speaker 1: a sudden becomes televised and it's like a draft is
9:00
Speaker 1: pure social entertainment. Rob. I feel like your Twitter feed
9:05
Speaker 1: on the night of a draft where teams have to
9:07
Speaker 1: decide who they're playing, would be explosive. Yeah, I mean
9:11
Speaker 1: that would be as good as that when the first
9:14
Speaker 1: All Star Draft and Lebron was out there picking players
9:16
Speaker 1: and Janice and things like that, like we're gonna watch
9:19
Speaker 1: the league no matter what. But Twitter is eleven percent
9:21
Speaker 1: of the population in NBA. Twitter's only point one percent
9:25
Speaker 1: of actual Twitter. So to get the mainstream audience there
9:29
Speaker 1: to pull those football type ratings, incentivizing the regular season
9:33
Speaker 1: is certainly a priority, And I honestly can't think of
9:36
Speaker 1: a better way to get the players to care than
9:41
Speaker 1: the ability to pick their first round opponent. Now in
9:43
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference, you're you're getting the eight seed, who's
9:46
Speaker 1: gonna be ten games under five hundred regardless. But the
9:50
Speaker 1: fact that it makes players play hard and seating isn't
9:54
Speaker 1: locked in in the third week of March is a
9:57
Speaker 1: huge difference, and the fans see that off cemically and
10:00
Speaker 1: organically that these guys aren't trying load management will go
10:03
Speaker 1: down because these games actually matter. So while it's simple
10:06
Speaker 1: on paper, I think the effects of that would be massive.
10:10
Speaker 1: Can you imagine the debates and stuff, just like the
10:13
Speaker 1: weeks leading into the final game this season, which team
10:16
Speaker 1: should pick which team? And they have all the build
10:18
Speaker 1: up to the TV event of when they're picking, and
10:20
Speaker 1: then the reveal and right after the aftermath and be
10:23
Speaker 1: able to just discuss right away what the matchups are
10:26
Speaker 1: without knowing them an advantage. There's so much that you
10:29
Speaker 1: can kind of build on and take away from. Also
10:32
Speaker 1: the disrespect by the way, imagine the Lakers with the
10:34
Speaker 1: first pick in the Western Conference take the Houston Rockets
10:36
Speaker 1: just because they have the big guys. How disrespectful that
10:40
Speaker 1: would be to the Rockets, even though they're technically like
10:42
Speaker 1: the fourth seed in the West. Like, that's a huge
10:44
Speaker 1: storyline and it would make people want to watch, especially
10:47
Speaker 1: in the city of Houston. Isn't it funny? This feels
10:49
Speaker 1: like the best idea in the world for the NBA,
10:52
Speaker 1: but when Major League Baseball suggests it, it sounds like
10:55
Speaker 1: a horrible idea that's out of touch and Rob Man
10:58
Speaker 1: friends an idiot. But if Adam Silver has suggested this,
11:01
Speaker 1: everyone would absolutely love it. I think it's entirely dependent
11:05
Speaker 1: upon the fan base and how the game was perceived.
11:09
Speaker 1: One thing I want to do before we get to
11:10
Speaker 1: our next segment, which is going to be about the
11:12
Speaker 1: teams that we think we want to be tracking through
11:15
Speaker 1: the second half of the season. I don't think we
11:17
Speaker 1: touched enough on the gambling impact of the elim ending,
11:21
Speaker 1: and so fan I want to get your take on
11:22
Speaker 1: this specifically, which is I had Team the Honest plus
11:26
Speaker 1: six and a half. I knew going into that last
11:28
Speaker 1: quarter they only had to score eighteen points for me
11:31
Speaker 1: to win my bet. They were at one thirty three,
11:34
Speaker 1: the game was ending at one seven. I had to
11:36
Speaker 1: get to one one with Team Honest. That happened, and
11:39
Speaker 1: like for me, that was as much about the drama
11:42
Speaker 1: and the tension. Like the people I was sitting with,
11:44
Speaker 1: we were all on Team Honest, we were all cheering
11:47
Speaker 1: for them just to get to that number. That was
11:50
Speaker 1: as intense as anything else to me. That change sort
11:52
Speaker 1: of some of the perspective on on betting and even
11:55
Speaker 1: betting totals and betting sides, because you're taking the files
11:58
Speaker 1: and you're taking the garbage points, and you're taking those
12:00
Speaker 1: things that are pretty unpredictable out of the game. I
12:04
Speaker 1: was obviously really engaged as a viewer, and the more
12:08
Speaker 1: engagement you have, the more likely art of bet on
12:10
Speaker 1: the game. I'd love to have something like, especially with
12:13
Speaker 1: the elm ending ability to just live bet we think
12:16
Speaker 1: will take the final shot and hit the game winner,
12:19
Speaker 1: for example, Like just stuff like that. It just adds
12:22
Speaker 1: to the whole drama of the of the affair. UM.
12:25
Speaker 1: As someone who had Lebron minus five, I thought it
12:29
Speaker 1: was kind of drawing dead almost the entire fourth quarter,
12:32
Speaker 1: So it took a little bit out of even though
12:34
Speaker 1: they came back they wanted by a couple of points. Um,
12:36
Speaker 1: it is not as as great as a tweat for
12:39
Speaker 1: me in that respect. You know, you add the time on,
12:41
Speaker 1: you can add some garbage time free throws, whether potentionally
12:44
Speaker 1: foully um to give me a chance of covering. So
12:47
Speaker 1: it changing is a little bit from from my perspective
12:50
Speaker 1: betting on the other side, but overall it's just a
12:52
Speaker 1: huge right in terms of increasing viewer engagement. And you know,
12:56
Speaker 1: obviously the more engaged you are, the more the more
12:58
Speaker 1: willing they are bet on games. Alright, Like I said,
13:00
Speaker 1: we're gonna cover the second half of the season who
13:03
Speaker 1: we think can win it all with our panel in
13:07
Speaker 1: the next segment. But first, a quick story. I'm laughing
13:10
Speaker 1: because of who it is. A quick story from Action
13:12
Speaker 1: Network tennis expert. I looved Enigma rack on tour Daniel Scotty,
13:22
Speaker 1: so it's us open. At this point in the day,
13:26
Speaker 1: I kind of just needed to break, so I was
13:28
Speaker 1: like walking towards the small courts in the back to
13:30
Speaker 1: try and sneak a cigarette. But on my walk over,
13:33
Speaker 1: I noticed that on one of these small courts, Paolo
13:36
Speaker 1: Lorenzi's warning up. And if you don't know Paolo Lorenzi,
13:39
Speaker 1: he's like a thirty five year old Italian grinder, just
13:43
Speaker 1: like a complete pitbull, like nobody tries harder than the
13:46
Speaker 1: mon tour and he's set to play this Portuguese hothead
13:50
Speaker 1: shoe hous So so you know, within seconds, um sitting
13:54
Speaker 1: front row courtside, if you will, with an exhorbant amount
13:58
Speaker 1: of money on Lorenzi. And as the match begins to
14:01
Speaker 1: play out, and you know, I'm cheering audibly for Lorenzi
14:04
Speaker 1: as a normal person does, I noticed that the people
14:07
Speaker 1: sitting directly next to me or like shooting these death
14:10
Speaker 1: stairs placard on their chair was like reserved for family
14:15
Speaker 1: of player, and since they weren't cheering when I was cheering,
14:19
Speaker 1: I recognized pretty quickly that these were you know, Joe
14:22
Speaker 1: Assosa Lorenzi's opponents, like immediate family, and like, as the
14:27
Speaker 1: matches playing out, I'm gonna be honest, like I started
14:30
Speaker 1: getting into it, like with the dad, which is like sick.
14:32
Speaker 1: He didn't want me cheering for Lorenzi like at all,
14:35
Speaker 1: and like I'm thinking to myself, like you should take
14:37
Speaker 1: a cab over like the garden, see what the nix
14:39
Speaker 1: Hoff Dey'll deal with from their own fans every night.
14:41
Speaker 1: Like this is nothing like well, you know, welcome to
14:43
Speaker 1: New York. But there was a point in the third set,
14:46
Speaker 1: completely pivotal point, not only the set but the overall
14:49
Speaker 1: match for all, in the tie ring epic rally that
14:53
Speaker 1: uns in Assa unforced are and I kind of just
14:56
Speaker 1: like let my emotions flow at that point, and I
14:58
Speaker 1: just yelled, come on and hold my fist out kind
15:01
Speaker 1: of theatrically like a three point shooter would his release end.
15:05
Speaker 1: And this completely sets us off. He immediately took like
15:08
Speaker 1: thirteen steps towards the divider between like the court and
15:11
Speaker 1: the seats, walks right up to me, and it's like,
15:14
Speaker 1: so you're betting, right, And at that point, I just
15:17
Speaker 1: like really wasn't about to lie to dude's face. So
15:20
Speaker 1: I was just like see see with like the shitt
15:23
Speaker 1: eatinger on my face. You know. He walks back and
15:25
Speaker 1: you could just tell that he was completely mentally crushed.
15:29
Speaker 1: I just had gotten into his head for whatever reason.
15:32
Speaker 1: He goes on to lose like the next two points
15:34
Speaker 1: and lose the set, lose the match. Needless to say,
15:37
Speaker 1: I had tailed it out of that court pretty quickly
15:39
Speaker 1: and watched my back the rest of the tournament. But
15:41
Speaker 1: don't ever let somebody tell you that cheering hard for
15:44
Speaker 1: that can't affect the outcome. Okay, let's move on to
15:51
Speaker 1: the next thing, the next thing now more, I want
15:57
Speaker 1: to start with you the second half of the year.
15:59
Speaker 1: You look at this right now, what are the best
16:02
Speaker 1: odds to it all? Hey day? Because The Bucks are
16:06
Speaker 1: the answer, and they're the answer I cannot take. I
16:09
Speaker 1: cannot choose the line in front of you. The Bucks
16:11
Speaker 1: are plus two seventy five. I'm getting insane odds on
16:14
Speaker 1: a team that's gonna win seventy plus. They have absolutely
16:16
Speaker 1: obliterated everyone Chris Middleton shooting this year. He's been one
16:21
Speaker 1: of the best shooters from each individual specific range like.
16:23
Speaker 1: They have supporting talent. They have the best defense in
16:26
Speaker 1: the league and run at the fastest pace. The last
16:29
Speaker 1: team to do that was the two thousand fifteen Warriors.
16:31
Speaker 1: But I saw last year, and I saw that one
16:34
Speaker 1: team gets one guy that's not a main threat in
16:37
Speaker 1: Fred Van Bleet hot, and it can absolutely derail everything.
16:41
Speaker 1: I like the Bucks in a matchup versus either of
16:44
Speaker 1: the West teams. I like them versus the Lakers. I
16:46
Speaker 1: like them versus the Clippers. I don't know if they
16:48
Speaker 1: can get past Boston, Miami, Toronto because I'm too scared
16:52
Speaker 1: of Jalen Brown shooting the lights out or Duncan Robinson
16:58
Speaker 1: hitting like nineteen threes in four games. I'm too worried
17:01
Speaker 1: about teams like Milwaukee that are geared around an individual
17:05
Speaker 1: Omega forward driving and then kicking to those shooters we
17:09
Speaker 1: saw in two thousand and eight team with Houston. Yes,
17:12
Speaker 1: Chris Paul's injury mattered, but they still could have won
17:14
Speaker 1: Game seven. But those shooters went cold. And when that happens,
17:17
Speaker 1: the team's constructed like this, they are really vulnerable, and
17:21
Speaker 1: so like I think the Bucks have to be in
17:23
Speaker 1: any sort of position that you take. Beyond that, I'm
17:26
Speaker 1: probably taking the Lakers. I think the Clippers have the
17:30
Speaker 1: highest maybe ceiling, but I also think that they're more
17:33
Speaker 1: vulnerable to other teams in the Western Conference. They match
17:35
Speaker 1: up great with the Lakers. The Lakers match up with
17:37
Speaker 1: a lot of the other teams. I don't like anybody
17:39
Speaker 1: else out of the East with how the Sixers have
17:41
Speaker 1: just screwed around and it doesn't feel like their year,
17:44
Speaker 1: Like their chemistry is just not good, and that makes
17:47
Speaker 1: me nervous. We've seen that derail teams even when they're
17:49
Speaker 1: that talented. I don't think the Raptors have the guys
17:52
Speaker 1: to absolutely go in and get it done, though there's
17:54
Speaker 1: probably some value in their long odds. Like, if I
17:57
Speaker 1: have to take a team, I have to take the Bucks,
17:59
Speaker 1: but I'm not gonna feel good about it. All right,
18:01
Speaker 1: wo Matt brings up a really interesting team in the Sixers.
18:05
Speaker 1: They're about plus one to win the NBA title. I'm
18:09
Speaker 1: starting to look at this team and think that they
18:13
Speaker 1: never figured it out like I thought. Al Horford was
18:15
Speaker 1: going to be such a good addition. Clearly he hasn't
18:18
Speaker 1: made the difference for them. When you listen to what
18:21
Speaker 1: Matt just said, when you think about the Sixers, when
18:23
Speaker 1: you think about the rest of the league, how do
18:26
Speaker 1: you see them shaping up? And do you think there's
18:27
Speaker 1: an opportunity with them or is it better with somebody else?
18:31
Speaker 1: First and foremost, nothing and let me say nothing makes
18:35
Speaker 1: me feel better than being on the complete opposite side
18:38
Speaker 1: than Matt more that. Yeah, thanks, buddy, I love you too.
18:42
Speaker 1: Last season, when I'm standing on my soapbox preaching to
18:45
Speaker 1: the world about the Toronto Raptors getting slandered to the
18:48
Speaker 1: point of reporting him to HR about the Raptors and
18:51
Speaker 1: Fred VanVleet watching them hoist the trophy was just a
18:55
Speaker 1: glorious moment. And what you preached the Warriors, sir, I
18:58
Speaker 1: have the receipts. Okay, we'll deal with this another time.
19:01
Speaker 1: So here's here's the question. It's two questions. Who's gonna
19:04
Speaker 1: win the NBA title. The overwhelming favorites, in my opinion
19:07
Speaker 1: are the Clippers in the books, But that wasn't the question.
19:10
Speaker 1: It was who are we betting to win the NBA title?
19:12
Speaker 1: And you bet numbers as much as even more so
19:15
Speaker 1: than you bet the team most of the time. And
19:17
Speaker 1: I am all in on the seventy sixers in terms
19:21
Speaker 1: of a futures bet. Like you said, it was thirteen
19:23
Speaker 1: to one. I've seen some shops that have gotten as
19:25
Speaker 1: high ast twenty two one at some point this season,
19:28
Speaker 1: and the reason for that is they, on paper, are
19:31
Speaker 1: built for a championship. We know that, like they have
19:34
Speaker 1: the star powered top to bottom. Matt brings up correct
19:36
Speaker 1: point there about chemistry issues. The fact that they still
19:39
Speaker 1: haven't figured it out yet is starting to get a
19:41
Speaker 1: little concerning. But they do have two and a half months.
19:44
Speaker 1: The same way that a seated Laker team back in
19:46
Speaker 1: the day of Dwight Howard that barely made the playoffs, like,
19:48
Speaker 1: they never figured out their chemistry issues and it was
19:51
Speaker 1: ultimately their doom. So I hear you on that. But
19:54
Speaker 1: every time the seventies Sixers go on national television at
19:58
Speaker 1: home because they struggled on the road, whether it's against
20:01
Speaker 1: the Bucks, the Celtics, the Lakers, the Clippers, you name it.
20:04
Speaker 1: They are the best team on the floor. They have
20:07
Speaker 1: the best talent, They're made for a championship. Their smallest
20:10
Speaker 1: dude is six ft seven, and they can put anybody
20:13
Speaker 1: into twenty four hour Pelican Bay lockdown, like I'm talking
20:17
Speaker 1: Denzel Washington in training day speech lockdown. So for that reason,
20:22
Speaker 1: when the game slows to a half court pace, we start,
20:25
Speaker 1: we start playing basketball in the mud. Here. I'm going
20:28
Speaker 1: with the team that nobody is scoring on. They have
20:30
Speaker 1: their own problems with scoring themselves, but if they're giving
20:33
Speaker 1: up zero points, the seventies sixers are built for trench warfare,
20:38
Speaker 1: and that when you get to the playoffs, it's a
20:40
Speaker 1: different game. It's a different game of basketball. And I
20:43
Speaker 1: know this team is going to translate there. I promise you.
20:45
Speaker 1: I don't know if they'll win, but they're certainly worth
20:47
Speaker 1: the bet. I worry entirely about Brent Brown's ability to
20:52
Speaker 1: handle that rotation because he has not figured it out
20:55
Speaker 1: so far. I also worry about the health of that team.
20:58
Speaker 1: I worry about the perimeters, shooting justin fan Bob has
21:02
Speaker 1: made a bold statement. I'm off the Sixers completely, and
21:07
Speaker 1: I understand what Watt's saying. I think they're all good points,
21:09
Speaker 1: but my biggest issue with this team is they cannot
21:12
Speaker 1: win on the road at all. And there's this turn
21:14
Speaker 1: into five two right now. They're not going to have
21:16
Speaker 1: home court advantage at any point in the playoffs. I
21:18
Speaker 1: really don't see it like they've been a dramatically different
21:21
Speaker 1: team at home verds on the road, and when you're
21:24
Speaker 1: the playoffs, when you're the five seed, that become just
21:28
Speaker 1: a major issue. And I know there's some level of
21:30
Speaker 1: noise there, smaller sample, but we've seen it consistently when
21:34
Speaker 1: they've been playing teams about five hundreds. They've struggled, you know,
21:38
Speaker 1: enormously to season to show any semblance of life on
21:41
Speaker 1: the road. So that's still a huge issue for me
21:44
Speaker 1: that they have to solve before the playoffs start. I
21:47
Speaker 1: bet the Clippers at plus three CFDF call bet them
21:49
Speaker 1: again at plus three hundreds. They're the best team in
21:51
Speaker 1: the league. They've only been fully healthy for four games
21:54
Speaker 1: the season. They've won all four games, including on Christmas
21:57
Speaker 1: against the Lakers. They're the only team as a big
22:00
Speaker 1: three didn't prove at the trade deadline. It's still really
22:03
Speaker 1: really confusing to me outside of books having a lot
22:05
Speaker 1: of liability with the Lakers being a public team. While
22:07
Speaker 1: the Lakers are the favorite right now, they have the
22:10
Speaker 1: best slide of winning the sides Lebron and any Davis.
22:13
Speaker 1: Who is their third best player. It's not Kyla Kuzma,
22:17
Speaker 1: not Rosalon Rondo, it won't be Darren Coulson. Who is
22:20
Speaker 1: their third best player? Is Avery Bradley the Alex Crusoe.
22:24
Speaker 1: That's still a huge problem for the Lakers teams. Their
22:26
Speaker 1: death is just a major issue. And when you get
22:29
Speaker 1: to the playoffs rotations Titan, they're gonna get exposed and
22:32
Speaker 1: they just don't have enough outside those two guys for
22:35
Speaker 1: me to really take them seriously. And with the Clippers,
22:38
Speaker 1: we're heading into the NBA Finals best of seven. You
22:41
Speaker 1: have to choose one player. I'm still picking Kawahi Leonard
22:44
Speaker 1: and that's no disrespect, to be honest, But considering what
22:47
Speaker 1: Kauai did in the finals last year, carrying this Toronto
22:51
Speaker 1: team finals m v P playoff times, still taking him.
22:54
Speaker 1: I think he's the best player. You know, I'll take
22:57
Speaker 1: the best player with the best step, they don't offer
22:59
Speaker 1: the value per se. I think the Bucks probably do.
23:03
Speaker 1: I like some longer shots like the self because in
23:05
Speaker 1: the Raptors potentially, but I'm all in on the Clippers. Well, look,
23:10
Speaker 1: that is a great point that and it's a long
23:12
Speaker 1: held axiom. When it gets to the playoffs, you better
23:15
Speaker 1: the best player to win the series. Matt Moore, Why
23:18
Speaker 1: wouldn't I think about Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers instead
23:21
Speaker 1: of Johannis in the Bucks. Do you really think Janice
23:23
Speaker 1: is going to be better in the playoffs than Kawhi
23:25
Speaker 1: Leonard Despite how Fred van Blake turned into Steph Curry
23:29
Speaker 1: over the last four games. Throughout the course of that series,
23:31
Speaker 1: when Jannie and Kawhi Leonard shared the floor, those two
23:34
Speaker 1: teams were dead even plus minus zero. You put Fred
23:37
Speaker 1: van Bley and you put him back onto the terrestrial
23:39
Speaker 1: plane and the Bucks are rolling in that series. It
23:41
Speaker 1: was really one guy flipping that series, and it wasn't Kahi.
23:44
Speaker 1: Later now, I went back earlier this year and I
23:46
Speaker 1: looked at what Kawai did versus Janice, and it was
23:49
Speaker 1: extremely impressive, Like it was awesome, Like he did Yeoman's
23:53
Speaker 1: work on him. Janice is better this season. I also
23:56
Speaker 1: don't know if that's the matchup part of it is,
23:58
Speaker 1: I don't trust the Clippers rim protect their numbers are
24:01
Speaker 1: really good. I don't trust Montrese Harold and if the
24:04
Speaker 1: Kazoo botch to be the kind of rim protector that
24:06
Speaker 1: the Raptors had in Marc Gasol and Pascal Siyakum guarding
24:09
Speaker 1: down low. Kauai can hang right and he can bother,
24:13
Speaker 1: but eventually Janice is gonna get enough opportunities to be
24:16
Speaker 1: able to attack at the rim. And with the dump
24:19
Speaker 1: offs and the ability to spread the floor and the
24:20
Speaker 1: cuts that they use because they are using a lot
24:22
Speaker 1: of off ball cuts now, a lot more than last year.
24:25
Speaker 1: That's like a sneaky. Part of this equation is like
24:26
Speaker 1: the Bucks use Janice in a lot of different ways
24:29
Speaker 1: they didn't last year. And like Paul George and Kauai
24:31
Speaker 1: can't guard everybody, there are ways to get those guys
24:34
Speaker 1: moved off, and when that happens, you do have the ability,
24:37
Speaker 1: I think, to expose them. I think the Clippers are great.
24:39
Speaker 1: I absolutely think there's value and probably betting them to
24:42
Speaker 1: win the title. I do not think that they are
24:44
Speaker 1: as good as everybody has said, we've got reports of
24:46
Speaker 1: chemistry issues with that team, that they don't like each other.
24:50
Speaker 1: That was the feeling I got when I saw them
24:51
Speaker 1: in Denver, is like this team just kind of is
24:53
Speaker 1: They're like, they're just kind of dudes that are happened
24:55
Speaker 1: to be working together. Kauai is not proven to be
24:57
Speaker 1: a great leader. And yes, Kauai was amazing last season.
25:00
Speaker 1: He's also get a long history of injury problems that
25:03
Speaker 1: continue this season and popped up last year. That Raptors
25:07
Speaker 1: run was incredible, It was amazing. It was a once
25:09
Speaker 1: in a lifetime story. But I like the overall strength
25:11
Speaker 1: of some of these teams versus the Clippers. Before we
25:14
Speaker 1: get to another thing in the NBA, let's go to
25:17
Speaker 1: Josh Perry, our very own secret weapon, who has won
25:20
Speaker 1: three bets on the Corn Ferry Tour, the development league
25:24
Speaker 1: for the p g A. He has been on fire.
25:27
Speaker 1: He's going to tell us how he's doing it. So
25:30
Speaker 1: for me, golf betting is more of a marathon. With
25:33
Speaker 1: the PGA Tour, there's not really an off season. They
25:35
Speaker 1: have a couple of weeks in December, but outside of that,
25:37
Speaker 1: it's basically every single week I don't really dabble too
25:40
Speaker 1: much with the other sports, not really doing a whole
25:42
Speaker 1: lot of NBA or NFL betting. It's really just golf.
25:46
Speaker 1: With that, it's really important just to not get too
25:49
Speaker 1: invested in any event or anyone tournament or anyone player.
25:53
Speaker 1: You're always just looking for the values on the board.
25:55
Speaker 1: It's it's more about playing numbers and site shopping around
25:59
Speaker 1: finding the best odds. With other sports, you're looking for
26:01
Speaker 1: a half point here, a half point there. With golf,
26:04
Speaker 1: you could find a guy who's fifty two one at
26:05
Speaker 1: one book, eighty two one in another book. It's important
26:08
Speaker 1: to to really do your shopping around with that sort
26:11
Speaker 1: of stuff. It's about finding those values and not straying
26:15
Speaker 1: too far, not getting overly invested. If you hit a
26:18
Speaker 1: forty two one bet at the Masters, it's going to
26:20
Speaker 1: pay you the same as a forty one bet at
26:23
Speaker 1: the Houston Open, Like they all they all pay the
26:25
Speaker 1: same For me. I kind of have it all balanced
26:26
Speaker 1: out that way. Balance is key and just giving yourself
26:30
Speaker 1: a chance there and if and if everything goes right
26:32
Speaker 1: on a Sunday and and guys get hot and make
26:34
Speaker 1: a few putts, and then we have a chance over
26:36
Speaker 1: the long haul to pull out a few winners there
26:38
Speaker 1: and hopefully come out ahead. All right, we are back.
26:43
Speaker 1: Let's do another thing, another thing justin fan worldwide Web.
26:51
Speaker 1: That more. Here's something that's both annoying me that I'm
26:54
Speaker 1: kind of getting over, but I'm annoyed about mostly Zion
26:58
Speaker 1: is gonna win Rookie of the Year and has been
27:00
Speaker 1: a great value bet and he's played ten games, but
27:03
Speaker 1: he's been the second coming and I so want John
27:05
Speaker 1: Maretta to win it because I think that your ability
27:08
Speaker 1: to play the entire season shouldn't matter. Justin Fan, Am
27:12
Speaker 1: I wrong to care about this? Yes, you're dead wrong,
27:15
Speaker 1: because I think Dion is pretty much drawing dead at
27:17
Speaker 1: this point, and we thought we have president for this.
27:19
Speaker 1: Actually because you look at the two thou seventeen, the
27:22
Speaker 1: year it's with Joel embiat he played thirty one games,
27:24
Speaker 1: and this Rookie of the Year competition, it's pretty straightforward
27:27
Speaker 1: like you had a point rebounds in the sists and
27:30
Speaker 1: that's pretty much whoever has the most total in terms
27:33
Speaker 1: of the average usually wins in a given year. And
27:35
Speaker 1: in two thousand seventeen, Joel Embiide almost had double the
27:39
Speaker 1: combined point three bounds and assist as Malcolm Brodden did
27:43
Speaker 1: and Brodsdon still want to and beat finished third. Zion
27:46
Speaker 1: is gonna play thirty four games in MAX this year.
27:48
Speaker 1: He's played ten. The Pelicans have twenty five less, including
27:52
Speaker 1: three back to backs, which will fit very comfortable. Zon
27:55
Speaker 1: thirty four this year and be thirty one UM in
27:58
Speaker 1: two thousand and seventeen. Lost in all of this is
28:02
Speaker 1: I think there's this is just a massive John Morant disrespect.
28:06
Speaker 1: This isn't Malcolm Brogden here where he's a placeholder, where
28:09
Speaker 1: he's in first just because he's playing most of the season.
28:12
Speaker 1: He was pretty close, I would say, to being an
28:16
Speaker 1: on on the All Star team this year. He wasn't
28:18
Speaker 1: a Devin Booker level snub. He wasn't there with Paul
28:21
Speaker 1: George and Comsley Town. But you added, you know, four
28:24
Speaker 1: or five more spots and he's right there. He's in
28:26
Speaker 1: the conversation. That's how good a season he's having. And
28:30
Speaker 1: for a point guard to come in right away to
28:32
Speaker 1: position with the biggest learning curve by far out of
28:36
Speaker 1: the five, to have this type of season right away
28:39
Speaker 1: is extremely impressive. I mean, we've seen these obviously these
28:42
Speaker 1: thirty plus point games from Zion. John mar just had
28:45
Speaker 1: a triple double recently just before the Ofstar Break, so um,
28:48
Speaker 1: I think this one is pretty much shut and closed.
28:51
Speaker 1: John Moran would happen missed I think most of the
28:53
Speaker 1: second half for this one to become close. What what
28:57
Speaker 1: do you think? What sports book do you place your
28:59
Speaker 1: act China Chad? I placed it at many, but points
29:03
Speaker 1: bed is one of the ones that I use well
29:06
Speaker 1: in this case, I would like you to skip go
29:08
Speaker 1: into points back because I would like to take your
29:10
Speaker 1: action on this. I cannot believe the words that came
29:13
Speaker 1: out of your mouth after you said favorite to win.
29:16
Speaker 1: How is the answer not John Morant. Justin brought up
29:20
Speaker 1: all the all the statistics and precedent as to why
29:23
Speaker 1: like John Morant is it's aggressive to say he's better
29:27
Speaker 1: right now. But John Morant is hands down going to
29:30
Speaker 1: be Rookie of the Year. And the one thing Justin
29:32
Speaker 1: forgot in that explanation was the Grizzlies are gonna be
29:35
Speaker 1: in the playoffs like they're a good team. They're above
29:37
Speaker 1: five hundred and Zion plays on gentry ball. Pelicans seven
29:41
Speaker 1: and a half games back and a part of the
29:43
Speaker 1: reason why Zion stats are so inflated is because gentry
29:46
Speaker 1: ball preaches no defense whatsoever. Every score is a hundred
29:50
Speaker 1: and thirty five to a hundred and thirty eight in
29:52
Speaker 1: the favor of the other team. So of course, when
29:55
Speaker 1: you score a hundred and thirty five points, every player
29:57
Speaker 1: on the team is gonna put up twenty and seven.
30:00
Speaker 1: So job being a point guard, his usage is going
30:03
Speaker 1: to continue to remain through the roof because the balls
30:06
Speaker 1: in his hands, he's the most talented player on the floor,
30:09
Speaker 1: and once again, his team is actually good. That man
30:12
Speaker 1: is gonna win Rookie of the Year pending a suspension
30:15
Speaker 1: or drastic injury. Well, listen, I love that you're steamed
30:18
Speaker 1: about it, and I am too, like I'm annoyed that
30:20
Speaker 1: there's even a conversation that Zion Williamson is going to
30:23
Speaker 1: be in contention for Rookie of the Year. I agree
30:25
Speaker 1: with you that John Morant should get it, that he's
30:28
Speaker 1: earned it, that he deserves it, that he's a phenomenal player.
30:31
Speaker 1: Matt Moore, are you going to take the other side?
30:33
Speaker 1: Are you gonna pile on? So I just want to
30:35
Speaker 1: stay upfront that I agree with absolutely everything that fans said,
30:37
Speaker 1: I will make you the argument just for the stake
30:40
Speaker 1: of of this podcast, because I do have the argument. Okay,
30:43
Speaker 1: Memphis faces the number one toughest strength of schedule down
30:47
Speaker 1: the stretch for the last thirty games. They have the
30:49
Speaker 1: toughest strength of schedule. Okay, they're gonna face better defenses.
30:54
Speaker 1: Jaw is probably gonna get hit with a couple of
30:56
Speaker 1: tough games. He's an injury risk to a certain degree
30:59
Speaker 1: because no yer I've ever seen lands as scary as
31:02
Speaker 1: he does. He literally like makes me like grab my
31:05
Speaker 1: chest with fear for him when he lands. It's terrifying.
31:08
Speaker 1: Zion is averaging twenty two points in twenty seven minutes
31:12
Speaker 1: per game, with a minute restriction for some of that.
31:14
Speaker 1: He's also averaging eight boards to assist, shooting fifty eight
31:18
Speaker 1: percent from the field percent from three, the most that's
31:21
Speaker 1: inflated from his first game and the mediocre from the line.
31:25
Speaker 1: The Pelicans have the thirtieth rank strength of schedule. They
31:28
Speaker 1: have the easiest schedule from here on out. There's a
31:31
Speaker 1: reason why five thirty eight predicts them to make the playoffs.
31:34
Speaker 1: You have to think about these things in terms of
31:36
Speaker 1: the voter block. Don't get caught up and who should win,
31:38
Speaker 1: that doesn't matter. You have to put yourself in the
31:40
Speaker 1: minds of the voters. The voting block is made up
31:42
Speaker 1: of analysts, TV personalities, and beat writer reporters. The analysts
31:47
Speaker 1: are gonna vote John. He's getting that chunk of votes
31:50
Speaker 1: that's probably thirty percent of the electorate. The other like
31:54
Speaker 1: se is probably going to be pretty split. If Zion
31:59
Speaker 1: continue is this pace, the beat writers will go for
32:02
Speaker 1: narrative and the TV guys will go for who's on
32:05
Speaker 1: national TV more and Zions on national television more. If
32:09
Speaker 1: he gets them into the playoffs and the Grizzlies fall
32:12
Speaker 1: out and he winds up averaging twenty five and eight
32:17
Speaker 1: and the Grizzlies sliped a little bit and Jaw slips
32:19
Speaker 1: a little bit, there are gonna be a people that
32:22
Speaker 1: will at least start getting into the vote totals and
32:24
Speaker 1: it might wind up getting chopped off. There is an
32:26
Speaker 1: argument to me that because the number is high enough
32:29
Speaker 1: for the guy that was the presumptive number one winner,
32:32
Speaker 1: there's probably maybe you can argue a little bit of
32:35
Speaker 1: value on this Matt that is so well thought out,
32:40
Speaker 1: so elegantly detailed. If that happens, I'm gonna be so irritated.
32:47
Speaker 1: It's like, I don't know why this thing is sticking
32:48
Speaker 1: in my cross, the whole idea that this guy can
32:51
Speaker 1: come in and play thirty four games, When John Morant
32:54
Speaker 1: is playing like Iverson, like he has thrown his body
32:56
Speaker 1: at the room just recklessly, I actually worry abou out it.
33:00
Speaker 1: And I actually I actually worry that like Zion and
33:02
Speaker 1: John Moran are two of the more dynamic players we've
33:04
Speaker 1: had entered the league in a long time, and Jile
33:08
Speaker 1: looks like he's so brittle he's not gonna last more
33:10
Speaker 1: than three years. And Zion looks like he's sort of
33:14
Speaker 1: too heavy for his body, and I'm worried that he's
33:16
Speaker 1: just gonna like his tendons are gonna tear from the
33:18
Speaker 1: rest of his bones. And like I worry about all
33:20
Speaker 1: this stuff, But if John Moran doesn't win this Rookie
33:23
Speaker 1: of the Year award, I'm gonna be supremely angry about it.
33:27
Speaker 1: You all stayed quiet because you're all seething in anger,
33:30
Speaker 1: as a lot of fans are. I want to do
33:32
Speaker 1: one more, one more segment before we get to our
33:34
Speaker 1: final segment with our panelists, which is gonna be fan trivia.
33:38
Speaker 1: We have a fan on the line, a long time
33:40
Speaker 1: fan of the podcast, has a trivia question about bet
33:43
Speaker 1: in the NBA. He's gonna ask our panelists. He's gonna
33:45
Speaker 1: stump them. But first, in a regular segment for the Favorites,
33:49
Speaker 1: I asked Matt Mitchell, our intrepred producer who lives in Milwaukee,
33:52
Speaker 1: to go into the hearts of the Midwestern streets and
33:56
Speaker 1: ask fans what they think of how baseball is handling
34:00
Speaker 1: punishment of the Houston Astros in the sign stealing scandal. Matt,
34:04
Speaker 1: take it away. We've heard from gambling experts, but what
34:10
Speaker 1: about everybody else. Let's talk with totally normal Midwestern idiots.
34:17
Speaker 1: Are you familiar with the astros cheating scandal. I am
34:19
Speaker 1: familiar with the astros cheating scandal. Yes, What do you
34:22
Speaker 1: think of the punishment they received? Have they even been punished?
34:25
Speaker 1: It doesn't seem like they really unpunished at all. If
34:27
Speaker 1: you could punish on what would you do. I don't
34:29
Speaker 1: know if taking ay of the world series is too much,
34:31
Speaker 1: but more than they've been punished, I think I feel
34:34
Speaker 1: as though you can't really take away they're ringing their championship.
34:39
Speaker 1: But as a man and as a man with pride
34:42
Speaker 1: and honor, you're always gonna have that tarnish on your name.
34:45
Speaker 1: It's the same ages in fact, like did you really
34:48
Speaker 1: win it? Fair and square? And that's always gonna be
34:51
Speaker 1: on your record. It's always going to be that you
34:52
Speaker 1: know that one thing that you got it, but you
34:55
Speaker 1: really didn't. If somebody cheated like this at your at
34:57
Speaker 1: your job, how would you punish them? How would I punished? Well,
35:00
Speaker 1: I'm not a manager. I think it's just disgusting. You
35:04
Speaker 1: don't feel like they were properly punished. No being miked
35:07
Speaker 1: up in the signs and how that's just gross that
35:10
Speaker 1: everyone was involved. If somebody did this at your job,
35:13
Speaker 1: they all have to be fired. What is a fair
35:16
Speaker 1: punishment for players that cheat like that? Players that cheat
35:19
Speaker 1: like that should be fined and should be fired. If
35:22
Speaker 1: somebody cheated like that at your job, what would be
35:24
Speaker 1: a fair punishment? A fair punishment will be termination and
35:27
Speaker 1: cutting a methodist cutting cutting off their hands, cutting off
35:32
Speaker 1: their hands. They can't steal anymore if they do that.
35:37
Speaker 1: All right, it's time for our weekly favorite trivia challenge
35:41
Speaker 1: on the phone. Longtime listener host of the Syndicates podcast
35:46
Speaker 1: inspired by the Favorite podcast. One of the original members
35:50
Speaker 1: of our syndicate from Upstate New York, Mr Eddie Zamidas Eddie,
35:56
Speaker 1: how you doing, buddy? I'm doing well, are you? I'm good.
35:59
Speaker 1: It's good to catch up with you again. As soon
36:01
Speaker 1: as I sent out in a tweet a couple of
36:03
Speaker 1: weeks ago asking for trivia questions, you wait in quickly.
36:06
Speaker 1: So I didn't even send one this week because I
36:08
Speaker 1: was so sure you would have a good trivia question.
36:11
Speaker 1: You have a trivia question that you think can stump us.
36:15
Speaker 1: Let's hear what you got. For the two thousand nineteen
36:18
Speaker 1: two thousand twenty NBA regular season, there are two teams
36:23
Speaker 1: with a perfect record against the spread as a road favorite.
36:28
Speaker 1: Name one of those two teams, justin fan, you can
36:32
Speaker 1: go first. Let me think I'm gonna say this thunder
36:36
Speaker 1: Worldwide Web. You're up next. We get two guesses, right,
36:40
Speaker 1: two guesses, Guess one of the two teams, Memphis Grizzlies
36:43
Speaker 1: in Orlando Magic, Interesting, Interesting, Matt Moore, the New York Knicks,
36:49
Speaker 1: and the Charlotte Hornets. Okay, I'm gonna go to I'm
36:53
Speaker 1: gonna go with the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers.
37:01
Speaker 1: It is midas did any of us win? There is
37:03
Speaker 1: a winner? Matt Moore, did you google that? I swear
37:07
Speaker 1: to god I didn't. Hand to god, it did not.
37:10
Speaker 1: Matt Moore, how did you think about it? What are
37:11
Speaker 1: you trying to figure out? It has to be a
37:13
Speaker 1: team that hasn't been a road favorite much. It could
37:15
Speaker 1: not be the Pacers when they're gonna be favorite versus
37:18
Speaker 1: all the bad teams and they're gonna have high lines.
37:20
Speaker 1: It had to be teams that are only gonna be favorites,
37:23
Speaker 1: like a few times the Knicks one in a quote
37:26
Speaker 1: unquote road game in Brooklyn, And that was what kind
37:30
Speaker 1: of like led me to them, as I was like,
37:31
Speaker 1: I bet they've only been a favorite like two or
37:33
Speaker 1: three times. The Hornets are never gonna be favored, and
37:37
Speaker 1: the Hornets have been were really good against the spread,
37:39
Speaker 1: especially early in the season. So that was why I
37:41
Speaker 1: went with those two teams, which one one both of them,
37:45
Speaker 1: you hit both of them. I was like, That's why
37:47
Speaker 1: I was. I was so confused. I'm like, there's no
37:49
Speaker 1: way he got this without looking it up. I swear
37:52
Speaker 1: four and against the spread for the Knicks has a
37:54
Speaker 1: road favorite in the Hornets. Yeah, they're want to know
37:56
Speaker 1: against the spread as a road favorite. So small example,
37:59
Speaker 1: size of the exact What was the key to this answer?
38:02
Speaker 1: That was phenomenal. I was trying to use your theory.
38:04
Speaker 1: That's why I actually chose the Pacers. When you said
38:07
Speaker 1: the Knicks and the Hornets, I honestly thought, like, Oh,
38:10
Speaker 1: he doesn't care. He's given up, Like he's just like
38:12
Speaker 1: throwing things against the wall. Now you gotta go with
38:15
Speaker 1: the teams. I've only done it a few times. If
38:16
Speaker 1: you're like, if you're a roach favorite, like, it's that
38:18
Speaker 1: that's a hard situation to cover. That is too too good.
38:23
Speaker 1: Now it's time for this week in gambling notes. I
38:27
Speaker 1: like to call it twig notes. If it sounds familiar
38:30
Speaker 1: to anybody at a certain age, it's because I totally
38:33
Speaker 1: stole it and appropriately. We'll start with baseball. Baseball Commissioner
38:39
Speaker 1: Rob Manfred this week continued his disastrous run as commissioner.
38:45
Speaker 1: How he has managed the Houston Astro signs dealing. He
38:48
Speaker 1: has just gotten worse and worse. This week, in interview
38:51
Speaker 1: with ESPN, he said two things that stood out. One
38:54
Speaker 1: he said that he didn't have to punish the Astros
38:57
Speaker 1: because fans, We're gonna humiliate them so much, it didn't
39:01
Speaker 1: matter what their punishment was from the league. So essentially
39:03
Speaker 1: he's saying, hey, I'm going to abdicate responsibility to the fans.
39:07
Speaker 1: Number two, he said, it doesn't matter if he stripped
39:10
Speaker 1: them of their World Series because the trophy is just
39:14
Speaker 1: a piece of metal. Not surprisingly, Justin Turner of the
39:18
Speaker 1: Dodgers said, I don't know if he's ever won anything
39:22
Speaker 1: his entire life. Not mentioned in any of this the
39:26
Speaker 1: betters who lost when they bet on the Dodgers, and
39:29
Speaker 1: the Dodgers themselves, no remorse for them from Rob Manfred. Meanwhile,
39:35
Speaker 1: in Europe, UEFA has banned perennial power Manchester City from
39:40
Speaker 1: play in the next two Champions League tournaments. The reason
39:45
Speaker 1: violating financial fair play rules. Take a lesson, Rob Manfred.
39:51
Speaker 1: That is how you punish a team that doesn't play
39:55
Speaker 1: by the rules in other courts. If you're confused by
39:59
Speaker 1: this year is college hoops season, You're not alone. North
40:02
Speaker 1: Carolina is now a permanent fade and Roy Williams is
40:04
Speaker 1: on pace to win fewer than twenty games for the
40:07
Speaker 1: third time in his career, the other two his first
40:10
Speaker 1: year in Kansas and his first year at North Carolina. Meanwhile,
40:14
Speaker 1: the best teams in the country are Baylor Gonzaga both
40:18
Speaker 1: attend to want to win the title San Diego State
40:21
Speaker 1: at twenty to one. And who is the odds on
40:23
Speaker 1: fave to win the Wooden Award A six nine forward
40:27
Speaker 1: from Dayton named Obie. This is not Zion Williamson's n
40:32
Speaker 1: C double A. Finally, this Weekend Gambling Pictures and Catchers
40:37
Speaker 1: reported last week. For some that means renewed hope and opportunity.
40:40
Speaker 1: For others, it means future values. A boat loan of
40:45
Speaker 1: Action Network's finest last year had been Mats at long odds.
40:49
Speaker 1: They cashed quite a bit this year, sensing a lot
40:53
Speaker 1: of enthusiasm for the Reds at fifty one. If you
40:57
Speaker 1: need more details, listened to the latest Action Network podcast
41:01
Speaker 1: previewing the National League. Personally, I'm rooting for the Dodgers.
41:07
Speaker 1: They deserve to get their hands um some hardware. This
41:11
Speaker 1: has been twig notes. That'll do it for this episode
41:17
Speaker 1: of the Favorites. My thanks to Justin Fan, Rob Perez,
41:21
Speaker 1: Matt Moore for joining us as panelists. My thanks to
41:24
Speaker 1: Eddie Zemitas trivia Challenge fan calling in before we go.
41:30
Speaker 1: I think we need to check in with Action Network
41:33
Speaker 1: CEO Patrick Keene. I'm always curious to know what my
41:37
Speaker 1: boss thought of the work his content team put together.
41:43
Speaker 1: I don't know what you to Paulo's amateur bullt trap?
41:45
Speaker 1: All right? Do you hear? Babe? Do you understand? By
41:48
Speaker 1: all right? That is officially our show. Thank you for listening.
41:52
Speaker 1: Download from iTunes, from Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.
41:57
Speaker 1: Until next time, Help you