The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #86: Keeping Up with the Pacers with Chris Barnett

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

Miles and Jack were pleased to be joined by Hoopspaces.com and Playback TV's Chris Barnett on today's episode. The trio discussed all of the fast starts around the league and several marquee matchups before breaking down the state of the Indiana Pacers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry.

Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball.

And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Señora Sex Ed is not your mommy's sex talk. This show is la platica like you've never heard it before. We're breaking the stigma and silence around sex and sexuality in Latinx communities. This podcast is an intergenerational conversation between Latinas from Gen X to Gen Z. We're your hosts, Diosa and Mala.

You might recognize us from our first show, Locatora Radio. Listen to Señora Sex Ed on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, well, well. There are no more undefeated teams in the NBA. Look at these losers. But the Nuggets, Celtics, Sixers, and Mavs have each gotten off to blinding starts.

And we're going to get into some of those teams and the state of the Indiana Pacers with podcaster and host Chris Barnett on today's episode. I'm Miles Gray and I'm Jack O'Brien and this is Miles and Jack O'Brien. All right. Here we are. Another episode. Great, great developments all around the league. Oh, man. No more undefeated teams.

You hate to see it. You hate to see it. I really, it hurt me to see Anthony Edwards do the Celtics like that. I'm like any other team, Anthony, but not my Celtics. Not in this economy. I love them so. That was wonderful. What a fun game

for me. And we're joined today, Chris Barnett, Hoopspaces.com and the host for Playback TV. Welcome Chris. Welcome back, man. Welcome back, Chris. I appreciate being back, guys. You guys are the best. Miles and Jack got mad boosties. It is the

NBA podcast, not an NBA podcast. So true. The only one that matters. I'll tell you what, watching Anthony Edwards do that to the Celtics brought a smile to my face. A smile, you sick man. It's always a good day for a Boston Celtics

out. They're so good this year that it's fun. It'll be fun every time. I think we should have an unofficial holiday every time they lose anybody who's a Celtics hater because they're going to be

few and far between. They stay healthy. They're really, really good. They just get better and better. It's very frustrating. And you look at the ins and outs and you're like how'd they get away with all this it's like what manner

we were on text this week I was like how did I'm still just like how why do bad things happen to good basketball fans how did anybody let that drew a holiday trade happen to good basketball fans how did anybody let that drew a holiday trade happen to like in this day and age knowing how most people feel about the celtics

that's not most people i'm sorry celtics fans you guys know how i feel about you i respect you it's just it's a lot of pain there's a lot of pain there's a lot of pain i get it and look there wouldn't be this much you know uh ribbing if there wasn't actual pain behind it so you do have that obviously this is the most fun nba season yet am i easily uh wimbing yama we'll get to it but i am watching every game uh with the the pacers one not as much fun for Wemby watchers. No. But the one before that was the moment where everyone kind of turned to each other

and were like, whoa. That's wild. Is that him? Is he really him, though? I was pretty wild on Wemby, too. I had actually made the comparison not to Kareem coming out of UCLA because he was a 22-year-old

already kind of solid product. But what would Kareem average in today's NBA as a 19-year-old whose greatest competition was under 17s? Right. Yeah. That's great. Watching greatness being born in front of us.

It's just amazing. Yeah. It's really cool. It's so wild when people are like, well, first it's like, it's the preseason. Oh, it's just so early.

It doesn't matter what point of the season you are. He is doing this. Yeah. We'll keep an eye on that. We'll keep an eye on that. And it's anomalous.

Yeah. But he ran into a buzzsaw in Indianapolis. Yeah. Pacers ran into a buzzsaw in Indianapolis. Yeah. Pacers are off to a 4-3 start, plus 3.2 differential so far. That's skewed a little bit because they beat the Spurs by 152 points, I believe. They've already beaten the Cavs twice. But yeah, they just hung 152 on the Spurs.

I think the Spurs did end up scoring in that game but it was not a very close game the Pacers I mean that's the second time I think opening night like just watching the scores I was like wait the Pacers have like all the points

are the Pacers going to score 200 tonight? they whacked Washington in the opening. It was not a fun game if you were a Wizard Sam. Yeah, but Halliburton looks great. Yeah, how are you feeling as a Pacers fan? And you are wearing the new indie hat. Yeah.

Stay reppin', yeah. Stay reppin'. I've been pretty high on Tyrese Halliburton. You know, you have to fight Nick's Twitter sometimes, and you have to fight the advanced analytics guy sometimes. Oh, really? Yeah, because they want to put him in a specific box, right? Like, he's hyper-efficient, he's great with pace,

but, like, you kind of take away the aspect of how he can create offensively. And then you put him in this idea of like, he's really just exposing the rules, uh, as well as the pace of play. I actually think he's kind of discounted with his basketball acumen. And I think what we'll see this year is he'll start actually taking the mental leap as opposed to just the productive leap that he did as a starter like i think the sky is really the limit you're talking assist leader multiple years uh he shores up that one-on-one defense and he'll be a complete two-way player and we're talking literally season after season of a potential 50 40 90 right averaging 24 11 maybe 12 assists almost two steals four boards.

Like, the sky's really the limit for them. That's why the Pacers signed him to the max, despite only really having one year of a track record. Right. I was watching a couple highlight reels. Sadly, even in that game where y'all put 152 on the Spurs, I only saw Wemby and Yama highlights for it.

Like, I was like, wait. But they scored 152 points. Obviously, there's that Isaiah Jackson block that I was almost like, I couldn't believe what I saw. I thought I was watching Avengers or something. And I was like, how do you do that? How do you do that? I mean, how are you, obviously, like, going into the game,

weren't you guys, like, the worst in terms of defense? obviously, going into the game? Weren't you guys the worst in terms of defense? Going into that game? Or near the bottom? Still pretty much near the bottom. Don't let the points per game fool you. They are a young and reachy team. Right now, they overhelp. They over-rotate.

Leads to easy buckets for the opposing offense. I think that shores up a little bit with Rick Carlisle. He's just too experienced of a coach to not get a handle on the defense. And then I think one of the major issues is they don't really have an actual paint protector. Like Miles is great, an elite help defender, but he's not necessarily going to be that big body. Hey, you're not going to come in here and score on us because you're going to get fouled or hurt.

And I think the defense really lacks for that. But once you get that, everybody on here is athletic enough to recover. Then it's just basic defensive principles. And I like Rick Carlisle, you you know around this young team getting them set up right and like if you look at it this way they can only get better like they're giving up you know over 121 points per game if you get that down to 116 and you're putting out 121 then you're talking like the atlanta hawks run to the ecf. They maybe catch fire and after catching fire offensively, they just shoot up.

This is great fan logic. You listen to a true fan. And then you're talking Atlanta Hawks from a few years ago. And those numbers add up to obviously greatness. Gotta push the prop again. That was Rick Carlisle's 900th game, right?

I think that last one. Nine or nine on one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If I calculate, yeah, I do track his wins, and I think that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He should be up to nine on one right now. Yeah, there it is.

Yep, yep. Back to nothing. Very interesting dude. Yeah. Other people, as a Lakers fan, always checking out Buddy Heald. He's looking pretty good, too, for y'all. As a Lakers fan, what does that mean miles what does that mean as a lakers fan i'm always

checking out buddy yeah because i look at the nba like a cheesecake factory menu and i look at all the items available to me and it doesn't matter what is possible what is even allowed within the rules of the game or economics i just go there mentally uh that's how this this is how it works i never said it makes sense but again like i always say i am ill because i'm a i was noticing that jabari was like yeah they re-upped with turner after years of trade rumors mostly sending him to the lakers but he is still waiting to be waiting to be moved. So that's the description that we have for somebody who has not yet been traded to the Lakers. They're waiting to be moved. That is still the truth.

He requested it in the offseason. Part of it, I think, is actually fallout from not landing DeAndre Ayton. There's a connection there. They wanted to play with each other. Ayton had expressed his wanting to go to Indianapolis on the offer sheet. Phoenix smashed it. But part of the problem also is when you look around this team, they have the same problem with TJ McConnell,

who is a fantastic backup point guard. They have young players ready to come up and take those minutes. And when you look at Benedict Mather starting starting, you got Ben Shepard coming, you know, you've got to get these young players minutes. You got your race Walker who can play the three or the four. And that cuts into somebody who's ready to compete now. And like, I totally understand and back it. There are several teams too, who have interest.

They just didn't want to probably pay the first-round pick in the offseason. But when you start looking and projecting towards the trade deadline, and we'll start doing that next month, you know, after 25 games, all of us are going to be like, you know, we need to fix this team. They're in a great position.

They'd be able to trade Heald and TJ McConnell to a contender, likely get a good, unprotected first-round pick. Here's looking at you, Philadelphia. They could be able to trade Heald and TJ McConnell to a contender, likely get a good unprotected first-round pick. Here's looking at you, Philadelphia. They could be moving off of Miles Turner if they think Isaiah Jackson is more than just the athlete that he's been able to flash. So if you're looking at that, maybe the Lakers get the person that they actually want next to Anthony Davis, who's making a contract the next two years under 30 mil. It's a lot of different avenues they can go.

Right. Um, but if they compete and like they hit that six seed, they can add a major piece. And that's something that I don't think a lot of people are expecting. And it could be something as simple as maybe Gordon Hayward going home to Indianapolis, uh, getting an expiring contract, who will be a swing forward. And then maybe because you can actually afford it because their cap is flexible with how they trade. You can get another buy low, sell high vet with the one of the Martin twins, not Caleb, who's in Charlotte, but his twin brother. I mean, sorry, in Miami, his twin brother inlotte and then you shore up the wing depth as well so like there's many things that they can do and they sit in a pretty advantageous position i love it hope springs eternal i love i love uh where you're

coming from i think you should be the gm this team is super fun halliburton is super fun they're leading the league uh in in points per game um so fun. They're leading the league in points per game. And I think leading the league in points against. So you're always going to see a lot of buckets. Should we move over to Wemby?

Because yes, he got blocked. He got blocked. When he got blocked, I was like, this is what I was expecting to happen one or two times a game. He's so big. He's entering a league with the fastest, strongest human beings

on the planet. He's going to get blocked all the time. He got blocked in the Indiana game. It's the main highlight that came out of that game that came out of that night i feel like but um you know it happened earlier this week wemby went against the suns put up 20 in the first half 38 for the game 10 boards two blocks and really like we we talked

i think of the last episode about how his fourth quarter stats are crazy, like really, really good. And we were like, maybe it's because he's kind of used sparingly so he can like pick his spot. But no, I think like he really took over. Like he really seemed to just be like,

all right, I'm taking the game over right now. This is like, it was a very close game and he was kind of scoring at will on the suns he's like what do you want you want a three okay you want some mid-range okay you want me to just drop it in like right underneath the bat i'll do it all baby i'll do it all yeah yeah i i think like what a lot of people didn't really understand was wendy's ability to control his body right like he's dunked on people who are legit 6 11 7 foot from outside the restricted zone

yeah and he's not doing it pushing any athleticism like he's literally just that long but if you look at how he does it he's able to manipulate and comport his body and he also does it on the defensive end too like it is really like playing basketball against slender man because he keeps you in his body and he keeps you in his wingspan without touching you and right several of his blocks are completely without jumping it's the same on offense and like greg popovich is purposely playing him out on the perimeter you know to save the contact on the knees in the back but because if you end up playing him out on the perimeter and you're able to start a driving kick game, our Kelton Johnson or Devin Vassell gets hot,

the defense tends to shift and you get those wide open wing matchups and he's just unstoppable. You literally saw Kevin Durant try to jump up with him. Kevin Durant is an awesome athlete and a phenomenal basketball player. He made him look six inches shorter. Yeah. Yeah. So when we look at that aspect,

we have to land credence to the, the ability to naturally understand his, his physiology. And, and I think he doesn't get credit for that because we see, uh, seven foot seven guys come in the league and fail. Right.

Right. Sean Bradley, George Mirosan, you know, Boban is just like, he's an afterthought. He's just a big dude and he's funny. He's really funny and we like him. Wimby's a guard.

Playing 7'4 with an eight foot wingspan. I've seen a nutmeg Reggie Bullock a hundred times now it's amazing so we should just enjoy it and like that's gonna be more of the norm yeah right like

you don't just do that against the best players in the world once and disappear right yeah because it doesn't I mean like to look at that and think that there's somehow gonna be like a regression I think is just odd because you're like no this is I see only

upward like this is only going up from here so yeah there can be off nights especially in his rookie year yeah exactly he's yeah and he seems to have like I don't know you're seeing like a little bit of personality I don't want to like read too much into personality but like he seems to have like i don't know you're seeing like a little bit of personality i don't want to like read too much into personality but like he seems to have like some of the cockiness that you

would kind of need to continue to ascend upwards like he and like kind of seems to get pissed off when he's in a moment and like gets scored on uh he did the thing that all superstars did and uh got mad at dylan brooks for talking trash and like when he scored on him like pointed at his face so like he has he has passed that uh signpost on the on the road to being a great player but i don't know this is like i'm so i'm so so excited about wemba Yama. It's truly a distraction from every other NBA storyline for me. It's the first thing I'm checking for every night. I'm like, all right, first of all, are the Spurs playing?

Is it on TV? Can I check it out? And then everything else follows from there. So I don't know. It's like it's, it's, it's like I said, my,

my very first NBA memory is Isaiah Thomas scoring a layup right off of the tip against the Boston Celtics. My grandmother was a diehard piston. Sam, that's my first memory. Yeah. I, I, I tracked my NBA history.

I, and, and like, I literally was watching LeBron, his debut on ESPN in a history. I, and, and like, I literally was watching LeBron, his debut on ESPN in a tent. I saw Kobe Bryant and like, I'm sitting here. There's nothing we've ever seen like this.

Yeah. Like there's nothing we're ever going to see like this again. And like the fact that he's able to go at it with these guys who, who are pros like Dylan Brooks. If you ever see him courtside, you'll hear him. He gets chatty with everybody. Yeah, yeah. It is dope.

This is literally the personification of what the NBA has always wanted. A real, wise 2K player. For real. It's hard to imagine. All right right so a seven foot four guard who can shoot like has a great looking shot and like a shot that when he gets it going goes in does like has all the right instincts on defense like what it like we would need somebody like like with mutant superpowers at this point to be like the next evolution because he is like kind of every everything that you would design in a player because you maxed out everything yeah

seven seven foot five you're like is that too tall but seven foot four seems to be working out real nice for him with an eight foot wingspan like that seems to work out pretty nicely um i will say the thing the thing that i love the most is he made the wilt chamberlain post score like it's it's like a half jump shot half layup right yeah he does it to to sustain health and not hurt his knees but like he that's unstoppable yeah in the today's game with the way they have to call how the players need the space for landing, that's unstoppable. If he's out on the three, you can't even get a foot in because you're going to encroach on his landing. That's unstoppable. So then he's going to start going to the line, guys.

Yeah. He's not even getting to the line yet. Just wait until he's getting to the line 11 12 13 14 times a game you know maybe six seven games a month and then still gets to the line seven eight every other game like we could be talking by the time he's in his sophomore year like 30 points easy yeah it's it's wild. We're all Thomas Bryant, basically. He got dumped on. We're always like, what? We are all Thomas Bryant. And that's what I love about him.

That moment. Just confused Pikachu. Like, what do I do now? They could already make a great 30 for 30 about his NBA career so far. Like, that's, For me, I would watch the hell out of that. He's averaging 6.8

points, 2.2 rebounds, and one block in six games in the fourth quarter this season, shooting 72% from the floor and 43% from three. Yeah, I don't know. He's doing it jeremy sohan at his point guard too

yeah that's right that's what's um yeah yeah i mean he's like a generational defensive force and they are giving up the most points in the league right now it's actually not the pacers the pacers are second to them granted i think the fact that they played the pacers probably hurts them in one of those six games but yeah the the surrounding cast could use some work but i think i think they're they just in general are going to be better than people expect yeah 100 100 all right should we take a break yeah let's take a break We'll be right back. 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.

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we are. Let's check in with the best team in the NBA, the Denver nuggets. Oh boy. As of this recording seven in one to start. Jokic has no off off switch he's doing his own press conferences i don't know if you saw that clip of him just just asking himself the questions and answering them before the press could even ask he's firing it on what was the nature of the

questions he was it was just like it was basically highlighting the fact he's like i already know you're gonna ask me about triple doubles like doubles. It was like one of those things where he's like, y'all, this feels like it's on a... I will already ask myself the questions. Here's my prepared statement. And then if you have other questions, we can do that too. But I have a feeling I know what you're going to ask. That one where the

reporter from the playoffs, where the reporter was like, so you're up 2-0 on the Suns. Do you expect them to come back having figured out some new things? He was like, no, my my friend i expect them to let us win and forfeit just complete like deadpan he did carry the whole this is just a job thing for like five years you know then he wins the chip and then we see the personality all of a sudden you know yeah it's dope i love him i hope it doesn't change no i don't think i don't see that

happening it seems like the outfits are changing a little bit you know he's getting a little bit funny if he went hollywood like was oh right that's what i did and he ends up in la right yeah right he's like horse is disgusting no touch no horse not with these hands no nicola but yeah i mean i think at this point it's theirs to lose it feels like um but yeah i talk about horses how about the 400 horses that this baby gets and he slaps a subaru that he's driving around because yeah he's so high he has like a dealership too he's got like hey come on down to yoko subaru you know what i mean um yeah so they're they're looking great celtics again they're five and one uh as of this recording uh they yeah i mean we talked about ant already just just doing helping us uh the people who live in perpetual fear of the celtics being

great uh helped us out. And I know for you. The Celtics are great. Yeah. No, they are. I mean, look, there's no, I'm not out here hating on a team. It's because they're good.

It's because I am. Tatum got stronger and better. He got a lot stronger. Like he, in that one clip where like Ant out wrestles him for the ball, like he's still like, that was one of the moments where I was like, yeah, but he's just as fast, and Tatum

put on a lot of muscle in the offseason, and he's still great in all the ways he was great before. They are terrifying. They just got better and better. They just keep getting better and better. I've heard that's defensive backcourt.

Are we really going to be looking at that the entirety of the season with Derek White and Shrew Holiday? If we look at what Milwaukee's doing, their big new three put up 72, but their defense isn't good. Miami looks like they're taking a step back and having to retool philadelphia might be interesting but philadelphia would also have to be relying on d'anthony melton and kelly uber and i just don't know if that's what you're going to go into when you're boston and like you go to boston in the garden and you gotta deal with derrick white and then like you gotta deal

with drew holiday yeah and it's just 34 minutes of pure grind and that is what is their superpower come come playoffs if they're healthy like it's like playing pat bev 36 minutes but like they're gonna score 15 to 16 points and dish out sevens yeah and i think i we should have known it was trouble when derrick white shaved his head yes you know what i mean i'm'm like, oh, he's serious. He's serious. He's listening. He's listening.

Yeah. He knows. He knows. And this means business. That's business haircut. We will all be witnesses. Yeah, like the Anthony Melton. But yeah, there are some other things that make me worry about that matchup for sure.

Yeah. Is Dame actually playing defense? You're talking about the Bucs? He's not a great defense player yeah i've seen some criticisms i felt a little bit i've seen some screens that he he's he's still feeling yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah i have enjoyed the return of dame time and some of his clutch performances. That team is fun. The league is so fun this year. Jack, even your Sixers? Even. Speaking of keeps getting better,

just when you think, alright, well that's got to be the peak. Joel Embiid. What's going on with him? Averaging over 32 points. His splits are incredible. He's, yeah. He's playing incredible. We've added Therese Max.

He was on the team, but he wasn't an MVP candidate like he is now last season. I'm trying to get that started, so please just let me. Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead. It's okay. Putting out 25.5 points, 7.3 assists, 4.5 rebounds on 50-44-93 splits.

I don't know. Pretty good. The third quarter Embiid had against the Wizards, 29 points on 10 of 10 shooting, hit all nine free throws. Two rebounds, an assist, and a block.

I was like, what? I'm like, Jack, you're back in. Are you back in? Yeah, man. I mean, I'm back in. We got to shout out Tyus Harris, too. Nick Nurse is letting him pick his spots. He had a couple of isos on Eric Gordon during the

Phoenix game, and they're going to allow him to do that if he gets two or three of those a game uh plus his step in threes and transition like you could be getting 16 18 points just off of 10 shots for them too so yeah it's a very good looking silly right now yeah that's been fun not so much in washington but i was just gonna say no i'm noticing a pattern that we talked about how the Pacers hung 150 points on somebody opening night. Oh, yeah, it was Washington. I'm talking about how Embiid went 10 of 10 and put up 30.

Almost 30 points in a quarter. In a quarter against. I think Tyler Hero went off on them for like 19 in the third, too. Yeah. Against Washington. Do you see the reel of him getting blocked like 15 times in a single game? I felt like it, yeah.

It was like over a course of like three games and it was like every time he got near the basket he's like, yeah, this is an easy one. Stuffed. If you put me out there, that's what that would look like. Just that kind of confidence. That kind of confidence and getting blacked out every single time i don't know if lebron chasing me down i don't know watch this though he's working with the broad passive right to tyler here he's snuck in

they've seen that before here in Miami. I tell you what, I give him a lot of credit there because on this turnover, he didn't pout. He got back into the play and able to come up with an incredible block shot there. I've got a team we haven't talked about and I want to know what you guys thoughts on Orlando.

Yeah. I mean, they've gotten better in the way that you would expect them to but like maybe a little bit even faster they're putting it together faster scary that Paulo that Paulo and Franz

two man game is so European Paulo and Franz get them together now you know you're in trouble i've we've always had a bit a bit of a special place in our hearts for orlando like we saw coming together but i don't you know i don't know i don't know i've actually only seen like a couple games i mean i saw the game against the lakers uh and just kind of kept up with box scores. But am I really? What do I need to have my eye on, Chris? You got to watch the development of that two-man game.

But if Jonathan Isaacs is coming back and starting to be actually healthy, they literally could run a lineup where Markel Fultz would be the smallest guy, but everybody else is 6'11". Right. And it would work. You'd put Mo Wagner at the five uh Jonathan Isaac at the four and then you'd have Paulo at the three and Franz at the two and you'd literally have a mishmash everywhere you go um and then on top of that they've got

a lot of contracts that could easily be moved as well Gary Harris uh Markel Fultz himself they just resigned Cole Anthony but they drafted Anthony Black. They really could be trying to create a Swiss Army Knife-style team where everybody is vertical. Toronto tried it with the idea of the 6'9 Raptors. They're going 6'11 magic.

Franz Wagner is 6'10"? Why did I think he was short in that? Because in Michigan, he was actually listed at his correct height. And he's grown. Oh, wow. As opposed to the traditional, hey, he's 6'10", and then you find out he's 6'8". Right, right, right.

Right. So, yeah, it's literally they can run a lineup. And when Anthony Black gets in there, he's probably grown to a legit 6'8 as well. You'd be talking a 6'8 point guard with damn near 7'4 wingspan. Franz at the 2. Apollo at the 3. And like, what are you going to do? They can literally run a zone

and you couldn't even pass it inside. So they'll force you to shoot perimeter jump shot and then just rebound run. It's going to be real tough, man. Because what they just lost to the Mavericks, right? I think. Yeah.

Yeah. Derek Lively going off. That's a good combo. Yeah. Not much you can do there, for sure. Yeah. Luka looks incredible. The league is as fun as it's been. Zion has looked fun. Zion getting blocked and then reacting by coming down and windmilling on the world was just going flat footed just a flat footed jump windmill he's like yeah watch this by Capella. So Capella defending their well. And it wasn't meant for Jalen Johnson.

Zahn, take your time. Oh, man. On the window. Last time down, got that shot blocked. So that's why he's this wide open. Here's your energy power play. Can we actually pick anything else? Joe, this is off a vertical.

This is off a vertical. This is off a vertical. What Jalen Brown did to Gobert was disgusting. Yeah. Poor business decision. You should have known better, sir. You should have known. Brown obliges on the blow by. Stuffs it on Gobert's head. Oh my god.

He climbed the stifled tower head. Oh, my God. He climbed the Stifle Tower. Wow. My goodness. Oh. That is one of the best rim protectors in NBA history. Take that. On the ground, step over. Do we want to talk about that heat

court? It was my favorite court. Coolest thing. Do you have something else to talk about? Perfect. No notes. That's it. I have nothing. I only have positive things to say about it. They did a real good job with the seats to go with the court that's what really set it off if you notice like they

did the skyline thing tough oh i didn't even notice that part my hat is like a shark's fin um putting local j lyrics on the key um if anybody hasn't seen it it says just written out tea culture baby like a text uh under the under the basket uh left aligned yeah all left the line hardest working best conditioned most professional unselfish new line touchest or toughest tough hard to tell um it's hard yeah meanest nastiest team in the nba they're very nasty they've done it all they've done it all yeah anyways you know the heat culture jerseys were already catching some uh strays and then they were like, oh yeah? What the hell? It was a little bit more than strays, man.

How about that? Some were directly aimed and fired. But hey, they can't be winners every year. They can't be winners. We got to see the James Harden debut this week, too. The shoes? Are we talking the shoes?

Not the shoes. The shoes. The shoes were trying something different they reminded me of the um remember when uh that that simpsons episode where homer designs a car that's like tries to reimagine the concept of a car and it's like the homer and uh it's just a mess like these look like they're trying to redesign reintroduce the concept of basketball shoes yeah they're they're geometrically very interesting i will say like to the point where i'm like are those stable yeah i don't know but it's all about

uh julius randall's uh signature shoe with sketches oh man, man. Is he Skechers? Yes. Wow. I love that for him. So is Embiid, yeah? Embiid doesn't wear Skechers on the court, does he? I think just some deals. Wow.

That is crazy. Did it change anything for you? Yeah. That's a good question. And I'm out again. My man's in Ske for you? I'm out. And I'm out again. My man's in Skechers? I don't know. We'll see. Anthony Edwards

would be the other big... We talked about his game against the Celtics, but his D has been really dominant this season. In that game, he looks like he's kind of controlling it at both ends of the court. And he's, he's usurped Carl Anthony Towns role.

Like that started at the end of last year, but he's really turned it on as this is his team. You see it. Like they all just respond to him. He can do literally anything on the court. If you want him to shoot, he'll, he'll get hot and hit

six or eight if you d up on him he'll just pass it he'll get it back and then he'll just window on you it's just yeah that's the intentions but then the defense like you just said it's it's like ingrained in him to not lose on defense yeah it's like watching to not lose on defense. It's like watching Dwayne Wade again. That's, to me, the ultimate respect I can give a shooting guard

playing defense because he was arguably the best that I ever saw live in person. Anthony Edwards is just getting nasty on that end, just getting in your chest, making sure that the hand is always visible to your face, making sure that you can feel his breath and know what he

ate for the pregame meal. You know what type of peanut butter he's using by the time you're done at halftime. You have to brush your nose because it's just all up in there. It's phenomenal. Then he's next to McDaniels, who's also

defensively a stalwart. And that's a great tandem. And he got Kyle Anderson off the bench. So, you know, they're not a bad team. You know, like I said, you know, we'll take him. You know, we'll take him. Yeah, we'll take him. Just like that.

We'll take you back, you know? It's wild, though. I mean, he did that defense. He was playing on five fouls too. Is also. Yeah. That's yeah. You got to give it up.

You got to give it up. Switch on. Just click. Right. It's yeah. I mean, you love to see it. You love to see it.

And he's, he's, and again, he's a great actor too. You know, we saw a bit of his acting chops in that Netflix movie with Adam Sandlerler yeah you know who else is a great actor who austin reeves yeah oh really from lemon daddy he has like great deadpan interviews like if you you gotta watch yeah yeah yeah off at fiba he is he is eating up the limelight in a way he's got the riz

he's getting negative attention because this whole Austin Reeves campaign. He's taking it in stride. Lately, he's been heating up, but he's going to be good for the Lakers. I'm wondering

how you feel with AD now with the hip. You're going back to kind of what it was, where it was last season. And you had Dennis Schroeder. You think you can pull it off again. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. I wonder what, what's Austin Reeves shoe again, Mrs. Reeves. We regret to inform you. Your son has tested positive for the Riz. Oh,

yeah. He's got rigor. That's, that's, is that the company? Oh, man. Ooh, that's a, that's that's is that the company oh man oh that's a that's a mouthful that's rough but hey look wait that's the company that's the shoe company yeah i think that might be one of the uh is this new is this new that we're we're doing like we it's like forget about nike and Reebok and Converse.

Now you can have Allbird. And Rieger and Li Ning. You got to go where the money's at. Yeah, of course. Yeah, because they're backing up just Brinks trucks in front of them to be like, I know there's only two brands that exist, but hear me out. Look at this Brinks truck full of cash. What do you think

like the puma thing was cool when it started a little while back like those shoes i thought have always looked cool and obviously like new balance got uh kawaii and then under armor with steph but i had usually heard of the brand when they you know like it well yeah but that just shows you know the popularity of the sport in china you know like well yeah but that just shows you know the popularity of the sport in china you know what i mean like it's yeah yeah when you have now that like man they're wearing our shoes it's synergistic man it's synergistic do you hear birkenstock just signed that kid who went to who's going to duke cooper flag crocs just. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. He just signed a deal

with Sperry. Easy listening walk shoes. It's just out there cooking people and Sperry's in a bow shoe. All right. We're going to in a bow shoe. All right.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll come back with the fastest segment in podcasting. It is the fourth quarter, rapid fire. We'll be right back. 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.

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We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it. Ha! Yeah! 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... Sike! You you have to tune in to find out so tap in to off the edge with cam jordan's podcast your ultimate playbook for all things

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't worry, we promise to avoid any black holes. Most of the time. 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

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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. And we're back. We back oh chris chris chris cb chris chris chris chris you've really stepped in it this time my friend wandered onto the hot seat you know rapid fire hot seat there is both fire and hot seats yep um i feel it man like i know i'm squirming a little and look this and you already know this is the fastest segment in sports podcasting history we asked so yeah just answer right away that just happened hope you can handle that i'm gonna say cool stuff like that we will try cool stuff slick stuff. Slick stuff. Neat stuff.

Miles, do you want to kick us off? Let's kick us off. This is a rapid-fire round of questioning. Brian, start the clock. Deep breath. Chris Barnett, give us your hottest take of the NBA season. Not like a traditional hot take. Say something completely reckless and out of balance right now. There's even a chance that it could happen.

Go. I'm taking a sip real quick. Cleveland needs to go ahead and trade Donovan Mitchell. It's over. What? Yeah. It's over. Yeah. Wow. If Cleveland can't learn to

play through Evan Mobley in the high post consistently this year, they just don't have it. They're going to end up relying and be iso'd out by Donovan Mitchell on the right wing with a swing reversal to Darius Garland who's going to run into the teeth of the defense

and then they're just going to go ahead and hamper in and say, if Max Strews can go 7 for 14 and George Deane can go four for eight. You're going to beat us. But it's done in Cleveland. If they can't figure out how to get Evan Mobley to be a better facilitator more consistently.

All right. That's hot. Okay. You have the opportunity to watch a movie with either Anthony Moreau, Jalen Brunson, Robert Covington, or Danny Green. They're choosing the movie. I have combed NBA film tweets for some film recommendations.

Who are you choosing to watch a movie with? Whoever doesn't watch Batman. Okay. Well, none of them are picking Batman. Okay, so we're good there. None of them pick Batman. I would probably go with Anthony Moreau. Anthony Moreau. them are picking batman so okay so we're good there none of them pick batman uh i would i would probably go with anthony morrow anthony morrow all right yeah what are we watching with anthony anthony morrow has been on here as an option for the past two weeks he i think of this group has

the best taste in movies you have chosen correctly uh anthony moreau watching a league of their own one of my favorite movies ever bang from way downtown wow not expected but like yeah a league of their own is a great sports movie um that i appreciate yeah i appreciate his willingness to be like yeah that's that's great that's great. That's a very millennial. That's a good, solid millennial pick. You know what I mean? I'm worried about the Batman comment.

Yeah. You don't want to go there. I promise you. Man, in League of Their Own, I always love that line from John Lovitz where she won't get on the train. And he's like, the way it works is the train moves not the station

I remember as a kid being like yo got cooked right there by John Lovitz I'm lovin it golly I'm lovin it I even came up with the jingle before

Pusha T did cause that's how early that was. It's like, ba-da-ba-ba-ba. I'm loving it. Can someone write that down? It's 1993. All right. Wait, you hate Batman, though?

Oh, overrated. Without question. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just the entire, like, we're talking about the Chris Nolan rebooted ones? Oh, all of it. All the way back from Tim Burton, the OG. Yes.

Like, if you really think about it like batman is just nothing but the manifestation of each individual's like maladies in life right right right they take what was wrong they're like oh we're gonna make this like a positive trait like the original batman was a dancing guy in tights like what are we talking about? Right. Alright, next one. Chris, you can go back in time and you can either bring 3-1 Reggie Miller or Jermaine O'Neal to

make a run with this current squad. Which one are you choosing to take that ride with the Indiana Pacers? Oh, Reggie, without a doubt. Okay. What is it about reggie um the competition that he has like he would have made he would make everybody on this paces team a better player in practice right like he couldn't he couldn't summit the hill of michael jordan

go find me the people who did because like i still, I still, I'm still looking. Right. He was one of the only dudes who might understood like every game, every game he's going to give it. And like he respected that. And I don't think necessarily that we have that same mentality in the league, you know, widespread. There are some players who get it right. But then there are some players who don't and they're infinitely talented but they could get it with a vet you know like reggie miller ah i see i still call jermaine o'neill though shout out to jay yeah how many threes did reggie attempt per game

like in his career like not as many not as many as people think yeah like he was yeah completely different era i feel like his scoring goes way up when if he is in the modern era he averaged guess how many threes per game he averaged in his career um like made probably say what made or took because i would probably say he only made two for two 1.8 because he only probably took maybe five and a half at the most per game yeah no he was a 40 three-point shooter that's wild like he would have been an unbelievably like better player in the modern era remember like 40 percent three-point shooter who only took like five a game. That's wild. Great pick.

Best player you've ever witnessed in person? LeBron James. Okay. Is he the person you feel like you have to see in person to fully appreciate the most? Yes, absolutely. Especially now as he's older, you see a lot of him manning up high. He just goes downhill now. He doesn't, you see a lot of him manning up high.

He just goes downhill now. He doesn't have necessarily the same type of drive to be in the mid-range. 32-year-old LeBron, who just realized he had his total game, that was something to watch. You literally couldn't stop him. He would bully you and dunk on you. He would post on you and dunk on you. He would post on you and dunk on you. He would post on you and fade away. He would run from half court, you know, and dunk it in less than two seconds, it seemed like.

And you just couldn't stop him. That Miami Heat LeBron was just something else. Number two, Kobe Bryant. Number three, Allen Iverson. Yeah. Like, you just never knew how fast he was. Number two, Kobe Bryant. Number three, Allen Iverson. You just never knew how fast he was. I saw him at the running shoot at Capitol Heights in D.C.

and he played in Thames. And he was racking people in Thames. Literally, he was wearing Thames jeans, sagging down. They weren't even tied. The Tims were just untied. Yeah, of course. He took off the puffy vest because it was

November, so it's just the puffy vest. He was out there balling. It's like 1130 at night. If you know DC, the running shoot, that was a 24-hour gym. Just unbelievable. He was crossing people going slow. yeah yeah he's like i'm

saying he's like you would because remember weren't we saying like when we were joking about like if we could do a rule change in the nba it would be like yo at any point you can make the other team have to wear tim's one quarter one player has to wear tim's yeah yeah just to kind of slow them down though man the angles man that would like that though, man. The angles, man. That's rough on the angles. Yeah. Which NBA player most appropriate signing for the Timberland first signing? Isaiah Stewart. Okay.

Yeah. Isaiah Stewart is the correct answer. That is the answer you are looking for. There you go. The dude who took eight dudes to stop him from going after LeBron. That's right i think isaiah stewart actually wearing blacked out black on black air forces if we're gonna be real probably right that's like you know he's it's more of a goon shoot you know you're like oh no no not him

not yeah yeah steer clear of him uh okay chris you can take two players from all nba history to create your mad boosties edition nba jam team who are the two players you're taking to make it unstoppable oscar robertson kareem jil jabbar uh if marine wasn't available it'd be oscar robertson and will chamberlain uh and i say like when we have this discussion of like greatest players of all time we don't really ever add will chamberlain uh but like here's a story uh top 50 nba announcement is there. Everybody's there. They're gathered. They're in this back room. Two people are arguing.

The league is trying to get everybody mustered up to go through this procession because they're about to go out and there's still two people arguing. It's Michael Jordan, Will Chamberlain. Michael Jordan's like, I got these rings. I did this. Will never, he'd never let you get the last word.

So they get up and they're walking out and he said, but they changed the rule book for me. And then walked out. And he had no, he didn't have a reply. So like, yeah, it would probably be him, but like we don't really give

him enough credit. But I'd add Kareem because they were teammates. So, so like, yeah, probably him, but like, we don't really give him enough credit. Uh, but I, I'd add Kareem because they were teammates. So the synergy is already there. Yeah. I also changed the change rule book for him in college. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. In college. And I think they actually added like a couple of rules in the pros as well. All right. Finally, most important question, Jack or miles. Um,

that's an interesting question because when you listen to the podcast the best nba podcast not just an nba podcast you can't listen to it without both of you so like it's it's hard but i will say this there's somebody who's funnier. There is somebody who's funnier. No. But I'll tell you in the next episode that I'm going to. What? Wow! Wow! Guaranteed a return to the show. I like that. That's how you guarantee a season renewal. I know you were going to say,

Jack, it's fine. I'm going to get my funny up, though. I'm going to get my funny up. You'll see. And then they're going to go back, and I'm going to say, funny up though. I'm going to get my funny up. You'll see. You'll see. You'll see. And then they're going to go back and I'm just like, and I took that personally. I'm just like stepping all over Jack's words the next episode.

I'm like, yeah, what about this joke? Okay, hold on. I'm going to workshop this thing. Trying to predict what I'm about to say. Say it over me. That's actually not funny because this is actually

the funnier version. But let me say that, Chris, real quick. Oh, tooth thirsty. Wow. I could be legend. Absolute legend. Legend, mate. Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate you.

Where can people... No, after you. After you, the funnier one. Chris, where can people... You've taken that as... So I took that as disrespect I could see it

oh yeah he's gonna show up at your house to just drive straight after this thing ends yo I'm just mad anger sweat

right now you don't even know I'm hot right now this gray t-shirt has big black sweat stains all over it

go on go on were saying, Jack? Chris, where can people find and follow you? So funny, bro. You can find me on Hoopspaces on all socials, obviously. 9 a.m. on X Spaces now because they changed it from Twitter

to X. But this season I partnered with Playback TV. It's a phenomenal app that you're able to actually host watch parties, watching live games, film breakdown. I actually do the morning shows called the Daily Playback. It's on at 10 a.m. You download

Playback for free. You hop in. You get rotating content creators. I will be adding some journalists out there to go ahead and break down and get that one-on-one fan to content creator and journalist engagement every day, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. on Watch Playback. Amazing. Let them know. People, tune in.

Check it out. Well, you can also follow the show on hashtag MadBoosties on Twitter, or you can give us a follow on Twitter. You can find me at miles of gray i'm at jack underscore o'brien um we're not at matt boosties on twitter but you can just like find things hashtag you know how twitter works come on guys you understand this you know this why am i having to explain it why are us us the elders trying to educate the youth right now? You already know. Hashtag M-A-D-B-O-O-S-T-I-E-S.

And that's going to do it for us this week. We'll be back next week with sweet, sweet memories of NBA play. All right. Bye. Bye. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil.

I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to The Making of a Rivalry, Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore

the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre.

Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre behind the mask a 12 episode podcast in both english and spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre and i'm your host santos escobar emperor of lucha libre and a wwe superstar listen to lucha libre behind the mask on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you stream podcasts