The Bill Simmons Podcast - Part 1: Trae Grows Up, MSG’s Revival, Milwaukee’s Must-Win, and a Properly Paid Tobias With Ryen Russillo (and a Sean Fennessey Cameo)

Episode Date: May 24, 2021

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Ryen Russillo to discuss Round 1 NBA playoff basketball! In Part 1 of a two-part podcast, Sean Fennessey makes a cameo to discuss the Knicks' Game 1 loss to the Hawks (3:45), the Bucks' hard-fought win over the Heat and why it was a must-win (31:30), the Nets' double-digit victory over the Celtics, 76ers-Wizards, NBA ratings, and more (55:30). Host: Bill Simmons Guest: Ryen Russillo, Sean Fennessey  Producer: Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you loved season one of Flying Coach with Steve Kerr and Pete Carroll, well, you're going to love season two as well. Peter Schrager and Rams coach Sean McVay, breaking it down for 10 episodes. First one is up. You can check out the Flying Coach podcast, or they're also running on the Ringer NFL show as well. It's the Bill Simmons podcast presented by FanDuel. Football is in full action. FanDuel's highest rated sports book is the best place to bet it all. We've been doing pretty well on million dollar picks this year. I love the first month of the season

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We're also brought to you by TheRinger.com and The Ringer Podcast Network. I can't believe we're not going to really talk about Phil Mickelson today in the podcast. We have so much basketball to cover. We're breaking this into two parts. This one's going up as soon as we're done right after we just watched the Knicks-Hawks game. And then we're going to do part two that we're going to tape right after the

end of the Grizzlies jazz game. So two-parter. After you finish this one, part two. Just either wait for that or if you're hearing this on Monday morning, both of them are up and you can take your pick. Phil Mickelson, though. 50-year-old guy wins

the PGA Tournament. I was watching all week and all weekend. Yesterday, even when he had the lead heading into Sunday, he wasn't the favorite. I thought Brooks Koepka was going to win.

First hole happens. They have a two-stroke switch. And it's like, all right, here we go. Here comes the Mickelson fall apart. Did not happen. Koepka falls apart on the par five and two. And then later in the front nine, all of a sudden, Mickelson has a lead. Nobody makes a run.

We did a little locker room thing. Me and House and Kevin Clark, right, during the last five holes. And we were saying how we expected somebody who was around even or minus one or something to shoot a 66, 67 and just be around minus five, minus six, done with Mickelson just trying to hold the minus six or minus seven. Nobody did it. Didn't happen. Course was too hard.

And you can hear House and Nathan Hubbard break all of it down on the Fairway Rolling podcast, which will be up by the time you hear this. But Phil Mickelson, 50-year-old, winning the PGA. Unbelievable. I remember when Nicholas won in 86, and I'd been caddying that day. But somehow, I think I saw the back nine at least, but, um, it just felt like he was so old. I was like, this is incredible. How does, how does a guy this old win a major? Then Mickelson is somehow four years older, but a great TV day somehow does not crack

the cut for us. We're still, it's coming up next. We're going to break down the East in part one, and then we'll deal with the West in part two. It's all coming up first. Pearl Jam. All right, part one of the two-part Sunday night extravaganza. Rosillo is here. We just watched Knicks-Hawks. Really an incredible basketball game.

Having the fans back was stupendous. It felt like a full MSG. The crowd shots were awesome. You know, anyone, I think we all realized that fans were important to the playoff basketball experience, but you could really feel in this game. The Knicks felt like they were back for the first time in eight years, but Rosillo, the big takeaway for me, Trey Young, a guy that neither of us have really enjoyed that much these first couple of years because it's been high usage rates, you know, stats that don't necessarily lend itself to winning.

It started to turn midway through the season. He looked like mid-2000s Steve Nash today. I thought he was fantastic. And it seems like he's made a leap. It's a really interesting subplot to these playoffs. I expected that shot to go in. Me too. That's kind of what I was watching today.

And I think we've always been fair about it. And I think in today's world, it always felt like we were the two grumpy old men about some of the numbers that he was putting up. But you're right. I think the biggest transition for him was trust, is that he finally got to a point where he could trust his teammates a little bit more. And you're seeing them run stuff where Bogdanovich initiates what they're doing, or he gets it off to them and he'll play off.

And I think he's way more comfortable with it now because he has better players around him. And this has been, for the second half of the season, a good basketball team that's really talented now that Hunter's back. I was looking at it because I was really focused on two things with Trey in the playoffs. I go, how is he going to be as a smaller guy if they decide to kind of sell out against him?

And they didn't really do that. Like on more of the drives where I noticed where you get that high screen, the Knicks were very determined to make sure they kept a Taj or whoever was dropping kind of clinging to the big on that action because they're just going to get dunked on by Clint Capella the whole time. And then the free throw attempts. And then I looked at my notes. It's 643 of the fourth quarter was his first free throw attempt. So I was like, oh, here we go. And then he got nine of them. And a couple of at my notes. It's 643 of the fourth quarter was his first free throw attempt. So I was like, oh, here we go. And then he got nine of them. And a couple of them are questionable.

But the headline of this, he is now the first player to have 25 points and 10 assists in his playoff debut since Derrick Rose in 2009. He was great. Oh, wow. Yeah, that's a good one. So he was he was 32, 10 and seven. I thought he had the game on a yo-yo. And it was a really, you and I were texting near the end,

it was a really interesting conundrum for the Knicks. This was such a good game. I really loved it. The Knicks had Burks, Rose, and R.J. Barrett all playing well. And because Randall was just completely putrid tonight, those three guys were playing that. 6-24. Yeah, 6-24.

And Taj Gibson's rebounding was helping them. But they had a conundrum. None of those three guys were paying them. And Taj, yeah, 6-24. And Taj Gibson's rebounding was helping them. But they had a conundrum. None of those three guys can guard Trae Young. So it was like, alright, I guess we're going to have to give up these Trae Young drives, but we'll get it back on the other end. I think Quickly probably has the best

chance of all the guards they have to at least make them work. But crazy crazy they bring in nitlinka how do you say his name he's been so out of the mix you forgot to pronounce his name say say it for me nitlinka i like i like this game better i may not correct you i i can't tell you how much i hate dating back to the most famous example, Quentin Ross costing the 2006 Clippers a chance to go to the finals, coming in cold. I'm sorry, Daniel Ewing, not Quentin Ross,

coming in cold and forgetting to guard Rajah Bell in the corner. I hate nothing more in playoff basketball than the guy coming in cold to play defense on the biggest play of the game. I've never liked it at any point in my life. I'd like to go on the record for eternity. I've never seen this work. He comes in, Trey Young destroys him. I mean, leaves him in the dust.

He's five feet behind him by the time the winning basket's happening. He actually, I thought, did a pretty good job of staying in front of him at the end of the first half, if I remember that possession correctly, because that was the only other time he came in. Because that's another part of this story too. Atlanta played 10 guys really quickly in this game.

And same thing with the Knicks. And it's actually 11 if you count those final possessions at the house for Nila Kina. So, um... Nila Kinga? I just can't do it. I got my dad's speech impediment for certain names. There's a few names.

Frankie? Frankie Nicotine? I'll have a couple guys would text me and be like does he not know how to say that guy's name i'm like look everybody's got their holes in their game yeah but yeah bill has like three or four pronunciations you just that's that's where you're going to be at like who's who's your favorite player on the hornets i'm not saying it oh we have a special guest. I invited him on. This is great.

Sean Fantasy, a close friend of the podcast. I've been working with him for almost 10 years. During that whole time, we have not had many meaningful Knicks games. He basically quit the Knicks. I don't know how many years ago that was. They've sucked him back in. It's fine.

I allowed it. And you got to experience real playoff basketball. I don't know how many years ago that was. They've sucked him back in. It's fine. I allowed it. And you got to experience real playoff basketball. And then Trey Young, who we were just talking about, broke your heart. What was it like to root against Trey Young? So I called Charles Oakley and I called Anthony Mason's family and I called Xavier McDaniel's family and we're all going to take care of Trey Young later tonight. He's curtains. He's no longer allowed in New York City.

This is a mess right now. I'm very mad. Well, he did the shuh. He did a long pronounced 12 second shuh to the MSG crowd after he made... In Boston, you might not get out of the arena if you do that. I got to tell you, the shuh in general is kind of a mess. I see young guys now do it in the first quarter of a home game. And I'm like, do you understand the origin of the shh? Especially when we've had empty arenas during the regular season.

You're like, it's pretty quiet already, man. Sean, walk us through seeing Frankie Nicotine come in on the deciding play. So there are two types of Knicks fans right now. There are those who always believed in Frank and those who have always hated Frank. I'm one of those.

I've always hated Frank guys. I don't get it. I don't understand the cult. And so I was mortified to see him out there. On the other hand, Trey just cut them up all game. So I'm not even sure what they were supposed to do. You couldn't leave Rose out there to cover him, but you know, it was, it was, it was a very disappointing end to a otherwise like pretty fun and intoxicating kind of game. I loved the MSG shots of the fans wearing masks and Tracy Morgan just being like, fuck it. I'm Tracy Morgan. I'm not wearing this.

But there was real energy. And, you know, we've had fans at some of these games. This was the first one that felt like real basketball. I got, I was lucky enough to go to Warriors-Lakers. It was less fans. It was probably, I would say, one-third full. That felt full. For 15,000.

Here's the problem for the Knicks. I thought the Hawks were more talented. I was going to pick the Hawks. Then I saw those Randall stats, which Sean actually sent to me over the weekend. Randall destroys the Hawks. So I was like, you know, with home court, this might be enough. What the fuck happened to Randall tonight? Like, what happened? I voted for him fifth for MVP. This was beyond a bad game. This was like a catastrophe. He couldn't get rolling in the beginning of the game. And he looked a little bit shook at a certain point. And it kind of became much more Derrick Rose's's game and then it really became Alec Burks's game but I mean I think the Hawks are very long they also had never been totally healthy when playing them earlier this year and so between Bogdanovich and Capella and Collins and Gallo and all of those guys who were

all long deeing him up throughout the game he really struggled he shot really poorly he made a lot of bad decisions I mean he's also never. He shot really poorly. He made a lot of bad decisions. I mean, he's also never played in a playoff game. There's a lot of dudes in that game who never played in a playoff game. He's one of them. And he looked less ready than RJ and Quickly, which was kind of scary. I mean, I really hope that doesn't carry over to the next game because that's probably like among

the two or three worst games he's played this entire season. Yeah, at halftime, at one point they were arguing, was he being too aggressive because he was taking the charges? And then somebody's like, well, he's not being aggressive enough. He's not rebounding. They're having an argument about whether he was being too aggressive or too passive. Russillo, he won you over this year. What did you see? Was that just a choke job or was something else going on? There's going to be something I'm going to say throughout both

parts of these multiple hours that we're going to do here tonight this is game one it's game one for everybody and every year we forget and every year we look at the one result because it's the only evidence of each series and then we try to pretend that these games can't be different game to game so I thought he struggled but he had a couple moments where he was like all right I got this because I mean Alec Burks I think went for 18 in the fourth quarter like I was I was adding it up going, what? Is that true? Yeah. Oh, my God. He had 27.

So, he blacked out the whole game. He was money. They couldn't take him out. So, I'm looking at, like, the Trey part of it, too, because we were always like, how do you hide him defensively? And it's like, it didn't really matter because Randall was taking a bunch of shots. He took two early shot clock threes that were bad. He made the first one. The second one was terrible.

They ran one play against Trey with R.J. Barrett, where R.J. got a great look out of it. And then I was like, oh, maybe they'll come back to this. And they never did. And I think the scary thing of this is because you have that one result, we go, okay, what happened here? Well, look at this. New York was right there, okay?

They still could have ended up fine. If Trey doesn't get the last foul call, which I thought was bad. If he misses the floater, then the Knicks win. And we're talking about Atlanta having all the size and being more talented. What's wrong with them? The Knicks out-rebounded a bigger team that I think plays their bigger guys bigger minutes. Atlanta had a stretch where they were just bombing away. They'd run one action, cut, shot. And then it looks like the Knicks are pulling away here a little bit.

So, honestly, with that crowd and everything and Randall going six to 24 and Barrett going to six to 15, and you can always find another number where it's like, well, you're not going to get that from Berks again. I'm not going to sit here and freak out if I'm the Knicks. I'm just not, because I think all of us agree Atlanta is more talented, but the Knicks had moments where they were fighting in this one where I know I'd be frustrated today after everything that happened, but I'm not like, I'm not like inconsolable because of this. Like this, the second game could be an adjustment on Trey

and the physical nature still fires you up. And then Randall plays a little bit better. And this series is 1-1. Like you shouldn't be scared of Atlanta. Yeah, I think it's tricky, right? Because it's like,

they haven't won a playoff game in eight years. So everybody's all bent out of shape for obvious reasons. But they could have gotten away with one in which their by far best player had his worst game of the season. And now I'm like, is New Orleans Noel hurt? And if he is, and if he's not playing,

and Taj Gibson is not going to do what he did again tonight. I mean, Taj Gibson was unbelievable. He was making plays, busting his ass, fighting for every rebound, doing the thing that he's been doing for 15 years for Tibbs. And I don't know if you can count on that. You definitely can't count on 27 from Burks again. So it's tough. Like if Randall and RJ are dominant, then they'll be okay.

But it just felt like they had a chance to steal one at home. And now they're in a tough spot. The series played out in game one exactly what I thought. I thought the Hawks were going to have the lead in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter in every game of this series, but I thought the Knicks could still win this series, as weird as that sounds.

And you think about it, this was final minute of the game, toe-to-toe. The Knicks have over and over again won those games. That's been the great thing about this Knicks team. That's why it's been such a weird season. They finished 41-31. It easily could have been 31 and 41, but they just over and over again were able to win these games. They finally lost one. The one Achilles heel, I think, at least among all my Knicks fans, friends that we identify as, they have no end of game offense. Their end

of game offense is Randall Iso, which is not ideal. It's really not the perfect offensive platform. Because it's also, sorry, but it's slow and you can catch up to him. Like guys that are ball stoppers in this kind of intensity and an Atlanta team that's figured some things out here defensively after being abysmal for so many years. It's kind of the old Embiid thing. Like, oh, Embiid needs more touches. It's like, you know what though, Joel?

We need you when you catch it to do something, too. And I think Randall's like the face-up version of that at times. Derek Rose, who played 38 minutes tonight. This isn't the best version of Derek Rose ever, but I think it's my favorite.

You know, he's not nearly as explosive as he was in the 2009 to 2012 range, but there's a craftiness. It's just, it's been weird to watch his whole career. Now he's like veteran Derrick Rose. But it just seems like you look at his last three years, his per 36 numbers, have you looked at those, Russillo? I don't want guys that don't play.

Because I think there's... Go ahead. Well, but he's been in the high 20s for minutes. He's basically 23, 6, and 4s per 36, which is where he was his entire career. I think the difference is he's a little more respectable from three. But do you remember what you gave up for him, Fantasy?

Was it a second round pick? And Dennis Smith Jr. Oh, yes. Dennis Smith Jr. The And Dennis Smith Jr. Oh, yes. Dennis Smith Jr. The immortal Dennis Smith Jr. It's kind of nuts that this is a guy who's going toe-to-toe with a really good Hawks team or a really good offensive Hawks team. In the playoffs, they got him for nothing.

Think of all those dumb trades that... How many... What did we do? A three-hour podcast of the trade deadline, Rosillo? Yeah. The Derrick Rose trade was probably the most important just player acquisition. But that was months before the trade deadline too they acquired it really early

that ended up being more important than all these trades we dissected for hours this game though was the culmination of I don't know shit for me personally as a Knicks fan two years ago I did not understand the Randall signing I hated it

I didn't understand the Tibbs hiring I didn't understand Alec Burks for I hated it. I didn't understand the Tibbs hiring. I didn't understand Alec Burks for one year, six million. I didn't understand acquiring Noel. I didn't understand re-signing Taj Gibson. I didn't understand any of this stuff. And I especially did not understand Derek Rose getting playing time over Emmanuel quickly on this team that seemed to be kind of promising at the beginning of the year. I was wrong every time.

Every single thing I was wrong about. It's kind of amazing what they've done. What do you say, Russillo, with Rose? I think you're high to say you like this version better than the peak Derrick Rose. I just, he was done. I'm just saying, like, he came back from the dead. It's like zombie Derrick Rose. I've just enjoyed that aspect.

Yeah, he was so athletic, though. In a way, this makes more sense than him never being able to contribute again. You know what I mean? Like, even him at a massively diminished version of him athletically, he, his ceiling was so far beyond. He was basically, you know, I still think Westbrook's the best athlete I've ever seen play in the NBA. And I don't know that Rose was far behind him. Um, but you're right about the market, like the market for impactful older guys where it's like, Oh, can I get a first rounder for this? And you're like, no, like if you ever talked to teams, like, can i get a first rounder for this and you're like no like if you

ever talk to teams like could you get a first for you know this guy who gets like 17 a game you're like no way you're like okay but he's still this guy's like still good and you would have him to close games if not at least in your rotation and then it's just i'm talking like a late 20s first or a protected one that becomes two seconds later on there seems to be some sort of i don't know if there needs to be a correction in that part of the nba marketplace but rose is a classic example of oh yeah he's not worth anything even though you're like the knicks desperately need him because you brought up a great point uh bill when we were texting about the game they have a real issue with what they want to do offensively versus their defensive matchups

with this to close games. Today they went offense. I think that ultimately Burks is probably not playing the last six minutes. I think they had to keep him in because he was so hot and Randall was so bad. I think ultimately Quickly is in that spot and they're going to have to

figure out how to defend Trae Young differently. The other thing that happened in this game that's going to get swept under the rug, because I think next 24 hours will be all Trey Young, Trey Young, Trey Young, and what's wrong with Julius Randle. The fucking Lou Williams random cameo where he took over the game for four minutes. This is a guy, he's one of the worst playoff players of all time. He's like historically awful every year. And he actually, I thought he kept them in the game

because it seemed like it was going to go to double figures and then that was going to be it. So that was bad. And then, you know, the Noel injury, I actually think he would have been playing crunch time because of his shop blocking.

Right. He would have been out there instead of Gibson. Am I right? Absolutely. I mean, imagine Trey trying to go to the rack on that last play with Noel underneath the basket. It's maybe a different

situation. I think, I don't know. It's just, it's, it feels like they just missed an opportunity here in a big way. The Lou Will thing too. I was quoting you two

friends over text saying like, Bill has famously said this is the worst playoff guy in like the last 10 years. And of course, he's absolutely cutting up the Knicks.

They extended it to seven, and then Lou Will, I think, scored the next nine points for the Hawks, and that was the difference between running away with it in the third quarter or not. Rusillo, later in this podcast, after Sean leaves, I did some legwork on this. I've actually identified

the worst 21st century playoff player. That's not coming up next. No, don't give it away. I have some... I'm not. I think you're going to be beaming with excitement as I go through all the stupid research I did because that's all I did all day.

RJ Barrett? So, the 6 for 15, fine, but I fucking loved how he played in this game. I think that the reason all the Knicks fans defend him and the reason I've defended him the whole time is I just think the dude cares. I really do. I think that's a,

it's a weird thing to say about a basketball player, but I really feel like that guy gives a shit. Like a Derek Jeter type? No. I think he's going to add something every year. And I thought he rose to the occasion. That's why the weirdest thing to me about this game was that Randall was the one that didn't rise to the occasion.

I just wouldn't have guessed that one. But RJ, you were bummed out last year. Sean, you can admit it. Yeah. John Zion. And then you got stuck with the kind of the third Helmsworth brother. Who do we who do we say was the best analogy for that Rosillo third Helmsworth third Helmsworth yeah okay yeah you got

stuck with third but he's not the third Hemsworth he might be a leading Hemsworth brother well the third Hemsworth Liam Hemsworth is one of the stars of Westworld he's doing okay if RJ turns out to be a star of Westworld that's that's all right that's not bad he had some moments tonight I mean that that dunk obviously was huge he hit a couple of trays I mean he's all right. That's not bad. He had some moments tonight. That dunk obviously was huge. He hit a couple of trays. He's going to have games where he shoots 6 for 15. The thing I wish that they would just let him do is just initiate the offense more. They don't really

let him handle the ball and run the offense ever. It's always either Randall or Rose or IQ occasionally. I still don't totally know what they have with him. He obviously improved his shooting a lot this season. He also has a lot of games where he's like two for 18 and you're like, what the fuck happened to this guy? But I just I wish especially with Randall struggling,

there were more opportunities for him to try to do stuff. I would have been fine with him taking 25 shots in this game. He's 21 years old, but on the biggest stage, do it. I like how he goes to the basket, but he's not afraid to rebound his own miss. He's active. He's not selling out for calls. He's just around the rim a lot. Who does he remind you of? Anybody?

Well, it's weird because he has more perimeter skills than they let him use because Rose is initiating almost everything and it's not like they... I don't think they really trust quickly to be like a guy they stick in the corner i mean the burks part of this changed everything because it was like all right we're going to keep looking there i'd love to see rj initiate stuff against trey young i mean you have to find ways to attack a great young yeah so you know i don't i don't always love like when i'm watching a game and i'm trying to think like okay what would my first line be if I were writing the recap of this?

Because it changes possession of possession. So there are moments where I, I agree, I agree with you. Like RJ has some intensity moments where like that guy's into this, like he's not floating. You would hope no one's floating during a playoff game, but it still happens.

And he had a put back there that was big. And I was like, all right, this guy's engaged. Even though he, he honestly felt like the fifth option as far as touching the basketball to close. So I was like, okay, Knicks are fighting. They're tougher. They're out rebounding size. Like, look at all these great little things. And then, you know, Trey young just closes out the game. And then the story,

the recap becomes something completely different. I would just like to see RJ cause he's the shooting numbers surprise you. Like if you look at him and go, Oh wait, cause you know know I had a moment with him where I go yeah he might be all right but I don't know that you're going to be like thrilled about what the ceiling is and I've adjusted that for what I think his ceiling is but he's he's he's a different player because I think he has more skills than we ever really get to see because they clearly trust Rose making most of the decisions you like the one top and play Sean. I thought that was adorable. It was cute. They let him have his eight minutes.

He was not bad in those eight minutes. It's been a real roller coaster with our number eight pick this year. He's not going to play more than 12 minutes a game. Tips is not going to let that happen. But that was cute. He had a three. I was watching Hunter closely today because I thought he was another key to the series. And he was pretty, I'm going to say nondescript,

but then he hit one of the biggest shots of the game near the end where he hit a big three. And just thinking about them long-term, because, you know, let's say they get by the Knicks. I don't think this series is over by any means, but I do hate losing game one and then basically having to win four or six. I think it's easier to do if you have the seventh at home. But you think about this team going next round against Philly, who looked very strange today

against Washington. We'll get to them in a second. I don't know. If Hunter's going to play well and Trey is going to look like he did today, they'll at least like throw some punches against the Sixers. You wouldn't say the Sixers just roll over them in that, right, Rossello? I'm not going to worry too much about how deflated. That Philly game felt like it was starting at 8 a.m. local time. Like that was a weird, the whole thing had a vibe that was a bit on the napping side of a basketball playoff game. Yeah, it's fair.

It's fair. At the same time... I'd be surprised if Philly didn't beat the winner of this series. Me too. They're going to be minus 500 favorites. I think Atlanta probably has a better chance to beat them.

You feel like fantasy. You feel like you're a guy short. Oh, no question. And that guy is Mitchell Robinson. I think if you had him, I'd feel, you know, you'd have 12, especially against Embiid, you'd have 12 fouls and stuff like that.

But I was kind of amazed by how much Taj Gibson played in this game today and how important he was. And he was in the middle of a lot of things. The one thing he didn't do was clothesline Trey Young, which I guess will be on the agenda for game two. I'm sure Oakley's going to call him and talk it out with him. They can't run the risk of getting a gnarly flagrant in a suspension, though, because they don't have enough depth on the front line.

So it's going to be tricky. I think you will feel more specifically that they're one guy short thing when Alex Burks doesn't drop 27 next game, because that's where I always feel at watching them this year. Watching them this year, I'm like, they're they're one guy short thing when Alex Burks doesn't drop 27 next game because that's where I always feel it watching them this year watching them this year. I'm like they're really one perimeter guy short. They're really one score short because if Randall is shooting 40% from the field

they're going to score 89 points in a game. It was kind of a miraculous that they scored 103 points today. Well before we let you go I'm really happy for James Dolan. I mean the guys put his blood sweat sweat, and tears into this team, this franchise. Seeing him there in the sidelines watching his creation come to life. It's just, you know, sometimes you just feel all the feels for somebody.

And that's how I was feeling during that game. I don't want to talk about James Dolan, but I want to say thank you to Leon Rosenko for giving us this team so far. When are you going to start wearing a WeHear t-shirt? I'm in my vintage Sprewell jersey. This is as deep as it gets, man. This is a game worn. Come on. That's a game worn Sprewell?

Is that really? It was gifted to me by a friend recently. Somebody had the WeHear jersey that they were flashing. And I was like, oh, that could be a thing if they won this series. I got to say, I was was really really emotional about this today I mean I I grew up I came of age being obsessed with Knicks playoff games in the 90s that was a lifestyle now granted they never ultimately won yeah the big game but it was bizarre to be a part of it and I and I really hated the mellow teams as you as you noted at the beginning of the conversation. So I was not super excited in 12 and 13.

So this feels like for the first time since 1999, they're back. I love the t-shirt themes, though, for all the teams in the playoffs. I would love an honest one that was kind of limped in. We know we got four. Let's see what happens.

Celtics won. Guess we got to play these? Yeah, the Celtics would be the perfect example it'd be like it's on the schedule let's ball we here

literally we're kinda here yeah when I when I got to know Sean in the 12-13 season he was a big Prigioni guy that's a fact

oh yeah the Italian master big thought he was just he was a little compasso in Prigioni oh yeah yeah there's a fact. Oh, yeah. The Italian master? He was just, he was a little compasso. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

There's a little legacy there. Incredible ball skills. He showed up in the NBA at 53 years old, and he aged like wine. Well, before you go, I have to tell this story. This game today reminded me of, and I know Rossella was there, because I think we'd met after the game for the first time.

I think it was game three, Nets Celtics 0-2. There hadn't been like a really meaningful Celtics playoff game. It was a day game. I think it was the first meaningful playoff game they'd had in like eight or nine years. And the crowd was so fucking happy when we came back and won. Everybody just went out and got drunk after. And today had the making of that. I think if the Knicks had won,

I think there would have been a lot of calling in sick tomorrow, stuff like that. But there was like, it's rare to see a fan base that's just so genuinely happy to have a decent team. You know, it's the equivalent of like, if somebody's in a relation, just starts dating somebody and the relationship's just going half decent and they're reacting like, this is the happiest I've ever been in my life. I've had two decent dates with

somebody. That was the feeling I got from Afar, Sean. Thank you, Bill. Here's the thing. The New York Mets are in first place. The New York Knicks are in the playoffs and Zach Wilson is Patrick Mahomes 2.0. Thanks for having me on the show. And John Jastrzemski is on fire. That's right. And JJ is here at the ringer. All right. for coming on we're gonna come back and talk about uh the other e-series thanks fantasy thanks guys this episode is brought to you by movember the mustache is back with a vengeance look at travis kelsey before he rocked that Super Bowl ring, he rocked that super soup strainer. Grow a mustache for Movember. You'll do great things too. You won't win the Super Bowl, but your fundraising will support mental health, suicide prevention, and prostate and testicular cancer research. And if you don't want to grow a mustache, you can still walk or

run 60 kilometers, host an event, or set your own goal and mow your own way. Do great things this November. Sign up now. Just search Movember. I forgot to say when we were talking about the Knicks that at one point, Spira Didis said, quote, Alec Burks is putting the Knicks on his back. I know. I did not have that at announcer bingo this week.

Let's talk about Miami, Milwaukee. I asked you to do your series rankings for favorite series. We've got to see one game from every series except Grizzlies Jazz, which we're going to be talking about in part two. I did my series rankings, and then I'll get yours.

My number one is Heat Bucks. Number two, Knicks Hawks. Lakers Suns. Mavs Clips. Drop Off. Nuggets Blazers. Jazz Grizz. Wiz Sixers.

And Celtics Nets is last for me. Heat Bucks is my favorite series of the eight. I thoroughly enjoyed the game yesterday. I thought it was compelling for a hundred different reasons, but that was my number one. What did you have for number one? Phoenix, LA. Okay.

Number two is Atlanta, New York. Number three is Milwaukee, Miami. Number four, Utah, Memphis. Wow. You should be buying some Memphis stock. Yeah. I just want to see. I want to see what's going to happen here.

I don't know why. I don't know why. It could end up. There's no way it'll be worse. Even if the series goes long with Philadelphia and Washington, it already feels like, and I'm being too reactionary to what game one was like, but that was just,

even though it was sort of fake close, it was just so even though it was sort of fake close, it just was, it was just so dead of a game. It was still weird, not super enjoyable game. I think your, your early afternoon call, I think is the right call.

Yeah. Um, Clippers just for the angst part of it. Yeah. Like, wait, are you serious? Like,

actually I should probably put Clippers for Utah, Memphis five. I'll put Portland, Denver six. Then it's Boston, Brooklyn, and then last is Philadelphia, Washington. Yeah, that's fair. All right. Let's talk Miami, Milwaukee. So it's weird to say this about a game one. And sometimes you get this feeling during the game. Sometimes game ones become weirdly outsized pivotal at some point in the last minute regulation i felt like it became a must win for milwaukee and again i know that's stupid

it's game one of a seven game i don't think it's stupid i actually don't think it changed but i really felt like if they blew that game i thought it was going to send them into a spiral we've seen that happen here's a good example sun sps Spurs 2008. Remember that double overtime Duncan hit to get the one to send it to a second overtime, whatever it was. And the Suns lost that game. And I remember I felt like the series was over, even though it was one game. I would have felt like this series was over if Milwaukee lost that game where Butler and Bam shot eight for 37, including the overtime where it's like, you can't even beat these guys when Butler and Bam can't make a fucking shot. And then on top of it, all

the Gianna stuff. So walk me through how you were feeling watching the crunch time there. It was a perfect example, as you just alluded to, the terrible Butler line. I mean, he was, I mean, he hits, it turned into like a meme where it's like, Butler, nobody'd rather have this guy. And you're like, he's four for 22.

All right. He's four for 22. So awesome getting the game to overtime but i mean he's been terrible so this is another great version of a game where you can go if i just look at this then the score should be be this but you know at the half miami was 8 of 21 from 3. Duncan Robinson got it going early. And Milwaukee was 2-17. I think they missed their first 10 from 3. I mean, Milwaukee for the game ends up 5-31. So they couldn't hit a shot to save their lives. But then on the other side, if you looked at the two-point shooting,

I mean, Miami took 50 threes. And they made 20. I know. If you go 20 for And they made 20. I know. If you go 20 for 50 from three, you usually win, just for the record. Yeah, but that's a weird deal for Miami to take that many because it just showed like, hey, we don't really have a lot of options here. We don't. True. Ariza played 38 minutes.

I had that noted. When I was looking at this series, I go, if this were not a rematch of the emotional angst carryover from last playoff season, there's no reason you would ever even think of picking Miami in this series.

You just wouldn't. Because after Butler and after Bam, the third best player is Dragic, and he hasn't been great. I think he'd taken a step back this season, although I thought he was great

in game one. Playoff Dragic. He was awesome in this game. And I want to get to some of that stuff a little bit later, but I'm with you because if Milwaukee loses that one, they're probably saying, okay, fine, we're going to hit more threes than this, but you got to sit around for two

days and listen to all the bullshit about how they have your number when I really don't think this is that close on paper, even though the record, they were only six games better than them. No, there, there would have been a whole Giannis thing coming out of that game too. Absolutely. Where very similar to the shack issue, 20, 25 years ago, we had this guy who's dominant for the first 45 minutes of a game. And in the last three, it's a problem because he can't make free throws and you don't feel like they're going in. No. And then on top of it, Miami, who I swear to God, every series,

they come up with one wrinkle that nobody's thought of. Right. So this time it was the 10 second free throw thing, which they clearly had thought of before the series. And they clearly decided to spring at the perfect time because they showed Butler on the sideline and it was like that weird, smart Miami thing and it fucking worked and they called it and they got the call and now they're in Giannis's head for every free throw he's taking after that you're taking it you have your routine and it's like oh shit I got to speed this up but um it's very similar to the Shaq thing and Shaq won those three titles um because he was the best player in the league but he also had somebody else who could carry the last four minutes of any close playoff game for Milwaukee. And I,

I can't make this point strongly enough. And it's not rocket science because they gave up a hundred picks for drew holiday, but you felt that in game one, in a profound way, the, the upgrade from Eric Bledsoe to drew holiday, like Like, I just trust him with the ball. He's going to make one random Drew Holiday play. He had that steal where he had the layup where it seemed like two guys were going to chase him down with like 35 seconds left. He had the layup and traffic,

but he's just such a massive upgrade from Bledsoe that I don't feel like you can compare last year's series to this year's series. And I think you have to throw it out. Milwaukee's better. That's why they're favored. And they had to get through that game one. I think they win this series now in five or six.

I was tracking who was guarding Giannis. And it was like Butler initiated a lot of it. But Ariza ended up on him a lot. There's a difference between who was guarding him for the 27 shot attempts than who was guarding him throughout the game. So there's some BAM stuff in there. But So I, you know, there's some bam stuff in there, but like when I see a Reese out there for 38 minutes, you go to all ahead,

15 minutes, Dwayne Deadman's playing 12 minutes. Hero comes in, goes two for 10 and 19 minutes. Um, this, this Miami team, I just,

I know that we kind of liked them more because they closed a little stronger, but there's still some defensive numbers for them there where they had a better record, but they weren't really closing. for them there where they had a better record, but they weren't really closing like they'd really figured a bunch of stuff out. So Giannis is never going to be perfect. I'm with you. The free throws, if one goes in,

I think it's like, oh, cool. At least one went down because you can just see it. And when guys start to lose it mentally at the free throw line, it really becomes a completely different challenge. On the Karan Butler and the 10 second thing, this is what is bullshit about it though. I didn't like it

because the refs have never been more impressionable. You're like, okay, so what are you going to do now? You're going to call this because Butler was saying, you would think he'd be like, hey, we're going to look for it, but Butler says it, so now one ref's definitely looking for it, and he went over the 10 second deal,

but nobody ever calls it. Nobody ever calls it. Then no one calls lane violations anymore. Juan Toscano Anderson in the play-in game against Memphis got down on a three point stance on the inside portion of the three, of the free throw lineup, like got down and put his hand down into the paint. And while the shot was up and they let it go, there's a lane violation on every free throw. There's a, there's almost, there's a ton of guys. Cause Shaq actually used to do this too. You're not supposed to cross the free throw line as a free throw shooter until the ball hits the rim. No one cares about that. LeBron does it all the time too. And then guys are running through the three point line. So I know that like illegal screens, you could call more often. It's a bit

like holding, but when you call some of this stuff late that you haven't called before, I don't really get the point. And I, late that you haven't called before, I don't really get the point. And I think if I were a ref, I'd be more inclined to be like, hey, Karan, we're on it. We'll look for it. Yeah, we're going to tell Giannis. Yeah. Or instead of being like, all right, let me count because they yelled at me enough from the sideline and then they got to play. Remember when Chris Paul had the jersey thing? Yeah, great for Chris Paul. He's really smart. But I can't believe the refs will be like yep let's call something we never call because one guy's screaming at us about it

the other example of that and i think they they've just been all over the map with this call for the last couple years is the three when the guy kicks out one leg into the defender who's charging by him to try to buy the call, right? Sometimes they'll call it. Sometimes that call gets challenged a lot and they'll look at it. And every time they reverse it or they'll call the guy who does the kick, but then sometimes they won't call it at all. And then you get a situation like Golden State Memphis, where Poole kicks his leg out on a huge three. And they don't challenge it.

And they didn't, A, they don't challenge it. B, they gave him this call where it's like his legs at a 45 degree angle. Like he's Bruce Lee. The guy runs into it and the ref, I mean, granted they might've called it because they want to go and stay to win the game, but they're all over the map with that call and the lane violations. I agree with you. When they call them, you're like, wait, are we, we're calling these now?

It's like you let nine out of ten of these go in every game i watch on league pass guys are just jumping in whenever guys line up with their feet over the line like when you get that baseline camera angle guys are lined up with their toes over the line all the time so i was you know like it doesn't i don't wake up the next day being like how am i gonna get through this day guys toes are over the line like i don't care but i when it happens in that moment, as far as like the leg kick out thing, I mean, we could do,

we've already done enough on this. Like, Zaza fucked up Kawhi. It sucks. It sucks that that series may, look, I still think it's a huge assumption to think the Spurs beat that Golden State team. If Kawhi's healthy, clearly gives them a better chance.

I don't think they would have. You know, Bruce Bowen used to do it. And you could see guys that never got mad anybody want to kill bruce bowen because he was like the only guy doing it sticking his leg in your landing area they were mad after after he retired when he was on tv for a couple years and i i was doing tv around the same time the players even then would be like fuck that guy no yeah you know it's totally true because i worked with a bunch and you know, he didn't really, I don't think he really liked me that much at the beginning. Cause I was like, dude, you were a dirty player.

Like, come on, if you're not dirty, then who was? And he was like, I wasn't. I mean, here's the deal. We also know about dirty players, unless it's hockey. None of them ever want to say I'm a dirty player. Maybe some football guys who don't give a shit. But, um, so, so the point I'm making here is that's a ton of basketball where it's not a

lot of guys. Like some guys get into that landing area. It's nasty. Like Mark, uh, Marcus Morris did it in the Dallas series last year, you know, against Donchik and then said,

Hey, I have too much respect for the game. It's like, did you blatantly got in his landing area? I just don't think it happens enough for everybody to call every contact. Like I would just let guys fall down and just be like, Hey man, you fell down again,

but now we're doing a ref rant and it's already too late. Well, you made the key point earlier. And this is why one of the many reasons why I thought Milwaukee was going to win this series, 38 minutes for Ariza. If you just did the math of the last two months of Miami, once old Depot went out, Ariza and Iguodala are playing 15 minutes a game. Ariza actually was pretty good in game one.

I think he had 12 rebounds, but I mean, he's on a really good playoff team. He's a ninth man. You know, he's somebody that's coming off the bench and playing 12 to 13 minutes. The fact that they had to rely on him like that, I thought was a really bad sign. And I really do feel like Milwaukee got over the hump in this, like the line for game two, Milwaukee's favored by four and a half. They always skew the lines down a little bit because the team that loses game one, the line's always skewed a little

bit toward them in game two. I think Milwaukee got through this. I texted you midweek. We were on this podcast last week. We both like Philly over the Lakers. Over the next couple days, every Philly over the Lakers. Over the next couple days, every Philly

fan I had in my life was like, we're not right. I can't believe you picked us. This team's off. There's Simmons. There's something off with Simmons and Doc is all over the map and

I'd be shocked if we made the finals. And this wasn't like reverse jinx stuff. It was just people were like, I watch this team all the time. I don't really see it. Like Embiid would have to let go completely haywire. So I actually, I bet on Milwaukee and the Lakers 13 to one. Ended up being my final bet heading into the playoffs. I think this is set up for Milwaukee and I think Brooklyn's beatable,

which we can talk about later, but, um, but they need to get through Miami. And this could, could this be a playoff, a seasoning? Could this season the meat for them or solo heading into the Brooklyn series, a little meat seasoning with a little tough, my almost like how Boston had the Toronto series last year, where it's like, gotta have some some scares, got to take some punches. But we got through this. All right, let's go.

Of course, Boston lost. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't even matter if the series goes long. I just think it means so much to them to get past Miami and get through all the BS that they've felt. I mean, even Giannis, which is the reason why I really like his personality, is people were making fun of him because it was like a We Believe t-shirt. And then he was like, I don't know what's going to happen. But he was being honest. He's like, we had a great team last year. We came in and we lost this team in five games.

I'll tell you one thing, though, that I did like for Miami that concerned me a bit. And maybe it was just one of those things you'd have to maybe check again. But when you had Middleton and other moments where like Drew would try to go iso,

they had a hard time getting past Rogic. And there were moments where guys like Middleton would go and go and it was like, you're not shaking him. You're not shaking him. I mean, Rogic had a stretch in this game where I was so impressed. He was scoring.

He was carrying him offensively. He was tough as hell. But he had some defensive moments where they were doing some stuff. And like, I know Middleton hit that huge shot, but he's, these guys, like they weren't just going past guys, which is usually what you look for in Drew.

So I was like, oh man, because some of the, some of their outside guys just can't even get past, can't shake these defenders. So this is something to think about. Dragic was so good yesterday that it made me wonder if

they basically told him to take it easy during the regular season a little bit. Almost like a saver for the playoffs because he did not look like that in the regular season. But he looked, I thought, the way he did in the bubble before he got hurt yesterday. And if he's going to play like that and they can get the same kind of shooting, then it becomes what else can we get from Butler and Bam? But I just think Milwaukee has more talent. And it's interesting. Tucker didn't play as much as I thought he was going to play yesterday. They played Lopez a lot more.

I think Tucker played maybe 18 minutes. They got a good Bobby Portis bench game, which was rare for them. All right. I wrote this down. You don't have to sell it if you don't want to. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. This is lingering.

You're still mad at me. I don't know if this is a good joke. I think there's some lingering tension between you and I, because you were the first on the pod to bring up the Clippers Lakers thing. And why would the Clippers do that? And then everybody picked up on it. Not to say that you inspired the rest of the national media guys to bring it. Okay.

Well, maybe you did. Maybe you did lead the way, but you were mad that I wasn't all the way in. I think, cause there was a couple of references made to it. So for everybody, you know, behind the scenes, pulling the curtain back, I've, I've, I don't know if there's tension still. Listen, I like to look in the mirror too. I like to think about what I could have done better. And maybe my analogy is I tried to sell it to you. It wasn't good enough. Maybe it didn't pique your interest. But see the times where you

think I'm not helping you on the sell, I'll try to challenge you on the point instead of just being like, nailed it again, Bill. Here we go. You can feel free to sell it or not sell it. Coach Bud, I don't know if you got a good look at him during the game yesterday.

He's got a little flow going back there now. There's a lot going on. There's a lot going on. He's got some flow in the back. He's got a beard he he looks like he should be hanging out at a golf club waiting for an illegal poker game i wrote down coach bud looks like someone who would have dated connie in the first hour of godfather 2 sell it or don't sell it i don't care but definitely like connie would have brought

coach bud to meet yes yes. He has that kind of, I don't want to say sleazy, but like a little skeevy. I felt like he was going to do a sideline thing and they were going to do like, what did you tell the team? And then he just goes, do you know,

I was actually going to be the base player in Steely Dan. And I quit. Here's our sideline interview. Coach, but true or false. Coach Bud, true or false? You had, you had one shot before the game.

You look a little, you look a little toasty right now. I just love them. They can't show them enough on the sidelines. This whole thing where coaches, we had this whole stretch where coaches had to look dignified on the sidelines and wear suits and all this stuff. And then during the bubble, they were like,

Hey, let's tone that back. These dudes have to wear fucking masks all day. Like let's maybe wear, you know, fancy jogging outfits or whatever. And now we've hit this point where coach bud looks like he's hanging out on the 18th, watching the people come in, waiting for Tommy and Willie to come back so they can start drinking. Um. I'm into it. Look, Popovich looks like Donald Sutherland's dad. This is great.

The coach looks this year have been fantastic. They really have. Pop is, I don't know what he's going for. He looks like he's joining the cast of Succession. I swear to God, if he lived near a nursing home and was just shuffle walking through the neighborhood, somebody might call. Somebody might make a phone call be like hey what's is there a guy that escaped um and also i don't even know if it's worth bringing up but but the the mike malone michael malone thing last night and i texted cassidy who i've always been really close

with um not bragging just just you know close and and I go what the fuck was up with that she goes hey I love the guy she's like he was losing and I went okay so I did like a total 180 because Cassie's like hey these guys are losing and they're frustrated she's like he's been awesome to me so she's like I really hope people don't turn this into he's the worst I go it wasn't a great look for him it wasn't a great because I've had it happen once to me where somebody corrected me in an interview and you just kind of want to be like you know what that could have gone like we would have been fine these next seven minutes if that didn't happen but it just but i also thought it was great of cassie to point out like hey when these guys are losing a playoff game especially one where they

don't think they were going to lose they're not they're just they're they're going to be wired away beyond that they're already wired they're going to be wired way beyond that they're already wired, which is a little different than the rest of us anyway. So, a little behind the scenes for you. I don't know if we've ever

talked about this. Cassidy's a very nice person, by the way. She's awesome. I'm good with never having another coach interview. In fact, They're terrible.

People out there, who's the one person out there who's like these coach interviews are fucking great man nothing like coming out of a timeout hearing from a coach who's this for i'm trying to think i always when i when they do this general stuff right like when they did the nfl draft stuff a year ago and they did the fit the the draft telecast gear toward my wife and i was like all right i hate this but i get it my wife. And I was like, all right, I hate this, but I get it. My wife cried four times in two hours watching this draft in the kitchen. What, the death draft two years ago?

Yeah, the tragedy draft when they're just all the, every segment was something bad happening. Everything. What's the worst thing that happened to you? Okay, go. Yeah, let's go. Five minute segment. I get it.

I get why they do it. I don't like it, but I get it. I understand it. I understand who they're going for. I don't know who the coach interviews are for. They get why they do it. I don't like it, but I get it. I understand it. I understand who they're going for. I don't know who the coach interviews are for. They're not for my son. They're not for my wife. They're not for me.

So who are they for? I feel like it's always part of the negotiation. Like, hey, if we're paying all this money, we need a little bit more access here. It's also the same as the mic'd up thing. Like, I remember thinking the mic'd up thing was supposed to be good. And I actually feel bad.

I want to apologize to Scott Brooks because every time he had a mic'd up thing was supposed to be good and i actually feel bad i want to apologize to scott brooks because every time he had a mic'd up it was the worst like get a rebound get a rebound because the team the team has to approve it the team has to approve it nash had a good one yesterday which is so rare and it's also why like nate but you're assuming when we had the audio of him i was like, wow. No wonder there's been some weird turmoil because he was like, hey, do you guys want to do this? He was questioning them in a way. And if you're Nate and you've never been a head coach before, there's a certain way you can talk to players when you've got some juice. And then for somebody like Nate, even if he's a really good coach, it's a tougher sell. And so he was more critical. And I was like, wow, we actually heard that because you're right. For years, I used to think,

wait, is this the best you can come up with? And as you point out, it has to be approved. So it's all useless. So it's also like, I didn't know that until I did TV. And then they explained how there's this approval system. And that, and so that's why it's always like, let's go to Brad Stevens for some sound. All right, guys, come on, let's go. Let's step it up. And that's why it's always like, let's go to Brad Stevens for some sound. All right, guys, come on. Let's go. Let's step it up. And that's really all it is. But that's why the Nash thing was incredible yesterday

because Nash, they go to Nash. He's in the huddle. They, you know, the Celtics are playing really well. And he's like, hey, we're fine. Our shots are just, just keep playing defense. Our shots are going to go in. Like he was so confident about it. I was like, oh, Brooklyn's going to win.

He just clearly was like, oh, this is easy. I was like, yep, he's right. Yeah. Our shots are going to go in. Coming up, I'm going to explain to you why Brad Stevens without a mask could be the coach of the year. That's next. What does possible sound like for your business? It's having the spend to powers your scale with no preset spending limit, more cash on hand to grow your business with up to 55 interest-free days and the ability to reach

further with access to over 1400 airport lounges worldwide. Redefine possible with Business Platinum. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms and conditions apply. Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. All right. I don't want to talk about the Celtics for more than five minutes. Good luck.

Why does... My dad texted me this yesterday. I have no answer. Why does Ky My dad texted me this yesterday. I have no answer. Why does Kyrie psych out Kemba so much? What is it about that combination? Are you asking me this? I'm asking you. I think Kyrie...

You think he psychs out lots of guys? Because that's what I texted back. It's like Kyrie psychs out most of the guys at his position. I wouldn't just blame Kemba. But Kemba is a disaster against the Nets. He got in foul trouble, missed shots.

You know, Kemba, when you have a bad Kemba game, basically, you know, the Celtics are going to lose now, but Kyrie has some weird mystical thing over the Celtics where even when he kicks their ass,

like we've been over this. I mean, it's one of the most brutal things to watch. It's like, all right, he just smoked you guys. And none of you, like,

you can't wait to help them up. The guys just love Kyrie. Like that's the thing.'s the thing the rest the rest okay but none of that stuff's gonna happen though you mentioned it with Trey Young like it doesn't happen anymore like I can't believe somebody didn't give Harden like an incredible cheap shot at some point because they'd be so mad about the calls that he would get in certain games like I can't believe somebody didn't just go ah fuck this I'm gonna I'm gonna hit him way too hard for no reason because I'm so frustrated it just doesn't really happen anymore. So it's not going to happen at trade.

Kyrie, the Celtics, all those guys love him still. So that's the problem. I don't even know if it's specific to Kemba. Look, Tatum, I think Tatum has a chance to be a first team all-NBA guy someday. I don't know if he could be an MVP. He might be a top five MVP ballot guy someday. But I

think he does have a chance to be first team on be a guy. It's never going to happen until he has to add a toughness piece that he just doesn't have yet. And I'll give you an example. Last night, he's going at it with Durant. The nets are really physical with them. And that, and at some point in the second half, Durant was fighting for position, clocked him in the face, clocked him a second time, came around, and then you thought Tatum was going to do the frustrated foul behind. He didn't. And then Durant hits him a third time. And then Tatum just goes and

complains to the refs. When he landed on him? Yeah. No, it's just like, no, it's a different time where Durant basically hit him three times in 10 seconds. And it's like, dude, at some point you got to stick up for yourself, Tatum. And I just think this used to happen with Durant. Ironically, if you look at Durant, the first few years of his career in OKC, teams used to get really physical with them. They tried to get in his head. They tried to bully him. They did all the same stuff.

And then eventually he turned into the guy that, you know, was able to go toe to toe against LeBron for a few years there in the finals. And now he's the guy who bullies Tatum. Tatum needs to add that piece. There needs to be a meanness to him that he's, I think, years away from, from having potentially an FYI, Jalen doesn't have it either. And I think these teams sense it with them. I think they, they're super physical. It's always a Celtic flying backwards. It's always a Celtic holding their face. It's always a Celtic walking off to the dressing room to get looked at. And it's like, that's the number one reason people are always like,

what's wrong with this team. Now that Jalen's gone, uh, it doesn't matter anyway, but it's like, what's wrong with this team? It's like, they're just soft over and over again. No argument. You know, losing Tice, who I think all of us liked. I think everybody would like a Daniel Tice in your center rotation, not as your starter necessarily on a really good team. But I mean, you know, he did the exact same stuff.

Always holding his face. Just getting his ass kicked left and right. Just getting punched in the groin, looking at the ref. Ref looks back at him with disgust. So we've been over a lot of this stuff. Always holding his face. Just getting his ass kicked left and right. Just getting punched in the groin. Looking at the ref. Ref looks back at him with disgust. So we've been over a lot of this stuff. Yeah, we did. But here's the deal.

They had Fournier, who's basically also wired like this. It's like, oh, great. We have another guy who does this. Yeah, right. I mean, he didn't hit any shots. Tatum's 6 of 20. Kemba's 5 of 16.

You know, here's the deal. Even if they had Jalen, they're not winning this series. No. You and I have talked a little bit about, you know, when I was asking some teams if they had Jalen, they're not winning this series. Now, you and I have talked a little bit about, you know, when I was I was asking some teams like, hey, how do you feel?

Hey, it's never been more wide open. You know, why not us? You get a chance here. There's no 90s Bulls. There's no 2016 Golden State Warriors. There's no LeBron Super Cavs.

None of those teams. It's like, yeah, we might actually have one of those teams right now, but we still don't know because they only played eight games together. And as Nash pointed out yesterday with Dur harden kairi joe harris and blake or

a klaxon combination that group had never played before never played before and when i was watching this game play out hey boston was intense they were into it it was so predictable it was enjoyable the first half they really went really went all out at least. It was 36-33 Boston. Boston was 6-14 from three. Brooklyn was 0-10. Harden wasn't even looking at the rim. Harden actually took 13 shots this game.

It felt like he took three. Harden would get Tristan Thompson in his switch and be like, ah, I don't care. You take it, Kevin Durant. And that's not even a criticism. That's a horrifying development for this game that Harden was passive just because he was bored. And then as soon as the Nets wanted it, you get bad switches where Tristan's on somebody. Jabari Parker's running around for 20 minutes trying to figure out a way to stay in front of guys. Kyrie works everybody. And when Brooklyn wanted to win this game, they won it in a very, very short amount of time. They were eight for 34 from three and they won by 11.

It's not a good sign. I thought this was going to be a sweep. The sweep was plus 250 on FanDuel and it seemed like a pretty good bet. Fournier.

So we mentioned earlier I was going to tell you who the worst playoff player of the 21st century was. Okay. This is what you did all day? This is incredible.

I did it for like a half hour. I like that stat head piece of basketballre was. Okay. This is what you did all day? This is incredible. I did it for like a half hour. I like that stat head piece of basketballreference.com. You could just compare. You could put in little qualifiers and then look up historically. So I looked up since 1970, only playoff guys.

They had to play at least 10 games. They had to play at least 25 minutes a game. They had to score at least 10 games. They had to play at least 25 minutes a game. They had to score at least nine points a game. And they had to shoot under 36%. So to repeat, 25 minutes a game for at least 10 playoff games. They had to score nine points a game and shoot under 36%. Because at that point, that's like a pretty significant sample size. Fournette has played 15 games.

Kevin Clark of the Ringer would always tell me how terrible Fournier was in any game that actually mattered. And I'm like, ah, it couldn't be that bad. Looked up his playoff stats. They're like abominable. His career PER is 6.8. Career for playoff stats.

How many games is that? 15 games. I looked it up. Three guys ever since 1970 qualify for this. The other two were Stefan Marbury and O.J. Mayo.

Those are the only three guys in basketball in the last 50 years. That was Jay-Z's guy. I was watching a video the other day when Jay-Z represented the Nets at the lottery and they were like, how much input do you have on the draft pick? He's like, well, I love O.J. Mayo. And nobody gives Jay-Z a hard time about that.

Everybody was convinced Jay-Z owned like 49% of the team. They had to actually change the rules after that, that you actually have to own 1% of the team if you're going to say you're a minority owner. Because I think he owned like 0.02% or something. Anyway, Evan48, that's a 15 game sample size that is historically bad. I wish I had known that before I was as excited as I was that they traded

him. That's terrible. That's not in between. That is straight up garbage. The one benefit was Rob Williams, who has done this, I think, five different times over the course of the season where he looks like Bill Russell

and then he lands on somebody's foot or he's going to block somebody's shot and lands on a seat. Or it's just, you knew he was going to get hurt at some point. He had a little turf toe flare up. But when he's healthy, he's really exhilarating.

And I'm going to say something controversial here, Rusilo. Okay. I think I would play Pritchard over Kemba. Yeah, that's ridiculous. Because I don't think Kemba can guard Kyrie. I would at least split minutes with them. I don't think anyone can. No, but I would at least split minutes with them

and tell Pritchard to just annoy the fucking shit out of Kyrie and at least try to annoy him and not have somebody on this team be so comfortable. It's a must win for them in game two or they're going to get swept. And I would at least like, you're not going to beat this team unless you annoy them and try to knock them off their game.

Kemba's not going to do that. Kemba's the nicest guy in the league. This whole team's really nice. Super friendly. Hey, one other thing I looked at, because KD had a 30-10. He had better than that, but he had a 30-10 but with 10 free throws. I was like, I wonder how rare

that is. I looked it up. And he's had 12 in his career. Do you want to guess who the leader is since the ABA-NBA merger for 30-10-10 with the last 10 being free throws? do you want to guess who the leader is since the ABA NBA merger for 30, 10 and 10 with the last 10 being free throws. So we'll call it a dominant triple double last 50 years.

So 30 points, 10 plus rebounds, 10 plus free throws made in a playoff game. Uh, well, the free throw part of it takes Shaq out of it. Free throw attempts, not mix free throw attempts and Shaq.

Shaq is the answer. 37. KD has 12. LeBron's had 30. Yeah, that's not surprising. Will Chamberlain's also had 30, but he probably had more than that. Some of these box scores where you don't know what the whole box score was. Carl Malone

had 28. Barkley had 20. Dirk had 20. Hakeem had 15. MJ had 13. Larry Bird had 12. Dirk had 20. Hakeem had 15. MJ had 13. Larry Bird had 12. MJ only had 13? Did LeBron just pass him? Yeah. Add that to the LeBron.

To the LeBron versus MJ. 30-10-10, though, means you had a significant impact on a playoff game. And I would argue is as meaningful as the dumb triple-double that everybody seems to care about. Yeah, I don't know

how when the triple-double became... Like, I think we used to like them a lot more when it was Jason Kidd, which seems stupid because they would never be like more than 20 points.

They would always be like in the teens. It'd be like 12, 16, and 17. Right, right. What did you call it to LeBron where it's like 28, 7, and 7? 27, 7, and 7. What did you call it to LeBron where it's like 28 7 and 7?

27, 7 and 7. Which I think it's weird. I think you and I are both a little skeptical of just the over the top LeBron love in general. We're not against it. It's just like... He's great.

He's awesome. I don't want to be awesome. I think we like people to be reasonable. Yeah, I just wish... I brought it up on my podcast, but I just think it's weird how if you're all in on him, you have to be all in. You can't ever mention anything. You did a good job at this.

Yeah, so that's it. Because I don't want to be negative about him. I don't want to be negative about him at all. It's become like a Beyonce thing. But I think with the LeBron thing, what's interesting is I feel like 27-7-7 should actually be called the LeBron. We should name it after him.

That should be his legacy. And I think if you have 27-7-7 in a game, to me, that's more meaningful than a triple-double. That just means you were really involved doing a whole bunch of good things. And I think the 30-10-10 is similar in that you just look at this list. The top 15 guys were

Shaq, Wilt, LeBron, Elgin, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Pettit, Barkley, Nowitzki, Hakim, Kareem, MJ, Bird, Durant, Moses for the 30-10-10. There's no flukes on that list. Yeah, there's no flukes.

I love lists like that. I love lists where it's like there's no aberration. There's no Zaza Pakou I love lists like that. I love lists where it's like, there's no aberration. There's no Zaza. Peculiar is, is fifth in PR this year. Like we, we have,

there's no outs with that list. Um, I have a Brooklyn question for you. Most fun villain we've had since the 2011 heat, or would you come up with somebody else? I did not appreciate the villain level that Durant and the warriors was because I, I love the warriors part of it and I understood

Durant wanting to leave Westbrook and looking back on it I don't want to say I got in arguments with people that are against it but people that were against it were right you know it kind of sucked you know like oh are you serious you're going to do that

and I think of Durant like Durant for as much as he thinks everybody hates him, if that had been somebody else, it would have gone way worse. I think on the media side, I think the media was actually a little bit more forgiving of that and looking back on it,

because then you have to say like, well, what if LeBron joined him? What if LeBron went there too? That means you think it's awesome too, because that's essentially what we're saying there. So yeah, the Brooklyn part of it, I don't know why I didn't, you know, when I picked Philadelphia, I also can think that maybe Sixers fans can be a

little too locked into their own thing. Like a lot of Northeast fan bases are like, I think Boston fans are the exact same way. Like you're so locked into your thing that like, I'm watching some of the shortcomings in Milwaukee. Um, I get, I feel like I was, I was picking against Brooklyn cause I didn't want to see a team play eight games together and then roll through the playoffs and smoke everybody, where I know it feels like a pretty good chance that that could happen. I'm not even worried about their defense anymore. I'm not even worried about their bigs. I'm worried about some of those big-time moments. Is Durant going to have to carry them the whole time, or it even matter because you can find like well the stuff they were doing with boston i mean it was 82 79 two minutes later it was 91 79 i mean like that

when they decided all right enough of you guys this is over so i think i was just opposed to the concept you could basically mail it in for an entire regular season and then win the title and if that makes me a dick then i guess we have further evidence that i can be a little abrasive at times you know i was talking to a friend of mine on Friday who has cooled off on the NBA. And I was like, and I was like, why would it, you know, I've heard different reasons because there's been a lot of talk about how the ratings are down. Everybody has theories for that. And whether it's just all sports ratings are down or.

Can I just ask you something? Isn't it crazy? The ratings have been down. They've been down. And I think there you something? Isn't it crazy? The ratings have been down. They've been down. And I think there's a million different reasons. And I know it becomes super political. So, you know, I'm not, I'm certainly not like, oh, because some political reasons are down. But like, because the playing game between Golden State and LA was off the charts, then the ratings weren't down.

Like, you know what I mean? Like, it became a weird deal where it's like, oh, I thought the ratings were down. You're like, well, because they were. were well and that was my friend's point he said because we were i was like that rating was crazy that was the biggest rating they've had for a non-finals game in two years and he's like yeah because the players actually gave a shit about the game and he said everybody's talking about, why are the regular season ratings down? And it's like, it's fucking obvious. The players don't care about the regular season.

They just say, fuck it. I'm not playing tonight. And it's like, if I'm a fan, the fucking players don't care about the regular season. So why should I? You're trying to win me over with your regular season and your own players, your best players in the league are saying, fuck it. I'm out tonight on a TNT game on a Thursday night or against like their biggest rival. And it's like, so if that's how they're treated in the season, why should I care? Why shouldn't I just wait until the playoffs? And I had no answer. Well, this year is the best example

of guys not caring. And because of all the circumstances around it, no one was going to give the players a hard time about it. But I do wonder if the seed has been planted for a long time now where this is the new normal, where you have... But this is four years of this regular season load management thing

goes back to the 16, 17. But there was at least pushback that was discussed. If you were going to give players a hard time this year, it wasn't going to go over well. Right. Like if we did a two-hour pod saying, hey, these players, how come they're taking...

Like when we were doing the all-NBA stuff, and I would do it to prep because I knew you have a vote, and I was... I mean, we've already done this segment, so I'm not going to run through it all again. It blows your mind how many of, say, the top 20 players in the league, how many of them missed 25% of the season. And you can say, well, it was a condense. It was all the different... Nobody wants to give anybody a hard time because of what's happened in the past year. But I want... Like, is that going to be what happens now? Is that what... Yeah, but here's the season. And you can say, well, it was a condensed. It was all the different. Nobody wants to give anybody a hard time because of what's happened in the

past year. But I want like, is that going to be what happens now? Is that what, but here's the thing. And this is why this is an important conversation because I saw this thing about the mid season tournament that Adam Silver wants to do. And he,

cause I think they all felt like the plan was a success, right? We had two awesome warriors games that had real stakes and were really fun to watch. So the plan's not going away. Whether they should two awesome Warriors games that had real stakes and were really fun to watch. So the plan's not going away. Whether they should tweak the actual format, I don't know.

But the midseason, his point was, we have a lot of owners that don't want to go from 82 to 78 because they'd have to give up some home games. And I'm thinking,

82 to 78? You guys got to go from 82 to 70. You've got to go from 82 to 70. You've got to, the reason your ratings are down is because the fucking season's too long and your guys are skipping games. And I think there's real regular season fan apathy now. And then,

you know, the NBA, that internet Twitter community, that's like so gung ho and tweeting during games and stuff. They, they more like the whole social media aspect of the games than the actual games. Because the ratings speak for themselves.

They've dropped dramatically. And there's a bunch of different reasons for it. But I do feel like if the regular season was shorter, they added the mid-season tournament, they added in the playing games, and then real playoffs, they could patch this together. So it would just feel more meaningful.

Bottom line is the regular season is too fucking long. We've known this for 15 years. I've been writing about it since the mid 2000s and it shouldn't be longer than 70 games. And anything more than that is a money grab that hurts the product. This is Adam Silver's job and he should care about this and just try to fix it. It's not always about money. If you're making decisions just for money, then expand to like 48 teams, like just fucking ruin the sport. Go that way. If you care about money that much, just add more teams, grab the expansion fees. But in my mind, this has to be a 70 game regular season, 72 max over 72 is a money grab and you get what you deserve. Every business is always trying to find a way to generate revenue. All right. So when Goodell took over and where they were at in the projections of like, I want to be at 25 billion by a certain year, they add the extra game, they add the extra

playoff game, but we all know where this is going. So even though I'd agree with you that it's too long, I just don't know that a group of 30 governors are going to get together with Silver and be like, how can we find a way to cost ourselves more money? So if the middle of the season tournament, which I am, you know, fine, go ahead, do it. It might be different. It might work out like the play in game. People were asking me like, oh, you still hate the play in game? Like it had nothing to do with the results or it being fun. I enjoyed all of it. I knew I would enjoy Golden State against the Lakers. No, you didn't enjoy the last Indiana game. There's no way you enjoyed that. I didn't enjoy that. No, no, I was good. And I didn't, I didn't, I was kind of like, oh, cool.

Now Steph is eliminated from the playoffs. Awesome system. But Memphis balled out. The job was great. So, you know, they beat them. And I also think it was why going to that Lakers game for Golden State, I was like, I don't think

they're going to win this thing. And they still almost did because I'm like, have you guys understood how like this Golden State team has a really hard time getting their offense going? And I mean, the way people were playing Steph those last two games. But now I'm kind of on this other rant. It had nothing to do with the results. It had nothing to do with the ratings. I was conceding all of that stuff ahead of time.

I just was like, I don't know if you want to keep doing stuff like this to the game but the final thing that I'll throw in there is even if you went to 70 games Bill I think the mindset of the NBA star now is I want to take some games off so you could have 70 and guys are going to still take I mean you know how lame it is it's fucking lame when like the

two best players because they're buddies like you sitting well if you're sitting I'm sitting and then they the coach like grown men, adults, have to sit the best players together because they're buddies. And they think it's like cool to get dressed up and not have to play that night. Like that's a real thing that's been happening in the league.

And it's really, really lame. Here's the thing though. You shorten the season, you have more variance with the actual standings which we saw this year with the lakers where all of a sudden now the lakers are in a 2-7 matchup in phoenix where game seven is in phoenix and they really can't fuck around i do feel like if you limit the regular season you limit a team's option to fuck around with that season. And,

you know, the Lakers are really good. They're in a really dangerous spot, which we're going to get into in part two, you know, the Warriors, they just showed you that it sucks to be in the playing game. You can have a heartbreaking loss.

You have to play two nights later. Um, and that team was like Doc Brown, you know, patching together the DeLorean, you know, or it's like, I put some glue over here and I put Juan Toscano Anderson over here. And this Mulder guy, I guess he's got to play 50. And they fucking almost made the playoffs with nobody.

They had Stefan Draymond and Wiggins who played the worst second half. I'm still in disbelief. I can't believe he took that three-pointer that he took with a minute plus left. It wasn't that he bricked it that surprised me. I'm like, who's this guy who thinks he's taking that shot? He missed it by four feet. I was devastated.

I still can't believe he took that. I was rooting for them like they were a Boston team. I love this Steph thing so much. I just can't believe this is rooting for them. Like they were a Boston team. I love this stuff thing so much. I've, I just can't believe this is the highest basketball league we have. And teams are guarding Steph. Like he's,

you know, the best eighth grade girl in an eighth grade girls team where it's like, just stop her and nobody else can shoot. Just put, let's play a three, two zone. We'll greet her at mid court and she'll have to give the ball up. It's the fucking NBA. They were doing that to him.

It was the only way they were going to stop him and he still had 39 and... What do you have? 37? 39 and 37 in two games being greeted at half court by two guys. I thought that was incredible. Honestly. And he also looked like he was running on fumes and fumes and fumes and fumes in that

second half on friday too right yeah i mean you knew there was a lot of argument about that and like you know maybe golden state should have spaced it out a little bit more they couldn't survive in the non-step minutes they couldn't i mean when you think about bring them back early in that second half and when you think about memphis scoring options, they actually had more. Right. They just did. I mean, Ja was terrific. Although I thought a weird part of Ja's game to close

was that he slowed them down. So that's something I'll be looking for in that Utah series is that I like when Memphis gets out, but it was almost like, hey, we're up. Holy shit, we might make the playoffs. It felt like Ja had moments where he was slowing them down, even though when you look at the final line, it's like, why are you giving John Moran a hard time? I'm not, it's just an observation of him being a younger player going, this is that point

guard, old school shit that I love. We're an older, more seasoned guy would have been like, no, we're not, we're not letting them get back into this. And then Memphis had this awful struggle offensively where they missed, they were missing shots because they were taking bad ones late in the shot clock because Ja completely sold them down. But then again, when Ja needed to get a couple buckets late in the game, he cooked some dudes and scored and Memphis is now playing Utah. It's a different scene what we saw with Trey

in that Knicks game tonight versus Ja in that game where it was a feel for the game that I think he's going to have, but he doesn't quite have yet. Yeah. Trey realized there was a certain pace that he was just going to be successful at over and over again in the Kn next game he found the pace. Jot didn't seem to realize like the faster they went, the Warriors just didn't have the bodies and the mindset. But the bottom line is they almost won like that. All Draymond had to do instead of like flipping it

up because he was afraid the shot was going to block, just go flying into that guy. You're going to get the call. The league wanted the gold state to make the eighth seed dream on, just bounce into the guy you're getting it. But he did the scared Antoine Walker flip and, uh, and they ended up going to a T and then Grayson Allen. I thought Jenkins did a great job in that game.

The Grayson Allen substitution. He ends up making two big threes. He goes with Tillman, you know, basically in two huge parts and just kind of guesses that Tillman's going to show up. He does. Thought he did a good job. As we're taping this, actually, it's about to be halftime.

Memphis 47, Utah 43. So we're going to wrap up part one. We're going to post it. And then we're going to start part two after this game. We didn't really talk about whiz Sixers, but I don't feel bad about that. We should do a couple minutes on it though. You don't have anything on it. No, I do. All right. We'll do two minutes. Two minutes for us to be an hour later. I had a good topic.

Is Tobias Harris overpaid? Because I'm not sure he is. He was forever. The contract was like a t-shirt that he could never change. But I, too, at one point this season, I texted one of our Philly friends and I go, my God, like that guy disappears. And he's like, yep, I know, I know. And it was like from the moment I sent that text,

I kept paying attention to him. I go, he actually saves their ass sometimes now offensively and he was he was the guy in game one so he's gone from if you're really paying attention far happier about the investment in him because you knew they had assigned him because of the pieces they moved you know the amount of equity they spent on it actually acquiring him the contract was like an afterthought so So I think he's been really good this year. Well, it's like the old saying where you pay in your fantasy draft. You really want Travis Kelsey. You thought you're getting him for 22, and somebody makes you go to 32.

People, oh my God, you paid $32 for Travis Kelsey? And then it's like, well, I have Travis Kelsey. I'm actually good. I'm okay with'm actually good. I don't, I'm okay with paying the extra 10 in the Harris case. You know, if you're paying them 27, you'd be feeling great. Right?

So there's a $10 million tax. Cause they panic. They had to sign them. The fact that he's gone up a level since that contract and hasn't been defined by it and has actually gotten better. And I think Ben, a real asset for them this season, this series, like the Wiz have nobody to guard them. I don't know. Guys get overpaid sometimes. There's only three years left in the deal. He's getting better, not worse. It's funny that that contract, I thought it was a catastrophe

and it seems okay now. It's more tradable than about 20 contracts that are already out there. Yeah, because when you're looking at Tobias, you go, how come everywhere he's gone, he's got numbers and nobody wants to pay him? Like, that's always a red flag for me. Like, wait, three teams had him. Three teams didn't want to pay him.

And that's not entirely fair because actually, I think it's four other teams because he had another run in there. But he was... Yeah was yeah the clips dumped him yeah Milwaukee magic magic yeah but I was kind of I was really excited to just

see like okay what's this going to look like because they put Simmons on Beal which tells you they're okay with the Westbrook part of it and Beal was good and he was good. And he was. He had a good game. Did you see the part where Theibel came out on him? And it's a really cool part of the Philly experience where Theibel's getting after him, getting after him,

and the crowd's going nuts on ISO defense. You don't see that a lot in a basketball game where the whole crowd is anticipating being really excited about watching Theibel try to lock somebody up. And Beal got the angle on him, finished on the left side of the rim and then Beal kind of did this hand motion in the air and I think both announcers, I could be wrong, but I think they missed it. They're like, oh, Beal wanted the foul. I think Beal was mocking the Thibel's hands and activity and being like, I went right past him, but then he got him. The next time down, they got Beal and forced a turnover. Simmons

is the main guy on Beal because they closed with Hill and Curry, Simmons, Harris and Embiid, which honestly, Bill, this game felt a lot like Brooklyn-Boston, even though I give Washington a little bit more credit because they felt like they were in it more. Where Philadelphia kind of knew.

They just knew. And when we need to do this, we'll be fine. Westbrook also had three terrible turnovers, I think, in the last two minutes of the game where he didn't even give his team a chance to set up on offense, which is always going to be part of this, especially in the playoffs.

Did you see the Wiz center stats? I imagine they were pretty good. They combined, the three guys combined, for 30 and 11. They were 13 for 16 from the field. And they still lost by seven. They're not getting that again. Just telling you now.

Gafford had a couple plays again. He did. He did. The one thing that I like that the Wiz did, which I think from a gambling standpoint, I'm going to be concentrating on, is they just were playing fast, trying to make it a track meet. I know my

dog Murph liked it as well. Yeah. Yeah, Murph. I know you love the over. But yeah, they're just going to track meet it and hope that Embiid starts feeling it and the whole thing. So there you go. All right. We got to wrap up. Any more

in this game? Simmons put up 6 15 and 15 he was three for nine from the field and oh for six from the line i would dare i say just the the apex ben simmons box score this is scary because it's one of those like two years ago box scores where guys would crush him after this and it seemed like everybody pivoted to that he was this better player offensively. You know, I don't know. And by the way,

I think they closed with Danny green, not George show, but he'll wasn't there in the fourth quarter at some point. I just needed to check that in my notes. That's the Simmons part of you and I picking. So you're off Philly now in the finals, you have Milwaukee. I,

I wish I had taken Milwaukee. That's who I ended up betting on. I wish I had taken more. So Milwaukee is your pick. That's fair. Cause you sent it to me the night before Philly even played.'s who I ended up betting on. I wish I had taken Milwaukee. So Milwaukee's your pick. That's fair. It is. Because you sent it to me the night before Philly even played. Yeah, I did.

I'm sticking with Philadelphia. But I know that I'm scared to death of Brooklyn like everybody should be. And that, yeah, this Simmons performance offensively, when it's somebody who's really good, I mean, it's still the Wizards, you know? I mean, they're still okay. But I don't know, man. I mean, those Simmons still, they're okay. But I don't know, man. I mean, those Simmons nights where you just go,

why are we still doing this? And you're like, oh, why am I still asking the question? Well, I want to see it, especially now that we have crowds back. Be interesting. At some point in a road game, teams are going to be playing seven feet off. I mean, he's going to have to decide what to do.

Part two coming up after this Jazz Memphis game, we're going to have to decide what to do. Part two coming up after this Jazz-Memphis game. We're going to tape it. So it should be probably, I don't know, two hours after that game. But that was it for part one. Rossella, I'll see you in an hour. All right, that's it for part one of the two-parter tonight. We will be back with part two. It will be a few hours after this one posted.

But at some point late Sunday night, we'll cover the West. A whole bunch of burning questions left. We'll see what happens in that Jazz Grizzlies game. Don't forget, part two, Bill Simmons podcast coming later tonight. I don't want to see them On a way so dead alone

Say I don't have Fear Yes we can On the wayside On the wayside Never once said I don't have Fear