Tatum in NYC, MVP Questions, Best First-Round Matchups, and Kon Vs. Coop, With Tim Legler

The Bill Simmons podcast brought to by Fandle.

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In San Francisco last night, we did basic instinct. I had an awesome time at the Tony Rempie Theater. Thanks everybody who came out a rocking show. We were going to be running it on Monday's rewatchable feed. We did basic instinct.

Movie that we did six years ago during, it was like three weeks after COVID started. And we did it on Zoom and we needed to redo it. We needed to do it in San Francisco because it's a great San Francisco movie. So that's coming Monday night coming up on this podcast. Tim Legler stops by to talk about favorite round one possible playoff matchups.

The MVP race, Joel and B going down. We spent time talking about the Portland Trailblazers for some reason, but I enjoyed it. And a whole bunch of other NBA stuff heading into the final weekend of the season. Zach Lowe and I will be on live on Netflix Sunday night. We'll know all the playoff matchups by then.

We have a little gimmick that we're going to do on Sunday night. You can watch us live on Netflix. So after the master's not sure the time yet, I just watched Celtics next.

Interesting game. The Celtics basically have the two seed locked up, but media.

There are one more winner next loss in their in MSG. And they scratch J. Limbrown this morning, which is this new NBA tactic. That's not that new. I forget who started this.

“Basically, here's what I think the thinking was because I don't think J. Limbrown.”

I do, you could have arrested him tomorrow night. Like if you really wanted to win this game tonight, you play everybody. This is my guess. I think the Mozilla and the Celtics, they're looking at this. Like if we have our full team with Tatum back and we go to MSG, we play the next or trying

to beat us and they beat us. There's some sort of psychological edge that you combine that with what happened in the

playoffs last year with the two come for behind wins in the first two games of Boston.

It made him get hurt in MSG, the next beat the Celtics in series. A next team that seems pretty confident to get the Celtics in general, combined with them beating the full Celtics team at MSG, is that worth it? Or would you go the other way? Bench, J. Lim, play, missing the guy who's a first-to-mong big out this year, and maybe we beat the next anyway.

And if we don't, we could just say, well, we didn't have J. Lim. This seems like this new psychological warfare that teams do. So the next one they were celebrating, like they won game seven of a playoffs series. And for the Celtics, like, yeah, we didn't have J. Lim Brown, Derek White couldn't hit a shot, Tatum was seven for 22, and on the flip side, Josh Hart, who had been reaching

the point where it's like, are the next just going to bench him in the fourth quarter of playoffs games to play other guys. He goes five for seven from three, 26 points, which I think is the second highest total he's had this year. He'd 15 points in the previous three games, just one of those games.

I think there's a bunch of line-up stuff that the Celtics are going to do against the next when it actually gets to a playoffs series.

Like, you saw Kate out there in crunch time, always getting switched on Bronson.

I think when we get to the playoffs, they're probably going to play Jason Tatum at the five with J. Lim Brown with the shooter and two guards.

“The other thing, the only thing that I'm a little worried about the Celtics is Derek”

White seems like he's running out of gas a little bit. He just couldn't make anything today. He was two for 10, over six from three. He's played big minutes this year. He's had a big bird, and he's going to be in some all defensive teams.

And if I'd rested anybody in this game, I probably would have rested him over J. Lim Brown. So decent next when I get it, it's not their fault that J. Lim Brown did in play. And I'm sure they feel like they can hang with the Celtics and Bronson if they can just keep these games close in the end, they're basically Bronson against whoever has the ball on crunch time for the Celtics, the next they're going to feel good about it.

I still would rather play Cleveland in round two than the next, which Tim like we were and I talk about it in a second, but I just still think the Celtics have a better team. And my mind did not change tonight, the one thing that important that happened tonight was Tade on my back to MSG and they talked about it a lot, obviously.

Hard not to think about it. Over and over again, as this game was going on, especially in the second half, the TB angle, they run the Celtics run the left side when you're watching to be the same spots that they were in when Tade went down in MSG last May. There was a couple moments when he collided, he stumbled, you just get the PTSD flashback.

I didn't think that was a particularly awesome Tade game, but his presence was everywhere

“and he's rebounding, but I think they needed to get him over the hump with us and maybe”

that played into the Jailum Brown piece as well. Let's have Tade on, he's running the show, let's get his feet wet in MSG again, we're

back to the scene in the crime, basically.

It's so weird what I remember Gordon Hayward, he got hurt in the first game of the season against Cleveland and Cleveland, and then anytime he went back there, you couldn't help but think about it all the time, so they needed to get over the hump with that. Legs that I talked about Tade, and when we were about to do this podcast, but a remarkable comeback, athletically, he looks basically where he was before, like today was a good example

of this next team is kind of built to stop Tade and Brown, you could see all the wings that they could throw at him, and it was hard for him to find the right space and stuff like that.

“But the bottom line is I think they lose this game by 15 to 20 if Richard and Charmett”

don't just both start making threes, there's a point in the third quarter when it just seemed like this game was going to get completely out of the hand, and then the Celtics started making threes. When it gets to a playoff series, and if it is the next, the Tade on Brown combo becomes so much more important because it allows him to go small, it allows him to target whoever

the non-aninobi defender is, and I just, I just, I disgained did not change my mind.

One good thing to happen there for the Celtics, Richard, who always sucks against the

next, I thought, had a really good game. So we'll see, look, MSG, a lot of demons at this point, because of the Tade of Entry last year, because of the playoff series, but it would be a great series, and I don't think a heart would be doing five for seven from three every game, no series would be my guess. But congratulations to the next fans.

Alright, we're going to bring in Tim Legler, and we're going to talk basketball for 95 solid minutes buckle up, let's take a break, Pearl Jam, and then Tim Legler. The Bill Simmons podcast is brought to you by Fandle. The NBA postseason is here in Fandle,

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ccpg.org/chat, Connecticut. Our friend Tim Legler is here, you heard him last night, Portland, San Antonio, we're going to talk about Portland, because I think we both like Portland, but lots of stuff that discuss, we're doing this before the Thursday games. The big story was in Beat is now out for the first round of the playoffs, it looks like a appendicitis. This guy, it's just that

injuries, this has become one of the most star-cross stars we've ever had. This is like entering

Bill Walton territory of one of the great players who just never got to where he could get to.

I thought pretty much I was past a point of thinking anything with him would be in comprehensive, well this is an incomprehensible that I got this news today. I was flying back from the game I did and actually looking forward to doing this with you and kind of going over everything and obviously they've been playing pretty well of late and you're looking at them and just as without question the most interesting team in the bottom half of any of these playoff brackets because of what

they've represented who they have and it's like finally like it looks like they're actually going to head in to the postseason. Not only with all three other stars like upright, but Paul George playing some of the best basketball he's played in five years. Yeah and then this happens. But it has been a maybe think first of all. Can I ask you a question like you hear about it all that time, but do you know anybody personally that has had appendicitis that had emergency

appendectomy? Not anybody I have ever worked with, not anyone in my family and not any of my friends. Neither I don't either actually I was they thought I had it. It's actually a pretty awesome story.

which year. It's game seven. Did they both go seven? So it was the year that it went seven games.

“It's game seven. Yes. I did the pre-game and I was I didn't have post game duties just pre-game.”

We had one segment left to do and I felt the most intense burning pain I've ever felt in right basically in my sternum. Yeah. And I started kind of sweating. Everybody was worried about me, but I'm like no no we got one more literally one more segment and I'm done for the season. Right. And so we did the sports entertainment. I basically finished. I collapsed to the ground. Went down to one knee. I could not walk anymore. It was only the first time I think in my life.

I've ever been on an ambulance. They probably didn't have it. From the Miami heat arena. I had to go to emergency hospital and it turned out it just was it was not the appendicitis. I don't even remember now. It was been so long ago. What they diagnosed me with. But they treated me at the hospital. Within a couple hours I was feeling a lot better. I watched game seven of that series on a cell phone with a producer who traveled with me in the ambulance who held the phone in front of me and we kind of

“watched the game together. And that's how I watched. That's how I watched that game,”

that epic game. But so I thought I added. I didn't have it. I've never known a person that's going

through it. Whether a family member colleague friend or anything like you just said. So you hear about it all the time. You know it's a real thing. But it's like are you kidding me? Of everything else disguised dealt with. Now this happens now. What I didn't know and I think you maybe cleared up just now. I had no idea. Like what's the time frame for something like this? It seems like minimum 18 days and sometimes it's even gone longer than that. So it's just so if you start it right now

if you start the clock on 18 days, maybe he could come back for like the last two games of a round one. But this is also somebody that has just, you know, he's put 38 games a series, put 19 last year. You put 39 in the 24 season. I don't have 500 games yet for the playoffs. 59

playoff games total has never played more than 11 games in a playoff thing. And what you said before

was the interesting piece of this, you know, as the Celtic fan, I'm watching this going. Two seven, like I do feel like the Celtics have owned filly over the years. But I also kind of don't want to see the Rejuvenated Paul George. And be just being healthy for four weeks. But two of the weeks are against Boston. Some of the young legs they have, they have good coach. And you know, this is this seven, eight, nine, ten this year in both conferences. Because like you said,

“you're at that cent on an important game. You're saying before we got on how you like Portland.”

I feel the same way like I watch Portland. They're not going to beat okay see in a playoff series. But they'll throw some punches. They're going to land some shots on your jaw. They have a guy update at the end of games. I thought that Portland Denver game was one of the most fascinating games I watched all year on Monday night. They just went toe to toe. They made like 24 threes. They couldn't stop. Obdiabes going to his right over and over and over again. They can protect the

rim. They're for an eight seed. That's a pretty good eight seed. You know what it showed me though that game because I watched that game too. And I've kind of fallen on the Portland bandwagon here over the last six weeks or so. They've become the team. I like watching my guilty pleasure team in the last me to win the run. It's kind of like how I feel about Charlotte in the East. I just enjoy watching them. There's just so fun. Charlotte's I didn't go to anymore. Now Charlotte's just a pleasure. Yeah,

you don't even have to go to bed. I don't even have to go to bed. I thought you were going to go to watch them. That's very true. But it showed you those two games. The Denver game and then the one that I called last night against San Antonio who, by the way, didn't have Wemby, didn't have to find Castle who's one of the elite perimeter defensive guards in the league. The difference between those two teams defensively Denver to San Antonio because like nothing

really came easy for Portland in this game. They had a couple of pockets at time where they kind of looked like themselves in the regular season. But overall, there was just very little space to be had against the spurs. And then one thing, and they didn't play as well as they can't offensively as amazing. San Antonio did a very difficult time like ending the game. They they got 12, 14. Then it was eight. And you're like, okay, if Portland gets a couple stops here, this is

going to get interesting and they couldn't do that. Yeah. Eventually San Antonio, you know, they they get the win as they typically do. Portland wasn't their best. But the one thing I'm thinking about watching that game and I love of the, we actually had a chance to sit with him in the green

room before the game. I've never met him. He came in and did 15 minutes with us. It was, it was probably

maybe the best player interview we did all year. Just to first of all, the guys got an incredibly

answers. We talked about his history like in my copy and everything and coming over here and

being a young man and now going to Portland when you start to find yourself in Washington. He took us through all that stuff. Yeah. So I'm really pulling for this guy. But the one thing he has to add and it was so obvious to me and watching this game. He has to have a step back jump shot. He doesn't have one. His game is power and force downhill and he's really good at it and he gets to the line 10 times most nights. He can get to the line in this game and it hurt their offense and he shoots

these little floaters shots in the lane. He's a push shot and he really just overwhelmed you physically because he's so damn strong and he comes at you so hard in the open floor. Great little euro at the end. He gets step around charges. He does not have the ability to shoot a shot like to into a step back off the dribble in one on one coverage. And think about he's average in 24 points in game. He's shooting 31% from the three on the season. It's like just good enough if he's got time

“and he's squared up that you still have to close out on him. Yeah. And that's what he wants because”

he'll go by you. If he adds that it's a whole nother level. That's that's the way we're going to look at him because he's rebounding it like eight ninety game. He's getting six seven eight assists most nights. He's efficient with his shooting very tough. He defends. It doesn't all. He just does not have an answer to being closely guarded if he can't get to the rim. Right. San Antonio does that about as well as any team in the league. They're not going to let

you get to those spots. It started pretty good game production wise. But it was glaring to me. I'm like there was situations where it's like he's the ball got swung back to him seven on the clock six on the clock. He's at 28 feet. What do all the elite players in this league do? They go to a step back jump shot and he doesn't really have that. And to me that's like the final piece for him where he will be a guy that will everybody will look at us like this guy's

the legitimately and all league caliber player if he can add that. And of course the team success has to come with it. It's interesting. He was 13 for 21 in that game. But I did notice what you said.

And against Denver, he was just able to just go right over and over again. He always

really good at this. Putting you in and then getting to a spot. What you're talking about is what J. Lim Brown added. Where J. Lim Brown had a lot of that. He was a better three-point shooter. But he added like those two moves off of driving hard to the right where he could cross over now. And then he's got that little turnaround thing. He does like the little turnaround. He does the jump stop and then he spins back here. He didn't have that last year. So he added two things that now

“when he's going harder to the basket, teams have to figure out what to do. I think with the,”

so what do you think a scoot last night? Because I have a lot of scoot stock from a couple years ago. And he's been a little up and down. But there's moments with him. And defensively there's been, I think, I think some really interesting things for him. His shooting still a little erratic. But it feels like they're trusting him more and more. What did you see when you saw him person?

Well, so first of all, in Richard and I, Richard Jefferson and I coupled different times in the

game are like kind of elbowing each other and kind of because because there were times that he demonstrated like by a lot was like the most explosive athlete on the floor. And you're like, some of his burst up the floor, he had one play where he deflected a ball. It was coming right at us at the table where we sit. And there's like no way. Number one, he's getting to this ball. And number two, there's no possible way. He could stay on his feet and stay in bounds. And he did all of those things.

“He went all the way down to the ground. He put his right hand on the ground like a running back”

and somehow some way stayed in bounds at an impossible angle. And then he goes and he's got a defender like had an angle on him to cut him off from getting a breakaway dunk, blue right past them and threw it down. And you look at the game. He's making some threes. And then he shoots back to back, open, look, airball threes from opposite corners. And you're like, man, and then he had, I said it on the air, two drives that were unbelievably like lightning, quick, crossover,

explodes off his feet, gets to the rim to where like no one's going to jump. Like Luke Cortnet was on the floor. He was like going to be late. So he didn't even jump. And he tries to put some funky English on the ball. And it like slams off the backboard. And then he missed the reverse layup under similar circles. He has uncontested after this great move. But then he made a couple threes after that. Like so his night was like kind of like a mixed bag. He's definitely

a better player than he was when he came into the league. He's got, he's actually had a pretty good run here shooting the basketball from three over the last month or so. He didn't shoot a particularly

his raw athletic ability. Will his efficiency ever improve beyond a 41% shooter? I don't know,

“man, he's got to do it. This is three straight years. He's 41 in under. Like you've got to at some”

point get that thing up to 44, 45% from the field. Cut down on some of the turnovers. Finish the shots I'm talking about when you do all the work with your handle. Show me some finesse at the rim. So he has more there 20 years. So that's good. 22 years old. He's coming. Bill has come a long way from where he was. And a lot of people, I saw some stuff on social media last night. Like after the game, like is it too, is it too early to call him a bust? And I'm saying yes,

he could not a bust. You can't call him that because because he has a, he has a level of quickness and explosiveness from like a standstill position by you. That's really exceptional for this league. And he's starting to shoot it better. He's so young. He didn't, I don't think it ever really been taught the game very much before he got to the league. Some of his instincts even aren't super high level. That's getting better. No, I think he's got a chance to, to, to do some things

because he's definitely improved dramatically in certain areas. I don't like his finishing stuff. And I, but I think that can get better with a good of an athlete he is. I don't think he's, like, we mentioned that that weird spin shot. Like I just feel like he's not as good. Like we're somebody like Rose and Westbrook when those guys came in the league and you saw them go to the basket. They were scoring. And that's the kind of guy I thought he was going to be coming into the

draft and the shots all over the place. And that's the other thing that needs to get better. But I think athletically he belongs in a lot of these games. And if I'm then, I feel like, yeah, I feel like I have something here. And, and, you know, and they're, and they're, and they're, they're given them a chance. Like I, you know, I felt like earlier in his career, he was almost like,

“sometimes coaching staffs and splitters done a really good job with this. Yeah. You have to look at a”

player. You, every team, if you're lucky, you got one or two guys that kind of do everything well. And, and they also get to green like to do anything they want because they're that good. Right. Everybody else, you know, you sort of fall into a lane. He better do something exceptionally well.

And good coaching staffs look at a guy and they don't always focus on what he's not doing that

annoys you because because guys get caught up in that trap. And it's very difficult to get out of that. Because those flaws are going to surface almost every night, whether it's your handles to loose, or you just darn a good enough passer and they get tipped and stolen or defensively, like you're not, you're not able to keep up or whatever you're shooting, whatever. They're going to surface. Right. Over time, hopefully you correct them. The good coaching staffs, they go, you know what,

I got to live with that stuff because there's something else there that we need and we're going to value him for that. And I feel like that's where they're at now with him. And you're still going to have these nights with with really bad looking jump shots. And he's going to turn a ball over to miss the couple driving layups going too fast at the rim. But then he's also going to have a five or six minute stretch man where he looks like so dynamic, athletically, that it gives

your team something you don't really have. Oh, they're wise at that spot. You know, I really wish he had spent a year in college and played in some big games versus fight. I just thought like that was such a throw away year that last G league year because I look at somebody like Castle who is turned into one of my favorite players in the league. But that year he had a UConn where they had a loaded team. He didn't really have the ball that much. He had to figure out how to do

all these other things and be a glue guy and kind of step in when they needed him. But was also in some really big games. And then when he and it was one of the reasons he dropped a four in the

“draft because people are like, what is he? Can he be offensive enough? Is there enough here?”

And he goes San Antonio now? He is who he is. And you know, I know you have a vote. I have a vote.

I'm more open about my vote than yours. But I think Castle's going to end up on my third

team on BA. And I don't think he's going to make it. I don't think I'll be the only one, but I also don't think he's going to make it. But I thought he was one of the best players I saw this season that the non centers. Like just impactful the entire time he's out there doesn't take a playoff relentless. I thought defensively like he's in the running for first team all defense for me. I think he fills in a lot of spots for them. I think there's more there too. But yes, with Scoot,

like, I just wish he had had that extra year. Anyway, the Portland team, there's a lot of defense. And I don't think that's like a walk over 1-8 matchup for O.K.C. O.K.C. will beat them. Yeah, they will. They will. And you know, it's at the end of it. That's pretty. Oklahoma

demoralize you with their defensive pressure, the way that they convert any mistake you make into points the other way. And it's demoralizing to you. This team also, when you put a line about there in the floor with your holiday tomorrow tomorrow, you can put thigh ball after now. It's not the shoe line up. But what you can, and even with Klingon and Robert Williams behind you, what you can, and I have the really competes when he's playing like the force spot.

They, they can do things defensively too. Problem is they're 27th in the league in, in three points shooting. And it, and it is a problem when you play teams like San Antonio, Oklahoma City,

who over rotate on all penetration, and I've always compared it to like when you put food into a

fish bowl, if you looked at the lane from above, when the ball's dribbled into the lane,

“that's what it looks like against these teams. How they go to the fishery, right? That's what it”

looks like. And so as a result, that kick out pass. If you're good enough to make that without a getting tipped, and they're going to close out lightning fast, and they're going to get there. But you will get the shot. You better make your share. Like, and you're going to have to have these crazy shooting nights against them. And I just don't think Portland's capable of doing that. Right. So, they're fun. It's going to come to an end. But the good news is it's moving in the right

direction. They've got a nice little mix of a couple of vets and a bunch of young dudes. I like

watching play. I'm really impressed with the improvement of tomati kamara. I almost didn't recognize

them off fence. I haven't seen him in person all year. But watching a guy in person is different than on TV. And I'm like, man, this guy, this guy's offense. And like the way he's hunting it and shooting threes early in the offense. And like putting a ball in the floor, he's is so great defensively. They've got a real player in him. And I didn't know if he was ever going to show this kind of growth offensively. But he has. And and and clinging to another guy, how much dramatically

he's improved. His impacts since he came into the league. I just like their team. It's a shame because they're going to run into some buzz saw if they're able to escape. The play in which they might not even do that. I mean, they're going to probably host gold and state in the 910. And even if they win that game, you're going to have to go on the road and play Phoenix or the clippers. It's probably going to end there. If somehow they went to those games, they get in.

And now you're going to go get Oklahoma City as your reward. A taste of the playoffs would be great. But I don't think anybody would think, you know, I don't know if they could even win a game in a series against Oklahoma City at most one. But the good thing is that's another team that I

“like watching that's kind of in the mix now going into next year. I think they could beat the”

clippers. I just don't think the clippers are big enough. You know, and I was really impressed by

how they went against Denver. And what basically they lost the game when Camara filed out of that

game. But what what's happened to him over the course of the year. And I don't know. I just think the clippers, as great as Kawaii's been, are pretty beatable. One last thing with Portland legs, really quick. Yep. I have been maintaining that. I think this is a stealth, Yana's team. Hmm. Because I don't, I think there's enough acrimony with the Milwaukee situation with Yana said this point that they're just going to take the best trade now. I don't

think it's going to be like, oh, Yana's told us he wanted to go to Miami. So we're going to figure out Miami because we want to do it. I don't, I think that's out the window. And Portland has, you know, two of their picks. I'd maybe two swaps and one of their picks. I can't remember what it is, but they have their picks for three straight years. They've stuck the trade. I could see him on this team. You could really talk yourself into it pretty fast. I mean, there's some health stuff

with Yana's seed. I have to be worried about. But I just feel like new owner. I said this to Zach the other day, new owner. To the foundations and picks. Like, I could just see them getting frisk. That's an interesting one, man. And that would be, I'll tell you what. I haven't put any thought into that. Like, Yana's going out there. But I'm now picturing it. I'm picturing

“you. You can see it, right? Team. You can't see it. And I think one thing that Tiago splitter when we”

talked to him before the game he'd, by the way, he's he's he was he's great. Man, he's an really interesting character. And, you know, he got he got a really difficult situation with what went down with Seancy right at the beginning of the season now. So you get handed a team to coach that you weren't expecting to coach and be the head guy. It's a very good job. And you can, it's a testament to how many guys have improved this year. That that's a lot of that's coaching. And

putting guys in the right spots and valuing them in a communication with them and managing people. He said, he said, anything surprised, did we say, yeah, you know, 80% of this job is managing people. It's not exasinose. It's not how much you know. It's managing managing young man in some cases, managing that's managing a roster. He said, that's really what the job is. And that's where he had to learn on the fly. And, and he did it. But I'm thinking one thing he did

Like an outside the play in was going to feel really empty. Even if it was like one game outside to play it, they had to get in to feel what this is going to be like because they do like what they have in some of these young pieces. And so this was important to get in. And now we'll see,

“look, they got a huge game Friday night. They play the clippers. And I think that what are they”

like? There's a half game back. Yeah, they get they can jump. Yeah, they win that game. Yeah, they win that game. They jump. And now you get into the seven eight. Yeah, that's a little bit of different scenario. No more. You get two opportunities to win a game. But you also have an opportunity to get into the seven and play San Antonio and not Oklahoma City. And we're not that that would be easy by any means. By the way, Portland is the one that they beat them both. They beat each of

them once this year. Now, I didn't see what they're in that in that level. I think they're a scary team because of the way they play defense just for a one game. The other Janis team that I've been looking at, I've been watching a lot of Atlanta. Atlanta Cleveland was was a really good one last

night where Cleveland was up most of the game. And but Atlanta, you can never really put them away

in you and with their defense and how explosive some of their shooting is. All the sudden they just make up 10 points right away. That was another Janis team for me. When I watched them, I'm just like, if you just put him in the Ackong booth spot with the rest of the team I'm watching, that's a pretty frightening Eastern conference team. And they have, you know, they have this

“New Orleans pick. They have some other assets that they could probably make a trade. But I think”

the second best, I want to talk playoff series with you like possible matchups. The second best playoff matchup of all the matchups is Cleveland Atlanta. If you're just talking about basketball from a what could happen in this because the thing I noticed last night watching them, I don't feel like those teams are much different from a talent standpoint. Like I think they're right there with each other. I was looking up the stats. Last 30 Cleveland's 22 and 8 eighth

net rating at Lannis 21 and 9 ninth net rating last 20 at Lannis 16 and 4 fourth net rating

Cleveland's 14 and 6133. So basically for almost half the season, these teams are right around

the same. And you could say with Cleveland while some guys have been missing bubble. But I don't know. I just think if they play that's that that feels like a game seven to me. That absolutely of all of the ones I wrote down felt the most like a seven game series. If that if that were to be the matchup, that feels the most likely to be with some like tight games, some some of the games in there would be really high scoring. And then others would be a little bit lower scoring.

Some jokes on the safety of the quarter positions teams blowing at seven point lead with two minutes left. I don't know which team it could be either team. Both of them have the history of coming back up or you know, blowing a game. I had Atlanta. We had Atlanta Detroit not long ago. Atlanta went in there and beat them. Right. And man, oh man, was I impressed with their team and the Kellogg Xander Walker Jalen Johnson, like what those two guys are doing. What in the Kellogg

“Xander Walker's turned himself into as a as a score is is incredible to me. And that's why,”

you know, his name's going to be mentioned for most of the crew player and he deserves to be in that mix and he might win it. Because you're talking about a guy that was really just sort of labeled in this very narrow category of 3 and D, but mostly D. And it was like, go guard, pick skies up 75 feet when he was in Minnesota because he was playing like, you know, reserve minutes a lot of times. You can do that. Go pick up 75 feet. And then we all noticed it.

Like, wow, this guy gets into you. If you gave you double figures on a given night, total gravy, it's all about guarding. He goes to Atlanta. You kidding me, the guy for the last, like, month and a half has average almost 25 points of game close to 50% three point shooting. And he's getting him off at a high volume. Like, there's no way anybody saw this as his ceiling as a score. And when you take yourself from them, there's an absolute role player, very limited

offensive responsibility to this. Then absolutely, you thrust yourself into that conversation as most approved player. And I would be shocked if he wins it. Yeah, I had Dern for about 60 games. To me, it's like, how does Alexander Walker not win this? He average 9.4 points of game last series that 21 now. And when you watch them, it's not just like he's getting hot from the corner. Like, they're running plays for him. They're, they're flaring him off picks. Oh, defenses are

interesting. They're defense to try to, like, shut him down. It's us, like, watching like Bradley Bill and the wizards are something when Bradley Bill was good. Like, he's a real score that you

have to account. He's got, he's got the luka mentality. Sometimes to the story games, we have always

joked is the only guy in the league that does he check on the first possession for the Kail Alexander

quarter, like, because he's carrying himself like a legit big time score because that's how he has operated. So they're, they're, I don't really fun interesting. See, that'd be a great series.

“If that's what we get, I'm sure you're like, me, I don't really fully understand the award.”

I usually steer toward improbable turn around from the year before, versus like a young guy

who's like, oh, you were a top 5 lottery pick and you're way better in your third year than you were

last year. Like, to me, that's not a most improved during somebody that looks different to me, because I thought I knew what he was last year, but all the stuff, the physicality he's added, the durability, the night after night, where I just feel like he sets the tone for who they are as a team comes from him and to a lesser degree Stewart, but he's just, just a badass. Like, he's at a like year era. You could see him, you know, getting a shoving match, just with the Anthony Mason

and Alonzo morning. Like, that's, so he just brings that to them. And I think that matters, but Alexander Walker, just becoming the guy we're watching is completely improbable. Nobody would have predicted that last year. So I think he has to win it personally. The during, during real quick, when during, like, yeah, I saw some of it last year did not, at any point, come to the conclusion that this was his ceiling as a score

and if he's gone here, maybe there's even another level for him offensive. Because the one thing he's doing that I didn't see last year, his ability now to screen roll, catch the ball on the short roll, and then do something with it going toward the rim, like avoiding guys and going in and shooting a shot that's pretty soft off the glass. I know he's going to beat you up and throw you around on the glass a little bit. If he gets around the rim, it's very difficult to stop him

from getting up something that got the basket. But that was all he did last year. Now, it's like, they can run more dynamic sets and trust that you can throw the ball to him on the move at 18 feet and he's going to do something with it. So for me, that's a big

“big job. And actually the other guy we were already talking about, I think you have to give”

obvious some look here. Because I know last year, we saw it at the end of the year. Yeah, but it was like a month and a half last year where he was doing this. That's the only thing. It was, but that's it. You know, to me, that's why I'm kind of torn on him because that's because at the same time it's a small sample size, but you also say, yeah, but it was outrageous numbers. It was like 25, 26, night for like six weeks. So you kind of got an idea. Okay, it's in there.

But it's a big difference between average and like 16 for a season and not really being the guy that's got to carry you every night to like, okay, now you're 24 and I guess what? You better be 24 every night. Like that's got to be your floor now. And on some nights, it's 35. If that's what it takes and then in addition to the other stuff that you're doing filling up the statute, everywhere you look, to me, he also probably deserves a look, but then you got this other category of

“player like a Collin Gillespie or I think even Keta, I think even Keta deserves a little bit of attention.”

He's an impact player now for the Boston Celtics. And I watched him last year, I thought it best. He's going to be like a third center that can play spot minutes. And what he's turned into for them. He has an impact player on a team that's the two seed and the Eastern Conference. That's another category of player. Like you don't even know what they are in the lead to, oh, starting on a good team. That's a different look than like guys, okay, yeah, they're already

pretty good players. In some cases, top 10 picks. Yeah. But I had no idea that they were this good. So there's two ways I guess to break it down. And whatever your criteria is, we'll determine it. He was the next guy I was going to bring up to you because I think he's going to be third of my ballot. He went from like, after thought, my daughter, who goes to some of the games,

was her favorite player other than Tatum. She was always like, I don't understand why Keta doesn't

play more. It's like, well, he's back up center. Like, he's not how much is he going to play. Right. Right. For a center's ahead of him. He's, first of all, is like genuinely valuable now. Like, yeah, like, there's, there's maybe two, three teams in the league that you worry about with him going against them. But for the most part, like, he's 12 and 10 every night. He protects the rim, the advanced metrics are at a control for him. And I do feel like he's gotten better

as the years gone along. Like, he's got a little drop steps now at the rim. So, but that goes back to your point. Like, can you be most improved if we basically did even hear from you last year? Because shyrements, another one like that. Like, shyrements are real asset for the self-exceeding played all last year. I don't, does that mean he's improved to me, Alexander Walker's like the definition of the award. I thought you were this, and now you're doing this, and I didn't see that

coming. We get to take a break. You know, I want to talk about the playoff matchups. I want to talk

about Cleveland, Atlanta, and Minnesota, Denver, over the second. The Bill Simmons podcast is presented

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“remember, I had Justin Rose. I think I had him 35 to one. That was my pick to win the masters. And”

he had a good, he had a good day one. It's interesting. He's 51 to win the title now. I still like it. Like he, he had a chance to be the leader today, and then in the last couple of holes, he, you know, he had a par when should a birdie and then he had a bogey. I still like that, Justin was 51. Anyway, anything can happen. Everyone deserves a second chance at glory. You can go to Fandel, dot com slash BS and claim your special Mulligan bet back token for Augusta.

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want to play Cleveland or do you want to play the next? Like we're taping this before the next Celtic game tonight. And the next have, you know, they played the Celtics. They beat them last year. They have confidence. You hate playing a team that feels like they can be you. They were kind of built to play the Celtics. And then you have Tatum going back to MSG and all the stuff that comes with that. Just like, hey, a year ago, this was the worst moment of your life. And now we're back in

this environment again. Cleveland is a team that is super confident against the Celtics.

Um, they've had really good battles and Mitchell has always done well against Boston. So it's

true. It's like they have guys, but to me, that's an easier matchup. And this ties into Cleveland at

“Atlanta. I don't think Cleveland's good enough defensively. And I think you can get good shots”

against them. And when I look about the two matchups, I personally would rather play Cleveland as a Celtic fan. Because I think we'd get good shots for two weeks. What do you think Cleveland's defense gets better? What are you seeing? Um, I don't necessarily think that their defense is anything that you're looking at and saying that's going to win them some games in the playoffs. Or that is a defense that's equipped to where you're trying to figure out how you're

going to operate against them in a series. Like we got some teams like that in the West. I don't think that and I actually feel that way a lot of nights I watched Boston. And I think Detroit actually also could be a defense that's that good. I don't feel that way about Cleveland. I think if Cleveland wins a series, it's going to be because their offense can be very explosive. Yeah. And they've got, you know, obviously they've got two star guards. And you Mitchell is cable going off at any time.

They've got stable of three point shooting around their best players. They added a point guard that can reward guys at a higher degree than Garland could. So they've kind of answered that. But there is one thing with Cleveland that if I were the Celtics, I would probably look at them as well and say that's probably a safer matchup is you wonder with what's going on with them the last couple years. And not just that Cleveland team, but also you bring James Harden into the

mix who's had some playoff issues in the past. Oh, okay. They wonder what they would feel like if they fell behind in his series or if they started to have some moments where it was like slipping away a game that was a pivotal game. You don't know how mentally collectively they're

“going to handle that. So I think if I'm at Atlanta, I'm really excited about what you just said.”

We can get these guys that you have the hard in peace. You have the last couple years honestly of LeBron looming as like what's he going to do next year? Is there a blow-up? Is you honest looming? That team if it goes badly for them around one or around two? I'm prepared for anything, right? Is there a single guy in that team you would bet your life? Is going to be on that team next year if they they have an embarrassing round one around two loss?

and it's these playoff games where it's three minutes left and you just blew an eight point lead in the crowd's going nuts. Like the off-the-court stuff can can kind of hang around like a black cloud, you know? I so look that's a it's a really really good offensive team if you catch them on the right night. You would think they are top three offensive or a little like Denver in this way where I feel like I can get good shots on Denver whenever I want.

It's catching them on the right night. They look like the best offensive in the league. You can see that. Yeah, that would include they. Oh, 100%. They have quarters sometimes where they don't get they'll drop a 40 on you. And it's not really easy for me because they pop that when they when they really really get the ball hopping and they make quick decisive reads off their initial ball screen and that ball then comes out of there quickly and there's still 14 seconds on a clock.

They're going to make you chase it for two or three passes and they're going to end up with a great shot. And I've seen them string together seven eight shots in a row in a quarter like it's nothing against good teams. For me, the entire reason I would be suspicious of them doing real damage in, you know, multiple series is because of the psychological effect and are they tough enough when they have to be tough enough? Two, two, everything's on the line. How tough are you going to

“be tonight? That's what you wonder about them and look, it's, you know, they have they had a”

little bit of an excuse last year because they were banged up. They were not healthy at the end of the year after a 64 win season. It's just bad luck to not be everybody's there feeling good to represent what you were most of the season. They weren't. That's fine. Two years ago, they didn't have as much of it and I don't feel like they've got one this year. Like if it, to your point, if they

lose in the first round, like and you're talking about to a team like Atlanta, if they lose to

Atlanta, which is this team that's came kind of arose out of nowhere the second half of this season and that's who you lose to in the first round. There's no telling what they might end up doing to this roster and just the way they view how they want to go forward because clearly this isn't moving in the right direction if that's what happens. At minimum, I mean, really, they should be thinking conference finals at minimum. Anything else should feel unsatisfying to them? But realistically,

where they ended up in the regular season, you know, maybe maybe second round is where it's going to end. But they should be thinking conference finals finals. And in their own house, they should feel I think really like unfulfilled. If they don't get that far, but I think the rest of us are

looking at them a little bit differently. Maybe second round will be their ceiling.

I'm Fando, they have that. The odds for each round, like who can get to round two stuff like that. The Hawks are plus 280 to make it to round two. So that means they think this series is going to be around 4 to 1, 5 to 1, favorites for Cleveland. I would have a closer in that. Now, if I was better my life on it, you'd pick Cleveland because they have more talent. But I think Atlanta can throw some haymakers on them. And the thing that the reason I don't like at

“land in the series is because I think weirdly the key guy for the series for them is going to be”

coming up. Because he's that one guy off the bench, that's the wild card guy. And if he's like the cominga like he was last night, then now they have a lot of stuff going on. I also like gay a lot. I think sometimes I wonder if that's their best lineup when he's out there with like their other best four guys. But when they when cominga brings them something extra off the bench, it's like this wave of dudes that can just create their own shots and they, you know, their

defense. I think they're scary team. Like for I don't think they're going to win three playoff rounds.

But, you know, I don't think this was an accident that they just put this third-day game

stretch together. I would I would be very surprised if those two teams played if Atlanta didn't win at least two games, not series. And so we both think he's totally shocked. I wouldn't be totally shocked if it went seven. They're going to win at least two games. I believe in maybe one of those games Cleveland, you know, their offense because they can do this to people catch fire and

“they get one 18, 20 point win. Yeah. But I think the other ones are going to have very meaningful”

fourth quarter possessions because I was just deceit deceit McCollum effect is a real thing for them. They needed, they needed somebody like that with a lot of playoff experience, handling the ball in big moments, organizing them, you know, running a ball screen set or getting into an ISO late in the clock and getting something quality. They needed that to go around some of these younger guys that they're, that they're playing and they've seen grow. They're, they're, they get up and down

a floor. They run. They've got some big time defenders on the perimeter. They can score or they've got, you know, a, a budding star player in jail in Johnson. Yeah. I don't know that he's going to, I don't know. He's going to average 30 like as he ready for that in a series in any six or seven

very competitive series, I definitely would pick Cleveland to win that series. But I would be very

surprised if that's a four game series, five game series. That would surprise me. The problem is you're

going, there will be at least three, four games going in the last four minutes and you've got McCollum against against Mitchell. And I'm just, I really like McCollum. But you, the problem of he's your guy in the last three minutes with some of the other guys are in that conference. You know,

“Minnesota, Denver. So I, I think I've said this to you. I think it's right now, Denver,”

okay, see San Antonio, not in that order and Boston. And then we drop off to the next level of teams. I think those are the four teams that can win the title right now. And I don't really have any buddy else in there. But we have not seen a healthy Minnesota team in a while. And it looks like they're going to be healthy for this Denver series. A team that they've had a lot of success against and a lot of confidence against the last couple of years. And if I'm Denver,

I'm like fuck, like we got the three seed. But now we're, we could have played the makers are Houston. And but now we're in the up with Minnesota and ants coming back and McDonald's is back. And here's go bare again. And like what the hell? How did this happen? Do you give Minnesota a chance in that series? Yeah, because it is weird in that like the reason look because the Lakers were playing great. Luka was playing great. They were rolling.

They looked like they were going to be the three seed at one point. Like, okay, they're going to get three, man. So you could go to four five. You got Denver Houston. I think they would have felt very good about that. And so they just keep playing though. And they were there winning and their offense is humming like it typically does. And they got their guys back and all that. And then because of what happens in the Lakers, they get three anyway. They just fall into the three because

the Lakers just continue to drop back. So now you're going to end up with this Minnesota series

“most likely. I do think that's how it's going to end up. And for Minnesota, now they're not playing”

great coming in to the playoffs. It's just in terms of like winning and momentum and feeling that

feeling every night. You know, health is the most important thing for any of these teams.

Regardless of how you're playing going in. But it is nice to be on a little bit of a roll. Minnesota really isn't. So they'd have to find that closing games, winning games in the heat of the playoffs against this team and figuring out a way to guard that team. It'd be tough. I mean, I think I definitely would favor Denver. I agree with you by the way. The way you kind of rank those teams and just put them in boxes. I agree with you. So three teams in the West.

And Denver, I think for me at one point wasn't they started to drop out of like my certainty of including them with Oklahoma City and San Antonio. And now they're back in that mix. Those three teams and I agree with you, Boston looks like the one team that could stand up to those teams. Yeah. Like in coming out of the East, like in legitimately play them tough enough and have enough on both ends of the floor to scare those teams. I would like Denver in that series.

I know, you know, Minnesota, though, if you're going to get one team to play, that probably would be the team because just because of like your history with them and you know, you fit, you have solved that equation before. And I think that would give you a little bit of confidence going into that series, even though the way Denver's playing right now offensively might not matter. Yeah, you'd have the confidence on D. You have Minnesota's best guy. Well, I think he's the best guy

“in the series, even though if that's not necessarily true, he will think that. I, here's the thing.”

And I haven't given up on Denver and they've really tested me this year because I watch them a lot as to you. They still have another level to go up and they can flash it for like five minutes.

Gordon seems helping me finally when they really need to play defense they can't. Their problem is

they don't play defense like that for a while. And then when they have to, they do. Again, the playoffs, they're going to be fine. I worry about all the miles buried put on this year as we get into like having to play eight to ten more weeks. Like he he had a lot of minutes. They've had I think they had nine overtime games. I was looking up some of the MVP stuff and like Yoke Hitch, I think had 25 games where he's played 37 plus minutes or more. It's just a team that

put a lot of miles in their two best guys, which scares me. But Cam Johnson, he finally starting to look like Cam Johnson again. And that was the guy that I felt like was going to be weirdly their swing guy because he's just going to be open at the end of these games. If he's not making shots, now he's making them. I think they're really, really, really good. I think they can beat San Antonio. Like I would probably pick Denver in a San Antonio series. I don't know where

he's staying on that. Too early. I saw that. You want to see the first round. I do. I need to see the

So you know, let's say Denver plays Minnesota and they just hypothetically say they win that series four two, whatever. And there's a couple of guys that for Denver that are like not shooting well. Like they didn't shoot well in the series and I'm thinking about what it's going to take against the San Antonio defense. So like things like that really matter to me. Like around the margins

“of your rotation. Who's who's playing seven eight nine? Who are those guys? How are they playing?”

What kind of impact did they have? What's what's the matchup going to be how much confidence going into around two does a coach still having guys if they really couldn't make a shot for his series? Like stuff like that can change the way I think. So I'm going to wait on that based on how the

first round goes. I think that's fair. My biggest hesitation of San Antonio is even what we saw

the other night where Wimbie got clipped and hurt his ribs and you know he's at 1839 minutes. He played 37 plus minutes five times this year. Right. You get to the playoffs. Your best guys are out there 38 39 40 41 like you can't fuck around. I thought it was really telling in that overtime game against Joker when they had to kind of keep them out there for the year and I just thought he'd look gasped by the end of it because they basically they've been using

“him as like this pitcher on a pitch count all year. It's like you're through 90 pitches five six”

innings we're getting you out where our bullpen's going to take it home. That's they just want him to have an awesome 29 and the 30 every game. I don't think the playoffs worked that way and I really wonder at his age he hasn't totally filled out yet to have to go every other night and really have to play 35 to 40 minutes a game. I don't know if he could do it and stay healthy. What do you think about? That's not a good point and look I know he's had some he's had success against both of those

top teams and their defenses but doing it over course with seven games series with that level of speed coming at you you know the number the amount of traffic that they force you to play in right and obviously everything's called a little bit differently they're allowing we're grabbing and holding all of those things a guy that's been around for a long time that you know and we'll get it into the MVP talk too here in a second but the numbers on him as far as just total minutes played for

the season if you were to win MVP it's like the only two guys lower are like you got to get back to Walton right and they want it to produce raw total number of minutes so what you've put your body through and that's some look and there's there's two ways look at it in one way it's like okay your your legs are a little bit fresher than some other guys who played 75 80 games and we're playing 34 minutes right you get that little break with the injury you come back

rejuvenated from that your legs feel a lot different when you're out a month in January and you

come back early February your legs feel different they right now step carries legs feel amazing

yeah unfortunately it might be just too little too late what they're gonna have to try to pull off but he feels incredible and he's showing his way he's moving it's he's got so much energy problem is that also the other downside to that is when you do now have to go play 35 to 40 minutes because these are pivotal games in these series where you're gonna have to leave him out there that long the the attrition of that can the efficiency still stay the same against defenses this good

with this much activity the number of guys that are gonna be in your lap the entire time it well coached like there's you're gonna make adjustments on how they want to hit you with different things that then they did the game before yeah big challenge to begin these two defenses man there's a reason why those two teams 160 games and you're looking at them is the two favorites to win it there's a reason it's been it's mainly because of their defenses and how different they look

“than most teams in this league yeah that's uh there was I can remember his last year the”

year before but Joker had so many miles on him remember his three-point shot just went away as the players went along he started losing his legs yeah I look at the way SGA's at 22 59 for minutes like just ahead of yokeage but SGA I don't feel like they put a lot of miles on him during this season there's a lot of fourth quarters you get to sit yeah now you probably played less than 70 games I don't even think he's at 70 yet and I I feel like

he'll probably be the freshest of all the superstars you mentioned in the Wemby minutes he's

a hundred and first in total minutes in the league he's not even the top hundred he's played less

minutes than Zion Russell Westbrook and Sam Hauser he's he's played 400 minutes more than Luke Kornet his backup setter so you know we just don't know it being while yokeage 35 plus minutes 37 times he's at 940 plus games this is I think this is part of the Jalen case for first team

he's durable he's playing big minutes he's got he leads the league and I think he's second in rim driving to the rim he's second in free throw temps like he's just a physical force at night after

“night I I do think that matters with some of this stuff no I does matter and I think I think look”

what you what you haven't had to do with Wemby because of their incredible depth is tax him

to that extent to win games it's pretty incredible I mean you look at their team I think three guys are average and writer right about at 30 minutes nobody more than 31 and you look when any given night he's got 11 guys that he can go to with confidence and now even the way Carter Bryant's been playing and you know each he's another guy that you in a playout now will he trust him in a plus he's so young I don't know I made it you know made a crack on the

air he made five out of six threes last night and this is true I look because I did the math on a piece of paper like real quick he took his 3.3% is from 30 to 33 in one game wow at the end of the season because he hasn't taken that many but he's gonna have to because they're not guarding him out there he's a freak athlete really get it better but like that's another 10 12 minutes of

“raw athletic ability if you want to throw him out there nobody has to get overstressed on their”

team everybody's in the 20s it's kind of incredible the way that they do it and so will he now

have to do that when be does he have to get extended to 35 37 minutes in these games when their depth and defense has been so good and overwhelming and their offense too they haven't really had to and maybe in Mitch Johnson's mind he's thinking no we're not gonna have to do that because we're good enough to keep doing what we're doing we just did it for a course of a season we're very confident that we can operate the way we need to particularly when your

parameters Oklahoma City and you've played so well against them like what else do you really need to know like that's that that's the ultimate challenge can we play against that team they've played really well against them so maybe they don't feel like they have to change your form you love and when we can stay playing 28 minutes 30 minutes you know that kind of thing Cornette was a great signing he was obviously a very valuable Celtic Carter Bryant just really quick let's

done spend more than 20 seconds on this so you saw him in person last night it's a fucking big dude like it's kind of shocking right it seems like he's like 610 and he's thick already like

“it I think he might end up being like a stretch 5 and 5 years I don't know I'm prepared for”

anything with that guy's career bill he was the only player I called eight games in Vegas last summer yeah he was the only player I saw that completely jumped off the page athletically in what I was looking at he was in a completely different category and I saw I was like wow man this guy I actually said like his future you're looking at a guy that down the road is an all league one of those teams caliber defensive player I believe he's going to get there because he is big he's got he's one of

those guys that moves and runs and you don't hear his shoes because he's so light on his feet yeah and if he if he and it by the way his release looks so good like this great rotation I love that guy he's with the shot okay he's not gonna have a lot of five for six three points shooting nice but his his future is very very bright and the fact that he's played more minutes literally and every month as the season's going on a little bit of a dip here in April but prior to that

every month his minutes went up it told you a lot on a team this good and how just thick and strong he is for a rookie it makes no sense so Celtics the we'll do this quick and then we'll do MVP Celtics two seven could be Orlando now maybe Charlotte we're so we're gonna see some moving around they'd be Orlando the problem with Orlando is that would be a physical series they're gonna knock people around they're gonna try to street fight it which I'm not too excited about Charlotte on the

other hand you know they bullied them a couple games ago I thought Jayland that Charlotte was up 10

like late in the third quarter and the Celtics the two wings really I thought took over the game

and bullied them a little bit that's a winnable series too which has a basketball fissionado what uh what Boston matchup is more exciting to you Boston Orlando or Boston Charlotte Charlotte okay whoever Charlotte plays me too you know they can even get Detroit is a 180 and with with what went down earlier this year with the fight and all that and yeah you know so even if even if you think okay there's a one-off event there's no history there doesn't matter

already sick of each other like they got some guys that talk you know that that to me could be like the most entertaining matchup we could get but it's Charlotte in anybody because of just how fun they are and by the way like they're what they've done in their record for like over half a season is so incredibly impressive because it's been both ends at a floor the metrics are there on both ends this isn't just a team that all certain caught fire offensive but they don't

guard they want to win games one thirty five one thirty they can do it another way yeah they just

finally clicked it all came together they've got in a they helped themselves be a Kobe White

that's a great pickup the abate is a perfect guy to play in the middle and then there's other four offensive players that they have in the starting lineup they all look like they like each other they're having fun that whoever they play that to me is like the one you know high seed low seed matchup in the first round that you can't miss you can't miss any of those games whoever Charlotte's

“playing so that's why for me it's like you're I think you're best better to try to avoid them if”

I mean if that's not that you can avoid it but if you don't end up with them I don't want to see them because you've figured two games they hit twenty plus three's and got only those in those games there'll be one game where they're home and they're just awesome um the Detroit I feel bad for because they're the one seed they're probably gonna play somebody good and they're gonna be shoe-horning cade back into this really without a ramp up and I just I've seen too many basketball

seasons no matter it's like oh well cade will be back they'll have my health in it's okay but

you're shoe-horning him into this team that's just been playing without him for five weeks it always

gets a little walkie those first couple games so I feel like somebody could throw a heymaker at them right away I'm talking about injecting a guy and like I love the guy and he would be he'd be the you know if he ends up you know being a guy that you know I guess he's he's gonna fall short of the game sponsor yeah it's not happening he's gonna fall short so he's not eligible you know he would have been an all week player he would have been yeah you know I don't know that you

wouldn't have been necessarily as high up in MVP voting assuming he's other guys but you had to if would consider him as number one see the east and the year he had but here's the tears to think

to your point you're now taking a guy and you're basically re-infusing him into your offense

and he takes seven more shots at night and everybody else on the team so you're talking about a guy that like from a usage standpoint an importance to your offense standpoint like he's in that category with guys like Shane yoke it's to his team yeah like what do you do without cave

“cutting him if you have to navigate the eastern conference playoffs how are you going to settle”

games cave cutting him is the guy that does that for them and he's like hey look at me look over here I got this and now he's I don't know it'll be no be weird everybody's kind of settled into the new version of the pistons of that him and obviously cave comes back it's his team again but you think there's any chance Detroit Charlotte first round Charlotte wins that series I do I do I I I wonder with Detroit we've seen this over the years a team that's a really

really good regular season team but then the playoffs when you have to do this you can't you're just still here and now it's like Denver we know is here and since the playoffs starts they're going to go up I kind of think Detroit is who they are every game which is fine and by the way it worked and they're going to win 60 games but I think with when I think at a Detroit Charlotte matchup isn't that the worst possible team for Detroit or do you have like these two awesome wings

“and the weakness of your team is your wings and now I just I don't like that I think that's one”

reason why I like the Celtics against Detroit too is because I just think the wings are so much better than Detroit swings that's at some point just becomes a real disadvantage well what they're going to have to solve is you get into a series and game by game teams figure out even more ways to make sure that guys they want left open are left open right and Detroit has a few of those guys and their guys that they have to play because that's their style they get into people they

they force turnovers and run they get on the offensive glass like their wings crash from the wings and the opposite corners but they that's that's their formula get to the line get points in the paint well if you're now playing a team that's well coached and they do some of those things well they they they they secure their own defensive glass they don't give up points in the paint they don't turn the ball over my just described Boston in a lot of ways they don't do those

pistons okay to play one game let's look at the film okay here's how we can make sure that

the ball gets funneled to certain places and we're going to face guard Duncan Robinson no help responsibility like he's not going to be part of this like it you look at their team they make 11 threes a night 11 they win games sometimes where they make seven six that's going to be hard against teams like Boston you get a team like Cleveland you get some of these tea Charlotte you get some of these teams that are going to shoot 40 45 threes and there's going to be

nights that they're going to make 15 18 maybe 20 and you're making 7 8 9 10 that is a lot to overcome and so that's to me is the big challenge for them how exposed is their lack of shooting

“once they get into a series but like look for Detroit I think I don't know Charlotte could be”

them or not I know that would be a very scary series for them to be what hell of a series

I don't fear as much filly without a bead I don't feel Orlando fear Orlando for them I don't fear Miami so really you're talking about this is the one team yeah if you're the one seed that's the one team that ends up eight that's just bad luck for you because I think those other three teams I think you'll just do your thing especially filly without a bead and you're going to be fine Charlotte is a scarier team because of the way that they could just really just put

you hit you with an onslaught of offense the other thing with Detroit is just the lack of guys who can create their own shot in a half court and it's a lot of Tobias Harris who I think's been really good for them this year but it's really like where you mentioned with Hardham before in the playoffs we've kind of seen to buy services to playoffs so that would worry me too last thing and then we got to take a break um I've just we haven't we talked about Tatum three weeks ago the last time you were

on and we're doing this right for the next game today so I don't know what's happening that can I'm like to me he seems all the way back now and it's not even like I's 95% there there's a

“couple things missing I think he's back like for real and if anything like he's added a couple”

small things that I don't think he necessarily had in the same way last year like his his rebounding

and his passing is like slightly better and I honestly like it's like one of the most amazing

comebacks I can remember watching in real time even like thinking back to the first two games he had this year versus where he is now where it's just like he's back um did you ever in your in your wildest dreams think this would be how this played out? No not at all I mean you know I'm picturing him all that time when we're kind of waiting I mean if he came more apparent he was going to try this and it was kind of like better right away in a lot of ways I was just kind of like

man like specifically he's this guy's going to traffic and rebound in the ball yeah like you know you do something like that like you don't really want to be jumping around other people and mentally and pushing off to go get you know rebounds and stuff so I was like man his rebounding was a great he offense definitely looked like he was favoring how he was landing on drives and as a result it was affecting his concentration at the rim and I thought yeah that's pretty normal

and guess what that might not come back until next year because that is that takes some time to shake that off where all of a sudden you find and I just and just thought the same engineering I was you know that same level player but they'd come back from three torn ligaments and you need at the same time like I did a missed 10 months and I thought I was going to miss the entire

“next season I came back in like February yeah and I remember that game when it finally was like”

I was not thinking any more about anything and I was just playing basketball I thought that was going to be next year for Jason Tatum like you're going to have to live with it and maybe it costs them in the playoffs because he's still going to be playing a lot but he's not going to be himself and maybe it cost you when the rage when you know the margins get so thin against these teams well I knew it's for your man he's then now last five games he's right about 50, 40, 80 splits

he's been rebounding the ball great ever since he came back legs he might be he looked like top 10 rebounder like credible his rebounding numbers like he's 10 to 15 in a game like pretty consistently though the the stretch five piece of him in the playoffs I wonder how much we're going to see like like that might be their more their version of the lineup of death over the half of that lineup yeah because I don't test voosebitch the last couple games here and see what they have he looks too

feeling it out but my guess is when they get to the higher rounds he's out which will leave Kada

Garza maybe but really Tatum doing a lot of stretch five stuff and they've thrown it out a few times and it's like okay because you know they can still rebound when he's the center well you look at the top teams they're going to have to play if they were to play that lineup but it's not going to be something you're going to hit him with all night but if they can selectively use it in games strategically you look at Detroit Cleveland in the next those three teams and like you ask yourself well

how hard is this going to be for them to guard extremely extremely if you've got the next line up that they want to play most of the night that's going to be very difficult for them to guard same with Cleveland because they like to play two bigs a lot and that's going to be very difficult to ground coverage and playing guys off the dribble it's going to be hard even with the guys versus mobile that's going to be hard for them to pull off and then you say what about

the other end well yeah Cleveland you could be susceptible in the offensive glass like that could be a problem but they're so Boston is so good at the details of the game chipping on guys and getting getting you know between them in the basket and making them come over your back and it just a little details that it takes when you do play small excel at that stuff you know

“so I think the the risk reward is more reward for them and I think you are going to see that”

lineup sometimes how much we'll see but I don't know that they're not worried about getting beat up at the other end by playing a small lineup. Mitchell Robinson would be the one guy that it might be a mistake again. Nobody keep in them off the glass. Yeah that's where you're going to need candidates. All right we're taking a break and then I want to play the MVP game with you. Welcome to crunch time presented by tax act where we break down the NBA's final

stretch in spotlight the players and teams feeling the heat before the playoffs tax act helps you handle the final stretch of tax season with tools that make sure you maximize your refund and come out on top on April 15th. All right who has the most pressure to perform in the playoffs? I am looking at two teams. They're both in the Easter conference. They both have pushed a lot of shifts into this season. The New York next who traded all those picks from a kale bridges

basically built to compete and try to win a title right now and if they don't win we'll see

are they a yannis team over the summer and then Cleveland who was already all in does the hard and for Garland trade has some playoff kind of bad stuff that happened the last couple years and if that happens again who knows with them so I would say those two teams have the most pressure of anybody that was crunch time presented by tax act helping you beat the buzzer maximize your returns and hit a game winner during the final stretch of tax season visit taxac.com learn more

conditions apply see taxact.com for details. All right last thing we're going to talk MVP you're not going to tell us your boat because you're saving it but I have this is something I started the mid-2000s where I had little questions that I tried to ask myself to set the MVP order

“in my head and I did this I think in the '06 season I think was the first time I did this which was”

the year Kobe average 35 a game and I think he finished fourth in MVP Steve Nash one for the

second straight year. Dirk was on a good Dallas team that ended up making the finals and then

young LeBron was in there too and it was like they're nobody kind of really knew who the MVP was and I really thought it was Kobe so I came up with these questions and I'm going to go through them with you. I've added a fifth question which I did not have before but anyway so we'll start here we agree it's SGA Joker and Wemby those are the three with Lucas out so we have three candidates for the MVP spot right all right let's listen unless unless Luca you know they they're talking about

right trying to appeal and because he missed two games for the birth of his daughter and all that so unless they unless they win that then which I don't know how that's going to play out but that's what they're saying like he's going to they're trying to figure out a way because you would have to go ahead sort of an exception you would have voted him top three would you? I think if he I'd put it this way if Luca ends up being eligible I think you I think then there's there's there's a four there's

“four guys that you have to talk about that's how I would describe it you can't dismiss him and say”

he's not in the top three particularly with what he did over the last like month of the season and how differently we viewed the Lakers as I was all of that and I would say yes he needs to

technicals cost himself a game maybe he should learn his lesson that's fair maybe

behavior so better on the court Luca that is this man that is very very fair there's no I have no rebuttal to that at all and I'm not certainly this isn't my campaign for Luca for MVP but I am I am consider myself pretty like unbiased about this stuff it is what it is to me and I

“just think I think the way he played his his numbers and then the big thing was are the Lakers ever”

going to look legit and they did it to me for so long but then they're often got so good primarily because his efficiency picked up that like okay I think he's played himself into the race

but you know he might not they might not make that exception for him anyway and maybe it's a

mood point I agree with you I had him when he got hurt I had him three a three b with yolkage and then yolkage went up and Luca went back down because he got hurt all right the MVP questions question number one if you replaced each MVP candidate with the decent player at his position for the entire season what would be the hypothetical fact negatively on his team's record so sometimes this question doesn't necessarily qualify usually if you feel like oh we if you take this guy out they

would be 20 games worse that's usually what we think all right so I'm going to give you the players

SGA that team okay so 64 and 16 let's replace them with Brandon Pazempsky

for the entire year SGA's out so I didn't know you were going to do this yeah no I'm going to go and Pacific I have Brandon Pazempsky is now in the SGA spot and probably a little more AJ Mitchell and everything else is the same Jalen Williams so gets hurt you have all the other guys that's the exact same season but I've replaced SGA how many how many wins does okay see have with everything else on everything is exactly the same I'm just like exactly as it did this season

including a lack of availability of Jalen Williams yes okay how many games would they win goodness this is a tough one yeah so figure AJ Mitchell gets more of the SGA minutes in this hypothetical world and Brandon Pazempsky's probably off the bench AJ Mitchell's probably starting man 64 and 16 is the record right now mid-50s I had 50s I had 53 and 29 okay that's probably right all right so we got some looking at it

I'm looking at it like you know they the way they play is so unique like they they were I believe they were eight and four without them yeah when you didn't play at all you didn't replace them with anybody so you put a player like the jumpski and his you know decent player you look at that

“and the way that they defend but driving that off and so I thought that's why I said mid-50s you”

said 53 we're probably we're about the same I might give them a little bit a winter too more than you Wemby pulling them out I'm replacing them with the congruent from the hawks that's who their center is now they have a center combo of of a congruent in the coordinate they are 61 and 19 right now what's their record if we make that switch they probably win 50 okay I had 47 at 47 and 35 by you maybe you're right so we'll put

it somewhere in there 47 of 50 I've been so impressed with with like that that to me might be the best this year connected team in the league oh yeah talk about role acceptance and just like the vibe around their team yeah kind of like exactly what we thought about Oklahoma City last year and I say Oklahoma City's lost that but this feels like the version of that this season so I just I wouldn't put a much much past on my still thing they could get to 50 we replaced the

Koleo Kitch for the entire season with the congruent we used the same center we also have half a year from Aaron Gordon and some of the other stuff that happened right now they're 52 and 28 what's their record with the congruent I can't wait for your answer on this because I was

“surprised by my own answer 43 and 39 oh wow you went over 500 yeah I think I think they could”

still be 500 so I only have 35 Aaron Gordon games Jamal Murray all the role players and I don't have

I think that's too low alright well you so you basically had everybody dropping off by 10 to 12 wins so

that so question number one is out I do think Yokeage probably means the most to the three of the day-to-day success with all the stuff he does for them would be but I guess maybe you could say that would want me to all right so that questions out all right this is a good one question number two in a giant pickup game with every NBA player available in two knowledgeable fans forced to pick five man teams and their lives depend on the games outcome who would be the first player

picked based on however I'm played that year first player picked my life depends on the game

you want to do first player picked for each team no first player picked we get everybody in the league

I could take anybody in my life depends on the game based on how they played this season only well for me it's between Yokeage and Shay and you said you'd wait the key word you said knowledgeable NBA fans yeah that that we both are fine there now that this qualifies you know because if you're just standing in the eye test and he's they don't know as much about that the league is they need to

“you look at it when be your Yokeage and Shay right that's what I'm saying sure um if you know the league”

I promise I Yokeage I would as well yeah I had Yokeage when be third but it's I'm too worried about I need to fill the 17 other minutes that is not playing Yokeage I know I'm getting 40 minutes I can run and I can put any kind of team around him and and he's been the most I think I think he's just been more consistent with me I think the biggest reason for me would be

under that exact scenario is I'm looking at them and I'm going okay with him being the first pick

it doesn't really matter as much at that point what I end up with around him right because everybody's gonna be able to play with him and do their thing and not just stand and spot up they're gonna be able to play and move and play basketball and his just natural inclination for making guys better and reading a floor it's like all fits no matter who he plays with he just described why he probably should have been the MVP every year this this decade but we'll

keep going question three so I'd Yokeage is well by the way question three if you're explaining your MVP pick to someone who has a favorite player in the race and your pick was a different player well here she at least say something like I don't like your pick but at least see how you ride that that choice so I came up with this question in 2008 I thought I thought Kevin Garnett was MVP Kobe ended up winning it was the one time I was a little too homery

with because I was watching so much Celtics and the more you watch the same team you just like oh you don't understand all the stuff he does and I don't think I got it right I don't think I

“looked at it logically enough because I think I overrated how much I was watching KG KG was”

awesome but that team was really good they could survive him not being there for a gamer too I actually if I had to do that again I might actually both for Chris Paul that year on the pelicans or the hornet I guess that was the normal hornet set year was basically just him and David West and Tyson Chandler just and Chris Paul did everything and he was just so fucking awesome that year anyway I think people would see the SGA case if you're explaining it I think they would see the

Yokeage case because you could go into like hey this guy's already one two MVP's this is the best offensive year he's ever had he's going to lead the league and rebounds and assists he's going to be fourth or fifth in points he does everything for them he's actually gotten better from an efficiency everything standpoint than all the other years when he was already in all time great

“that's the case for him and there are three seed which I think matters the Wemby case the”

ministering hurts it would people if you're explaining the Wemby case would people at least see it okay I love this question I'm going to start with just myself and knowing myself and I do think I'm pretty good about hey man let's debate it let's make our case and it's an opinion at the end of the day it's subjective just make valid points that makes sense and I'm going to hear

it's just an opinion I think I'm good about that sometimes I'll really dig in if I'm just like

“now you literally don't know what you're talking about for the most part that I think I'm good”

about that I will say this I don't think when it comes to this topic and this isn't just the average NBA fan because those people clearly like you're in the corner of some team or some player good luck convincing them of anything other than their guy is the guy right that's impossed with that's like social media world but I'm talking about even inside the industry yeah the people that do this every day they watch it they break it down they do it on TV radio they write about it

whatever it may be your job to do it to know it I'm finding it's almost becoming very almost like politics in this country next up instead of two parties there's like four parties and like you're not convincing someone that's trying to make their case about one of these guys for people you're just not doing it it feels like that there's a lot less of that where you're kind of like listening that that's actually a really good point you might not change your mind

but you might say hey you know that's a really good argument I hadn't really considered that that's a good argument that's probably the best case you could make for your guy I still kind of like my guy and here's why that's I felt like it was more of that before that's not what I'm sensing now and and just turn on any media outlet on the course of a day and just watch because it's topic is so prevalent right now who's gonna win MVP it is gonna be really fascinating race to see

how this plays out my goodness are people dug in don't their guy and there is no other answer other than their guy so I actually disobeyed that dump this question maybe we're all just here well just it's a great question but maybe people don't even want to hear other arguments when

“said decide no I love the question bill because that's how it should be and I just don't feel like”

people are coming to the table to discuss this stuff with really an open mind and again look that's be honest if you made up your mind about something in your intelligent person whether it's politics or sports you know debate about MVP or whatever the hell it is the best dog breed okay and you're a jack Russell guy and I'm a golden retriever guy right you're coming to the table you it's very rare that you're gonna be talked into changing your opinion right because

it's based on so many things but at least you can you can I guess give the person more validity if they vote a different way like that's valid that's how you feel and you made a great arguments that's valid that you're doing that I feel like more and more people just try to discredit you if you don't agree with them and they try to tell you why you don't know what the hell you're talking about and I feel like that is more prevalent than it's ever been

so I don't know that any of these conversations with people from different camps of these players I don't know that you get anybody to really genuinely be like well yeah you know what actually I see you're coming from and you know if you vote that way yeah that's valid that makes sense I don't know that people are doing that as much as they used to I feel like they're just dug in I know what I'm talking about you don't and that feels like more of what the tone of it

all is now it's funny because I feel that way about rookie the year I can't believe flag is favored

versus con who's the second best guy on a playoff team that's gonna win like 46-47 games

“he's gonna lead the league in threes I think he's the key to that team in a lot of ways because”

he's the only one that really moves and if he wasn't the one ever the gravity that he brings when he moves around and how defense is react to him you you have to have it for how they play and if you don't it's just a bunch of guys standing around watching La Mello dribble and then flag who I think is I love flag he's fantastic but he's doing this on a on a basically a tanking lottery team that's gonna win 25 games and now it's trying to build their team around him trying to win the award

and it's like if you want to vote for that fun but I you have this situation of a rookie having like a historic season who's really important to a team that's been one of the best teams in the league for 45 games though and I don't know that's not rookie the year because flag scores two more points a game it's just bizarre I'll tell you this con con simple has blown my mind with like his

ceiling as a player and his impact you're 100% right first on how you described him with their

team he connects all of their talent base he connects it all because of his unique way of playing that fits with what they do he's also more complete in other ways and anytime you talk to Charles Leir you just watch him you see it he can put it down he can guard he's a good rebounder three times he's his you know his his his mind for the games off the charts he makes great

I think he makes more threes per game I think I said this to you one other time maybe it took 37 years in the league to make this many threes per game now the league has changed obviously the volume is way up but you know this record that curry you know whatever it had numbers out when he's done that when he was breaking this record and surpassing 2,000 and 3,000 and now 4,000 like

you you're like well that's never gonna be broken and then you get a guy right out of the gate

like this who ate it yeah if this dude plays 18 years like some of these guys are playing now like hey maybe he does it but so I am shocked by how good he is man I really am by the way it's not a rejection of flag like unfortunately he's on a bad team and we've had years like Tyree Kevin's 100 bad team put up stats and I don't think flag as a put up stats kind of guy like one of the things I love about him is these impactful and both ends but unfortunately he's on a

“25 win team and if there's a better I'm gonna be full disclosure with you I am I am I think more”

undecided about that award than any of them interesting because flag so here's why

everything you said about kidnipples true and I personally do that I argue for this all the time

when you come when it comes to some of these awards I do think like impact on a winning team it should carry a lot of weight because the circumstances and the scrutiny are completely different on a nightly basis you're expecting to win like you've got more pressure on uniform for quarter these shots matter so so and it's contributing to something bigger than yourselves in a positive direction right so I do think it's your matter and that will be something that I absolutely will

weigh heavily for conkidipple the one thing I will say about Cooper Flag that is different me like Cooper Flag's responsibility for their team to just operate is you can't compare that

“with like what what cannipples has to do because you got lamella ball there you've got a guy like”

Miller you've got a guy that can initiate offense not that he doesn't too but he's like can kind of you know he fills in the open spots around that and he's great at that and will he be coming guy that can be a table set or initiator I don't know maybe he's been so damn good this year who knows what is sealing is but Cooper Flag like think about their team and I know that to look their lottery bound team and they shut it down a while ago so none of the none of the games

had stakes there's nothing at play in the fourth quarters of these games but the bottom line

is that team couldn't even operate unless Cooper Flag created this right all season so so that level of responsibility stepping into the league is a teenager and and having that level of responsibility like no hey listen man's great you can't just got there play and find your way and it's like we really need you to bring the ball up and like start our offense and finish our offense can you do that please and also guard everybody first yeah now everybody on the floor so

so like that to me is like the and I also think if you're talking about ceilings of the two players like five years from now Cooper Flag she likes I mean no question flags it's fragile it tends to be a generational player I agree totally don't he's a fantastic level player this is why I love this stuff though because we they hand out a hundred votes everybody's is it differently I personally see it as if you can be really good and actually impact a winning team I'm just gonna prioritize that

more other people be like well it's not Cooper's fault that he's on a bad team you're penalizing him it's not like he picked the team he's on and he's played great he's so I get it I just think for me it's like a no brainer I would take on and can I can I can I can I I have to be remiss without mentioning one more name if this guy went to a team nope oh if this guy went to a team that was a 27 went team and had the ball in his hip from day one he would absolutely be in this conversation with these two

guys and I feel in Harper if Dylan Harper I'm telling you he's that good this is a future store

“I agree if if he went to a team where they just let him go I think this year if he was on one of”

these teams that like you know this isn't consequential he'd probably he might be 22 and 8 like literally you know he has shot he shot 59% from the field over's last 30 games wow in 22 minutes a game when when like it's just it blows my mind at his three point shooting significantly better over he's that's still his weakness it's got better over the last six weeks or so but 15% over 30 games you can't keep the guy out of the lane he's got great vision he's built like a

person this year and I'm just watching him and I'm thinking he's on a team that's contending for a championship he's still has cracked 22 minutes out of this rotation that they're perfectly comfortable with him being out there on the floor of castle and fox together below he's that good and if he was on a team that lush let him go from day one he'd be putting up such eye popping numbers as a rookie that he would who knows how he might be on a win the award but he'd be right

there in this conversation with these two guys it reminds me of when my kale was on the Celtics

his first year when the team had just had so many guys he was playing like twenty twenty-one minutes

a game but if he had just gone on the other team would have put up like twenty four and ten as a rookie

“I think this is a better situation for Harper being in the situations and no I would much rather have”

somebody absolutely in this game it's trying to come right because he was a thing you're not talking about he's you know he's played thirty eight games he's got forty d_n_p_s_ and he plays seven minutes a night all the team sets contending no that that is not better now but to be actually and he's played something like I think it was something like thirteen or fourteen straight games he's played over twenty minutes like he's average in twenty two for the year he has a ton of

responsibility and opportunities in the course of the game but it's not riding on him and most importantly the culture and the standard effort that this team is setting that is so good for a young player to see it and to play consequential games right at the gate and something really meaningful where you know there's a good chance this team is playing you know into the conference finals at least and you're playing a lot there's no doubt about that's absolutely better than any other scenario

really you can handle other than if you're you know what you're starting on a team that's pretending as a rookie which is very rare two more MVP questions we side tracked on rookie the year uh question number four added this one is there some sort of durability minutes issue on off numbers red flag or fairly obvious flaw with any candidate that has to be dissected at least a little so this would be like when j_l_l_m_ brown had a candidacy j_l_m_ brown would be the only

one but he was like the on-off stuff with him which I actually think was pretty explainable because that the way they use their bench it was like this pack of pipples that would come in and I think it would really screwed other teams up during the regular season regardless he's not a candidate so the minute and that kind of year you are still with an expected to be the what it is we it really regard it's had such a great year yeah it's really kind of strange like it because it's so different than

the other three yeah so here the minutes is the big thing and and i think the minutes disqualify when b where he's just 400 plus minutes behind the other two guys and i think it's just in a better situation playing the you know 29 30 minutes game all right last one question five this is a big one

ten years from now who will be the first player from that season who pops in your head

every season belongs to someone to varying degrees so this was mostly that the case for Kobe in 06 when it was like i can't really decide it's like you know what i'm gonna remember ten years from now Kobe scored 35 points a night and every night seemed to be a threat to to score 80 and didn't seem necessarily even that happy in the team we had a weird vibe and you go back and look at the roster and it was pretty awful but watching him night after night just picked teams apart

“destroy them and do whatever he wanted like that i'm gonna remember that first what's first for”

you this year as we head into the final weekend it will definitely be windy i had the same there's

no question about it because because okay look at the year that shades had incredible basically

carbon copy last year but even more efficient so even even better somehow yoke it's incredible again i mean you know what he did last year was so historic and he's basically topped it in a lot of ways so but you've seen it yeah you've seen it over and over again and you kind of like done not saying that you're almost numb to it at all because we're still amazed by it every night but you've seen it repeatedly what what when be right out of the gate remember the Dallas game

when he had 40 and he had that reverse dunk where he caught the ball on the right side of the lane diving to the rim got fouled and then didn't take another dribble and dunked the ball behind

“his head on the opposite side of the right you remember that play and like the next day was this”

viral video clip of him and i was like what game to yeah maybe game one it was like right it's the first week of the season and that for me kind of set the tone to answer a question like this 10 years from now particularly what is probably to come over the next nine after this this is like

doing things that are setters superior to what he's doing certainly offensively doesn't matter it's it's the look of it and how different it is and how different it is on both ends and you've

never seen anything quite like it and on top of it if this is a decade of spurs excellence where

they've they win some in the years they don't they're right there and it's another one of those runs you're gonna remember this as the beginning of that and this is they got their way faster than anybody thought they could so for me that's an easy one to answer 10 years from now you're going to talk about this as like the Wemby year when the spurs first became a contender with him

“I had the same I wrote down the Wemby arrival almost like it's like a big shit but yeah that's what”

we'll remember like also he was the best player I saw in person this year and I saw everybody I don't that doesn't mean he's the MVP but I just watching him patrol the defensive end and then all the stuff he was doing offensively and watching how you know I was like to watch out and I think football is good for this too with like wide receivers or running backs or whatever when defenses just are reacting to everything somebody's doing

and with him it's just you could just see everybody's just constantly where is he you've five pairs in the court and all of them like they have the balls like where is he's he there can I is it safe and then on when he's on offense it's like what are we going to do oh no he might post up and they're just constantly like tipped on around so I had for number two for this joker um being apex joker I do feel like this is the best

version of him that we've had yeah yeah and then SGA the crunch time stuff I think was pretty special

“with him I actually think all three of these guys had a case for like here's why you should”

remember me SGA kind of became a villain this year so if I was going to think about it through the context of him I'd be like oh yeah that was the year when everybody kind of got tired of okay see they they got pissed about the foul baiting SGA seemed to feed off it became this awesome crunch time guy so all of them had the case so all right well we did five questions and now I'm more confused than ever who the MVP is it's it's it's it's brutal man and like these are all tough man

coach it years going to be tough I think rookie ear like I said for you for me that's that's

this closest it gets an ultimately I don't even know when the time comes to start writing these

names down like what will be my the thing that moves the needle in that direction for me because I think it's that tight MVP the all league teams I think I got a pretty good grasp of those I mean guys being eliminated from contention helped in some ways you know me eliminate some confusion so I got a pretty good grip on those all defense I think first team I'm in pretty good shape like beyond that I think you got to start diving into it a little bit deeper I got to do a little bit

deeper dive on that what else six man of the year got a pretty good feel for that pretty length category this here for the six man it's disappointing you're just talking yourself into multiple candidates yeah I'm the same as you I have a pretty good handle my only thing we can we can end on this as a traditionalist I still like having a big man on each of my all NBA teams because I

think it's I know they gave us the option just go nuts and basically make it up I don't care if

“this team would never make sense in real life is a basketball team this would be my team I just value”

the history and especially with big men how hard it was to pick centers even like the yoga championship we had a couple years ago that started the stupid thing to begin with I just think it should be you should have a big you should have a wing and you should have a guard and then two other spots but I feel like those three are necessities so like for me I'm going to have Jalen Dern and either second or third team probably second and chat third team I'm going to have a

one being yoga together on the first team because I do think they could play together as weird because yoga just like I don't even know what position he is are you a traditionalist there you just put your five guys together I'm more of a traditionalist I think yeah you know I think it's probably you know error I come from a age like it's it's how you view the composition of a basketball team yeah you know and I guess so but it is it's fine it's not like it's something I I

started something you know Hill I'm going to die on I'm okay with it it's the way the game looks now and a lot of nights thank God we still do have some bigs that do a lot of damage that stay in the forefront of the conversation so we're not just only talking about cards and wings there are still bigs doing some great things in this league it's just to where the league has gone

at all those years following the league before I was even in the league like you know you grow up high school college and you're you love the NBA and those all NBA teams would come out and

“that's what it looked like man and everyone of those teams had a center on it and it was cool man”

and that's how you view a basketball team one guy in the middle two guys in the back court and a couple of wings that's typically what it is but I'm okay that they've gone into this kind of irony of this I feel like centers are more valuable than they've probably been in a long time right because there's so many of them made it come back yeah it's made it come back I don't think you could win the title now like it'd be really interesting the 2015-16 warriors you know they still had

bogey they still the ability to get a little bigger but the lineup of death would dream on I don't know if that lineup works in the same way now I just think he would have been overpowered by by certain players that we just didn't have in 2015 and 2016 you know I mean well no there's no question about it yeah that's I totally agree with that there there there are more guys now that could do damage down there and it's not necessarily the traditional way that it was in the

80s and 90s when there were more guys that you threw the ball into with their back to the basket

“on the block with one guy on them like that's what the league looked like in the 90s when I played”

and I played on teams like that was the priority we were on the total ball to Chris Weber on the block to on Howard George Mirasson Rashid they're gonna get the ball and then I'm gonna I was the guy that made the entry passes because they trusted me I wasn't gonna turn it over I was able

to get it into the post even if they were wrestling down there I was really good at that never

turned it over and then I would run through to the other side and you stand on the wing the opposite wing and just wait I think in a double team it was gonna be my turn to shoot like that's kind of what offense is did and every team kind of played that way even when you played like I played Hall of Famers like Clyde Drexler it was like man this guy's a load but at the same time there's gonna be about a four-minute stretcher he's gonna throw the ball into a keen like six times

in a row and Reggie Miller's gonna throw the ball to Rick Smiths and the guys on the mix are gonna throw the ball to Patrick and like that's what it looked like a Lanzo morning in Miami Dan Marley you're gonna throw the ball in and you know he's just so it was kind of like that like you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna play it a certain way around you if

“Marley was on those teams but whoever the heat wings were but yeah it was it that's what”

that's what it looked like the ball was going down there and you played out of that now there are guys that do damage in the paint there's bigs but it's it looks different

they're more mobile they're moving around they're facing up first at the start of the

possession and then rolling they step out and shoot the three you don't want to cling in last night who is just a monster's human being and he's developed such a nice three-point shot and he you know they're not gonna go out and why not how about I'm sure you're under five and he's a German shit three-star once that started happening yeah yeah drum a guy that big right and he likes to corner it's it's funny to me man but it's there are there are bigs across the league now that are

doing great things and at one point it looked like man they're like we're gonna make this extinct like it's not even gonna exist now it's and it has to be true I really think they should change it and make it like one big one-wing one guard and then the other two spots are open like at least because there's no basketball team that's just like playing a bunch of small guys even a team like the hawks that is ain't been able to go a little smaller but they they still have

either gay or or Congo out there whenever they need to you and playing it's a good example there's a bunch of like cling-in-type guys around the league though you know like Celtics half-cata you go on through and there's a bunch of guys that could put it away from a department the train headed monster they're they're those guys Robert Williams and Klingin are averaging 18 points in 17 regards again and three blocks between the two of them so you're you're you're good a play

about 42 minutes I think combined so you get like starters minutes out of these two guys and then to go small if they're not because they don't ever play together and 18 and 17 and three blocks yeah they'll take that and one of them can shoot yeah we're good before we go I'll be decided who you want Washington to pick with the seventh NFL draft pick no no I have not yet I'm nervous right now I'm nervous I haven't decided I do think that

there there's something that the running back from Notre Dame has been a guy that maybe they go because we have no running backs now I mean yeah they've added some but like basically they got rid of all the running backs they had one on the roster and they were out of a shot white which is I thought was a nice pick up but they're saying that that may be what they target because most of what they did in free agency was spent defensively well if you get love at seven

that's amazing because some people think he's the best guy in the draft so you get that guy

running back I know you know how it is with running backs remember when we had Alfred Morris like his first three years in the NFL and then that was it then you're gone that's all you got it's all you got so running backs like I get it I mean it's important but at the same time it's

I've read the same things that you have and I didn't see him I didn't watch him a lot

“but I've read the same things that he would be an ideal pick and lucky to get him if he's”

available with that pick yeah I personally would never take a running back in the top ten just

because of I just feel like you can it's almost like how I'd never pay thirty million dollars a

year for a center that wasn't like an all-in-be-a center otherwise I'm just gonna try to cheat and patch guys together and do look coordinate for nine million a year and go that way versus no I'm with you I can't throw thirty million a year I'm not doing that I'm not using my cat for that when I can get somebody else for a cheaper all right legs we will so what's today's date April April 9th so we'll see you near the I know you'll pop on Zach's pot at some point

“during the beginning of the playoffs and we'll see you probably near the end around one on this on this”

speed in perfect man you're gonna travel in a boat right I got one more game once Sunday to close after regular season unfortunately it's probably not gonna mean anything Denver San Antonio it might mean something to Denver it is what it is and then playing is handled by the other networks

so we're not we're not with that and then so you'll see me again like my first playoff game with this

group with Mike Green and Richard Jefferson will be Saturday looks like Saturday the 18th whatever that prime time Saturday evening game is gonna be so and I got just cannot wait man to get going and then it's gonna be at two or three a week I guess so you know how friends do you just bounce around

“so you're gonna bounce around the first two rounds for sure we'll we'll get west coast cover to”

probably you know that if Luke ahead stayed healthy and if he's playing it almost guaranteed you're gonna you know see some lakers but it's different now because it's not just like us and Turner

yeah you've got now three different entities kind of and so it's it's gonna be different how they

divvy up these games and who gets what you know and and obviously these markets like Boston New York are big markets they're gonna have very meaningful games we're gonna bounce around but then at we ESPN ABC have the eastern conference finals this year so once we get to that point we will call every one of those games and then every one of the finals games obviously would love nothing more than to take you to dinner and Boston during the eastern conference final

so I hope I hope we can make that happen I'll take you up on that I hope my team is there legs great to see you safe travels this weekend yeah thanks Bill all right thanks to Tim Legler thanks to Gahau and Eduardo as well don't forget rewatchables is coming Monday night basic instinct we did at live in San Francisco we had an absolutely awesome time was great to great to see everybody Sunday Zach low and I are coming on not sure the exact time yet but we're

coming on live on Netflix it'll be after the masters probably early Sunday after early Sunday evening eastern time so be ready for us very excited great sports week and ahead enjoy the week and see Sunday we some must be 21 plus in present in select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas star casino or 18 plus in president DC Kentucky or Wyoming opt in required refund issued that just not much trouble bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt max refund unless

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