Nightcap - Nightcap Hour 1: Wemby DOMINATES the Rockets + Jokic says Wemby will TAKE OVER the NBA + Lakers BEAT the Knicks without Bron + Jayson Tatum LOOKS GREAT vs Cavs + Pistons SELL vs Heat
Episode Date: March 9, 2026Shannon Sharpe, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Iso Joe Johnson react to the San Antonio Spurs beat the Houston Rockets 145-120, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks 110-97, and th...e Celtics beat the Cavs 109-98 and much more! Subscribe to Nightcap presented by PrizePicks so you don’t miss out on any new drops! Download the PrizePicks app today and use code SHANNON to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup! Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/NI... 05:51 - Spurs beat Rockets38:18 - Lakers beat Knicks57:19 - Celtics beat Cavs1:03:44 - Heat beat Pistons (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) #ClubSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Ready for a different take on Formula One?
Look no further than No Grip,
a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series.
Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1,
including the astrology of the current grid,
the story of the sports most consequential driver strike
and plenty of other mishaps, scandals, and sagas
that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent, dumpster fire
for more than 75 years.
Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is the biggest night in podcasting.
The countdown is on to our 2026 IHeart Podcast Awards.
Live from South by Southwest, March 16th,
we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year
and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry.
It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world.
Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display.
And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is,
see all the nominees now at IHeart.com slash podcast awards.
Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award.
Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app.
Audible.
There's more to imagine when you listen.
Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.
I'm Daniel Jeremiah.
And I am Greg Rosenthal.
I know that, Greg.
We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL off season.
This is where teams are built.
Free agency, combine, pro days, trades.
Every move matters.
From my draft boards and mock drafts to my vaunted top 101 free agents and how
rosters come together.
Quarterback movement.
Surprise signings.
We'll tell you what it means and who really wins.
Open your free IHeart radio app.
Search 40s and free agents and listen now.
Shoot your shot on prize picks and get $50 instantly in lineups when you play your first $5.
That's right.
Prize picks is now giving away $50 in lineups when you sign up and play your first $5.
Prize picks makes every dunk.
every dive, every board, even more exciting.
So don't miss a chance to get started on America's number one app for sports picks.
March is officially here, which means the best time of year for all you basketball fan.
The badness is upon us, and the league is in the final stretch before the playoffs.
Find your community on prize picks with new social feeds features.
You can share prize picks with your friends and copy lineups from winners with a single click.
Copy lineups you like or use them as inspiration for your own picks.
You can even follow prize picks partners like us and tell us fate our picks just with one click.
Get in on the action at prize picks.
It's now available in all 50 states, including California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia.
Prize picks are simple to play.
Just download the prize pick app today.
Use Coach Shannon to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
That's code Shannon to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
Pride specs, it's good to be right.
Hey guys, what's up?
It's your favorite unc.
Proud partner of Roe Sparks.
You ever had one of them nights?
Maybe you're watching a movie, you're laughing, she scoots in closer on the couch, and boom, it's on.
Now, in these moments, you can't be caught slipping.
You gotta be ready to perform like it's the big game.
You hear me?
And that's where Roos Sparks come in.
These bad boys dissolve right under your tongue, no worries.
And here's the kicker.
The dual action formula stays active for up to 36 hours.
Yeah. Now, you're not a wreck for 36 hours, but let's get this straight.
When the moment strikes you again, you're ready to perform again, again, and again, if necessary, ready to rise to the occasion.
With Rose Sparks, you get full of erections, you get more control, and everybody's leaving the room with a smile on their face.
Isn't that what we all want? That's what I call a win, baby. And check this out.
If you've prescribed new sexual health patients get $15 off their first order of Rose Sparks on a reoccurring plan.
Just go to RO.C.O.C.O. slash nightcap to find out if prescription Roebarks are right for you. Again, that's R.O. dot CO slash nightcap.
Now, fellas, you know your favorite. Don't got to keep it real with you. Sparks is a compounded drug product.
That means it's allowed to be prescribed under federal law but isn't FDA approved and doesn't have to go through their reviews.
For the full safety info, hit up row.com.
So, fellas, stay confident, stay ready, and let them sparks fly when the moment is right.
There's a reason why I talk trash doing pick up basketball, even when I'm losing, because if you don't let them know you came to play, they might forget you exist.
Just like the reason why Morgan and Morgan is America's largest injury law firm.
They've been doing business for over 35 years, fighting for people, just like me, just like all of you out there listening.
And when I say large, we mean large.
Morgan and Morgan has over 100 offices, more than 1,000 lawyers nationwide.
That's not a law firm.
That's a whole damn squad.
when hiring Morgan and Morgan is like hiring an army that has your back.
And the number speak for themselves.
They recovered over $25 billion for more than 500,000 clients, real results like in Florida.
One client got $12 million after the insurance company offered $350,000.
And in Pennsylvania, a client ended up with $29 million when the insurance best offer was $500K.
Wow.
If you're injured because somebody else was negligent, you deserve to be.
paid. Here's the thing. If you hire the wrong law firm, you might get beat before the game even
start. All law firms are not the same, and there's a reason why Morgan and Morgan is America's
largest injury law firm. If you've ever been injured, you can check out Morgan and Morgan. Their
fee is free unless you win. For more information, go to for the people.com slash nightcap.
That's F-O-R-the-people.com slash nightcap. Or you can dial pound law, pound 529, form your sale.
This is a paid advertisement.
Ladies and
thank you again for joining us
for another episode of Nightcap.
Y'all know who I am.
I'm your favorite uncle,
my partner and co-host.
The Bingle,
Ring of Fame,
honorary, a former pro bowler
and an all-pro,
that is Chad Ochosinko Johnson.
And the third member of the crew
tonight, the Big Three,
y'all know it,
Little Rock Arkansas native,
seven-time NBA All-Star
from the Atlanta Hawks
and recently nominated
for the Basketball Hall of Fame,
ISO Joe Johnson.
Joe, what to do?
What's up, fellas? What's up?
We're good, we good over here.
Thank you.
Please make sure you hit that subscribe button.
Please make sure you hit the like button.
Do us a favor.
Go subscribe to the Nightcap podcast feed wherever you get your podcast from.
We would like to thank you for your support and your continued support.
Thanks to your eyes, ears, and your word of mouth,
Nightcap has become the success that has become.
And because of you, we shall continue to grow.
Again, thank you for your support and your continued support.
Those looking to purchase a bottle of shade by La Portier,
Head over to Laporteurc cognac.com if it's unavailable in a state or city near you.
A premium VSOP cognac, the best tasting, smoothest VSOP congiat on the market.
But don't take my word for it, try it and compare it against other conyacs.
And you'll see it is the best cognac on the market.
Please drink responsibly and stay safe.
The Spurs beat the Rockets by the score of 145 to 120.
The Spurs had four players with at least 20 points and put, what?
Wow, almost had another had, what's it called him,
had Nick, Dylan Harper had 19.
Almost had five players with, uh, with 20 points.
Joe, this was a beat down from the beginning.
I mean, this was a close game, it was back and forth.
And then in the third quarter, the spurs, the spurs just exploded and just,
just went haywire.
Wimby was wimby, but when you get Champany,
was knocking down the threes like he was knocking them down.
Deeram Fox was sensational up and down the court.
And Stefan Castle, you know, we keep talking about guys, you know,
yeah, offensively.
But he's a damn good two-way player.
I've watched him over the last like five or six games.
He's taking the toughest assignment on the opposing end
and still giving you what he's giving you offensively.
Joe, when you watch the San Antonio Spurs,
how far do you think they can go when they're playing like this?
Can they really come out of the West?
Can they win an NBA championship?
Yeah, look, Uncle Ocho, what they've shown you is that those three times that they beat O'KC,
it was not a fluke, fellas.
It was not a fluke, ladies and gentlemen.
This team is deep.
They have so many guys that can beat you.
But you know what was glaring about this?
It was almost as if the Rockets was like two to three steps slower than the Spurs.
It's like the pace that the Spurs was playing at, OK, Ocho.
It's like the Rockets couldn't keep up.
Look, midway through the third court, I seen KD what we talk about.
When they complain to the rest, we know we got them.
Yep.
I seen Katie over there talking to the rest, his tongue hanging out of the mouth.
They're the random boys in the ground, man.
Hey, they got a lot,
Spurs got a lot of guys who they can throw at you
who don't mind playing defense
and can off the bounce and create opportunities
for themselves or others.
It's fun to watch, man.
And not even to mention Wemby.
Oh, my God.
I mean, yeah, they're destined.
Okay, Ocho, they can win it all.
Yes, yes.
They got 57 bench points.
You get 57 bench points,
and your starters play like they play,
endeavor.
of Buccell, he didn't have one of his better games.
He only had five points.
He was 0 of six from the floor or three from the three point line.
Oh, Joe, you watch San Antonio.
Look, Wimby, you can talk about Wimby, but there's so much more than a Wimby.
They look good, I mean, to piggyback off what Joe said, obviously me watching the game
tonight and Joe saying it looked like the Rocks were two steps behind.
It looked just like that.
Even though my understanding isn't great as his, I mean, with me not having the knowledge
that I do of the game.
I mean, it looked like that to me.
It seemed like they were lethargic.
I'm not sure what was wrong.
Or the fact that the spurs were just two steps ahead of everything that they tried to do,
whether it was in transition, whether it was offensively, whether it was defensively.
They played extremely well.
I'm not sure any team has the answer for Wemby.
I'm not sure what you can do to stop Wemby because he's good from anywhere on the floor,
anywhere on the court.
He can put the ball on the floor.
Hey, mid-range, I mean, in the goddamn pain, Joe, I'm not sure what they can do.
And like Joe did say what they've done to OKC, as great as OKC is as a team, even with the depth they have on the bench,
the spurs match up really well with them.
And I got a question for you and you and on, Joe, with the way the Spurs are playing, are they the favorite to win the championship this year?
Or is everyone still leaning towards OKC to do so in a seven games, I mean, in a seven game series regards to who they have to play?
Or the sport is the favorite.
Well, it's, it's, when you see them complete, when you see a complete game, the way they play tonight, today, Ocho, it makes you know, it makes you put them ahead of a lot of teams.
But for me, man, it's, it's the physicality that they play with on the perimeter, like just being in KD back pocket the whole game, making it tough for them to get to his spots, push and shoving the whole game, picking up four courts, all that plays into their victories.
Not only do that, not only that, but the guys.
that they have, man, Fox, Castle, Harper,
these guys go off the dribble so easily, bro,
and get to the basket.
If you can't guard, man, you're in trouble.
I'm sorry.
You ain't going to be to keep them boys in front of you.
I think the thing, Joe, when I watch them,
you're going to have to have somebody score
and they're going to have to keep Wembe away from the basket.
Because if you let him camp out from the basket,
you're not going to get any layups.
He's going to alter all your shots.
And you see guys, they come in and they're very hesitant.
Like, damn, I got to shoot this ball like 12 feet in the air
in order for me to have a chance to get it up.
Yeah.
And he'll let you think you got him beat.
He just spins a ride and whop, throw it out of the battle.
So the thing is that OKC does have a guy
that can play on the perimeter, which is Chet,
where you can take him away from the basket.
Yeah.
But if you're big cannot draw him outside of the paint,
you're going to have hell beating him.
Oh, yeah.
Like you said, now they do have multiple guys.
The thing that I love most about them is that when their starters go to the bench,
that shock troop come in and they give you the same.
same type of pace. They give me the same type of tempo. Now, obviously, Cornette is not as good as
Wimby, but when you come in with Harper and you come in with Johnson, man. And Brian, I like Brian
too. Yes. Yes. He, he, high energy. He can guard. Everybody out on the floor, he can guard.
They play the right way. It's fun to watch them play, bro, because they can beat you in so many
ways. But the attack that they have from them guards, man, the way they can get by their man so
easily, Ocho.
Bro,
you ain't going to want to see these.
Hey, Uncle Joe, honestly,
I mean,
based on what we'll be seen
from the spur so far this season,
I think, obviously,
if they're healthy,
if they remain healthy,
especially going into the postseason,
I think,
I think they got it.
They're going to raise that,
they're going to raid that trophy now.
You're going to put some money on them?
No, I ain't going to do that, Joe.
I don't want to put money on nothing
when I'm not control of the outcome, Joe.
Okay.
But I'm just saying if you had the bet, you would do the same, though, right?
Oh, it would be, if, who, boy, they're up there, Ocho.
I'm talking about, man, it's hard to go against them.
I'll tell you that.
It's going to be a definitely going to be a matchup.
I tell you what, I mean, Doug is not,
is not very pleased with the way they play defense.
They shot 58% from the floor.
They shot 52% from the three.
You're not beating anybody.
I don't give it down if San Antonio.
I don't care if it's, I don't care if it's, I don't care if it's, it's a,
Sacramento.
I don't care who it is.
You let a team shoot down there's 60% from the floor.
Over 50% from the three, you're going to lose by 20 points.
Hey, uh, Singoon, he can't guard nobody.
No, no, no, no, no, he's an offensive guy.
Hey, he's an offensive guy.
They put, they put the game so fast, they put them in them picking rows,
and they're getting the isolation.
They just penetrate, kicking a getting by and getting less.
But he's struggling, he's struggling playing at this pace.
Yes.
He's struggling playing at this pace because Wimby is just,
because he had that floating around a three-point line, block his shot.
He's just too much.
Hey, A-A-Onga-Joe.
And Wimby blocks a shot.
He'll 100 meters.
He's a great job.
Hey, Joe, when you get into a situation like that,
where obviously Sengoon is a liability on defense,
why not just go small?
You can't.
He's one of your, he's an all-star.
Damn, who are you going to put in there?
That's like, you play through him.
You know what I mean?
Like, a lot of the offenses ran through him.
I mean, hold on.
He's a liability on defense.
Now, we, we can't still, but he gives you so much offensively.
If you take, let's see, who are you going to put in there defensively?
You're not going to put Jeff Green, Phenny Smith is too small,
Isaiah Crawford, Clint Capella, but he gives you nothing offensively.
Holiday Okogie, Rees Shepard is an offensive guy.
So they have a bunch of offensive guys.
The problem is that Shungoon is used to getting the ball all the time.
What the addition, KD, KD got to get some touches.
Joe, you remember last year, Shungoon was an all-star.
Yeah, he was an all-star.
But you got to share some of those touches.
Yeah, I just don't, I think that's a tough cover for him, Guard and Wimby.
Like, that's a tough cover for Singoom, man.
That's a tough cover for him, Ock.
Wimby's a tough cover for everybody.
But if you think about it, look, if they play,
Chad is going to be a tough cover for him because Chad can play on the boundary.
Obviously, Joker is a tough cover for everybody.
There's no answer.
So we don't, we exclude Joker.
Joker, don't even talk about him
because ain't nobody doing anything with him.
The problem that you have when you're,
I made Joker pried himself on being a defensive team.
If you look at him with the Celtics,
hey, we're going to shut, yeah, we're going to shoot threes,
but we're going to play outstanding defense.
They don't have guys to play the type of defense
that he wants to play.
He got a couple.
It's really that simple.
Yeah.
They don't.
Yeah.
All things being equal, KD is phenomenal offensive.
But he's not a defensive guy.
Shingoon is not a defensive guy.
Now, I like Jabari Smith,
but really the only guy they got
that's on the defensive end
that's trying to hold it down
is Thompson and the Easton.
Yeah.
And when you got those young guys,
you look at that, what's the average age of San Antonio?
23, 24, maybe 25?
Young.
They're getting up and down.
Man, they got some hoopers, bro.
They got some straight hoopas.
And they go every five to six minutes,
they're coming in with a new set.
Yeah.
Well, good look, keep it up with that.
Because look, they're top heavy.
And most teams are.
So don't think I'm saying.
But when you look at the most of their points,
when you get 57 points from your bench and you getting consistent play night in and night
out, Dylan Harper was what, Western Conference rookie of the year?
And you got Kelton Johnson coming off your bench.
Kelton Johnson can stop for a lot of things.
Dylan Harper probably should be in the starting lineup.
But they say, you know what?
We need that energy.
We need those points coming off the bench because we know we're going to get from Bacel
and we know what we're going to get from Steffin Castle.
So now you getting, you get it, Joe, you can take on a given night, you get him somewhere
between 30 and 40 points a night from two guys off the bench.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right.
And you know what it seems as though nobody has a problem with it on their team, neither.
You know, they all vouch for one another.
They play hard.
They play the right way.
You don't see nobody out there forcing none.
And the game just looks easy, man.
It looks easy to them.
And defensively, they all sit down in the chair.
when you got Wimby behind you.
Yeah.
It ain't, you know what I mean?
Yeah.
But I'm with you.
Even if you play the chair of game,
don't worry about it.
If somebody gets your chair,
don't worry about it.
Get back there to Wimby.
Hello.
Hello.
Hello.
But you know what, man.
Hey, look, Castle is showing me a lot, though.
Okay, Ocho.
Yes.
Hey, listen, I'm talking about like, oh, like, ooh, he's going to be a problem.
I mean, when we talk about all defensive players now,
I look, Jail him, Jailin Brown has played extremely well.
We know what Kawhiwai is not what he wants.
was the injury that's taking his toe.
But when we look at this kid here,
he's taking the toughest office of assignment
every single night,
and you ask him to still give you those 15 to 20 points
that he gives you.
Yeah.
So, hey.
Hey, man.
You're saying.
Yeah, young superstar in the maker.
Obviously, we know he won a rookie of the year,
but he's shown me, man,
that he's ready to take that next step, Uncle Ocho.
Hey, the Spur is scary, bro.
They're scary, man.
Oh, man.
Yeah, hey, anybody want to see them boys.
They don't, but I think the thing is that they took a page out of OKC.
You see how well, OKC, you can tell they genuinely like each other.
They genuinely like being around each other.
It's not like, okay, we get to a city and we scatter like mice when the lights come on.
They like, hey, bro, what you doing?
Hey, let's go grab a bite.
They talk about how they spend time with one another,
how they're in the group chat communicating with one another.
And I can see very similar what the spurs are doing.
That's how you look, most teams that win are close.
Now, there are always going to be a situation where sometimes you get outliers where,
hey, we win and we don't really care about each other.
But I think OKC and the way they play, I think everybody's trying to find that formula
because your best player holds this thing together.
And Wimby is clearly their best player.
But man, they're young and they still got draft picks.
Yeah, yeah.
And the thing is that most of these guys, Champany and Wimby, Yama,
yeah, you made the trade for Deer & Fox.
Deer & Fox said, like, I'm tired of sack, blah, blah, blah,
and I want to go elsewhere.
And he lands here with Wimby.
He probably the oldest on the team.
Yes.
So you got all these.
He can put you in the pick and roll.
Yeah.
He can get down.
That joke.
Hey, quick as a cat on a marble tape.
Man.
Get down heel and get to the rim.
Hey, he can snatch you and back up behind the three point line.
He got a crazy head.
you think he's about to hit a pop,
he's to the rim on you,
and now you got Wimby,
and you got Castle,
you got Bucet.
They're loaded.
Hey, what's good, man.
They're really good.
The boys made a statement today.
Hold on,
they've been making a statement, though, Joe.
They've been making –
Yeah, but I'm just saying against one of the top teams
like Houston in the Western Conference,
they just make –
They're the third seed Houston are.
Yeah, shit.
They let them know like –
And they made mince meat out of them.
Yeah, it's levels to this.
They made mince meat out of them.
They did.
They did.
They made mince meat meat meat meat meat.
out of them.
And like I said,
it's going to be very interesting.
I want to see it.
Hopefully everybody is,
is healthy and nobody has any,
you know,
significant injuries.
I,
I, you know.
You want to see them in O KC?
You want to see them in the
Western Conference final?
I do.
I do.
Boy, it's going to go down.
Joe, who you got?
Hypothetically speaking,
if those,
if those two men,
of seven,
listen,
beating somebody one game is one thing.
But a seven game series,
who you lean it toward,
Well, they've already beat them three out of four this year.
Yeah, they didn't beat them three out of four this year.
Hold on. That's regular season.
Now, you know, Joe, the playoffs is a different ball game.
I get it. I get it. I get it. I get it. I get it.
Hey, I've been in that situation. I've been in that situation.
I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies.
Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind.
Now, I've got my own show.
So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week.
Film Never Lies available on all TSN platforms in the IHeart Radio app.
Ready for a different take on Formula One?
Look no further than no grip,
a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series.
Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F-1,
including the astrology of the current grid.
Lewis Hamilton, Crapicorn Sun, Cancer Moon.
Wouldn't you know it?
Michael Schumacher is also a Capricorn Sun, Cancer Moon.
The story of the sports most consequential driver strike.
We have one man who, upon hearing that he was going to be fired, freaked out,
and apparently climbed out the window of the bathroom.
And was Daniel Ricardo's illustrious F1 career,
a success story, a cautionary tale,
or some combination of both?
He started getting all this attention,
and he maybe started to think,
I'm bigger than this, I'm better,
and plenty of other mishaped, scandals, and sagas
that have made Formula One a delightful,
decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years.
Listen to no grip on the IHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is the biggest night in podcasting.
The countdown is on to our 2026 IHeart Podcast Awards.
Live from South by Southwest, March 16th,
will honor the very best in podcasting from the past year
and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry.
It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world.
Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display.
And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is,
see all the nominees now at IHeart.com slash podcast awards.
Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award.
Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app.
Audible.
There's more to imagine when you listen.
Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.
I'm Daniel Jeremiah.
And I'm Greg Rosenthal.
And this is 40s and free agents.
The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped.
This is my favorite part of the calendar.
Yeah, mine too, Greg.
Free agency, the Combine, the NFL Draft ProDays,
trades, this is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money.
On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations,
mock drafts, and team fits to my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built,
cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move.
We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season.
Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your
favorite team. Smart analysis,
real conversations every
week. I don't know about the smart, but
definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents
on the IHeart radio app, Apple
podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcast. Listen.
Go ahead, Joe.
Go ahead. What do you going to say?
I was going to say, I want to see
Castle and Shay.
Yeah. Because that's a matcher.
Yeah. Yeah. Because Castle
A, Castle can pick it up. Now,
they're going to run their ass off a bunch of pigs. They're going to try
keep him in the peak they're going to try to keep him off screen the pit dives they're going to try
to keep keep keep keep bumping but he a hound i'm here a hound man i know they were on the series
the season series of spurs but i'm probably giving me a little edge to okay c i probably give
a little bit done that probably give a little edge to okay c right now oh cho okay they might be a year
away because remember okay c was in a very similar situation the year before and they ended up getting
upset by the mavericks yeah
So I can see a very similar situation where, hey, you think, man, they're right there
and all of a sudden they get upset.
But they're coming.
If you think you about to have your way with San Antonio, they're coming.
We're only going to get better.
I don't know if y'all know this, but when be going to get better.
Hey, he's like a cheek code out there, bro.
It don't even look bad.
How do you take the first shot you pulling up for 27?
At the top of you pulling from 27.
Hey, Joe, you played the game, Joe.
You've been around for a very long time.
Someone like Wimby.
There's no answer for Jokic.
I mean, Yoker, you can slow him down.
You can only hope to contain him.
When it comes to Wembe, is there any way you can stop him?
Anything you can do defensively, anything you can do tactically,
you're slowing him down.
Or do you just have to say, you know what,
he's going to always get his.
We need to worry about the other four on the court.
Nah, you're going to have to wear him down,
pick him, catch him early, body and body him in the whole way.
And then you've got a hope for the third and fourth quarter
in the second half of the game.
you're able to wear him down to where he's not as effective.
But Ocho, I mean, man, he can do a little bit of everything out there.
I mean, I like how he took his time and, you know, he started to playmaking,
just making the right passes and guys getting wide open three.
Next thing you know, they're up 30 points, bro.
Yeah.
It's like, I mean...
The thing with Wambi, Joe, you like you said, you got to have somebody that can body him.
You got to wear him down.
Yeah.
Because right now he's still in his young man, kid,
body.
Yeah.
He doesn't have his body body.
So you got to wear him now.
You got to have somebody that can make him work on the other end.
And you got to go body with him.
Hopefully you can get him in foul trouble.
If you don't get him in foul trouble and he gets to play his normal
a lot of a minutes, which is about 30, play about somewhere like 30, maybe 33,
34 minutes.
If you lay him play his normal allotment of minutes, that means he's not in file trouble
and he's going to be down there,
he's going to be there down the stretch.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
And he's going to make it very difficult
because all layups,
I'm sending,
return to send her.
Hello.
Hello.
Yeah, you.
Yeah.
I'm going to eat.
I don't like what you say,
so I'm going to send it back in 30 days.
Yeah, man,
they're going to be a tough matchup for anybody, though,
in the postseason, fellas.
I don't care who they play.
Houston allowed the season most points,
56 in the paint.
Think about it.
They allowed 56 points in the paint guys,
and they shot 43s.
They made 21 or 40 from the three-point line.
So you get up 43s,
and you still get 56 in the,
a damn near 60 in the paint.
Those dudes was,
listen, they guards break you down so easy, bro.
They in the paint, they sell the whole time,
shoot, layups, floaters.
It's too much.
You take that away.
Now you got pins.
Chad Penning and Vassah out there shooting the lights out,
shooting a cup off the ball.
It's like you gotta pick, you gotta pick your poison.
Keldon Johnson come in and just pulling.
Wop, wop, wop.
Well, they look good, man.
Hey.
I don't know why, but hell,
every time Keldon Johnson and Champany shoot the three,
I like, that's gonna go in.
They got me thinking they damn step-thead.
Hey, listen, because it don't be nobody two, three feet from them.
You know what I'm saying?
Because Wimby, he take the double team, triple team,
and he's just picking you apart.
Them guys breaking people down, picking you apart.
It's going to be tough to be them, bro.
The question is, look,
I think the problem that the Rockets really have,
they needed a point guard.
Without their fleet, they can't go anywhere.
Yeah, it's totally.
I like Amman Thompson.
I think he's a phenomenal player.
He's a great two-way player.
But without a true point guard, they're not going nowhere.
Yeah.
I agree.
It was glaring today, too.
They needed free and flea.
They need somebody who can kind of get everything together.
Yeah.
Yes.
Get them together.
You know, when things get a little crazy,
you got to need somebody who can calm everybody down
and make sure we get a great shot.
But it was healthy, skilter a lot of times out there, man.
They were.
My thing is, Joe, Ojo, you need a point guard.
Y'all mean to tell me that CP got that kind of baggage,
don't nobody want him?
He can't help nobody in this situation.
I ain't saying you got a sign him for the next five years,
but he can't help somebody on a playoff run.
Ain't nobody pick him.
I don't know.
He probably wasn't getting what he,
probably wanted getting them phone calls.
I can Ocho just.
Oh, he wasn't.
But I was.
Just, huh?
I understand it's not a sum zero.
It's a little ice chest,
but damn, me, going to keep the middle.
Damn.
Hey, you know, back in the day, Joe, you know, we had them ice chest.
We throw the ice and put the meat on top of that, the refrigerator are gone out.
Hey, yeah, hey, boy, back then ice, I think ice was like 50s of the bag or something like that.
Get you about three or four bags and put that ice and put that meter in the ice chest.
Hey, listen, you know, as you age, you get up in them 40s and you under 6-2, you know, it's tough to play.
It's tough to continue to play.
Okay, Ojo.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying?
them keep running.
Yeah,
like you,
you're going to have to be up there,
six,
seven,
six eight,
six nine to be able to play
in your 40s
the way you can still
control the game a little bit.
You know what I mean?
No.
Yeah.
Joe,
you make a very good point.
As you get older,
the smaller you are,
the harder it is for you to control the game.
See,
LeBron can control a game
because he's six nine.
Yeah.
Lucas still will be able to control a game
because he's six,
seven,
six, eight.
Yeah.
Jok it should be able to control a game
because he's six,
seven foot.
Yeah.
But when,
when you lose foot speed and you're six foot tall,
and these young boys,
hey,
these young kids now,
man,
they got back,
they got jet packs on.
You hear me?
They're not walking the ball up.
That old,
Joe, you remember back in it,
when you first got in the league,
guys would walk the ball up.
Yeah.
They're pushing this.
They get up all up.
Listen,
on May Bass,
I've seen,
I seen the Spurs catch a fast break,
and they just got scored on.
They scored.
Right before Houston can even get back.
Like, I'm like, the game is played at such a high pace, bro.
It's like even watching it, you'd be so, you'd be like, come on, man,
they could have got a better shot than that because it's just come down, boom,
past three.
Yeah, three, three, lay up, floater, you know what I mean?
It's just the game's so different now, bro.
And that's what I'm talking about.
Houston seemed like they were like two, three steps slower than the spurs tonight.
Houston wanted to play in a half-court set because they got a tremendous half-court player.
and Kevin Durant.
They got Shangoon.
They can put you in the pick and roll.
He can roll.
He can pop.
KD, you know what KD is.
But these young teams,
they're not really trying to play half court.
You got to have track shoes on.
Hey, mm-hmm.
Yeah.
You want to keep up with us?
Don't bring your Tim.
Don't bring your work boots.
Bring your track shoes.
So we run it.
We run it.
You know, hey.
Oh, Joe, I know you see,
you ain't doing the word.
You're from bad,
but you ain't had no.
I had steel toe boots.
Joe, I don't know.
I know your grandfather, your dad father had steel toes.
Yeah.
You had them steel to boots.
Them brogames.
You know you put in a, if you had steel toe boots,
you know damn well you put in a hard day.
Hey, hold on.
Why you do me like that?
Uh, uh, you had no damn steel.
I used to work on the docks at the port of Miami down here.
I had to wear steel, uh, I was a longshoreman.
What you, what you were doing on the dots?
I had a lot.
I was a longshoreman at the port of Miami.
You heard me, Joe?
So you, everything that come in, you get, you have to,
I'm doing all the containers, man, off them ships and them lows come in, Joe.
Hey, I work in the crane, Joe.
Now, I'm telling you, Joe, I was a longshoreman.
Ask about me, Joe.
Yeah, I had still, you got to wear steel-toed boots, Joe.
Hey, hey, my grandfather worked on the railroad.
He always was still-toe.
Hey, hey, I had my steel-toe boots and they had my overall, Joe.
Yeah, no, no, no lie.
But back to what we said, Joe.
Being in the south is working.
You know damn well.
You saw somebody with some steel-toed boots,
and this is when you know,
when the cover has started to roll off the front of them
and you could actually see the steel in the toe.
Yeah.
That boy working.
He doesn't have to work.
That boy working.
He don't put some working.
Yeah, he's working.
He doesn't put some work in it.
Man, listen, what you're talking about?
Hey.
But the Spurs, they beat the Rockets.
Stay close.
They're still the number two seed,
thanks to a 145-120 victory over the Houston, Texas.
The Spurs plays four guys in double, with 20 plus points,
and Houston allowed a season most 56 points in the paint.
Well, Houston, you're going to lose a lot of games.
If you let a team shoot 58% from the floor and 52% from the three,
you lose it.
Yeah, you ain't beat nobody with them lower.
145 points.
Shit.
Nicola Yolkich.
We said Nicola is Nicola.
Yokic says he's glad he's retiring soon before Wembe took over the NBA.
He's changing basketball.
I'm glad that I'll probably retire before Wemby will hold the entire league in a chokehold.
Hey.
Never seen anything like it.
So, so,
you've never seen a guy that tall, that skill.
You can put the ball on the floor, can shoot the ball from three.
Let Kevin the Grant can shoot it.
But he, that man is like five, six inches tall.
on the KD.
Yeah.
And on the defensive end, it's like somebody,
Joe, it's like you holding up two broomsticks in the leg.
Yeah.
You know what it is.
Hey, Uncle Joe, hey, shouldn't,
Wembe is basically should be the face of the NBA then, huh?
Or the fact that he doesn't have that charisma
and personality like Anthony Edwards,
would he not be the first, first choice for it?
Being that he's probably gonna be the one
to dominate the NBA for the next 10, what, 15 years,
depending on how long he decides to play.
Well, I think globally, you know, he puts a, he brings in a great brand because that's what the NBA wants to go.
Yep.
You know, it's going to be games over and, you know, during the season, the guys are going to be playing games over there and in Paris and stuff like that.
So it only helps the game if you ask me, man.
But to be the face of the NBA, Ocho, he got a chance, bro.
If he would win a championship for sure.
It's just hard.
I mean,
things are going to change.
It's different now
because you talk about an American sport
and a foreign bar and player
being the face of an American sport.
Yeah.
It's not like baseball
because baseball,
for the most part,
has always had Latin players.
They've always had, you know,
they've always had Korean,
and the Japanese started coming over
when you had Hideki Nomo
and Matsu Ro.
Yeah.
Started come up.
But they've always,
they've always had Latin players.
Yeah.
Always, always.
It's different.
Baseball has always been a universal or world game.
Basketball just became that, say, the last 30-plus years.
Once they sent the NBA to the Olympics in 92,
that's what everybody, that's when the dirks and that's when everybody's like,
well, damn, that's what I want to do.
That's what I want to be.
Right.
And so now, and because if you really think about it,
the top five, six, seven players are foreign born.
The Canadian, they're social.
They're served, they're Slovenian, they're Greek, they're French.
They're not American.
You've got to go far.
I mean, nobody's taking, you're not taking not one American player over Luca.
You're not taking one over Yolkich.
You're not taking one over Shay.
You're not taking one over the Greek freak.
You're not.
You take your best one.
You take Jason Tatum.
You take whomever you say is your best American player.
And I guarantee you, you're not taking them over Yokic, Yonis,
Luca, Shay,
you're not.
And I'm not so sure you take,
even Wimby in his third year,
I'm not sure you're taking one over Wemby.
So that's five right there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The world is not as deep as America,
but it's definitely,
you got a couple in Greece
and you got a couple in Slovenian,
Serbia, Canada, X, Y, and Z.
But as far as just depth,
yeah, American got it.
But those guys grow up playing together.
Like Zion and Job was on the same AAU team.
Yeah.
All those fresh kids, they played together.
Their whole life growing up.
Yeah.
They grew up.
The Serbs, the Slovenians, they played together their whole life growing up.
The Greek team, they played together their whole life.
And they started playing professional basketball a lot earlier over there.
Ojo, versus over here.
You know what I mean?
Like they may be playing pro over there at 13, 14 years old.
So you develop a little faster, huh?
Yeah, there you go.
Yes.
You start.
Luca been playing pro since he was 14.
Yeah.
Hey, Aunt, can I ask you a question?
Yes.
Would you really take Luca over like an Antman or Jason Tatum?
I would.
It's your preference.
Okay.
Look, I think the thing is that Luca kicks a lot.
Look, today Luca was locked in and we're going to talk about it a little bit.
He locked in, caught him a couple of charges, poking the ball out front of the back.
Luca will put a little ball in the day.
But that's scoring.
Right.
He's about to have his, I think, his fourth season where he's average 30.
Dang.
He's 26.
He's 26.
Yeah, he's going to put, yeah, look, he's going to take bad shots.
He's very unorthodox.
He's going to take some bad shots.
He's going to complain.
He's going to shoot a shot.
shot and he's going to turn and look for the official and he's got room and laid it up on the other end.
That's just what it is.
Damn.
But I think the thing is, and you're talking about a guy that's been, he was the first team
all the NBA selection for five consecutive years.
Five.
Luca to darn.
It's just that if he were to stop complaining, I don't, I don't need him sitting in the chair, Joe.
I don't need him to do that.
just don't get beat on the initial drive.
Can you do that?
That's all I want you to do.
If he's trying to beat you on initial drive,
cut him off, make him pull it back off
or make him give the ball up.
That's all I need, Joe,
because if he beat you on initial drive,
help got to come.
If help comes,
now you compromise the entire defense.
Well, I'm sorry to tell you,
y'all.
That's all I need, Joe.
Joe, that's all I need.
Hey, he's a bad boy.
He's a bad boy, boy.
When he comes sliding him,
puppies he ain't giving you no two slides he might give you one that's a rap after that yeah he
I don't know what got him in the day though Joe I don't know what got him today but Luca he was
kind of locked in today yeah yeah yeah yeah I think I think him knowing LeBron wasn't
wasn't playing you know he know he had to lock in a little more you know what I mean
like you see you ain't you ain't got brought out there you know you got to be great you know
to me like you and you and you and you are also going to have to carry us tonight I think
they knew he knew that from the start yes yeah I mean this is also
Austin looked really good tonight.
He was aggressive, put the ball on the paint.
Put the ball on the floor, get into the paint.
Lucas Luca's Luca.
When Luca making shot, excuse me, guys.
When Lucas making shots like that, you had this,
you just hope he missed.
That man take a one-legged shot from 28 feet,
fall out of bounds,
into the next bench.
What the hell you're going to do?
The other night, he kissed one off the glass from 29 feet.
What the hell are you going to do with that?
Hey.
You hung up on him.
He can get by you.
He's so herky.
He's so unorthodox.
He's not gonna beat you with speed.
He's bigger than you think.
He's stronger than you think.
You're looking at his body like, ah, this milk toast,
I'm about to cook him.
Okay, cooking.
Okay, cooking.
It don't seem like he's supposed to be making some of the shots he takes.
But he took 16-3 tonight.
He was five for 16 from the three.
He took 25 shots.
That boy don't mind shooting that side step going left to that three doing.
Nope.
And on the fast break, hey, he'll stop and let it go.
Hey.
But you look, he's going to have a high usage rate.
He's going to, look, the likelihood of him ever shooting 50% is not good because of the shot selection that he takes.
He's not taking, you know, I mean, you look at him in the shots.
You're like, Luca, that you just got accepted.
Yeah.
You just got accepted.
Yeah.
Because you want him to be aggressive.
You want them to assert himself.
you don't want to you can't take that away especially when LeBron's not playing you even when
LeBron is playing you still want him to be himself but uh hey hey when you look at them nicks man
I told you hey this season I'm Luke Wilson join me each week for film never lies since retiring
from the NFL I've had a lot of my mind and now got my own show so if you're tired of lazy
takes if you want honest conversations join us each week film never lies available on all TSN
platforms in the iHeart radio app ready for a different take on
Formula One, look no further than no grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series.
Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F-1, including the astrology of the current grid.
Lewis Hamilton, Capricorn Sun, Cancer Moon. Wouldn't you know it, Michael Schumacher is also a Capricorn Sun, Cancer Moon.
The story of the sports most consequential driver strike.
We have one man who, upon hearing that he was going to be fired, freaked out, and apparently climbed out the window of the bathroom.
And was Daniel Ricardo's illustrious F1 career, a success story, a cautionary tale, or some combination of both?
He started getting all this attention, and he maybe started to think, I'm bigger than this, I'm better.
And plenty of other mishapsed scandals and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent dumpster fire for more than 75 years.
Listen to no grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is the biggest night in podcasting.
The countdown is on to our 2026 IHeart Podcast Awards.
Live from South by Southwest, March 16th,
will honor the very best in podcasting from the past year
and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry.
It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world.
Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display.
And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is,
see all the nominees now at IHeart.com slash podcast awards.
Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award.
Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app.
Audible.
There's more to imagine when you listen.
Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.
I'm Daniel Jeremiah.
And I'm Greg Rosenthal.
And this is 40s and free agents.
The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped.
This is my favorite part of the calendar.
Yeah, mine too, Greg.
Free agency, the Combine, the NFL draft, Prodies.
days, trades, this is where teams reshape their future.
This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money.
On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters.
From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits.
To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the
tough decisions included.
You got quarterbacks on the move?
We got teams rebuilding.
It's hope season.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's hope season.
We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for you.
your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week.
I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Oh, Ian, how it's supposed to end. Your boy Yon is going to be in New York. I don't know
how Bridges played 27 minutes and then scratch me. I mean, how they're going to win? They can't
win like that. He got five trouble early. He can't get him. First of all, he tried to be
aggressive with Luca. And Lucas, he's going to.
going to use that against you.
He's going to get you on his back.
And then he's going to stop.
And then you're going to jump.
And he's going to bump it from the back.
And then guess what?
You had free throw.
That's the same thing.
I mean, and I think the thing is you want to try to get up into Luca.
You want to try to be physical with him because that's the thing.
Be physical with him.
Right.
You try to take advantage of him.
You put him in the pick and roll because he's their weakest defender.
If you can say the Lakers have a weak defender, a weak is because they got a lot of weak
defenders, but he might be the weakest.
So you try to put him in the pick and roll.
You try to get physical with him.
Because, you know, to say the same thing about European players.
They're not that physical.
You know, you get physical with Yokic and you get physical with him.
Yada, yada, yada.
I get all that.
And so, you know, and he's probably done crying so much.
He's like, man, I'm tired of the joke of crying.
I don't want to hear him cry tonight.
So let's call some foul.
And he went to the free time.
Because remember, Joe, we talked about it the other night.
he went to the free throw line 10 times.
The other night, he went to the free throw line four times.
Yeah.
Yeah, he went to the line 10 times.
Yeah, but they need him to be like this, though.
He has to be aggressive because his offense is his defense, fellas.
You know what I mean?
Like, if that's the case, he completely took bridges out of the game.
He was a non-factor.
You know what I mean?
Yes.
He's done his job in that part, but they're going to need these other guys to step up, man.
I mean, if you play, if you go against Nuka,
you got to give them at least half.
He does, yeah, scoring wise.
Give you.
Because if you don't, I mean, he gave you 35 bridges, gave you nothing.
So he's plus 35 in that aspect.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Yeah.
So you got to half him up at bare minimum.
You like to play him to a tie.
Now, the thing is, Joe,
and the same thing with SGA or any of these players.
Joe, if they get their numbers,
let's just say Luca gets 30, 35,
and it takes him 30 shots.
Joe, I've done my job.
Yeah.
I've done my job.
If Shea gets 35 and it takes him 28, 29 shots to get it,
I've done my job.
What I can't do is allow him to get 35 on 16, 7 shots.
There you go.
There you go.
Because now I know he's being extremely efficient.
Now he, hey, the 16 threes that he took,
he made 11 of them.
Now, now I'm in trouble.
Right.
that's the thing with a score if you get your numbers and i make and i make you get those numbers being
inefficient yeah you got to hey you got to shake his hand quarterback throw for 300 350 yards
oh joe and it taking 57 attempts i can't do nothing about that i just can't let him have 350
on 30 attempts right right because that just means if he got 350 on 30 attempts oh joe he probably
completed 25 of them i mean you know you know the funny thing about it is the
depending on who they play,
when you play these special players,
obviously like a Shay, like a Luca,
like a Joker, like a Wimby,
and if you don't have a player that has the green light
to be able to shoot in volume to match their point total,
there has to be something else you can do
to be able to stop them, huh?
And Joe, something else to slow them down,
but every time we come on,
and we talk about the game of basketball
and how difficult it is to slow them down,
how difficult it is to contain them,
I mean, it's bad,
especially when they're always when
only give you, well, Luca in general,
so that's who we talk about, you only give you on one
end of the court. You only give you
some on one end of court. Yeah.
Do you realize that Wemby
has more blocks than Joker in his career?
How? He just got an NBA.
Exactly. That's just going to
that's my point.
Thank you.
Tadda.
Yeah.
Yeah, Joker ain't blocking
no shot. No, that's not his
game. His game is, is that
I'm going to punish you so bad.
Yeah.
So bad on the offensive end.
And I'm going to get my teammates involved so much that you ain't going to be able to do nothing.
And if you don't, like I said, that's why he killed.
Look, if you go back and look at his numbers against Gobert because Gobert can't make him work.
He's not going to give you anything on the other end.
So now Joker is just free to do whatever he's going to do.
Yeah.
That's why he has a 60 point, you know, triple double or whatever he's had.
Hey, ho, that's all you.
You got to make a guy.
You've got to make a guy like Jordan.
You got to make a guy like Kobe.
You've got to make them work on the other end.
If you don't, if you let them coast.
Got to make them uncomfortable.
And let them use all that energy on the office of end.
You're in trouble.
You better make that bad work on the defensive.
You got to make him guard somebody.
Yeah.
Facts.
That's why they always took Larry and put him on the week.
You take Larry Bird.
you put him on the weakest offensive guy.
I want you to say that, Angie.
I need you to bust the ass on the other evening.
That's why I always tip my hat to something like a Kobe or Jordan
or these guys that are offensive guys and says,
you know what, I want the defensive challenge as well.
Yeah.
Because it takes a lot.
You've got to exert a lot.
And everybody can't do that.
Now, Jordan didn't have a luxury that he has Scottie so he could ease it like,
you know what A.C. Scott is.
And you're talking about a guy that is six foot seven that has long arm
that can slide his feet as well as a small.
player. But everybody
don't got that.
You have to
want to dominate the game, bro. They wanted to
dominate the game. I'm talking about from start to
finish. Yes. They wanted to dominate
the game. It was no way that you had a chance
to win, which is why they picked
back then, back in the day. When you look
like, we always talk about the top
the top four to eight teams
in the NBA, really probably four or five.
They play tough defense, bro. They play
extended pressure. They pick you up four.
wear you down like they were doing KD tonight,
picking them up four, wearing him down.
That's what they're going to do to you,
the whole entire game.
And hopefully in the fourth quarter,
you ain't got enough energy to continue to play at that peak level.
You know what I mean?
Yep.
Yeah.
The Lakers beat the Knicks 110 to 97.
LeBron James with a late scratch,
to elbow contusion, arthritis in his left foot, excuse me.
But L.A. held the number three team on offense
to just 47, excuse me, under 43% shooting with 19 turnovers.
which is 20 points below the next season average.
Like I said, O.G., excuse me,
McHale Bridges only gave him zero points.
But when you look at Rui, came in, played really well.
He gave him 13 points on 3.8 from 3.
Marcus Mark.
Hey, he's a defensive guy, but he didn't shoot the ball well today.
But you had Luca, had 35.
Austin Reeves had 25.
And like I said, Joe, you and I were talking about this.
Luke Knarr.
Yeah.
Luke Conard has been a godsend.
Yeah.
Because they basically swapped Luke Connard for getting.
There you go.
There you go.
Vincent, look, they got him after he had that great run with Miami.
Yeah.
He was a guy that made some three with a three and D guy.
But it's, I don't know what it is, but when guys can shoot the ball wherever they are until they come to the Lakers or they team up with the broad and all of a sudden, they can get out to shoot the ball.
It's too much pressure.
It's different over there wearing that jersey, huh?
It's different over there wearing that that purple and gold, huh?
Hey, big city bright lights, man.
It's a little different.
Hey, you know, you know what's going on.
Expectations.
The number one killer is expectations.
We've seen, we've seen guys with nothing expected.
We've seen guys when nothing was expected,
our teams, when nothing is expected of them.
And then the next year when they have those expectations, what they do?
Because now we have expectations where we didn't have that last year.
You have expectations on a player where we didn't have that last year.
So let's see now.
Now that they know what you can do.
They know who you are.
They know what type of team of you are.
Can you still do it again?
Yeah, that's a hard part, man.
You have to be hungry for success to do that, bro.
Like to want to do it over and over.
I thought they did a great job.
They didn't turn.
They only had 13 turnovers, the Lakers.
Yeah.
Luca had almost half of those.
Yeah.
But he, look, he has a high-
usage rates.
The ball's going to be in his hand.
When you have the ball that much,
it's hard for you not to turn it over in an abundance.
It just is.
Most guys that lead in usage
going to be up there in turnovers.
Just the way you go back and look at guys
that's led in usage
and see their turnovers where they rate.
But this was a big win.
This was a big win for them.
They needed this.
It was.
It was a huge game, too.
Huge game.
Yeah.
I'm telling y'all, man,
If the Knicks don't do what they're supposed to do this year,
your boy, that's where your boy gonna be at, watch.
What I try to tell you.
You're about the young bull from Greece?
Yeah, Greek free.
And they should have did that this season, huh?
Well, you're talking about, well, hold on.
He's talking about he don't want no ball, Dominic.
Guard, what do you think, Bruce?
They're going to trade Brunson?
Hey, listen, he's going to have to deal with this.
You're going to have to get with it because we got a plan now.
Yeah, anybody trying to hell all that, man.
But if you think about it, with the exception of maybe San Antonio or a few teams,
all the really good teams got their ball dominant.
That's what I'm saying.
Who you think got the ball with OKC?
Who got, who got, who has the ball with the legals?
Who has, I mean, I don't think Boston's going to break up their team.
Boston swings the ball.
They're not swinging.
Cade has the ball.
So I'm just trying to figure out where he thinks he's going to go.
And somebody is greatest as the Greek for kids, right?
You don't think he can adapt to a different situation
where you don't have to touch the ball all the time
as great as you are?
That's not who, that's how he, that's, no, that's not who he is.
He's not, he's, his numbers won't be as Gotti as they are now.
It won't be 30 and 15.
Nope.
He might have to take it down,
okay, Ocho, take it down about 20, 24, 25, and 12 or something.
I'm saying, and be able to win the championship?
Yes.
man what you doing over there what y'all doing in milwaukee over there y'all ain't got nothing going true
you ain't got nothing going would you so i'm just saying hypothetically speaking if he is to go to the
next so that mean basically if he does bring the ball up i mean that that don't make no sense
he he would have times oh cho i'm not i'm not saying they're going to take the ball out of his
hands but it just probably won't be as much man we we got options we can you know y'all have
to have a high usage rate.
Look at Yonis' usage rate.
He got to be top five.
Some good games today, man.
I think the thing is,
all things being equal, Joe.
Yonis really prefers
because Yonis knows he's going to be
looked at differently if he leaves now.
Because we look at all
the guys, what do we commend
Jordan for? He won six championships
in one spot. What did Kobe do?
Five championships in one spot.
Tim Duncan, one spot. Larry Bird,
Magic Johnson, one spot.
Steph Curry, one spot.
What do we criticize LeBron?
KD.
But hold on.
Yonish knows what comes along with that.
But look at the team.
Look at all the players you named that done it in one spot.
Look at the teams that were built around those said players that you just mentioned.
The teams where LeBron is played for,
did they have anything that matches up or were even equivalent to the other four
on the team that they played at?
People don't care about that, Ocho.
People don't care about that.
You know what they do?
No.
know. No. They, I, we do. Joe, do basketball, a lot of basketball people does if you're
not trying to paint a narrative. Because what they say, if you are great, if you're the goat,
you should be able to win a championship regardless of who you play with. That's tough.
You know, you know that other four, Joe, you know that supporting chaos matter. That's in any
sport.
Man.
See, the thing is, as long as a team control, what a team traded him. So,
now the team traded you, that's okay.
But if I request to go to a team
because the team isn't good enough
or the team trades me
because they want to bring a player in to try to win.
Now I want to go somewhere
because you not bring the players in to try to win
and I want to go somewhere.
You use that against me.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just don't want to see a situation
where Yon is get stuck in a situation
to where he's playing meaningless basketball.
Ain't that what he doing that?
That's what I'm saying, Ocho.
That's what I'm saying.
Like I know he's been there his whole entire career
and he probably don't want to uproot and move to.
But this is a different era, Uncle.
This ain't, this ain't, you know what I mean?
It's not the 80s than 90s.
No, this ain't that.
Like these guys on my-
They caught KG in that situation.
KG came into the 90s and guys were loyal,
didn't want to leave until they're on their last, last legs.
And KG probably stayed four years, too long in Minnesota.
KG was supposed to Ben got up out of there
But KG wanted to be loyal to the soil
Yeah, and he'll tell you
He probably wish he would have left early
He could have had him a couple championships
Absolutely, yeah
So it's like
I know Yonis got one
And he wanted to stick around in Milwaukee
He's saying all the right things
But amen
Wouldn't Dame Litter also be an example
Of the same thing
Staying somewhere
A little bit too long
Because you want to be loyal
Yes
Yeah
But you see now
We put in so much
because it's the ring or nothing.
See, it used to be, it wasn't like that.
Right.
But this ring culture now, because fans say, well,
there have been some great players that don't have rings,
and you have second and third and fourth options
that have rings,
and they got people saying they're better than a one option
that doesn't have rings.
There are some guys that got rings,
and people actually think they're better than Charles Markley.
They're better than Carl Malone.
And you're high.
Yeah, they're high.
Yeah.
But because people have placed so much value on rings.
I mean I'm I'm an eye test guy yeah rings now if I'm factored in Joe if I'm
saying EST great is I think you have to bring rings into the occasion and even
though I understand that this is a team game yeah I factor it all there I factor in
regular season MVP's final MVP's all NBA all defensive all that yeah points
rebounds I bring all that into the equation because I
think you have to when you're saying great tists.
But these people, I mean, a lot of people like, oh, he ain't got no rings.
He banned.
People like, they crap on Charles Barkley.
If you actually saw Chuck play, if you actually saw him play,
you'll never see another guy six foot four under lead to NBA in rebounds.
He did that.
Dominated.
Charles Barkley was a power forward at six foot four.
And back then, everybody played with a truck.
true five and a true boy please.
Yeah. Everybody had a big.
And they had a big ass power for it to go alongside.
So you had Robert Parrish at seven foot and then you had Kevin McKell at 16.
You had Ralph Sampson at seven four.
You had Akeem Elijah one at seven foot.
Yeah.
That's how everybody played.
You had Rick Smith and you had the big ass Davis boys in Indiana.
Everybody played.
that everybody played with a one, two, three, four, five.
It wasn't no stretch, nothing.
Nah.
No, sir.
And look, I get it.
But now, I mean, you got guys, oh, man, he got a ring.
He better.
There are a lot of guys, there are a lot of receivers that got rings.
So if y'all say, so now receivers they got a ring, he better than Randy?
He better than T.O.
Okay.
I'm going to let y'all say that.
I'm going to let y'all say that.
I ain't got to call no name, but they've been a little.
received that there's won some Super Bowls and bless them you've been fortunate of a team I was a part of a team I ain't went no two I was part of a team that won because I understand that it takes a team to win championships boy let's not fool ourselves now let's not fool ourselves there's some quarterbacks just won championships and quarterbacks to have it yeah come on now yeah yeah but social media has done that because what is done is that it's allowed everybody to have opinion and have their opinions
heard.
Yeah.
And so now, oh, he better, he better, he better.
I listened to the Michael Jordan, because I saw that pop up and he's like,
like I ain't going to get a part of this goat conversation.
He said, you know why?
He said, because I didn't play against those guys in their era and I didn't play against
these guys in these era.
He said, it's not to take anything.
KD.
I think KD and LeBron.
He said, Kobe, he's like Kobe caught me, not in my prime.
He caught me to tail end.
Yeah.
But no.
And it's hard.
It's hard to compare errors because errors do different things.
Some errors, they mainly ran to football, no, Cho.
So how are you going to say a guy, well, he only called?
Yeah, Lee and Swan only called 300 passes.
But they only three, I mean, I think he had 300 catches for a career.
But they might throw the ball 200 times a season.
So if you throw the ball 200 times a season,
so how would you passers you think they'll catch
when you divided up between four wire receivers even the two tight ends?
Yeah, you're right.
And running back stats now are not.
going to be like they work because they don't run the ball
or you got a two-back system.
And he got rid of the running back.
The old, the, I don't know, I don't know if we're going to see.
Derek Henry might be the last of true power.
I can't hear y'all.
Is it my phone?
You're my.
You're back.
You back.
You went out for a little minute.
Okay.
Okay.
Huh?
No, I think, could you, you guys hear me now?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I thought my stuff had went out over office.
Okay.
Jalen Brown has to,
scored 23 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists.
The Celtics beat the Cavaliers 1-09 to 98.
Jason Tatum and his second game back had 20 points.
After the second game back, I think he had, what, 12 points?
No, he had 15 points in the first game with 12 rebounds.
He had 20, so you see the improvement there.
He had a big three to push the game out of reach.
And I think he had a tweet that says,
Girl, I missed you.
I think he said something like that.
But he had on 27 minutes, he had 20 points on 6.
of 16 shooting two or nine from the three six or seven uh from the free throw line j b was uh seven of 17
one of three eight oh nine from the three point line he had 23 points Peyton pritchard uh 18 points
seven to 12 and hey I don't know who this kid is this uh this uh this left-handed
scrimmer scrimmerman but man he would let that fade fly amen because every time they got close
he'd be spotted up in the corner
I'm like, damn, who is he?
Hey, bossing looks scary
now, okay.
Hey, hey, Uncle, hey.
All right, Joe, Joe, Joe, that's what you're on the court
and somebody hit the three, you're like, who the F is he?
Yeah, right.
Hey, hey, Uncle, Joe, I'm surprised, you know.
I mean, Jason, Jason, you know, obviously,
I was worried, especially coming off that injury,
but seeing what he did, first game, 15,
this game he had 20 and I'm sure, I mean, he played 27 minutes a night.
And as he gets a little bit more comfortable, gets a little bit more acclimated to the speed
of the game and then everything catches up, he gets back in rhythm.
Man, hell, they might be here to deal with again.
They was already him to deal with without Jason Tatum.
Now you add him back into the fold.
You know, I'm sitting here talking about, you know, let Jason Tatum work yourself back
and, you know, work yourself back into the game, you know, let Jaylon Brown steer the ship.
Well, hell, you came back and ain't missed a goddamn beat.
Man, listen, once he gets back fine-tuning, Arcan Ocho, and that'll be right,
right probably when the playoffs about to hit.
Yeah.
He'll be comfortable enough to where he know he got to strengthen that leg and that Achilles
and he kind of get it out of his mind.
Yeah, man, it pushed them right back at the top of the, at the Eastern Conference.
Yeah, dang.
They just, because it makes them so deep,
and now you got another guy who you can rely on as far as closing out games,
managing games, taking the initiative,
and some of the top guys.
Shit, put Boston right back at the top, bro.
Dang.
Yeah.
I think I agree with you.
And we're going to talk about Detroit
who's been struggling as of late.
I don't know what it is with Cleveland.
You just don't believe in them at this time of the year, do you?
Nope.
Hey, uncle.
I don't think you should.
And I don't think anybody else does or should.
Two-headed months, don't?
it's not they it's they complimentary pieces i don't see nobody who's going to win them a game
and a playout in a tough playoff series like you think hard and mitchell and mowgli they're going
to be solid i think they'll be good enough to you know to win a couple games but they you're
going to need somebody who's going to have an out-of-body experience on your ocho in the postseason
for you to you know for you to advance bro like you need a little luck when you're when you're in the
Like, you can have your great players play great, but you're going to need somebody to be able to step up and have one of them nicer where they had 18 to 25 points and we get that dub.
And I just don't see it.
Well, I feel like when I watch Cleveland play, they have to work so hard to score the basketball that it hadn't really looked real free flowing.
Like when you watch Boston, like when you watch OKC, like when you watch San Antonio, when you watch these top teams play, they just don't move the ball like that.
No.
And Evan Moble,
who had a good game today.
He had 24 points,
eight rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell shot 50%
from the floor.
He had 34 points.
Hardin had 19, 10, and 4.
But that was it.
You get seven points from Dean Wade.
You get five from Merrill,
one or seven from the three for him.
Thomas Bryant, Schrooter,
Jalen Tyson.
I just don't know.
You're not beating,
you're not beating anybody with 13.
13 with 13 binge points.
Yeah.
No, you're in trouble.
Because the one thing you know about Boston,
Peyton Pritch is coming up the bench.
He's going to give you 15.
Yeah.
Hey, he mess around.
He's 35 while you playing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, let, let, let, uh, uh, uh, uh, you know, he's like, okay, I'm cool.
I'll sit back like JT back, uh, uh, uh, and J.B.
doing what he does, but let one of them be out.
Right.
And see what he do.
And they put his ass in the start line up.
Or let it, or don't put him to start line up, but let him get 30,
five minutes and see what he do.
Let him cook.
Let him cook.
Yeah.
He's fishing his hair,
Joe.
Anytime you get the opportunity
where it's off the bench
or where they're starting,
he's going to give you that work.
Yeah.
But I watched him today.
I was like,
man, he's shooting step back.
I mean, he's shooting turnaround,
stepbacks.
Ball high as a mofo.
Okay, hey, confidence through the roof.
Yeah.
Swish.
Yeah.
So, look, you know,
he's so confident because he didn't play,
been the starting point guard a lot throughout this whole season.
So his confidence through the roof, he's in the right spot.
He in the right spot.
He needs to be in.
Come in and get us that spark plug, and we might need you to go for 30 tonight.
And he can do it.
Yeah, with no problem.
I think the thing is it's going to take Schroeder some time.
Shrewd is a guy that can win your game.
We've seen Shruder play well in the postseason.
We saw him play well for the Lakers.
We saw him play well last year for Detroit against the Knicks.
So Shruder has some experience.
We'll see how that work out.
but they need their big guns.
Hardin, Donovan, Evan Mobley.
Now, they were Mr. Jared Allen,
but they're going to need their big guns to be firing.
Without them firing, they're not going to do anything
and they're not going anywhere.
Right, right.
I agree.
The only thing about Shrew and Uncle, you got Hardin and Mitchell,
both of them going to, one of them going to always be on the court
at all the times and they're going to always have a ball in their hands.
And Shruder needs the ball.
And Shruder kind of needs the ball.
Mm-hmm.
So it's hard for him to be effective.
You know what I mean?
Yep.
Pistons were blown out by the Miami Heat.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, by who they're blown out?
Blowing out the number one C.
They blew a 20-something point lead.
The bucks, excuse me,
Detroit did, blew a 20-something point lead to Brooklyn.
It ended up losing.
Tobias Harris had nine.
Jalen Duren had 24.
Kade was efficient today.
only 18 uh only had 26
Paul Reed
but this game wasn't even close
nah
you just
you don't have enough
firepower Detroit offensively
like that's a great game
by K but for them to win
okay Ocho like I said he always has to play
lights out kind of over
over and beyond like he probably need
about 35 tonight honestly
but you need these other guys around them to step up
bro and be effective and be able to help
I don't know what's wrong with Detroit, man.
They have tape, but I don't know if they got bored
because they got such a big lead on everybody
or what?
I mean, I'm trying to figure out what happened to Norman Powell.
Why they're not playing him?
The guy that could have been an all-star.
He was an all-star.
Yeah, he was an all-star.
Yeah, he must be hurt.
D&P, coaching decision.
But Detroit's going to have to do better defensively.
I mean, they let six guys get double figures.
Bam, had 24.
Tyler Hero had 25.
Phil Larson had 10.
Jaime Hartkeye, 19, K-O-Ware, 12.
But you also, hey, Uncle Joe,
but y'all both got to understand, chat.
Y'all also had to understand
what the Pistons had to deal with tonight.
The Pistons were playing the best team in the East.
You hear me?
The Pistons were playing the best team in the East,
so y'all sitting here confused on why Detroit looked
and why they've tapered off.
But, hello, look who you plan.
You're playing the best team,
probably the team that's going to come out East.
It might not look like it right now,
but I'm just telling you what's going to happen.
Not. Wait, come again?
Man. What you said? Okay.
I don't got them coming out to East Oakville, but they'll make, they'll make some noise.
They got some guys who capable and guys who can go off and have big games.
And they will coach, bro. You know, them dudes ain't going to really do a whole lot to hurt themselves.
You know, you just got to be disciplined when you play them.
But they, I mean, just don't surprise me that they beat Detroit.
I think they're definitely capable of doing that.
I just, you talk about a series.
Oh, yeah.
Hey, Joe, hold on, Joe, don't do that.
Now, we talk about this.
We talk about the seven-game series.
Boy, it's a rap.
You know, you know, you know, you know.
What do you mean?
It's a rap.
What do you mean?
We got this.
You don't believe me.
We rise to the occasions in moments that matter.
So in the seven-game series, if, if it happens, which is going to happen when we come out
to east, you know, somebody going home.
I don't know who is going to be.
But the fat lady going to sing.
You don't believe in the heat?
No.
Okay.
Okay.
Can I ask your question?
Yeah.
You not believing in the heat.
Are you willing to put money in that belief or you're just saying it because you just, you just.
They're not coming out of the east.
Yes.
I put money on the heat or not coming out of the east.
All right.
We're going to leave it at that.
I want you to remember these words.
I want to ask.
I want you to clip this statement from Unk and we want to keep it at that.
Yeah.
But there is.
Joe, he can't give you 24 and 5.
What you need?
He's not a 10 foot tall.
He got to be double-digit rebounds.
Yeah, he need to be double-digit rebounds, but they don't get, like, you know,
Bam don't really, he's the center, but he's like the point center.
He kind of like similar to Yokes, like he'll bring it up.
He'll initiate the offense.
So he ain't just under the basket all the time.
You know what I mean?
So that's what you want to have.
You want to have a big who can pull them, them big guys away from that basket.
and get them to where they are uncomfortable.
And I think that's really much what happened
because Bam, he had a great game today.
He had a great game today, too.
Bam, they wrote, yeah.
Hell, Bam shot got up 10.
The Bam got up 10 threes.
Yeah, he's been shooting the three lately.
He been shooting three later.
They look good.
You know, Miami does this, Ocho.
You know, they come out, they have a great game.
They play well.
They get them a nice little seed.
And then, you know, it'll be first round.
Huh?
I'm just keeping it real, man.
You want me to be honest, don't you?
I want you to be honest, Joe, but didn't you play for the heat, Joe?
Yeah, I played for the heat.
Way, had a good old time.
I don't, I don't, I don't like your tone.
I don't like what you, I don't like what you putting out there in the atmosphere.
The tongue is powerful, Joe.
I have to be honest when I'm on here talking to you or on.
I have to be honest.
So that's, that's, so that's both of y'all don't have no faith in the heat.
Nope.
All right.
Say less.
Nope.
Meanwhile, the pistons have lost four.
four games in a row, Ocho. Joe, is it time to panic?
Nah, ain't no time to panic.
I mean, they got to get, they just got to get back.
They got to get it back together.
Like I said, they got such a big lead on everybody in the East.
I think they didn't got a little bored, okay, Ocho, me personally.
You know what I mean?
Oh, man, we got a few games.
We probably could squander lovel, but they got to,
they got to get back on track now.
This thing winding down.
I don't like that, but a simple fact, you ain't want nothing to be more.
Yeah.
You should get tired.
You should get bored of winning champion.
It may people get sometimes, and you have a lot of,
a little low when you won a championship.
They ain't won nothing. You're right.
You're right. I'm concerned
because you lost to the Nets.
You got a 20-something point lead and you lose to the Nets.
You can't lose to the Nets. That's why
I put it toward them getting bored because I'm like,
man, they were beating the Nets head in.
It's like, and you lose that game, man, you don't
get bored, bro. I don't know what to tell you.
Like, you need to, you know, get it back in gear.
But, you know, it's starting to wind on down.
Man, I expect for them to tighten up.
make this late run.
Hey, Joe, I think they're going to be
right, Uncle Joe.
You know, even in battle,
some of the best luck
is going to slums.
You hear me?
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
They're going to slump, man.
They're going to be straight.
Ready for a different take on Formula One?
Look no further than no grip.
A new podcast tackling the culture
of motor racing's most coveted series.
Join me, Lily Herman,
as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F-1,
including the astrology of the current grid,
the story of the sports most consequential
driver strike,
and plenty of other mishaps, scandals and sagas
that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent gumster fire
for more than 75 years.
Listen to no grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is the biggest night in podcasting.
The countdown is on to our 2026 IHeart Podcast Awards.
Live from South by Southwest, March 16th,
we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year
and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry.
truly a who's who of the podcasting world.
Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display.
And the winner of the IHeart Podcast Award is...
See all the nominees now at IHeart.com slash podcast awards.
Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award.
Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app.
Audible.
There's more to imagine when you listen.
Sign up for a free trial at audible.com.
I'm Daniel Jeremiah.
And I am Greg Rosenthal.
I know that, Greg.
We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL off season.
This is where teams are built.
Free agency, combine, pro days, trades.
Every move matters.
From my draft boards and mock drafts to my vaunted top 101 free agents and how
rosters come together.
Quarterback movement.
Surprise signings.
We'll tell you what it means and who really wins.
Open your free IHeart radio app.
Search 40s and free agents.
Listen now.
