The Daily Zeitgeist - Bucks in 6 and Playoff Races with Josiah Johnson

Episode Date: February 16, 2023

Jack was joined by Producer Jabari once again as the duo was honored to have writer/producer and host Josiah Johnson on the latest episode. The three of them discussed Jokic/Giannis and the MVP before discussing the playoff races in each conference.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. Jake Stielli here from john boy media i want to tell you about my podcast wake and jake i've been a sports nut my whole life and there's nothing i love more than talking about it if you're a sports fan wake and jake is the place for you covering all the hot topics from the sports world a lot of baseball

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The all-star break is approaching, and now that the trade deadline is behind us with a massive league-exploding KD trade, I'm done with that. I can only keep that energy up so much. Teams are now fighting it out for playoff spots. The reality has set in. We're going to check in on the races in each conference, discuss

some of the new faces in new places with the goat of this nba social media thing writer producer host king josiah johnson on today's episode i'm jack o'brien and i'm jabari davidson from miles and this is miles and jack got that boosties josiah johnson what's happening thank you so much for joining us where's miles at ir what happened yeah he's on the ir i was about to say yeah yeah what's up? Thank you so much for joining us. Where's Miles at? IR? What happened? Yeah, he's on the IR. I was about to say. What's up, everybody? Appreciate y'all having me.

He'll be reevaluated in three or four days. Yeah, that's right. He's on that LeBron move, Super Bowl, getting light warm-ups in. Yeah, yeah. All groovy. Broke the record and said, all right, I'm done with y'all.

That's right. Broke the record for most podcast laughs in a single day the guy did it uh we we held a big ceremony but unfortunately they made us cut it out of the episode josiah gill's arena which debuts february 21st tell us about the show new project with me and gill uh everybody who still loves no chill we'll still be doing that with Fubo, but we signed on with Underdog Fantasy to do a new live show. Be three days a week, Tuesday through Thursday, kicking off February 21st,

Tuesday after the All-Star game. Really, me and Gil kind of in a new light, exploring everything topical going on in pop culture, giving you quick reacts to any and everything with that same unfiltered banter that you've come to expect from both of us. So super excited to get that thing going. Appreciate you to Underdog Fantasy

for coming through with a lovely bag. And if you don't have the Underdog Fantasy app, I'm going to be in my promo. And if you don't have the Underdog Fantasy app, you can go ahead and download it. You can either use code KING, which is my code. I can get some bread off of it. Or code GILSARENA.

They'll match your first deposit up to 100 bucks. But appreciate you, Underdog Fantasy. I've been getting into it. I'm not really, I don't do any of that that stuff normally but they came through with the app it's very easy to use a lot of higher lowers guys have been letting me down i'll just say that but guys have also been helping me flourish so i appreciate you to them underdog fantasy so like that i i tend to go for the not underdogs when i'm doing fantasy i tend to go for the guys who win a lot personally but i'm an underdog guy now you know what i'm doing fantasy i tend to go for the guys who win a lot personally but i'm an

underdog guy now you know i'm saying yeah i guess you gotta find the value find the value uh all right we we have to talk about i mean we recorded last week's episode a couple days before the biggest event of the season the biggest trade in a decade maybe i guess right uh kd uh got traded to the suns blew up the league what are you guys thinking how do you feel about this it's a little disappointing i'm gonna be honest uh you know as a lifelong lebron fan and and as a result of that a lakers fan uh they made some great moves didn't have to come up off of both first round picks got ruey a couple weeks ago came through with d'angelo malik russell and jerry vanderbilt so we were feeling

good about ourselves and that that feel good lasted all of about 45 seconds because next thing you know katie's on the way to the phoenix suns uh very disappointing don't think the trade should have happened was really hoping that that katie and k Kyrie and Josiah could have figured it out, kept them in the Eastern Conference. But it seemed like that was one of the main destinations you wanted to go to this offseason. So for me, it's like, what's the point? We sit here and waste it all this time.

The Nets basically got them on loan to the trade deadline, and now KD and Kyrie are both gone, which is a wild thing to think. They were on a crazy run after they fired Steve Nash and brought Jacques Vann in, winning games, looking like like they were gonna compete and contend in the Eastern Conference had the Bucks and the Celtics a little nervous and now and I think a lot of people are down on that net squad now I'm not as down because uh Cam Thomas has come in and really done his duck yeah but what is happening with Cam Thomas like it's really, I think I heard somebody compared to Lynn sanity, which is the last time I can remember somebody just all of the sudden being

unstoppable mid season for the first time in their career. Like just game to game is a walking bucket. All of a sudden, hopefully has something to smile about now. Now he's been dropping those 40 pieces, but right. Yeah. But do we think the sons are now the the favorite at west i don't know uh look i think after what happened to them last season with luca coming in game seven and just completely

embarrassing them i think with if katie stays healthy d book stays healthy cp3 stays healthy aiden stays healthy they're gonna be a hard team to beat but i would not be shocked if somebody's able to do it yeah yeah i gotta be honest with you jack to answer you directly you guys know that clip of uh skip bayless where he's like it's my turn it's my turn that's how i felt when this trip when that trade went down you know to josiah's point all of it you know we're all feeling good about the lakers refusing finally they made a move finally they did something finally they're ready to go and then all of a sudden the sun just came in and stole everybody's thunder it just just stole it and like you Josiah I'm still skeptical but I want that rematch I want Dallas and I want Phoenix I want those two

going against one another and I want Luca just sitting there waiting to play spoiler it is funny we we've talked before about how KD was like one of the first people on the Devin Booker like trail like when Devin Booker was a rookie and you know not like a he wasn't top 10 pick or anything KD was a Devin

Booker appreciator it makes sense that he wanted to be there it'll be interesting to watch them play together I think KD's coming back after the All-Star break. Out East, Celtics, most likely team to get out of there. How's everybody feeling? I'm a Bucs pander. Obviously, Pops works for the Bucs.

They've been great to me anytime I pull up to Milwaukee. Surprisingly, I get more love in Milwaukee than I do in L.A., which is a little unfortunate. The Lakers are hopefully going to do their best to try to rectify that and just improve that situation. But I think you can't count out that Bucs squad. You know, if Middleton stays healthy, Giannis is absolute beast.

I was at that Lakers-Bucs game right after LeBron broke the record, so I was a little disappointed. I thought I was going to get to see him do it or at least set the new record LeBron set out, obviously. But after 80, I think gave him like 40 in the first game. Giannis was on a tear and really doing a bunch of crazy work.

So I wouldn't discount that Buck squad. I think the Celtics obviously are the favorite to come out of the East right now. But I would not be surprised. We look at the playoffs last season. Without Middleton, Buck still put up a fight. So I think if Middleton and Giannis bring in Drew Holiday, obviously going to do what he does. I wouldn't be surprised if the Bucks go ahead and go back to the finals.

Yeah, as of this recording, they still haven't lost, right? They got, what, 10 straight? Yeah, 10 in a row. Look, Jack, I'll do it for you. I have to bring up the team who we haven't mentioned yet. If we're being honest out east,

I think Cleveland does look good. No, it's not Cleveland. What you about to say? Nope, nope. I'm talking about Joel Embiid and Jim Harden playing the best basketball. I've seen him play in a couple years. You know, Ty Maxey, you know, healthy, playing well.

All of a sudden, the Sixers, in my estimation, year after year after year, was always like, yeah, they'll make it in. But, you know, second round out. That's what it's been. For the first time in a long time, it doesn't feel that way for me, at least. Am I crazy? Or, you know, is this a, you a you know we don't believe you you need more people situation the philly philly got to get that streak going they what lost lost in the final of every major sport yeah that's the one thing that's making me believe this year is different but i don't like destiny

after they lost to the heat last year in the second round. I was like, this just seems to be their level. This is where they want to be. They want to be in the second round, getting everybody excited, heading into the second round and then flaming out in the second round. I have been a fan of the Sixers for enough years now to just be like, this is,

it seems like it's what it is. Unless there's some massive change, unless Harden comes in in like amazing shape and he has come in in much better shape and he looks better. But I don't know. I don't, I'm also completely, that's the one team that I can't be objective about. It feels to me like they are a first or second round out personally, but we'll, we'll see, man. It really, it really does feel like the bucks though to to me having watched them play having one janice feels like the i there's been a lot of dominant performances this season watching janice these past couple weeks feels like the most dominance

i've seen on a basketball court this year he was scoring at will on the lakers and it was literally like whenever he felt like doing it. Funny story for you guys, quick one. So my dad works for the Bucks. They were out in Atlanta not too long ago. He's on the elevator with Giannis and he tried to strike up a little convo and he's like, man, it's great

to have all these guys coming back so you don't have to score 50 every night. He's like, Giannis, your sister doesn't say anything. Then as they're walking out of the elevator, Giannis turns to him and just says, I like scoring 50. He walks off like, okay. but he looks like he likes scoring 50 just the moral of that story and the ease with it you know and obviously i do the show with gil gil had some some some interesting opinions i think a lot of people took the wrong way but i think the main gist and point of it is

if yannis become that three level scorer he may be the most unstoppable player that we've ever seen look he may never have to get to that third level you know the three ball may not never have to really be his thing but if he can get to that point there's literally no way you can stop this man i mean the amount of improvement on every part of his game like from when he started is pretty wild like i would not be surprised if he just comes in one year and he's like shooting 43 from behind the yard and that's when you look at him he's only been playing since he's like 14 or 15 years old so this is the thing people have to remember now he's only in his like 12th year of actual basketball yeah and for those of us that have hooped a long time like you know how valuable it is as a i got him coaching my five-year-old now and even seeing that but adding the skill set

and where he's where he's growing over the past couple months so you know you equate that to Giannis and he still has time in his game he's got another good what seven to ten years right he's still he's still kind of just barely scratching the surface of his prime so it's not like this dude's not gonna put in the work and add in new layers every single year which he's already done we've already seen so if like I said if he can get that and even I compare him so he looks like a bigger LeBron to me, obviously not as much bag and handle and skill set, but the way LeBron's jumper was a little shaky early on in his career, right? It was, you know, during those heat years, he was pulling threes

and it was definitely like, oh, these are not going in, where now he's added that, he's added that, a solid three ball to his game, so it's not to say that it's unheard of, and he's done that from like year 34 on, so it's not to say that Gianis can't do that now in his mid-20s like it's very possible he's ahead of where i uh he's ahead of schedule where i had him uh at this point you know i thought he'd have uh you know no i'm just joking yeah he's he's incredible uh all right there are a lot of like underrated like it seemed like a lot of people a lot of teams were just like, I don't know, let's try something here. Just everybody got traded.

There were so many trades that I feel like we're still realizing people are on a different team. So I'm going to go through some of the ones that weren't Kevin Durant. And you guys stop me when you have something to say. So Josh Hart is now a Knick. Luke Kennard now plays for the Grizzlies. Josh Richardson is on the Pelicans.

Jay Crowder, Bucks, Mike Muscala to the Celtics. That's interesting. Yeah. I mean, yeah, to have a five that can shoot coming off the bench is definitely interesting. That's a great pickup for them. Bones Highland, Eric Gordon, and Mason Plumlee to the Clippers. Like that a lot. I'm a big Bones fan, man.

I love Bones, his demeanor. I love his pettiness. I was in that interview recently. They asked him about playing with two stars in the Nuggets versus playing with two stars on the Clippers, and he completely did not acknowledge Jamal Murray at all. So that's troublesome to me just from the standpoint of when you have guys like that. And I've interviewed Bones a few times. If those older vet guys, you know, they're not taking in the younger guys,

kind of showing them the ropes. But Bones has been killing. He was balling out in January, shooting great from three. And I think, you know, he's coming in now trying to show he's a point guard. I don't know how much we're going to see of that, but just them having him now is an option. And I know they kind of – Reggie Jackson fell out of favor over there. So seeing Bones with that Clippers guy.

Mason Plumlee is going to be a great addition too. And even Eric Gordon where now guys have something to play for. Playing with the Houston Rockets, they're in the rebuilding phase. They've got a bunch of young guys. Obviously not as concerned about winning as they are about stacking these draft picks, but hopefully Eric Gordon even not get revitalized, come out to LA,

play in the same arena, but it's not the same feel, obviously, when the Lakers and Clippers play. Gotta be honest, I was kind of shocked that Bones was available. Me too. I get his timeline is different than the championship aspirations, or I guess, you know, the championship aspirations or I guess, you know,

Yoke itch and Jamal Murray. But part of me, you know, still feels a little bit weird about that. Yeah. Look, and maybe I'm hating from the outside of the club because right. Cause the Clippers are the yearly 100%,

100%. But yeah, I was a little bit surprised that he became available. Good on the Clippers for making it happen. Yeah. You said that with your whole body. You seem to really mean it. Good on the Clippers for making a hit. Yeah, you said that with your whole body. You seemed to really mean it. Good on the Clippers.

Even the Nuggets getting Thomas Bryant, though, which, you know, he was falling out for the Lakers. You know, a little salty. For me, it was like, all right, man. Like, you know, AD doesn't really like playing the five. This was a great option on the defensive side. Obviously not as great, but offensively, he was really locking in and doing some things.

I think he had like a 30-point game a few weeks ago while AD was out and was really helping you know keep that squad in the hunt for the playoffs so for the the Nuggets to be able to pick him up that's a little little concerning too obviously not gonna play too much with Joker but if if the the off chance which obviously you don't hope for but if Joker isn't getting hurt anything like that now he's gonna be able to at least come in and help out a little bit to fill that void. All right. We've held off long enough. The Lakers also made a couple of trades that Lakers fans are very optimistic about.

I'm sitting back and reserving judgment. But how do you guys feel? D'Lo, obviously coming home. Jared Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, and then losing Thomas Bryant. Where do you feel like the the lakers are in the mix i think look if that squad can get it together and darvin ham can lock in but even the ruey pickup for kendrick nunn you know none was pretty much chilling he was just bag finessing which i never knock a man for finessing his bag but you know didn't didn't

play at all last year kind of you know just posted chilling wearing nice fits on the bench did a little bit this year when he was called upon but to get Rui in there now to add some deed add some shooting he's kind of still figuring it out and he seems like a guy that the problem when you come to Lakers is you got to be able to adjust the playing in the bright lights right like you know every arena ain't the same so you come in a staple center which some may call crypto we're not really running with crypto right now so it always be the stable center to me. The bright lights, the stars, everybody just courtside, all the stuff going on.

Doesn't seem too phased by it. I like D'Lo. D'Lo coming back home. I never understood even the Gobert and Kat situation with Minnesota, but for him to now be able to come back. Now the Timberwolves are really, really locking in with Ant and basically let him know at the guard position that's his squad. But I think D'Lo is going to be a great pickup.

I'm excited to see how this plays out. And I'm a UCLA guy, so I love Russell Westbrook. It was a tough two seasons for Russ, season and a half, whatever it was. But just see the way that the fans, knowing how much Russ loves LA, what it means to him, Kobe's his favorite player. And to see, he had a tough year last year. I won't say it was all bad. But the problem is, especially in a city like this,

you know, the negatives are going to always outweigh the positives. So, you know, it's a guy who had a negative reputation-wise with the Lakers, which is unfortunate. But for Russ to now be able to move on, hopefully get in the situation. And, man, if he goes to the Clippers or the Bulls or wherever he ends up, I think he's going to be a vital, vital asset. And you're getting a great guy,

great locker room guy. And that's the other stuff too. You heard conflicting reports about he's this, he's that in the locker room. But I've talked to several of his former teammates and they do nothing but sing his praise that he's a guy that works hard, is always available,

always trying to help the team win. And it just didn't work out in LA. And I wasn't the biggest fan of that trade when it happened. Had to pretend like it for social, obviously, to get these jokes and these memes off. But just didn't see how him and LeBron were really going to be able to be effective. So now bringing D'Lo in,

have another option to get some buckets, take some of the pressure off of LeBron and AD. You know, I don't think the squad, and this is the crazy thing about the West, man. When you look at the West top to bottom, there were like four or five games out from like a fourth or fifth seed. This back end of the season after the All-Star break is going to be wild and wouldn't be surprised.

I mean, I think they'll at least make the play-in, but wouldn't be surprised if they're actually in the playoffs, don't have to play one of these play-in games. They could finish sixth or better. But if they can lock in, LeBron knows he's getting old. Father time is creeping around the corner, even despite all the numbers and all that other stuff. six or better but if they can lock in you know lebron knows he's getting old father time you know it's creeping creeping around the corner even even despite all the numbers and all that other stuff you know it's a lot of pressure put on lebron early in the season especially when ad went down

and for me like lebron should only really have to be played 60 to 65 games the regular season looks like he'll be a little bit above that but you know if the team can got a great win on the warriors with lebron was out got smacked by the bla. But, you know, if the team can, got a great win on the Warriors when LeBron was out, got smacked by the Blazers, obviously, with him out. But if the team could do something and AD can kind of finally step into that role as the feature player,

at least in the regular season, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see them fifth, sixth seed. Wow. Five, sixth seed. Like you said, I mean, it's wild how close things are, but they are five games out from the four

seed so yeah allow me to be the pessimist here i like the moves they made the pieces finally fit uh on the rest situation i thought it was time for both sides i think it was i thought it was a great idea for both sides to move on i hated seeing you know like you josiah i had to bite my tongue because i simply didn't want to just crap all over a guy that I've been a fan of for such a long time. But from the very start, that was not going to be a situation that worked out. I will say I recognize that the Clippers have been thrown out there. I recognize that Chicago's been thrown out there. I'm still holding out hope for him to go to Miami because I think that he can make a fun run with that Miami squad.

think that he can make a fun run with that Miami squad. But in terms of the Lakers, the reason why I'm going to play the pessimist is I know that they're still within range. But look, we're at 25 games, man. At a certain point, you're just going to run out of time. So if you had to put your money on it, not the ifs and the ifs and all of that, you're putting your money on it, what's more likely? They make it in and make some noise or build towards next year.

I'll say it like that. Hmm. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Well, we'll see. It was the same thing last year when it was like,

all right, they still got hope. All right. They still got hope. And then it was our Cancun on three. At the end of the day, that's what it was. Yeah.

All right. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll talk MVP, uh uh and a couple other things when you think of mexican culture you think of avocado mariachi delicious cuisine and of course lucha libre it doesn't get more mexican than this lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha Libre is a type of storytelling.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. And when it comes to the MVP race, it feels like Jokic is going to get it. Is that something you can do on the fantasy sites you you put a little action on mvp i mean uh higher or lower so will he end the season with with 0.5 mvps higher or lower uh yeah yeah like i'm i think you know what you're seeing from joker and again the knock from joker last season was like oh this is like a six seed and he's not

getting it done and he's kind of doing this stuff because all the guys are out now. This team is, you know, best in the West. He's still doing what he's doing, but I'm a Giannis guy, man. And I know not to joke around. I love his game, but I've also seen Joker get just, you know, mentally clamped up by Dwight Howard in the bubble.

Like there's just players that can get to him and offensively probably one of the greatest offensive bigs, if not the best offensive big. It's tough to say that with Will Chamberlain, but that I've seen with my own eyes. Best offensive big, I think, in the history of post-Will Chamberlain era. But, yeah, we'll see how it pans

out. And I think, you know, you kind of have to give it to him. But the problem is, if you've had a lot of voter, you know, they talk about the voter fatigue with guys like Michael Jordan and Kobe only getting one, one i think in his career when obviously he deserved several more lebron situation where there was periods where people were just tired of voting for him curious to see if it plays out the same way with joker got a feeling that since he's a lighter shade of skin did it may not it may not gravitate that way they may they may roll with

giving him the three mvps last person to do three in a row larry bird exactly so in 486 yeah people don't get tired of voting for them weird yeah it's weird it's a weird situation but uh i wouldn't be surprised wouldn't wouldn't knock it if it happened i mean i think you've seen a lot of guys i think mb is gonna make a big push towards the end he's another guy who's you know elevated his game it looks phenomenal out there i mean it would just be good to see and beat and yokichokic, like, play against each other. I feel like once we see them play against each other, we'll have a better. Wait, you mean like last week? They did?

Oh, how did it go when they played against each other? Who did better when Embiid? If I'm not mistaken, Embiid destroyed them. Oh, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. Yeah, man, i don't know like so three three in a row is like we we haven't seen it since like i said larry bird and you're still having to overlook the like he's not a defensive zero but he's not like all the people they're overlooking were also like that that they got tired of voting for like Jordan and LeBron. And, you know, they were also among the most dominant defenders in the

league when they did that. And that's not the case. And then you look at his competition, Giannis and Embiid are both top five, like defenders in the league, like both in terms of analytics. And like, if you just like ask people terms of analytics and like if you just like ask people who watch basketball like they're like yeah those are among the most dominant defenders who like change the offense when they're in there so i don't know he's he's ranked 30th defensive analytics but like i don't know it just doesn't it doesn't feel it feels like that we need to we need to move on this year that's my my argument. Let me ask Josiah this. When,

who's an, who's the next American born player that's going to win it? It's tough. Maybe LeBron, honestly, the way he keeps playing, like he's playing, which is,

you know, AD was playing at a, at a high level early in the season before he got hurt. But, you know, definitely, you know, kind of that foot booted him from that competition.

But yeah, maybe Steph, resurgence, Tatum. Those guys all, it doesn't feel like those guys are still, they're superstars, don't get me wrong, but they haven't cracked that MVP level, that best of the best, but would not be surprised.

When I was looking at the defensive analytics to to make my argument because I knew I had to do something I can't I can't just let Jabari sit here and say Jokic is the best player he's ever seen like he was saying yesterday when we were prepping saying that like he definitely deserves the third MVP in a row like he was saying yesterday when we were prepping. No, I'm just playing. But I was looking at the analytics. I also just have to call out top defenders this year. Five of the top 11 are Cleveland Cavaliers. That's crazy. That's like of the top defensive players, like according to the analytics in terms of win share.

Which is why they're 38 and 22 yeah and have the best point differential other than the celtics can i just say something about analytics real quick like i support them but i feel like it was a lot of dudes who never got a bucket in any level of basketball sure now come up with these calculations and formulations and all that other good stuff i'll just say that again i support it no knock to it i think it definitely helps in a lot of regards i love love numbers. I'm heavy on analytics myself, my own personal life, but it just feels like now we've got a lot of dudes. And I think Charles Barkley or somebody made this point, but you know, a lot of dudes who could never hoop that

are now trying to, you know, without, but I crunched the numbers and did these calculations to test whatever. For me, there's so much more that goes into the analytics that that's deeper in kind of terms of just how you evaluate and analyze things and you know the eye test is the eye test and believe me i don't stand or live by that as well but i think some mix of both like you know darvin ham darvin ham and the the post game i think presser after they got smacked by the blazers was oh the analytics said that that these threes weren't weren't bad shots when i'm thinking like analytics dude might need to go on hiatus, bro. Cause y'all was getting cooked.

We, we, we saw you, we saw the tape, man. We saw what took place. You know, the numbers are at the bottom of this net.

I feel like the analytics are most helpful for me on defense. Just because that's like, I, when I'm watching the game, I just don't naturally watch defense, you know? So like, it's just harder for me to track so like that's probably where they need to like improve the most but that is the most that i rely on analytics but it's it's tough when it's a team game you got five guys out there so you know analytics if it's a missed shot doesn't mean

that it was a you know a bad shot good shot There's a lot of stuff that goes into that. So it's just... If the analytics haven't told you, don't let a guy just go for 30 in the first half. Maybe blitz him. Maybe do some things different. All right. This is a reference to the Blazers game. This is.

I blame Pat Baffert for that, though. And he's not a Laker anymore, but... He got him fired up the last time they played. Just leave that man alone. Yep. Oh, right. Leave that man alone. I right soon as amy and alone i i i'm not joking with you as soon as i saw him come out that way i thought the exact same thing

i was like pat bave you got him fired up the last time y'all played him and now you're not even here to take this you got to see this man again i'm just never a fan of you know the boat you can you can do the boasting like like the chiefs after they beat the eagles you know if you want to be juju and do all that because you're the ring ised up. Can't change the game now. We got the parade coming. But it's a little different now. I got to play this dude again. But that's just my two cents. The men are grown. They get

paid much more than me. They're going to do what they want. All right. Just a couple performances we wanted to highlight. One of them, Jalen Brunson with 40, Josh Hart with 27 off the bench and a blowout over the nets. So this is a new duo who we're seeing interesting things from immediately. But how are we feeling about the Knicks, everyone?

I'm not down on the Knicks. The Knicks are back to being the premier team in New York after the KD and Kyrie trade. Solid squad. I think they're starting to figure it out. Jalen Brunson, for me, big pickup. I know when he first came, everybody thought, well, maybe we're overpaying him

with that $400 million deal. I think he's earned all of that bread and really got this squad looking solid. I think the Josh Hart pickup's going to be great for them. And this is a team, again, they're not, you know, I don't think they can win a chip, but they could definitely make some noise in the Eastern Conference

and maybe upset somebody, too, in the process. Markson fires from three. Markson, you're not, you know, I don't think they can win a chip, but they could definitely make some noise in the Eastern Conference and maybe upset somebody, too, in the process. And that's another thing, too. You got college guys that, you know, you rock with and you roll with, and now you're playing in the league together. It does a little something for you because you're going through those things together. Yeah, absolutely. And then we wanted to look at this defense from the Wolves, perimeter defense

at the end of the game. Class of 2020? No, their class of 2020 draft. Yeah. 43 years old combined, which is, you know, a couple years younger than LeBron. They're the same age as I am combined. Alright, and then we wanted to look

at this D from the Wolves just locking down. Down the stretch of a game was pretty doggone good. A challenge there. Just good defense. I wonder this about,

and let me ask Josiah this. Luka and Kyrie, I think they're going to be incredibly exciting, but in particular, in a series where the opposing team has a lot of guys to throw at them, I wonder if they have enough or if anybody else is going to be able to step up. I think at the end of the day, you know at least one of those two guys

is going to be locked in and be able to get buckets and hopefully in the postseason, both of them will will the thing that's going to be interesting to see is you know Kyrie is a supreme level bucket getter so is Luka the Mavs are Luka's team how much Kyrie is going to be willing to sacrifice come that time you know Kyrie has a little bit more playoff experience than Luka has actually won a championship and done it at the highest level dotting Steph's eyeball with the three you know to give that 2016 Cavs squad the chip. Yeah. Where that's kind of going to be the knock on Luka

until he can at least get to that finals type of level. So will it be a situation we saw with like LeBron and D-Wade back with bronze, I think first year with the Heat when it's like, all right, I've done this before, let me take the show. And how's Luka going to step up or how's he going to react in that situation? I think Kyrie, you know, is kind of coming in with the understanding, or let me take the show. And how's Luka going to step up or how's he going to react in that situation? I think Kyrie, you know, is kind of coming in with the understanding like this is Luka's squad.

I think he's going to defer if necessary. But at the end of the day, if Luka's not delivering or bringing it, you have a guy in Kyrie that can step up. It's going to be interesting to see how the rest of the team kind of rallies around him. But that was the knock for Luka previously, right? Like he's one superstar, you know, he needs another one to be able to get to that next level. I think you'll see,

especially the way this league is now with these high scoring games, it benefits both of them to have two guys that can get buckets at will whenever they feel like it. And you like to think that if the rest of the team could just be proficient enough and knock down shots where they can, but now here's two guys, it makes it really hard to double because you're leaving at least one of them open. But now if you do have to lock in on both of them, there should be at least one more guy who'll be able to step up and knock down some shots when needed.

Yeah. I feel the most relevant thing for the postseason is just that both of them, you know, when things break down, when they figure out your offense and all the scheming that, you know, your coach was to put in, you still have two people who are just walking buckets. Like, you know your coach was to put in the you still have two people

who are just walking buckets like you know no matter what like that's the one thing that you can't game plan for so like i i don't know i feel like they're kind of more intriguing in the postseason than i did before the kairi trade for sure yeah for sure no you guys are exactly right and and look i'm not trying to come across as a hater and i'm not wishing anything bad upon it i'd like to see them make a deep run together. All I'm saying is I've seen two man teams before in the past where it was just, okay, your turn, my turn, your turn, my turn. Now, hey, look, it's fantastic when those are the two guys doing it. All I'm saying is against a team that has multiple big wings that can at least make life difficult for those two

or a team like, say, Sacramento. Say they get matched up with sacramento where yeah of course you know you're going to you're going to score some points against them but it makes me concerned that you know that those other guys aren't going to have it but you know i guess we'll let we'll let it play out see how it goes yeah all right let's take a quick break we'll come back we'll do the fastest segment in podcasting. We'll be right back. Lucha Libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha Libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. It's tradition. It's culture.

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Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron, and the consequences for everyone involved.

You mix homesteading with guns and church, and then a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here.

Just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl.

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of the crew before we get to this rapid fire? And what is that cumulative boostie? Is it over 40 inches combined? Combined, maybe. 45. What do we got? I could get net the last time I tried, which was like 10 years ago. I'm going to add my 15

to it. I'm going to add my 15. There we go. To whatever y'all got, we'll get us over the hump. I think I can still get the back. Wow. Okay. It's sad.

My 67 year old dad is going to do his birthday dunk next week. Um, and, he could jump higher than me. So y'all shouldn't feel bad. Hey, you know, pop still got it though.

I, I, I actually look forward to those birthday dunk posts each year. So every year, it's the same thing around this time. It's a, man, this year I talked to him a couple of weeks ago.

Like, look, you're going to do it. All my hips are janky. I don't, I can't do it. I've been, I've been working with the buck staff though,

the medical team to try and get them right. Then I saw him on his birthday last week. He's like, yeah, we doing the dunk. Like I'm ready. I'm locked in. I'm like,

we're going to see like, you know, be humble. All right. Just be humble. Get it in. i do have to admit that the net that i could reach was extremely long it was it was one of the longest nets yeah but you know i made sure of it i'm banging out on the eight foot though i don't even know that one yeah my kid at my kid's school they have a little a little basket that i just go there i'm goaltending dunking on kids yeah absolutely um all right josiah you've been here before it's the fastest

moment in podcasting uh no thought whatsoever given to these just to your instinct we're going off instinct here y'all trying to get me packed up but i'm ready you know let's go what do you mean it's like dude okay i didn't have time to think about all that let's just get it all right jabari you start off all right josiah if you wait are you sure you want me to go first yeah yeah yeah i i desperately want you to go first joe who would you like to go for i i we just have to make sure hey you know you got it jabari go ahead okay all right let's do it let's do josiah if you could bet on any fan base to make the in arena challenge shots you know the layup the free throw the three-pointer and the half court which fan base or fan bases would you bet

on i'm gonna go with the lakers because i've seen it happen several times now you know why is that yeah they're so good every time you can see genie's face and it's like oh we don't have this bag to give y'all these bags are tied up he's like oh damn matt ryan gonna get booted or every time you know somebody like oh no you know he's smiling but he's like damn all right there's my walking papers but i think the lakers fan base i've probably seen the most hit the half quarters and i forget what team it was but they had the janky one where like they hit a half quarter and won like 500 bucks those are the indiana pacers that's what made us come up with this question for 500 that was that was our question is like is it so commonplace is everybody just so pure born with a basketball in their hand in indiana that like it's they're just like yeah

we'll give you 500 bucks whatever that's fair though fair, though. It is the Hoosier state. It is. All right, dream scripted basketball movie. We just found out about Air, the movie starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck somehow about the invention of the Air Jordan shoe. They didn't even cast anyone as Michael Jordan. He's just like a presence, a gravitational black hole in the middle of the movie yeah back of a fort like a back of the head at least back of the head yeah like there's a shot in the trailer of the back of the head with him walking into the nike offices and then

i so i was like who'd they get to play jordan because you that that seems impossible right he's just like so iconic you can't get anybody you can't cast anybody to play him and they said they specifically didn't cast anyone he's just this presence that they should have got kevin hard to play larry jordan it's gonna be flex alexander oh there you go hey the michael jordan lifetime movie was one of the greatest things no No names on the journey. I mean, come on. How do you not appreciate that beautifulness? Do you have a dream scripted basketball movie you want to pitch?

I would love to see a movie on. He's my favorite basketball player in the league right now, representing the South Sudan. A man who has gone through trial tribulations, walking in the shadow of his father was another great baller none other than bobo love to see a bobo movie yo this is a great idea or the i mean the manute ball store like you could use the perspective like stuff that they use for lord of the rings so you know that that would be very cinematic very amazing flashbacks to bobo like that

latest scream movie but obviously done in a tasteful way right uh all right jabari you're up all right keeping it going we're gonna play getting in or headed home in mid-april the brooklyn nets the team is still nine games over 500 they hold a seven game lead in the loss column over the current 10 seed with under 25 games left are they getting in are they going home? Yeah, they're in the East. They're getting in. Yeah, they're getting in.

Fair enough. All right, here's one, the Pelicans. Because many of us, you know, we anticipated a big year for New Orleans. Some were a little bit higher on them than others. But the team finds itself currently just a game and a half up on the 11 seed out West. And reports are that Zion could miss a good chunk of the remaining schedule due to re-aggravating his hamstring. Are getting in or they going home well they might be at the crib but you know i love zion love bi i love that crew love cj mccollum and uh you know even what they

did last year trying to you know sneaking into the plan but i think i might be at the crib because the lakers are getting in so somebody's gotta go someone's gotta go someone's gotta you know look around look to your left, look to your right. One of them can't be there. Maybe both of them. So they got to leapfrog the Thunder, the Blazers, the Jazz, which I think the Jazz are probably on their way out, the Warriors, the Wolves, New Orleans.

I mean, who's gone? I can't figure it out. This is going gonna be tough um hey speaking of the wolves anthony edwards recently acknowledged a three bag per day habit of hot cheetos fries what was your wildest eating habit when you were a young athlete like myself so i think about this often and uh and just what we were able to accomplish back in those days but a bag of chili cheese fritos and this is a regional thing. They do it like in the South, they do it, but they turn the bag the wrong way.

We like the bag straight up. But you can do it with Doritos too, but take the Fritos. You actually put some cheddar cheese, some chili in there. If it's a nice snack, throw some onions in there too. But you could eat one of those in a tiki punch and have enough energy to play like four or five games you were doing that before tournaments yeah the amount of basketball i played with just hot dogs and my sister just nothing but like you know those concession stand hot dogs like the no water final janky you know you get like the 100 box of hot dogs

yeah five bucks like yeah no water drinking soda all day yeah water without chips what was the wildest thing you witnessed diet wise did you ever like play with someone who was just like you know an amazing athlete despite the fact that they were surviving off of gummy candies so my college teammate tj cummings uh son of terry cummings but tj could eat like a whole bj's pizza and i'm talking about like the bigger like you know big know, big hole pizza, like two, two big pizookies, you know what I mean? And within like the pizookie,

like the big, you know, we used to finesse BJ's and Westwood back in the day. Oh, it's my birthday today. Like, you know, it's my birthday,

probably about 65 times. Every time you go to BJ, cause they had to give you a free pizookie. Then he would put a pizookie on top of that, but he could take that down and still, you know, go out and drop 20. drop 20 like it was nothing. Wow.

Amazing. I'm impressed by that alone. Two bazookas beyond. Even without the pizza, the two bazookas would have me done. I've never seen him be able to eat like that. If I ate those two bazookas, if I looked at those two bazookas, I was gaining five pounds. All right, Josiah, we ask everybody.

I think, I believe you've been here for one of these questions in the past, but Jack or Jabari went one-on-one. You got to pick. You it's, it's up to your interpretation. Jack got the NBA. Linda's Jabari.

So I'm going to be, be wow. Yes. Yes. Ah, great. Great. Great answer. He's getting you on

okay he was reading the almanacs back in the day recalling colleges looking at play sheets making corrections what if you slide him over here it be your own that's right I forgot

I forgot when we were taping this in oh wow I gotta give it to Jabari both from Cali. But oh, my bad. I forgot, I forgot what month we were taping this in. I forgot what month we were taping this in. Oh, exactly. Oh, wow. I gotta give it to Jabari. I gotta,

I'm sorry. That's fair. I can't, you know, I gotta, I gotta be able to keep the car. You already know. But March 1st,

you asked me again March 1st, and the answer may be different. There we go. All right. We'll have to have you back on. I appreciate the reparations. Also, I was,

as a kid, I skipped Dr. J's last game playing against uh my grandfather jack ramsey i skipped his last game because jaws 2 was on tv so you had me wrong by the way that was stolen valor when i was like six or seven years old that's that's what i was about i was just uh i was not i was not a basketball head when jaws jaws 2 kid. Jaws 2. Jaws 2 on cable. I skipped Dr. J's last game. This is back in the day, though, when we didn't really have access like that.

We didn't have streaming and all that, so we had to get it when we could get it. I mean, they electrocute the dang shark. It's pretty cool. Josiah, such a pleasure having you on the show. Where can people find you, follow you, hear you, all that good stuff? Honestly, I feel like I have enough people that could find me,

so I don't really want them to, but if you feel so inclined, go on Twitter, Instagram, KingJoseph54. Also be on the lookout for Gil's Arena, premiering Tuesday, February 21st.

I appreciate you to the crew of Underdog Fantasy. We got a whole new studio. They built this magnificent set in Gil's career. We're going to have a bunch of great guests the first week and beyond. And this is real unfiltered, all right? You have your square media, right? The square media, they do their square things, and they try to do the cool things,

but they have to do it with a square lens and square tone. We're the anti-square show, unfiltered, raw takes. You already know Gil. Gil does not care about much, and he will speak his mind. He does not care about getting packed up or if you disagree. And I got to admire that because if I gave Kobe 60, if I gave Steve Nash 54, if I three-time All-NBA and all that other

good stuff he has under his resume, I'll probably be saying the same things in addition to the stacks on stacks on stacks of bread that he has. I wouldn't care about anything either. So make sure y'all lock in with us. Get it in and follow Gil's Arena on Twitter and Gil's Arena Zero on Instagram too so I can keep my job san fernando valley legend all right well thank you so much josiah that is gonna that is gonna do it for us uh for this episode back next week

with more mad boosties give us a follow on twitter at mad boosties all right we will talk to y'all next week. Bye. news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, y'all? It's Cam Jordan from the New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down

on season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Catch new episodes every Wednesday and I'll have the biggest NFL stars join me to give a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moment from around the league. So tap in to Off the Edge storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moment from

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