This is the place where sports is being scalloped at sports. I'm your host, can you be in it? Joining me on the show is Shelton, Nick, and FIFA. Not FIFA, shit.
Shelton, I was going to say FIFA was on the way, but we have, man. And yeah. I'm just thinking about the rundown of the show. But it's Nick, Shelton, and Spike.
Let me go ahead and get that out. First, in terms of who's here on the show, Q said he'll be stopping by as well. So I'm sure he has a lot to say. He hasn't been on for a minute.
And yeah, man, we're glad to have you guys on board for another week of NBA playoff talk. Just as a quick programming announcement, we will be doing the draft live. I can say that maybe not the entire first round. I say that every year, and we end up going to stay in over the top of the round.
But for the pick, that matter. I'll say that. I'll say that. But it seems like things may get interesting if a certain player don't go by pick number 21.
Yeah, I'm saying we may have to do the whole first round to see where that goes. Because I don't know how, but my reddit thread is filled with Steelers news and all that. And they going back and forth. I'm like, tell him.
Chill out. They going back and forth on this whole shit. Everybody, he's all up and down from three to 36. And that's a huge drop off of a payday.
You make it like 28 million to 10. But I don't know what you're talking about this. But I was going to say, I'm wondering if they're trying to guide him in a certain direction. Because it's happened before.
His dad could be trying to get him with Mike Tomin or somebody like that. We don't cover it later on in the show. Yeah, it's got you. But anyway, we normally start off with the best performance of the week.
But the first one that does it is not here. Oh, my god. This is why I was like, when he said that I'm like, bro, something is getting scared. He's getting scared.
He's going to hold up everything. And then you normally reiterate it to him. You see what you see, I reiterate shit about my brother. Like, I guess it is.
In this way. Yeah, we're going to talk about this in the meeting. You know what I'm saying? Show, because it's probably for a really stupid-ass reason.
Hey, I feel best performance of the week. I can't. Because it is. I mean, I already know what it is.
That's funny. Oh, god, that's funny. The clip of those two news. Oh, man.
Y'all sick. Might as well, man. But anyway, man, let's talk about the Playa Tournament. The NBA player in tournament wrapped up on Good Friday last week.
And we now know the final four teams seeded in the seventh and eighth spots of the playoffs for both the Eastern and Western conferences. Golden State and Memphis in the West, so Golden State is number seven, Memphis is number eight. And we have Miami and Orlando in the East with Miami claiming the seventh spot and Orlando claiming the eighth spot. However, we got to pay our respects to the teams that flamed out and ultimately wasted our time.
This year's honorary first round losers. We have the Mount Rushmore of the 2025 NBA playoff loses spot. We have the Atlanta Hawks. Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings, and Dallas Mavericks, all four teams that if I said those names, you could probably immediately think of issues that they have for somewhere or another.
What is one suggestion you would give to each of these franchises to help them improve and come back stronger next season? So we are doing our exit interviews on these teams. Shelton, no, Spike, I'm sorry with you first. Because I know you might not know what you're saying.
I'm sorry. I was hoping to go late. Now, I saw the Hawks. I tried Trey.
I know he's good. I know that he had led the league in the system, I believe. But still at the same time, they have a younger nucleus. They have someone in, is it Jaylen?
What's what's what's doing there? Jaylen Johnson. Jaylen Johnson, who could be their number one? So I need to put players around him.
And I need to trade Trey. You know, I can simply the highest value for him. So that's what I would do. I would get rid of him.
The next one, all the other teams. Chicago, Chicago, Sacramento, and Dallas. Sacramento is doing all right with the Veen. And the Rose, they still need a number one.
Those guys are two and three. If they can get a number one in addition to having a sub-owness, then they will be good. But I don't know if that will happen, just because their ownership sucks. And Chicago, like, who cares, bro?
No, what cares about Chicago? I do like do from North Carolina. I think he's really good. But I don't know.
Kobe White, I don't know if they can put anything around him to make Chicago relevant, especially after they traded the Veen. And that's it for the interview for those things. Don't care about Dallas. Yeah.
I mean, they got Anthony Davis. They got Anthony Davis. They got their points of fire. They're going to fire, Nico.
And if I got Anthony Davis and I got the other young big that they have, if you get a GM in their dick, I hate to shit on Nico, because I don't really think that he deserves anything he can do. He don't. It's really the owner. People keep on...
Right. I think they're going to fall for the owner. Yeah. Yeah.
If they can get another person that can play with Anthony Davis, like you're going to be like, that's a playoff team. Anthony Davis is still that good. And he ain't been as non durable as we thought he'd been throughout his whole career. He's been playing games.
I think the year before this season, he might have played all 82 games or 78 games or something like that. He's got a good prospect. Anthony Davis is not local. That wasn't mistaken to try.
But still, if I got Anthony Davis and I got the other big guy that they have, they play well for them in the finals. And I mean, I'm straight. But I'm still on this team. Yeah, Gary.
But he's coming back from me. I don't know what that's going to be about. He's going to be a 3.5. So for me, and I agree with a lot of what you say with the Hawks, I agree, definitely need to blow it up.
The Hawks have been here before with their stuck in purgatory where you win enough games to make it to the play in and the playoffs, but you're not winning enough games to get out of the first round. And you can't get a draft pick to kind of advance your team. So they're just kind of stuck in the middle. I agree, it's time to move on from Trey and get a Kings ransom form.
You get a lot more than what you would if you wait. So build around Dyson Daniels and Johnson. Build around those two and figure it out at this point. As far as Sacramento goes, same story with them.
And I think they really just need a point guard. You got to replace the air and fire. Losing him was huge because you had to one to punch, but you're going to have to figure something out. Either free agency or trade, but you need a point guard on that team that can kind of be a catalyst to kind of get the ball into those guys.
We know exactly the mean and the rows and have done. We saw it on that list. I saw it when it came out to how they then kicked out and played in what four times the row. So I got three feet.
So you know, get them a point guard and help them out and you build around the bonus in the point guard again, like you did. And you got to bonify veterans to, you know, that's your work at that point. But I don't know who that answer is. I'm happy to think on that one, but you need a point guard there.
So hold on real quick. I'm going to add into what I just saw about Sacramento. So I don't know if you saw but Jeremy Lamb has been dating, revic van, I can't even say his name, but the owner's daughter. And ever since he started dating the owner's daughter, he has been having a say in a lot of the personnel decisions.
And that was part of the area of Fox asking for a trade because he was like, I'm clarity as to who's actually steering the ship. And now the Montes of bonus is actually asking those same questions. So we could see the Montes trade at in the off season or in the early beginning of next season. So I think the Kings are just going to blow it up mainly because they're inept.
So I don't know if they're going to be able to build around the Montes. I still hope so. I hope they do. I don't think that they are as far off as some of the other teams.
When we look at the Chicago Bulls, I like the young, I like Kobe, I like what Kobe does. That team is tough. They should have played, they were playing good down the stretch. I really thought, I believe Chicago would have made it into playoffs and made a little noise.
I ain't saying it when we first found it, but I thought they'd be a challenge in the first round if nothing else. So they let me down in that playing game. They really, really, really, he just last them. So I wasn't expecting that whatsoever.
I thought Giddy and White would play well together, but it didn't work out. So for them, I think, you know, you get a season under their belt together and we can see how that works. And as far as Dallas goes, I agree with everything that Lucid, we know that Nico is a scapegoat. I guarantee you, Nico has been paid handsomely for that under the table.
I guarantee you, he has. And that's a league move. I don't care what nobody says. There's no other reason to make that trade, but you hope that you get everybody back healthy.
You hope so. That's the biggest thing. You got a nice core of players to move forward if everybody can come back, but that's a big if and we'll just see what the payoff is for what they need because they don't get something. For you.
I was going to ask people to catch them up. We doing exit interviews. What's one thing that you will do for each of the playing teams that lost? It's helping prove them for next year.
We got Atlanta Sacramento, Chicago and Dallas. Atlanta, I don't disagree at this point, you know, blow it up. Trey is nice, but Trey got to be your second and third best player if you're going to have a championship level squad. And right now he's been your best player since he's been there.
And that's an issue. And here's the thing, Dyson Daniels, I really like him to me, upgrade from Hunter and the white boy that eventually got me to Chicago. I can't think his name right here. Hooter.
Hooter. Hooter. So they just got to blow it up, see what you can get. And here's the thing, Shelton, they got the number one pick of the wrong draft.
If they would have got it in this draft, you know what I'm saying now, you pair Cooper flag with Trey Young, then I say, you know, give me a couple of more mango seasons with that. In terms of the Sacramento Kings, in my opinion, you already started the process of blowing it up with the area of Fox, continue the process and move on from the Marde Rose and Zach Levine. You saw what that looked like in Chicago. I don't understand why you thought that would make any difference in the West.
So get what you can for those two guys as well. Blow it up in Sacramento. Who are the other two teams? Chicago and Dallas.
Dallas is really about health. I also saw the story amidst Nico Harrison and, you know, obviously everything that you said, Shelton, I don't disagree. But there's also been another underlying thing where Nico, like yes, man. So the training staff, the person that he hired, they didn't have certain qualifications and certifications to be an NBA trainer, but he hired them anyway.
And you know, I can't remember the player's name, but there was a player that they were trying to rush back from an ankle injury. And when that player got outside, you know, advice, they were saying he needed to say I was six to eight weeks because it was actually a fracture and not in high ankle swing as the person that Nico hired. Also that that that's not like a smear campaign people. Well, no, well, because also you look at like, no, no, no, no, you look at Luca, he had his own training staff as well.
And that was part of what Nico didn't like. You know what I'm saying? So it is what it is. You can look into it if you want.
And then what was the last one? That was I mean, I'm not the Chicago Chicago. Chicago. I agree with Shelton.
I like the court. You just got to keep building. You know, like, like you're right there. You know, maybe white for the last couple of seasons has been bubbling.
I think next year should be the year that he established itself as a starting point guard of the league or legit starting point guard in the league. I like Josh Giddy. I like the other tall European cat that they got. I don't remember his name, but you got hella game.
You got bounced for a white boy, too. So I like what they got going on. Maybe they need to move on from Vousavitch and just continue to get younger. But you know, I would say just study the course for the both real quick.
Blow it up for Atlanta. Blow it up for Sacramento. Keep the same for Dallas for one more season in Chicago. I really don't even know what to do with Chicago.
You can't really blow it up. So they ship to blow up in that moment. I already do. That's what I'm saying.
Like what they're doing. I guess you got to study the course. It's just the same thing I was saying for Dallas, Chicago, like the state of course until next season. That was the chance to work.
Only a power. The only reason I'm not worried about Kyrie's because Kyrie's game is not predicated on his athleticism based off his smarts. But it's quickness. I don't think he'll lose his quickness.
I think if anything, it'll hurt his athleticism. But hey, it's quickness and still be there, I think. I would think anyway. He's like, you know what I'm saying?
Like him stopping on the dime. He does a lot of movement without being athletic. So I don't know. And he's 30 plus too.
Like Kyrie Otis, Kyrie. Oh, you know what I'm saying? What about you, Ken? With Dallas, I think it's a little bit darker than what you're saying, Shelton, in terms of the lead wide conspiracy and making Luca go over there.
I don't think it's that. I do think I believe the reports about Dallas intentionally taking that franchise to get that casino or whatever it was there. I believe that more than the other thing you're saying. And that's something that will be worth monitoring to make him trade Luca for that reason.
What I'm watching is whether or not he was right. And we'll find that out in the first round. We'll have an answer real soon. And if that happens, then what's there to say?
Because then you have to judge the movies based on the next couple of years, which, you know, I'm cool on that. It is what it is. But I do agree with you guys. I think that situation can work a lot easier than the other three teams, you know, because they just have to deal with a lot of unfortunate injuries.
And it may be the same thing that happened next year with Kyrie and AD. So that is TBD. I think a couple of Ross the movies here, they can at least be a playoff team with the right well, kids, they're right. So yeah, they should be at least a playoff team or something.
With Chicago, Chicago is a mess. And Busselli is cool, but he's just out there. Kyrie is having triple double, I guess, here and there. But they are just stuck because they're not awful and they're not good.
They're just like right there on the French of being one of the other. They just have no winners there. And that is the issue. And they have a lot of work to do because there's not one guy that they can look at and say he's our guy.
And we're going to build around him. Whereas in Atlanta, you have that. The problem with them is that they have not done a good job of building a team around Trey Cooper flag would have been cool. I agree with you on that people.
If that would have happened, the guy that they had, I think he just needs more seasoning and time. Jayla Johnson is good. But what else are you going to build around this team to be secondary and third scorers on the team? That is the issue.
When I was watching the play, I was just like, there's a bunch of guys and Trey's going to get his numbers, he's going to do all that. And it's going to be good enough to keep this team around, but not good enough to do anything significant in the way that they did a couple of years ago when they went to the ECF in part because Doc Rivers choked it away. Ken, you know what the issue is right now with this roster is that the timeline is going to match up. Trey Young right now is in his prime.
He should be on a team that's competing and you got Dyson Daniels in his second year. You got the Frenchman that was just drafted. But then you have really good role players. You know, like Caris Laverick Caris Laverick is a really good role player.
But he should be on a championship level roster to really have true impact and he's just not. So he's just holding them back. You know what I'm saying? So they are in a weird place.
It's hard to say Trey, Trey Young. But it's like what other option at this point do you have? He traded everybody else that was on his timeline. I think you're right.
And that's why I got rid of Landry Fields because he messed up the timeline. That's right. I was going to say I agree with FIFO, but does that speak to Trey Young's ability to being a true number one? If you have these young players who are good, you got a defensive player that you're not going to need, we got Jayden and Johnson, we were talking about whatever his name is, that we were talking about who is clearly a number two at least talent and Trey Young can't get them over the hump.
Because there are other issues going on there that he can't overcome. You know, he's a small point guard. Jayden Johnson will play well then he'll get hurt. And FIFO, you're right.
When I was looking at this thing and play, and I saw Caris LaVert, that's when I was like, oh, they got some issues in terms of Rossica structure. Because he and a guy you just bring in, he's a rebuilding sort of, you know, just go play on this thing sort of guy. Caris LaVert. Well, no, no, he's not a guy.
But I would say, who's the guy that played for Denver a couple of years ago came from the Lakers. I want to say the last name Richardson. You know, I'll be bad with names. I know he played for the Lakers and he played for Denver.
I know he's on another squad now. What's his name? But he's like that. Can you look for the Detroit Pistons like somebody like some hard way?
He's a guy that can give you 10 points for a game. You saw a car will poke? Yes. Containers call with Paul.
Thank you. Like he's like a KCP type guy. Right. Yeah, that's my point.
He's not ready. He's not to be on a team like this. No, he's not. He's not the type of player you put on a rebuilding team.
He's the type of player that is going to contribute to wins. And the hugs just aren't there. So that's why when I look at this roster, I agree with you can. It's just a hot spot.
You got a super star point guard. And then you got these other guys that feel a need, but they're not ready to really take on that mantle just yet. Right. And then you got the guys that you would want to fill out a roster that are going to be super solid vets.
And it's like it just don't work. It don't work. And then the crazy part about it is if you trade, trade young, what do you get in return? And does that really reset the Atlanta Hawks in a positive way?
Because think about this, we haven't had a great hawk drafted by the Hawks since, and I know this is going to sound crazy. We call him great, but Josh Smith and Dominique Wilkins. It was like literally the last two. That's crazy.
And to trade, which I disagree with trading trade, but I understand the sentiment of people saying that, but to do that, you have to look at Riesharsh and Jalen Johnson and be like, okay, we got something with these guys and we can build around them. If you do not see that, then you got to get, you got to keep trade because that's the only reason at least you got to sell tickets and he'll give you a hope of something. But the last thing the Kings, they're very, very dysfunctional. This has been documented throughout history.
And with that little small blip of success, the dysfunction arrived again. And I mean, you had Fox and Sibonas, you had a team that's winning and it seemed like this team does not want to win and they care more about other stuff than actually winning. And Viva Ramashank, Trangay, whatever his name is. Like who?
Viva, granted, okay. Oh, I was saying the other guy in politics. But yeah, when you got as long as the management are in place, then that team will not be successful. And those are things that when it comes to the King, we have, you have, this is where you have to start looking at the management and holding them accountable for the things that they're doing to the team and not just the team.
So yeah. Hey, Jameson, Q, a relevant background. So we ain't got to look at that bullshit. Hey, Tweezie, I have your own name, bro.
Hey, maybe snapping the shit out of me. Can't, can't about two generations away from saying make basketball. I'll be that funny. We need to say it.
But we need to say it was. Eric shit. But yeah, so Q, quick thoughts on what the four teams you see at the bottom of the screen, if you can't see it, should do just one quick point for each one. So we got the Haltz Dallas, Chicago and the Kings.
What should they do? If you care, Dallas got to pray for Cooper flag Atlanta got a ship, Trey Young out preferably to Orlando or somewhere else. The Kings got to blow it up and admit defeat trying to repeat the same mistake as Chicago. By bringing in Levine and the Rosen is just asinine.
And then Chicago, I like Kobe White a lot. They just got to kind of blow it up in my opinion too because I just don't see much there besides Kobe. And I do like listening. I like the Euro guy.
I think it's the talk guy. I like Bruce, Bruce, I like him. He has a nice little spice to his game, but I would keep Kobe and keep those others, but mostly everybody else. And get it.
He got the three. Everybody just went to the wheel. So we got to move off it. We got you guys.
All right. Let's see. What else we got here? All right.
Well, that'll be that. We'll come back with the first game discussions about things we've seen. Apparently the bus is making a run, but we'll get into the next segment right after this quick break. If you are a fan of gaming, then you need to check out Dead in Gaming.
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Dead in Gaming, ATL. We're not going to watch. Is me. All right.
Oh, watch. Can't I went back and forth on this, but I was going to wait for what I had to say about this organization till Thursday during the draft. So I'll just wait for it then. But today, since the game is on tonight, I wanted to talk about JJ Redick.
To me, JJ Redick is on watch. FIFA, I wasn't the only one who called him out. If you looked at the Twitterverse, you've seen that Irvin Magic Johnson has something to say after game. And I said, this motherfucker don't know how to make go adjustments.
He was just letting them do whatever the fuck they wanted to do. And he was surprised by that. I necessarily wasn't because like I know from the beginning, once JJ got hired, I was like, he's been on watch for me because I'm like, I got to see if he's really a good coach because they got darned him out of the paint and they shit it on him. Even though he took him to the Western Conference Finals, I said, that's the bar for me for JJ.
He has to at least get them there for me to say like, okay, he's a decent to good coach. That's came into earlier. This series is key, very key for not only the subukertray, but how we see LeBron's Laker tenure kind of wind down because I don't know how much longer Q, he I don't know how much longer you would say he got left in and they don't know if this will be his last franchise in the league that he goes to. I don't know if he'll go back to Cleveland just to do like three or four.
Yeah. So over the next three to five years, LeBron is only obviously going to get older and going to his athleticism with the initial and his injuries will increase. And this will all be on the watch of JJ Redick. Now people have lauded him for the defense, which has been up and down a lot this season.
But this is a big series for me to see what he can do. They're playing at home in about the next 20, 30 minutes again and it's a muscle in game because they go down O two in the series. I think it's a wrap, even though, you know, of course we've seen teams come back from down O two, but with the way they played in game one, if it plays again like that, I was going to see what any adjustments they can make currently with this roster to come back with Minnesota strong Adam. So to me, JJ Redick's on watch to see what he does, what he cooked up over the next few days.
And that's how I would judge him as a head coach. How far do you need to see him go this year? They got to get to Western Commons based off of what they what people have said. And his first year as the head coach.
Yeah, why not? People got him winning the West. That's the expectation that people got it. It ain't me.
It ain't me. Sound like you. No, I didn't know. I was trying to remember Darden hymns.
Especially it was especially since when Denver fire Mike Malone, there was something else that happened, but it was like, this is the most wide open that the Lakers have for a path to the Western Commons finals or to the NBA finals. I don't really see it getting any easier from them moving forward. So if they don't get there this year, you can make a case like when are they going to get there over the next few years. You all think Bronx will play for more years?
Yeah. I think he'll pay. I think three is three is three is three is three is three is again, two, but again, at the same time, I have no data for that. So I'm just guess I think for think for us.
I think for us too much. I think three is he's going to he's going to be one too much. Why is for too much of he's still producing at this level because he because the only thing he can do people if he's not winning these games, I'm going to win it then that's something different. But based off the way, this team is currently constructed.
They're not going to do anything for herdas legs. So I can see how it would benefit him to play for more years. I want to say unless they win. I want to say herdas legacy though.
Yeah, I think as long as he's producing his legacy is going to remain intact. Now if he goes, let's just say he goes to the finals for four years and loses off four, that hurts more than not making the finals and still, you know, second of the stats. I should have. Yes.
But we don't have that conversation when he has the playoffs. Let's talk about the first games that we had a chance to watch since the playoffs kicked off with round one of the 2025 NBA playoffs officially starting last Saturday. We got a full day of great basketball for start to finish outside of the Bucks. However, let's start out west to discuss how both LA teams took L's in game one.
We're going to start with the Clippers. Did the Clippers miss an opportunity to steal a game on the road or did the Nuggets and Russell West wrote, take care of home court? We do know that the Clippers tied that game up last night. So they made a series.
I'm sorry. Winning by three points. So overall thoughts on how you guys think that first game did and just any new thoughts on the series so far? It's a beautiful series so far.
It is. What we're seeing more defense more than anything, which is interesting because you have guys like Guylinder, James Harden, Yolkich, which he would imagine like we would be seeing 100, 20, 111 as like end of scores like by the end of the by the fourth quarter damn damn near how much fire power is on these teams. But I think what we're seeing is more defense and just want to give some observations. I think that for this season, I think Chris Dunn has been, if not the best, he's a top three defender of guards in the league.
I think James Harden has won a lot more respect from a lot of people, even though he hasn't had two stellar games in a row. I think just him being able to orchestrate the offense at the way he's doing, you got to give props and a longevity and reinventing his game. I think that Kawhi Leonard is never a problem of can he play? It's never an issue of what is he going to do when he's healthy?
It's always can he just make it through a series? Can he just make it through and give us the performances that we know the dude is an absolute machine. He's insane. The mid range he gets to a spots on the floor.
It's so efficient. It's a beautiful line drive shot to watch. It's just bullseye every time. The true shooting percentage masterful.
Yolkich has been uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball in some key spots. I think that's some lack of continuity from Mike Malone not being there, but that's a whole separate issue. I think that there's not many others that are coming along with Yolkich in terms of MPJ. He had a pretty good game last night, 15 and 15.
I appreciate that effort. Jamal Murray is still trying to find himself a little bit, but Russell is going to live and die by him. You kind of just got to take the corner three, three of six from three and you also got to take almost turning the ball over with 40 seconds left. So this is going to be about wills and it's going to be about who makes the most mistakes.
So game one, Clippers gave it up, made too many mistakes, nuggets, capitalized, game two, the nuggets made a lot of mistakes, Clippers capitalized. Who's going to win the turn or battle in game three that will most likely decide it? And I think this is going seven. I will say this.
Go ahead. I was going to agree with you with the Denver Clippers series. The most probably most evenly matched out of all of the series that we see and this is going to be a chess match from beginning here. You see him, Kawhi play some of his best basketball that he's played in a long time.
Well, like you said too, he's playing basketball finally without paying because he talked about that, you know, being able to walk on those knees and do the things that he needed to do. But he's made and I talked about it earlier in the chat watching him play is beautiful because he's making contested shots. These aren't layups and you know, breakaway dumps. These are contested shots and he's hitting them with consistency shot what 79% last night.
So he's been doing everything that he needs to win these games and he's looking like MVP out there. He's the best player on the court. And you know, you're going to have to see some things. I look at a person like Mike Porter Jr.
in this series. He's going to be a key because he's going to have to step up and play the full game as hard as he can as best as he can. And he did a decent job the other night. I mean, last night, I think he had like 12 rebounds.
So he was actually on the boards and doing some things that they needed for him to do. But you need him and Gordon to step up and contribute and you do need jumping gotta be more consistent. He can't have those turnovers. He can't be like a day's with the basketball.
He's got to make plays and be consistent. They need him to be the best show he can be. And that's the only way they're going with the series. But I love this series.
The Lakers series is improving for Ant. Ant got to step up. Oh, we have a guy in the Lakers. Oh, I'm sorry.
I got to be good. Um, Q, I will say this in regards to the others. They are having moments. I do agree that we haven't seen the Jamar Murray of old where, you know, he's matching the play of Joker in these playoffs.
We can't say that he's been in and out. And he just hasn't had consistency. I agree with you. The coaching thing is a whole another conversation.
But I feel that Denver is good enough as long as they get key moments from their key guys. Michael Porter Jr., right? We didn't watch in the game. We didn't know if he was going to finish the game where they were going to stick with Russell Westbrook, right?
Because Russ made a big three in game one made a big three last night as well. Um, but as long as the guys that are on the court, not main Joker, as long as they contribute in a timely ways, I think they'll be fine against the Clippers mainly because, like I said last night in the chat, playoff harden is in effect. That guy, look, if Kawhi doesn't play like Kawhi did last night, they're not going to win the series. Like Kawhi has to play the rest of the series at that level.
And that's going to be damn near impossible. James Harden needs to show up, but I don't believe in it because all these years we've seen this man choke and choke and choke on the playoffs. It just is what it is. So I'm going based off of history.
I'm just going based off of history. Now the others for the Clippers, they need to step up, you know, Norman Powell, you know, typically the others play better at home, you know what I'm saying? So we'll see how the others play, but Kawhi needs to keep this level of play up for them and they even have a chance. And that's going to be difficult to do to play at that level the rest of the series.
You know, also, I want to say that Zubotch is playing his way into a lot of what he wants to play. He's going to be a top eight big conversations, top top top. And I think that that's the testament to his development to his ability to stick with Yolkich and actually make tough decisions and play rough and tough defense with him. He's making it hard for Yolkich to just get to his spots and he does the mobility to actually stick with him too.
So Zubotch, they have some guys that I think are going to get a little bit like Norman Powell, you can't get worse than this. So I think that there has to be a break in the average of somewhere where you get back to what you were. You know what I'm not saying well, Norman Powell's going to go for 40 like he's going sometimes in the regular season, but we got to get at least 17. We need a 12.5 rebound game.
We got to get some shit going here. Do off the bench. Chris done his job. Who buys doing his job?
Why did his job? I think hardness controlling the ball well enough. It's just the shots not going. But I agree that he is doing a great.
He's always been more of a point guard than a shooting guard, but he scores like one of the greatest players of all time. But he got to get buckets like this team is built on him getting buckets. You ain't got to get a 40 point chip or even a 30 point chip or double. But he has to score in the 20s efficiently for this team to really be a contender.
I was messing around with a Beagles background. He was going to be a really seriously ask about this 1,800 flower sponsorship. Because what a lot of people said about the Clippers I was saying early. This is a whole time.
Was I not giving him his flowers earlier? And he ran up Zuboc. I was trying to tell you about Zuboc. He didn't want to listen to me.
Who I played? He just asked. So far. He starts from every game.
Any guards, Joker, probably the best that you've grown up guards. You're not going to slow. He had a triple double, so you can't stop him. But he made it uncomfortable for me.
Which is what you're saying. But what I want to say is what you brought up as a player that I forgot was in the league. But again, when you go through Tyloo's training program, you end up blossoming. Chris done.
Chris has turned into a legit playoff rotation guy. And I like that. He's now their new, I guess, Terrence Mann. Who's now with the Atlanta?
Wait, better than one. I'm just saying he's their new player. That's the role. Yeah.
I'm very curious to see how, again, people, we got a knock on wood for Kawal Leonard and his injuries. But right now, he's that's game. I didn't see Kawal. If we had two or three years of Kawal, I like that.
We're talking about a different league as far as it was. Like that, man, to go 79% on jump shots. Nuts. It's a lot of start.
It really is a lot of start to like the mid range. I think Kobe was smiling watching that because it's just like dude, one dribble pull up inside of the three point two dribbles, spinning off, you know what I mean? He's over seven footers too. Like that was a lot of those shoes too.
Exactly. And he's the role team. You're not going to always get those calls. Of course not.
But I really love what the Clippers are doing. What I'm more shocked is like that a joker in the final minutes of these four quarters, especially the games, missing free throws. He in game one, he missed two clutch free throws that should have sealed the deal and which kept the Clippers in it. Then his last game, it wasn't just him, but like Aaron Gordon missing the most wide open dunk since the dunk contest that I've ever seen that would have helped him extend the lead.
And then joker missed, I think he went one for two in the first three, those attempts in the last two minutes. And then he made that desperation three after Brown missed his open three. It's just like they're granted they have a new head coach who just show he got what? Six games on you now.
And so professionally, so you kind of give that room for effort, but I can honestly make an argument that the Clippers should be up to like they as we all kind of acknowledge they kind of let game one get away from them, but they had to get this one. So they did their job as far as the road team. You just need to get one on that still home court advantage. And now we're going back to LA for two.
So we'll see how they do that. But I wouldn't be surprised if the series go to seven, but for me, the Clippers have to win this in six. All right. Well, we'll move on to the Lakers, but I will say you guys are over hyperzied.
It's not that many there's not that many great centers in the league and Zuba's guys is really well. So I'm gonna give him like he's always late. He was terrible. The Lakers could use them.
The Lakers could use them. I don't care. I watch like he's I'm seeing what he's doing. It's not impressive.
He's solid is right. It's not about this. No, you're talking about this motherfucker like you. I think I got them.
I think I got them. I think I'm a joke or something. I think I'm a joke or something. I think I'm a joke or something.
I think you can't help. You can't just tell a bunch of white boys out there and tell them go guard yokey. No, it's great. But I'm not impressed.
Like these are good numbers. He should do that, especially the way that offense runs. Okay. This is the reason why I'm gonna say he's super solid.
If you see that the reason why he's scoring what he's scoring is because of James Harney. That's a backhand. That's a backhand compliment though. It really is.
It was from solid to super solid. I know it was from all I said is go over hyperzied. It was hard and got a lot of people paid. He's like the.
He's like a fella. That's about it. He's funny. We're not doing that.
We are doing that because CP got Tyson Chandler paid the first go round and David West pay. You know, look at the end of the day point guards with a big man. This is why we say a little guy needs a big guy to be effective and obviously James Harney is not like a six four to do the six five six six. You know what I'm saying?
And he's not he's not he the way he plays the game is that he's always going to hit the being on a rim run. You know what I'm saying? He's gonna get him an easy six to ten points a game. Now, if you could go find you another four to six points.
Now you a super solid big in the lead. And that's what and that's what you back is done. That's not what I expected to see the way people were talking about him. I thought I was going to see Carl Anthony town.
No, no, no, no. That's the way y'all were talking about that. Hey, but in all honesty, I'll play Carl Anthony. What's up with the.
What's up with the. It's like Russell Westbrook with Stephen Adams. See, Adams is not going to like wow you would be using chemo lines one or David Robinson level defense, but he's not going to get 50 dropped on him. And he's not going to, you know what I'm saying, drop 50, but he won't get you about 17 and nine, 17 and 12 like on a good night.
And it's like that's what you want. And you're paying premium prices these days for that. Yeah, double double double from a double. I'm going to show you.
I know that hornet gave a big night beyond. I was mad. You. Hey, I haven't heard that name in Becky.
You ain't missing nothing. Well, another big a lot of money to from you. What was his name? I'm a member of the beat.
I'm a member of the beat. I've been a bunch of you. Jordan was doing with selling gambling debts. That's what you guys.
I came to the beat with somebody. He's got to be nice. So, um, let's talk about the Lakers, man. The Lakers in more trouble than people thought with this matchup against Minnesota.
Or was this more of a fill out game for LeBron and company? Interesting stat. Let me just get through all this real quick. The Lakers have been held to under 100 points, only nine times the season.
Three of them were by the Timmerwolves. The world's have four players over six eight that six feet eight. While the Lakers only have two and one of them is LeBron James, the world's seven. Oh, man, has eight or more assists in the game.
And lastly, since March 21st, only one other team besides the Lakers have allowed more made three pointers. Okay. I'm going to say this. When I watched that game, it felt like LeBron didn't know like he was playing double.
You couldn't get a rhythm. You know what I'm saying? Remember how we talked about before the playoffs started that when it comes to the fourth quarter when Luca runs out of steam. This is LeBron's time this and the third again.
It just looked like LeBron LeBron needs to dominate, but he doesn't want to step on Lucas toes. That's what it looked and felt like in that first game is kind of like, okay, I'm deferring. I'm playing the guy, but it's like, no, you LeBron, and we need you to be a premier scorer for us to be a championship contender. So I think LeBron's going to come out tonight be aggressive because that's typically what he does when he has a game like he did in game one.
We've seen it for 20 plus years in the NBA. He's going to come out and be aggressive. So that's what I expect. You know, the the Timbels are really a good matchup.
And that's why I love the playoffs. You know what I'm saying? I still got the Lakers, but the Timberwolves are going to be a tough out for them. You know what it is is like the Lakers are like.
The Lakers is like the main cast of centers and the Timbels is like the vampires like they all outside. And that's why they about to get vanquished because you can't run from the light and LeBron James at the end of the day. We do this like every year. Oh my God, LeBron lost game one.
Is this the end of it? LeBron lost game one. This is the year. LeBron likes to defer to his teammates every game one to see who's going to come with me.
I need to see something who's going to hit the corner three down. Who's going to hit the top of key three down. Who's going to play defense in key spots who's going to quit who's going to play real deep. This is the problem.
It's really not a Reddit thing. It's not a look at thing. It's not a LeBron thing. It's just attrition and trying to figure out how we're going to attack this young team because the wolves are nothing to play with.
They're not no disrespect. I got the Lakers in six. I think that they should win tonight. And I expect it to be a hard fought series just because of how much the wolves can run.
And they do play really tough against these Lakers for some reason. I think it's an Edward's pride. He really leads that team in a different way. But I'm not worried about Luca.
I'm not worried about LeBron. It's just you got to get Reeves going. And I think you've got to be able to set something up with not necessarily Jackson Hayes lobs. Or you got to have the threat of the lob.
So I mean, somebody's going to have to penetrate and be a threat from a floater position or kickouts as well. So just need a little bit more action off off ball screens. Probably Jay. They will install that, but they look a little bit stagnant on offense.
I think that they will correct that because they said that they had their best practice in months. That's what Jay said. We'll see. That's the worst.
It was also. Practically. Yeah. We have the best practice.
How many months into the season? I mean, I don't think that's the best. I mean, I don't think that that means like they have bad practices, but it's just like, you know, we've had our best practice in a couple months. Who is practicing now?
You're right at the NBA. Why are you practicing now? But they, but they, they, they're going to have to step up the others is what my concerns like you said to you. I'm not really worried about the problem.
Not worried about Luca as much as I am the others. I want to see what we're going to do. We got to get Reeves going and you're going to have to get some defense out of some of these other guys. We talked about him all the time.