Will Warriors or Lakers survive play-in? Celtics or Bucks? Nuggets inevitable? | Hoops Tonight

Will Warriors or Lakers survive play-in? Celtics or Bucks? Nuggets inevitable? | Hoops Tonight

All right welcome to Hoops tonight here at the volume happy Friday everybody we’re actually releasing this on Saturday but we’re recording it on Friday which is very important for the standings that we’re going to be discussing today we’re having the guys from nerd session on a show I’m very

Very excited about we’re going to do a deep dive into the playin tournament in both conferences I’m going to give you guys some numbers just based on the strength of schedule and where teams are in the standings then we’ll have a little bit of a discussion on where we

Expect things to land and where we hope things to land after that we’re going to do a little bit of a touch on the contenders at the top of the league and then after that I have a fun game for the Nerds at the end of the show where

We’re going to go over some of my favorite bad takes from this season um so this a little bit of an early start for you guys this morning you Jen zers I could tell you’re a little sleepy I can see it in your eyes Carson I can I can see it in the

Energy I’m getting over a sickness that’s a bit insensitive of you anyway uh we’re going to start out in the Western Conference so as a quick as a quick synopsis we have kind of three tiers in the west play tournament the Pelicans are currently at the five seed they are

At 27 losses after a loss last night to the Orlando Magic also Brandon Ingram hyperextended his knee is going to be out at least two weeks heading into a pretty tough stretch of their schedule as well um they are at 27 losses ninth toughest remaining schedule 52% opponent

Winning percentage then we have the Mavericks the Suns and the Kings they’re all tied with 29 losses so two more than the pels the Mavs have a 48% OPP uh opponent winning percentage in their remaining schedule which is the ninth easiest the Suns 57.4% of the Kings at 56% opponent win

Percentage is the third toughest remaining schedule in the league so Suns and Kings both really tough schedules probably worth mentioning though that this time of year the toughness in the schedule a lot of it has to do with where it’s loaded because once you get

Into that last week or so even some of the top teams in the league start sitting guys then we go to the Warriors and the Lakers at 32 losses so three behind the Mavericks Suns and Kings both of them at 32 17th and 18th toughest remaining schedules respectively with a

48% opponent win percentage so let’s get started here we’ll start with you Carson what is your best guess for how the standings land from here in the play so I think that we’re probably G to end up with the four teams who are currently in

The play and still in the play in a little bit boring Maybe I think that the Pelicans are in some risk of falling now that they don’t have bi but they’ve honestly played pretty well without him this year and he’s had a really good season so I don’t want to diminish what

He brings scoring playmaking improved defense but they’re 4- two without him I still think they maintain that really Elite defensive identity no matter what and they’ve gotten a really good version of Zion lately so I think just for this very short stretch with the advantage they have in the standings they can

Probably hold on but then with the Kings and the Suns I just think they do have really tough schedules as you laid out specifically Phoenix I mean it’s ridiculous they have games remaining versus the Nuggets they have two left versus New Orleans which is maybe a little bit easier without bi but that’s

Still a tough physical defensive minded talented basketball team Cleveland the t-wolves twice the Clippers twice and then the Kings I just don’t think they’ve consistently shown a high enough level defensively a high enough in terms of effort for where I’m like yeah they’re going to overcome being a couple

Games back from New Orleans and climb up with that sort of schedule in front of them and then I do still think the Lakers Warriors end up in 910 they may have a bit of an advantage in terms of schedule and I may think that both these teams are better than their record

There’s no question about that and with the Lakers specifically we’ve seen the ceiling that they’re capable of reaching when they just reach the requisite effort level but I just think they’ve kind of dug themselves too deep a hole at this point and I think that we’ve seen with the Warriors again they’ve

Obviously risen to a higher level but if they were able to just magically flip a switch and then start reeling off a whole bunch of regular season wins I think that they probably would have done so before getting to this point where now they are just a few games above 500

And they have been in that 910 range for so much of the season so I think that we’re still headed for Lakers Warriors in the 910 I agree for the most part I think if we’re going to see a team fluctuate uh between where they are right now I think

It would probably be Dallas either climbing to five or four over the Pelicans or Clippers but yeah I think the bottom four teams are going to stay the same and the thing about the schedule to the Suns have one hell of a a a road stretch here the next five

Games are all on the road um that’s really tough to endure and like two games against San Antonio any game against wemi I feel like isn’t just a wash you know what I mean it’s always a tough out uh so I would probably take Sacramento to lock up 78 and then I

Agree with you man I just think the Lakers and Warriors are in too big of a hole and if any of those teams I’m not predicting this by any means if either of those teams slip up I mean Houston has been surging dude seven straight wins like I wouldn’t pick them to Leap

Frog or get in there but the Warriors or Lakers fall asleep at the wheel for a couple of games and uh the last week of the Season could get really grimy for both of those teams yeah again like that last when you get it the end stretch it’s when you run

Into the issue with teams starting to rest guys so like I even looking at the Warriors Lakers the Warriors are heading into a little bit of a tough stretch of their schedule as well they play the Timberwolves and the um in the Orlando Magic in the next couple of games

Tonight they play the Pacers specifically they have you know uh Erin Smith and Andrew nard in Indiana now Steph shot him out of the building when they played in in Indiana about a month ago but uh that’s a tough perimeter matchup then you go to Orlando they have one of the best guard

Defenders in the league in Jaylen Suggs you go to obviously Minnesota’s professional you know perimeter defense team those types of teams have typically given the Warriors some issues and the Lakers while they’re about to head into a tougher schedule in a little bit they’re in a little bit of an easier

Stretch right here so like I actually think that it’s more likely than not that the Lakers end up at nine and the Warriors end up at 10 I agree with you guys as it pertains to the plan I think we’re going to get Mavs and Pelicans out

Of the plan that it’s it’s a risk with the pels because they’re in a little bit of a tougher stretch and obviously bi being out and he’s been so so good for them on both ends of the floor as of late sliding really nicely into that secondary role behind Zion as they’ve

Kind of shifted and then also just everything he’s been doing defensively which has been one of the better defensive seasons of his career and so like obviously there’s some risk there but the same reason why I don’t think the the the Pelicans will drop is the

Same reason why I don’t think the Lakers and Warriors will pass the Suns or the Kings it’s the same reason why I don’t think the Houston Rockets will pass the Warriors or the Lakers it’s just that three losses is just way too much to make up in this short period of time

Like again like to put it simply imagine like a 15 game sample and you went and you happened to go you know 12 and three they would only have to go uh what’s that nine and six to hold their ground right so like it’s just not that it’s

Not that that difficult to hold that ground over that period of time and again you’re going to get into that final week and it’s going to be a lot of automatic wins um who do you guys think has the best chance to survive the playin tournament between the Lakers and

The Warriors let’s start with you Logan man I flip-flopped between this all season long and I’ve wanted to sell my stock since the start of this season when I picked the Lakers to win the title I really want to take Golden State guys I really want to take Golden State

And I think they have improved immensely over the back half of this season with Draymond Green returning with Chris Paul being such a steadying force Off the Bench with the emergence of rookies like Brandon Pinsky and Trace Jackson Davis I can’t sing TJ D’s Praises enough man that kid is

Awesome I just can’t bring myself to to take Golden State uh Jason you did uh a breakdown a couple of days ago about Steph and their Reliance on him offensively and that’s really what it comes down to me I just think the Lakers have more secondary shot creation more

Guys uh that can pull their weight on any a night you know I think the Lakers are really well equipped to withstand an off night from a LeBron James an off night from an Anthony Davis because they have D’Angelo Russell because they have Austin Reeves because they have these

Other guys that can pull their own weight and create their own shots offensively and then you get into the fact that we always harp on the Lakers physical and athletic advantages it’s just something I can Bank in on more I really want to say Golden State I think golden state is the

More aesthetically pleasing team uh they’re more fun to watch in my opinion but that’s not what it comes down to I think the Lakers still have those physical and athletic advantages and there’s just more shot creation up and down the roster uh also you add in the

Fact that I don’t know man I think this team has a legit chip on his shoulder they still got LeBron James I still think that when this team it was ironic because last year right guys it was like the Lakers at any given night in the playoffs would just boot a game and

They’d say ah you know what we’ll just win tomorrow night we’ll we’ll we’ll we’ll punt on this game we’ll win tomorrow night I still have that feel with this Lakers team where I think that if they really want to crank the dial up uh in intense environments in big game

Scenarios I think the Lakers will show up so it pains me to say it because I’ve been trying to offload my Lakers stock for so long but I will uh I will side with LA and uh I I want to take Golden State man I want to see Golden State uh

Get it done I’m rooting for that but uh my gut says La is g to get through well I think that when we’re answering this question we have to start with the fact that this is likely going to be the 9 10 matchup so first somebody asked to survive this specific game and

That’s where I think the answer becomes relatively clear I just think the Lakers are a brutal matchup for Golden State I think that we saw that in the playoff series last year of course this is a different Warriors team it’s a younger Warriors team it’s a more athletic Warriors team but the ultimate

Insurmountable advantages that the Lakers had last year to me were the fact that they had the two Superstar talents on the floor the two guys who could be top 10 players throughout a series and the Warriors only had the one that being Steph Curry and they are very

Overwhelmingly reliant on him as that Lone Star shot Creator shout out to kaminga and what he has done as a mismatch attacker weaponizing his athleticism out of the post in transition he’s been so good but there’s still obviously a gap and I think in that playoff environment he needs to

Prove that he can sustain this level and so that’s a real advantage that the Lakers are just going to have two guys on the floor who are Head and Shoulders above everybody else except for Steph Curry at all times I do prefer their secondary shot creation as Logan laid

Out I mean especially with the level that we’ve been getting from D’Angelo Russell I don’t want to be the guy who banks on DLo because obviously he melted down against the Nuggets last year and he is just kind of inherently erratic because of his shot selection because he

Relies on those tough pull-ups and he can take the offense out of rhythm when it’s not falling but he is playing at a level that we haven’t seen from him in quite some time I mean has just been so impressive for this last month plus now and so I’m at least optimistic about

What he can bring in stretches what Austin Reeves brings in stretches and so I think it comes down to a combination of two of the three best players by far on the floor in this series overall athletic and really massive size advantages like Anthony Davis is just a

Brutal matchup for the Warriors we saw that last year in terms of how he was able to dictate the series defensively Kavon Looney did a really good job of battling him on the glass but he still at up boards in that series was over 14

A game I believe and I love tjd and he is balling out but the Lakers just don’t have a physical answer for Anthony Davis they didn’t have a center who was athletic enough last year now they do have an athletic center in tjd but he’s still undersiz for that matchup and if

You get dialed in ad he’s just a problem and he’s really a problem against the small team like Golden State so even though I love how the Warriors have turned the corner overall in the second half of the season and I think that they have been rejuvenated by this young core

And they’re doing a lot of good things La specifically is just a really tough matchup if LeBron and AD are going to hit that Top Gear yeah I I look at it like this when Vanderbilt’s out I think they’re pretty much on similar footing as teams and

Honestly like I really do feel like even if they’re healthy which by the way yovon bhha came on the show yesterday and reported that that uh Jared Vanderbilt is is going to return this season or not not that he’s going to but that it’s far more likely that he’s

Going to return this season so um even even with that allowed I think I’d pick the home team between those two regardless like I would have a hard time picking against Steph uh uh at home in a single elimination game that said I think when Jared Vanderbilt’s healthy on

The Lakers I think the Lakers are just better than the Warriors um I think he’s that that when he’s out of the lineup that specific position group is such a devastating weakness for the Lakers that Steph can get comfortable all game long and that’s a real problem like literally

Austin Reeves draws the Steph assignment when when Jared Vanderbilt’s out of the lineup and and we’ve seen how that’s been a problem but with Vander healthy healthy they’re just more built for that sort of thing that said I still think just with the way the schedules are set

Up even though they have similar remaining strength of schedule the Lakers t parts of their schedule are later on whereas the Warriors tougher parts of the schedule are earlier on and I think that that benefits La um they also have a head-to-head matchup on April 9th where the Lakers will be at

Home which I think is an advantage towards the Lakers so even though again I think you’d be foolish to count Steph out I think if golden state did get the nine seed I would be I would lean towards picking them to win that 910 game I just think it’s more likely than

Not that the Lakers win the nine seed and if Jared Vanderbilt is healthy I think the Lakers have a better chance of winning a road game in Oracle than the uh than the Warriors have a chance of beating the Lakers in crypto.com Arena if in the event that they are the 10

Seeds so I think I lean towards the Lakers there as far as the 78 matchup goes I really like the kings are definitely a tougher matchup for the Lakers than either the Suns or the Kings are for the Warriors so in a weird way I actually give the Warriors a slightly

Better chance should they beat the Lakers to get out of that 78 matchup but the one excuse me the one thing that I keep pointing to with the Lakers as a a you know kind of like a optimistic sign for them as a playin team is that they

Do not rely on variance nearly as much as the other teams around the league the Warriors are a high volume jump shooting team um the Lakers are not the Lakers take uh are one of the lowest volume three-point shooting teams in the league they are one of the most frequent paint

Scoring teams in the league they have an ability ability to scale up in terms of their physical inos when they get into those matchups a big example for me would be like game six last year Lakers Warriors Lakers at home uh they get their butt kicked in game five now as

Logan pointed out earlier that’s kind of was their theme last year is they would just punt specific games but in that game six what happened LeBron came out in the first quarter and was like I’m bigger and stronger than all these dudes and for one night I can bury them all in

The rim and he went out and he did that and so again like I I think I think when we when we really zoom in on it I the both teams have a decent chance but I I’d say i’ give the Warriors a little bit less than a 50% chance of escaping

The play and and the Lakers a little bit more than a 50% chance and so I’d lean towards the Lakers so one last note on that before we head out to the Eastern Conference playing if you’re the L Lakers and we’re going to do both of these rapid fires so

We’ll go through both of you and then we’ll go to the Warriors if you’re the Lakers who’s the one team you want to avoid in a road playing game let’s start with you Carson I think it would have to be Dallas if they’re in this conversation I mean they’re on the

Fringes of the play and I just think the Lakers still have a physical advantage in the front Court there but it has diminished from what would have been overwhelming earlier in the year we’ve seen Dallas improve so much as a rebounding team just improve their overall big situ situation and then I

Just think the offensive ceiling that they have with Luca and Kyrie when they’re going can be really overwhelming and so I just think they’re the scariest team the Kings have been a tough matchup specifically for the Lakers with the quickness of their guards and the whole

Sabonis ad battle but I still like the Lakers in that matchup so it’s definitely Dallas to me if D if Dallas is in the conversation I’d say Dallas Sacramento doesn’t scare me if I’m La Phoenix doesn’t scare me if I’m la I I don’t really consider I have enough

Confidence in Dallas uh getting out of the you know final four so I would take Golden State honestly like and that’s what I want to emphasize I don’t want to count out Golden State by any means like if Steph does go crazy in a onegame scenario um and Clay is still a swing

Factor in a one game scenario where if he’s hitting big shots and his shot is on he is the kind of guy that can swing a single game right uh if Anthony Davis has an off night shooting like there’s a recipe for Golden State to win a game uh

Because I consider Dallas kind of out of this conversation I would definitely say that I I lean LA but Golden State still scares uh scares the hell out of me if I’m La man they can they’ve got all the recipe you know what I mean and we’ve

Seen it before so uh Golden State still terrifies me if I’m Los Angeles yeah I agree with you in the sense that I think a road game in Dallas or Golden State would both be issues for the Lakers really a road game against any of those teams I think for the

Lakers would be tough they’ve got a lot of young players and they really depend on their role players playing well which is uh which is scary in those types of environments I still lean the Kings as the scariest Lakers matchup and it really is this simple to me like I think

LeBron and AD would be able to scale up physically against Dallas I think they’d be able to scale up physically against Golden State meaning what I mean by that is like I don’t think uh I don’t think PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford J Washington and Derrick Lively are going

To be able to hold up well under a LeBron James Anthony Davis Onslaught in a single elimination game that the Kings the the really they’re the kings are a bad defense but they have defensive strengths and they’ve had moments this year where they’ve been a really good defense and the Kings two defensive

Strengths both play specifically into Laker offensive weaknesses which is the Lakers guard struggle against ball pressure good physical ball pressure and the Kings have a ton of quickness at the guard position to cause those sorts of problems and secondly Anthony Davis is an inconsistent over-the-top shot maker

And so bonis is quicker and stronger than him so you can beat him to spots and force him to make shots over the top some nights Anthony Davis makes all his hooks and jumpers and some nights he just can’t make him to save his life and

That that can be a problem uh and then on the other end of the floor it’s just a simple matter of like I actually like the Lakers against Over the Top Shot makers which is your Luca your uh uh your Kyrie obviously looking at even the Suns guys even looking at the Clippers

Guys even looking at the Thunder guys like the Lakers have done really well this year defensively against teams that rely on over-the-top shot making because they have good positional Defenders that can get contests on shots and because the Lakers do so much damage in the

Paint on the other end of the floor it brings a physical wear and tear element that can sometimes lead to jump shots missing I’ve seen a lot of complaints from people who don’t like the Lakers this year being like oh they got lucky this team missed shots oh they got lucky

This team missed shots and they don’t realize it keeps happening because the Lakers play bully ball and that can have a wear and tear effect on the on the game whereas like with the with the kings in particular obviously dearen Fox is having a great pull-up shooting year

Obviously we know Malik monk can hit pull-up jump shots obviously we know Harrison Barnes and Keegan Murray and Kevin hder and these guys can shoot but their the primary driving force behind their offense is actually a downhill Force element it’s it’s Daren Fox and Malik monk it’s it’s deis sabonis in his

Power game so like they’re they’re a team that think plays more directly into the Lakers weaknesses on both ends of the floor all right quickly Warriors starting with you Logan uh who’s the one team you want to avoid if you’re the warriors uh ironically uh it’s La I

Think that matchup is going to be a battle I think that they just match up really well against each other uh like Carson said earlier I don’t think golden state has an answer for ad it’s like uh you know I think at the top of the draft we were doing Prospect breakdowns the

Other day it’s like they don’t have a big Zoo they don’t have a hardenstein they don’t have a Robinson and like just having a big kind of a big body uh like a I think if Golden State could somehow swing it like a Donovan Clingan or somebody like that like an immediate

Impact Big Body Center would be really effective I think for a team like Golden State where you could run different types of defensive coverages you just have a you know you just have a physical answer a guy that just matches up well against any big body uh in Golden state

Has not had that with Looney slightly tailing off this year you know what I mean he’s not the same guy he once was uh I think they could get physically overwhelmed again I’m not counting them out um and this isn’t a shot it it Sacramento as a Kings fan I

Just kind of have a sinking feeling that Sacramento is not going to get it done and then Phoenix I don’t know about you guys Phoenix doesn’t really scare me at all I just think they can’t play defense so uh ironically I think the Kryptonite for both of these teams is a matchup

Against each other um and it kind of seems like that’s the Collision Course that we’re headed on so for both teams I’d say it’s La Golden State I think it’s La for Golden State because of a lot of the reasons that I laid out earlier and just to mention Phoenix

Because I do think they’re obviously a very talented basketball team I just don’t necessarily identify them as a tough matchup for a lot of people because it feels to me like they are just very dependent on what level of shot making are we going to get from our

Stars and generally when I think about matchup it’s like okay what do you have that is going to make X team uncomfortable and because of their lack of defensive grip because of their lack of physicality overall I don’t think Phoenix is really going to shine there

It’s going to be like what level are Our Stars playing at and how is their difficult shot making but I think it’s La again I think it’s the star Advantage I think it’s the physical Advantage I do think vand coming back is a real problem at the point of attack just able to

Hassle Steph off ball uh I think we saw how effective their pick and roll coverages were with both him and ad against Steph last year in the playoffs and so I think it’s pretty clearly the Lakers who the Warriors want to avoid yeah I think it’s the Lakers too I think

If in the event that they won a game against the Lakers let’s say that they get the nine seed and they go to Oracle and they win or they happen to upset them at at crypto the team that I’d be most worried about if I was Golden State

At that point is Dallas um they have they have the interior size um and length with Dereck Lively uh I actually I go back and forth with Gafford and Lively uh but I I think in that specific matchup I’d really like doing some of the stuff that a lot of teams have done

Against the Warriors where you top lock funnel and and basically just count on dererk gelyy to be kind of a deterrent at The Rim um you know playing off of the non-shooters so yeah I’d probably lean towards Dallas in the event that they escape the Lakers but I agree with

You that the Lakers to me the Lakers are when healthy with Jared Vanderbilt the best team out of that playin group um overall uh uh even including the Pelicans just when they’re actually healthy uh but that again like I I think I think Jared Vanderbilt being out has

Made the Lakers look so physically overwhelmed at the on the perimeter but like little little things like when V’s in there it just slots everything so much better now Austin Reeds is guarding the second best perimeter player which is something he actually can handle as opposed to being in a struggle position

Uh Jared Vanderbilt’s one of their best defensive rebounders at the forward position he’s so much better offensively this year than he was last year mainly because of the system that they’re using like I think I think the Lakers are very much just in the pack right now but when Vanderbilt’s healthy like they’re

They’re legitimately in I I look at them more in that tier with the teams below Denver at the top uh when they’re actually healthy the thrill and excitement of March Mania is here and draftking Sportsbook one of America’s top rated Sportsbook apps is giving new customers a shot to turn five bucks into

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Is more set the nine and 10 seeds are set Chicago’s at the nine Atlanta’s at the 10 that’s most likely not going to change we do have three teams tied at 31 losses though the Pacers with a 13th toughest remaining schedule 51% opponent win percentage the 76ers a 20th toughest

Remaining schedule 48% opponent winning percentage the heat fourth easiest remaining schedule 47% in opponent winning percentage so on this one what I’d like to see is just for fun and we’ll start with you Carson what with with number one being Boston two Milwaukee three being Cleveland what’s your ideal set of

Matchups for the first round just as a basketball fan what would you prefer to see in the Eastern Conference first round as the survivors from the plane so I think there’s potential for some pretty fun matchups here just because of the Heat doing their normal regular season routine where they have these

Brutal stretches and obviously they had some injuries early in the year but just being way down there in the standings and then obviously Philly dropping far because of the embiid injury so I think there’s a couple of dangerous first round draws for the top seeds I would

Like to see Celtics heat in the first round just because I think that would be a fantastic test for this Boston team see how different they really are than previous iterations and I think that they are for what it’s worth I think they’re significantly better than last

Year but if anybody’s going to make them uncomfortable it’s Miami and I would just love to see that rematch there’s just a pretty fun history in recent years between those teams in these high stakes playoff matchups then I would like to see Buck Sixers and these are

Both very plausible I mean Miami and Philly are both in that playin range right now I just think that seeing MB yanis would be a super fun first round matchup I think seeing what Tyrese Maxi could do against a bucks point of attack defense that obviously still has its

Issues would be fun I think seeing uh the Dame Maxi matchup overall would be really exciting and I think getting two of the top five players on the planet two huge physical guys like embiid Giannis matched up that would just be really exciting and those are two really

Good teams I think Philly’s obviously much better than their seed this year then I have Cavs Pacers just as a sort of leftovers matchup I think that Cleveland is pretty clearly better there the Pacers have just been buming me out ever since hie came back from the

Hamstring just CU he’s not even close to the same player so I loved watching him I loved watching their offense early in this year I think that he is still very much the future but right now he’s just limping through this season and I’d like

To see AUM fit but when he is nothing close to himself when he can’t get a step when he’s settling for all these brutally pullup threes like the Pacers aren’t that fun and they just aren’t that good because they need that offense to be great and then I have Orlando

Against New York because I think that would be a really fun defensive-minded matchup that would be a kind of throwback series just in terms of the grittiness the physicality you have some big forwards in this matchup if it’s fron if it’s Palo if it’s Julius Randall obviously oan anobi as a defensive

Counter and I would kind of enjoy the defensive chess match between these two teams and Orlando is a fun young team I personally don’t think they really have the offensive ceiling to make noise in this playoff run I would definitely take New York I think healthy New York is a

Really scary playoff team but I think that would be an interesting matchup for both these teams and I think it would just present some discomfort inherently by their play Styles I think as long as Atlanta and Chicago get bounced I think the first round’s going to be awesome as long as

We can remove both of those teams it’s going to be a good time I I I flopped on some of these I think a rematch of Cavs Knicks would honestly be really fun um seeing if Cleveland can make adjustments and just the fact that New York that

Battle of the Interior guys man Allen and Moy versus Robinson and Randall hardenstein that was awesome last year Watching those guys battle like you talk about a throwback series we kind of got it last year and I’m I’m honestly down to to double down and get that again

This year and see if Cleveland can make adjustments if Knicks can uh just go in there and handle business uh I like I really like Philly versus Milwaukee I think that I mean what Tyrese Maxi has done in the absence of Joel andb this season has been like astounding um you

Know I knew Maxi was great but seeing him this year without having a a guy to rely on um like embiid Maxi’s pullup shooting his command of the offense the way he’s controlled the game I’ve been super impressed with him so I think I think it would be an offensive showdown

Between them and Milwaukee obviously I’m going to take Milwaukee if emb’s not healthy and then on the Miami point I want to ask you guys I think Miami matches up because they just got the heat culture I think they’re better than last year with the Improvement of guys like Triple J yovic

They add in Terry Rosier is it wrong of me to question if Jimmy Butler is going to be good to go for this playoff run like it’s it’s rubb me the wrong way that we haven’t and I know Jimmy and Miami do do this every year but Jimmy’s

Just been so consistently out like you know missing games if it’s I don’t know is it wrong of me to be concerned if Jimmy Butler is going to be good to go come playoff time be my guest man our our our friend Ryan Brumley has uh has always said that

He hates Miami and Jimmy because because uh because they always take the regular season off and it just makes them really difficult to evaluate in that regard to which point I agree yeah I don’t know Jimmy’s been banged up year after year he generally shows up in the playoffs

And ball I wouldn’t be the guy to be throwing around a bunch of anti- Miami takes right now and listen I’ve been that guy I’ve been that guy and I still am sitting here saying that they’re probably gonna lose first round I mean that’ll depend on the matchup but I

Think Jimmy’s gonna be fine uh so I obviously Boston Miami is the easy one you just want to see that that’s a fun rematch um Milwaukee Philly I I I understand the appeal there and I’d be lying if I if I said I wouldn’t enjoy that as a basketball fan but part

Of me really like just for embiid’s sake just hopes that Philly misses the playoffs this year because like I just I don’t want him to rush back and then look like a shell of himself and lose in the first round again and then just further exacerbate The Narrative

Surrounding him like I think embiid is eventually going to break through in a big way in the post season and I’d almost rather have him just sit out the rest of the season than manage his knee more diligently next year stop worrying about regular season awards and just get

To to April healthy and then and then and then have him try to make a run at that point but that said obviously I’d have fun seeing Milwaukee Philly in the event that Philly misses the playoffs the team that I think would be really fun to see against Milwaukee is a a fun

Firstr opponent is Chicago they have a plethora of perimeter Defenders to throw a Damen Lillard to make uh to make work extremely hard they have a lot of perimeter speed in general which is a weakness for their set of perimeter shot creators between guys like Kobe white demard de R

Rozan they would be comfortable most of the series going against uh Milwaukee’s perimeter options and then like Chicago with Andre Drummond and nicoa vich they actually have a decent amount of interior size uh which I think would help in terms of the building of the wall type of stuff going on when you’re

Trying to defend Giannis in a playoff series so obviously I’d pick Milwaukee to win that series but talking about a fun first round matchup obviously that’d be a good one Cavs Pacers 100% with you on that front although Cavs Nicks would also be a fun kind of like rematch type

Of situation Hal Burton dude like I think I I don’t know about you guys have either of you ever had a hamstring strain I have not so I had one before I played in college this was when I was very young I was like 18 19 years old and I ended up

Reinjuring it a few times before it finally got healthy and I like literally there was a lengthy stage where I just didn’t trust it at all to like really take aggressive steps and with Tyrese Alberton specifically when it comes to beating switches he needs to take those

Like really aggressive long steps to get to his spots and I just don’t think he’s in a good place physically right now and I think it’s starting to hurt his confidence which is starting to hurt even his wide open jump shooting and I like I’m with you Carson I’m a big

Believer in halberton in the big picture but he’s just not close to for right now which is which is which is unfortunate and then Orlando New York like you could not script a better just old-fashioned 1990s ass kicking of a series that that would just be that would just be a ton

Of fun all right moving on to the top of the conference though I’m interested in kind of talking about Boston and Milwaukee as it pertains to the Future because both of these teams with the exception of a player option for Drew holiday which he may or may not pick up

We’ll see but both of these teams their starting fives are more or less locked up for the for the next season and and more for some of the other guys so with that being the circumstance who who has more urgency to win a title this year Boston or

Milwaukee we’ll start with you Logan urgency is an interesting word because if you think that Damen Lillard is GNA fall off next season or if he’s not going to turn this around uh I’d probably say Milwaukee that being said I think it’s interesting uh I was talking

With one of my friends about how long it takes like stars to gel with teams and so I wonder if it’s just a year of growing pains right even LeBron Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch didn’t get it done in their first year in Miami and so I

Wonder if it’s just a a time thing I think it’s a Personnel thing with Milwaukee the fact that they don’t have point of attack defense that they don’t have you know they got a lot of Aging guys on their roster that they’re getting older I I also do think it’s a

Chemistry thing and and something that may improve with time um I think Boston has more pressure but I think the team that needs to get it done more is probably Milwaukee with their aging Superstars that being said I don’t really see a path for Milwaukee I’ve kind of been off Milwaukee for a

While I think it would take a serious injury to another team I I honestly think the Knicks are probably my second favorite team in the Eastern Conference uh including Milwaukee I would say urgency wise I think there’s probably more pressure on Milwaukee just because they have so many

Older guys on their team that you know I could see Brook Lopez taking even a further step back I could see Damen Lillard maybe taking another step back next season um I’d say urgency wise you know Boston’s younger there’s a ton of pressure on Boston man because they keep

Hitting their freaking head on the cealing man and it’s you just you keep wondering like when are they finally going to break through you know 2018 you go seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals against LeBron 2020 you losing six to the heat in the Eastern Conference Finals you collapse in uh the

NBA finals against the Warriors in 22 and then Miami slams the door in your face again and so you know it’s frustrating and I think there’s a lot of pressure mounting for Boston but they’re not going anywhere they’ve got a culture they’ve got the players locked up

They’ve got a ton of talent they’re going to be back here probably the next couple Seasons so I think Boston has more pressure but I think there’s got to be a lot more urgency uh for Milwaukee man they’re just older and uh I mean I can see this and I didn’t even mention

Middleton you know Middleton’s another guy with health concerns with aging with him potentially losing a step it’s just I can see Milwaukee definitely knows diving uh after this season Boston’s probably a perennial Contender despite how frustrating they are they’re they’re going to be back there’s definitely more urgency for

Milwaukee they’re just in a much more precarious position they’ve gone all in on this core comprised mostly of dudes who are in there early and mid-30s outside of Giannis who himself is still 29 I mean he’s not as young obviously as Jason Tatum is the Cornerstone and there are legitimate basketball flaws here

That they have not been able to reconcile up to this point with the point of attack defense the Dame thing Logan you talk about if it’s fit I absolutely think that that is a factor I think that we still have not seen Dame and Giannis unlock the potential that

They have with their Twan game I think that there’s still a really high ceiling there but there’s just a bit of synergy and feel between the two of them that they haven’t totally tapped into and just the volume at which they run Giannis Dame pick and roll has not been

High enough in my opinion and so then you have Dame running a bunch of pick and roll with Brook Lopez and it’s very stagnant and you know that he’s popping every single time and so Dame shot quality has gone down I think if he were running more pick and roll with a

Legitimate Rim threatening athletic big that would just be better for everybody involved I also think Dame has lost a bit of a step this year though I think in terms of quickness and he’s getting to the rim at a career low rate like he’s been on a really good stretch these

Last three games and I think he’s capable of exploding but this is not the Damen Lillard that was advertised this is not the Damen Lillard that we saw last year who had maybe the offensive season of his career and so that’s just frightening when you consider that’s

What you’ve gone all in on and that was supposed to be like the miracle drug that was supposed to be the thing that would solve everything fix your halfcourt offense and from that point your backline defense is good enough you’re going to contend you have Damon

Yannis you have the best duo on the planet if that formula isn’t great enough then Milwaukee’s in a really tough spot because the rest of this roster just isn’t even close up to par with what Boston has Boston has this team of super soldiers man this starting

Five that is just unfair and uh they are younger and they are healthier at this point like I’m more worried about Chris midleton being healthy for a playoff run than Kristof porzingis and he’s older and Milwaukee’s just slow but because of their age so yeah there is definitely

More pressure on Boston in the sense that hey you guys are overwhelmingly talented you are the team that hasn’t done it yet Milwaukee I’ll be it with Drew holiday instead of Damen lard like most of these core guys have gotten a ring but if you are talking about actual

Circumstantial urgency like if you guys don’t do it this year you’re going to have to start asking some big questions like maybe Boston would be so disappointed that the city eats it self alive and they burn down Boston then that’s a problem but we know that they

Could come back next year and still be the most talented team in the league and Milwaukee doesn’t have that luxury yeah the the way you both put it is perfect I would say Boston is more pressure and Milwaukee has more urgency the pressure basically just meaning

Boston is expected to win and so if they don’t there’s obviously a certain level of like backlash that will come from every basket like Boston’s in a position where like if they don’t win it this year no one will ever believe in them until they actually hoist they could be

Up 3-2 in the NBA finals and no one would would believe it until they actually hoisted the trophy the breakdown of the uh uh the age that you the ages of the the starters that Carson kind of w over is something that I think a lot of people don’t realize like as of

Next year all five of Milwaukee starters will be in their 30s and this is a team that already has a certain amount of of a lack of foot speed and like even Giannis is starting to succumb to some injuries which has become a little bit more prevalent over the last few years

This hamstring thing he’s dealing with has been a little tricky as he’s been not as vertically athletic as as we’re accustomed to seeing with Giannis so yeah like in terms of the urgency it really is that simple you look at Boston both of the Jays and chrisos porzingis are still firmly in

The heart of their Prime in their late 20s as of next year both Derek white and Drew holiday will be in their 30s but they both look really good physically right now and are more or less uh you know reliable in that regard and so just with Milwaukee to put it simply there’s

Just a shorter window even as you look at Boston they’re still improving Jaylen Brown is playing the best basketball of his career right now Jason Tatum is since January 1 in a 35 game sample size is taking six pullup threes per game and shooting over 40% on them so all those

Conversations which by the way were legitimate this is new information we always have people that are like oh take back everything you said about Tatum it’s like actually he used to miss them now he makes them it’s a difference but like but like literally uh for three

Years Tatum was a high volume pullup three-point shooter and and couldn’t make them at a at a high enough clip he was in the low 30s and now he’s hitting them at 40% and so Tatum’s getting better Jaylen Brown’s getting better chrisop porzingis in the last two three

Years has made significant leaps as a player Derek white has gone from being like a interesting young guard Prospect to like a useful role player to like a borderline Fringe star in terms of his overall impact on both ends of the floor and then Drew holiday as a fifth starter

You really can’t do much better than that and so Boston just has more room to grow that’s what’s so funny is even if Boston loses this year everyone will roast them everyone will have fun at their expense and then they’re going to be right back next year kicking

Everybody’s ass again uh on the Milwaukee front though I want to be clear even though they’re under more urgency and even though they’re not as good as Boston there’s a lot of encouraging stuff there as well like some of the issues with the two-man game

You had mentioned some of that has to do with the fact that as is starting to kind of figure it out Giannis has been dealing with some injury issues Chris Middleton has been out of the lineup uh for a good chunk of this year and now he’s finally back Damen Lillard you

Mentioned it Carson backto backto back 30-point games for just the second time this season but zooming in on it a little bit further in his last 13 games on nine three-point attempts per game he’s shooting 44% from three so Dame has been in a good offensive Rhythm uh I i’

Had been seeing throughout the the year enough to make me believe that this was less about Decline and more about learning how to play with this particular group in terms of the geometry of the floor and just where his touches come from and I think we’re starting to see some of that come

Together and so I think Milwaukee is still every bit as potent and capable as we thought they were to begin the season it’s just been a disappointing season because Dame was so bad for so much of it and because honestly the Adrien Griffin issue as well uh has to be

Factored in there so I definitely think Boston has more pressure but Milwaukee definitely has more urgency moving out west so Nicole jic polishing up the jumper getting ready for the postseason um Jamal Murray obviously has been playing at an All-Star level the nuggets have lost just twice since the

Allstar break and both of those losses involved a last second shot that either sent it to OT or ended the game um they have had multiple probably about half dozen just ridiculous halfcourt ass kicking sessions that they’ve put on at the end of games to put things away I

Denver just seems like a freight train to me and so I’m gonna present this question to you guys like this and I’ll start with you Carson would you take Denver or the field at this point to win the NBA title it’s a really good question I would probably take Denver

But I don’t think there’s a big gap between them and Boston I’m very confident that one of those two teams is going to win the title I think that Boston is the most overwhelmingly talented and I think that as a basketball team they have the highest ceiling with the level that Jaylen Brown

Has been playing at as of late if you got if you get christops porzingis consistently knocking down his shots from the perimeter which he didn’t really do when they played Denver and he was getting good looks there just the overall athleticism that they have the combination of perimeter defense and

Interior defense the fact they’re a good rebounding team they have two star shot creat jaylen’s been balling Jason’s having a career season they can go on these flame throwing runs from Deep they lead the league in three-point volume and they’re second in terms of their percentage there so the ceiling that

They have is incredibly High I do still think that Denver is a bit more reliable though because their offensive Brilliance is truly inevitable they are never going to break down in terms of process they are never going to experience the swings in terms of perimeter shot making that although

Boston ceiling is very high we saw the Difference Maker in their matchup and Boston fans may say oh well we had a just miserable shooting game from deep but so did Denver Denver made four threes in that game they could not knock down a shot from the perimeter and they

Have one advantage that nobody else in the league does which is that that offensive machine just keeps churning because of nikolic’s interior dominance offensively because of his ability to create quality shots in and around the paint for Cutters for Aaron Gordon in the dunker spot thought Jamal Murray’s

Mid-range shot making like Denver is less susceptible to shot variant than anybody else in the NBA they won two games in the finals last year where they made five three-pointers or fewer nobody else did that in the entirety of the postseason nobody else can survive off shooting nights like Denver and by the

Way they’re a really good shooting team but they don’t need to be to win every single game and I think that that’s a huge Advantage I think they’re a top three offense of this Century I mean particular l in the clutch the shot quality they can create with either a

Niik yic post up obviously I think he’s the best post scorer on the planet and the best score period and he can get any of those touch shots and make 65% of them no matter who’s on him but if you dig he’s going to create a good shot for

A shooter if you double from the paint he and Aaron Gordon have maybe the best two-man chemistry that I’ve ever seen and so there is an inevitability there whereas Jason Tatum yes has been on a really good pull-up shooting run but you can see these stretches from Boston

Where the decision- making from Tatum and brown isn’t great and they are susceptible to just down stretches in terms of perimeter shot making and Denver’s a really good defensive team too I think that obviously particularly on the perimeter they have uh some good athletes they’re not a team that is at

All easy to like pinpoint mismatches with I think about that a lot where you see it in the Mavs game recently for example where Luca is like trying to hunt switches and go at Jamal Murray late in that game and it’s still not super easy like Jamal’s still a 64

Compact pretty athletic guard so I think they’re underrated defensively and they’re the best offense in the league the offense that I trust the most by a good bit but I just can’t act like they are Head and Shoulders above Boston because I know what Boston is capable of

Boston has uh the most talented starting five that we’ve seen certainly since the peak Golden State Warriors I think this is a team that in most post-ww Warriors years like would be better than the champion I’m interested your guys thoughts on that because I think Denver is the strongest Champion we’ve seen

Since those Warriors I think if you dropped this Celtics team against the 2019 field well Toronto just because golden state was hurt that year the 2020 Lakers are tough but the 2021 bucks 2022 Warriors I think this Boston team is so overwhelmingly talented that I would take them against most of those teams

And I think that’s a testament to how strong both these teams are I think that we are headed on kind of a collision course for one of the best finals of this Century I view both these teams very very highly I’m taking Denver and I

Agree with you I think it’s going to be a battle of the Titans if the Celtics are the Avengers joic is Thanos um and nice to me it comes down to one thing Jason made a I can’t remember what take you made it about Jason you were talking about how star

Players uh their teams assume the identity of their star player and I really think that that’s what it comes down to with both of these teams the Celtics leader is Jason t tatm and Tatum is susceptible to bad pull-up shooting runs uh settling for a lot of Threes And

So that’s what his team does a lot and I’m not putting that all on Jason Tatum’s shoulders but by and large they have assumed the identity of Jason Tatum and there is no team more in the NBA that I think has assumed the identity of their leader than the Denver Nuggets joic jokic’s

Impact his unselfishness not only creates open looks and open opportunities for his teammates but it makes his teammates more unself like watch a Nuggets game and it will blow you away when you’re watching Aaron Gordon kick it to mpj and mpj will swing it and it’s just it’s beautiful

Basketball Carson you talk about them being one of the greatest offenses of this Century it’s the most beautiful basketball it’s like the 20 uh 2000s and 2010 Spurs it’s like the 2010s Warriors the ball movement is unreal and that’s what it comes down to me like the

Entirety of the Nuggets team has assumed part of jokic’s ident is we’re going to play unselfish beautiful basketball we’re going to make that extra pass and it’s going to kill you it’s part in why the nuggets are so infallable when it comes to clutch offense because they are

Looking for that extra pass because they are looking to playmake for their their team is just so unselfish because their leader is and that’s the beautiful thing about the nuggets and that’s why I can’t pick against them I do think the Celtics are probably the most talented team

We’ve seen since the Warriors even with like the 20 and the 2020 Lakers are probably the closest but there’s a depth advantage that the Celtics have that the Lakers don’t have uh when you’re comparing those teams Apples to Apples so I don’t want to undersell Boston but

What it comes down to me is the fact that both of these teams uh you know buy into their identity their culture their leader I trust Denver’s culture and their leader more and uh I think it is permeated to the rest of the roster in a

Way that you seldom see with teams man like their unselfishness is unreal and that’s why I uh that’s ultimately why I buy in Camp bet against Denver also the fact like you mentioned Carson you got mpj just banging Nails on contested threes uh every one of their players has

Something that they can kill you with man if it’s an Aaron Gordon dunker spot lob if it’s it’s coming um I do think the nuggets are inevitable and I would really be surprised if they didn’t win the title to be clear I have Denver as my Championship favorite and I’m more

Confident in them now than I was even to start the season they have I think they’re just better than they were last year I think they have more well-defined roles and more well defined processes on both ends of the floor even than Boston does which I

Think allows them to kind of reach their ceiling more frequently than Boston does even though I agree Boston’s ceiling is higher uh Carson I thought the bit you did on their lack of Reliance on on uh on variance was super super interesting that stat about the five made threes in

The finals that’s absolutely crazy and I mean that I think that reflected in the Celtics games they got outshot by Boston in both games on jump shots in terms of jump shot efficiency and both of those teams are good jump shooting teams they’re both top 10 jump shooting

Teams in the league by a point per shot efficiency and so like their ability to weather that kind of storm and again then I think like one of the big ones too is just Denver knows exactly like their hierarchy in big situations Boston can get a little bit finicky on that end

And they they don’t really know what they want to run which I think is part of the reason why they get in consistent that said winning four Championship rounds is really really hard and even though I would put I would pick Denver over the field in the Western Conference

I think once you throw in that Boston variable I think like I think it it’s just a it’s a lot to say Denver winning over anybody else as an option and so even though I’m more confident than Denver or in Denver than I have been at all this season I still think like

There’s a less than 50% that they win just because of all of the variables that go into it I would pick them I will pick them in every series I will pick them against Boston if they get to the finals I agree with you Carson I think

It’s going to be an all-time great series uh that said I I I think there’s there’s obviously like just a ton of variance in the NBA I mean even just looking back to the simple fact that we haven’t had a repeat uh conference finalist in the last five years just

Goes to show you the the the the stuff that you can run into in a postseason series not to mention the injury risk uh along the way to like it’s just there’s just always a chance that maybe Jal Murray will go down or Michael Porter Jr

Will go down before you get there and obviously as we know Denver Synergy depends so much on all five of those guys being healthy and so yeah I I think I think Denver fans should feel very confident uh but if I was you know forced to pick Denver or the field I’d

Pick the field just because I think the field is all unless you’re picking like Tiger Woods in his prime uh to win a major like it’s hard to it’s hard to go against the field in these sorts of situations all right before we get out

Of here today we’re going to have a fun game we’re going to go rapid fire style we’re going to start with Logan I’m gonna give you I have six of uh I I don’t want to call them bad takes sometimes I think hot takes are good takes just for entertainment sake let’s

Just call these let’s call these takes that I vehemently disagree with okay I’ve got I’ve got six of them what I want to do is we’re going to go back and forth we’ll go rapid fire style I just want you guys to give your initial reaction like what your what Your

Basketball mind screams when you see something like this when you’re scrolling through your phone in the morning over some coffee like a spit take and then and then what comes next all right so Logan you’re up first this is from the famous Hooper Twitter account ball don’t stop the three highest scoring players

Ever meaning Kareem Abdul Jabar and uh Carl Malone and LeBron James wouldn’t really be considered pure scorers but their durability was insane and and their scoring Arsenal just worked so well and efficiently they really outlasted everyone from their era and the era after their era Logan how do you

Feel about Carl Malone LeBron James and Kareem Abdul Jabar not being considered pure scorers by the Hooper Community I don’t really know what that means I I mean what how do you score nearly 40,000 points or 40,000 plus points the only guy I’d say is probably Carl Malone

Because he was a John Stockton Merchant but that’s another conversation for another okayy um I mean yeah dude like Kareem and LeBron just have two of the most Unstoppable scoring skill sets of all time LeBron with the fact that he’s one of the greatest Rim pressures and most Unstoppable athletes ever and then

Kareem uh would just one of the most Immaculate post games and shots of all time so I don’t really understand I wouldn’t consider them like pure scorers because they do everything else but to not call them scorers is ridiculous they’re two of the greatest of all time

Uh that’s kind of ridiculous to me yeah totally unsurprising though coming from ball don’t stop especially and I think that there is a large group of the basketball Community who has a serious infatuation with basically the Aesthetics of one-on-one that boy nice that boy nice that boy nice in very

Little interest in the effectiveness Logan said it well like if you can’t stop something you can’t stop it what don’t stop setting that tweet about the effectiveness of it that’s what matters what should Define if somebody is a great scorer I mean pure score is such a

Nebulous term like what does pure mean that you also don’t excel in the other aspects of the game like is that something that we want to be Laing do we love cam Thomas because all he does is take tough shots and like yeah I like watching cam Thomas when he’s on like

You know he’s got a really Shifty movement Style and he’s got a deep bag and he’s a tough shot Creator but there’s a reason that there’s not a lot of teams banging on the door to get Pam Thomas there’s a reason that Jamal Crawford wasn’t as good as he was fun to

Watch a highlight tape of like these dudes who may have these awesome dribble combinations and maybe great difficult shot makers like if you aren’t getting to your spots if you aren’t making life easy on yourself offensively and especially if you aren’t doing the other things that matter in a basketball game

Playmaking defending rebounding Etc then you’re just not going to be that effective in an NBA game so I see this sort of thinking all the time to me it just doesn’t make sense like there is value in having a tough shot making skill set right like if you are going to

Try to run clutch offense through Giannis on tenta who may be a super effective scorer you’re going to have issues because if teams just fully commit to hey we’re Walling off the rim in this specific situation he doesn’t have the requisite counters but for most

Of the game I mean he’s just going to be able to get 30 efficiently because he has these Unstoppable traits and I think many people overvalue just how does it look when you score yeah I think I think it gets a little complicated when you’re differentiating between the Giannis

Types and like the the LeBron and the creem Abdul Jabar and the yices because it’s like there is some truth to the fact that you know giannis’s lack of skill polish can become an issue when he gets into the half court which is more complicated than just reading his point

Per game he’s a better score than Jamal yeah like it really you know but for sure yeah no you’re you’re 100% agree the uh but yeah like I the the hilarious part to me about this tweet is the the part that says their scoring Arsenal just works so well and

Efficiently and it’s like oh so that’s what a pure scorer is isn’t it like like that’s the literal definition the and then also like again so much of the aesthetic appeal like some of these guys like LeBron for instance uh I think honestly LeBron’s bag so to speak has

Been highly underrated under over the course of his career but also like Bully ball is the most effective and reliable form of scoring when you get to the later form later rounds of the playoffs that’s just a fact and lastly before we move on like the funniest thing to me is

Like the the 16 dribble combination pull-up jump shot is also like one of the hardest things to play alongside as a teammate like it it’s a rhythm disruptor and what’s so funny is like all these guys the the Carl Malones the Kem Abdul Jabar and LeBron’s their

Scoring came in a way that allowed other people to score well around them and like then you get these guys like Kyrie or not Kyrie’s more lumped in with just the way that Dallas plays but let’s talk about Luca for instance like Luca like you have to put play finishers around

Him because if you put other guys who can dribble shoot and pass around him they would never be in Rhythm because they’d be watching Luca take 17 dribbles on every single possession and so like what’s so funny is the specific type of style of scoring that he is referencing

Here is probably the kind that is like least it has a value but it’s less valuable than the other forms of scoring that exist out there okay next one this is not a quote but it’s come from several Miami Heat players so I’m just going to kind of reference it vaguely

We’re start with you Carson a few Miami Heat players have said that Chris Bosch was the most important player on the heedles because he was a stretch big uh even though he was on the same team with LeBron James what’s your reaction yeah that’s pretty hilarious That’s a classic

Case of people Galaxy braining things and making uh things more complicated than they are I don’t really have a bunch to say I mean LeBron was clearly the best player on the planet in both Miami Title years and just an absolute fulcrum both offensively and defensively his

Versatility in Miami was the best of his career his ability to play multiple Styles like I think the super heliocentric ball dominant LeBron that we got in the second Cleveland stin like his Mastery of the game intellectually was incredibly impressive but his ability to play off ball as well in

Miami with just that sort of freak athleticism I mean the best combination of his explosiveness from those first Cleveland years and his strength and then he was at his defensive Peak I mean LeBron was at one of the highest peaks we’ve ever seen from a basketball player

Ever and so I’m very happy that Chris Bosch was able to stretch the floor and obviously he was a very good basketball player but you take LeBron off those teams uh you see what happens like in the subsequent years and obviously dwade had diminished at that point and Chris

Bosch obviously had all of his health issues but like they were an okay playoff team after LeBron left and uh I think it’s very obvious that they would not have been contending and it’s like giving Iggy the finals MVP in 2015 sometimes we look at people maybe exceeding their value or doing one

Specific thing that is super valuable oh my God he guarded LeBron and he shot the ball really well and we want to reward that but it’s like who would you not be with in the F who would you not be there in the first place if you didn’t have

Well maybe it’s Steph Curry the guy who completely changed modern NBA offense and drove all the warrior success on that side of the ball so I think that’s a very silly take I mean credit to Chris Bosch for grabbing one of the most important rebounds in NBA history but uh

Yeah I just completely disagree with this one I’ll give I’ll give Chris Bosch credit for doing another thing too I think it’s important to when you have that accumulation of talent when you have two Bonafide guys who are maybe the best players on the planet um it takes

Sacrifice you know what I mean Chris Bosch had to sacrifice his role his numbers his uh view of you know his stance as a player in the league Legacy wise to go win championships that’s what championships take Sacrifice from guys you know taking a lesser role and doing

That role to Perfection and I’ll give Chris Bosch a ton of credit for doing that and being a a really underrated player I think he’s probably underrated now especially you know combined with the fact that he took a lesser role and the fact that you know his career was

Shortened because of blood clot issues that’s got to be one of the most hyperbolic takes or ridiculous like what what are we doing here man I mean that that version of LeBron’s one of the greatest players ever yeah I for the record love Chris Bosch a guy that I think was underrated

In a lot of ways because he wasn’t the same kind of like scoring force that he was in Toronto but like his willingness to embrace a role specifically as essentially a defensive minded stretch big for Miami was massively important to that team reaching its ceiling uh basically as long as he wasn’t going

Against Tim Duncan he was a very very good defensive player uh and towards the end in 2013 and 2014 his ability to knock down the three-point shot in particular was was was massively important that’s said uh Lebron James if you literally just went up to him in

That time and was like hey uh just do all the stuff Chris Bosch does for it he would do better than Chris Bosch does at that stuff he was a better shooter he’s better rim protector better like like literally LeBron James was better at being Chris Bosch than Chris BOS was at

Being Chris Bosch that’s how freaking good LeBron was in that time frame so like it’s just completely ridiculous for the record I’m a big believer in like like roster holes and value like it’s kind of like we talked about jar earlier because Chris Bosch was like the one big

They had that was skilled enough offensively to space the floor he certainly was valuable more valuable necess like I would say he’s more valuable than you would think given his skill set because of what that team needed but again that’s not Galaxy Brandon it’s LeBron James all right Logan you’re up next Lance

Stevenson quote my favorite player right now is Anthony Edwards he reminds me of me with the super green light oh my God what is what is your response when you hear that quote that could only come from Lance Stevenson wow um who does Lance Stevenson think he was Anthony Edwards without a super

Green light bro I mean yeah I don’t really have anything for that one man I don’t what did Lance Stevenson ever do he had a couple good point he had a couple good playoff runs man I like Lance too dude he was a good when I was a kid dude those Pacers teams

Were some of my I loved watching that team grow up I hated the heat so much as a kid man watching those Pacers teams Danny grer Roy Hibert Paul George David West those were awesome teams to watch man and I died a little inside watching them get just crushed uh in the Eastern

Conference Finals those heartbreaking final games um and Lance Stevenson was a cool deterrent you know blowing in the ear pissing off LeBron a little bit I lik Lance a lot man um zero zero comp there’s there’s zero there’s zero comp for that man that’s uh wow dude Lance is in the g-league right

Now like Lance what are you talking about man is that what he’s doing he’s playing what he talking about grinder so there’s still a hope he just needs that green this is a good take this is a good take from Lance and we must not forget

That in the 2014 season he had five triple doubles back when that really meant something before the triple double did devalued by these Mo modern St patting big guards I love this from Lance dude it seems like everybody wants to be Ant these days ant definitely has

An aesthetic that I think captivates a lot of people personality play Styles athleticism obviously and you know what Lance if that’s what you want to believe man then you go right ahead and believe it I’m a huge Lance Stevenson fan uh obviously he had his limitations as a

Player but he was just fun and he was good for the league and like his battles with LeBron were fun even had like that fun phase with with LeBron with the Lakers in that 2019 season where you like obviously he wasn’t a super high level contributor for them consistently

But he had his moments there where like he hit some big shots and you know danced for the crowd and that sort of thing to me it’s just a classic case of like Lance is a supreme confidence guy and so I’d be surprised if he didn’t feel this way about himself it’s the

Identity that carried him to the NBA and so I actually respect it uh next one this is this one for you Carson to start from our colleague Gilbert Arenas who obviously we love Gilbert Arenas Gilbert Arenas uh was a foundational part of my basketball experience growing up as a

LeBron fan those of you guys who remember LeBron with the Cavs it was those battle with the battles with the Wizards early on I also think he’s one of the most talented people in the sports media space that said had a take that I don’t necessarily agree with I

Shouldn’t say I don’t necessarily agree with I vehemently disagree with f there’s two phases to this one the first quote the NBA took away aggression to open up the Euro league when they first started getting here it was too rough for them and they didn’t make it so

Eventually they softened the rules to open up International and then later on I know what they can do Arena said get rid of all the Europeans some of his colleagues burst into laughter at the Absurd idea but Arenas appeared to be completely serious you go to college to learn defense

Arenas continued what college did Europeans go to they don’t deserve to they don’t go to college whatsoever they have no athleticism they have no speed no jumping ability they are a liability on defense there’s €150 EUR in the league today name the top 10 Defenders none just Rudy goar and jannis and tenac

Kmo other than that they’re just offensive players they’re not defensive players what was your feeling on that position taken by Gilbert Arena card yeah this is a real for the books level bad take really bordering on some genuine xenophobia like that’s some pretty wild stuff at the end there and it’s just totally

Unjustified like I don’t understand the notion that they quote took the physicality out of the NBA for these European players when if you look at the best European players right now Janos sanmo LCA donic Nikola yic are those not three of the most Brute Force physical players in the

NBA period And by the way like the Euroleague is a more physical League they allow more physicality defensively so I think there was this long held reputation of European players as being soft in the NBA that I just don’t think is substantiated and obviously the point

About a lack of athletes is not true the point about a lack of Defenders is not true and we are continually seeing more and more great European talents who don’t look the same like obviously Luca and joic are not in the traditional mold of like a great NBA athlete I think it’s

Cool to watch guys who find ways to succeed in spite of that and they have their all-time special traits but like we have dudes coming up in this draft rash SAR like these dudes may be the top two picks in the draft niik a topic all of these guys Europeans from Over the

Continent with different play Styles I just think Gil missed on this one big time Europeans are dominating the NBA right now and are going to continue to do so for good reason and it’s because they’re really really really good at basketball yeah I have immense respect for Gilbert

Arenas he was my favorite player growing up I have a Gilbert Arenas Jersey hanging up in my room right now uh I love Gil man I my guy Washington you know I mean when I was a kid watching ball he was kind of the star on the East

Coast he was all the DC had uh I love Gil I also I just fundamentally disagree with the Euroleague part especially about the the physicality and also the Readiness that these guys come into the league to you’re playing against grown men from day one that are physical that

Also know how to play the game like they play a unselfish beautiful brand of basketball um and the physical part I think the physical part has a lot more to do with the referees than anything than you pointing to like a a certain group of people that play in

The league now I don’t understand that one at all and this is a tangent guys I know it’s off but also uh man dude refs really don’t know what they’re watching man did you guys see the Kansas uh yes oh my gosh dude sucks I mean how do you

Play I’ve played I just played pickup basketball man but it’s like dude like these refs I think this should we need to do one of two things with the refs they either need to mandatorily play like an offseason of basketball where they play like pickup games against

Other refs so we can give them real basketball experience I love this idea or we need to find them uh and we need to take money out hold on hold on that was a real Heat of the Moment very quick bang bang play that he missed that wasn’t a

Misunderstanding of basketball rules I agree like that was odd basketball moment you don’t normally see AA clean block at The Rim like that and then right just the way that his momentum is the way that he fell it was unclear in the moment they should just have a review system that

They can in college and that was also my yeah your your point about the actual officiating in the big picture I agree with but I agree with Carson in the sense that like that’s a that’s a call like if it’s not a surprise yeah in the

Moment you think he hit him from behind that’s what happens most of the time he’s trailing the play it’s a really hard play he made it I don’t know the ref on the The Ref on the left hash seemed like he had a really good vantage

Point of the ball Logan is really pissed about this sford he’s going down with the this as as a basketball fan as a guy who enjoys playing basketball that just H it just makes your heart sink man when a guy makes such a IND to take that moment away from that kid

Uh it just hurt me as as a fan I you know what I mean you live for moments like those as as a player and as a a chase down Block in an NCAA Tournament game what does this have to do with Europeans in the NBA refs suck refs refs

Blow games refs need to play basketball and uh learn how the game works I was disappointed I think the physicality aspect is a is a ref issue and not a European issue man that’s also ridiculous to me so I am gonna go I’m because you guys

Have hit most of the notes on this Arenas thing I’m just gonna hit you guys with my take on why foreign basketball players are taking over the NBA I think it’s an indictment of our basketball development at all levels I think uh starting from I’ve seen it personally uh

With au coaches and just in general as we work up through the system I think that we are doing a poor job of training basketball players at all levels I think that there’s way too much of a focus on on ball development as it pertains to like uh dribble combinations and

Footwork which by the way I think is a monumentally important part of Player Development it’s something that I specifically do for uh for my basketball team that I coach that said that is all that is is a tool to use during the flow of basketball games but the flow of

Basketball games has so much more to do with learning how to play the game and I don’t think that we do a good enough job of that specifically and I talk a lot about lwh hanging fruit in the NBA and what what I mean by that is like

I look at highle skill development as a as a margin improver as a ceiling razor I look at the lwh hanging fruit as the actual meat and potatoes of basketball games and I think that’s why I’m such a huge fan of Denver I think Denver is one

Of the all-time great low hanging fruit teams uh they they they will make tough shots but they’re going to get all the easy ones that they can find in a game and I think in general I think honestly like the Gilbert had a reference to college honestly I think I think

Overseas guys are getting exposed to professional basketball earlier and that helps a lot and they’re playing with grown men earlier and they’re learning higher level basketball Concepts earlier and I think in general like There’s Hope Anthony Edwards is a major hope uh obviously Jason Tatum’s development is

Is something to keep an eye on but like we’re in a situation now where like the best players that are coming out of America are just not as good as the best players that are coming out from the rest of the world and I I I think if

This trend continues and if and if here in America we can’t kind of like revamp some of our basketball development I think we could be in a situation in 15 20 years where Team USA is no longer the uh the the favorite to win when we go into these overseas comp comp

Competitions as of right now I still think the US has a big Edge just um because of when everyone is healthy and they actually all go play I think learn that this summer I think I think the LeBron ad Tatum you know KD Steph group

Is going to run rough shot over the rest of the world but a lot of those guys are older and the day and age of of getting consistent you know top five type of prospects coming out of uh of America is is is fading and I just you know

Honestly like I just I just hope we can figure it out sooner than later because I do think that there’s some truth to gobert aren is talking about the quality of of the athletic gifts that we produce here from our American basketball players we we produce some incredible

Prospects but we’re just not developing them well enough and and I hope that we can uh figure that out over the years all right two more and then we’re out of here starting with you Logan this is from Nate Jones an NBA agent I actually think League Pass is a

Net negative for the NBA too much access to games has made games carry less weight SL meaning I think if you’re going to have league pass it should be very expensive except for maybe one or two days AEK what’s your take yeah dude let’s charge all the NBA fans way more

Money to watch a basketball game dude I hate that I hate that the NBA has fans man I hate that people watch the product if you’re gonna have an issue with games carrying weight why is it not a games played and scheduling argument instead of a viewership argument I mean for me

It’s like baseball I can’t watch baseball man it’s 162 games I don’t have time to keep up with what everybody’s doing and who’s hot here and you know what the reality of baseball is the only thing that matters is the final two months of the season when somebody’s hot

So it’s like you know what I mean I understand have an issue with maybe oh they play too many games or you know guys are tired and guys can’t stay healthy I understand that argument wholeheartedly yeah man let’s charge the everyday NBA fan uh let’s pinch all

Their pennies out of their pocket and make them pay an exorbitant amount of money to watch a basketball game um the real fans are going to watch the fake fans aren’t it’s really as simple as that that’s got to be one of the stupidest takes I’ve ever heard man

First of all I just want to say I love this game this is a lot of fun but this is probably the single worst take I’ve seen this year just because it makes absolutely no sense I mean Logan hit on it if you think that regular season

Games are devalued which I think a lot of people think shorten the regular season if it’s 72 games if it’s all the way to 58 games the problem of course is that that’s not financially viable for the league so perhaps Nate Jones really really likes the NBA like the league

Itself not the consumer and really wants the NBA to profit the most because like that’s the only logical explanation behind this take otherwise I don’t see why the burden would be on the people for something that is related to the product the volume of the product and I just love watching regular season

Basketball so I’m not going to complain about the regular season being too long even if 82 games I do think is a bit excessive at this point and obviously the NFL has an Advantage because it’s a 17 Game season every single game the stakes the uh weight of it is so

Significant and they do such a great job of packaging it where you can sit down one day watch it all day and then you’re totally in tune with what’s going on in the league that’s great that’s why the NFL is King I think it’s a big reason

But the NBA can’t replicate that you couldn’t with a 17 game sample size have like an appropriate regular season in the NBA obviously and so you operate within the reality which is it’s a longer season there’s some luls but it’s a lot of fun you get to watch a lot of

Good basketball and hopefully unless Nate Jones is put in charge you don’t have to pay $1,000 on a Tuesday night to watch Mavs pels I’d rather not personally he’s like Rob low wearing the NFL shield hat he’s the anti-in hood of the league he’s a league

Stand uh yeah I just think it’s funny that like it’s like you know what we have this issue not enough people are watching the NBA um so you know what we should do is make it so that they can’t watch the NBA like that that like I and I’m I’m a big

Believer in shortening the NBA regular season but yeah that that was a tough one for me all right last one before we get out of here coming to you Logan this is from an uh from a LeBron stand on Twitter your opinion on LeBron as a

Player and a person should be the number one question on every job interview or first date because to really believe that your hatred or even deep dislike for him is Justified as a Telltale sign of who you are and how you perceive the world Carson I know that you are happily

In a relationship right now but let’s pretend that you’re single and you’re out there dating um would you let’s just flip it around for you uh if if this person that you sit down for a date with does not think that joic is the best offensive player of this generation do

You immediately walk away from the table get out get him out of there no I think this speaks to a very deep emerging issue which we were talking about before we started recording which is that NBA stand culture is just completely out of control and I think people make their

Entire identities about these basketball players who ultimately have no idea they exist and like I love basketball dude and I am passionate about basketball and I’m passionate about my opinions about a bunch of careers of these different guys but I think it’s much healthier to make it about the basketball players and not

To pretend you have an intimate knowledge of LeBron as a person because you don’t you know how LeBron presents himself to the public and I do think he presents himself positively and I do think people who like think that LeBron is vile and hate LeBron maybe that does

Speak to something a little bit wacky with them or maybe something wrong with them but I also think if you believe that you know exactly who LeBron is and you dedicate your life to loving LeBron you probably want to look yourself in the mirror as well and I would not lead

Job interviews I would not lead dates I would not lead anything with how do you feel about LeBron James if you answer this incorrectly I think you are a bad person I mean Rick carlile’s go-to first question on the date was can you guard

Out of the pick and roll and you know I mean he’s got a great Point um true you know I think it matters for this guy because I think we finally found the dude with the LeBron bed sheets so if she says no immediately it’s like well

Dang man we can’t even go back now it’s over I can’t even show her my room um yeah man uh I think that’s how we should start all conversations I think you picked your Niche basketball player that you really like you gauge their opinion it’s like uh hey girl you really like

Dante exom well you know what do you think about Dante exom as a role player for the Mavs and then uh you should base everything off that D people really love LeBron man that’s kind of creepy that’s kind of weird man it’s a Well Carson hit it it’s a

It’s a it’s a uh it’s a trend for all of the players like whether it’s stephh there’s uh there’s of them for certain players than others joic is building a significant stand base Giannis has a pretty sizable stand base as well uh but yeah like it’s crazy I just imagine like

I just imagine because it’s crazy because there’s these people they literally wake up every morning and then they just they just fight the fight they fight the good fight from from 9 to five every single day I just I just imagine like Gerald Browski uh in South Park

When he’s being an Internet troll just like kind of cracking his knuckles and he’s like all right here we go Legacy time you know uh but like specifically yeah it’s funny because like I I’m you know LeBron is the person that got me to fall in love with the game of basketball

He’s my favorite player of all time God knows that I uh uh view him with great Regard in terms of my list all time too I have him just a hair behind MJ but like LeBron fans hate me because they they think I give him an unfair shake and that really should tell

You all you need to know about about how that kind of culture is gone and I 100% agree with you I think it’s bad for the discourse of the game I think we all get Dumber because of it I think uh in general it’s bizarre and weird um I

Think being a fan of a player is is totally normal but like taking it to that point I think is is is something that I think is bizarre but at the same time I think it’s here to stay because it’s only been getting worse and worse

Over the years and and it’s just a big part of uh of the way the game is discussed these days and just get ready because wemi is going to have a huge stand base and Luca like Luca has a big a big stand base as well it’s just a you

Know what it’s funny when you talk to these people like they’re they all think that that their guys the best in the world like every Luca fan for instance is is Thoroughly convinced that he’s better than joic and that you know every Giannis fan right now thinks that he’s

Being completely disregarded and that and that that’s what it becomes and it almost takes on like a political type of vibe where where it’s like you you you better take the company line otherwise screw you you know and and that’s where it gets it gets super bizarre all right

We’ve been going for over an hour this was fun fun though I really enjoyed this uh we’re going to have you guys on again before the end of the season to do some sort of playoff preview I think that would be fun but uh Carson why don’t you

Take a second to shout out some of the stuff you guys have been working on as absolutely well first of all as always had a blast appreciate you having us on Jason we are cranking out three shows a week we’re very much focused on the NBA

Right now so you can find all of that at our YouTube channel just the nerd s YouTube channel you can also listen to cross audio platforms and then we are doing some more intensive video breakdowns 10 12 minute video essay style stuff on specific NBA topics I’m

Trying to do one of those every single week so those are also on our YouTube channel and then if you want to check out some of the trivia stuff that we do on the NBA and the NFL a little bit of March Madness stuff too right now given

That that’s going on that’s across our social specifically on Tik Tok at nerd SES Parson Logan love having you guys on this was a ton of fun uh we have a uh a show I’m headed out of town from Sunday morning through Thursday morning but

When I get back on Thursday we have a there’s a big game on Wednesday night I can’t remember exactly what it is but we we’ll be covering that one so I will be back on Thursday I will see you guys then as always I appreciate you guys have a good Weekend

Jason Timpf is joined by the Nerd Sesh guys to discuss the NBA Playoffs Play-In picture as we head into the final month of the season. Who is more likely to survive a play-in game between LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers and Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors? Later, the guys debate who is under more pressure to win the NBA Finals: Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics or Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks? The guys continue by discussing whether Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets are an unstoppable force in their quest for back-to-back titles. What’s a better title pick: Denver or The Field? The show ends with Jason sharing his most egregious basketball takes of the year with the Nerds, and some very fun reactions.

Timeline:
00:00 – Who makes West play-in?
07:36 – Best chance to survive play-in: Lakers or Warriors?
16:30 – Who Lakers want to avoid
21:02 – Who Warriors want to avoid
26:40 – Ideal matchups in East first round
35:43 – More urgency to win title: Celtics or Bucks?
45:28 – Nuggets or field to win NBA Finals?
56:00 – Jason’s worst basketball takes of the year

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