A Rollicking NBA Mailbag and March Madness Storylines With Rob Mahoney, Tate Frazier, and J. Kyle Mann

So, that's the day to feel it. Tamara is. In this school, you can do it right now. Tamara is a man. It's a school for all life moments.

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And now, for you. Tamara is. This Netflix live is brought to you by State Farm. It's Bill Simmons, podcast. Present by the ringer, podcast network.

Rob Mahoney is here. Kyle Mann and Tay Frazier will be joined in later. Talk a little much madness. I have a new rewatchable smart. See how C.R. Months been for you, Mahoney.

I mean, isn't everyone C.R. Month for us? Well, I just, we, we officially put a stamp on it. Told everyone. Yes. Even though every month is C.R. Month,

this is really C.R. Month. You're going to be on the fourth one we do. So we have 11.0A is going up tomorrow. And then you're going to be on the nice guys, which we're doing a week from Monday.

So stay tuned for that. We're into a little mail bag. And I have some topical questions. Rob, I only sent you like three. So some of these are surprises.

You're not going to be surprised by this first one.

This is from every Lakers fan I know.

“Simmons, can I believe in the Lakers yet?”

Three question marks. That's just a, that's an amalgam of all the Lakers text that I've gotten. I know you did a little bit with Zach on his podcast on Thursday.

Yeah. They're last 11, they're 8 and 3. They have the fourth net rating for self-anceibrating. Luca, not that he didn't look like Luca before, but this is probably the most fun.

It seems like he's had. And they had an awesome win last night that came down to Austin Reeves throwing the ball against the rim and catching it and putting it back in, which works one out of 200 times.

I don't know. But that was 400 times. I remember what, that was the one. As precisely executed as that could exactly be. So what do you think?

I mean, my four contenders right now, I would say the three West teams. I think the Celtics have to be in there now with Tatum. Sure. And then Cleveland next Pistons.

I want to see how these next 13 games go.

“Would you move that four spot in the West is wide open?”

Would you, would you have the Lakers as the fourth best team in the West right now? I, I'm very tempted.

And I, so here's the thing.

It's tempting because the Lakers have been so good. The defense, I think, is legitimately worlds ahead of where it was a couple months ago. Marcus Smart in the rotation in the starting lineup has been really good for them.

Luca, as you mentioned, just been unbelievable. Like all those things are real. They're also real because the nuggets have been kind of like, eh, like trying to get their feet under them. It's hard to know who's going to be healthy for them

and when they're still finding their way. The rockets have fallen off a cliff. The timber wolves are out in the wilderness. So it's like, if not the Lakers, is it the wolves by default? Like, I don't know who else you would pick?

I mean, you could have talked me into a stealth underdog Quippers case before Niederhouser got hurt. And then Kawai Sprint is angliestry. It just seems like just to the King's. Like, at that point, you're at risk of relegation.

That's, and then, and Russ was talking just incredible.

That's a smack. Nobody's ever talked about it or smack 35 games under 500. Then, Russ, the West. Right. There's a couple of things with the Lakers.

One is the close game stuff. We just feel like even yesterday, they're down 109-103 with two minutes left and you still feel like they're in it 'cause they have Luca, right? And then they have Reeves as a second option.

The free throw differential is nuts.

“It's, I think it's, I think they're over 300.”

I think it's plus 320 for the year, they're first in the league. They just get five more free throws, just because of the style of play that happened 'cause they're the Lakers. So, the biggest thing for me though, the LeBron Luca Reeves

smart, eight, but that five man is now plus five. She's intarible. You want your best line up to be plus 10 plus 11. It's okay. And smart has been, I think, better than I thought

he was gonna be. Eight and is still a roller coaster, I don't trust him at all. But, I think in the playoffs, you saw yesterday, the ball seems to find Marcus smart with a minute left, with 40 seconds left, with 38 seconds left.

He's just the guy that they're gonna leave open, and then these games come down or whether he can hit that shot or not. I don't trust it personally, what do you think? - All of recent history would agree with you,

and it's just like, by default with the rotation, there's nowhere else to turn. Like, he is the guy out there, and having him defensively has been so important for them.

'cause he's gonna miss a fair number of those shots as you're alluding to. But he's gonna make enough other plays to hopefully make up for it in the ways that they need. And so, as long as that's kinda coming out in the wash,

that's great for them. But really, the Marcus smart piece of it is just, it's gonna matter less than, you know, Luca being able to problem solve at a level that basically no one else in the league can,

say for a couple of players. And if you're talking about these other kind of contenders in the West, I just trust an offense led by him with the ball, even with, you know, everything that they're still sorting out

in terms of the chemistry and the on-court flow with LeBron with Austin. All of that stuff is fine, because Luca can figure it out.

“And I think he can figure it out more consistently,”

then even someone like Ant can at this point to be honest with you. - And they had a timely LeBron injury as where does that sound? So he only left for a couple of games.

It reset the calibration, and he came back, and it's been interesting to watch him reinvent himself as this basically third option. Can I rebound, make some hustle plays? He made a great diving hustle play yesterday,

which I've never seen him do.

JJ said afterwards, it's like, I've never seen LeBron do that before in LeBron's like, yeah, I don't think I've ever done that before. I mean, he was full Rodman horizontal extension into the dive for a loose ball.

For a dude, his age at this point is career, to say nothing of everything he's accomplished. I mean, just a fucking awesome play to watch. - Yeah, and I wonder, you know, I was thinking about players older stages

of their careers, and he's the oldest player we've ever had in the situation, but there was a Sean Marion Dallas, 2011, where he was just the different version of himself, and better defensively than LeBron obviously, LeBron's better offensive

“than Sean Marion was, but really figured out how to be”

an effective, awesome kind of third, fourth banana role player. - Yeah. - Right, Carl Malome figured that out in the 2004 Lakers before he got hurt. - We've seen guys kind of more than to,

somebody we never thought we'd see. I wonder if he can do it,

'cause this was the first time when he came back from that streak

and there were playing so well with Reeves and Luca. This was the first time I really felt like he was like, "All right, do you guys now?" And I'm over here, and I'm here to help, and I'm gonna chip in and figure out

with my super basketball brain, how I can kind of nibble at the edges. I don't know if it's gonna work or not, but I had written this team off as a contender. Now, I'm like, because of what's happened in the West

and because Denver is just a train wreck at the end of these games, I just wonder, like, "Yeah, maybe they could win two rounds, I don't know." - It's like, at this point, they feel like a somewhat convincing or maybe, and for where they have been.

- They're ready to put it. - That is a dramatic improvement, like that is leaps and bounds ahead, and if you look at all the season long indicators, they're not gonna be all that convincing,

like things like point differential and stuff like that, the lakers are gonna be way behind some of these other competitive teams in the West, but you zoom in far enough, and they just look like a totally different team.

- All right, a couple more mailback questions. We'll see in the lakers, obviously I'm horrified. It does lead to the chance to have a Celtic slaker's final, which would be a basketball holy war. I really hope that happens.

- Are you horrified though, if it does come down to it, the lakers go on a great run, and it is a Marcus smart shot that really seals something important for them?

“- Is there not a part of you that was well with Fred?”

- I do like Marcus, it is funny getting the PTSD of having been better in that situation, with the no-no, yes, Marcus.

Now the laker fans are just basically taking that over.

Okay, more mailback stuff. So, heading into, this is from Christian in New Haven. heading into Oscar Sunday, Joel and Beat is officially missed as many games as he's played. Right now it's 45 to 45.

Did you know that? It's dead even. - Wow. - 45, 45, missed, played. Which side, this is Christian asking, which side will get to 500 first,

games played or games missed, what's the gambling line? So, I think that this injury is now, and the fact that they're in the playoffs, we're gonna see him again. So, I think I'm probably a little more likely

to bet on the game's played versus the game's miss, but this would be unbelievable. If he got to a thousand exactly, and it was 500, 500, we could not have predicted that. You seem, you seem saddened by this.

- I mean, I'm saddened by most things surrounding Joel and Beat, especially if it does end up being 500 games missed first. Like, it would be a fair representation of what his career has been for the most part. But yeah, I'm gonna be pretty bummed out about that.

Man, this is, I mean, you could kind of see the signs, even when he got hurt in the draft process. And he's a big guy, seven foot two, there's a lot of red flags. But when you look at the games played the last couple years,

I think it's like 33, 19, it's tough. - This is six or six seasons, it's been such a mess. Like, I feel like I like a lot of the fringe guys on their roster, and at some point, I wish on a monkey's paw that like,

I wish Dominic Barlow would get more minutes, and this is what happens. Paul's got to get suspended. Tyre's maxi is out with the ankle thing

Joel in and out of the lineup. I guess, they just can't ever get any positive momentum in any direction, and that's in a season where they just drafted VGH companies awesome. - The McCain trade as relatively minor as that was,

did not help damning. - The fact that he went to OKC was immediately good. I actually thought they got a lot back for him. They got the Rockets pick three second rounders. He wasn't really playing for the sixers,

but now it looks terrible. Are there any other GMs or teams where if they call interested in the guy at the end of your bench on other than the hangar? Where it's like thunder,

I think you should be suspicious. But is there anyone else in that category for you where if the spurs call or if the nougat's call or if the nougat's call?

“- Don't you think Brad Stevens is at that level now?”

He's like cherry pick in these weird roleplers. Like, even somebody like Cata was just totally released by Sacramento. - I'd be nervous, Presti, Brad Stevens, San Antonio, would be the three out of nervous.

- As much as I would like to dispel the Celtics Monaticism around this point, like, I don't know what to tell you. Like, Baylor, Shire mid is an important part of this team. It's like four consecutive years of late,

first and half, like early, second round picks coming home to Bruce, like they just have cracked this stuff. - Hugo having like one of the 10 greatest plus minuses of all time, it's a classic. This is from Harriet, didn't say where she's from.

- Have we reached a weird place with these scoring streaks? So this is, I guess, coming up the SGA thing. - Sure. - We treat them like this continuous thing, but the second, the playoffs start the streak

as in a hibernation. SGA claims this is at 120 plus straight games at 20 points, but he went under that number three times in the last playoffs on the game's matter most. She's confused.

I'm a little confused by it too, but I think this is what we do with regular season streaks. 'Cause I went back and I looked will, when he had his long streak, he had, I don't know, six playoff games or something,

but he never went under the 20,

so it would actually would've rolled over. But there is this delineation between regular season and playoffs. So I'm okay with it, the bigger thing to me is, did you know this was a streak like a year ago?

Did you know what the record was? My whole thing is when we have these streaks, and I never knew what the record was and you held it, and then you're telling me it's a streak, yeah. I'm just like, okay, I guess that's a streak,

but it's not like the 33 game-lakers streak. That's a streak, I know what that is. People remember it, people don't talk about it forever, but this feel like a manufactured one to you or one that we should have recognized sooner.

- So I knew that it will held it, but yeah, I could not have told you the number. And to your point, I think that does separate it from being the pinnacle in terms of these streaks with these records that are broken.

“Yeah, you need to know it in specificity,”

if it's really hitting home.

At the same time, it's an amazing record to hold.

- And it's an incredible achievement for Shane, particular who has just turned himself into such an undeniable force and exactly the kind of guy who you would think would hold a record like that. - And today, he had 10 in the fourth quarter

and they're pretty easily beating Minnesota, who's just out to lunch, I don't know what's going on with them. But then somehow got the 10 points that it was organic. It wasn't like he was like gunning it against the wizards in the fourth quarter.

You know, he was still like the game was a little bit endowed, and he got a great n-1 against, and to get the record. But it's weird. I think the Kobe 940 point games at a row

is more impressive for me. - More impressive than Shane holding the now former Wilth record. - The night when it happened, it was the O203 season. We had no scoring at all that year, right? That was like, there was like five teams

that were a fun to watch. And when somebody had 40 points like once, he was like, whoa, it's 41, it just was a lot. And I think I vaguely remember, I think Shack got hurt.

“And Kobe was in that, I'm ready for this to be my team,”

Shack's out. Let me carry this, give me the car keys, and was fucking awesome. And I thought nine straight 40 pointers, like somebody had an intent for that.

I'd at least have more of an opinion on it because I remembered the Kobe street. But yeah, 120, it would be interesting that could shake it to like 200. He's so automatic and he's such a robot.

It would almost be like he would have to get hurt in the first half or get crazy, foul trouble. It's kind of hard to imagine a stare where he wouldn't get 20. It's too easy for him to score.

It's so easy for him to do it. The team is set up for him to do it. And especially in a season like this, where J-Dup has been unavailable for good portions of it and also not quite himself when he has played,

it's just like this is Shays Time to do exactly the sort of thing. And he can modulate as you need him to in a playoff series. I do think the question of like how we count this stuff is interesting.

I don't have a good alternative because if you include the playoffs, guys like Shay will get disqualified for being good, whereas a Zap Levine will just all of a sudden become a record holder

because he never actually plays a playoff game.

So I don't think it's like fair to penalize him for it, but I don't think there's a great solution. - I agree with you. So the Warriors in 16 when they won the 25th straight, they also won the last game of the previous season.

- Sure, we just don't do it that way, we'd delininate it. This is from Huge fan of the pot, one. As an early birthday gift, my cousin got me tickets and I got to witness Bam's 83 point game in person. What started out as a quick grab for some cheap tickets

turned into the most fever dream experience I've ever had as a heat champ. What NBA game have you attended that felt most like a fever dream? - I gotta say I hadn't considered the experience

of just buying a normal heat ticket and showing up and getting that game. Like we've talked so much about people tuning in at home, you know, the players on the court, all of us in like ringing our hands

about what this means for the ethics of the sport. But just like you just thought this was going to be a normal weeknight in Bam at a bioscored 83 points.

“And now you have to make sense of that in your everyday life.”

It's just like a really unique thing.

- I can't imagine even in the first quarter being like,

this Bam have 30, let's go around here. My fever dream game was I was at the game and Larry Bird and Dr. Jay had the fight. - Wow. - And it was just the most, and it happened right in front of me

and it was the most startling and Bird was kicking his ass that game. It was kind of the passing in the torch game. But watching them actually getting a fight was the most stunning thing I've ever seen in person.

Obviously, the R test melee would have been much crazier, but just like, wow, these guys are fighting. - Yeah. - Like, these were like the two icons of the week along with magic, you know?

And it was just like, I can't believe this is happening. The only other fever dream game I had was the game six, 2012 Celtics Heat that I went to when LeBron came out and it seemed like they were gonna end the heat dynasty before they wanna tie it all

and they were gonna blow up and then LeBron completely crush them. And it just felt for two hours like just helpless. Like, oh my God, have you been to, what was your fever dream game?

Do you have one? Maybe you have an ad on yet.

“- I think for me, it is distinctly game six clay”

versus Oklahoma City in 2016. We're hit 11th, the reason that game.

I've just never seen a human being engulfed in more flames.

There's clay tops in in that game. And it was one of those in the moment. It was like, this feels like something just shifted. Like history just kind of changed in real time. And I thought that was gonna mean the warriors

were gonna go on to win and be crowned as one of the great teams of all time, which they still are. But I would say it did two things fundamentally. Like Kevin Durant probably doesn't leave the thunder without the game.

And then we don't get the just absolutely iconic scabs come back in the finals in quite the same way or anything resembling the same way without that particular game. So a lot did shift, just maybe not quite what I expected.

- And we would have had an OKC Cleveland, 2016 final, so it should have been strange. So Joe Robinson sent a two-part question based off the Bamm 83. If you would just sit for the last decade,

five guys, you would have pegged to have break the 81. He said for him, it would have been Katie, Luca, Curry, Harden and Dame. Did that look like the right five for you? - That checks out. - Katie, Luca, 'cause I don't, I don't think LeBron,

he was never a guy that was gonna do that.

- Yeah. - I don't even know what LeBron's highest point total was, but I don't even think he got to, it's just not how he played. I don't think he would have taken that many shots. But those five guys seem like the right guys.

- Those seem like good. Honestly, healthy MV PCs in Joel,

“I think was a decent candidate for this.”

Like, he's had so many runs where he's doing like point at point in more better. And then maybe Russ, at the height of his powers, would no one could tell him no. And he could take any shot he wanted.

I could see him at least gunning for it. - And Cam Thomas, that would be your eighth. Just Cam Thomas, really feeling it one night. His second part was a more interesting one to me. And I talked about this with legs a little bit,

but he asked with Bamm's growing 83 to somebody break, well, it's record before 2030. I don't think before 2030, but anything will happen. I went back and I looked at Bamm's 83, Kobe's 81, Kobe's 62 against Dallas,

when he owned the three quarters. - Yep. - Luke is 73, Dames won, and Dame's 71. And I tried to figure out what the box score would look like. So Kobe's 81, where he's 28 for 46, he's 73's 18 for 20

from the free throw line. So you'd have to bump some of that up. Anyway, here's, I think somebody would have to go 30 for 46, to have to make 30 field goals. - Yeah.

- 14 for like 25 from 3, so 14, 3, 16, 2's. And then 26 for 31 from the free throw line. Now, as crazy as all that sounds, it's a slightly elevated from some of the best performances and those different categories.

So 30 for 46, you'd have to go 16 for 21 from 2. It's like, well, that's crazy. Well, Luke, when he had a 73, Luke was 25 for 33, but he was 8 for 13 from 3. He went 17 for 20 on 2's.

And this leads to my point.

The more I thought about this over the last few days, like combination of 3 point shooting, physicality, if he was in shape enough to have the endurance. If you went for it, like guys were out on the team, if the game stayed relatively close,

“if you started a fouling guys out, I think he would be my pick.”

- Everything you're saying makes sense. Like he has the role for it, he has the talent for it, he has the game for it. He also has like the fuck you spiked factor for it, where like this wasn't really an issue for BAM

and the wizards, but like on the wrong night against the wrong opponent, if you get under Luke's skin, like Asus Chicago Bulls, like they just went through this, like you talk trash to that guy in the middle of the game. And all of a sudden he goes off for 50.

Like it's just so... - This was a politics factor. - I didn't mean to it, wasn't familiar with your game. - Like I think he has all of that going in his favor. The question of like someone breaking a hundred those,

I think it would require like a dramatic shift in the way the game is played. And so that might be an argument against Luke, just as somebody who is anchored in the here and now, if someone is gonna make like eventually make a run at that thing,

and they have to be 10 or 15 or 20 years from now,

where ultimately the strategy of the league

has shifted so much that it would allow for, 'cause so many of the recent scoring binges, BAM included, frankly, have been so three point reliant, because that's the way that the league has changed over time. - Yeah.

- Right, like there's just so much more allowance, four guys like Steph and Luca, to chase records and pursue them in that way. But that's just kind of what everyone does now. And so if someone was going to do it,

if someone was gonna get close, I would think we might have already seen it. - BAM was seven for 22 from three. If you tweet that to 11 for 22, now I'm at 95. - Fair.

- I think BAM, part of the recipe was what BAM did in that game read the 30 in the first quarter. I think that's an necessity. I think you need between 30 and 33 in the first quarter,

“and I think you need to be over 50 and half time.”

And then that fourth quarter if you're in the mid to high 60s, you can really game the fourth quarter. And you saw a little like Miami with the fouling and trying to get the ball back. I think you could game this system a little bit.

Brad from Nashville writes, "Hi, Bill." One night in 2006, Kobe scored 81 and I was high. I emailed you to tell me that the mombo is freaking me out. And it made the mail bag. 20 years later, in 2026, BAM scored 83 and I'm drunk.

And I'm emailing you to tell you that it's freaking me out.

So I think it's never changed.

- Thanks, Brad. - Thanks for the way again. - Brad, I think us and the people who love you in your life might need to sit down and have some conversation.

- Brad, can you appear at this location? - Three o'clock, some of your friends are gonna be there. Derek from Charlotte says the NFL has been doing the replay reviews during the commercial break. Coming back from the play, ready to go.

The announcer's tell us the decision, why can't the NBA do this? They spent commercials viewing the play. We come back, they're still reviewing, then they give us a 35 second explanation, no one needs.

It's a great point. I think this could just be done in three and a half minutes. Review, let's go to commercial, come back. The refs have 75 seconds to determine it. How long can you start at the replay monitor?

- Like, let's do it right away or not. - Right, they're watching one battle after another. They're fully locked in for hours, it seems like. - There was one the other day or I swear I was like 10 minutes.

But I just think it's like 75 seconds shot clock on it, basically.

Just see every replay, get four of them. And this should not take more than three and a half minutes total when we should be in commercial for some of it. Why wouldn't that be how we did it? - I'm absolutely willing to concede the commercial time.

Like, sell me Taco Bell or whatever it needs to happen, especially when you'll catch moments during these broadcasts where actual gameplay is going on, game goes minimize, add goes almost full screen. As the game is going on, why is that not happening?

During a replay review, why are we just factoring that? You're just gonna have time baked into all of these games, where somebody challenges and there's dead time on air and you can do as many reasons you want, you can wrap it fire than if you like,

I will be a susceptible audience. - And why haven't they figured out the league past time outs when they just cut to the people dancing to try to get on a jumbo trun for three minutes?

“- That's what I want, you don't want that?”

- I tell you, my wife loves it. And it's very illuminating on different parts of the country, how desperate and excited they are to get on the jumbo trun. - Oh, right. - So some of the coasts little, little more restrained,

we get into some of the more fun cities, but we're really getting into it. - Okay, so we're gonna have a second. - I was wondering if you're going coastal elite with this, but you're saying people are being too cool on the coasts.

- I think people are being, it's like some people are like, oh look, come on, there's, you go to some of the NBA cities they are trying to get on, they're doing dances, they're shaking stuff, great stuff. Next question's from Bryan Greenway.

He had a nickname for "Con-Cinipo." He wants to go on shotgun con. Not only is it a cool nickname that captures his shooting.

presumably Bill didn't strap him into one of his so-as-old car seats. (laughing) - I'm glad people are still getting mileage out of that. - My land in Travis House, I drove him to his hotel. - Sure.

- I appreciate you clarifying on this point. - I would do it again. - Don't problem with this, is you can't vote for it. Like, you can't be the one to assign Con the bill oriented nickname. It has to come from a country where it's got to come from the world.

- It's gotta be ironic.

Parker writes in, "What's the most important three-point shot

"of Steph Curry's career?" I figured you'd know, a couple of that jump to mind for him. Double bang, gold medal, the final three MSG record breaker.

“2015 game six, seven minutes out, I don't remember that one.”

And then, 2002 NBA finals game four, which doesn't necessarily have the one signature shot. For me, Rob, Olympic shots one, double bangs two, and I think he hits three threes in around the third quarter of game four, and 2002 in the finals of Boston.

- Yeah. - And the second one is just from 32 feet and Tatum bumps into him, and they don't call it. And it's the official moment of that game, where all the Boston fans were like, "Oh, no, I've seen this movie

"before when he gets like this." Oh, no. And then he hit that third one right after that one in the corner, when he gave it to Gary Peyton, he gave him a little slip pass back and he hit it.

So that sequence, but it's really the collective sequence. I think it's the Olympic shot. - What do you think? - I would do double bang, I think. - Really?

- I think just because it's like a statement of identity, right? It just becomes so intertwined with the mythology of steps. I kind of how we understood him as a player and the unique threat he presents on the floor. If like the, what is the official name that's been given

to the Olympic shot, the gold and dagger,

“the golden slumber, I think it maybe it is the golden dagger, actually.”

- If it had never happened, I don't think it was.

- I mean, maybe it was a bad shot, if it had never happened, I don't think it would change the way we think about Steph. But if the double bang had never happened, I do think that would change the way we think about him. - So you're saying double bang was basically like his

Scorsese taxi driver. - Yes. - Like a rival. - Like the world is the different, but this is something else. - The world is now different.

- Yes. - Buckle the fuck up. - Yeah, I think that's good, I think you're right. - So double bang one, Olympic shot too, and I would say that third, that middle shot of the three

against Boston, 'cause that's his greatest game. That's like that's the exclamation point for the career that puts him in the 10 to 12 best all time. He needed that last final. - Oh, I mean, those, I would say those shots in particular,

especially the ones in Boston. I mean, Brad might have been in that crowd 'cause it was among the drunkest crowds. I have ever seen it any sporting event.

“It was like, some of these games were starting to play.”

- Not a play. - Yeah, you could tell people just been drinking for six straight hours in anticipation of these games, and then Steph is just silencing all of your ship and up to Boston, so condolences.

- That's Boston right now, during St. Patrick's Day, St. Patrick's Day parade on Sundays. Stay safe out there, everybody. Nobody in that parade is watching this. This is from Chris Deves.

This was an awesome question. I didn't even really come up with the answer for this. He lives at San Antonio.

The town is always wanted an NFL team,

but it won't happen 'cause of the Cowboys. But hypothetically, would you trade Wemby for the Los Angeles Chargers? - Oh my God. - Is it better to have one dynastic pro team

or two franchises at once? FY, I would not do it for Wemby. So he would not trade Wemby for the Los Angeles Chargers. So I guess the way to look back at it 'cause they've had this already with Duncan.

Would they have traded the entire Duncan era? Duncan's just somewhere else, but you get an NFL team at a whole time. What would you pick? - Really tough one.

- I don't think I know where I live on this. - Still, I don't think it's that tough. You're gonna trade one of the most successful runs of any sports team in modern history for like, what if there's a chance

this football team is good some point? Like why would you do that? What if you love the NFL? You've always loved it. - I'd love to get a team.

- You're asking a long person to start, yeah. - I would keep the Wemby/Dunkin' 'cause if you have a chance to have one of the 10 best scores of all time playing in your city for 15 years,

I think that Trump's the NFL team. - But where's the line? - Would you trade the fun castle? - Oh, yeah. I'd even throw in some picks.

Yeah, that, I mean, that's, no, it would have to be a generational thing. I'd be able to know if the spurs fans would think, I bet it would be like 80, 20, I'd rather have Wemby, but I bet they're like a little,

'cause they're not getting another team other than Barnes. - Come on, what are we talking about? - Well, you're not an NFL guy. (laughs) - This is from Nathan in the Appleton, Wisconsin. He said the perfect gift for 'cause it's out

of get you would be a 2025 Patriots, AFC Champions T-shirt.

would have been the biggest good-natured fuck you to a fan friend of that team? - Oh, wow. - As a past fan, I don't think it's possible to top a '07 Pats AFC Champions T-shirt.

So this is really kind of a race for second.

I had a couple other ideas, I don't know, off the top of your head, if you had one. - I'm trying to think, 'cause I just don't think there's anything you could say to like a warrior's fan about blowing three-one

that they haven't already heard, or... - Yeah. - And they have so many championships

“to keep them warm at night, so like, what's it then?”

- So who are really even the other contenders to the NBA? - I have some options. The 2004 Yankees ALList Division Championship, when they then go to loose foreign or out of the Red Sox.

- Yep. - And then one world series before and since, tough loss, I don't think that's the answer. '07 Pats, whatever, the Pats, one, six, I had the Warriors down.

The two I kind of concentrate on on both NBA. Although, it's almost too mean to do it to Buffalo, I feel like you might actually get beaten up if you had like a bull's AFC title, whatever. The '76 Suns Western Champs,

that was the trip over time game when the Suns fans are still mad at the referee who didn't call the Paul Salas time out. - If you're giving a fuck you gift to somebody who was invested in the 70s, 70s?

- 70 years old, he's like, why did you give me this? You kind of commit murder? What are you doing? - The 93 Nix Eastern, whatever, division they won when they lost to the most that year,

with like a Charles Smith writing on it, I think would be really mean.

But I think the answer is is probably anything

with the bills or the Vikings 'cause they haven't won. That's just an extra level of mean. Anything from any conference that championship that they won, but they don't have like with the Warriors or like, well, we did win in 2017 and it ain't like, it's fine.

When you have in one, I think that's probably the worst one, but I think if anything is one sense, I just think wouldn't be applicable. The only other NBA thing that comes to mind is if you really wanted to dig in on the Lakers fan in your life

“and this isn't like a, you have to dig up this merch”

that was never made or shipped off to another country you know, and donated. If you just wanna like really hammer them on the bubble title and just like keep talking it up and keep reinforcing what an amazing accomplishment.

- Oh, that's good. - It was exactly. - Oh yeah, like an ironic, the bubble, the best title anyone's ever won, I like that. - I think it could work. - Tom writes, I know NBA title defenses are big thing for you.

That is true, I do love the title defense. I do think that should be considered part of the championship title. How do you rate OKC's title defense this year? Where do you think it stacks up against the recent ones?

He thought, he thought it was a really good one. So, I think it's about a home run down. I know that they're not gonna get 70 plus wins, a lot of that had to do with injuries, but I wrote down some stuff.

SGA definitely, I think, went up a half level and this was a guy who was the MVP and had an awesome start to finish here last year, but the end of the game stuff is really starting to feel a little MJS, right?

So that's crazy, that has to be part of the title defense. They've really gone out in these signature games and treated them like real playoff games, like the Denver game the other night or Boston. Like, I do feel like they're defending whatever place

they have in the heart, you could feel that in these games. - Even the response game against the spurs, where it was just like, oh, you guys think you have the one up on us in this matchup. This is what happens when we take you seriously.

- Yeah. - They intro to a few new characters, which for TV shows important. We've been, AJ Mitchell has joined the cast, huge. Jared McCain, a slightly more offensive case on Wallace,

he's here too now. - Hell yeah. - So we have that. Then some other fun stuff, Dort replaced Dream on as the league's biggest villain.

- Definitely. - I don't think it's questionable. He's running away for that. They've become the poster boys for foul baiting, which is the league's second worst crisis other than tanking.

- Yeah, there's other people that do it,

“but I think people point to them the most,”

so that helps their relevancy, tighter defense thing. Their fans and media members are just, you talking about us? What? There's a lot of that.

- Very competitive, yeah. - Combative, combative, basketball city.

Their games are always entertaining.

And then 20 state, 26, jade up games right down, half a heart and stand season, and they're on pace for like 63 and 19. I get this, I get this tighter defense today plus. Hard to imagine things going better,

considering what has not gone well, considering that those injury concerns, and short-term and long-term, how could you hope for more than this? - You can't.

Really fun to watch, too. I think their games have been super entertaining. Josiah writes, he had a nickname. Him and his buddy have started calling Keante George the speaker.

- Oh, is this a keynote bit? - You've heard this.

or types a lot about Keante George. So that's what he said. Every time they're jazz fans, every time they type Keante, I get to change the keynote,

so they just call him the speaker.

“So Yannis is another one where this happens,”

where it always throws in the apostrophe.

It's the Yannis. - Yannis. - The apostrophe S. And I thought Eddie Q was like a huge the guy that runs apple constant.

I thought he was a huge NBA fan. I don't know how are they having these typos with the apple phone. - Get it together. - Come on, apple.

- Well, he's a certain about Keante George. The speaker sounds like something deeply religious from a state where they just don't mess around with that stuff. So like I just want to get clearance that we're in say ground here, you know?

- Okay. Ron from Florida wants to know which current NBA teammates are most deserving of the Reggie Will. It's highly Kendrick Memorial Ward presented

a two-tail made to need to switch names. He volunteers, Jeremy Grant, Donovan Klingan. Klingan just looks like a Jeremy to me. Big fan of the pot.

- He doesn't think of a Jeremy.

- So just walking through this, if Shay Gil just out Xander and Isaiah Joe had just switched names eight years ago. - Okay. - And it was Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant and Isaiah Joe.

Is Isaiah Joe just a core name? 'Cause we call Shay SGA, it has to be an acronym. It's people spell the Jill just wrong. Some people call it Gil just. - Yeah.

- If he was just Isaiah Joe with that of increased his cool, cool quota by like, I don't know, 10%. Isaiah Joe is a pretty cool name, but pretty great name.

- She Gil just out Xander also has a nice ring to it. - So you think we're used to, you think the Shay works 'cause it's so distinct. - I think it's so distinct. My question is, are we switching both names

or just one name? - No, you have to switch both. - It has to work for you, okay. - So it's not Jeremy Klingan. It's Donovan Klingan becomes Jeremy Grant.

- And vice versa, okay. - I went through all the rosters 'cause I really enjoyed this question. I couldn't find a perfect one. At that for sure, I'd be like, oh, there's got it

and I just couldn't. I was like, it was just way harder than I thought. Ben Nielsen wants to, he asks, are we officially done with artificially built basketball teams winning championships?

Lebron Air, he 16 calves, 19 raptors. - What is Andy Warriors? - Just I guess, like, instead of home growing your guys, - Yeah. - Either using free agency and slapping guys together

making some sort of big piece champions that are built more organically. I'll say this, I do think it would be way,

“I think it would be impossible now to do the 2011 heat.”

'Cause I think the lead team deep. To just be like, we're gonna have three guys and that's it. If you have no chance in 2026, everybody, there's so much depth.

- Free agency just doesn't work the same way either at all. - Yeah, so I think in a weird way, it's a weird question, but I think he's right. I think it would be way harder to just be like, like, what the next day

with KD and Kyrie, we're gonna use free agency, we're gonna build an instant contender and blow, I don't know if you could do it the same way anymore. - I don't think you can do it that way, but also, I don't want to pretend

like the next drafted Jalen Brunson. You know, I think there are successful cases around the league right now, like we're trying to put it for towns, and we're talking about the lakers as a potential contender,

that's not because of a guy they drafted, like there's still really successful teams who are building them quote unquote artificially, whatever that means. - Alex D wants to know,

can life as a king's fan get any worse, after 20 years of incompetence, we've reached a new level. Worst record in the league. Now they're actually not worse record in the league, but when you got this, when you got this,

they were the worst. - I would argue that might make it worse that they've gone like 3 in 1 and they're last 4. - So maybe it's even worse, yeah, yeah. But he also wants to point out,

they have a top 5 payroll. So that's the third worst record of the league at a top 5 payroll. He's like, how could we do worse than this?

And the answer is, I don't really know,

this is really the James Dolan. This was the mid-2000s where they would have, you know, the second biggest payroll in the league, but they would go 1963.

“I think when you can combine overspending”

with the terrible record and really no assets, that's peak, can you do worse than that? - I think this is about as bad as it gets. Like the guys who are on the team, nobody wants in terms of seeing your way out through a trade.

Even if you're hoping for the draft, again, they just fell from the worst record in the league to like the third or fourth worst record in the league. - Yeah. - Which with the flat end odds is in as devastating,

but wouldn't guarantee you a top 5 pick. So disaster could strike. I had no idea they were the fifth highest payroll. That is a fucking mess. - You've always said they're top 5,

but I didn't be higher than, oh my God. - Dan King wants to know, Cooper Flag's Celtics fandom and main ties. I don't know if you saw the Celtic game. The entire state of Maine was at the Celtics map's game.

- Reading for Cooper Flag. - There's a bargaining chip that has not been discussed

Ace Flag, Ace is twin brother, who's at University of Maine. He was a freshman this year. The University of Maine wasn't very good, but he was, you know, he plays basketball. And if you sign, if you sign Ace now,

maybe do a second round pick, stash him on the roster.

Maybe you sign him to like a five-year deal. So it's like, hey Cooper, look over here. I have to take this. Ace Flag, by the way, Celtics. Dan King points out Celtics, G-League team is in Maine.

Ace Flag, on the Maine Celtics as the lore for Cooper Flag. By the way, I know you have a lot of Dallas fans in your life. - This Texas connections. - You can't ask to them.

- You can't ask to them. - You can't hate like it's really getting bad, how much they hate when I pick up this Cooper Flag. - Understandably, they've been doing some stuff, Phil. - I get it, I get it.

But so, so that the NASA's Alexander Tupagupko can't speak. - Come on Phil. - And Ted, a coupon. - There we go, that's closer. - Do you believe in this as the strategy,

lore of the family member? - It's pretty interesting. - I feel like it could work the other way, just find, like couldn't you do your stuff? - Well, like you just wait, wait to get him,

and then get the family member?

“- Yeah, like don't you need to get Cooper first,”

and then you can just sign Ace Flag to whatever contract you would like to sign him to, 'cause otherwise I just don't know that Ace is gonna be in a hot enough demand, unless I'm just dramatically misunderstanding

his potential draft stock. That's fair. - To think that he will lure Cooper there. - Steven, describes himself as a madly delusional Celtics fan and set a theory for eight years.

He's been ridiculed, I sent this to you at a time. He believes that if Shane Larken doesn't get hurt during the 2018 Eastern Conference semis against Philly, the Celtics would have beaten the Cavaliers and lost in the finals.

He thought he would have given some key minutes in game seven with Terry Rejero's falling apart. Your thoughts is my Shane Larker would have saved game seven theory insane. I would continue to believe it until my dying days.

So my code obviously it's an insane theory. - Yes. - My question for you is what's your most insane basketball historical thing that you actually believe that you will die on the corner of?

- Before we get to that, can we make sure Shane is okay? Can we get like a wellness check? - Steven, Steven, Steven, I might have been okay. - I mean, Shane, I want to check on two

“'cause I think it's playing over C is somewhere,”

but we got to check on some things. Mine is that Sam Cassell definitely did break his hip doing the Big Balls dance in 2004 and that we would be looking at a dramatically different version of NBA history.

If he had just slightly smaller balls to be honest with you. - Did he really get hurt doing that? - It's some people believe so including me. - Oh, that's a great, why isn't conspiracy built? Why haven't I done a deep dive on that?

- That's a great question. - Great question. - Yeah, 'cause they lined up really nicely with the Big Balls. - Yeah. - The Lakers probably could have won that series

if they'd been a little healthier then, you know, the 2004 piston title that we hold up is this like beacon for all these other teams.

What if it just literally had never happened

because Sam Cassell wasn't quite so enthusiastic? - It's a great one. Sam Cassell's Big Balls dance swung the finals. - They're probably match up better with the pistons. Mine is, I've said this before,

won't be a complete shocker to people, but the 2002 Celtics, who lost of the Netson Six,

“I think they could have thrown some Hay Mankers”

at the O2 Lakers. They really matched up with them well. I know, this is the insane theory, I believe they beat them in LA. I think two years in a row, the Pierce Antoine combo

for some reason, like that Lakers didn't really like playing with them. They like going at Kobe, I don't know. I just feel like we could have thrown some punches. - You think the Antoine Walker,

tell me, don't we're gonna move on? - Rodgers, Katie Anderson, I don't know. Are you okay? Is everyone who would have done better than the Nets? - Okay, oh, two questions from Justin from Oregon.

We'll go, quick, the next weird career art, like the Kevin Garneck Kobe Bryant, like the late prime that could have extended, who's your best candidate for that? Do you have one?

- I mean, I mean, I think there's some guys where it's like, what if James Harden just becomes Jose called the Roan for a while? You know, what if he just becomes a pure caretaker point guard? Like, I'm not gonna commit zero turnovers

and have 12 assists a game. And I'm gonna shift into a totally different kind of player, but I think he could do that if he wanted to. - So he's like fun, old guy, and pick up game. - Exactly.

- But that's his NBA career for like four years. It's just like just super fun to play with. - I think we talked about like, oh, the guys who can hang around a long time, like the steps or the little bronze, for example.

But if you can just be like a point guard who can manage the game and not have to move that fast in bursts, I think you can play a while, if you would like. - Mine was Carl Anthony Towns, slowly morphing into his Sam Perkins early 90s situation.

- I like that. - Stretch five with subsides, rebounding, not a lot much else.

He's only making like five million a year,

better in experience.

five-year panic trade, what's young superstar will eventually be involved in the next shocking,

we never thought you could trade to move like KD, Luca, et cetera.

This is clearly a palo would be the answer for this, right? I don't even know if you'd be that shocking. He's been playing better lately. - He's been playing better, and he's been playing super well

in kind of a simplified context.

“So I think that that's the only thing about this question”

is of the young guys you would consider superstars. I just really don't see any of them being moved. You know, like your, your webbies, your Anthony Edwards is your Cades or Tyre's Haliburans, like, that's not happening. So yeah, I think palo, the conversation will continue

or Franz, if you prefer, like our views, such those guys out, I also just come to accept, I don't have a reason for this. I don't have a mechanism that will force it to happen, but I've come to accept that the sixors

are just like not operating in a normal plane of existence. And so if you told me, someone panicked and traded Tyre's Maxi, I'd like, yeah, that sounds like a normal sixor thing to me. - Very fair.

- I would throw Evan Mobley in there too, as the kind of like they trade him, and then he puts on 15 pounds of muscle on all of the sudden goes up a level.

- Can we go back for a second to the weird career arc?

- Yeah. - There was one thing I was thinking about for the first time, and it is, what is a 35 year old in the mellow ball, like, who is that person? - Like, white chocolate on the Memphis Grizzlies

in the mid-May 2000s, just really embrace. - Not even as a basketball player, like, who is that person? Like, what happens to someone like Lambella Ball when he has to reckon with the reality of his 30s?

I'm just, I'm, I'm baffled by it. - I can't wait to find out. Derek from Bloomington wants to know, how do tall players sleep on the road and hotels? A king bed dimension wise can only comfortably

fit a seven put four persons sleeping diagonally. This means Wemby is sleeping diagonally with his feet two inches off the bed

“isn't he getting ideas less than I deal rest every again?”

- All right, I made some, I sent some text on this one if I found out, and teams carry extenders for the hotel beds for the tall guys. - And Wemby is a custom extender. - That's what I found out about it.

- This is honestly great. - It's a rare discovered. - Yeah, they don't want these guys sleeping badly, so they have, like, little extender things.

So never thought of it, great question.

- See, 10 years ago, that was like an ESPN the magazine feature, and you just potted it out. (laughs) - Tim Keon's furious, this is from Hans. I'm not gonna pretend to pronounce his last name,

but it's ONJ-A-N-W-E-S. He said, he had the exact same reaction of finding out BamScore 83 as he did to finding out Luca got traded. My brain breaks upon realizing the realness of it.

I may never be the same, what other NBA moments were like that. So this is basically the craziest weight what happened in the NBA moments this century. And I'm gonna offer you the Luca trade, Bam 83

“in the Artesmele, I think it's almost like a three person”

Mount Rushmore, I think that's really it. I think those are the three where the reaction was the same, like, thinking was a joke. - Yeah.

- Wait, what? The Pistons went, the Pacers went in the stands. What happened? I think those are the three, and I don't think there's a fourth one.

The Pistons and the Bam won make particular sense 'cause it's like, they're just happening in front of you. And so there's kind of not a way you can challenge the reality of that situation. Part of the Luca experience as we've all talked about

was that initial wave of like, this can't be right. We couldn't wrap our heads around it to a degree that it seemed like it had to be made up. The only other trade, honestly, that I remember having anything resembling that level

of reaction to was when Alan Iverson got traded to the nuggets. And it was just like, this feels so wrong on a fundamental level that they like, sports center must be wrong. Like they must be like misinformed about what has happened here.

But that doesn't compare to the Luca trade. - No, okay, and he was in the trade rumors and like we had no idea who was coming. The only, it's a smaller one, but I remember where it was when it happened.

It was a Friday afternoon two days for the Patriots lost the giants in the Super Bowl. That was an Arizona with my dad. We're having a drink outdoors. And all of the sudden, I'm the ticker.

It flashed at the lakeers that acquired Paul Gassal from Memphis for a Kwame Brown in Crittenen and a number one pick. And Paul's then pretty fat brother. And turn out to be the gem of the trade.

And we were just like, what else was in the trade? And we're just watching the ticker and then the ticker would come. And this was pre being able to find out stuff

on your phone, some texting people on my blackberry. It was like, there had to be more in the trade, right? And there just was nothing in that was the trade. - Well, I think you've backed orders into maybe the only other candidate,

which is the crisp halt to the lakeers trade getting canceled by David Stern.

We got to, I wrote, back to back columns, back to back days for granted, and about that, you're right. The canceled trade is the fourth one. - Truly trippy stuff. - See, Rob Bounny, it's why you're the best.

- Two more and then we're done. These are both LeBron related. We're doing great time. We got Tate and Kyle coming on one second. Ben Mal wants to know, he's a conspiracy theory for us.

LeBron is behind the let's shorten the season push

because if it's successful, his records will never be broken.

- Wow. - I will never be in the MJ camp, but if I found out LeBron was making this push, it would cement him as the greatest strategist chess player of all time, and could be a new category

in the go to date. - He's definitely not pushing for this because I felt this way for a while, and so if some others, but I loved it. That'd be amazing if he was like,

if he was like, working behind the scenes for a 70 game season, because that would be it. He would own every record forever. - How did Michael Jordan not do this?

“- Like someone with a true burn it all down mentality?”

Like I think LeBron, actually, I think he does like care to a degree about being a caretaker of the sport. But like a real gunner, like a real ruthless, like ruthless competitor who would want to hold on

to all that stuff for their whole lives, I could actually see it. - Yeah, that's a Michael Corley-owned Godfather, too, move. - Yeah. - Okay, last question from Edward Bender.

You've talked recently about LeBron's destination next season, mentioned Golden State as a likely landing spot. I still like that one, by the way. You've also talked about this being the final year's

Steve Kerr's contract with the Warriors. What if Lake abired LeBron to be the player coach for the Warriors? I'll let Bill Russell with the Celtics in the last three years. By the way, I think player coaches are illegal,

but I think hold that to the side for a second. We'd bring up a ton of attention to the team, LeBron's a basketball genius. We haven't had a viable player coach really since Russell. For LeBron, it would be another legacy

burnishing achievement. I'm not a salary cap expert, but maybe there would be some salary cap stuff that would help to me, Steph is the biggest hurdle. Who says no, would Steph want to do this?

I got really excited about this idea. This really would be like, if you're in like a lifelong internal battle with basically Jordan and Russell and Karim, or who's the best part of all time,

LeBron said the point he needs to start adding stuff to the arsenal.

Russell has this amazing player coach thing

that he did the last three years. He won two titles, playing 48 minutes a game and coaching, which really should be mentioned, I think, even more prominent. People talk about him.

LeBron just doing that and doing a good job with the Warriors. But it would not flip it, but it would, I don't know, tweak it a little bit, right? If LeBron won one more title and let's let's throw a coach of the year in there, 'cause if obviously if they win,

I think he'd win coach of the year two, does, does, would that make him the go? If you won one more with an active coach of the year, as you're saying, a really singular achievement that is technically not legal,

but if anyone was gonna make it legal, you're, if LeBron went to Adam Silver and said, I really want to be a player coach from my final NBA season. Change your rules, I think they would just change it.

I really do.

“I think they would too, he could coach Dremont, right?”

Dremont's the one person Dremont seems to have real reverence for him and stuff together. Maybe you get, you mean, but they're coming back. Maybe you get one more old guy.

You're basically like, you're the expendables.

Yeah. It's like the slasteloam over, you're like, guys, it's just, it's the old guys. We're gonna make a run here and I'm gonna coach the team. I'll hold for a shooting up for the second half

of the second round. Yeah, I'm gonna roll it back out, let's do it. I got genuinely excited about this. I don't know if you'd want to do it. And then I was trying to think how could somebody

could we have a player coach? Not the way people coach games down, right? In the NBA, like Masoolas, like people like that. These guys are maniacs, but maybe the Zag is, we're spending too much time trying to coach.

Let's go back to the basics. Roll it out. Simple fun. Let's go back to the basics. We have some great offensive players in our team.

I don't know, I got excited about it. I think the more we talk about it, the more I really wanted to happen. And it absolutely won't. And so thank you for cratering my hopes and dreams

in real time on this spot.

“By the way, to circle back to another question,”

this would be the fifth holy shit moment of the century. Wouldn't it? Like it comes out, LeBron is the gonna be the new player coach of the Golden State Warriors. But like what, he's out to be--

So here's my question. If the Lakers, say, didn't go well. LeBron is the player's coach. They decided to have a player's only meeting. He's LeBron invited to the players only meeting.

Great question. He's not. It's tough. It's tough to not be one of the guys anymore. But he'd have a dream line in there telling him

every time they happen in the meeting. So it'd be fine. All right, Rob Bohnie, you can listen to mine on the ringer NBA show, which is also a Netflix, by the way. You're taping tomorrow morning.

And you're also on the prestige TV podcast. And I'll see you in the rewatchables in a couple of days. Sounds good, Bill. Thanks so much.

Thanks, Rob. We're gonna take a break. Come back with Tate Cal. This episode of the Bill Summon's podcast is presented by Sam's Club.

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Max $100 cashback per month. All right, tape-fraiser, Jekyll Man. They are here to talk March madness with us. They just sent me the brackets because I was in the mail bag with Rob and I couldn't see.

And my guy, A-Cuff, is in the forest spot in the west with number one Arizona. I'm just furious. I'm so upset. Why can't they give us good things?

“Why couldn't they have paved the way for some sort of run?”

This is terrible. How is this wrong? This is a wrong attitude bill. If you're going to be on this island, this is an opportunity for areas

to just do some scorched earth and establish and plan a flag, man. We're not afraid. We don't run. Let's do a bit of it.

But I have the other flag for Burris, potentially being the number five pick from Arizona. I'm these are competing corners. I don't have enough flags, tape. Maybe winner's terror or five pick.

Maybe that's the way that you look at it. Sweet 16 whoever wins, that's the number five pick. That's great. So before we get to some of the madness, the tape, who is the biggest winner this weekend, player or team for you?

I think Arizona is the biggest winner, because Arizona did not get the number one overall see. But if you look at the bracket, the east is just kind of a gauntlet there for Duke.

I mean, they have to basically deal with Dan Hurley,

potentially as their number two seed. Obviously, that's turned into a bit of a rivalry. They both try to claim medicine square garden. They also got Rick Patino in the Johnny's sitting there. It's a five seed.

That's a tough five seed. They got Tom Iso in Michigan State. Staring them down as well. So they just have a lot of tough teams. And it's the blue blood bracket there in the east.

So that's a tough draw for Duke. And if you look at Arizona, they got a pretty clear path. And we might have a situation where if Arizona can Zaga end up in the elite, we get the master versus the protege there with Tommy Lloyd

for smart few. So pretty good match up there for Gonzaga. And a pretty good spot for Arizona as well.

“What do you have Kyle, same winner or somebody else?”

Yeah, I mean, I agree with the most interesting thing here from the drafts, the important is we have, you know, your eyeballs go immediately to the potential Kansas Duke thing. I mean, Peterson comes out and if Peterson goes on speaking of scorched earth and making tournament statements going into the draft.

I mean, if Peterson comes back and you know, played really well in that match up, a big thing for Duke. We should mention is, you know, they're down Caleb Foster. Tate seems to have some optimism. They're going to have to win, to get him back.

I mean, you know, they're going to have to be in the tournament. And then, you know, Patrick and Gungba, who's a big guy for them, who's good, we'll see if he's back and ready to go. So pretty, pretty testing, challenging bracket for them. Even though they, you know, they won the ACC, but it's, it's a challenging

pot for them for sure. All right, enough Martinez top. Now, I'm just kidding. But I do want to talk to you, because I'm just kidding. I'm out of the way now.

Can we give you some credit bill? You've been watching a lot of college basketball. You've been texting this to a champ league. So I just want to put that out for the people. If anyone thinks respect to you, you are watching the game.

So salute to you. Yeah, I mean, one key, so I watched, I watched our week, but then yesterday I thought I was going to be missing stuff because I was posting out of my wife, mainly not feeling well. So I'm like, how about this?

Why don't we watch something on the, you know, the three TVs, give me the two on the left and you could just watch whatever you want. We'll just hang out all day and with the dogs. It'll be great. And I watched an insane amount of basketball.

But I saw every Arkansas game Friday, Saturday, Sunday. A cuff, his best game was today because he wasn't really that good yesterday, but, you know, playing these three, 40 minute games back to back to back Friday, Saturday, Sunday, it's pretty brutal, you know, especially you're trying to play for, so I got a word yesterday with him today.

I'm on the set. I don't know if anyone else is pointed their flag on this. He's starting to look a little chy-reish to me. And I know that's sacrived. Chy-re is like the one of one.

One of the most skills guards we've ever had, ambidextrous, incredible

finisher, just like the guy you would create in a lab, there's stuff. A cuff does take that just makes me think of Kyrie as I'm watching. Is that crazy? No, I don't think it's crazy. I feel like a lot of people talking about Allen.

I was sitting right. I mean, you got like the Baron Davis comp, I mean, obviously not as a exclusive Steve Francis, also, like, there's a lot of guards in the

But as far as being a Camille, you know, I feel like that's what a cuff is. In a game, he can be an engine for you. He could be a creator for you. He could be a spot up shooter for you. And offensively, he just put on a masterclass.

I think the real thing and the real knock for a cuff. And I'm sure Kyrie will talk about this as well. Is defensively, there was a couple of times where he had the maddoer defense where do miles. So you just like, yeah, you go ahead and score.

So I can get the ball back.

“I think that's what I'm going to get out of your way.”

Yeah, that's fair to bring up.

But as far as if you just watch them on the offensive end, it's incredible

to watch. And for Cala Perry of all people, and obviously he champions is guys quite a bit, but he's been pretty fair in the sense that like he is in a top tier of the group of guards that he's had. And that's saying a lot, what do you go through all those guards?

Jamal Murray, SGA, John Wall, Derek Rose, the list goes on. So for him to be in that conversation, says a lot about a cuff. And if you watch him, it's just incredible to watch. And you mentioned his fatigue. I mean, he really was entirely at all.

He just kept going and going. And he was great in the stretch. You know, Kyle, one of the things with him, the reason I kept thinking of the of the Kyrie thing is he really can run a team. But then also be the score.

But then go back to run into the team. And he's like an old school point guard where we talk about the NBA guys. Like that the guard position is just kind of melted away. And you know, I look at something like Darious Garland. It's like that's kind of the old old school point guard that I grew up with.

And we just don't have a lot of these anymore. And if anything, there's more like zero guards and more like the Russell Westbrook types, it comes like an old school. I can either set guys up or I can get my own thing. And I think he can finish in traffic.

The defense is obviously not awesome.

But you know, it's not like Kyrie was an incredible defender.

But the question for me is the size and do, are we just moving into this world with OKC and San Antonio and the Celtics where everybody just wants bigger guards. And that's why he's going to fall back. Yeah, I mean, you hit it when we were talking about him this this weekend. It's kind of like you can love a player.

“And then, but you have to run it through that test that gauntlet,”

that prism of like, are they going to be able to play kids San Antonio and OKC both of these teams? I mean, even you go into like the pistons, a lot of these, the Celtics, these teams have big physical switchy defenders in the, in the back court. And it's, it's tough. It's, it's a tough time.

You know, the thing for me is I hear, you hear a lot of comps. When I watch a cuff, when I initially watched him, my first thought was just like, you could tell this guy has old point guards in his life because he just has, like, he just has this, this sanity and this, this sense for he sees levers within the game that other players don't see.

I've noticed like he can see like the defensive doing this. If I do this, if I do this action, he'll tell us, he's pointing all the time. And Tate and I've talked about this a lot. I mean, this Arkansas team, I do not know where they would be without him. He is like the smartest play on their team, obviously.

But he just kind of directs traffic. They were one of the best transition teams and most efficient and prolific in the country. And then a lot of that is because of him, he hits it ahead just relentlessly.

He never, ever leaves that on the table.

For the comps, though, getting to that, I mean, I really don't see the Derek Rose, Iverson and Cindy are he speed-tucked guys for him. I see a cerebral game manager in the vein of a CP3, except for, I just don't see, yeah, he's somebody, the defensive reminds me when I see him do those matters or plays or reminds me of my high school coach just burned into my brain because I was an awful defender,

a big shock at my build, but I could just hear him going, "Oh, like, how man, oh, like."

“And that's what I think of when I was there. He's like, "Oh, man, he carried one of the biggest”

usage rates in the country and was just like zero waste." You know, that's just how smart he is. New and to pick his spots and yeah, he absolutely showed out today. Yeah, there's some Kyrie, some CP3. I like like some of the best parts of those guys. I've heard of you. I'm so little in one. Yeah. I like that he gets stats as Thomas that sounds.

These are 40 minute games and you're just like, yeah, here's, I put up 32 and 11 today. Like, that's not nothing. You know, even though we have the three-point shot, a little pace, stuff like that. But the hymn verse is Fleming's Tate, the Houston Guard, who has been the number five spot for the last two months. And I don't see it. I don't understand. If you're going to just go those two guys again, there's another guy I could see in that

spot that we were texting about today. But I don't see the Fleming's verses him with the advantage going to Fleming. So where do you stand on that? I love Fleming's. I love his game. But I think, you know, it's tough when you have the smaller guards. And I think there's kind of a group before, right? Burries is in that group. McCelt Brown, Mike Kelt Brown is in that group. A Bruce Brod is called a Mark Kelt Brown on the broadcast. So maybe that's his new

nickname. Bruce is accuracy was all over the place. Yeah. Bill, you missed it. Bruce was on fire today. He also did a nice stump speech for his son, not being in the tournament. I tried to call out the committee chair. He's becoming quickly the Barani James of coaching, Stephen Perrow. It's not his fault. So can you imagine if Ben was coaching a college team and didn't get in the tournament? Can you imagine what Bill would be like?

this point. Is that it's dubious? Yeah. Yeah. It depends on the camp you talk to. You don't have to be like he can be very gregarious. But back to Fleming's, I mean, I'm a fan of Fleming's. He has the scoring prowess. There's a times where he has the defensive lapses as well.

“I think it's great that he plays for Coach Samson. I think Kelvin Samson's done a really good”

job of getting him to learn how to play team defense. That's something that will translate. His own ball pressure has gotten better as the year has kind of weighed dawn. But when you look at him versus a cuff, I mean, there's games that you can point to, but a cuff hasn't had less than 17 points this season. If you go all the way back through his game, so like even when he doesn't play

great, he still gets the bottom line number of points. And I think there's some games where

Fleming's even he said it in the championship game against Arizona, him and Sonak, they can quite show up. So there's some times he has that. He can be a little who Dini. So I understand why Acca is kind of jumped him in the general consciousness right now. Well, and you have, if the Arizona Guard and then you have Kyle's guy who, if you just go and you watch the YouTube clip of his 45-point game against some crafting where they're up 30, but it's like he just looks like the all-time

“most NBA playerish guy out of all of these guys. I don't know. I think it's going to bounce around.”

Do you think Kyle that the March madness like the next two weeks is going to affect the draft possibilities with these guys at all? Because I feel like I don't say this every year, but I think this share I think it could swing some stuff. Yeah, I mean, if you just look at the order, I mean, this, it's, I don't think Kingston is a solid at four or five as he's been in a while. I think it's kind of coming to question lately, and I think the Buries conversation, like we were talking about

and we can get into him in more detail. I think, and then Mike L actually started higher in the year, and he kind of got dinged as it went along. But he was five. Yeah, that's true. So I think it's really influx. Like, I don't, I don't think it's really super set at all. You know, speaking to the Kingston thing, Kingston is, I like him a lot. It's just like what you were talking about. He has people swear that he's

like six foot four. I've never got the stand next to him. But when you look at him, you're like,

optically, it just doesn't. He's got narrow shoulders, and he just seems, he seems small. But Kingston is super, he's probably the fastest player in the draft. That would say he reminds me of

“Maxi at times in the fact that he just blitz his blitz his blitzes. He's really good passer. I think”

it speaks to Kingston's, you know, correct character and credit, though, that he came into a team that had two returning backport players from a team that went to the National Championship game, and he came in and just kind of took over the, the main spot there and ran that team. But he just needed to be more consistent. It's Dying Garten, Start Club, for the infruiting. By Action, Game, Qualität, and the smallest prize hand in hand. To buy a game for Mini-Catten-Siggin,

only 24, 18, or Garten touch Garten-Shereen, only 21, and 18. In Decay, all Garten-Products in our infruiting and in Action App, Action, kleine price, cross-Freude. I watched Arizona Duke and Arkansas, ironically, who somehow lost state times, but those, those were like real teams with like, running real offense, great action, great action, yeah. Yeah, and now they have like multiple actions within one possession.

And then Arizona basically is for first-round picks, and the guy who's, if you didn't know anything, you were like, who's the best guy in this team, you would have said the point card, who is like going to be in the background pick, and I'm sure he's going to end up on Miami,

and he'll have like a 10-year career. It's always Miami. We always say something deep seated about

Miami. But it's just felt like a more mature product this year, and I don't know if it was a product of, it's just like, this is a fluke, awesome class, or what, what do you think? Well, I was going to say, just kind of a mix of like the European guys who were coming in, you also have this great freshman class, which is getting compared to like the 1981 class, right, which anytime you're talking like Mullins, Jordan, a lot you want. I mean, that's a ridiculous group

to be in, you know, conversation with. Yeah. And then you also had in the fact that these guys who are veterans are coming back because they're getting paid to come back. A guy like Jaden Bradley decides to come back and have more of a roll after Caleb loves ghosts to the NBA. So I mean, you mix those three pockets together. You got a triple threat of good basketball, and also the coaches have a little bit more leeway with these guys because it is professionalized at this point.

So I think you added all together. It's been a nice mix. And I've seen some people even pointing out the fact that they've enjoyed the product. So much more because a lot of people, as you know, it will come in and march parachute in. But it seems like their parachuters are having fun. Yeah. Finally, we need it. You know what part of this is Kyle? And the all-star game is like this, too. You really just need guards that know what they're doing. And a lot of years with college,

like even Purdue, it was so much fun. By the way, but he's, their point card is absolutely 100%

steal him. But you just can tell he's going to end up on a good team. They're like, aha, they took him 37th. They're so stupid. And then I'll have like a 12 year career. But Kyle, so many guards that kind of just know what the fuck they're doing this year, which to me seems unusual. I don't feel like that's that's been the case that much in college anymore. Yeah, especially if you look at the look at it through the lens of a lottery. I mean, we have a lot more guards. Like we said,

there's not there aren't as many wings that are kind of being pushed up into that level. But yeah, the guard quality and to speak to the quality of college basketball, it's just guys are incentivized

“to stay. And I think something that's really helped, too, is, you know, we do have the guards.”

But if you look at the top teams and there's a return to kind of a traditional vibe in college basketball where all the best teams are big. If you look at Michigan, if you look at Florida, if you look at Duke, I mean, just down the line, these, they all have solid front courts. Some of me even, there are nights where I'm just like, I wonder if this team could like kill the wizards inside or something like Michigan on some nights. I'm just saying not that course Bam proved that

that's, you know, anything's fun. But yeah, I mean, just the depth of the talent getting guys to come back, I think, is kind of the driving force of my opinion. In addition to a good class, like you mentioned Arizona, like I was mentioned, I was saying like Cartoon cough for them is like they're what fifth dude. And I think he can play 10 years in the NBA, like he's a good player.

So when we look at a big picture, and I want to talk about birds a little bit too in a second,

but when we look at big picture, because the question you guys are going to get over the next four days is who should I pick? Who should I bet on who's your favorite? Who's your sleeper? So we'll go, who do you think is actually going to win? Who would surprise you the least if they won? Who is it, tape? I got to take a deep breath before I say it. Duke is an indie team. Duke is one in 2010, Duke is one in 2015. I do feel like this Duke team got a really tough

draw, but I think it makes the story even better if they get out of Greenville. They lost and

“Greenville last time they were there. 2017 lost the Senderious Thorne well. You remember that”

South Carolina team really tough house fun. Yeah, that's a place that they haven't had great history, but if they survive Greenville, they'll have obviously North Carolina fans pulling against them. They had that the AC tournament as well. They're both in Greenville this time. But I just feel like this Duke team, especially with Gung would be in back. They need the rim protection. I think he will

be back and help them with the rim protection. And Cam Booser's never lost. Like this guy has never

ever lost in his life. And I do think that matters at some level. And even in the ACC tournament, Virginia had him on their heels. I felt like, wow, Virginia's going to win this game. And then they just found a way in Caden Booser, who was stepped in for Caleb Foster, has really done a good job. And Cam was the one that got him involved in the game. He got him an open three early. He knows where his spots are. They had this twin connection with each other. So I think like if I just open up

on the day of the national championship and Duke wins, and they beat Arizona in the championship game, that feels like inevitable at this point. I'm sorry for the brother, right? Yeah. Yeah, he tastes just going to not passing out. Yeah. I was sorry for the brother, because, you know, they we've been these guys have been in our lives since what seventh grade sixth grade. And they've

always been a tandem in Ozo is like, Cam's the better one. You know, when you're like, yeah,

that my brother's the better one. I'm not, you always, I was kind of subconsciously roofed for the other one. But I thought he had some good moments. Kahoo, who would be the least surprising to win the title? I mean, I'm leaning towards Arizona right now. We'll see if Jaden Bradley is like hobbled, but they just have everything. I mean, they've got room protection. They've got shooting. They've got experience. They've got, you know, COVID has been, you know, up and down. He's a guy that,

you know, has flirt has been in and out of the lottery. And then beginning of the year, he was higher up. So he is a little bit to prove. And he's a winner too. You know, that's been that was one of the big things going into the year was who's more of a winner, co-opeter, Cam Booser.

“But to speak to what Tate's talking about with, with Duke, I think another, you know,”

next factor here is, you know, yeah, Kaden is being underestimated. But defensively man, it like the three four five Duke is tough. They got Domay Sarr, who's a, who's a kid who came in in international kid. Very, very long could be a high pick and having a surge late in the process. And then Malik Brown, very, very physical three four guy, who's a great passer in really physical. So, but I'm going to pick Arizona at this point, because I just think they have everything.

I have Arizona as well, just from what I really was watching this weekend. They just seem like almost like a junior NBA team to me that everything you want. And Burris, who I just feel, you know, he was hit a great run in LA. There's a good, there's a good, uh, thinking one, the title. But he had like a massive game in the title game, but just, you know, when it wasn't like, I think he was a top 10 guy and all the less and all that stuff,

it's not like he's just press. But he's the guy when we're talking about the draft, because there's just too many guards. And not, I just don't think all these teams are going to need guards in the NBA draft. And he's the guy that I think could have a chance to go fourth or fifth, because Scott Moore's size is just a prototype go like two guard and swing. I could see him on all

with them. So that he's probably, uh, probably, he's like, well, night, night than the list of Kyle. So about eight, eight, eight, ninth range. Yeah, people have had him in that like nine through like eight through 15 range. But I, I look at him and I'm just, they're, they're a major case in Wallace 2020, like three vibes with, with this guy, where same age, you know, we're about the same age in the process. He's a little older than the other guys. I just think, I just think

that there's a possibility that teams are going to be reaching for the shiny thing, with going for these upside guards, like the Mike Kells or the King Stins or, you know, keep Wallace shooting or A cuff. And then you've just got this, his eye out comes might not be as like tempting as some of those guys. But he's just steady. And he plays for a team that's that he fit into a role. And just, and he doesn't really have a big time weakness. He guards. He plays

both ways. He's got good size to put to guard both positions. I just think that he's a winning, he's a winning player. He reminds me, there will be a lot of the case in Wallace that he really does. Yeah, I'm excited to see what happens with them next two weeks because I was texting you guys

about how we always do this with the draft where you just rank the guys, like with the potential,

but when we actually get to the draft and it gets to a team like Utah's picking fifth and it's, they're just not going to want to point guard. Like they're, they're kind of committed to can't they George at this point, but they could really need his two guard or a win or, you know, and sometimes these guys move around. Tate, which is biggest sleeper. Biggest sleeper. I mean, Arkansas is definitely in the mix. I really like what Aika could do. I would call him a Kim

“mechanic. So I would throw them out there. I think in Zaga, I would watch out for just in the”

West. I know that we love Arizona, but Gonzaga is falling off like the national conversation a little bit in this team. Mark few, I don't know how many more years he has a head coach in waiting right now. And I do feel like Gonzaga has to win one championship. They've just been so due. And last time we were in Indy, we remember Gonzaga undefeated. They go into the national championship game. They're playing Baylor, Scotchru's, Baylor team with those three guards. Just completely

Davey on Mitchell. I mean, physically just overwhelmed them, you know, Corey Kisper to those guys. So I think they might have a little bit of redemption. So I am concerned about Arizona and that stretch and also Arizona just has to get over the mental hurdle of getting there. So that's another team I would throw into the mix. And, you know, I mean, I'm going down the line. I have to bring them up because I love them so much. What if Rick Petino just did it? What if Rick Petino just knocked

off Duke? It just went to the final floor trying to be here. He's going to be here in the first Arizona's walking through the door space. Yeah, I just would love that storyline. I mean, he was having a great time in the Biggie tournament. They went in. He seems like he's like having the best you fork moment of his career right now. He's kind of swooning a little bit. So I don't know. I, I, I still like the Johnny's. I do see their problems. And I see their issues.

And obviously, they can't play as physical as they did against you, kind of against a lot of teams

with the officiating in the NCAA tournament. But that would be an incredible storyline.

If Vampire Rick Petino knocked off Duke. I was hoping you were going to say Pennsylvania and TJ

“power. I'll do their election. Oh, yeah. What a game. Yeah, I've been to the final. Who knew?”

That was our fun. So power went to Duke. He was doing like a pretty high recruit, right? Wasn't he like five stars? Yeah. I went to Duke, went to Virginia. I think he scored 35 points in his career for Virginia. And he had 44 today in the Ivy League final. So what a turn for him. Some people put it together late. I thought he was doing really good. I was shocked by him. But he's a good guy. That was your sleeper.

In terms of, well, I was going to tack on to what Tate was saying there with I, if we could get AJ defensive versus Gonzaga, I think that could be pretty fun. If we could get, you know, an interchange and tie on Grant Foster, that would be a really interesting statement game for them. But you know, I'm looking at this and I'm just, I'm seeing gosh. I mean, I don't really like anybody out of the lower left side of the bracket. You con is sitting right there. I could see them

make it a run in that bracket. You know, and then, but Arkansas is another team that they could

lose in the second round or they could make a run to the final four that team. It could go either way.

So, you con, though, is a team that Tate now. They're kind of ours on B team. I feel like any time

“you think you con said, Danny Hurley's got that intensity. I think that they could make a run.”

Well, and they also have a guy who's going to be the lottery pick seems like it. Who's averaging like 12 points a game? I don't know what's going on there. Bring the moments. Yeah. Do you have trailer moments? Yeah, good shooter. I think that it would be really good for him to come back for another year. I don't know how Kyle feels about that. I just think he's kind of been projected in the lottery space, but if Rayland Mullins was given the keys of the offense, he had a full health

year. I think we'd see him completely unlock Eric Ryba, who's another guy that he came in with. I think those two guys playing together, that would be a lot of fun for Hurley. And we forget, I mean, last year, you con should have, I mean, not should have, but they could have easily be smarter. This one is very close to beating Florida and they dominated the turn of it two years

for Yukon. It's one thing for the first game. It's for the the second game and what you get into

“the tournament when you have to scout this team. It's really tough. Their actions are layered.”

We've talked about that a lot. Kyle and I just how good of stuff that they run, loop Murray, shout out to him for putting some of that stuff together. So, I just think Yukon's going to be a tough out for anybody. And Dan Hurley has a chip on his shoulder and anytime he does, he leads the country and he's going to get teed up or do something insane, which is also great. That's why Framed McCaffer being the tournament is awesome, Patina. Like we have a lot of good characters.

Do you get teed you like coach? Are you raising your voice in me? Greatest press conference mode of the year. We do have it. It seems like a higher concentration of crazy coaches than we've had in a while or like character coaches, like what kind of what we

had in the 80s. Yeah, I think of like the amount of like good teams we have, interesting teams.

Guys who could just take over a game, you know, and it put up like 33 35 upset potential. We didn't really talk about the Darren Peterson X factor part of those two. What happens if he's just fucking awesome in these playoffs? What happens if he looks like young Kobe all the sudden for two weeks? Because there's been a lot of Kyle and I know you've been moderate. There's been science. It's better than it was, right? Yeah, I mean, he's been up and down all year. He's been

“slowly kind of trying to acclimate. I really think, you know, if you circle him back here, I mean,”

Kansas is also another sleeper there. They're highs have been very, very high. I mean, they beat Arizona when they were home and I mean, they kind of owned them. I mean, they've had some, they can beat anybody. They've also, you know, their motivation and their consistency has been up and down, but they could get hot. Tate. I mean, you could see this. I mean, also could this be the bill's self. There's their whispers of that, that this could be the bill's self swans song. He could

have that in the air just, you know, go out there, do one for the Gipper, one last one. I could see them making a run. Yeah. So scared to be the pride of his great coaching. He decides something. I wanted you to let this one fly. Go ahead. Go ahead. I really miss his chess master retained. What do you think? Hey. Yeah. I mean, I like this five. I like their five. I worry about their death. Like when they have to lean on El Marco Jackson, you saw that when they

benched Bryson Tiller and they had to kind of go away from their starting five because, you know, Bill self was trying to send a message to Tiller. I guess in the big 12 tournament, maybe that was a lesson learned. But council's a guy who's good, who can get really hot. We saw him and gets in the state this year. He hit like from what I remember like 10 threes, maybe more. It was just a ridiculous performance. So when you have council there, Darren Peterson seems to be loved by his teammates.

There was a little bit of a strange beauty there. What a cool. He's one of them back over. You know, like you want him back, which is good. And then trade lights like the perfect X factor in the NCAA tournament does all the dirty work can hit big shots for you. And then you got Vadungo is one of the best room protectors and college basketball. So I mean, they kind of check all the boxes. I just worry about their depth. If you get Vadungo and foul trouble, that's kind of the recipe to beat them.

Yeah. I asked you guys about him like a month ago because I was like, this is just a classic. He's going to be the 47th pick in the draft and end up on some team playing 25 minutes again. Well, like, what happened? Oh, he's two inches too short. So 30 teams that were passed on him. I,

“I think there's so many fun subplots this year. And there's so many good ways this could go.”

So I'm not going to get my hopes up too much. But you know, Louisville, I think has my, not Louisville, Arkansas, I think has, has my heart this year. I think I've watched them the most. I'm the most intrigued by you love cow. You're just a cow guy. I know it. I know the cow crazy collapse when it gets to tense and that he'll probably screw the second half up on one of these games. But I honestly think talent was, I think they can hang with any of these teams. And they have a guy who will

be completely unafraid on the biggest stage to to do his thing. So he's one, I think Peterson qualifies for that to AJ is going to be a fucking maniac, right? Like he'll just be. It's not coming out. He's going to be like he's going to have seven coffees. Not allowed. I don't think in the

BYU honor code, but yeah, he's just drinking soda, dirty soda, dirty soda. Well, then, and always

fun to root against Duke, too. Even though I kind of like the booster twins, so it's fun to ah, they're like a bulldovo, you know what I mean? Like I can't even hate these guys. And defensively, they play such great defense as a team. That's really the reason why you believe in Duke. I mean, we can talk about, you know, camp, booster, and everything else, but defensively, they're so good. And when they have gongba, they really have no weakness because of the weak brown and

down a star. Like the ball pressure from star, the the flexions from the weak brown. And then if they don't get it done, they have gongba on the back end. So it's three levels of defense would just up to be. I just like that. I don't have to take it personally anymore when you, you win your rag and on Calapere. I used to just have to eat that forever. I've just been kind of, Bill has discovered more poop yet. So that'll be a new mystery. I was going to say,

you're gonna take nine of very low time. Bill, you're surprised that we're in even in

“good spirits. Well, I mean, the, the Caleb Wilson thing was, yeah, that was devastating. I thought”

he, for some reason, I thought he was going to come back and it's just apparently, he was coming back. He got hurt ramping up to come back, which is even sadder. You know what I mean? I got in text on the Wednesday. They're like, yeah, Caleb's getting ready for Duke on Saturday. I'm getting fired up. I'm texting my parents. I'm like, Caleb's coming back for Saturday. Get fired up. Then Thursday, I got like a sad face text. And I'm like, oh, no, what is it? What does sad face mean? He's not

going to play on Saturday. It's like, no, he broke his thumb on the other hand. And he's out for the season. So yeah, this, this completely lovable, awesome top four lottery pick who probably would have gotten better than a matter. And you don't even get to roof for him one time when it actually matters. And he's going to go the NBA now. Yeah. And a sucks. That's the rub with college.

I was taken, by the way, I had this idea for college. No one, no NIO money for the first two years.

That would be my NIO case. Okay, for two years, for a year, lots of NIO money. I'll be a little more stability with the jumping around. People would probably hate that idea, but I was wondering, like, what if you're just a real student athlete for the first two years, then you're three, you can cash in. I mean, it would be fascinating. If you put it in a trust to, like, what if you just had the money sitting in a trust? That would be a win. You couldn't,

you couldn't touch it until if you were in the third year, then you could touch it, do whatever you want with it. But for the two years, it just accrues interest. And it's sitting there. You can't see what's going on. That's the play of the year. You have the third year to have it. Well, you don't get it. You don't get it regardless. You know what I mean? I guess you still get it regardless if you go to the NBA.

But if you come back for the third year, then you just get the money and then you can do whatever you want with it.

“Like that. All right, yeah. Hey, cop is my guy for the tournament. Who's your guy, Kyle, man?”

Oh, Lord. Let's see. If you have a guy, have you officially adopted someone yet? Oh, geez. I mean, I have a lot of guys. I have a lot of guys that I love to watch. No, you have pick one. You're not going to list seven. Pick one. Who's your girl? Who's your guy? Pick a guy. I love LeBaron Fylon. I mean, he's been one of my favorite players. He's probably going to be a late, a late lottery pick for Alabama. But Fylon and Acuff have kind of, you know, he's, he's really, he's got kind of Mike Conley vibes. He's, he's a really tough-ish shit kind of,

just a wiring kind of guard. But he shoot the ball. He's wiggly. He's competitive. He's smart. He's one of my favorite players. I'll tell you this, because the draft's going to be stupid this year, because there's too many point cards and not enough teams at any point cards. One of these guys is going to fall like the 17th, 18th pick and it's going to immediately be a godsend. Some team that's actually a playoff team. You know, like, I'm trying to think who would be like seven, like Charlotte. All the, like,

they have the 17th pick and it's like, oh, we'll take him. So there's just too many people at that position. Anyway, all right, Tate, who has your heart? I'm going to go with Keaton Wawgler for Illinois and this is a team. I just keep going back to Illinois and Wawgler. I got to see him in person out here at the UCLA game. I just love the way he plays. I love the way he passes. He has shown some signs when teams get physical that he doesn't play so well. And I can relate to that, you know, when there was a lot of

ball pressure. I'm just like, this is not how I want to play. I'm like, Devon Booker, when you get that little team, I'm like, we're doing double teams. Like, what are we doing? Stop it. Yeah, that's Keaton Wawgler's M.O. And I just like the way you play, is the Illinois offense is one of the best offenses in the country. And one of the best offenses is all time on Kim Palm. So like, when they get going, they're a lot of fun.

Love Brad Underwood. I am worried about their draw because they got TJ power in the first round

and probably busy you and the second round out of the Upset Carolina. So that could be tough real annoy, but I buy into this team and I buy into Wawgler. So that, but that'll be my guy. Here's his name in, right, Bill? Yeah, that's your guy. Yeah, I don't want to be mean with college players, but that's the only one. There's, there's 10 guys in the misery drop off. So I've done all my work on the 10 guys and the 8 men, the only one I don't get. He was the fourth rank recruit,

but I've just been there with these really tall, ball handler, you know, kind of not strong guys. We've, we've failed with these guys as high lottery picks for 45 years. So I maybe he'll convince me other ways. He's got stronger at least, like because of Tennessee in the way they play, like he's had to get stronger. So he's gotten a little bit more physical, but I'm with you. His balance is so bad. Like I kind of go back to balance. Like he feels like he falls down a lot and

gets pushed around a lot, which is not good. It's like what I texted you guys. I'm watching all

“these guys as I think about them, like projected them and I'm watching these games. I'm going to”

get time, but I'm also like in the back of my head, what is this guy going to be like as a pro? And you just have to think about them going against OKC and San Antonio and Boston and all of these six, seven, six, eight wings and based on Wallace and Derek Whate and Hugo Gonzalez and just honored that and then Wendy waiting for you in the paint. And if in my head, it seems inconceivable that you could handle that kind of level of basketball. It'd be really tough for me to take you with

the top 10 picks. So, you know, we'll see with with them up, but there was a little Brad Seller's

Yeah, the Tall Skinny Guys that are face up guys to make me nervous. So, the Illinois kid though,

the fact that he wasn't a top 100 high school recruit. It was a chance to be a seven,

“basically a top seven pick. I think that's like the craziest story I can remember in a while.”

How is that? Was last time that's happened. Somebody's went from like off the map to top seven lottery picking a year. I can't think of a specific name on top of my head, but I've talked to a lot of people. Kingston had a similar thing going on where he was a Puma circuit guy. I'm not mistaken. And there's an interesting inefficiency that comes down to is they're just video access to these guys because Puma's video access just wasn't very good and Kingston suffered

because of that. And Keaton came from like an independent grassroots team if I'm not mistaken. So, he just got played for his high school team. I think I've been at Sturts who might end up in a lottery pick for Iowa was a kid who's just like, I don't care about being on a big grassroots team. He was like, and he's awesome. And he ended up at like D2 and he says kick gas every level. There's somebody's guys that just don't care. And then when they get to the level they shine,

they don't play the game. But it happens more than you would think. One guy I can think of recently is Cedric Howard. You know, Cedric Howard was completely wrong. He just kind of came on a nowhere. So he and he just knows how to play basketball. Which I feel like Wagner checks that box and

under what it never seen in play, he just saw video of him passing. And it was like, I like this kid.

“And that's how he ended up at Illinois, which is also insane. I mean, but at least Howard was in college”

for a couple of years, right? Yeah, I had one of these guys 12 months. This completely changes thing, it's pretty cool. Tate odds on a LeBron going to one of these Arizona tournament games. Minus 250, if it's, if they make it, if they make it to the regional final, he's definitely there. You know, I see Gonzaga Arizona LeBron's there. All the Arizona fans are like, this is our time. And then Mark few somehow wins this game. And then Arizona fans are like, I blame LeBron, you know.

But yes, I have to end the boy's a bigger than somebody. Not a people about Bryce. I mean, isn't it crazy? It's like, I like it, right? Is it? Well, is it? Yeah, well, just him being in the college experience. Yeah, we haven't heard any. No LeBron sniffing nothing. Yeah. Tate took a warm up all for the

“picture. What do you guys think about that? Like, they won the championship and then he took his”

warm off for the warm up off for the picture. Because if he looks down 10 years, they're like, he definitely played his warm up soft. Kind of. You got to keep the warm up on if you didn't play. I mean, actually it'll be the circus. We'll see. All right. So we you guys come back on a week from

Tuesday. My pod then to we could dive back into what happened that first weekend. And then Tate's

obviously could be on ringer gambling. The tailgate, the award winning ringer tailgate show. He's going to do some college trips as well. Oh, I was going to be on ringer and be talking about this stuff. And when is our first box draft go up for for the ringer? When are we doing that? All right. We're finishing it up right now. We're getting all our profiles put together. So we're going to have a lot of read and a lot to digest coming real soon. Can't wait. All right. Thank you, Kyle. Thank you,

Tate. Thanks to Gahowan Eduardo as well. Don't forget, we watch most coming tomorrow. Put it up a little bit earlier for C.R. Month. I know you guys have been on from by C.R. Month. But we have a live and die in LA coming tomorrow. And I will see you in this podcast on Tuesday. Thanks everybody. Must be 21+ in present in select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas star casino

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