The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - 76ers-Knicks Predictions: Why Embiid & Sixers offense will overpower New York

Episode Date: April 19, 2024

Jason Timpf shares his predictions for Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and the Philadelphia 76ers' first round matchup against Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks. Jason breaks down film of the two teams from throughout the season, and ultimately predicts that the series will go seven games, but with the 76ers coming out with the 7-seed upset of the 2nd-seeded Knicks. Jason then reacts to the USA Basketball Olympics roster, and decides what the starting lineup should be, as well as answer fan mailbag questions about the hottest topics from around the NBA. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

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Hope all of you guys are having an incredible week. Got another series preview for you today. The Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks. Spoiler alert. I went into this. a film session this morning thinking I was going to pick one team and then I ended up picking the other team after watching the film. I'm excited to dive into it from the perspective of both teams. After that, I've got a little bit of a film session. We've got 20 clips. We're going to go

through 19 clips, excuse me. They're going to go through from this particular matchup. So for you guys listening on the podcast feed, if you want to see some film representations of the things that I'm talking about, you're going to want to head over there. There are some specific takes that I have about how the Sixers should defend the Knicks that I think seeing some footage will help you guys kind of get a better feel for. And then lastly, at the end of the day to day, today we're going to do a little bit of mailbag. I'm going to start by talking about Team USA and their 12-man roster that they're taking to the Olympics this summer. And then after that, I've got four mailbag questions that go around the rest of the league. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to a brand new YouTube channel.

So you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT. so you guys don't miss any show announcements or film threads that I do from time to time. Don't forget about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under hoops tonight. And then last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in those YouTube comments about once a week over the course of the rest of the postseason. I'll be hitting mailbags. Obviously, we're going to do them more over the other portions of the year, but I still plan on doing them.

All right, let's talk some basketball. So the Knicks won the season series, three to one. And Bid only played in one of the games, though. It was a game the Knicks won by 36 points. back in January, a really hot shooting night from the New York Knicks in that one. The Knicks have a 112 offensive rating in this matchup, but the Sixers have a 93 offensive rating in this matchup. The Knicks have also dominated the glass, even in the game that Embedde has played.

When Embed's on the floor this year, they're generally a pretty good rebounding team, but they've been really bad without him on the floor, and they can struggle in some specific lineups, and that's obviously going to be a key kind of trend to keep an eye on in this series. On the gambling front, super close. Draft Kings has this one at Sixers minus 115. So a very slight favorite for the Sixers. Let's start with the New York Knicks on offense. So my guess is they're going to start the series based on the starting lineup that they

went with in the Heat game. My guess is they're going to start the series with Kelly Ubrey on Jalen Brunson. We're going to talk about this in more detail in a minute, but that Brunson matchup gets a little tricky. and I also wouldn't be surprised if we see a different Philly starting lineup either to start the series or down the line. But based on Miami, they went with Kelly Obre, Jr., Tyrese, Maxie, Kyle Lowry, Tobias Harris, and Joel Embed. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a guy like Nick Batum slotted in for someone like Kyle Lowry. But we'll see what that ends up looking like as the series progresses.

But if they do stick with their starting lineup that they used against Miami, I expect Kelly Ubre, Jr. to get the Jalen Brunson assignment, and he has gotten it for entire games this year. I think we'll see Tyrese Maxi on Dante Divengenzo. Dante DiVenzo, since the Julius Randall injury is attempting like 12-3s a game and is flying around off of screens, and you're going to need some speed to deal with that. So I think they're going to go with Tyrese Maxi there. We have, I think we're going to get Kyle Lowry on Josh Hart. I think we'll get Tobias Harris on OG and an OB. And then obviously, Joel Ambide on Isaiah Hart. Hartinstein. So let's start with the Brunson matchup. So we know what the back end of the coverage

is going to look like. It's going to be Joe Al-Lambide in a deep drop coverage. That goes without saying he's going to try to kind of split that difference between getting up high enough to bother some of those floaters and short jump shots that Brunson takes while also protecting the rim. And then we also know that in that action, Hartnstein is primarily looking to kind of roll towards the front of the rim so he can like make that little pop shot in the lane. And so those little short range shot making situations for Brunson and Hartnstein are going to be key, and Bede getting good contests there are going to be key as well. So on film, I actually didn't really like the Kelly Ubrey reps.

I thought that he used his length to kind of contain Brunton relatively well, but I didn't think he did enough in terms of ball pressure or actually attacking from behind and back pressure situations to make Jalen Brunson uncomfortable. Now, like in the lone Philadelphia win that they had this year, Ubre was on him for the most part and Brunson went six for 22, but I thought it was more of a team-wide thing. I didn't think Kelly Ubre had much impact on the shot results for Jalen Brunson there.

Now, in the one game that Joel Embed played, it was actually Nick Battoon who guarded Jalen Brunson from the opening tip. And even though Brunson had a better game and even though the Knicks won, I actually thought Nick Batum did a really nice job. relentless pursuit through all their screening actions. He has the length to bother and pester Jalen Brunson from behind, which is going to be key because it's like a bracket. Every time we talk about pick and roll coverages,

it's a bracket when you try to defend two on two. It's back pressure and it's rim protection. And like, again, when you've got Embed on the one end, the better your back pressure is the more you can funnel him into him and kind of limit those opportunities. And so you guys will see when we get to the tape here in a few minutes when we get to the film session. But I'm going to show you guys some examples.

I think Nick Batum is up to this challenge, and I think he's the guy that should get that look. And so I wouldn't be surprised if in game one, they just put Batum in for Kyle Lowry and made that sort of move. But don't be surprised if it's something where, like, over the course of game one, Nick Batum has some good reps on Jalen Brunson, and then they make that sort of adjustment later on in the series.

So my guess is they start with Ubra, but I think the best version of the Sixers defense against New York is Batum on the ball. A good example, honestly, if you don't want to wait for the film, is just look at what the job he did on Tyler Harrow last night. I thought he did a really nice job chasing him over the top late, had a huge block on a Tyler Harrow pull-up jump shot late in the game. That's kind of like something that I think that he's especially gifted with,

especially with pull-up shooters in ball screens. Obviously, supreme athletic speed is something that he's going to struggle with, but Jalen Brunson and Tyler Harrow are not guys that have supreme athletic speed, and I think that's something that he demonstrated last night. The other thing, too, that it kind of mitigates this to a certain extent is I don't, like, the Sixers will do a good amount of switching from two through four. And the Knicks are pretty good about using little brush screens and guard guard screens to get different guys switched on to Jane Lambrunson before they run the action.

But this is another reason why I like Batum. He doesn't die on screens. he fights over the top, he uses that length. I think you can use that as a weapon in this series. Again, I mentioned Maxi on Devencenzzo, mainly to lock and trail for speed. The other thing there, too, is the way that the Knicks attacked this over the course of the regular season is they just ran Jalen Brunson, Dante DeVincenzo two-man game. And so when they did, they would get Tyrese-Mexe switched on to Jailen Brunson, and then Jailen Brunson would just go to work. You guys will see a sequence where he scored on Tyreys Maxi, and then the very next possession,

they ran it again and they ended up having to double team. And fortunately, Jalen Brunson missed the read, but they left a wide open Dante DiVincenzo on that play. So, like, that's the one of the downsides there is they're going to try to maybe try to counter the Joel Embed issue or excuse me, the ball screen issue with dealing with Joel Embed at the rim by just running guard guard actions and trying to target Tyrese Maxi in like ghost screens and screening for switches and things along those lines. The Sixers did counter that by Switch.

and doubling, but we'll see if they can maybe opt for something more like a hedge and recover. So instead of switching or having to double, just have Tyrese kind of show high, he has the speed to get a decent close out on Dante. All he needs to do is just kind of throw a hedge that's enough to kind of flatten out Jalen Brunson's driving lane and you might have an opportunity to get back. My guess is we'll get Kyle Lowry on Josh Hart. Again, the main thing there is just you want Kyle Lowry roaming around in help situations, taking charges, digging in on drives. Josh Hart is a 0.85 points per possession spot up player, so you can get away with late closeouts there. Now, if Batum comes in for Lowry, my guess is they'll slot Kelly Ubre

down onto O'G Annanobie, and then they'll move Tobias Harris onto Josh Hart, and then he'll be in that spot where he needs to kind of roam around and be helping. Other main responsibility in that spot is just keeping Josh Hart off the offensive glass. Josh Hart is fifth in total offensive rebounds among guards this season. Obviously, it's major part of New York's attack. They try to manufacture as many points as possible on the margins through second chance points and attacking in transition and all that kind of stuff. And so those are going to be keys defensively for the Sixers. Tobias Harris on OGN and Obie, mainly just because it's going to be about dealing with bully ball. O'G. And Obie, when he does look to attack, is typically looking to use his size and

strength. And I think Tobias Harris is best equipped out of those forwards to handle that type of physical aggression. And again, that's why I'd put Kelly Ubre there if you do move Batum into the lineup because Kelly can do a decent job as well. Now, here's the thing. O'G. Andobie will run a little bit of action. But for the most part, the primary concern with OJ. Anobie is athlete plays, running the lane in transition, attacking closeouts, cutting to the basket, attacking the offensive glass. The vast majority of shot attempts that Ogen and O'Anonobie gets are in those types of situations. So it's mainly about Tobias Harris just kind of winning some of those hustle battles to mitigate OG's production. Now, with Joel Embedon, Isaiah Hartenstein, the big thing for

Joel there is going to be about watching out for the balance between helping on everything, but also making sure you keep an eye on Isaiah Hartenstein. So what Joel will do, and you'll see in the footage, he's just trolling everything around the paint. And he's kind of ignoring Isaiah Hartenstein when he has the ball in the middle of the floor. Even when he has the ball and he's looking for cutters or guys coming off screening actions, Embed's just sitting back way at the basket. But Hardinstein has the ability to just put the ball on the floor and quickly attack. He loves to quickly attack to that left hand side and get all the way to the rim.

He can make little pop shots in the lane as well. So it's going to be about towing that line and just being careful for Joel Embed in terms of helping off things at the paint, but also making sure that he's attentive to the random attacks that Isaiah Hartnstein can go on. Keys for both teams, again, for the Sixers, defending Brunson, applying that back pressure and defending and drop. Just close the bracket, make him feel as uncomfortable as possible and limit his efficiency. And then controlling the defensive glass. The Knicks are the best offensive rebounding team in the league. Second best, second chance points team in the league. Now, the Sixers statistically have been a

bad rebounding team this year, but up until the Embed injury, they wore a top 10 defensive rebounding team. So I do think that they should be able to hold up better than they have in this matchup throughout the course of this series. But again, in the one game, M&B did play in the regular season, they struggled. That's a trend they're going to have to flip to have any chance. On the Knicks front, got to get Brunson better matchups whenever possible. So guard, guard screens, brush screens and transition, stuff like that, trying to get different defenders that have less length and quickness on him before he gets into his ball screens. And then who's going to provide secondary offense? For the most

part after the Julius Randall injury, it's been Dante Divencenzzo, mainly just through high volume three point shooting, but they don't really have a guy on the roster who can consistently run action and consistently generate higher quality shots outside of Brunson. And that's an issue. And so like having one of those guys just kind of step up. I don't know if that's OG and Obie. I don't know if that ends up being Dante Devencenzzo. Deuce McBride's a guy who has some off the dribble pop, maybe that ends up being a direction they lean into more, but they're going to need somebody to kind of step up. And then they need to manufacture as many points as possible on the margin.

So again, second chance points on the offensive glass, like we mentioned, forcing turnovers and getting out in transition. Sixers with the ball, my guess is we'll get Dante Devencenzzo on Tyrese maxi. We might see some OG and an OB on Tyreys Maxi, but my guess is Dante Devenzo will start. Jalen Brunson on Kyle Lowry or Batum. obviously if he ends up starting, I think you tuck Jalen Brunson on him. Josh Hart will most likely be guarding Kelly Ubre,

Jr. And I think he put Ogen and Obe on Tobias Harris. And the main reasoning there is like Tobias Harris is like the forward that is more likely to try to make a play with the ball in his hands. Like he's the guy that will run a little bit of action, look to score in the post, look to just attack and semi-transition off the bounce. Like that's where I think OGN and Obes ability to slide his feet and absorb contact and like kind of withstand so much Tobias Harris's bully ball. I think that's advantageous.

And then obviously I think we're going to get Isaiah Hartnstein on Joelle and B. So first question is the defending of Tyrese Maxie. Now here's the thing. In the film, Tyrese doesn't have much trouble getting to his spots. He's too fast for all the Knicks guards. That doesn't say much. He's too fast for basically every player in the league. The only guy that I think has done a good job kind of hanging with him from a quickness standpoint

is Deuce McBride. And I just don't think he's going to play enough. necessarily for it to matter. Maybe he does. We'll see maybe that ends up being a matchup they lean into more. But for the most part, it's an athletic mismatch there. But even though Tyrese has them on their heels a lot, Maxie has a weakness, and that's his pull-up jump shooting. He shoots 44% on catch-and-shoot jumpers, but he shoots only 34% on pull-up jump shots. That actually drops from 1.3 points per shot attempt to 0.9 points per shot attempt. So almost a 40% dip in efficiency, actually more than a 40% dip in efficiency when he takes a dribble before he takes the shot. So you'll see on ball screens, they're still chasing him over the top and trying to funnel him into traffic.

But in like any sort of situation where Tyrese is kind of bearing down on a guy off the dribble, you'll see them get back on their heels. And they're kind of just willing to give a late contest because Tyrese just hasn't been as good at making that shot as he has been any sort of catch and shoot type of shot. Again, that matchup's going to be key because he does a lot of shooting off the move where he won't dribble. It'll just come off the corner, come off of like a wide pin down into a dribble handoff from Embed, and he'll just rise and fire off the catch. And so you're going to have to lock and trail, have to stay attached. But that's definitely going to be a big advantage. Like he can beat people off the dribble.

And you saw last night in that Miami Heat game, like once Tyrese kind of figures out where his driving angles are, he just starts kind of breaking people down and you get into rotation. that's how you get Joel Embed wide open at the top of the key. That's how you get Joel Embed, offensive rebound opportunities, and open looks for Nick Batum and other guys, is when you get compromised at the point of attack, and that's something that Tyrese can do. Now, again, in the starting configuration, like I said,

I want OGM and Obie on Tobias Harris to contain any sort of off-the-driple moves he makes. With Isaiah Hardinstein on Embed, you'll see some examples in the film. When Embeddied tries to make a move, he can power through Hartnstein, but Hardinstein can absorb the contact long enough to kind of slow down that advance. That's where it becomes about shrinking the floor. And you'll see examples in the film when the Knicks don't shrink the floor where M.B.

just kind of goes through Hartinstein and gets all the way there. But when they do shrink the floor, Hartnstein will absorb the blow. It'll slow M.B. down enough and guys can come around and get late contests. And you'll see some blocks on Embed on plays where Hartinstein absorbed that initial bit of contact. But like I think he's capable of it,

but it's a team-wide job. And then we're going to talk about it later, but it's going to be about mixing up coverages. The other thing, too, is just in those face-up situations, shrinking the space without fouling. Embed has a tendency to go cold, especially with that shot, especially in the postseason, but he can't let him get too comfortable there

because that's kind of his bread and butter. And once he gets confident, he's going to knock him down. And so shrinking that space without fouling is going to be important. Keys for both teams. On the Knicks front, mixing up coverages with Embed, leave him in single coverage sometimes, late help from the baseline, late help from the middle, early double teams.

Like I said, double teams after he puts the ball on the floor. I throw in some zone in there. I mean, you guys saw what happened with Miami last night, a little bit of zone, especially if they can kind of, if Tom Thibito can kind of replicate some of spolstra's ball denial in there where it's like, it's a zone, but they're constantly denying Embed wherever he's at on the floor.

That's another way that they can try to mix things up. But like keep Embed off balance. Don't let him solve your defensive coverage. And then lastly, containing Tyrese's dribble penetration as much as possible. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot,

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of, of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me,

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And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Sixers front, ironically, I think it's all about jump shooting. Teams are going to concede pull-up jump shots to Tyreys Maxi in like ISO situations. Joel and B, like we talked about earlier, his face-up jumper, that's such an important part of his offensive game at this point. And has been basically the primary genesis of his playoff downfalls over the years. And then the role players, again, like look at last night, it's like when guys are missing, they get hesitant, they get tentative, they lose their confidence. All of a sudden, Nick Batum starts making threes, and the lid just comes off the rim.

Now, Buddy yields hit in threes. Now Joel Embed's hitting threes, and everything just kind of breaks open for them. And so, again, jump shooting is going to be key. Maxi off the dribble and bead and face-up situations, role players and catch-and-shoot situations, they have to make shots. So, prediction. I've gone back and forth about this series a bunch of times. I came in thinking it was going to be the Knicks.

Then I started to think it was going to be the Sixers. Then I was kind of on the fence and I landed on the Philadelphia 76ers. Here are the key reasons. I'm really worried about New York's ability to score in the half court over the course of this series. I think they're going to constantly have a 6-8 athletic wing on Jalen Brunson, funneling him towards Embed while helping from behind. I think there are enough guys on the floor that they can get late closeouts to that they're going to be able to kind of pack the paint on them a little bit. I really think that when you kind of stack up shot creation in this series, as much as I respect Brunson and you guys know I do,

and obviously I believe that if you get him a secondary shot creator, that this Knicks team is a bona fide championship contender, like top tier championship contender, that's how good I think this team can be. but it's just a lot to ask when you basically have your secondary offensive option is just Dante Divencenzzo takes a bunch of threes. I think that over the course of this series, Nick Nurse is just going to have more and more options available to him to slow down their shot creation, whereas like Embed is going to get the defense in rotation. Tyrese Maxi is dribble penetration, is going to get the defense in rotation. I just think they have more offensive talent than New York does. and I think that Philly's defensive scheme is going to be able to contain Jalen Brunson enough to slow them down.

Honestly, I don't, because like the counterpoint there would be like, well, what about guys like, you know, we talked about Deuce McBride earlier, obviously Boyan McDonovic, Alec, those are good players. But I just, I think if you move those into your core five, you can start to suffer from some other issues in terms of size and quickness and athletic. elsewhere on the floor. So I don't really think that solves the problem. And so honestly, like, I think from that standpoint, it just comes down to like half court shot creation. And I believe Philadelphia is going to do a little bit better there. I also think the Sixers have the best player in the series.

Like, again, you can't, Joel and Beat played like crap last night. But because he's so incredibly gifted, he made like four or five massive plays down the stretch that the heat just couldn't do anything about and they won. that is a superpower that I don't even think Jalen Brunson can reach. And so I think that's a huge advantage. Now here's the thing. I think the Knicks are a tougher team than Philly. I think they're more resilient.

I think they're more bought in. They have better basketball character. I think they can withstand runs better. And so because of that, I think it's going to be a very long series. And I think the Knicks will likely lead the series early. but I think late in the series, the advantages for Philly will take over. If I had to pick a set of games, I think that they'll split in New York. My guess is the Nix will win game one and the Sixers will win game two.

And then they'll split back in Philly. And then they'll go back to New York and I think the Knicks will win game five. And I think they'll go up three games to two. Then I think the Sixers win in rather convincing fashion in game six. And I think they win an absolute rock fight in game seven in matter of and Square Garden. So I'm picking the Philadelphia 76ers to beat the Knicks in seven games. Really tough one for me. This is of all the series that I've had to pick so far in this playoff run. I think this one has been the toughest one for me so far. The NBA season is in full

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That's H-O-O-P-S. New customers can bet five bucks to get $150 instantly in bonus bets, only at Draft King Sportsbook with code hoops. The Crown is yours. All right, let's take a look at some films. get over to our film setup here. This first action is an example of the way that Jalen Brunson uses screens to get different matchups before he goes into ball screens.

So here again, we're going to get Nick Batum on Jalen Brunson. By the way, get ready to see a bunch of weird personnel. These teams dealt with injuries and trades all year long. And so it's just a bunch of different guys than you're expecting. But we're mainly looking at some specific and key matchups and actions. So look at this. you set a quick, you're going to set a quick screen here to get Nick Batum off of Jalen Brunson. Now Tobias Harris is in the action. And as a result, Tobias Harris is not as good of a screen

navigator. Brunson's able to work downhill. This is that dynamic of drop coverage defense with Embed that I'm talking about. How many of these battles, that little hesitation move, gets him a little bit of an angle, he gets in and he sinks afloater here. How many of those battles is Jalen Brunson going to win? How many battles is Joel Embed going to win? That's that drop coverage bracket dynamic that I'm talking about. That's a clip or Brunson won. Here's an example of Joel Embed getting to work, very next possession actually, getting to work on Isaiah Hartnstein in the middle of the floor. The Knicks do a poor job of shrinking the floor here. So watch, Hartinstein. Embed's just able to go through him, but look at the Knicks.

They just kind of leave this entire lane to the floor. Dante DiVincenzo gets a late dig, but he's not there soon enough. And so Embedges easily goes through him all the way to the rim. You'll see that difference when they shrink the floor versus when they don't. It makes a big difference in how successful Embedit is. Here's an example of how Tyrese and Philly may look to attack Jalen Brunson. So as you can see, they tuck Jailen Brunson on Nick Batum. Again, that's the matchup I think they will go with if they end up starting Batum or closing with him.

They're going to hedge and recover here, but OG and Anobie is going to use a little kind of veteran trick to allow this play to work. So again, here's our hedge. Watch O.G. and Obie's right arm. He's looped around and is basically hugging Batum. Why does that matter? Batum can't slip out of the hedge now because OG's holding him. So he holds him for a while. That way, when Brunson wants to recover, OG can recover and now everything is back in order. And they force him into a tough pull-up jump shot that he misses. I think OG will get some minutes on Tyrese as well. I just don't think necessarily that's the best use of him. Here's a much better example of the Knicks shrinking the floor on Joel Embed.

Here we go. We're going to get the same kind of thing, Hardinstein Drive. Watch how much better they do kind of closing these gaps. Now Dante DiVincenzo digs in without being late, he digs early before Embed gets ahead of steam and he's able to force a turnover. Here's an example of an action that the Sixers ran to get a really good look for Tyrese. Maxi, you guys will recognize this as stack pick and roll. So again, we got our ball screen.

Here's the ball screen. O.G. Chases over the top. Hartinstein's kind of in a bit of a high drop. And beads rolling. Nick Batum is going to set a back screen on Isaiah Hartinstein. And there's a bunch of things that open up here. Actually, Jalen Brunson does a really nice job peeling off of Batum and getting a late contest. And he actually forces a miss.

But they got a really good look out of that. But it doesn't matter. and this is the advantage of stack pick and roll, look at what happens when Embedd gets behind Hartenstein. So Hardinstein gets back screened. And so Embed now, even though Maxie misses this layup, Embeddead is just in super, you know, he's just in commanding offensive rebound position.

And Hardenstein is just not going to be able to do much when he's getting back screened like that to get back in front of Embed and box him out. Here's an example of really good individual defense by Nick Batum on Jalen Brunson. watch the screen navigation, watch the late contest. Fighting over the top, and again, it's all about length.

It's not even necessarily about getting caught on this screen a little bit. It's can you bother this shot from behind, and he can. He gets a really good contest. You can actually see Brunson flop as he tries to draw a foul on it. But he's making Brunson uncomfortable with back pressure there. That's a really good rep. Alrighty, this is a more individual defense from Isaiah Hartenstein on Joel. Embed, and more shrinking the floor.

So again, as I talked about in the early part of the video, it's all about Isaiah Hartenstein absorbing contact long enough for the other guys to come over. So Embed's going to make a really aggressive move here. As he does his rip through, watch Hartnstein absorb this blow, which stands Embed up long enough for Julius Randall to come in from behind and get a block. Again, if they shrink the floor around him and you make Isaiah Hartnstein's job, you don't have to even contest. You just need to absorb that contact long enough for us to get into the picture and make a play.

Here is the exact same concept, but this time in transition. So Embed's looking to push. Look at Hartinstein sprint back, even though he got hit in the face. Sprint back, absorb the contact, allow the help to come over. Again, if he can just slow him down enough, if he can slow him down enough for the help to get the picture, I think they're going to do a good enough job defensively on him. Here is an example of Deuce McBride playing some good individual defense on Tyrese Maxie. And then also a coverage thing that I wanted to talk about, if Tyrese Maxie's 10%, makes 10% fewer

of his pull-up jump shots and loses 40% of shot value, why not consider ducking under some picks? So you're going to see the first one, Deuce McBride beats him to the spot. That's an athletic play that only Deuce McBride can make on the Knicks compared to some of these other guys. Again, look at that really quick step. He's just one of those guys that can actually match up quickness with Tyrus Maxi relatively well. Now, from here, now I think he made this read because the ball screen was so high, but Deuce goes underneath this screen. I'm saying they should probably consider doing this even more often.

But here's an example of it pretty far away from the basket. Deuce goes way under. Actually, I mean, that screen's pretty low. it's possible that this is the game plan in this segment of the game. But I would consider using this as part of their game plan to try to contain some of Tyrese's dribble penetration. He's going to step into a pull-up three and he's going to miss it. Again, like a 40% dip and shot value for Maxie when he takes a dribble before he shoots. Here's an example of when Deuce McBride does chase over the top.

And this is actually why I think it was kind of an impromptu move there from McBride. but we're going to get it back to Maxi. Deuce is going to chase, but because he chases, he's going to give up dribble penetration. And see, like, he doesn't really have much trouble turning the corner on Hartenstein. So again, that's an example of why I might consider going underneath picks. This Tyrese-Mexie dribble penetration thing is the biggest thing that I have fear for

for New York. Here, Oji and Ninobe is on the ball. OG's so concerned about Tyrese getting to that strong hand and potentially a brush screen from Ubre here that Maxi just goes to a basic crossover dribble and just toasts him off the dribble. So yeah, Maxi dribble penetration is going to be a huge, huge factor in the series. Embed's ability to manage double teams is going to be a key element of this series. I'm going to show you guys an example of a bad post-up read from Joel Embed,

and this is the kind of thing that Embedd is just going to have to do better if Philly's going to win the series. So post-entry, over the top, we get baseline help. Now, you can't see in the picture, but Kelly Ubre is on this wing. and what we have here is we have our double team of Embed. Josh Hart is basically our low man. He's in position to rotate to Tobias Harris. Quentin Grimes is fronting Nick Patum and not allowing this entry. Jalen Brunson is in position to guard Tyrese Maxi.

The open man is Kelly Ubre on this left wing. And instead, for some reason, Joel Embed just throws it right to Quentin Grimes. And Quentin Grimes gets it. So those are the kinds of reads that Embed is just going to have to do a better job making. Here's one of the examples that I was talking to you guys about with Isaiah Hartenstein looking to score when Embed's trolling the paint. So Embed's just not worried about Hartnstein. He's calling for the ball. But Embed's not worried about Hartinstein. Now watch Embedsts start trolling the offball actions. So good. Brunson looks to make a little back cut and Bede slides over that way. O.G. and In Inobie back cuts Kelly Ubre and Bede slides over that way.

So Embed's just trolling the paint, ignoring Hartenstein. And Hartinstein just goes, fuck it. I'm going to drive and he gets into the lane and makes his little pop shot. So again, and he'll do that. He's been doing that all season long. You just got to be careful with Hartenstein as Embed, just make sure you keep an eye on him and pay attention when he's getting ready to load up for one of those drives. Here's an example of a coverage I expect to see from the Knicks throughout the series is a strong side zone. So they're on a ball screen. We get a little feed to Embed. Now, strong side zone here because Julius Randall's not guarding anybody. He's just stepping outside this block so he doesn't get a defensive three second. It's effectively a double team.

We have really poor off ball spacing here, and Embed's going to end up taking a little jab step jumper. And this is going to be one of the biggest shots of the series for him. If he shoots 50% on that shot, I think the Sixers are going to win. If he shoots 30% on that shot, I think the Sixers have a good chance of losing. Here's an action that I really want to see a lot from the Sixers in the series in an easy way to get the defense in rotation. So this is actually one of my primary concerns for the Knicks. I don't think the Nix have an action they can go to that is as guaranteed to generate an advantage situation as this particular action is going to be. So we have O.G. Nenobie on Tyrese Maxie. We have Joel Embed setting the screen. We have

Hartinstein in a high drop. Embedd Pops to the three point line and he catches there. Now, we know Embed can shoot, but Embed is looking to drive this close out. This is what we call a baked in driving lane, right? We talk about this all the time. When the off, when the offensive player is in a, in a spot-up situation, and the guy who's guarding him is helping on a, on severely on one side of him, even if he throws a good close out, there is a baked-in driving lane in the opposite direction from where he's closing out from. So we have our kickout pass, Hardinstein is closing, but Embed-in-Rip to the left, takes it, gets easily downhill and finishes. So again, whether it's a catch-and-shoot three, closes out short, whether it's an immediate help where Embed has to make a read from there,

at the very least, the Sixers can go to that and relatively consistently get the defense and rotation. The alternative there is, oh, we're just going to consider switching, right? So let's just have Ogie and an Obie guard in Bede and we'll put Hartnstein on Tyrese Maxie. Tyrus Maxey's just going to beat him off the dribble. We've seen that already in these pick and roll coverages, how easy he can turn the corner on Hartenstein. And so I think this is going to be a production. for the Knicks, this basic little pick and pop action. Here's another example of individual defense by Nick Batum on Jalen Brunson. And this was, this to me is the direction.

I think the Sixers need to go. So we got some back court ball pressure. Brunson gets an angle on him, gets rid of the basketball. We're going to cut through here. Batum stays attached. We get screening action, screening action. He gets all the way around, gets back in front, gets crossed over, gets crossed over again. even though he gets beat a little bit, watch the backside length here.

That's an extremely well contested shot from Nick Baton. And Brunson was just on one this night and he made it. And again, Brunson's a star. He's going to make these plays. I want you to watch this play without me stopping it from start to finish. Just look at the job that Nick Batum does. Just being a pest, pressuring the ball, staying attached, navigating screens.

Well, this is a beast of a screen from Julius Randall that he gets through. Like, look at how hard he gets hit and he fights through that. gets through Hardinstein, gets back in front, gets beat by another move, and gets a great contest. I think he has the best combination of length and mobility to do this job. So I would go with Nick Baton. Here's what happens when the Knicks actually switch the pick and pop with Tyrese Maxi. So as you can see here, we're going to get the switch. But at the same time, because OG kind of like stayed attached.

before he's switched, he gets a little bit late on the close-out, and Embed knocks down a three. But also, they could just as easily swing this back to Tyrese Maxi, and he can attack Hartnstein off the dribble. Last thing, this is the Knicks action that I think that they could go to to kind of get the defense and rotation as best as they can. This is going to be a two-man game with Jalen Brunson and Dante Devenzo. So here's our match-ups. We have Tyrese Maxi on Dante. We have Kelly Ubre, Jr. you're on Brunson. The first time they said it, it's just going to be a switch, but Jalen Brunson is just too good of a score to be guarded by the likes of Tyrese easily gets to a spot, knocks it down. So this next one, you'll see same exact thing,

switch, but Batum comes with a double team. And Baton, by the way, good work on the double team of getting into the passing lane to make it a little bit more difficult. Now, Brunson just makes a bad read here. He's just got to find a way to get this over here. Just has to find a way. steady, ends up swinging it to the right wing. They find a little slot drive, but in beads at the rim, they draw foul anyway. But that's just an example of Philly switching that specific action. The other thing that they could consider doing, like I talked about earlier, is just to hedge and recover.

So let's say that on this play, let's say that Dante comes up, Tyrese can literally just step out and cut off the drive. And then as soon as he cuts off the drive, just close out. And then because he cuts off the drive, Brunson will have to come this way. which buys Batuma chance to recover and meet him over here somewhere. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith ruling. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for Raw. unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Cliverts show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. So yeah, again, don't feel super strongly about this one. This is the only series that I've seen that has had me waffle back and forth this much. So Nix fans, I don't want you to think that I don't think you have a chance to win the series. I certainly think you do. I think the Vegas line is a strong indicator of the fact that Vegas, views this as a very close series as well. But to me, I just think there's a little bit more offensive firepower for Philly and a similar

defensive ceiling. And so I'm going with the Sixers. But the basketball character gap between these two teams and the things that I like about the Knicks, I think are going to stretch this thing way out. So I'm picking these Sixers in seven. All right, let's get to our mailbag. Before we get to a mailback question, I want to talk about Team USA for a minute. So we got the preliminary 12-man roster that got released.

And I just kind of want to talk through it and give my initial opinions on the basketball dynamics at play with this team. So the 12 players at guard, they have five guards in the group, Steph Curry, Devin Booker, Drew Holiday, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese, Halliborne. At forward, they have four forwards. LeBron, Kevin Durant, Jason Tatum, Quay Leonard. Those are the four legendary American forwards. It's going to be really cool watching them all play together. And then at the center position, Joel Lindbid, Anthony Davis, and Bam at a bio. So first thing that I want to get into. is I would start Anthony Davis over Joel Embed. I don't think he will. I think Embed's

cache is going to lead to him starting, but I personally would start Joel Embed. The highest value that can be brought at that position with this group of players is versatile defense and connectivity on offense. Embed is a one-dimensional defender. He defends in drop coverage. He can protect the rim, but he's not good out on the perimeter. And he's not a great read and react player. He's not the kind of guy that's going to be able to play in a heavy ball and player movement type of offense. Anthony Davis, you've watched him succeed as a connective piece in the Lakers five out equal opportunity offense and he's very versatile defensively. He can defend in drop coverage and protect the rim. He can defend in high drop. He can blitz and he can switch. And again, and I want to

try to explain this point by using the starters. So what I would start with with this group is Steph Curry at the one, Jason Tatum at the two, Kevin Durant at the three, LeBron James at the four, Anthony Davis at the five. You would have all sorts of scheme versatility with that group. You could switch one through five. Even if Steph ended up in an unfavorable matchup, Steph could press up on the jumper or front the post in a post-up situation because literally on the back line, you have Kevin Durant,

Anthony Davis, LeBron, James, and Jason Tatum. and a ton of length and athleticism that can cover ground in help. So I think you could do some switching there, or you can run drop and have Tatum run over the top. I think Tatum is a guy that can be very impactful as a primary point of attack defender. It's something that I think has been an underrated trade of his over the course of his career and have that length chasing over the top to funnel into Anthony Davis in a drop coverage with Kevin Durant and LeBron James operating as the low man or the guy on the wing that rotates down.

I think you could do a lot defensively with that particular group. With Joel Embed, I just don't think you're as versatile defensively. Now, Embed has value here. Like bigger European centers that can bury Anthony Davis under the rim. If you run into that kind of matchup, if you run into Yokic, Joel Embed is one of the guys that actually has the physical size to kind of hang with Nicola Yokic. But in the aggregate, in most matchups, I like Anthony Davis there. And then on the offensive end of the floor, A.D.

just like 80 and LeBron, think about the damage they do with the Lakers in all their horn sets and stuff as just operating at the elbow as screen and roll guys. Like I now imagine instead of Austin Reeves and DeAngelo Russell, it's Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. That's where I kind of see the fluidity and connectivity of that five-man group just working with more of like a five-out big in Anthony Davis rather than this, you know, supremely gifted post-up ISO player in Joel Embed. I think there's value there, but I think he, I think Anthony Davis makes more sense in the core groups.

Who all should play? When I look at the roster, I think Drew Holiday has to play. I think Kwai Leonard has to play. Again, Joel Embed has to play, especially in specific matchups. I think that's your eight-man rotation. So Steph, Tatum, LeBron, KD., Anthony Davis, Drew Holiday, Kwil Leonard, Joel Embed. And then if you needed another perimeter defense option, if a super quick guard that's causing you problems.

And Tatum is struggling with screen navigation and Drew Holiday for whatever reason is not fast enough for the guy. I think Anthony Edwards is another guy who could get really handsy on the perimeter and contain a ball handler. So I think you could go to him as well. As far as my prediction goes for how that team will perform, if they embrace five out and they play for each other, I think they're going to wipe the floor with everyone.

But if they kind of play your turn, my turn, and they don't embrace all the details and they play lazy bass. basketball, the teams overseas are good enough to beat them. But that said, even though the top of the NBA is no longer American players, the depth of talent in the United States is still far greater than the rest of the league. And we're sending our best guys this time. And if they embrace playing for each other and doing the right things, I think they're going to win easily in the Olympics. All right. Mail that question. Yokic is 19th in free throw attempts per game, but 10th and points in the paint. Of those ahead of him in free throw's attempt, but behind in points in the

paint are Anthony Edwards, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Demarta Rosen, Zion Williamson, Palo Boncaro, Jared Jackson Jr, and maybe more. I ran out of room before I was asked to pay. Plus, Yokic has as many or more games played than almost all these guys. Anyway, why do you think Yokic doesn't get the free throw attempts? Others do. And what do you think he could do different to get those free throw attempts? Love the show and watch an early episode, keep it up. Thank you so much for the kind of words and for supporting the show. So I can relate to this personally as someone who's rooted for LeBron James, and I think LeBron generally through his career has not gotten very many foul calls,

especially over the course of this later stretch of his career. But like, I've never had a problem with it. And the main reason why is I want LeBron to be able to play bully ball. And in order for LeBron to be able to play bully ball, you got to have a give and a take there. And I don't think you have to look much further than the free throw attempt leaders to see that bully ball players don't really get rewarded. Now, Janus is the exception.

Janus is number one in free throw attempts. He's the outlier. I think he gets an absurd whistle. Every time I watch Janice play, I watch him run dudes over and get foul calls. And I think it's completely ridiculous. I don't have an explanation for you. He's the outlier.

But LeBron James and Nicole Yokic are both top 10 and points in the paint, but they both only shoot six free throws a game. And I'm okay with that because I want them to be able to physically inflict themselves on the opponent as well. But if you go down the rest of the free throw attempt list, it makes some sense. It's like number two is Che Gilles or Alexander. He's a finesse player who's a grifter. Number three is Demard de Rosen.

He's a finesse player who's a grifter. Number four is Luca Donchich. He plays some bully ball, but he gets his calls with finesse grifting. You know, low gathers, pump fakes, things along those lines, right? Anthony Davis is at six in free throw attempts. He flops a lot. Nicole Yokic doesn't. That's kind of in his personality, right?

Number seven is Damien Lillard. He's a finesse grifter. So you get the point. Like, free throw attempts are so not about necessarily about shooting in the paint. It's about grifting. The shooting in the paint is part of it. You want to shoot in the paint. The Lakers being a team that scores in the paint a lot,

is part of what pushes up their free throw attempts. But the real reason they shoot a ton of free throws is Austin Reeves is a grifter. Anthony Davis is a grifter. Two of their top four scores are guys that specialize in finding ways to get to the foul line. So like at a certain point like that, that is kind of, it's only half the battle. Half the battle is getting in the paint often and getting into contact situations a lot.

The other half of it is like it's kind of a gamesmanship thing. And LeBron James and Nicole Yokich have never been good at that gamesman. I'm happy with that because I don't want to watch them do that. You see LeBron pump fake and draw a foul on Larry Nance because he leaves his shoes in the Pelicans game. That's pretty uncommon. That's not something that LeBron does often. The best foul grifters in the league, they do it three, four times every single game. Jason, you're the man.

Is there any reason LeBron doesn't match up Hunt KCP and Murray? I think the Lakers are missing out on taking advantage of the strategy, especially for DLO to keep him engaged. or ever run screen and rolls to keep Yokic involved. So I think this is one of the major kind of like swing factors of the series. I think that they absolutely need to keep their five starters on the floor as much as possible because in order to attack Contavius-Covil Pope or Jamal Murray, mainly I'm looking at Jamal Murray there. I think Contavius-Call-Pope's just a really good defender and I think hunting him is a suicide mission to begin with. But with Jamal Murray, you have to have him guard a good offensive player or he's just going to hedge and recover.

And it's really that simple. Like, a lot of times where things fall apart for the Lakers against the Nuggets is when they can hide Jamal Murray on a Cam Reddish or last year, a Dennis Schroeder. And then even if he hedges, the guy slips out of that screen. And even if he catches, Jamal can recover in time or they just don't have to worry about that guy knocking down the shot. If you make Jamal Murray guard Austin Reeves, because KCP has to guard Delo, because Aaron Gordon has to guard LeBron, because Michael Porter Jr. has to guard.

Rui Hachamura. Then in that situation, if they don't switch and they hedge, Austin Reeves is a very good movement shooter. And he can pop to the foul, the free throw line, or slip to the free throw line, or pop to the three point line and make shots and attack closeouts and things along those lines. Like, again, attacking a matchup is not as easy as like just call first green, get a switch and go. Most coach, you don't think Mike Malone's sitting around going like, how do we make sure Jamal Murray does not get attacked in the series? And the way they're going to do that in most cases is going to going to be hiding him on the worst offensive player, every single opportunity they get.

And when he has to guard a good offense player, they're going to have him hedge and recover. And so, again, that hedge and recover, for those of you guys who don't understand the concept, it's just when the screen gets set, you jump out high to cut off the driving lane and then you sprint back to the screener as soon as you can. Hi, Jason. I think the Lakers should put Austin on Michael Porter Jr. and put LeBron on Jamal Murray for defense. I think Austin is fast enough to keep his body on MPJ and LeBron can bully Jamal. Maybe not for the whole series, but just if Jamal starts cooking, what do you think?

So Austin on MPJ is a little bit of an issue because MPJ can just shoot over him easily. That was an issue early in the series last year. Austin actually started with the Michael Porter Jr. assignment and just got shot over and rebounded over a lot. It's just too much of a size disadvantage. Now, I do think you can consider going to that look if you run into the situation where it's a late game situation. You just need a few stops. And then you do what you did in 2020. You put LeBron James on Jamal Murray, Anthony Davis and Nicole Yokic, switch any sort of two-man game that they run. I'd put DeLo on Michael Porter Jr. and I'd put Austin on KCP because KCP is just more active running off of just with speed running off screens. And I think Austin's a little bit more diligent, staying attached.

Michael Porter Jr. spots up more, even though Michael Porter Jr. also runs off screens. Everybody runs off screens, but KCP does so more. So I would put Austin there and I put D.Lo on Michael Porter Jr. but I do think they'll go to that look. I just don't think it's something you can ask LeBron to do for an entire series. I think it's more of a crunch time thing. One of the major points of this series that I'm looking at here is like, how much of the dirty work are LeBron and AD willing to do?

Are you going to let Rui just get flambayed on an island? Or are you going to step in there and try to help him? Because like, I hate to break it to you, but if you go down with Ruby guarding Yokic, you're just going to lose the series. And you might lose the series anyway. But I think your best bet is to ask your two best defensive players, LeBron James and Anthony Davis to try to close that deal.

Last question. Jason, your logic is correct, but I'm not there that Steph has declined because of age. It's more to do with lack of support. LeBron is a top 10 to 12 player with the top 10 supporting cast that is a championship ceiling. By that logic, Steph who is ranked higher than LeBron needs similar support than you can have that ceiling. First of all, I don't think Steph's better than LeBron anymore. I think LeBron has clearly played better basketball than him this season, especially down the stretch of the season. I do think supporting cast plays a role. There's no doubt that Steve's. Steph has a really tough job. But I watched Steph in 2021 without Clay Thompson with a substantially more limited offensive roster be at a much, much higher level as a player.

Go back and watch some of those games from the springtime in 2021, the year they lost in the playing. Go back and watch some of those games. They would have made the playoffs straight up if it wasn't for Steph, like bruising his tailbone on the stairs step. he was cooking the entire league in that season in the springtime similarly limited supporting cast. I'd argue this year's supporting cast is better than the supporting cast he had in 2021. Steph found a way to keep the team afloat with his high level play anyway.

This guy right now in 2024 is not the same guy that Steph was in 2021. That's why I think it's a decline. There's no doubt that there's been some supporting cast related issues that have made things tougher on Steph. But the bottom line is, for a significant chunk of the tail end of the season, Steph was a low 20 point per game guy that was inefficient by his standards. That's not what he was regardless of sporting cast in the previous three seasons. That's why I thought it was concerning. And to that point, LeBron last year, because he couldn't shoot, because he wasn't his mobile,

obviously he was injured as well. he wasn't playing as well, even though he had a similar level supporting cast. LeBron has gotten better. That's why he looks better this year. I don't think it's over for Steph. I think it's possible that he polishes some things up and does some stuff with his body to regain some quickness and regain some of that Steph kind of flare next year. But that was an extended stretch of Steph just playing at a hefty tier below.

I'll just put it simply. Steph wasn't even playing at a top 10 level for the last third of the season. season. That was a major, major concern for me. And again, like I said, just compare it to that 2021 season and how well he was playing with a limited supporting cast, that's where I get concerned. And that's why I said on the show the other day, I think the championship ceiling is over. If Steph can't recapture a legitimate top five step, it doesn't matter if you bring in a secondary star. You're still just not going to be as good as the other teams in the Western Conference. All right, guys, that is all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for

supporting the show. We will be back on Saturday morning with a couple of really quick previews of the 1-8 matchups, and then later that night, live on YouTube after the final buzzer of game one of Nuggets Lakers. I will see you guys then. Of all you. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away. such as the biology of ton-tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.