And now hello welcome to the low post podcast on the last day of March the NBA regular season is nearing its conclusion and holy smokes Is there a lot going on the Boston Celtics destroyed the Milwaukee Bucks on the road last night? There's a night much anticipated game amounted to not very much except an emphatic win for Boston Milwaukee was on the fifth game in Seven nights. We have to it's obligatory. We have to say that hashtag rest scheduling all that stuff the West the top three are set Phoenix has a pretty strong hold at four.
We'll get to them clippers at 36 losses warriors 37 three teams with 38 losses including the resurgent New Orleans Pelicans and the semi resurgent Los Angeles Lakers the thunder clinging to 10 to 39 losses And the Mavericks trying to hold off an absolutely disastrous DEF CON one situation in 11th place The Dallas Mavericks with Luke at the Honch Mission Kyrie Irving are 11th of 15 teams in the Western Conference We got a lot to talk about Kirk Goldsberry guitar in the background. How are you? What is up Zach? It is great to see you There's a lot going on one of the favorite times of the year any year during these playoff races But this year seems particularly interesting these last two weeks are there's a lot to shake out as you just illustrated I still look back fondly Not many moons ago when LeBron not in total just suggested that whoever created the play internment Evan Wash Should be fired and LeBron changed his tune when the play internment was beneficial to the Lakers and now there is not even someone asked me We were talking about it so on some podcast this week I was a guest son on the Orlando Magic podcast about what I think of the play internment And I said I don't is there even like a fringe 2% that's like we got to go back to the old way This is a bad idea.
This is a bastardization of ass ways is there even a any opposition party to this anymore? I haven't heard one and it's poetic you're saying that right now because we're final four down here in Texas this weekend and there's nothing better In the game of basketball than a must-win game and the play internment has brought us a bunch of those at the end of the season NBA players, you know winner go home That's fantastic and we got more of those than ever. Thanks to the great Evan Wash you should not be fired Let me go on the record He should not be fired the play internment has made the league better and and the end of the season a lot more interesting Yeah, there's only one team that has really sunk into total embarrassment with five games to go And that's Portland who for the second straight season is just trotting out disgraceful unwatchable lineups in an effort To juice their lottery odds at the last minute Shout out blazers. Thanks for a memorable season and a awful last couple weeks We won't talk about you again until the lottery and the basketball gods the lottery gods, which is a subset of the basketball gods They're watching they're watching you know we are paying attention to the lottery gods are paying attention to the Charlotte Hornets Steve Clifford I'm thinking about scrapping my whole coach of the year ballot and just putting Steve Clifford spoiler of the year Charlotte Hornets number one Okay, let's get to them start with Buck Celtics.
Here's where we are. Here's where we are after the Celtics I don't even know what the hell the final score was it was a lot too a little 200 to 75 I believe I think it was two hundred to seventy five. Yeah, it felt that way. Um, and again I know I know bucks people five games and seven nights I know I know you play you use the ugly blue court don't like that court So Boston now has the tiebreaker, but they are two games behind the bucks So they have to make up two games in five games So if the Celtics go four and one all the bucks have to do is go three and two if the Celtics go five and oh Well, then the bucks got to win some got some ball games Decension to number one shot is number one seed which I think you and I can agree on no disrespect is where she's ever said no Disrespect which is always actually followed by disrespect no disrespect to the Cleveland Cavaliers But I think that number one seed is just massively valuable for a whole host of reasons including avoiding Philly in the two three series Here's where we are Boston's last five games Utah at Philadelphia Philadelphia has a whole aces final stretch here They play everybody Toronto twice and the Hawks so those are all you know tough ish games for the Celtics The Bucks have Philadelphia this weekend at the Wizards Chicago Memphis at Toronto The Washington game is a big game because all the other teams have something to play for I'm sure the Wizards in their head think that they have something to play for there only two games out of the 10th Seed which hang the banner for the 10th seed if they get there, but they're they're they're fading out It's not impossible for the Celtics to do this it is gonna be very difficult Let's just zero in on last night a complete shellacking of the Bucks in Milwaukee Chris Middleton's face got busted up blood Was everywhere?
Do you take anything from that game in terms of if we see this matchup you saw something you noticed something this mattered in some way? Yes, but it's not as cheap as just one game I think we've seen these guys play enough, but there's two things that I think I took away and Boston did exactly what they needed Do you just mention this possible? They get the ones that would have been impossible if they didn't win the actual score 140 to 99 last night a shellacking I look at both sides of the court for something that I think is is noteworthy to act if these teams meet again and Mean as a basketball thing you kind of want to meet again because this is great basketball when they both play Well, I love when these teams play I don't like the blue court But the first thing I'll say when Boston is making jump shots They're virtually impossible to beat if there's a bell weather on offense for this team in a single game or a series is It's this are the three's going in they're 30 and one when they make 40% or better from the 3.0 line I don't love stats like that, but when it's 31 you have to respect it. They're 12 and 18 I believe when they shoot 35% or lower So I think one of the things that that happened last night is credit to Boston They created shots and they made shots if you let me get nerdy for a minute with the Boston offense in mind You have you're not it hasn't happened yet.
We're getting we're now getting nerdy or just warming up, baby So Boston outperformed their expected effective field goal percentage by 14 points last night I keep going they had their the only game they had a higher such sort of outperformance over expectation was when they shall act Milwaukee on Christmas So, you know when those shots are going in at high rates They're they're unbeatable and they've done it twice against Milwaukee this season That's why they have this huge tiebreaker going into the last five games I have a note on their defense too, but Zach I wanted to throw that at you You know the Missoula era has leaned into three-point shooting and that variance lifestyle And I think when they shoot like they did last night this team is simply unbeatable the numbers back it up It does make you think about I mean you could play it's just our dumb brains remembering what just happened and not Being a prisoner of the moment it does that Washington loss if Boston had won that game they'd be a game out now That's a big deal. So yes the shooting they shot the hell out of it and when they shoot the hell out of it They're hard to beat To me it was a reminder of look there's no matchup for Giannis and the Bucks There's no answer for Giannis in the Bucks, but it was a reminder that the Celtics are I think as comfortable as any team can be Defending any iteration of the Bucks without deviating from what they want to do So so here's what I mean in the starting five which they started small They started Horford at the center in the four-wing slash guards They put Marcus smart on Giannis and the J's on Middleton and holiday and said we're comfortable smart on Giannis And with those three we can switch any two-man action you do between your three best players If if the Celtics go differently, you know if it's Giannis and Portis instead of Giannis and Lopez They can put their centers on Giannis Alhorford can slide over and guard Giannis in a wing can guard Portis If it's Giannis at center and four guards around him the Celtics don't really care They'll play big against that lineup. They'll put Horford on Giannis and hide Rod Williams on West Matthews or J Crowder or Pat Conatan who by the way has like fallen to the fringes of buds rotation That's kind of a big deal that now a lot of people have talked about so to me It was a reminder of they don't have to adjust to how the Bucks play and who the Bucks play because Almost no matter what they can play who they want and they have a matchup that they are okay with and can live with with Giannis I we know that they're gonna hunt pick it whoever it is Grace and Allen Jo Ingalls J Crowder even Chris Middleton kind of Slow trying to defend the Celtics last night We know they're gonna pull those guys into two-man actions with the J's and say go to work hunt them What I liked last night was in another matchup benefit benefit is a strong word another matchup wrinkle that I think the Celtics like is When they go small when they play only one of Horford and Williams or Horford and Grant Williams they have one of their three bigs let's say on the floor and The Bucks have Giannis in another big like Lopez report us Giannis has to guard a perimeter player That's the only that's the only option that they have and so he starts the game on smart and if smart's not on the floor Sometimes it's jail and Brown sometimes it's Derek White and no matter where Giannis is I like when they bring him in to the action They don't shy away from him. They say we want you in the picker Well, if you're gonna switch on to Tatum That's fine because we think Tatum's actually comfortable in that matchup and it takes you away from the basket and a lot of teams steer away from Giannis They're scared to involve him on the ball and the Celtics are not and they brought him into the action last night And I thought that worked look I I Pick the Bucks to win the title before the season.
They're gonna they should get the number one seed They're still my pick to win the title. It is just one game It was five and seven nights the shooting variants is what it is They can't replicate that every game as you said, but I do think it was a reminder of we're as big and physical as you We have some answers or some solutions or some potential solutions Whatever we want to use that probably no one else in the league really has against the way you guys play and we're not afraid to come in here And win like we did in game six last year when our season was on the line And it just makes it all the more puzzling that the Celtics have dropped all these weird games along the way to get here Because last night that team was like oh my god This is the championship caliber team that we've all been not waiting on because we've seen it and the last thing before I turn back over to you Was part of the oh my god part of the oh, this is the Celtics I remember Rob Williams plus 20 in 19 minutes four blocks and four offensive rebounds The Celtics are not getting out of the East if Robert Williams is not a big part of it and part of my trepidation on this about the Celtics Is it just is he gonna be a big part of it? Is it just gonna be another situation where he misses? One out of every four playoff games or a week here and there I don't know but when they have that force going towards the basket on both ends of the floor because god Do they need someone going to work the basket on offense right there?
Just it's just different team there there different team I think even in a macro scale sense that when they figured out time Lord with the email adoka regime and they really came into their own on defense That's when this team went from what is this team to oh? They're a contender last year and they figured it out in that defense sword at the top of the league if there's a play That caught my eye last night watching it was the honest posting up Jalen late in the first quarter sort of mouse in the house Style drop step He looks like he's gonna lay lay in a bunny and time Lord comes in to help with a clean block And to me this team is so deep defensively when you look at who was defending on says shots last night You mentioned game six I want to turn back the clock to game seven of that great series last year But when you look at who was defending last night again, it's not one person sure or for does the most but it's time Lord It's Marcus It's Jalen and last night they they frustrated Giannis who had one of his worst nights of the year 41% of the shots 11 of 27 and for me Again, I'm not overreacting the last night I'm trying to connect the dots from what we've learned from these matchups in the past and that was a lot like game seven In Boston last year, which was a huge game people probably remember for Grant Williams But you honest had a nightmare 10 of 26 sound familiar 11 27 you're exactly right when the Celtics defense really locks in nobody can stop Giannis, but they have proved they can contain him at times and give him in a seven game series a few just junkie nights Last night included and they don't have to compromise who they play and how they play and how they match up to do it I do think it's crazy to say this because you might make first team all defense I do think Milwaukee has to search out Derek White a little bit more than they did last night with Giannis Just cuz Giannis can overpower him and there's nobody else on the Celtics over power like Derek again I think he's been better than Marcus Marka smart defense of this year He has a first team all defense case to me But I think they have to search him out a little bit more because there's just sometimes that's the best answer You're going to get in a half court possession I also like the Celtics pushing the pace a little bit against Milwaukee last night opportunistically Just any any time I can get out of going against their set defense when you honestly Lopez around the floor I'm gonna try to do it and Jalen Brown He has mastered this like transition backdoor cut that you don't see a lot of people make in like transition and semi transition He's just running the wing like straight parallel to the sideline and a dribbler will be on his side of the floor and suddenly he'll Vere Perpendicular like I parallel to the baseline then and get a backdoor cut for a donkey's doing it every once again He's playing fantastic. I went to the shell lacking in Boston on Sunday with my beloved Spurs And Greg Popovich and Jason Tatum didn't play and Jalen Brown really just caught my eye He is playing fantastic Basketball and last night both him and Tatum were firing on all cylinders too I think they had 25 in the same game for the 33rd time And they only do to do that more as Alex English and Kiki Van DeWitt the throwback Wow, you know this signature of this team is two of those two of those wings and now they have this shooting ensemble around them They made 23s last night the 16th time they've done that this season That's one of the most such tallies in league history and again That's sort of how they're a little bit different than last year is they really lean in into that when Tatum and Brown are playing this well And their shots are going in I mean they scored 66 points from the three-point line on on 43 shots Like it's just one of those games. You're gonna have time So I think those are my two takeaways We mentioned the shooting step already But to me the defense thing is the real takeaway because it sort of tracks with when Boston has beaten this buck's team in big games in the Spring previously and if this defense is back to where it was at its peak last year Then this series if they play again in the conference finals Let's say is a toss up in that that last five game stretch that you did a great job Alan It's huge for both of these teams can they get game seven at home?
Let alone those four out of seven at home the last five games for both these teams gonna be huge and Philly is gonna have a say I mean again Philly plays everybody they play Toronto tonight. That's a big game They played the Celtics the Bucks they play everybody good in the last five or six games and none of this is to dismiss Philly Is I've said all year? I think they have everything they need to win the title It's just gonna be tough if they've got to go on the road against Boston or Milwaukee And then on the road again against Boston and Milwaukee it does look like Philly is going to catch a break and draw Brooklyn in the first round Instead of potentially Miami Miami's lost to the Knicks coupled with Brooklyn's win over the Rockets the other day Which was simultaneous games? They now have a two game cushion on Miami and the tie break and a pretty easy schedule And that's a best-case scenario for Philadelphia is to just avoid like the last thing they need is James Harden with a bulky What is he have a sore Achilles or something and Jimmy Butler just talking to everybody in everybody's face being like You chose to buy his hair is over me to buy his hair is over me and like Joellen be looking wistfully over at Jimmy Butler as he drains Like another mid-range jumper and talks try they just don't need any of that in the first round of the playoffs after what happened last year Buck Celtics look at look like Oh, Jalen Brown.
I'm glad you mentioned that it's awards time Which sucks in his slash fun slash sucks? and He's making a run now at one of these forward spots because he is gonna be eligible We got the ballots the other day at Ford and guard and He's making a run at one of these forward spots because the forward position is just a mess the guard position is overcrowded And this finishing kick like take them's kind of had an inconsistent five weeks now Like it's been a while and Jalen Brown is like a metronome like he's just coming out every game 30 30 30 28 22 32 35 And the so that's funny So the super max thing is so awkward and there's this there's the super max that comes after your rookie deal where you get bumped up to 30% And then there's the super duper max where you get bumped up to 35% That's what Jalen Brown is staring at now So they're different but it's so funny like it puts teams in such an awkward position of well It wouldn't be the worst thing if our guy didn't make all NBA because then we don't have to pay him this gigantic contract But now with the Celtics if Jalen Brown makes all NBA I think they're gonna be doing back flips because they get this they get this lever to pull To tie him to their team for as long as possible a lever that no one turns down and And frankly that contract with whenever the new media deal kicks in and all that like whatever it is It's gonna age fine for them. Okay, let's go to the Suns Duran's back. That's the other big news of the week rough game for him Very rough game by his standards the Suns though beat the Minnesota Timberwolves to improve to four in O with Duran Their schedule is pretty tough going down the stretch to play the Nuggets twice both la teams the thunder which is one of my games of the weekend And your San Antonio Spurs, they do have all they do have all the relevant tiebreakers I think so they're in good shape there they are now in 76 minutes with Paul Booker Durant eight on the floor plus 42 in 76 minutes offensive rating 125 defensive rating 99 Interestingly there are everyone is looked at the mid rate like this is the mid-range gods all of them together on one team Phoenix's shot selection has actually been more rim heavy with those four on the floor than it has been overall like by a lot And a lot of that is just all the attention they draw and all the rim runs and gets out of it Now look those four games have come against Charlotte Chicago, Minnesota and Dallas So it's not like a bunch of world beaters But what have you seen what did you see in Duran's return game where he did look rusty like when Kyle Anderson blocked him That like that doesn't happen.
You know, nobody blocks Kevin Durant's jump shot and his first step didn't look as fast as usual But look they just they look they look great to me. What did you see? What have you seen? Yeah, tough night for Kevin I think it was 5 to 16 hit a couple of vintage Duran shots So for one of my favorite defenders in the league is Jay McDaniel's and one of the shot defenders on the edges and a guy Who can block almost anybody shot in the NBA right now and you know, he is rusty that's to be expected It's still a new environment obviously for him to be expected But the ceiling is still arguably the best in the Western Conference.
I haven't seen anything to determine and one of the things I hadn't I hadn't heard that rim stat that you put out that's fantastic and I wonder if it's not it's not big So like for the season Phoenix 26% of their shots come at the rim That's last and we know this is like jump shooting team This is why when they whine about how few free throws they get it's like well This is kind of big into how you play it's 31% with those four guys on the floor Which would rank like 23rd 24th in the league, which is which is good That's good for them to get more stuff going to the rim And it's one of the results that should happen when you have all these threats on the perimeter Yeah, that's exactly what I just gonna say Hey, you have Devin Booker on the left Kevin Durant on the right or whatever it is you would expect the Andre eight You get a couple more looks again on a rim run I think we're on the same page there and that's what I do love about this team if they can figure out the shooting from Three-point range when they have that that group in they're gonna be on paper unstoppable They got to stay away from the orthopedics office their hamstrings has to stay healthy There's a lot of ifs there, but I think we all see the same thing and the better see the same thing I think that's why they're the favorites to come out of the West even if they're in the fourth spot and in the last few games They have to stay in this fourth slider I'll still be on the road early against essentially the Clippers essentially a Warriors series If I'd guess right now it's sons Clippers But they need to to win some of these games and it's key for that But it's also key so those really small samples here's citing Zach We need to see this team yet a little more familiar because right now it's a little science experiment out there in Phoenix I don't know if I trust it. Well, so here's the thing about the West. I mean I've given up I'm like who can win the West and who can't win the West like I officially just throw my engineer I give up I think Denver can win though. I'm going down the standings I think Denver can win the West obviously their number one and the seed and their 32 and seven at home I think Memphis can win the West and I'm surprised I'm saying that because I thought they would feel the Clark Adams absences more acutely than they have And I still think they will feel that at some point But they're playing great.
They have the best point differential in the conference jobs back They haven't missed a beat They've really throwing their arms around my rant like they really have and he's been reintegrated seamlessly Sacramento Look, I think I don't think they're defenses good enough But I can't sit here and say like I can't win the West I can't say that like I wouldn't pick them to win the West in fact I'm probably gonna pick against them in the first round I think but if that's where we are in the West Yeah, like I will pick against the team in the first round and also think like they can win the whole conference Like that's where we are the sons the sons are my pick to win the West the Clippers were my pick to make the finals I still think there's a universe where it all comes together I think they can win the West the Warriors assuming they get wiggens back and I think they're so that that will happen They just want to chip it up. I'm not counting them out. That's the top six New Orleans unless they get Zion back I don't think they can win the West sorry pelicans, Minnesota It's not insane like it just isn't like they're well I was the Nas Reed injury which happened and we don't know the severity above it. It appears to be a risk fracture That's a big deal to their team now.
They do have if they can redistribute his minutes to McDaniel's Edwards Torian Prince Slowmo in other words take the 20 whatever minutes he was playing Each of those guys gets four or five more. I don't have to dip into my deep bench whether it's guards or bigs I can ease the blow a little bit, but it's a big deal. I think though. I'm not counting out the Lakers We're gonna talk about them shortly.
They look good. That's eight teams and here's the reality The four five matchup is probably gonna be Phoenix against one of those teams that we just named Yeah, so someone is going home early, but in terms of Phoenix you called it science science experiment. You said chemistry experiment. Yes science experiment right now It's been a little less fluid than I thought it would be a little snappier.
Mm-hmm right away It feels like they're kind of going through the paces like let's try this set you go there You go here then we go here then the ball goes here It doesn't feel organic and natural to me as I thought it would I Think they probably I would like to see them use Durant as a screener for Paul and Booker a little bit more And they've done that and crunch time a little bit I think they should do that more but you just look when they when they spread it out and it's like Booker Aiden high pick and roll Josha kogi watch Josha kogi you want to learn you want to see how the sun's play watch where they put him Josha kogi in the strong side corner So he's the no help guy even though he's by far the worst shooter on the floor and then Durant and Paul or whoever spaced out Two of the three whoever's on hand on the ball spaced out like that's just that's a bear That's a bear to deal with there aren't a lot of great answers just to that and fundamentally That's why they're so threatening and we can sit here and pick the bench and I think the bench can be nit-picked It's fair. I even think they have like we'll see in the playoffs if they keep two of those four guys on the floor almost all the time I think that should be enough more than enough to lift everything up just a couple of lineups I noticed just in that last game that I liked Paul Booker a kogi Warren TJ Warren and Aiden so the starters with Warren for Durant That's four guys who can score around a kogi and just another example of how they can mix and match Paul a kogi Terrence Ross Kevin Durant the Andre Aiden that's Terrence Ross with four good defensive players around him So I get super shooting and I can protect an objectively weak defensive player off the bench with these four guys who can really defend I think you look at their bench They're all let's be honest They're all like eighth ninth 10th guys on good team a lot of them a lot of them out of the rotation on like much worse teams than this But part of the luxury of having three all-time players and eight and who's a very good player is It's just easier for those guys to coexist when they have so much star power around them I think they've got enough But it just hasn't been as like it hasn't been as easier as fluid as I thought it was gonna be I think that's fair But I still think it's pretty early and you know, that's the interesting thing with the West So I think it's it's apropos we're talking about this now because the NCAA tournament has been pure chaos, right? If you look at the final four in Houston, it's five seeds. It's nine seeds It's it's craziness Yukon is you know arguably the favorite and they're four seed It's it sort of reminds me of the Western Conference where we're gonna see a lot of people like you and me having trouble prognosticating the first round Ways that we usually don't is this just basketball now is this a result of?
These wild transactions probably like the Lakers regular season numbers really don't matter because they're not the same group that we saw in October November December same with the Suns, you know the Warriors have been sort of duct taped together all year the Clippers are always duct taped together It's just really hard for people like you and me look at this regular season of 22 23 and do what we normally do connect the dot Into the postseason and I think that's like the signature sort of thing in the Western Conference this year I don't know if it's a sign of things to come I'll leave that to other people all I know is you're exactly right if you look at the Vegas odds They don't respect the standings right now either the number Do you know the favorite to come out of the West is right now? It's Phoenix Phoenix then Denver then the Golden State Warriors who will have to win a lot of road games to come out of the West And if they've proved to us anything if the regular season matters, that's just one of the dumbest bets on the board That's it and I think we talked about this last time's act if the Warriors five-man group Gets together in time Like the question it's a referendum on what do you trust more? Do you trust what you saw in last year's playoffs or do you trust what you saw in this year's regular season? That's what a lot of this is do you trust Kawhi Leonard?
Is playoff resume or do you do you trust like the Denver Nuggets say having the best record in the West? These are the kinds of questions we're asking they're very unique and in the Sacramento Kings had a great season currently I'm counting they have the seventh haul shortest odds to come out. Nobody respects You know and by the way and by the way Kings fans Like first of all congratulations, right? What a wonderful story long overdue the jokes now go extinct for a while The drought is over like the beam like it's not super disrespectful To be I'm not even skeptical like I think I said I think the Kings could win the West and lose on the first round That's the reality.
It's not like they're a powerhouse. They're 46 and 30 their differential is plus three per game That's like good. It's good. It's not like even a typical strong number three seed in a conference I think they're like three games below 500 against I think they're let me look it up now I think it's 21 and 24 yes 21 and 24 against teams above 500 so like it's there And there we know their defense has been bottom five bottom six all year It's not like crazy disrespectful to pick it down in the first round like it's just not no And one of the things that you put out there the 46 and 30 if that's in the Eastern Conference congratulations for your five seed Like they're not running away with anything.
I can't believe how happy I am for Mike Brown and for the San Sacramento Kings fan base And the light the beam air it's great. It looks sustainable. That's the nicest thing. I'll say it's like this looks pretty good for a Wild guys you should be very happy Kevin herder what a fantastic acquisition that's been But yeah, you're exactly right One of the other sort of signature trends this year from the nerdy perspective Zach is that the best net rating in the NBA this year is lower than it normally is by a wide margin We talked about this in college basketball at this year to sort of the flattening of the bracket Well, the Western Conference is flattened too for a variety of reasons that the log jam that we keep referencing and these weekend games They're gonna determine the fate of the playoff brackets still wildly up in the air this late in the year I don't I don't know if we can guarantee any matchups in the West yet It's just a crazy anomalous year Sacramento congratulations, but yeah, this is just a tough year to be a three seed in the Western Conference back to the Suns for a second I'm just I will watch every Suns game now for the rest of the season to just get a handle on How Durant looks because he looked rusty I mean Durant's like never been rusty coming back from injury before that was the first time I was like, huh?
It doesn't quite look like having to rant how they use them how they use a kogi You know, I mentioned strong side corner He'll be in the dunker spot sometimes will be a screener if they try to hide if teams try to hide guys on him And just how they work their rotation in general who money Williams ends up trusting off the bench How much shooting they can put on the floor all of it? I'm all in it's gonna be fun Baseball fans the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place the ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events ESPN shows and originals across every ESPN network in service And now you can check if you already have ESPN unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls visit activate.espn.com To learn how to access your account or sign off then start screaming in the ESPN app It's all the ESPN all in one place sign up or activate now Right, I asked you to pick your games of the weekend Give me a give me game one of the weekend Kurt I picked my games of the weekend I picked four because I was indecisive About Friday's game of the night because there are a million games tonight some monster Friday night because the NBA puns Saturday final I didn't almost nobody plays that day give me your game of the night for Friday March 31st nugget sons Not one of my games not one of my games wait that was in mind until it's it's Friday March 31st Okay, and right now I just don't watch every son's game. So I can watch in that game your listeners are gonna think I'm suddenly a big Vegas guy I'm not but here's another Vegas that the Phoenix Suns are favored by nine and a half points does that tell you yogic is Plan maybe but that is another game. I'm with you I just echo your point I wouldn't watch Phoenix all the way through because I'm gonna have to put my name out there here in a couple weeks And how far this Phoenix team's gonna go and I need all the data and all the visuals I can get that's my first game of the weekend Zach okay, I mean I am surprised the line is that big Maybe that is an indication yolk is in playing and obviously Phoenix is sort of the team that people want to see how yolk It holds up defensively against that pick and roll attack and where they put them do they ever try to hide them on a kogi How did the Suns respond to that etc etc you wrote a piece about Nicole yolk is defense this week that I don't think went over well In Denver, I know I didn't see all the all the I'm sure very constructive feedback that you got Yeah, Denver community, but I saw some and I heard some Yeah, well, I I appreciate the opportunity to respond to what Mike Mullen called a hatchet job Hey, I'm honored first time one of my pieces been called a hatchet job.
I didn't see that He actually said that did he name you or did he just say some guy? I do you learn some guy? Yes, but you know, I don't remember what the term was but my other found it and it's definitely looting to our piece look Nicole the Oak is my favorite player to watch in the league right now. I love him I'm happy that he's won MVP's but I saw an opportunity with this piece act to really chime in on the big question Is this dude a good defender especially in the context of people like Janusan to Kumbo and Joelle and Bied who he's competing with for the Most valuable player and so I was questioning like how are we looking at defense in this conversation?
And after that viral video at March 10th surface against the Spurs where yolkich is just getting attacked by the young bucks in San Antonio over and over and over again I really want to dive into the numbers and look at his rim protection the takeaway is this you know compared to the other elite big men in The MVI he's not great as a shot defender. He's giving up a high percentage in the paint and he's giving up more points For game defending layups than anybody in the player tracking her 12.7 points per game on layups alone when he's he's contesting those shots That is a big number. Does that mean I hate Nicole yolkich Denver? No, I love Nicole yolkich I just think that it's it's a relevant data point at this part of the conversation and with something I didn't see a lot of in that conversation I wanted to point out some facts And and ultimately as I've said elsewhere, you know, Denver's demise the last three playoff runs have been on that non glamorous end of the court They need to get stops to get further in the playoffs than they've gone the last few years Two of the demise's have been the skeleton crew nuggets using to Phoenix and then to Golden State teams who made the finals So I just I'm just not going to read too much into that what Phoenix slicing them apart defensively a couple of seasons ago Was notable to me, but I'm not it's not that I'm writing those results off It's that if it's if it's the skeleton crew nuggets without Murray something about Porter without whoever like I just am not I'm not reading too much into it.
That was not one of my games of of Of the weekend I will say to your point about the MVP It's it's coming down to the wire And I think one of the reasons is coming down to the wire is for reasons that make total sense including valuing the regular season correctly Having a team that allows him to pace himself more than he has in the past I think yolkich defense you'll get just defenses gotten worse this season It was I was never a believer and I've repeated on this podcast over and over in the numbers that he is like a good to elite defender I've said probably peaks out at average. I think he's been Significantly worse this season and in beads offense has been meaningfully better So so whatever gap existed because of the respective gaps in their abilities on those ends of the floor has closed and Yannes is just He's just you know, I think we all I think he's almost unanimously considered the best player in the NBA I don't know where I was going with that. Oh my game of the weekend my game of Friday is wolves Lakers Um, I was my second pick for Friday Yeah, great, which is a huge game both teams are now in the play in turn a minute eighth Minnesota ninth Lakers the wolves are 39 and 38 The Lakers are 38 and 38 and I do not believe I'm looking it up now The wolves already have the tiebreaker over the Lakers the Lakers have the tiebreaker over the pelicans and the thunder and just in case the Warriors it's a big one to me because I think The play in has focused everyone on the six seed the race for six the race for 10 versus 11 and obviously there are all these Individual races we talked about the importance of the number one seed in the East I think a race that doesn't get enough attention because it's just a mess is the difference between eight and nine is just Absolutely gigantic and even if you're eight and you have to play that seven eight game on the road two shots instead of one shot Double elimination instead of single elimination is as big a seed-based differences. There is in the NBA at home You're at home.
This is a game being at home. Yeah, you got it All you gotta do is win a home game and I think we're not fluent enough and experienced enough for that play and bracket to get there But you're exactly right. There should almost be a little dash line in the standings table You know how we have these lines now between six and seven and ten and eleven I think there should be a little dash line Let me go on the record because that nine ten game is a nightmare You lose you're going home seven eight game You lose you're going home to play another game for a chance to go in So all you have to do is win one home game if you're seven and eight if you're nine and ten You got to win two games sometimes two road games if you're ten so it is exactly right in this this Minnesota Lakers game Is a big game for that exact reason Zach you're right? Well, and you and here's people sometimes talk about the play and like as if seven's gonna play ten and eight's gonna play nine and it's Like we're still getting used we're still getting used to this.
I just think I mean I already talked about the world too I'm so bummed about the Nazarita dream because He's just been sensational the entire year and he's a delightful player to watch he's so skilled with the ball a mix of Kind of finesse and power and shooting that you don't see in a lot of backup Biggs and they and he's been so good that Chris Finch has leaned all the way in with cat back like just we're not cutting his Minutes if we have to play him with we have played two centers the entire game We're going to do that and the three games with cat back the off at the numbers aren't great But I thought they've looked good and looked smoother and looked less uncertain than they were in the first 10 12 games of the season Trying to figure out cat and Rudy Rudy's just been better the last 40 games And he was the first 40 I just have liked what I've seen from them overall and the Nas injuries a bummer the Lakers have essentially played one game With their starting five of Russell Reeves LeBron Vanderbilt and Davis. It wasn't their Wednesday game against Chicago by the way Austin Reeves hitting Pat Beverly with the revenge too small was So funny on so many different levels and I think the funniest thing about it was the Lakers were actually mad at Patrick Beverly Like they were actually like as the kids would say in their feelings about Patrick Beverly and like they were sitting there waiting To rub Patrick Beverly's face in this and it was Austin Reeves of all people about to make a gargantuan amount of money and free agency Yeah, hit him with the two small anyway That was their first real game with that starting five and it looked like they'd been playing together for six months It was really smooth and it flowed really well LeBron looked way more like LeBron in that game than he did in his return game the LeBron AD pick and roll was back AD had 38 he looked dominant He even handled the ball in a couple of pick and rolls and he brought the ball up the floor And that's always my tell for AD like how is he feeling Dilo kind of alternated between okay? I'll run things now and then and I'll be a spot-up shooter while LeBron posts up and do this Austin Reeves connected to dots Vando's just kind of moving around finding little spaces to not get in the way I thought it looked great and in 49 minutes just I'm sorry in 69 minutes just 69 with LeBron Vanderbilt and Davis now The Lakers are plus 49 in those 69 minutes and if the Vanderbilt Davis spacing gets too cluttered Which is gonna happen I think they just they have a none of the alternatives are like awesome Like I'm not psyched about Troy Brown Jr. Playing more not psyched about Ruhi Hachimura playing more Not psyched about any of that But I think they have enough to at least sort of when you have LeBron and Davis like it just and they look great that game You can you can kind of cobble it together I think this team with that starting five and Beasley and Schroeder coming off the bench along with the other guys we mentioned I think they're kind of legitimately dangerous.
I if it's always gonna be can LeBron and Davis stay healthy obviously We all know that like what there's no use really talking about it I think if they do I'm just not counting them out like I'm just not you'd be an idiot to count them out and again the numbers We've seen all year with the team aren't who they are Let me give you the stat that jumped off my page when I was doing my efficiency landscape graphic this morning on last 15 games That's a defense in the Western Conference the Los Angeles Lakers Well, it helps that there plus a million from the foul line in every game Which is just like their free throw differential is they showed it on during the bull game I was watching the Bulls broadcast because I just Stacy King makes me laugh great And I mean that in a good way say she makes me laugh. It's funny They flashed it up and it was like I think it said biggest free throw differential in league history and there was just this pause And Stacy King was like that's just insane. This is insane and I'm like it is pretty insane Well, you know, Darvin ham comes from that school where you don't fall on defense and you could you can conspiracy theory this too? I'm not mad, but you know, they're very physical team I mean these guys pressure the rim, you know, obviously their two Hall of Fame leaders are great in the paint and very hard to defend When they have their mindset on getting to the basketball they're gonna get fouled and again, you know The Bucks defensive philosophy with blood with Darwin comes from it's like hey, it was like the defense without found That's that's that's sort of above board explanation for what's going on and I I generally agree Like people will go bananas when they see this number they are a team on like the sons are a jump shooting team that never gets Their last in shot to them like there's a price to be paid for that style They're all sorts of benefits to it There's a cost and the Lakers are an old-school bruising physical gigantic offensive rebounding all of it team Like they're gonna get a lot of free throws Yeah And if you're playing and we talked about the Steven Adam's thing is a big story still to me If the Lakers play the Grizzlies Let's say in the playoffs and that front line is thin in Memphis He gets who fouls a lot Jared Jackson, you know the reason this works sometimes You know Jared Jackson gets a second foul three minutes into the first quarter and all of a sudden they get they get the second unit Memphis front court It's already thin and you know There's there's a very big virtue to drawing fouls on one end and not fouling on the other end and this team is so Madening because we talk about him way too much for six months and then I'll see I disagree people I hate that people hate talking about like I'm sorry that maybe the greatest player of all time in his twilight Plays for the franchise that has tied for the most championships of all time Like I'm sorry that we talk about the Lakers more than the Hawks like it's just it's just I'm sorry to like I we do talk about them too Much, but I think it's probably like 10% too much and not not 80% too much Yeah, that's fair and LeBron is still one of my favorite players to watch when he's actually out there Made the finals.
I don't know if you remember this act eight years in a row Like he's the biggest reason to say the same scary Let's not lose sight of that this guy has been to the finals X out of the last X years And when this Lakers team is healthy, I love the new look Lakers Particularly on defense and don't forget when they want it all in the bubble. It was a defensive championship It was a defensive championship and what I've seen him even without LeBron in the last few weeks is they're rounding into defensive form Just in time to upset somebody in the first round if they get through that plan turn What's your Saturday? Do you have a Saturday? There's only two choices other than the final four Well Saturday is interesting one of them suddenly like a clunker right like I think Saturday Dallas Miami.
I'm not picking that I don't like watching either those teams right now. It's sad. Hold on. No, hold on.
No, hold on. No That could be Depending on some of Friday's results including the Nets Hawks game which is just tonight And the Thunder Pacers game if the Pacers somehow beat the Thunder in either way really talk about two teams who need to play with some freaking urgency Yeah, I'm like that's gonna be an all-out desperation bowl between the heat and people can say well Why are they so desperate they're desperate because they want to cinch at the seven seed? I mean, that's where all the focus on well the boy or they're not gonna be able to get the six seed like the Hawks and the Raptors are only a game back of them in the loss on as of now the Raptors play in Philly tonight That's my game of the night for tonight. I'm excited for that one the Hawks has mentioned played the Nets and Miami has only the Hawks tiebreaker.
They don't have the Raptors tiebreaker. They don't have the Nets tiebreaker Yeah, so that's a big game for them and Dallas. I've spent enough time talking about Dallas this weekend That is an urgent urgent game for them. Yeah, I mean Dallas Miami They have a really it's one of my sort of weird favorite rivalries that has emerged in the 20th century It's like first century for obvious reasons, but yeah Dallas needs to win Miami I think is pretty much the best they can get is seven Maybe there's a case that they somehow get back into six But they want those home games in the plan if they're seven But the other game on Saturday night Zach is the Clippers at the pelicans the pelicans are playing pretty well The Clippers don't have Paul George and again this long jam in the West is where my I'm gonna over index on watching League past and From the forward of the 11 seed for these next five games for all these teams because you have so much to learn about them And there's so much at stake for these seating staying out of the plan getting home court in the plan These are all big games and that Clippers New Orleans game is the one I have circled for Saturday the heat are According to basketball reference and a site I use called playoff status.com which is super useful It's got color coding for all the tiebreakers.
They like saves me a million hours every every spring the heater like 80 to 85% locked into seven Both of them both of those sites have the heat is like an 80% chance at landing in seven and a higher chance of landing eight than six So just they just need to avoid backsliding to the point that they lose home court in that first seven eight game or worse And Dallas we all know where Dallas is what's your Sunday game my Sunday game? And there's a ton of them by the way So don't come out if I don't pick the one you have but I got to see again It's Denver who has a lot to prove and it's the Golden State Warriors who have a lot to prove on the road and depending on the result of that game I think I'm gonna take away a big opinion on both of these teams going into the playoffs assuming We have a relatively full strength set of players on both sides So Golden State's playing Denver last game of the night on NBA TV And you know can Golden State get a big road game against the top seat in the West and really sort of gets a Momentum into the playoffs or content for say hey guys. We're the number one seed nice nice job last year But we're the top dog in the West so I'm sort of watching that game Yeah, Golden State is holding on to sixth boy if they if you gave them all truth serum right now I think they would say if we could we could just say right in six that's a dream on kind of set it But then he was like us just so I don't have to travel very far. I want to play Sacramento I mean, that's right.
That's kind of true to us. I mean on those trips, you know Sacramento is 90 minutes away from the chase center Their schedule in five the last five games They have San Antonio tonight better win that one. Yeah at Denver the game your spotlighting home against Oklahoma City Which is gonna be a huge game potentially particularly for the Thunder who are in 10th At Sacramento, we'll see, you know, how much the Kings go for that game and that's always the plot twist late in the season Right you get these on paper. It's like oh, we play Boston in the finale or Milwaukee in the family Well, that's horrible It could it could end up being the B team in the C team and then they finish at Portland So at minimum they should beat San Antonio and Portland and that gets them to 42 wins guaranteeing them 42 and 40 at worst They win one of those other three middle games Denver, Oklahoma Sacramento.
They're at 43 and 39 They should be safe at that point to be in the top six with all these other teams behind them already having 38 losses So the Warriors are in pretty good shape with those two tankerific teams book ending their last five games my game of the day Sundays Oklahoma City Phoenix Because again Oklahoma City is standing right in the way Oklahoma City and Dallas are polar opposites This is all gravy for the Thunder they get in awesome if they don't get in Yeah, at this point it would be disappointing or so close But you know hey we get into the lottery, you know, we have this pixel up with the Clippers if that comes into play So be it probably won't We're all young we're good Dallas is like if we don't get in to play in it's its complete disaster And there the the thunder have the tiebreaker over Dallas head-to-head So they have that edge going for them, too And I just think it would be a cool story if they got in so I'm watching that game the future is bright there No matter what happens in these last five games I think I saw some people from the Thunder front off this weekend I was like man you guys are set up pretty good long term what a time horizon a hat So we're gonna talk about a couple of words now and we're gonna mostly focus on defensive wards You mentioned Jared Jackson Jr. before He's in pen on a lot of ballots as defensive player of the year I don't want to talk too much about defense player here And this is not even why I'm talking about words right now But I meant to say it when you brought him up. I think he is per minute the best defensive player in basketball You mentioned his fouling issues and he fouled out of another game the other now It was the last second but ended up only playing 26 minutes I think at what point for defensive player of the year does it begin to matter? That jaren's action junior due to missing the first dozen games or whatever it was with injury and fouling incessantly has played Between five hundred and eight hundred fewer minutes than other candidate other candidates for this award I think for me it's at the point that it matters like he I don't know if I'm gonna vote for him for defense player of the year He's probably a locker for first team all defense, but the minutes thing I don't know if people care about it less for these these awards and they do for MVP I care about it a little bit less for all NBA particularly 13 all NBA then I do for the of year awards I think we're at the minutes thing is gonna matter to me on my ballot Yeah, I think it's a referendum on that and one of the stats that I've been monitoring all year for a variety of reasons It's like the volume rim protectors And if you just look at field goal percentage allowed on layups this season out of the top Like 26 guys who defended 400 Nicole Yokich is the least efficient 66% of those lights are going in we already talked about that Jared Jackson is the anti-yokich there.
This dude is holding opponents to 44% of their layup sack I mean to say that he's a disruptive protectors he's like a horror movie villain He's not even near you and all of a sudden like he's in your face throwing your shot through the backboard like he's Where the hell he come from the key thing though in my opinion is yeah He sent people to the free throw line a lot That's a big deal, but who's second on this layup in rim protection less none other than the more dependable less foul happy Brooke Lopez the defensive player of the year in my opinion is a two-man race Brooke Lopez and Jared Jackson Junior And it's gonna come down to whether voters like you really are how much voters like you sort of factor in this foul issue Sending players to the free throw line screwing up the grizzly's rotations with sort of premature bench stints because he's in foul trouble Brooke Lopez is sitting there is a very viable candidate for this award with great rim protection numbers without those sort of warts that Jared brings to the table. I think there are more than two candidates for defense player No, here we go Marcus smart all over again. No, you're talking to someone who did not have Marcus smart in the top three last year I love Marcus Martin. I think he's incredible.
He's the first or second team all defensive player every year I just didn't think I put it for me on my bio last year and I think I had Jared Jackson second or third And I don't remember who else is on my ballot, but it was not Marcus smart I just think there are more than two candidates. I just do I'm not mad I have I have other players here too, but you know my theory my personal beliefs Just like the Heisman Trophy goes to a quarterback eighty nine ninety five percent of the time something like that a center slash rim protector Rebounder figure should win this award Nearly every year and that's why I was thinking about Marcus I don't even think he was the most impactful defensive player on his own team last year I know you know, he's a great defender probably deserves to be all defense most years recently, but but yeah I are you gonna tell me Clakston who else you have on your list? I like Clakston I'm a candidate for one of the all defense teams who has the best defense in the NBA right now I think it's Milwaukee or Cleveland those two Pretty sure it's Cleveland Well, if you're about to talk about Austin zone the best player from the history in the history of Austin, Texas in the long-horned great Jared Allen, I'm not mad at you. I'm not about I'm not talking about you.
Oh, there's another choice there, too I understand that I haven't ruled out BAM think BAM said under rated season Well, hold on hold on the defensive rating. I don't know if it's fair to hang this on BAM It's they are plummeting like to 28 over the last 15 games. That's something I'm watching I love BAM, but let me I don't think this is the year for him. Let me ask you this I'm not I'm not I just have ruled him out.
I'm not I'm likely not gonna vote for him Let me ask you this are you sure Brook Lopez is the best defense player on the Bucks? No, in fact, I've lobbied the Giannis to Kumbo's the best defense player in the world Why is it a two-man race for defense player of the year? That's sort of what I've read a lot I think that Giannis should always be in consideration for this award because of what he does all over the scoring area on the defensive side As a defensive rebounder as a help rim protector I'm not mad anybody wants to add Giannis into that conversation I was sort of more reflecting what I'm hearing out there in the quote unquote discord stack To hashtag discourse the reason I brought all this up was because I was listening to my friends Bill Simmons and Ryan Risillo the other day I've heard of you guys and they were love those guys and they were saying and I mean that I'm not being facetious there I just is full on fandom They were and Risillo was the tip of the spear on this was they were arguing that The idea that rookie of the year has cracked open for Jalen Williams was borderline preposterous and the result of voters Kind of being bored of that palo bank arrow had just locked this up over two months and kind of overthinking it and it was just silly Um, it was it was silly and I disagree. I don't think it's silly Um, I think the analytics based movement for Walker Kessler to win rookie of the year is a little bit silly Like I just can't get behind a 12% usage rate.
Um and in such a limited role offense. Well, he's been outstanding He's a stone cold right for first team all rookie. Um, and I understand that palo bank arrow has Um a bigger role on offense on a bad team or rebuilding team He's the number one option on a rebuilding team That's gonna that's gonna chip away at your efficiency and I think he's at 42 percent from the field at 43 percent 29 percent from three Um, I understand the burden the responsibility the defensive attention all of it I understand that Joe Williams got off to a slower start than palo bank arrow He's having 10 points again for the first two months of the season He's up to like 14 and change for the season and his efficiency is Just miles ahead of where bank arrow is as a shooter threes to all of it. I understand or lando fans He's not the number one option on the thunder the thunder have a number one option who's averaging 31 points a game and may make first team all mba I get it He's kind of a co-number two option with josh giddy.
Sometimes josh giddy is above him in the ball handling hierarchy Sometimes not But jalan william's surging to the end of the year like this in games that matter scoring 33 points or 31 points or whatever you had The other day when they snuck out a win on a jail in william's buzzer beater without she Like the points gap is still there and it's medium sized but it's closed The efficiency gap is big and I think jalan william's kind of fits You know if maulker kessler is on one end of the offensive responsibility continuum And bancarrows at the other extreme. I think jalan williams is like 60 percent of the way toward bancarrow in terms of offensive responsibility He's in between and moving closer to bancarrow every game defensively. He's better as a passer He's probably a little bit better. I just say I haven't decided I have not decided who I am voting for but I don't think it's Like I just see it framed in the orlando media in particular Um as like stupid that you would vote for jalan's.
I don't think it's stupid Like if I end up voting for bancarrow and you vote for jalan williams and be like yeah, I got it Like I don't think it's stupid It's not stupid and you know one of the stats with with jalan's he's shooting 46 percent from three since the all-star break 40 From three since january first he's scoring as you mentioned is creeping and creeping out There's a world where he passes palo at least in the post all-star break segment in terms of scoring Um, you know the joke is if it were rookie of the spring i'm giving it to jalan myams You know, but it's rookie of the year and and I think palo did enough in the early stages That's probably what but ryan with solo and our friend bill simmons were talking about It's like yeah, unfortunately, it's rookie of the year and in convention truth is they were playing in october november in december as well That said if there wasn't a word for best draft pick of the year is jalan williams like they they got him later and he's in contention That's a huge win. He's a huge reason why the future is so bright in oklahoma city Uh and it's been a treat to watch and the other thing i'd say the case for him is he's playing meaningful men at scoring meaningful buckets for a Meaningful team at this stretch of the season and if that matters to some voters i'm not mad Um if you're playing for an orlando team that that doesn't win very often and you're shooting horribly Which is a normal thing for a blam's for a rookie i'm not i'm not mad but i'm james a famous example of that It's part of the growth curve. Uh, I do think it's palo's a word but jalan williams has made it interesting down the stretch act I think that's fair to look back at the beginning of the season so you can't forget that you can't forget that like You can't make up your mind early and you can't make up your mind just based on what you've seen recently right like both of those things are bad I will say um I'd rather just this has nothing to do with rookie of the year I'd rather you know whenever someone is trending up toward the end of the year You you are reminded by analytical folks correctly that well what they did at the beginning of your matters too You can't just like forget the bad stuff that they were doing at the beginning of the year It all is part of it and they could go right back into that trough all in all i'd rather have a player trending up Then trending down i'd rather have a player better at the end of the year than he was at the beginning Um All defense let's talk about all defense for a bit because this is going to be an absolute beast of an award So you only get 10 slots you only get 10 slots Let's just quickly go through some of your your in the forward spots. I mean these are guys who are eligible it forward These are all guys who are eligible at forward Mikael bridges evan mobili dreamon green kiwilener gerry bender bill gerry jackson jr Bama to buy was obviously going to be eligible at center and gerry jackson jr Well to jonice jimmy butler jade mcdaniels og and nov i got four forward slots man.
That's why not what am i doing? I mean, there's that's the hardest position. I was just looking at this too center It's never easy guard is sort of the harder one to get the right for uh for a different reason But there's so many great candidates you want to 13 now right i'm gassing for forwards at least you could easily get I don't want to 13 i'm not i mean it's just it's just hard hey Nobody's gonna stare at my ballad get mad at me because i don't have her jones even mentioned her jones her Jones i mean like these are guys who like it's gonna don't even fit his myth it's gonna be tough to even like give him a mention Are you a jade mcdaniels guy i mentioned him he's on my shortlist he's on my short short short short short shortlist My point is there's gonna be forward to in a normal year I think would be walking away with the first or second team nod that are not gonna get it this year And I think it's disproportionately affecting that positional group and I think that's interesting and Gianice is number one right okay. I've won forward slot That's going to be honest as for the reasons we mentioned best defensive player arguably in the world most versatile great rebound I want jaren jacks in junior and low-pez both on the first team so yeah, that's the move right because jaren's played for a lot with With Stephen he starts at the floor.
That's not cheating That's not cheating He starts at the floor and even with adam's injured they've been playing tillman at the five now sometimes those flip who guard too But jaren jacks in junior is more at least as much forward to be as center Well, that's my front court. Okay, I don't have to do this you have to do it So my front court is broke jaren and jones. Okay, you're gonna have to convince me that that that's not the right answer There is some very good Handed it's that that could convince me but that's when I did my homework for you That's what I came up with in the front court those three dudes. I was hoping breakers on top defenses I was hoping the league would let me let us cheat and have an adobe eligible at guarded forward because he does kind of guard everybody I realized that he's obviously a forward and he actually guards up in size more than down Um, they did not he's only eligible to forward so on that.
I know that's always silly I mean, it's just increasingly every year we talk about this It's just silly or and sillier the murkiness on the wings and that there's some players that can can get across two positional groups and some that can it's just it's just weird to me But I do think an adobe, you know who was the front runner for defensive player the year probably for the first 20 30 games of the season I do think he's he's probably been better on balanced defensively than Bridges I mean even dremon. I how can you not have dremon? Don like it's it's crazy. Kawai hasn't played enough games the road defense for golden state And I think dremon would admit this has not been good enough and he takes responsibility for the defensive Ability when he takes too much responsibility for it But the defensive numbers of that team on the road this year are a big reason why they're they're still fighting for a succeed Any surprises in your guards I just it's it's the hardest thing analytically to really look at to this day.
No surprise So that's kind of why it's the most fun Because you know that there's people gonna say some crazy stuff No, just because it's not one of those ones where like there you can look at a number and be like well That's open and shut like you know like that guy shooting that and that means something to me like it The defensive numbers like no matter which ones you look at like I'm just like how much like how much do you want to pat bet? Where are you on the two small pat Beverly? I think he's he's a lightning rod in this year's discussion multiple teams I don't have a man. I have him behind among guards I have him behind Derek white paul George drew holiday in Alex Caruso.
Yeah, at least and probably smart too Um, I'm not mad at any of that drew holiday mark is smart You know at the beginning of the year would have been who I would have penciled in in these positions and there's some good names There pat bev is just if there was if there was a loudest defender of the year he's definitely first team Yeah, those are my guards And lucon's door is gonna get a look there too and there are there are others You know my list is my initial lists are quite long, but those are those are the headliners I mean I do think I checked earlier to I think paul George is eligible about forward and guard I think he's been outstanding defensively all year as he normally is but I think this year more than others even He's kind of stood out to me Dylan Brooks. We should probably mention is he forget about you forget about loudest That's right defender. Yeah, he's got to be in the discourse Is there anything else we didn't hit mr. Gold's berry?
Uh, no, I mean, I think we hit it all Um, I can't wait to see how this shakes out and I'm already nervous that To make my western conference first round playoff predictions for our website Don't be nervous Don't be nervous people get things wrong all the time. It happens Kirk Gold's very what else what else uh What else we got looking what are we looking for from you? Uh, the yokage piece was my big swing. I'm sorry denver I hope it comes across as respectful Uh, that's what and then I'm working on like sort of who are the active leaders in all mba and these kinds of awards Sort of to look across the last 10 years and say who who's who's got the most of what in terms of these awards We just went through sort of give some shine for guys who have been doing for a long time Oh, but that's not coming for a minute other than that.
Just play up previous stuff. All right, sir It's good to see you last thing last thing. I know you love you con women's hoops I do do you love you con men's hoops? Do you have a do you have a final four?
Horse are you are you interested in the outcome in Houston this weekend? I got no horse and it's a contour eukon men's hoops is a lightning rod topic for me because I grew up in Connecticut But eukon wasn't good when I was a little kid and so everyone had their own teams that they liked for various reasons I was a Georgetown fan because we had family friends that went to Georgetown and I thought Georgetown was cool You know hoya destroyed the full cord press all of it And so then when you con got good a lot of people jumped on the band wagon star home state team etc I just I didn't even like six year old me was like eight year old me I was like I don't feel I feel comfortable jumping on the band I'm sticking with Georgetown And then they became rivals and the Ray Allen shot happened in Iverson's year one of Iverson's years there I can't get into it. There's a stat about eukon. I didn't know if they win this year There's five championships for you con huskies in the last 24 years.
That's that's a lot of titles that they've resurrected that program So it's gonna be interesting but anyway wanted to throw that out there my beloved Longhorn's got eliminated by the Miami hurricanes Last week and unfortunately but I had a good run too. So good luck to all the programs good luck to all the programs and the student athletes and And all of it Kirk Oldsberry indispensable work. Thank you sir. I'll see you in the postseason.
Thank you, Zach