The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #77: Southwest Division Breakdown with Tom Petrini

Episode Date: September 7, 2023

Miles and Jack were pleased to be joined by Spurs analyst Tom Petrini for today’s episode. The trio continued our team-by-team total win predictions with a breakdown of the Southwest Division!See om...nystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 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 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
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Starting point is 00:00:55 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. This is Jimmy O'Brien from Jamboy Media. I want to quickly tell you about my podcast. heart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts hey everyone this is jimmy o'brien from jamboy media i want to quickly tell you about my podcast it's called jimmy's three things episodes come out every tuesday and for 30 minutes i dive into three stories in major league baseball that i want to talk about or i do a stat deep dive. Sometimes I create my own stats. It gets weird.
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Starting point is 00:01:40 Listen to Jimmy's three things on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, well, well, look who's back. And guess what? We're under 20 days from, you know, the team's beginning to report to training camp and Team USA. They dropped one to Lithuania,
Starting point is 00:01:59 but then they bounced back and put the smash on my Italy. And we are continuing our team. Buongiorno. Buonasera. We're going to continue our team by team breakdown with the Southwest Division with Spurs analyst Tom Petrini on today's episode. I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is
Starting point is 00:02:18 Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien.
Starting point is 00:02:21 Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien.
Starting point is 00:02:23 Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. and Jack O'Brien Welcome to episode 77 Welcome, Tom Petrini, Spurs analyst.
Starting point is 00:02:46 Welcome to episode 77, which I believe is the win over under from Vegas for the Los Angeles Lakers. So 77, right? That feels fair. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I felt we got shortchanged a little bit by five games, but it is what it is. Do what you can. Miles, you're Italian?
Starting point is 00:03:07 I didn't realize that. How are you doing? Oh, hey, Paesano. Great to see you. Miyamichi. It's great to be back in the ancestral homeland. Obviously, my family's from Puglia, so I had to go and see the family out there.
Starting point is 00:03:23 But yeah, it was fantastic. It was fantastic. Tom, really quick. You grew up in Long Island, did you say? Yep. And then, but you are a Spurs fan now? Yeah, so I grew up in New York, went to school in Boston, fell in love with a girl from San Antonio. Fell in love with Spurs basketball while I was trying to get to know her.
Starting point is 00:03:43 Okay. Gotta go see about a girl. Am I right? Absolutely. Yeah. That's a Boston reference. That's a good reference, man.
Starting point is 00:03:50 It, it, uh, it took a while, but we got down here. So, you know, I'm happy about that.
Starting point is 00:03:56 And yeah, man, it's, I've been covering the team in some shape or form since 2015. So, you know, beautiful game area is still kind of there, but Kawhi is like,
Starting point is 00:04:05 you know, kind of coming into his own as a superstar. It was a really fun time to be watching the team. Right. And then sort of seen everything after that. And since, and now, uh,
Starting point is 00:04:14 the Wembley era starts. Yeah. Interesting times to be a Spurs reporter for sure. Um, I, I feel like we should read your, you, you provided a bio that,
Starting point is 00:04:23 uh, was one of my favorite bios that's been provided. So I just wanted to read through it here real quick. This is from you, Tom Petrini. Haven't played organized basketball since like kindergarten, but I've put a lot of work into building a serviceable jumper. Okay.
Starting point is 00:04:36 The righty man who Ginobili of 24 hour fitness parentheses balding. I grew up in New York and my early basketball exposure was like Mello, Stott and Jeremy Lynn, LOL. I don't know where that's coming from. That LOL. It was a funny team to watch, man. The vibes were crazy. But anyways, I love the righty man who of 24 hour. Yeah. So you got it like that, huh? It's a real vibe. I ran out of contact.
Starting point is 00:05:06 So I have like the croquis for my goggles. So it's like, you know, I want to get like honest to goodness. Rex specs. You remember Rex specs? Oh yeah. Like with your rambus vibes. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:05:17 Like, like, yeah. Horse grant style for sure. Yeah. Cause it, cause it's like, I can't see anything anything but I'm about to get physical in here so they're strapped on don't get it messed up and did you ended up did this love story become
Starting point is 00:05:34 a full complete love story you are with this person who is this person oh fantastic we just moved into this house together we got a puppy we've been together it'll be six years in September oh live in la dolce vita it's it's we've been together it'll be six years in uh september so oh live in la dolce vita you know as they say it's it's a beautiful thing yeah i love them basketball it's very sweet wonderful there there's some interest around the san antonio spurs this season i would say
Starting point is 00:05:55 so we found out a bit how what's it what's it like to why what happened uh what's it like to have been with the team for five years and then have have this uh fall into your lap this victor wembignama fella i mean it it was it was kind of crazy to watch because very proud tradition here and they they had just gotten used to winning after decades of of not and then you have this era of sustained competition greatness and winning and you have a guy who who you think is gonna carry that torch and kawaii leonard and then he's gone and then sort of slowly it was like you know you trade the best piece for draft picks and then the next best piece becomes the guy and then he gets traded for draft picks. And eventually you got what you had last season,
Starting point is 00:06:47 which was, you know, you know, it was, it was cool to see the development of guys like Devin Vassell when he was healthy and Keldon Johnson and, and rookie Jeremy Sohan get getting a lot of burn, which he wouldn't have gotten in previous years in San Antonio.
Starting point is 00:07:01 But then, you know, they, they won like 20 games. So it was like, it was, it was tough. And, and watching the fans who stuck it out through that and, and watch that. And we're still showing up excited and hopeful watching those people get rewarded. Um, you know, cause I was, I was at that bar at that watch party where, you know, they
Starting point is 00:07:21 got it up on the big screens and everybody's like, like everybody's drinks gets paid for if they get the number one pick. Right. And I'm just in the corner with my tripod, with the camera and like, you know, electric, it was like a championship moment, almost like, and in a sense, like, I know it sounds silly and crazy to say, but in a, in a way it's almost bigger than that because somebody wins a championship every year you know um but players and prospects like victor wimpyama i feel like everybody was pretty much in agreement that this is the the most game-changing prospect in the last 20 years and you see somebody like that come and you know
Starting point is 00:08:05 what that means because you saw it happen with Tim Duncan, right? Yes. Like, you know, that none of the stuff that happened here happens without that one singular all-time great number one pick. And so, you know, people here are just like over the moon and like the impact on businesses, the impact on ticket sales and marketing the team and, you yeah they time their number one picks really well it seems like yeah yeah i mean yeah you you bottom out three times and get three generational big men like it's it's yeah yeah now i've i've been told uh speaking of j Sohan, that you don't mess with the Sohan.
Starting point is 00:08:45 Is that correct? Yeah, no. He's a scrapper. Okay, yeah. I just wanted to make sure. We were talking about the Sandman before we started recording. Yeah, absolutely. I think I saw that movie in theaters.
Starting point is 00:08:58 I feel like revisiting that would be hilarious to do. Yeah, I wonder if that aged well. that would be hilarious to do. Yeah, I wonder if that aged well. Sohan actually I think it's going to be good for Victor because everybody's going to be going at Victor. It's going to be good for him to be sharing the court with
Starting point is 00:09:13 somebody who likes to mix it up like Sohan and Zach Collins. Enforcer Zach Collins is hilarious as a concept but if ever there's an altercation on a basketball court and Zach Collins is in the vicinity, he's in the middle of it.
Starting point is 00:09:28 Yeah. Like, you know, looking like he's mad at his stepdad or something. I don't know. Like he's, he's like, he's ready to go.
Starting point is 00:09:36 So I, I think having those two around, uh, Victor is going to be good and important for him. Do you have a feel for like, you, you know, you've seen the same number of games that we have. Do you have a feel for, like, you know, you've seen the same number of games that we have.
Starting point is 00:09:46 Do you have a feel for, like, are the Spurs going to be good right away, do you feel like? Or what are your expectations for this first season? So, I think it depends what your expectations are for the Spurs as a team, right? Because if you just base it on
Starting point is 00:10:02 the win-loss from last year, and okay, they're getting this guy we don't know how good victor women yam is going to be i i i feel like last year it was a young team that was still learning how to do stuff and they left a lot of meat on the bone in terms of results as a result of that you know there were games where they played really well for three quarters you know and you know they're're moving the ball, they're doing the right things. And then in, in the last, you know, five, 10 minutes of the game, it falls apart there, you know, they're not communicating the experience. The other team takes over and boom, you know, you've lost 13 in a row like that. And it's, it's one of those situations where last year a lot of guys were kind of
Starting point is 00:10:47 hoisted into roles that they you know have never had before and never would have had the opportunity before in previous iterations of the spurs and so the feeling around the team toward the end of last year was like the guys are great these guys have a ton of potential they all just sort of realize that like you know they need somebody to be that guy that they all sort of coalesce around yeah and they got very lucky in the offseason and they got that so i think immediately victor women yama is going to be like a special defender to watch even if the offense takes a while to get there and you know it takes some time for him and pop to find the balance of you know okay you're trying new things and you're doing the things that make you special and the things that only you can do but also like let's run these sets so you can get easier looks kind of thing that balance that's going to take
Starting point is 00:11:44 some time it's going to take some time with his teammates but like as far as i know he's been either you know he's been combined in vacation or in the lab you know just all summer and uh even dyed his hair which i think might have been a sohan influence thing although sohan is pleading innocence like you know i didn't do that to him. He made his own choice there. But like, I think the Spurs were a perfect landing spot for Victor Weminyama because you have Greg Popovich, you have a team that's been building for this slowly,
Starting point is 00:12:18 quietly for years. And it depends what moves they make because they've got so many draft picks right they've got they've got a ton of assets you know do you take davante graham and and doug mcdermott and draft picks and maybe maybe one or two of the young pieces and and try to like really upgrade the roster if in year one victor women yama is like really showing you some things so um i i think i think they're going to be a lot better than last year and probably because people didn't watch them a lot last year um surprising people yeah yeah i think there are a lot of guys outside of victor women yama who you know people tune in to watch wimby but they'll be like oh man kelton's fun like yeah
Starting point is 00:13:06 right oh i i've never seen anybody except penny hardaway do that like spinning step back but devin vassell has that like that's cool right now and so i i i'm excited for other people to watch spurs basketball yeah you know yeah i mean even watching summer league, it's just like, he's so tall, you know? Yeah. How did he, how did he do that? Is that something you work on? I think he had that thing where like you, you hang it up in the doorway and you, you stretch it.
Starting point is 00:13:35 He just did the stretching thing. Yeah, probably hang upside down. I think we all have to, we have to assume that he had that, but he did it off the Eiffel tower. That's why he's so tall. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:44 Right. I think, I had to consider that he had that but he did it off the eiffel tower that's why he's so tall yeah right i think my knowledge of i have cheer up i'm a i'm a bit of a europe expert um right let's uh as you can tell uh so should we let's just go because we've been the way we've been doing the analysis is the win over under that Vegas has each team coming in at. So should we take a break and come back and talk about San Antonio's over under? Yeah, let's get into it from that angle. We're going to find a new angle right after this. 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,
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Starting point is 00:15:22 All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday all season long.
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Starting point is 00:17:03 Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back, and we found it. We're going to talk about, should we start off with the Spurs's a normal size collar i know i know i know jack it's normal size it's very normal sized uh normal if it was on victor wambing yama that is true that is true okay well credit to him i wear it and suddenly it looks huge and like a clown dressed me he's gone he is going to the tim duncan school of being that big and somehow finding baggy clothes like i don't know how you do it yeah but like that's crazy
Starting point is 00:17:53 just gotta sell your clothes out of hockey bags just everything is hot it's been 20 years so i guess like baggy stuff is coming back i don't know that would be great or is he just going through tim's like wardrobe and Tim's like, Oh, I loved these in 98. You're going to love these two. He's a lot better dressed than Tim. I have to say.
Starting point is 00:18:11 Yeah. Well, maybe he'll tuck in a tee with jeans and wear that like backwards newsy hat and make it all look cool. Tim Duncan, owner of the largest pair of Tevas that I think that would be my guess is he has like yeah record setting you get a custom made yeah yeah he has like five of the biggest tivas that have ever been made and they
Starting point is 00:18:31 are in regular rotation would be right and the sixth one is hanging in tiva headquarters just like as like a art piece when you walk in and like this is the biggest tiva on earth um all right so southwest division we got san San Antonio, we got Houston, we got New Orleans, we got Dallas, and we got Memphis, folks. Don't we? We love them, folks. Don't we? We love them.
Starting point is 00:18:54 Let's kick off with San Antonio. Their win total last year was 22. They're expected to gain, by Vegas, seven and a half wins. They're 29 and a half. That seems like, okay. Yeah. I mean,
Starting point is 00:19:10 like, sure. It's not very aggressive. I would say, especially like I, my one takeaway from seeing Wemby Yamaha summer league, and I've talked about it before that I think like a smart outsider bet would be Wemby Yamaha for defensive player of the year.
Starting point is 00:19:25 Like he really messes with every shot that goes up on the court when he's in the game. Like maybe people figure out maybe like non summer league players, like better players will figure out how to shoot around him. But he's, he is contesting shots that should not be contestable. Right. So I could see them picking up more than seven and a half wins.
Starting point is 00:19:49 Personally, I would go, I would go over on this one. Somebody said, I forget who said this, but it stuck out in my mind. They said that he changes the geography of the court. Yeah,
Starting point is 00:19:59 that was probably me. Oh yeah, probably. It sounds like something you would say. Yeah. European geography. Did you tweet that when you're at summer league at his first game? You're like, probably it sounds like something you would say a European geographer didn't you tweet that when you were at summer league at his first game you're like this kid is changing the whole
Starting point is 00:20:09 geography of the court we're calling him Pythagoras yeah that's an entirely different subject of school but it starts with geo and that is all that matters yeah no he the defensive impact is going to be really fun.
Starting point is 00:20:27 And they have guys who I think will fit around him and be able to switch around him really nicely on the defensive end of the floor. You know, Vassell, Sohan, Keldon. Trey Jones is like, you know, a pesky little dude. And like, yeah, I think it's going to be fun basketball to watch and and they're going to figure things out my guess is more quickly than the teams that are playing against them because you really have to like you know they're going to be one of the harder teams to scheme for
Starting point is 00:20:59 moving forward just because they have victor women yama who you know like it's it's just different you have to do different things entirely and switch up your your philosophy in some cases on both ends of the floor to really um game plan for a player like that so i it's gonna be interesting i'm interested to see everything like there's no game on the calendar where I look at it and I'm like, that's going to be boring. I don't care how this 7'4 guy who can shoot from everywhere on the court plays in this game. That's not a concern. I think it's going to be over. I know, shocking, the guy who covers the team is a little bullish.
Starting point is 00:21:44 But last year, I wasn't so bullish. I think it was like right on the nose last year. And it was like, I don't know if they're going to get 21 wins. And they just squeaked over it. How over are you going, Tom? So it's set at what? 29 and a half.
Starting point is 00:22:00 I think they went 34 to 36 games. Okay so just just a shade under playoff contention right as the kids call it like they might make the play in game and like they they might do well in that environment i don't know like if they if they played a first round playoff series it wouldn't shock me yeah yeah that would. That would be fun. Alright, so I would have expected San Antonio having a generational number one draft pick that they would have been at near
Starting point is 00:22:34 the top of predictions for most wins gained. However, they are far below two games below our next team. This team Vegas is predicting the biggest win loss jump of the season. And it's Houston. Last year, 22 and 60.
Starting point is 00:22:56 This year, 31.5 games. I'm slightly confused by this. Not that I don't think they're going to be better but like is it all Van Vliet is it all Udoka are they just expecting them to take the Fred Van Vliet
Starting point is 00:23:15 I'm done trademark trademark and yeah I wrote that in the doc and then I said that I was done so I have no preparation from this point forward in the show it's all chat GPT from here on out
Starting point is 00:23:31 does this surprise anyone else I guess Dylan Brooks also you know he can help a team win it's team Canada Dylan Brooks right now because he looks he looks i mean he looks as good as he normally would but yeah i don't know i mean it
Starting point is 00:23:49 must be emay plus van vliet i guess houston is tough for me because like you know deep in my soul it hurts me to say anything nice about him um but like their draft this year, phenomenal. Right. Like just awesome. I was super high on a men Thompson before the lottery. It was like, you know what? If the Spurs got him at three or four, I'd be, I'd be stoked. Right. He's really, really good. Um, who did they get that slid to like 25?
Starting point is 00:24:19 I've forgotten now, but it was like a guy that people had top 10 grades on slipped. Yeah, Ken Whitmore. Yeah. Slipped to like 25 or something and it was like, oh no, like that's problematic. And you know, they got Shangoon in the draft
Starting point is 00:24:40 that the Spurs got Primo. You know, they've drafted really well in the last few years and I I like I like the roster that they've built uh culture has been terrible you know that like the coaching has been bad they I remember last year they were talking about like oh Jabari Smith is like struggling but he had this good, Jabari Smith is like struggling, but he had this good game. And the coach was like,
Starting point is 00:25:07 yeah, you know, you know, part of why he's struggling is I'm not running anything for him. It's like, wow. Right. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:25:16 Like maybe that's a point of emphasis to consider. I don't know. I really think bringing in email Doka is, is going to help a lot. Yeah. I think it's going to change some things. That group of players playing with some form of organization is going to be, I think, cool to watch that development. Yeah, they got a lot of talent now that you mention it.
Starting point is 00:25:42 I don't know if 32 wins, that's kind of the joke, I guess, right? That Spurs fans were making. It's like, oh, you went out, you spent all this money on Fred VanVleet and Dylan Brooks, and now you're going from not a playoff team to also not a playoff team. God, Spurs fans are mean. I thought they were nice. No, no, no no no they a while back i was sort of like my my official title was the dawn of spurs mafia it was it was like a like like if you said
Starting point is 00:26:15 something dumb about like oh i think anthony davis and tim duncan are like like anthony davis better like there were people that would just like your your phone is going to overheat from people saying angry things at you you know like well the grammar in that sentence was a mess yeah yeah first i don't talk between that so yeah i mean you you were saying it was a dumb sentence and you are well i get that was a mess and the emetagons were messing with your language after we got to ls island obviously i feel like rockets fans have like really leaned into the monetization of twitter you know and and you know done similar similar posting habits uh but honestly i love i love that the rivalry between rockets fans and spurs fans feels kind of back you know yeah um like there's a little bit of
Starting point is 00:27:06 nastiness like like on lottery night when victor women yama realized he wasn't going to houston and gave like and gave a little fist pump yeah oh you just pissed off an entire city for the rest of those people's lives they're gonna make you forever yeah and that was before he knew he was coming to san antonio like he was he was just like he wasn't even thinking about the story building aspect of it he was just stoked to not be going oh i didn't even realize that so it was houston was off the board who was left at that point it was uh spurs portland and uh charlotte oh that's pretty that's pretty bad, man. That is really cruel.
Starting point is 00:27:50 You're left on the board and you're like, yes, I'm not going to Houston. That hurts those people deep in there. It's a cool place. Like Houston, Texas. But yeah, I think all of those games in Houston and San San Antonio, fans are going to get up. It's going to be fun to watch.
Starting point is 00:28:08 I mean, this whole division, we're going to go through the whole thing, but the young talent in this division is really, really cool. Yeah, this is a fun division. Every team has young guys who are either already stars in the league or look like they could be the future. So it's fun to watch. Yeah. Every team they have going up in wins other than Memphis,
Starting point is 00:28:33 who Memphis is a real question mark. They're going to be interesting. Adding Marcus Smart, D. Rose, re-signing Desmond Bain, and then Ja being suspended. But I feel like they have them losing
Starting point is 00:28:48 going from 51 wins last year to 45.5. I wouldn't be surprised if they are somewhere between those two. I don't think they're going to drop off that much. But everybody else is up. The line goes up.
Starting point is 00:29:07 We got Nylons going from 42 wins to 43.5. Not a huge leap, but an improvement, nonetheless. It's the health part I'm always just wondering. I just saw Trey Murphy, the third.
Starting point is 00:29:23 He went down with a meniscus injury earlier this week. I feel bad. Those fans, I bet, I'm always just wondering, like, just to Trey Murphy, the third, he went down with a meniscus injury, like, earlier this week. So I feel bad. Those fans, I bet, I'm sure, are wondering. It's like, can we have one just moment in the sun where the health sun shines on this team? But I feel like everyone's kind of going to come into this season with something to prove to. So part of me does feel optimistic, but I don't know if that's also the sort of cycle of watching this team go into a new season like zion looks good he's looking good putting the mountain dew down we'll see what happens uh but yeah i mean i i'd love to i'd love to see them actually you know because we were pretty big on them last year
Starting point is 00:30:00 going into last season yeah man well they had a great year the year before and then had zion was healthy like they had a great year without him and then zion was in quotes healthy but you know now now he's missed 194 games over his career while playing in just 114 so um yeah it's just the new orleans for me is always just like hope springs eternal i i want them to be healthy i want to see what right i want the whole league to be healthy and they in particular seem like one of the most fun teams when they're healthy um so it would be cool zion seems like he's physically changed and then ingram has like a whole different look he looks like a different person it seems like they could be anywhere from like 35 to like 50 wins depending on health and lost entirely you know um but like like again what a fun young group like yeah like
Starting point is 00:30:58 ingram playing with a healthy explosive zion is like, cause Ingram was really coming into his own last year. I mean, really, really solid player and, and fun to watch. And at that wing position, great size, just incredible scoring ability.
Starting point is 00:31:16 Um, you know, and, and McCollum, right. They got McCollum. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:22 I mean, you know, they, they're, they're built for, uh uh being a playoff team um and i think they can get there again provided they're healthy yeah re-signed herb jones so there's a lot of fun guys on that team and zion's liking some really cool dragon ball memes too a lot of dragon ball memes yeah he liked this vegeta account about
Starting point is 00:31:45 remembering who you were before dating her and you're like okay get focused sir uh dallas is is the big question mark um for like not not regarding health just like regarding how they fit together um this is the same person who was asking that question earlier about houston whose phone got blown up because it was a dumb question because i don't know how words work um the so they re-signed kairi acquired grant williams um signed seth curry derrick jones jr people People are pretty impressed with what they did in the offseason, but they should have been better than they were last year. And I don't have a full explanation for what happened.
Starting point is 00:32:32 I ask, I say, hey, what happened? But I haven't gotten the good explanation for it. How are you guys feeling about the Dallas Mavericks? And they're over under. They're expected to go from 38 wins to 45 and a half, which is a big jump. Oh, yeah. And I don't know.
Starting point is 00:32:52 I mean, can they do it without JaVale McGee? That is the number one question on everyone's mind. That's the number one question on my mind. But I mean, are they going to be that much better? It's a lot to put on uh grant williams and seth curry and like you be one thing to be like well kairi like needed some time to adapt and like they needed to adjust to one another's games but like it felt like they were getting worse as the year was going along is that yeah maybe i'm wrong about that but they just didn't like by the end of the season, it seemed like, oh, this has not gone well.
Starting point is 00:33:26 Those two on the court together, Kyrie and Luca, even though they're both like so fun to watch and like some of the best shot makers of all time. It's like a confusing, like it's confusing that they're not better. They weren't better than they were when they were on the court together it feels like a really like you know make or break year uh for dallas's constructed like i mean and and it feels like going into that you don't have a really good foundation in terms of um understanding how those pieces fit right um i think i think like you said they made some good off-season moves um i i like sort of the pieces they brought in but i'm also sitting here wondering like okay so how is how is it going to work who you know because i i see mark cuban talking about
Starting point is 00:34:22 kairi standing in the corner i don don't know how Kyrie feels about that. Right. Yeah. It seems, I feel like if you went down the list of players that you could have potentially paired with Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving would have been kind of low on the list in terms of fit. What do you need next to a guy like Doncic to not just win regular season games, but to make a deep run, which is
Starting point is 00:34:48 a goal when you have a player as good as Luka Doncic. And I still don't really see how Kyrie helps you achieve those goals. So
Starting point is 00:35:03 it is kind of up in the air i i do think they're going to win i'd say like over 40 games like i expect them to be around 500 maybe a little better yeah um but it also could turn into a very messy situation there this that one seems like the most volatile um you know situation here in this division yeah that one totally volatile totally interesting to see like where this this really feels like make or break year for luca where it's like do we you know but what do we have here like i've seen i've seen comparison people being like he's i think the general consensus is he is MVP caliber every
Starting point is 00:35:47 season we should expect him to be an MVP candidate this next year that's been the way it has been for the past couple years I feel like there's also like a quiet conversation happening in the
Starting point is 00:36:04 back where people are like, maybe he's like more of a Trey young figure, like really great shot maker and, you know, had some like deep playoff runs, but overall, like we shouldn't have like MVP level, uh,
Starting point is 00:36:21 aspirations for him. Um, I don't know about that. I think everybody in the league basically would take Luka over Trae Young, but I am starting to hear those conversations for the first time in my life. And repeating them out loud.
Starting point is 00:36:36 Yeah, and then repeating them. Yeah. I'm not saying that, Dallas fans. Other people are saying that. Don't put the Dallas Mafia on me. saying that don't put the Dallas mafia on me. Do you know who runs the Dallas Twitter mafia? If you could put a protective order over Jack, I don't think they have one.
Starting point is 00:36:51 Oh, Dallas seems fairly tame to me. Okay. Ruby. Maybe he's gone. There's a second tweeter. All right, let's,
Starting point is 00:37:03 should we take a, another quick break? I think we are and come back and get some bold predictions and uh get into the fastest segment and podcasting miles oh yeah do all of that i think we'll do it all all right we'll be right back 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
Starting point is 00:37:34 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.
Starting point is 00:37:53 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. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast at NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that?
Starting point is 00:38:13 Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right.
Starting point is 00:38:35 Catch new episodes every Wednesday all season long. That's what you look for in year 14, to do more. No days off. And I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars. Join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league.
Starting point is 00:38:55 And you know, we'll have fun doing it. Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month. Join me to mix it up a little bit. Who is it? None other than. Sight. You have to tune in to find out so tap in to off the edge with cam jordan's podcast your ultimate playbook
Starting point is 00:39:13 for all things football and not football listen on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts hey this is mike right from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the Fantasy Footballers, only now from a Dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the Dynasty Fantasy Football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been living in the Dynasty fantasy football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level.
Starting point is 00:39:46 Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into the Dynasty format, but it feels a little bit intimidating. No matter where you're coming from, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast has something for you, and you're going to have a great time listening, I promise. Join me and the rest of the crew every wednesday for a new episode listen to the fantasy footballers dynasty podcast on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts and we're back and we're're going to get into FIBA.
Starting point is 00:40:25 Like once the tournament's over, you know, it's been some great games. There's been the, the big, uh, shocking loss, according to headlines,
Starting point is 00:40:33 uh, by the team USA to Lithuania. Uh, it was a game that did not matter, which I didn't realize at the time when I was reading them headlines. Uh, it was, they knew they were coming out of their division one,
Starting point is 00:40:44 two, just a matter of who was coming out right first and the u.s has since bounced back against italy so they're they're looking good um they are in the final four of fiba i did not know all of that based on the headline so i wanted to do the service to people of letting them know yeah i was also of that because i've been following so closely i was like oh so we're out so we're out nope nope okay got it bombs yeah that's why you need superstars gotta put some respect on jonas valentunas man yeah i feel like he's a great litmus test for like ball knowledge if somebody has a high opinion of jonas valanciunas is like value in today's like basketball game,
Starting point is 00:41:25 right? Like, you know, he, he does so much at the center position that is like super duper valuable. Just like pick and pop, pick and roll beast on the boards. And he sets about like 500 screens that are just made of granite every single
Starting point is 00:41:41 game. Yeah. Just absolute. Like, he looks like he hurts to play against yes those have typically been the types of dudes that give team usa trouble right yeah yeah yeah we'll see what happens should we get into it miles uh we're going bold are we going quick should we get the let's get the bold in the quick wow wow changing the form i like this okay let's do it thanks with a little explanation or context
Starting point is 00:42:11 nothing oh yeah that's our favorite cool all right our latest segment called wild irresponsible speculation uh with people who know better brought to you by miles and check out mad boosties but here we go obviously tom you've heard about this segment this is the fastest question and answer segment in all of podcasting history including that but shows that are yet to exist uh we are going to ask you a question just answer it don't think just respond give us that just that deep human response without thinking blurt it out and we'll keep it moving so we can maintain our title of quickest question and answer segment in sports history.
Starting point is 00:42:48 Okay. I'm a, I'm a good blurter. Good, good. And if Jack and I start asking weird questions that don't make sense or out of context or, you know,
Starting point is 00:42:56 just general meandering, you have to get on us to keep this thing moving. Okay. Let her know what's happening. I, I, I'm very vibes based so if if the conversation flows into a happy spot i hear you i hear you and i'm a people pleaser it's gonna be tough for me to do that same man me too first of all the amount of therapy that jack and i have gone through for trying to get over our people pleasing i mean we could we could heal the world okay with the amount of hours like hour debrief after this and we can just
Starting point is 00:43:26 work with each other. Do the hard work. This is what I'll say. Sometimes, pleasing the people requires you to just be honest. Jabari is right. They're already doing it. Stop. Ask the questions. Okay. You're right. Fine. Here we go. Brian, start the clock!
Starting point is 00:43:43 So mean to Brian. He wants to please everybody except Brian. He's played in a lot of bands. He's played a lot of live shows. Sometimes he's hard of hearing, so I have to raise my voice. That's what it's about. It's not because of Anchor, okay? Because I like to raise my voice at people with hearing issues.
Starting point is 00:43:57 Do you want to go first or should I go first? That's a great question, Myles. How about you go first? Thank you so much. I will. Tom, I have to ask you who's the best player you've ever witnessed in person and what they do you know like what were they doing that impressed you so much and also who is the person you pay the most to see in person if you
Starting point is 00:44:17 haven't already um i've seen lebron in person and I think the thing about watching him that's crazy is you're watching him and you don't realize quite the impact he's having just because it feels regular. He makes spectacular production feel almost routine and expected. um you know routine and expected um and and within that also like these incredible plays and um you know beautiful moments but it's the kind of thing where you're like oh man he's been kind of quiet and you look up at the at the board and he's got 38 you're like damn all right yeah i guess it's not that quiet it's his age i really want to like i love watching yokich play like the my view at the arena you just see all of the reads that he's making at the top of the key um and sort of the lanes that he's looking at and so so watching from that angle is is pretty incredible um lebron's my answer too just because you see you get a sense of speed and size uh and like in person he's just
Starting point is 00:45:27 wild crazy crazy to see i'm out on this every nba player the scale is crazy but lebron in particular is yeah scale i don't see it i don't see that why'd we lose to the nuggets well because of those lanes baby ah ah tom you got you got to keep it moving, man. What is your absolute boldest prediction for the upcoming NBA season? Go reckless. Lose your credentials right now. I think
Starting point is 00:45:54 Victor Weminyam, a rookie all-star. Wow. That would be a lot of fun. That would be so fun. Even if it's just fan vote because the entire nation of France votes him in. Yeah. Georgia for Zaza Petrulia, that's 4 million people. France has got like 70 million. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:46:12 You know, and I do think he's going to be like better than expected and fun and super impactful and get a lot of eyeballs. I think there's going to be a lot of people who become fans of his game very quickly. So, you know, by popularity contest or by merit, I think he I think he makes an all-star team. OK, OK. Tom, which team is going to have the biggest increase in wins over last year?
Starting point is 00:46:35 And maybe you can surprise us with one. But who is that team? I love what the Orlando Magic are doing. I love what the Oklahoma City Thunder are doing. I think adding Chet to that team is going to be really quite something. Damn. Dropping fire bars. Quite something. Hold on now. Hold on now.
Starting point is 00:47:00 Next question. Hold on now. Hold on now. Drop the mic off of quite something. It's a mountain. Yes, quite. Quite good. next question hold on now hold on that's right drop the mic off of quite quite something um yes quite quite quite good quite good uh if you could have any player skill set for a day who are you choosing and what skill set are you taking from them this is so easy and it's so like it's so easy i feel like i'm breaking the rules but it's vince carter oh vince carter dunking i'm taking vince carter's jumping
Starting point is 00:47:26 and dunking ability and i'm going to like the rucker and i'm becoming an urban legend like paul bunyan or like will chamberlain or like earl manigault getting changed off the top being like oh you want me to break that five for you bow switch and took it off the top of the backboard right i'm just spending the entire day until i tear every ligament in my knees being wheeled off the court yeah here's the thing we which one are you doing first yeah oh yeah i'm going i'm going elbow in the rim i did the rim i did that on an eight footer when i was young and same i still have a little scar yeah no that feels like you're going to injure yourself right away well i did it too that tendon by your bicep, like on the inside of your arm,
Starting point is 00:48:07 I remember damaging it terribly doing that on an eight-footer, hanging my body weight off of it. Yeah. But here's the other thing. The reverse windmill 360 is my answer, in case anybody, that's my favorite thing I think of all time. Or Team USA on France. And it was, I don't know know there's something about it that really did
Starting point is 00:48:25 it for me but what if you could dunk like you were jumping over wemby like how he did in that game against france or who is how tall was that dude that he dunked over this dude was like a seven footer wasn't he that yeah i i don't know if i would do it to wemby because then i i don't know if my relationship could recover from that yeah yeah yeah he's a made guy he's a made guy you don't go out i think you respect you man right yeah well ah that's that's a good point but i mean i've listened to the show before and people always say stuff shooting right but here's the thing theoretically and i'm pretty close already i can practice enough to be as good as steph curry is shooting you know yeah i could get there yeah that's true the guy was a scrub before he really drilled out
Starting point is 00:49:04 drilled down, you know, in high school and college. So I think, I think you got something. And, and you know, if you have that skill for a day,
Starting point is 00:49:10 then what you shoot hot for a day that happens, you know, 24 hour fitness all the time. Right, right. They know you don't go, go home and tell your family about it. But if a five,
Starting point is 00:49:19 10 Italian guy jumps over somebody and dunks it, that's something that people are talking about forever you know those highlights live on but follow-up though because we've talked about this is could your body handle being able to jump that high if you had the same same fitness except you just had that lift i just had crazy bounce yeah but you're like yeah exactly but coming down you're like ah i would have to learn how to land and i like you know people who jump that like lonnie walker i would show up early to austin spurs game just to watch him in layup lines jumping because he's like a crazy athlete but he would he would land so awkwardly and was like dude two feet yeah soft be responsible like you're wearing a jet pack and you just yeah work on that style
Starting point is 00:50:07 yeah i get it so i don't know but i would uh i would try and if i flew too close to the sun and died you know if i if i die i die landing is an athletic thing in and of itself you know so maybe your athletic skills that allow you to jump that high and dunk so good. So good. Okay. We got to move on, Tom. And shame on you for not keeping this segment going. Shame on you, sir.
Starting point is 00:50:32 You know what? I will forgive you. With this question, that's just a nice, easy underhander for you. Ultimate peak. Prime admiral? And I almost said admirable. Prime admiral or prime Ewing for you for you i mean i've gotta go david because david robinson that he's he's one of the nicest people you could ever hope
Starting point is 00:50:55 to meet but he also did something so petty and savage by scoring like 71 points in the last game of the season to take the scoring title in fact that's the funniest thing i've ever seen and there's no footage of this game like it's like they had no cameras the bar is right it's against the clippers it's in la and there were like no cameras and he was like give me the ball again and just crammed it. I don't want to see anyone to see what happens here tonight. I do. I do have a lot of love for Patrick Ewing. I actually met him on an airplane one time and,
Starting point is 00:51:31 uh, you know, I was, I was a fan and I was like, excuse me, Mr. Ewing, can I have your autograph?
Starting point is 00:51:36 Uh, and he goes, sorry, kid, that's against my religion. And I'm like, whoa, I didn't know that.
Starting point is 00:51:41 I'm so sorry. And he's like, ah, I'm just messing with you. Give me that. Uh, and he said, okay, so that's my Patrick Ewing story. He's a funny guy, but yeah, I'm, I'm like, whoa, I didn't know that. I'm so sorry. And he's like, ah, I'm just messing with you. Give me that. And he's like, okay. So that's my Patrick Ewing story. He's a funny guy.
Starting point is 00:51:48 But yeah, I'm taking David. I love that canned response that athletes have to mess with autograph seekers. There's that one and the other one where they just deny being the person that you've identified them to be. Oh my gosh, Patrick Ewing. I'm not Patrick Ewing.
Starting point is 00:52:02 Sorry. That's crazy. I get this all the time. I'm just a seven foot tall guy flying out of New York right now. He's sweating so much in first class. Finally, most
Starting point is 00:52:16 importantly, Jack or Miles? I got to go with my Paisano, man. It's nothing against you, Jack. Paisano! You got some Irish some Irish I'm assuming Jack O'Brien oh you put that together yourself that's the weaker part of my gene pool
Starting point is 00:52:35 is also Irish so I feel some kinship toward you as well I appreciate it man I gotta go with my Paisano it's cool and I won't make mille. Grazie mille. It's cool. And I won't make miles anymore. And so for both now that he's back from Italy and just constantly telling me.
Starting point is 00:52:51 There you have it, folks. You know, that's, that's, that was, that was just the word on the streets, as we say, or the auto strada. Where did you say your family was from, Miles? Oh, Puglia. Gotcha. Yeah. He's making this up, man.
Starting point is 00:53:04 He's lying. I don't don't tom i don't think so jack don't be pretty heel of the boot to me you know like paulo bancaro off the ends of the words you know it sounds almost i didn't say i said capicola right Right. You know, that's more Northern Italian. Wow. Do you see, do you see gabagool is capicola. It's the same word. It's just butchered
Starting point is 00:53:32 by the Southern Italians. And I love that about them. I got, I got both. I got it. All of Italy is in here. You got it all. Well,
Starting point is 00:53:39 look, I'm a jealous man. And someone who's look, merely a poser who loves, who loves the boot, you know, i'm i'm the good kind of boot licker as it were well tom petrini thank you so much for joining us has anybody ever done like a like a travel show called boot liquor food and leisure and travel
Starting point is 00:54:03 show called lick the boot lick the boot just traveling from the heel all the way to the toe no oh man i'm well stanley tucci free idea yeah i gotta leave you guys are gonna get me in trouble they call me stanley's tucci main okay tom where can people find you follow you uh and and support you, and read all your takes, see all your takes, all things like that? I am on Twitter, at Real Tom Petrini. A lot of fakes out there. Got to keep a watchful eye. Yes, exactly.
Starting point is 00:54:34 There's snakes out there. Great, man. Well, thank you so much for coming on. Miles, where are you at? Find me at Miles of Gray. And Jack, where are you at? Oh, me, Miles? I'm at jack underscore o'brien on x the only thing i call get extreme all right that's gonna do it we're back next week uh
Starting point is 00:54:55 with with more nba and basketball action exactly you heard it here. Bye. Bye. 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 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 Wolfe. 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.
Starting point is 00:55:46 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.
Starting point is 00:56:07 So tap in to Off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast, 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. This is Jimmy O'Brien from John Boy Media. I want to quickly tell you about my podcast. It's called Jimmy's Three Things.
Starting point is 00:56:26 Episodes come out every Tuesday and for 30 minutes, I dive into three stories in Major League Baseball that I want to talk about or I do a stat deep dive. Sometimes I create my own stats. It gets weird. It's now your go-to podcast for staying up to date and in the weeds with Major League Baseball. No topic is off limits or too small. Bad umpires, great pitcher-catcher duos, new rules, old rules, three things that I want to talk about. Listen to Jimmy's Three Things on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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