Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / Mavericks vs. Celtics NBA Finals is Inevitable

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Mavericks vs. Celtics NBA Finals is Inevitable · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:00
SPEAKER_00: I thought he deserves to be all in.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: But it being his team does not make sense to me at all.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: Tatum as a playmaker, it's like triple the player.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: Jason Tatum is just a better player.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Kenny Beach and podcast.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: And I mean that, man.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk at the end of the show of where I've been and kind of break some things down for y'all, but we gotta talk about the conference finals.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: Both of these series look like they might be gearing up for a sweep.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: I didn't expect that in either series.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be honest with you.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about it.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: I need you to leave a like.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: I need you to subscribe and tell a friend to tell a friend to tune into the Kenny Beach and podcast when it's dropping.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to pitch to new people to tune into the show when I've been as inconsistent as I have been, but tell them, tell them that I drop episodes sometimes.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: And if they need another MBA opinion, I might be that guy.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: I want to start off with the Dallas Mavericks Minnesota Timbull series because that's the one that's fresh in my mind.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: And no, I don't really want to go into the X's and O's of the things that we saw in game number three.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: I already uploaded a video on the Kenny for Real channel, kind of giving my initial reactions to this one.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I kind of want to go bigger picture in a lot of these things.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, I saw a tweet right before I hit record from our guy, Nikaias Duncan from the Dunker spot.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: And basically, this tweet talked about Luka Dontich and how he is a player that you cannot scheme for.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: He's an unschemable superstar.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: And it had me thinking, how many players have I seen in my lifetime that I can say that there's not anything you can do schematically to stop them?
1:44
SPEAKER_00: I mean, some people might look at the last series, right, with the OKC Thunder and say, hey, OKC kind of figured out the Carrie Irv and Luka Donchis thing.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: It just so happened that PJ Washington turned into Klay Thompson and Darrell Jones Jr.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: turned into Kevin Durant for a couple games.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: And that's why we lost the series.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's true.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's not.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Luka Doncic was definitely really injured in that one.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: Some people might think that he wasn't, but I honestly do believe that he was going through a lot.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: And I think that that little break that, I mean, and I mean little break that they had between that series and this series might have been enough for him to get completely healthy.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: I feel like the times that we see Luka Doncic have a bad game, it's mostly based on him missing shots rather than the opposing team really making it super difficult for him.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: In this series, so far, in this 3-0 series that they're ahead of, again, it is so mind-blowing that they're up 3-0 right now, considering all these games have been close.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: This last one ended up being a nine-point game, but it was a lot closer than that for the majority of it.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: No matter what Minnesota decided to do, Luca Dontis found a way to take advantage of it.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: And that is just such a rare thing.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, or most of the series, the idea was to play drop coverage.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: Y'all have been watching, you know that that is a bad, bad idea.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: Hell, Stan Van Gundy has been talking about it nonstop for basically three games of how much he hates to drop coverage, especially because Luca Dante is such a great decision maker that if you play that drop coverage and nobody tags the role man, then hell, it is a live for Daniel Gaffer.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: It is a lob for uh Derrick Lively.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: Not many lobs for Dwight Powell.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: I guess we got to talk about the Derek Lively injury later in the episode.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, so hey, you cannot really play drop.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: So let's bring him up to the point of attack, huh?
3:20
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's go ahead and blitz Luka Doncic.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: Well, Luka Doncic was the most blitzed player in the regular season.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: This is something that most teams have decided is the best way to get the ball out of Luka Donci's hand.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: Because in my mind, when I think about blitz coverage, and I am not this NBA savant or basketball savant, hell, my highest playing experience is a couple years of high school, right?
3:37
SPEAKER_00: I ain't gonna act like I got to eat D1, D2, D3, or hell, I ain't never make varsity.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: I also didn't try out for varsity, though.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: So who would have known?
3:46
SPEAKER_00: Who would have known what would have happened with this 5'7 shooting guard?
3:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, when I think about blitzing, though, it's it's not to stop the offense.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: It's not to eliminate anything other than the person with the ball.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: Blitzing, hey, you got four different arms your way, four different eyes, and these are NBA bodies.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: Force the ball out of Luka Donce's hands.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: 28 other teams of basketball decided no matter what happens, that that is significantly uh less scary than having Luca Doncez have the ball.
4:14
SPEAKER_00: But in this series, Minnesota's been kind of going away from that.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: They don't really like the idea of that.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: And partially is because PJ Washington and Derrick Jones Jr.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: in the last series were lights out.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: You can definitely see in game number one that the idea was to let Luka Doncic slash Carrie Irvin do what they can do, but eliminate everything else.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: The problem with that is when you let Luka Doncic do what he wants to do, that means that that pick and roll, that roll man, is also having a phenomenal game.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's we can make the tier list.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: We can, we may maybe one day we'll do it.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: One of the best pick and roll players ever.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Like full, like complete hard stop.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: One of the best pick and roll players ever.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: So they decided, you know what, back to the drawing board.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: We can't let Luka Donchis get a full head of steam because even when we thought we defended the road man very well, and we did get some tags on him, or Rudy Gobert dropped completely, it was Jaden McDaniels in jail on his back, and then boom, floater, boom, uh seven-foot to ten-foot jump shot.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: So, okay, let's start to mix in some blitzes here and there.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, here's a blitz.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm Luka Donciz.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
5:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna sit on the wing, I'm gonna let Carrie Irvin do it, and I want to watch how they guard Carrie Irvin.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: Are they blitzing Carrie Irvin?
5:31
SPEAKER_00: Kyrie, go to work.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: Carrie Irvin is so fast that the four-time DPOI Rudy Gobert cannot keep up on the perimeter.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: So Kyrie Irvin is driving right around this man and get into the basket for a lay or get into the basket for a dump off.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: And now that puts a little bit more fear in Finch's mind and Mike O'Nori's mind that we can't be blitzing because, well, Rudy Gobert can't stop the edge of the blitz.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: So it's right back to drop coverage.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: But now in game number three, it's drop coverage with a tag from the defender that is on the wing.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: And guess what happened?
6:08
SPEAKER_00: Carrie Irvin has been great, man.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: I know he's had these stretches where he decides he doesn't want to score the basketball for a whole quarter or two.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: In this game, there were two back, maybe three possessions.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: And two of them, I was again so very impressed with Carrie Irvin.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: And this is not anything new.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: Carrie Irvin is that good of a basketball player.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: Like he was voted NBA 75 before he wasn't.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: And hell, I mean, he's he's a future Hall of Famer.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: They decided they're gonna play, they're gonna play drop coverage on Carrie Irvin on one of these.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: And what did Carrie Irvin do?
6:42
SPEAKER_00: He got to the elbow extended, hit a nice mid-range jump shot.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: That's basically a layup for Carrie Irvin.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Next time down, they decide to blitz him.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: And what did Carrie Irvin do?
6:52
SPEAKER_00: Get right past his defender and Rudy Gobert.
6:55
SPEAKER_00: Didn't end in the bucket, but got a good look on it.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: Third time around, they say, hey, we're gonna play drop coverage again.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: Luka Doncic is on the left wing, and guess what we're gonna do?
7:03
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have Jaden McDaniels try to tag over to be the second defender.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: And what did Kyrie do?
7:09
SPEAKER_00: He passed it off to Luka Doncic.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: And Luka Doncic took a catch-and-shoot jumper.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: I ain't got the numbers.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: I promise you, I ain't got the numbers.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: Luca has to be the lowest volume catch-and-shoot player in basketball.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm exaggerating.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: But Luca is a guy that needs that dribble or wants that dribble, likes that dribble.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: And this one, he hit two catch-and-shoot threes.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Whoa.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: Both off Carrie Irvin passes.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: So what are you supposed to do?
7:36
SPEAKER_00: Offensively, there's been a lot of conversation about this backcourt being the best offensive backcourt tandem in history.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: I can't go that far.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: I would have to go do a little bit more research to say in history, but in recent history, I can I can see you having that argument.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Now, there are some people that would definitely be in that conversation, I would say, but the teams that I'm thinking, majority of them didn't get to one game away from being in the conference finals.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: So maybe.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: I also want to clear up the air on something that happened on numbers on the board a month and a half ago, right?
8:10
SPEAKER_00: In that episode, because it keeps it keeps following me.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: In that episode, we did ranking the top duos in basketball, right?
8:18
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's that's what we do on numbers on the board.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: We gotta have a catch, we gotta have a get for you to click the video.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: And in that video, I mean I explicitly said, but people don't care because it got aggregated.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: It got aggregated, which again, whatever, whatever.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: We said that what you do in the future, what you've done in the past before the season does not matter.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: We're grading your duo on the first 40-something games of the season.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: And through the first 40-something games of the season, the Luka Dontage Carrie Irvin duo for me was 11th.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, throw your tomatoes, throw your tomatoes.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: But in that point in time, these two dudes weren't playing that well together.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: They just weren't.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: Together, they were a 500 backcourt.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: I looked at all the stats, I watched all the film, but now they've grown together.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: And I think part of that is that they just have more players that are good at basketball.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: Simply put, it doesn't like we've seen them win games in his playoffs where it wasn't a Luka Doncic game.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: We've seen them win games in his playoffs where Carrie Irvin had single-digit shot attempts.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: So I'm clearing up the air.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: I I didn't pre- I wasn't projecting that they would always be 11th, but through the first 40-something games, hey, I'll stand on that.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: Through the first 40-something games, I don't feel bad about having him as the 11th best duo.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: Because the numbers and the I test said that's what I anyway.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: Now you make that same list.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: Where do they go?
9:44
SPEAKER_00: Um Unschemable superstar.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: Back back to the original point from Nikai's Duncan.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Nikaias for really giving us this thought experiment.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think that's as real as it can really get.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And I think about players in basketball right now, and I'm gonna pull this up.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: Y'all know I got I got notes, but hell, none of them notes matter right now.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, and and the way I always go to it is like NBA top players in basketball, right?
10:07
SPEAKER_00: How many, um, NBA top players, how many of these players do I deem to be unschemable?
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Unschemable.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: Because you're not only is it this run, because Luka Donchett's throughout all of his playoff runs, I feel the exact same way.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: Like, of course, he's never he's never got past the conference, but again, this is a second conference appearance in three three years.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: But like in that series, the two series versus the Clippers, hell, he was unguardable.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: It just so happened that he didn't have much help.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, and in a series after that, the the two series after that, I still feel the same way.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Like, again, I don't, and I don't want me people to misinterpret unschemable, which again is not really a word.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but you understand the sentiment.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean that you can't have a bad game or two.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: It's not that it's not what that means.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: But it's I think Luka Doncic is one of those players that is gonna take what you give him and he's gonna kill you there.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: And then he's gonna take the things that you want on top of it.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: So let's let's go through this list.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: I think Nikole Jokic is an unschemable NBA player.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: I know that they lost the last series, and he had two games in that series where he was not very great.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, so wait a minute.
11:16
SPEAKER_00: Let me think this through.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: Because in those two games, I would argue that the Minnesota Timbs schemed him very well.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: Again, seven-game series on the two of them ended up being stinkers.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: But you think about those two games.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: In those two games, he shot the most amount of three-pointers he's ever in the season.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: 10 three-pointers and nine three-pointers.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: That's not the Nicole Jokic game.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: So they took him out of his normal rhythm.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: Does that make him unschemable?
11:40
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're gonna put it, we're gonna put an ask just next to Jokic, because I think 99% of the time he's unschemable.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: But again, that that last series might tell you that maybe that's not the case.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: Again, Luka Donce is the guy.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: Giannis, hmm.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: Can I say I miss watching Giannis play basketball?
11:55
SPEAKER_00: Can I say that?
11:56
SPEAKER_00: I just want that to be very apparent.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: Is Giannis an unschemable basketball player?
12:01
SPEAKER_00: I feel as though he's high on the list, but I probably wouldn't go completely, completely unschemable.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
12:09
SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm trying to think of situations or different series or different uh moments in time.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: Like with the Jokic one, again, I remember off the top of my mind because that just happened two weeks ago.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Let me let me go back to some of these previous series, um, this this series versus Miami.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: But I I ooh, wow.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: I gotta go watch the tape.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: He averaged 23, 11, and 5 in that series.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: He only played three games.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: Again, one of those games he was injured.
12:33
SPEAKER_00: He injured himself through it.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: So these numbers are pretty skewed.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: But even that series against Boston, where they ended up going seven, I thought he had a phenomenal series.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: He averaged 34-15 on great efficiency.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't remember what his game seven was.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: The game seven, oh my God, that's the Grant Williams game.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: We'll never forget it.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: He had 25 and he shot 30% from the field.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: Shea Gears Alexander, is he unschemable?
12:56
SPEAKER_00: I honestly think in that last series versus Luka Donces, because Luka Donces was laboring for a lot of the series, Shay was the best player in that series.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: Now, Lucas is the best player overall, but in that specific, what was it, six-game series?
13:10
SPEAKER_00: I think Shay outplayed everybody else on the court.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: He had complete takeover moments in fourth quarters.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: It might be too worried to say on Shay, we're only talking about one playoff appearance while like Giannis, Yoke, and and Luca all have multiple, multiple years of playoff runs that we can can pull from.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: And Shay basically has two playoff series collectively.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: Joel Embiid, I think, hmm, wow.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: This, this, Nikaias, you got me thinking, my boy.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: You got me thinking.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't think Joel Embiid is completely unschemable.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: He's high on the list, though, but I don't think he, I don't, mmm, hmm.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: And as the lower I go down, the harder it is to find somebody.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: Like Curry has a Curry has a chance to be up here.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: Where I honestly do believe that a lot of the bad Curry games that we get is him missing shots, where other teams will make it tough on him.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: Do not get me wrong, but with him being the best off movement player ever, that sometimes is literally just him missing shots.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, and sometimes I feel like when you have a team that don't have as many options, that it's just like Steph Curry probably just played his toughest season of his NBA, his superstar NBA career, because again, early in his career, you know, the ankle injuries and stuff like that.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: And even with that, he averaged 26 on 40% three-point shooting, where every team was really gearing up on him every single game because nobody else was a threat, and he still averaged 26 on 40% shooting.
14:36
SPEAKER_00: This is so very interesting.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: This is an interesting thought experiment.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
14:39
SPEAKER_00: I'll keep the I'll keep the door open for y'all.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: Y'all let me know.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: Here's some other names that probably you should consider.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: Kevin Art, is he completely unschemable?
14:46
SPEAKER_00: Can you somehow take Kevin Art out of multiple games in a row?
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, and Anthony Davis, would you consider him unschemable?
14:52
SPEAKER_00: Because I think this season he was phenomenal.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: Um and even in the playoffs, even though he had a couple quarters where he did not touch the ball, it felt like there are people.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: Now, LeBron James, maybe not so much, even though he also had a phenomenal playoff.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but it's just a it's a very good conversation, nonetheless.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, I want to talk about the Minnesota Timbull side of this, though, because where they were riding high.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, going into this, they were a minus 185 in the series.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: So they were the favorite, but not like a super heavy favorite, but a favorite nonetheless in this one.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people saw them as a favorite.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: Hell, I picked them to win this series.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: I thought what they did in the last series showed me that this team was ready to potentially go to an NBA Finals.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: And one thing I probably should have thought about before I made my prediction is they didn't necessarily look great over the last couple games of that series.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: You had to run in the fourth quarter of game number seven or the second half in general, where they held the Denver Nuggets to 39 points or 37 points or so.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, that was great.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: But other than that, it was somewhat of a tough ride.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: And that's how you get to the point where they ended up um losing three games in a row.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: Now I know they won the last two, but losing three games in a row.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: So maybe I should have saw the writing on the wall.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: But again, this is hindsight, whatever, whatever.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it has not, it has not been pretty.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of this is because they've come back down to earth on a lot of different things.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: First of all, can I say that there was a play in this game that I don't think I will ever, ever forget?
16:23
SPEAKER_00: And it's no, it's not the Anthony Average dunk.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: It's not the Luca Dante step back where he probably was fouled by uh or the lively busting his head open.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: Nikhil Alexander Walker got the ball with 1.7 seconds left on the shot clock and shot a left-handed three-pointer.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: And it didn't look bad.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: Now, I know these are the great, some of the greatest athletes in the world, and I know for sure that those dudes practice with both hands just because they be bored.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: Hell, when I was in high school, I used to practice shooting with my right hand.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: That's probably why my left hand still ain't no damn good.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it it was so surprising, and part of that was they got a really, really good closeout from Derrick Jones Jr.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: from the right side.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: So in the split second, he decided to shift it to his left hand.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: And again, I will never forget that.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, they've come back down to earth where a guy like Nahil Alexander Walker, who was very, very good over the first series and change, is not good anymore offensively.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: He has not been able to hit his shots.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: Or the clutch offense in the first two series was the number one clutch offense in basketball.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: They had a 186 offensive rating in the clutch through the first two series.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: Now, granted, the first two series, they didn't have a ton of clutch opportunities.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: I think they were 4-0 in that.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: When you think about it, 4-0 is actually a good amount for a two-series sample size.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Regardless, they were 4-0 with a 186 offensive rating in the clutch.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: In the regular season, they were a really bad clutch team.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: They just were.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: And now throughout this series, you've seen that.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: They got a three-point loss, a one-point loss, and a nine-point loss.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: But again, that nine-point loss is a lot closer than that.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: So when we get to the fourth quarter and they go on a four-minute and 37-minute stretch where they cannot score the basketball, that's going, that's tough.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: And you know, you want to know what the what makes it even tougher?
18:11
SPEAKER_00: In that four-minute stretch, they played pretty solid defense, like all things considered.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: So our defense is looking okay in this stretch, but we cannot score.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to single anybody out, but hell, this is my podcast.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: I've been I've been so underwhelmed with Anthony Edwards.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: And let this be a testament to every person in NBA Twitter or NBA uh media that was having this goddamn Anthony Edwards Michael Jordan thing.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: I think we even memeed about it on this show after the first series.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: He even he sh didn't he sh didn't he shrug after game number two against the Denver Nuggets.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: Didn't he do one of these to the crowds?
18:53
SPEAKER_00: Let this be a testament to just chilling out.
18:59
SPEAKER_00: There is no rush to turn a 22-year-old dude into Michael Jordan.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: Unless you're a meme.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: Memes are fun.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: But they were talking about it on TV.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: We were talking about it on TV.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: And tongue in cheek, like we were joking with it, but still, it was a six-minute segment on our TV show about it.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: Six minute segment.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: Um, just been disappointed nonetheless.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: And then there's been conflicting reports about him taking oxygen during the game.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: Chris Finch takes a like blind shot at him, talking about people not being ready and and and and getting not getting back on defense and so on and so forth.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: Whew.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: It's just been tough.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: He had the one stretch in the third quarter after Derek Lively's injury, where he scored nine straight points, including that big poster on Daniel Gaffer, that was electric.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: High off glass, turnaround jump shot, electric.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: Fourth quarter comes around, nothing.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: Not even just nothing.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm okay with a player that's gonna go out swinging.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
20:04
SPEAKER_00: Everybody talks about how in Kobe's first playoff run, when they needed him to take over the game, he shot two airballs in the fourth quarter.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: But that's Kobe.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: He was gonna shoot that damn ball.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Anthony Everson had this killer mentality all his NBA career.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: But in this fourth quarter, corners?
20:24
SPEAKER_00: Sitting corners?
20:26
SPEAKER_00: It bothered me.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: Carlton Towns.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: A guy that I've been very, very um um expressive about me supporting and wanting the best outcome for Carlton Towns, because this brother has been through so much.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: This last three games were some of the absolute worst, cat.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: Can I can I get the stats?
20:50
SPEAKER_00: Can I get the stats while we're here?
20:51
SPEAKER_00: Some of the absolute worst, Carl Anthony.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: Um this this game last game 15 points, 25% from the field, game number one, 16 points, 30% from the field, and then in this game, we saw 14 points, 27.8% from the field, all for eight from three.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: Greatest three-point shooting big ever.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: Self-proclaimed.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: He is three of 22 on the series from behind the arc.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: This is unless my math is off.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: It's not not not ideal.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: And I think that the the defensive side of the ball is as bad nowadays.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: Which sucks.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: Last series, I gave him nothing but praise about the way he defended.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: Drawing fat drawing charges, he's always gonna foul like crazy.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: Drawing charges, one on one with yoke.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: I thought he held his own as much as he really can.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: In this series, he feels so slight, and I think part of the problem with all of this is.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: That we're asking a 22-year-old to be a great playmaker.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: The Dallas Mavers are completely, completely okay with playing drop coverage because they don't see Rudy Gobert really as the same lob threat that they have on their team.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: They don't feel like they need to blitz Anthony Edwards because he's not as big of a threat playmaking as a guy like Luka Doncic.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: And I think he's a better playmaker now than he was last year or the year before that.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: But he still has a long way to go to complete his offensive game.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: And again, last series showed you that he can be a really good playmaker.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: It's just not a great one.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times I think about the teams that end up winning championships or whatever, whatever.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: That lead guy has to be able to get his, but also be a threat to help others get theirs.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I thought in this game he had a couple possessions where he slowed things down and he made the right read.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: But him coming before the game and saying, I need I'm just gonna be taking all the shots.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: I mean, sure.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: He shot 24 shots on the day, which is a game high.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: It was.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: He he lived up to that.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: And only two of those were threes.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: But even then, we're asking the young fella to practically be the offense for this team.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: Like Cal Anderson has been phenomenal in this series so far.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: I think all three games, he's given them more than they could have imagined.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: But in the same tip, when he is on the court, so so they've been running this lineup, and I don't have the lineup data behind it.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: And hell, the lineup data might say that this lineup is the best lineup in the history of basketball.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: But the eye test for me, when it is Anthony Edwards with no Mike Conley.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Remember when Mike Conley missed that game and then he came back and they won by a gazillion points, and Anthony Edwards said, that's because we have Mike, and Mike settles us down.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: Where in these lineups, there's no Mike Conley.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: There's Jaden McDaniels, there's Kyle Anderson, there's Nasreid, and there's Rudy Gobert.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: They have two non-shooters and another non-respected shooter.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: Hell, you might say two non-respected shooters because though Jaden McDaniels had a great game one, it took him taking six and making six, three points before they closed out on him.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: So you could argue that it is Anthony Ettwords on the court with four non-respected three-point shooters, and Nas Rudy is a great three-point shooter.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: He hit, what, seven last game?
24:32
SPEAKER_00: But again, they don't treat him as if he's Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, and those type of dudes.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: They allow him to shoot that shot.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: That's how he got 11 off that one game.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: So it's Anthony Everts and four non-trusted three-point shooters.
24:44
SPEAKER_00: What is he supposed to do?
24:46
SPEAKER_00: What are they supposed to do?
24:48
SPEAKER_00: It's lining things up for Jason Kidd and Company.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: It's lining things up for them.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: Um let's talk about uh Derek Lively going down with this injury.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, they said it was the next strain, which is just baloney to me.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: Again, I'm not in that medical room, but we watched that man basically have to be carried off the court by Markeith Morris where this man was blinking so many times.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't I don't know how he's not concussed.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: And I pray that he's not, because we see throughout sports they can they can put that little shit on the rug if that means that our player can come back earlier than normal.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: The best thing about this though, regardless, because he's questionable for game number four as of today, that you have a 3-0 series lead.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: So you can afford to have him miss right now.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: And we don't bel I don't believe that they're changing the NBA final state.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: So if he doesn't play game number four and somehow they they win that game, well, you're gonna have what is that, a week and some change for him to rest up before June 6th.
25:44
SPEAKER_00: No team has ever come back from down 0-3.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's happening in this series.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: Just don't.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, I I don't think it's a sweep either.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: But who knows?
25:55
SPEAKER_00: Who really knows?
25:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, who else do I need to give my flowers to?
25:59
SPEAKER_00: Jaden Hardy has been a revelation.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, today he didn't have any assists, but through the first two games, I thought his playmaking um was a surprise to me.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: I won't act like I've been this big Jaden Hardy guy throughout the course of his career.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: I knew he could get a bucket, but some of these plays that he made in game number one and game number two just surprised me a bunch.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: So shout out to him.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: And uh right now, the Dallas Mavericks are a game away.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I just got a notification about Derek Lively.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: Let's see what it says.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: Let's see what it says.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: It's from um Tim McMahon saying the Mavs rookie Derrick Lively the second left the arena to get a scan and evaluate the severity of his next strength.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: Um he's not in concussion protocol at this point.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: Again, I just don't know.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how that's the case.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: I'll just say I just don't know how that's the case.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: Um so both of these series are 3-0.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: And if you go to FanDuel Sports Book, they have the NBA championship odds right now, and they have the Boston Celtics at a minus 220 to win the championship, and the Mavericks at a plus 185.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: The other two teams, they have odds, but let's be real.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: You feel me?
27:02
SPEAKER_00: Let's be real.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: This is this is our fight final right now, and the Celtics are the favorite.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: 220.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: They have been a favorite all season long.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: They've been a favorite going into the playoffs, and they're the favorite one game away from being in the finals.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's shift over to that series.
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29:06
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29:12
SPEAKER_00: I gotta commend the Pacers for game number three where they they fought very hard, but man, do they struggle to close out these games where the one play from Drew Holiday was so very reminiscent of 2021 where he he got the steal on Devin Booker and threw it up to Giannis, but this time instead of throwing it up to Giannis, he bodied whoever the little man was in there, got his and one.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Remember, he was questionable even playing that game.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: He came up with so many great possessions.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I don't really care to talk about the series because it's it's not a good series.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: It's not.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Oh, the Jalen Brown threes great.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: I I the one thing I will say about it is that it was it was refreshing to see the Boston Celtics have to play from behind.
29:55
SPEAKER_00: And I know that makes me sound like a hater, but this has been such a run of no um adversity that this was one of those times on the Indiana Pacers court where they have been undefeated with them down with six minutes left in the game.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: This is the type of adversity that these other teams are going through.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: The Dallas Mavericks have faced this adversity in this playoff run.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: The Celtics have it.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: So I was extremely excited to see how they will respond.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: And boy, even though I've seen Jason Tatum have a 46-point game in the game six, the force of game seven, and a 50-point game in a game seven, this was one of my favorite Jason Tatum games.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm watching this and I'm gonna say, how are you gonna respond, young fella?
30:35
SPEAKER_00: He had the one play to Al Horford in the corner, who's 99 years old and still can hit seven threes in a playoff game, which is crazy.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: I thought this was one of the best stretches for Jason Tatum in this playoffs.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: And again, he had that overtime at game number one, was that game number one?
30:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, where he was phenomenal.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: He put up 10 points in that one.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: But this was just one of those great things.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: And I was happy to see them because I tweeted that first half was the most predictable Celtics first half ever.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: Star player announced out before the game.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: We already up to, whoa, it's easy to lose this game.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: And in the first quarter, Jason Satan came out guns blades.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: I think he had double-digit points in the first, but the Pacers made it a point to really get into that paint.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: And um, it's so interesting to see how teams play differently when their star player is out.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: Tyrese Halliburne usually had these guys running up the court, a lot of three-pointers, not much mid-range, not a lot of paint touches, um, unless it is in transition.
31:32
SPEAKER_00: In this one, they were just straight up giving the ball to Pascal and giving it to Miles and say, get be bigger, be stronger.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: And Miles had Drew Holiday on him for a lot of this game.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, he's gonna do that.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: So it was cool to see them play it a little bit differently.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: Um and then and them hard and and and TJ McConnell both had phenomenal games.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: And I commend them for really coming out and fighting, but they just struggled to close it all out.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: But to see them come from behind the Boston Celtics, it was refreshing.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: Now, all of the conversation around the Boston Celtics is about how this is the easiest path to a final ever.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: And I can't speak to ever, right?
32:03
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't around in the 80s where I saw some people argue that some of the 80s Lakers had easy paths where they were going against, I think one of their runs, they only went against one team above 500.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know how the hell that's possible.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: But again, I wasn't around to even have an opinion about that.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: And what I will say to that, at least of my lifetime, yes, this is probably the easiest run up there with some of the one of the LeBron years.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't know which one of the LeBron years, but one of the LeBron years for sure.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: But this is this is why you win as many games as they did in a regular season, right?
32:34
SPEAKER_00: Now, we're not talking about the injury luck.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about the teams that you're going against.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: Like, I think that if the Miami Heat are healthy, they still lose that series.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: I think if the Cleveland Cavaliers are healthy, they still lose that series.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: I think the Indiana Pacers are healthy right now, they're still losing this series, right?
32:50
SPEAKER_00: Like, yes, it's been a cakewalk.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: They've been dominant.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: But that's the luxury that you get when you are the dominant regular season team.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: And in my personal opinion, I am not an asterisk guy.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: If they go on to beat the Dallas Mavericks in this series and the next series that starts, I'm not looking at them walking through the Eastern Conference and adding the asterisk to it because it's not as though they struggled in the regular season and then they got the injury luck.
33:17
SPEAKER_00: This team dominated the set teams in the regular season, too.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: So I honestly do believe that regard if everybody had a clean bill of health going against this Celtics team, and that's them included, because remember, Porzingas has not been playing, I think they still win all these series as well.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: Now, them only having one moment of adversity, that's the scariest thing about this upcoming series.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: And the good thing about this, we don't really have to preview this series until it's completely these other series are done.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: So I don't have to talk about what I think about the Boston Celtics versus Dallas Mavericks or whatever.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: But, you know, that's the thing that scares me a little bit.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: That this team hasn't had that same playoff adversity as a collective.
33:55
SPEAKER_00: Now, Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown, Al Horford, and and and Derek White half, right?
34:00
SPEAKER_00: They they were down 03 last series and or last year and brought it back to a game seven.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: They faced some adversity, they lost their series, but they faced adversity collect collectively.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: But like Drew Holiday with this kind of uh with this team, no.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: For Ziggis with this team, no.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: So it's that scares me a little bit, but not enough for me to think that they still shouldn't be the favorite.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: I do honestly believe they should still be the favorite for the NBA Finals.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: Um we'll see exactly how it goes, but I don't really like all of the conversations revolving around the Boston Celtics right now.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: And I guess I kind of understand it, right?
34:30
SPEAKER_00: The Celtics being one of the more successful teams in the history of basketball, trying to get banner number 18, I think is the number.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's it's an easy team for a normal NBA fan to dislike, right?
34:41
SPEAKER_00: There are people in my life that just want to, not even my life.
34:44
SPEAKER_00: I went to the dermatologist two days ago.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: Two days ago, because I got this mark here.
34:49
SPEAKER_00: You see that?
34:50
SPEAKER_00: Dermatologist.
34:51
SPEAKER_00: Everything's fine.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm just allergic to uh band-aids, apparently.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: Um and my dermatologist, he knows what I do for a living.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, so we were talking about it.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: And he's a big Anthony Atwards guy, which was kind of cool.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: And what he said as I was walking out, he asked me what who do I think is going to win the championship.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: I said, when they got Drew Holiday, the Boston Celtics were the team I said from that moment on, and I have not switched my vote.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: Um and he said, Yeah, you're probably right.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: But boy, would I love to see them lose?
35:21
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, whoa, Dr.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: P, I didn't even know we were hated like that.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: So I know for a normal NBA fan, it's probably an easy team to root against considering they have been in the Eastern Conference final with six of the last eight years.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a number.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: And um, I don't believe they're super team, but I can understand the people that would put them on that level considering Brown and Tatum are both all NBA caliber players.
35:44
SPEAKER_00: Porzingis is an all-star caliber player, Dirk White, all-star caliber player, and Drew Holiday was just an all-star last season.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: So I can understand that sentiment.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: And with them being the best team in the regular season, I could see at average or casual NBA fans say, hell, I don't want to see the best team, the team that was the best team all year long win.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: I want to see the underdog, right?
36:02
SPEAKER_00: When we get to the finals, I'm assuming that the the neutral fan are probably gonna lean more Dallas Mavericks because, well, Carrie Irvin is on the other team, and Carrie Irvin is a fan favorite out of this world, but also because they are the underdog.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: Also, Carrie Irvin back in the in the garden for a seven-game series is so insane.
36:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I don't I don't really share that.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: I think it's kind of important for me as with my job to kind of be as neutral as possible in a lot of these situations.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't really care who ends up winning.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: I just want it to be a very good series.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think there's I think there's good talk important to both sides, right?
36:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, I met Tatum, interviewed him at All-Star Weekend.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: Seemed like a cool guy.
36:36
SPEAKER_00: Didn't really get to talk to him outside of the interview or anything.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: But that's that he's a guy that in his young age has seen pretty much every every pillar of success, other than, of course, MVP in that championship.
36:46
SPEAKER_00: He's been there.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: He was 24 years old when they went against the Warriors.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: Remember that?
36:50
SPEAKER_00: He was 24.
36:51
SPEAKER_00: And I know that the magic number and in the NBA to win an NBA championship is like 27, 28.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: He was 24 years old as the best player on a finals appearance, right?
37:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, he's gone through all of that.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: One thing missing, more than anything, is that championship.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: And when you play in Boston, that is a thing.
37:08
SPEAKER_00: So the conversation around him recently has been like, I think I saw Kendrick Perkins talk about the fact that uh it's Jalen Brown's teams now.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: And I don't get it.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: I just don't.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: Jalen Brown's phenomenal.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: He he was on my all-NBA team.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: Like, I honestly was very surprised that he didn't end up making it.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: That's how good of a player he was on both sides of the ball.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: I think this is the best offensive season of his career, and that's saying something.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: He's a good defensive player normally.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: I thought he deserved to be all NBA.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: But it being his team does not make sense to me at all.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: Like, yes, he has games where he's significantly better than Jason Tate.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: Gay number two, good example.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: He had 40 points.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: Today he was snug from an all-NBA appearance.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: That was his game.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: He was the best player on the court.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: But the basketball for me is just so much more than that.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: Where I think that that to be to consider a team yours, right?
38:05
SPEAKER_00: In majority of the cases, especially when we're talking about two star players on the same team, and I consider both of these guys stars.
38:12
SPEAKER_00: The guy that is it is his team, is the guy you feel the most comfortable with running some of the off most of the offense through.
38:21
SPEAKER_00: I can't look at Jalen Brown and say that I feel super comfortable running majority of my offense through him.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: Now, he's listen, that's not taken away from him.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: He's great, and I would and I will call many, many plays for him.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: I will call his number a lot.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: But Tatum, as a playmaker, it's like triple the player.
38:43
SPEAKER_00: And when you're calling plays and you're calling somebody's number, I need somebody that is a plus playmaker.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: And Jalen Brown has not been that for the course of his NBA career.
38:54
SPEAKER_00: Jason Tatum is just a better player.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: Defensively, too.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: I just never understand.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: I don't understand putting them against each other in the first place, big perk.
39:04
SPEAKER_00: I know it always has been that way, but I'm I'm kind of tired of it.
39:07
SPEAKER_00: These these boys are one game away from the finals, and that's the conversation we're having.
39:11
SPEAKER_00: Last game, Tatum had 36, Brown had 24.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: It's great.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, either way, the Celtics have probably been one of our least talked about contenders this season this season because they just take care of business.
39:25
SPEAKER_00: We're we're in a league of like, this is reality TV for us.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: So when you're doing all the right things, ain't nothing to talk about.
39:34
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a good thing.
39:35
SPEAKER_00: Also, the one thing I hated before we get out of here, or I also got to tell you where I've been.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, one of the things I've hated recently is after game number one, I made a video on Kenny for Real talking about how I thought ESPN has been doing a very poor job of mixing their audio, where it doesn't feel like a playoff game, and I know that the TD Garden is not quiet, it's 100% the way they mix the game.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: And I got aggregated of somebody clipping that and saying, Kenny Beach improves ESPN hates the Celtics.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: I've been aggregated before.
40:10
SPEAKER_00: That one hit differently.
40:12
SPEAKER_00: Because that's not what I was saying.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: That's just not what I was saying.
40:15
SPEAKER_00: It just, oh man.
40:17
SPEAKER_00: And so many people like that suite.
40:18
SPEAKER_00: They had like 5,000 likes and people reposted.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: Who knows how many people saw that?
40:23
SPEAKER_00: I was like, well, Kenny Meacher must have said it.
40:26
SPEAKER_00: So it must know.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: Do the Celtics, do the ESPN have some anti-Celtic agenda?
40:32
SPEAKER_00: Hell, I don't know.
40:33
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: But don't use me as an example for that because that wasn't what I was saying, okay?
40:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, the last thing we got to talk about before we get out of here is where I've been.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: The last episode was what, two weeks ago, maybe even three weeks ago at this point.
40:44
SPEAKER_00: The reality is, for me, um, it's just been increasingly tough to put together competent episodes for you.
40:52
SPEAKER_00: One thing that I do not want to do ever is have redundant content.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: And I felt like we were going down that route because we only had a limited amount of things to talk about, right?
41:03
SPEAKER_00: You get to the playoffs, it's what, eight series?
41:06
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
41:07
SPEAKER_00: Eight series, and then that eight series turns to four series, and then we get two series, and we get one series eventually.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: So it's like I'm making videos on Kenny for Real.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm also doing the numbers on the board podcast.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: I didn't feel comfortable having three different outlets where I'm saying the same take.
41:24
SPEAKER_00: So I decided to chill for a little bit and get and get back to where I wanted to be.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: And hopefully you enjoyed this episode because I don't think I had much overlap from the other videos that we've done so far.
41:35
SPEAKER_00: So fingers crossed you enjoyed it.
41:37
SPEAKER_00: But I also have some different plans come off season to kind of alleviate some of that pressure.
41:40
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna we're gonna have a grand old time.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you enjoyed this episode, all I ask for you is to leave a like, tell a friend to tell a friend, and I'll see y'all soon.