The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - NBA Mailbag: Lakers PLAYING Bronny James!? Warriors ideal trade, Celtics #1 obstacle

Episode Date: February 1, 2025

Jason Timpf answers listener questions during an NBA mailbag segment. Jason discusses his thoughts on Bronny James receiving meaningful playing time for the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James and LA's ideal starting lineup, and a trade target he thinks would be a strong fit with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Later, Jason discusses Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks' improved defense, the biggest obstacle for Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics, and whether the Detroit Pistons need to make a move to support Cade Cunningham. Timeline: 4:15 - Introduction 5:00 - Why Giannis doesn't guard on-ball 11:00 - Deuce McBride 12:00  - Are defenses catching up on 3-pointer? 19:45 - Has Jason considered coaching? 26:30 - Bronny James 34:45 - Rockets are doing special things 36:30 - Impressed with Knicks defense recently? 39:00 - What will make or break Celtics 43:15 - NBA's urgency problem 52:15 - Lakers ideal starting five 55:00 - Do Pistons need to make a trade? 1:00:00 - Why Cam Johnson fits Warriors #Volume #Herd Follow Jason Timpf on social: https://twitter.com/_JasonLT https://www.instagram.com/jtimpf15/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcasts, Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The volume. This ain't the little itty-bitty teeny tiny bowl. This is Super Bowl 59. Get in on the action at Draft King Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of Super Bowl 59. Scoring touchdowns is key to hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy. And you have a shot to score big by betting on them at Draft King Sportsbook.

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are having a great end of your week. Today is Mailbag Day. We're going to be bouncing all around the league. I appreciate you guys for dropping questions in the YouTube comments. Remember, if you want to get in on our mailbags, any one of our full episodes, just go into the YouTube comments, type Mailbag with a colon and type your question. That's how I can find them. in the mix of all those comments. Drop your questions in there, and we'll get to them in Fridays throughout the remainder of the season.

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Don't forget about our new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We're releasing content throughout the year. And then last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in the YouTube comments. Like I mentioned earlier, we can get to them on Fridays throughout the remainder. the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. First question. Hey, Jason, I believe

Janice is a capable and good defender. He even won defensive player of the year. If I'm not mistaken. You are not mistaken. But it seems he never actually defends and guards players with the ball. I watched Clippers and Blazers beat the bucks. And he never took on the challenge of guarding Zubatra Aitin, who both had great games. We have seen in the past Jimmy Butler and Jason Tatum kill smaller guards. But he won't guard them. And he says, just doing what coach thinks is best. Is there any particular reason Janus has labeled such a great defender, but never takes on any challenges of actually guarding the ball on players. I believe he's fully capable of defending. Shout out to Suvaro, bear down. Must be a Tucson guy. So when you're deploying

your defensive resources, you want to deploy players into areas where their individual skill set matches best. When you're looking at a team defense, there are several different roles that need to be filled. The three that are most common and most important are your primary on ball guard, your ball screen defender, the guy who's going to be guarding the opposing teams center, and then the guy who's in the low man position. Now, there's two other jobs there, and again, it differs from team to team. Some teams have more guards. Some teams have more bigs. Some teams do a lot of attacking through ISO and post-up situations, and some teams run a lot more motion where everyone's getting put through a blender. So it's not like a, it's not like just a

clean answer for every situation. But the gist of it is, you got to have a guy that guards the other team's primary ball handler, the guy who's running the most ball screens. That guy's going to have to be quick, he's going to have to be good at navigating screens, good at back pressure, right? Then your ball screen defender, this is a guy who rides the yo-yo, right? Like, he's always got to go up to the level to show against ball handlers that can shoot off the dribble, but then drop back in that coverage and then get back up to the level and then drop back into that coverage. that is typically best served by a player that's good with his hands and that has great size, right? And then you have your low man. That guy is going to be playing off the ball, usually on the weakest

offensive player in the front court for the opponent. And that's the guy that when the big man goes up to the level, that fills that gap underneath the basket and then gets back to the weak side whenever that big guy drops back, right? The other two jobs are typically, there's a lesser ball handler, right? So a guy that still runs action but not as much, you're usually going to put your skill guard, your guard that's not as good of a defensive player in that type of match. I think like a Damien Lillard, right? And then most teams at the three have a guy that is like a little bit of a score, a little bit of a ball handler, a little bit of a spot up shooter, kind of like a guy who's a jack of all trades, but a master at none type of guy is usually what teams have kind of operating around the three.

That's where you're going to put your other front court player, right? So like, As you're determining how to use resources, as you're looking at Janus, it's a poor use of resources to be like, I want you to guard the opponent's best post player. Why? Because Brooke Lopez is not as good at covering ground in rotation and help and recovering situations as Janus, but he is really big. So you're better off using Brooke to defend centers and having Janus function more off ball as a help and recover guy. Janus can do it. It's just not the best way to allocate Brooke and Janus. Same goes for on-ball stuff on the perimeter. For years, that used to be things, something that people would talk about around like that 2019 to 2021 era era. Why doesn't Janus guard perimeter ball handlers? And it's like, first of all, like,

Janus is incredibly big, incredibly strong, and he is incredibly fast when he gets going. But he's not like the quickest tight space movement type of player. like a guy like an Andre Jackson or a guy like AJ Green who's been guarding ball handlers and navigating screens and doing all that for his entire life is going to have a better time navigating that responsibility than putting Janus on some perimeter guard and asking him to navigate screens and do all that kind of stuff as you look at the layout of the roster that's why the the stability that came for the bucks defense from guys like Andre Jackson and and AJ Green

kind of stabilized things. They kind of figured out the roles, right? Like, they put AJ Green or Ajax on the best guard to chase over the top of screens. You put Brooke in ball screen actions coming up to the level and dropping back. Janus is operating as a low man,

dames guarding the worst opponent guard, and Chris Middleton, or Tori and Prince is guarding that third player that's on the perimeter, right? Like, that's just the best way to deploy your resources. As soon as you move, Yanis into a different spot, whether it's the primary ball screen guy or the primary perimeter guy, he's going to be doing a job that he doesn't have as much practice. And guess what? Like,

Janus at center is a look that the bucks have had and have used. And Janus is a capable ball screen defender. Some of the greatest highlights that I've ever seen from a ball screen defender have come from Janus. He's very good at that. But it's one of those things where if you use that exclusively, and now you have a tough time finding something for Brooke to do, right? If you put him out on the perimeter, you have a hard time finding someone to do that low man job, right? So like, as much as I understand the idea of wanting to take Janus and use him to plug holes elsewhere in your defense, he is best served as that kind of low man help side defender because the other jobs are actually more achievable for the role players than if you kind of Jerry rigged it around and you

moved Yannis. So like, that's the gist of it. Yonis is at his best as a help defender. That's the thing that he's best at, and it's what also allows the other Bucks defensive players to slot into roles that best fit their skill sets. I was going to subscribe at 2240, but you said Quentin Grimes played good defense on, you said Quentin Grimes played good defense on Desmond Bain. We traded Grimes last year, other than that pretty decent content, go Nix. This was in reference to our show the other day where I accidentally said Quentin Grimes instead of Deuce McBride. I do hours and hours and hours of content throughout the year, hundreds and hundreds of hours, I'm going to make mistakes.

All that happened there is I just misspoke. Deuce McBride is one of my favorite players on the Knicks. Those of you guys who have been listening to the show the last few years have heard me talk about how much I love Deuce McBride. I even talked before the season that I really liked his fit with the starters in place of Josh Hart at times. So like you guys know I'm a big believer in Deuce McBride. I just misspoke. That's kind of part of the job. It happens and it wasn't the first time and it won't be the last time. This was an interesting one.

Our defense is catching up to the three-point offensive trends. To me, against three-point teams, it certainly feels like defenders know a drive means a kick. A perimeter pass means a swing pass is likely, et cetera. It feels like easier to stop now than last season. There is no doubt that in terms of defensive strategy, because like that's the way the game changes, either a defense comes up with a new strategy that forces a offensive adjustment or an offense comes up with a new strategy that comes up with a defensive adjustment, right? I'll give you a couple of basic examples. Offense makes an adjustment in the sense that about 10 years ago, every single

guard just started becoming really damn good at pull-up three points shooting off of ball screens following in the trend of Steph Curry, right? So all of a sudden, ball screen coverage is changed and it turned into now you actually have to chase everybody over the top of screens. That caused a boatload of problems for defenses, right? Like that was the whole, like every team starts cooking drop coverages, right? Like the Atlanta Hawks, for instance, with Trey Young in the Eastern Conference Finals run that they had, right? Like, you have this stretch there where you have all these dudes that are just torching drop coverages, right? But then the defenses adjust, and they kind of figure out this concept of low man rotation. So essentially, they just started bringing the

big up to the level and then using the low man to kind of split the difference between the role man and the guy in the weak side corner. So the way, the offense had to adjust to that is now what you're seeing is that the offense, the pick and roll ball handlers that are great at the skip pass, the guys that can come off the ball screen and whip it across the court over the low man into the corner where the guy the low man is supposed to be guarding is, that's where you can break down those defenses, right? So like there's an action and equal and opposite reaction, right, as the offenses and defenses are constantly adjusting to each other. As teams have looked at the

analytical side of things more. They've discovered an order of operations for what makes a great shot, right? An uncontested rim attempt is still the best shot in basketball. A uncontested three-point shot is still the second best shot in basketball. But you start to work through and it turns out that like on defense you should have the same exact approach. You should take away the rim first and then the very next priority should be the three-point line.

So like when you're closing out to the perimeter, there's no reason to close out. with the intent of containing anymore. Obviously, if you can, if you can, if you have an athlete that's good enough, if you have a Derek Jones Jr. that can fly out, contest a guy and contain, great. But like, if you have to choose between closing out short and allowing a guy to shoot while you contain him or chasing him off the line, you're going to chase him off the line now. Because if you chase him off the line, there's another step in that progression where someone can come over and help at the rim.

So essentially, these defenses are saying, we're going to take away the rim, and we're going to chase you off the three point line, and there's just going to be a boatload of space in the middle of the floor where you can work, right? Or you're going to have to make multiple driving kicks. Like you're going to have to get to the rim, kick, drive, kick, drive, kick, and then maybe at the end of the shot clock,

you get a good look. It's testing teams in their diligence to break down a defense through multiple driving kicks on the same possession. Because teams are so good at taking away the rim, and taking away the three-point line now. And so in a weird way, like, I think it's been a little bit more of a shift towards playmaking and guys that are really good at getting into the teeth of the defense and making the next read.

That's why I think a team like Boston did so well. That's why I think when you see these teams that have small ball looks and all these guards that can drive and kick well like Oklahoma City does. Like now with Cleveland having all of these different guys that can, dribble shoot and pass on the perimeter. And they've been one of the biggest assist percentage teams in the league this year, right? Like that's an important part of how the game has shifted. It's now not just about driving.

It's not just about knocking down three point shots. It's about having enough aggregate ball handling, shooting, and basketball IQ on the floor to break down a defense through several attacks. I was curious, though. I just wanted to look. I wanted to see if there were any trends that statistical trends in terms of three point volume and then other trends around the league. So these are the teams with the top 10 records in the NBA right now.

The Cavs, the Thunder, the Celtics, the Rockets, the Grizzlies, the Knicks, the Knicks, the Lakers, the Bucks, and the Clippers. Those are your top 10 by win percentage, okay? The Cavs are fifth in three-point volume, and the Celtics are first in three-point volume. The Thunder are 11th. The Rockets are 20th. The Grizzlies are 19th. The Knicks are 23rd. The Nuggets are 30th.

The Lakers are 27th. The Bucks are 16th. and the clippers are 26th. That's in three-point attempts per 100 possessions. So of the top 10 records in the league, only two of them are top 10 in three-point volume. Now, it's worth at least mentioning, so that we are being honest about the data here,

it's worth at least mentioning that those two that are in the top 10 and three-point volume, Cleveland and Boston, are two of the top-tier championship contenders in the league, right? But seven of the 10 that are in the top 10 in records are in the bottom half of three-point attempts in this league. That is an interesting stat. So I was curious, I just wanted to look around.

Is there any statistical correlation with winning this year? Like, is there any clear stat where, like, everybody who's good is good at this? And here's what I was able to come up with just poking around. Rebounding. Each of the top four rebounding teams in the league, Houston, Memphis, Denver, and New York all have top 10 records. And the Clippers also make that list at seven.

but each of the top four, all being top ten records, I think is interesting. Rebounding is very important in this league. Assist the turnover ratio. This is one of the more interesting stats that I've come across in my time covering the league this year. Boston, Cleveland, and Oklahoma City, in addition to having the three best records in the league, also have the three best assist to turnover ratios in the league. I thought that was super fascinating. So the teams that are best at playmaking for others while not turning the three best,

basketball over are also the three best teams in the league. Where this kind of comes to fruition for me as a concept, points off of turnovers. Six of the top 10 teams in the league in terms of record are top 10 in points off of turnovers, meaning they turn their opponents over and they get out and transition off of it. Opponent points off of turnovers. The top five in opponent points off of turnovers per game are OKC, Boston, New York, Houston, and Cleveland. That's really interesting. What is that telling us? That is telling us that if you can make plays and drive and kick without turning the basketball over

so that you stay out of transition defense. But at the same time on the other end, you play good defense, force turnovers, and get out in transition, you're winning in the modern NBA, which I think is super fascinating because of something I've been talking about almost nonstop this season. which is the concept of speed and how valuable speed is as the game has shifted more towards transition basketball. About a fifth of these games, roughly 20% of these games is taking place in transition. When you play in transition, you're usually about 20% more efficient than you are when you play in the half court. So your ability to get out in transition and keep your

opponent out of transition are two of the biggest dynamics that's leading to wins and losses in the modern NBA. I think that's super fascinating. So just a couple of statistical trends to keep an eye on as we move forward with our coverage of the league. Hey, Jason, huge fan of the show. I've been watching since the beginning of your time with the volume. I did want to ask.

You've mentioned before you do a little bit of coaching. Have you ever considered getting into that full time or even training guys? Yeah, so I train high school kids. I did it this morning. I do it on Monday and Friday mornings throughout the season. It's something that I can relatively easily achieve within my schedule to where I get to scratch that itch of coaching, so to speak, and I really love the group of kids that I work with.

And I just enjoy it so much, but at the same time, it doesn't take so much away that I lose control of my situation with work. And also, I work so much, and I have my wife behind the scenes constantly advocating for me to work less. And so, like, if I took on more in terms of coaching, that would be problematic. But I also spend a lot of time playing basketball right now.

So, like, I would imagine that in the time when I decide to stop playing, that time will be time that I then shift to to devoting towards coaching. Training is cool. Skills training is probably one of the things that I have the most experience with because it's just what I do. It's what I do for my program. I've done individual skills training as well outside of the high school concept or context. I love skills training because it's just what I did to myself.

To become a good basketball player in my 30s, I worked relentlessly over the last 10 years. on skills development, footwork, dribble combinations, scoring moves from various spots on the floor, just all of these little different skill things that I like to help teach the next generation of basketball players how to do. That said, like ultimately basketball, coaching at the team level is what I would like to do

when the time comes. I would like to get more into, like I'd love to coach a high school team once I get to the point where I'm not playing. But it'll just have to be at a point in my life where I have more time and right now I just don't have the time for it. So we'll see. It's definitely a big picture goal of mine. I love coaching. I think the high school level would be the most

fun. And it just is more realistic with my big picture career goals in terms of sports media. So I think that's the direction I'll eventually end up going. Hey, it's us the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast.

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band.

Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, for people could call in and say, hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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

helped 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Joe Dono. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. and recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives,

helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary.

Gary. Oh, cream of chicken suit. Hey, cream. Cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Coutura Podcast Network available on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connect. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself.

We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized. but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more.

Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Thoughts on Brani's latest NBA stint. So this was the big story that was going around is Brani got first quarter minutes and an important game for the Lakers on the road

in Philly. Couple things. There's a lot of different angles to come at this from. First of all, I didn't think his stint was quite as bad as everyone made it sound.

Like, he had two really bad turnovers. He had a high post entry to Anthony Davis out of a horn set where Anthony Davis was not ready for the basketball

and Brani threw it anyway, and Yabuselli just blew through AD's left shoulder, got the ball and went down the other end and he got a dunk.

Okay? That is on both guys, though. Brony shouldn't have thrown the pass because there was no angle for it. So that's 100% on brawny to not make that decision. However, Yabuselli was kind of like beating Anthony Davis with physicality a lot in that first quarter. And AD has to do a better job fighting for

position. So I won't put that 100% on Brony, but again, your point guard needs to make sure that the players are ready before he throws a pass. So that was a mistake. And then he drove a close out on Tyrese on the left wing where Maxie reached around and poked the ball away. Always push the ball forward when you beat someone off the dribble. This is a lesson for all basketball players at every level. Like if you beat someone off the dribble, whether it's in a ball screen, whether it's in a ISO, whether it's in a closeout situation, push the ball forward because the last resort for every defender is just swipe around from behind and see if they can't poke it away as you're down in a dribble stance with the ball at your hip. That's when they can get at it. So a couple of bad

turnovers. He missed a spot up three, but he also had a beautiful feed off of a back cut to Jackson Hayes. A really nice read out of a three-man action where he determined that that no one was on his bottom side and he had an opportunity to slip. He slipped out of it. AD hit him on the bounce. He drew multiple players in help. He dropped it off to Jackson Hayes. Jackson Ayes got a dunk. It was a really nice play. And then he also had a nice drive and kick off of the right wing to Dory and Finney Smith who missed a three, but he generated an open three three with a nice little close-out attack. So like again, there were mistakes on offense, but he also made a couple of plays on offense. And that on defense, like all three shots

that Tyrese Maxie made were super tough contested midrangers, which is literally your job. guarding Maxi. Like if I was talking about Max Christy guarding Tyrese Maxi, this is what I would say. I'd be like, keep him off the three point line, try to keep him from getting completely downhill towards the rim, try to force him into tough contested mid-range jump shots, which is literally what Brony did. However, he had a weird botched switched with Dorian Finney Smith where he kind of like jumped away and just let Maxie drive. That was a bad defensive play. And then he fouled Tyrese Maxie on a separate drive. So the point being, like, that stint looked exactly like what I would expect from a young, super raw NBA prospect that has some NBA tools, but that is years away from being an NBA rotation

player. Flash is of good and mistakes that are pretty much unacceptable for a pro, right? Like, that's exactly what I would have expected. So it wasn't like the complete dumpster fire that everyone made it sound, but it looked exactly like what you would expect for putting Brony in the game. This is where I think there is fair criticism to levy towards JJ Reddick. He's kind of setting Brony up to fail there. Brony shouldn't be in that situation.

Yes, the Lakers were down on a road trip, down bodies, specifically at the guard spot. They needed someone to step into that spot, but it should have been Cam Reddish, not Brony. Like, there isn't a single thing that Brony does on a basketball court better than Cam Reddish yet at this point in his career. maybe in the big picture Brony will become this on-ball guard I want to talk about that here in a minute but like what you do in that spot is you play Cam Reddish

Cam Reddish doesn't do much on offense but the one thing he doesn't do is he doesn't turn the ball over like he knows how to not do too much and make sure the ball stays in possession with his team Cam Reddish isn't a good spot-up player but he'll play within a role and he'll do his job and right now Brony has at no point in his career demonstrated the ability to knock down three-point shots at the NBA levels

So like any shooting concerns, the same concerns are there for Cam Reddish, or the same concerns are there for Brony, right? And then lastly, Cam is just a better defender than Brony at this point in his career in every facet. So like, within the context of trying to win that game and you're in a guard-depth situation, the obvious call is play Cam Reddish, which is a fringe NBA player, but that is much more capable of playing a role within an NBA team right now than Brony is. I am not like the brawny haters out there. I don't think he's just some nepotism case.

I think he has legitimate NBA tools. I thought he was a reasonable late second round pick. Lots of guys in the second round if you put him in the NBA would look like Bronny does. Okay? Bronny needs time. He needs years of reps before he's ready. I think he belongs.

He deserves his shot. Let him take his time and figure it out. The problem I have is what I said before the season. He should absolutely never play meaningful rotation. minutes. I said that because he needs to earn that right behind the scenes over the course of years demonstrate because like he hasn't demonstrated it in college. He's shown the ability to get buckets in the G league, but he needs to do it in a larger sample. And then he needs to come to the NBA level and demonstrating garbage time that he can play. Then he can get an opportunity.

There's an order of operations to bringing Brani into real rotation minutes. And it wasn't bring him in on the road in Philly and have him get attacked relentlessly by Tyrese Maxie when he's literally on fire, right? So like I disagreed. It wasn't the end of the world. They were going to lose that game in Philly anyway. They were banged up. AD

got hurt. They had other guys, Alvanderbilt was out. Gabe Vincent was out. It's a road trip. Lakers have been bad on long road trips all year long. Like, I don't really take too much from the loss. But like, yeah, I would recommend not playing Brony in real rotation minutes.

until he shows the ability to play well in garbage time. And then I would consider that sort of option in a case where injuries dictate that the end of your roster plays more. One of the thing I'll point out, there was this weird, my friend Raj, who was my former co-host when I used to do State of the Lakers

before I worked for the volume. He covers the South Bay Lakers, and he asked Bronnie one day and said, like, what do you see yourself as in terms of your role in the NBA? and he said he sees himself as an on-ball guard. And I was a little concerned by that because, like, I think Brony is years away still

from being a off-ball defensive guard. But he's many... I think he's really far away from being, like, like a legitimate NBA guard that can run action for extended stretches. So, like, it's kind of interesting to me in terms of, like, his career path. Like, to me, if Brony wants to look like

an NBA player inside of his first contract. The pathway is get really good at defense and get really good at catch and shoot threes, get really good at making driving kick reads, short roll reads like when he ran that inverted ball screen with AD, like that kind of stuff. Those are the kinds of actions that I want to see Brony get good at to where I could be like, oh yeah, third year of his deal, he can play 15 minutes a night for a good NBA team. That's the path for him, in my opinion. if he wants to be a primary on ball guard,

like there are guys with way more pedigree than him that are not good enough at that. He, I think he's really far away from being like a, okay, he's going to be a 15 point for assist per game guy off the bench for a good team. Like, I just don't really necessarily see that in his trajectory at this point. But if that's his goal, that's fine. There's a pathway that he's got the physical tools for it, but his skill development is going to take so much work over the next few years to get to that point. And so I just hope he realizes the type of challenge that's going to be.

And I hope the people around him realize the type of challenge that's going to be. Clearly, Amen Thompson is not coming out of the starting lineup. But what about when Jabari Smith is back from injury? He starts for Brooks. How do you think that lineup would work? Thank you for all the great content. I think Javari Smith has got to come back to the bench. I think you have, I was talking about this with Sam Vasini the other day on his pod.

What we're seeing right now from the Rockets, I mean, they ended up losing that game in Memphis last night. But like what we're seeing from Houston right now is one of the most impressive stretches of regular season basketball you'll ever see. Like they are racking up wins against great teams night in and night out. I have been talking recklessly on my show and on other people's show about how I think the Rockets need to make some sort of all in trade because I think they have a chance to win the title this year. That's how much I think that Rockets roster can. contend athletically on both ends of the floor with the top teams in the league. So, like, you don't mess with that. Even for Brooks. I think Brooks has been one of the

best role players in the league this year. He was a huge part of their win in Boston with his shooting. He's been great defensively all season. He had another 20 plus point game in Memphis last night. I would leave Brooks in there and I would just bring Jabari Smith in. And guess what? He's got a fight for minutes with Cam Whitmore. He's got to fight for minutes with Jayshon Tate with Tari Easton. He's got to earn it with those guys, in my opinion.

Jabari is a good player, but he has a tendency to settle for tough mid-range shots. He hasn't converted spot of possessions as well as he needs to be. He's a good defender, but he, as an athlete, is just another one of the guys there. So, like, I think you got to make Jabari Smith earn the right to regain his spot in that rotation. Hello, Jason, just a simple question.

Have you been impressed with the Knicks of defense during this recent stretch of games? Yes, I have. more specifically, though, their transition attack. This has been something that I, when the Knicks have been at their best this year, they've played fast. They've gotten stops and they've ran. And I thought specifically the Nuggets game, what won them that game was their transition

pushes. They actually only turned Denver over, I think, 14 times, but they scored almost every time off of those turnovers with quick runouts. And like, I've just seen so many examples of that this year when the Knicks look good, where it's O.G. and and Obie running his lane in transition. It's McHale Bridge is running to the corner in transition. It is Carl Anthony Towns trailing the play in transition. It is like this, we play defense, we get out and run, then we knock down shots.

And like so much of I talk about in terms of the top teams in the league, it comes down to margins. Where are you going to find ways to win? And there are certain things that the Knicks are going to struggle with. Like the defensive inconsistency this year has primarily centered around the the kind of like undisciplined hedges and from guys like Jalen Brunson and from Carl Anthony Towns. Like just not doing their job

when teams hunt them to actively attack the ball, get back in rotation or switch and contain the ball well. Like those two guys have been the issues. They're going to continue to be the issues. Even when your defense is at its best, there are these entry points that people can go at in terms of Brunson and Kat.

So you have to find a way to generate margins elsewhere. The Knicks have a unique set of offensive talent because they have a stretch five in these big, rangy wings that can run the floor well and a lot of playmaking talent, that the Knicks can really be a good transition offense. And so again, like, as we look at the Knicks and their potential big picture championship goals, I view a certain number of things as non-negotiable. They've got to become a more consistent defensive execution team because they need to force turnovers, because it unlocks one of the most important parts of their game, of their game, transition attack, right? And so again, like, you've got to think of it in the big picture.

It's not about beating anybody, really, other than Boston and Cleveland right now. Those are your ultimate goals to get to where you want to go. You've got to get through Boston and Cleveland. And if you're going to beat Boston and Cleveland, you're going to have to generate margin because Boston in particular is going to relentlessly attack Carl Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson. And where you can create margin is by forcing turnovers and getting out in transition. I think those are easy ways to turn defense into offense. more frequently, and I thought the Denver game was a good step in that direction for the Knicks. All right, it looks like we got five more at this point.

Hey, Jason, I'm wondering if you could just take a minute to talk about Jason Tatum's improvement as a playmaker. I've been really impressed with him as a game manager this season. If you watch the Celtics games closely, for the most part, Jason will start games off a little more passive while their starting lineup is on the court and create shots for them. Then Missoula will usually pull most of the starters besides Tatum and Derek or Tatum and Holiday, which is when he gets really aggressive to scoring because he knows he's still capable of scoring when the bench group is more limited. I found it interesting in last night's game against the Bulls closing the third quarter

and in the fourth quarter that Boston was up 15 to 20 points and every player for Boston was hitting shots. Yet still, every possess in Chicago would send a double team at Tatum. I know about a week ago you touched on Tatum's ISO this season and how he's having one of the best ISO seasons in recent NBA history because he didn't put up stats like SGA or Yokic because he's on such a great team. And a lot of people either diminish or don't understand the actual impact he has on the game. We just saw a team that was so scared of what he was. would do to them in isolation, even down double digits, knowing that doubling him would result in an open shot, Boston was making for the most part, they were still willing to do it,

even if it meant they were stopping him from getting to the basket. I'm just curious your opinion on how hard it'll be to stop Boston when Drew and Jalen get out of the shooting slumps. They're in with Tatum basically being unstoppable when you try to match him up one-on-one. So a lot of that is game plan. Like if I was game planning for the Celtics, it depends on the roster that I have. If I have, excellent defensive personnel across the board, guys that can all kind of guard in space and I've got good backside help defenders, I'm going to want to switch, contain,

and force them into ISOs and hope that they settle for bad jump shots instead of trying to go through my players, right? But if I've got some weak defensive personnel on the floor, like Chicago does, when you've got a Josh Kitty or Nikola Vucevic, that kind of thing on the floor, you put yourself in a situation

where you can't really guard in space that well. So then you start to make a simple calculation. Look at Boston's three-point percentage. percentage. No one is really shooting that well this year compared to last year, except for Peyton Pritchard, right? So Tatum's this like all-world ISO player. Boston's perimeter shooters have not been that good this year. As a game plan, you might think if you have that type of roster that your best bet is to get the ball out of Tatum's hands and force other people to make shots. That said, inevitably,

this story ends with Boston running into a team that doesn't double. That feels comfortable leaving Tatum and Jalen Brown one-on-one. When that happens, it will be incumbent on Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum to find ways to draw two to the ball. The only way they're going to be able to do that is if they score so effectively in those one-on-one matchups at the rim, because if you do it from the perimeter, it's streaky. You'll have stretches where you make two or three tough pull-up jump shots in a row,

and then you'll miss two or three in a row. But if they get consistently, if they have better balance between settling and attacking, and they attack those matchups, it will become untenable for the defense to leave one-on-one coverages. That's when they can bring two to the ball. Or they can drive past that first guy and draw helpers, and they can make drive and kick passes to get those wide open threes.

Again, you've got to think of it beyond the Chicago problem and more like, what about the OKC problem? Like, what about what if they run into a Knicks team and a Knicks team does more switching? You know, like that sort of thing. Like, it's going to be like, you can't take Jalen Brunson and settle for pull-up jump shots. You've got to take his ass to the basket.

You can't take Carl Anthony Towns in space and just take step back threes. You've got to take him to the basket. Like there's, Oklahoma City is the real one that I would worry about for Boston there because they have the personnel to switch more effectively. But like, that's going to be the real issue. I have been really impressed by Tatum as a playmaker this year. And you can't deny the isolation numbers and the jump shooting has been a really nice improvement.

But make no mistake. The reason why the Celtics beat the shit out of the Mavericks last year was because Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown drove past Luca Donchich. Didn't shoot over Luca Donchich. And so, again, like, I think the doubling will be something that Boston will see from time to time in the postseason of Tatum. But inevitably, they will run into a matchup where Tatum and Jalen Brown are going to have to break these defenses down in more one-on-one situations. What do you think about Adam Silver saying he's a fan of four 10-minute quarters in basketball? How do you think this would impact the NBA?

Are you four or against it? Thanks for doing a great job and always dropping. insightful content. I'm a big fan of your show. Thank you so much for supporting the show. It means a lot to me. I think shortening the quarters is really stupid. The NBA has one problem, one big problem with our television situation. urgency. This is something I've been harping on nonstop. There are lots of things that could be better. Officiating could be a little better. Yeah, right now teams are taking a lot of threes, but I do think defenses will force teams to adapt there. There are things with the broadcasting work

be a little podcasty and a little less, let's talk about the game. There's, like, media companies focusing on player movement instead of the quality of the basketball. I'm there for all that stuff. But those to me are, those to me are small issues compared to the much larger issue, which is that since the year, since the year MJ retired in 1998 to now, we went from having, there's almost nothing on TV. You sit on your couch on a Wednesday night and the NBA game that's on is one of the few options to watch. And yeah, you're going to watch that game. But now there are thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of television options,

thousands and thousands of smartphone options. You're having a hard time getting people's attention. That said, sports still is one of the biggest draws when it comes to people's attention. The NFL is a great example of this. The NFL continues to put up monster television ratings, even though there have been so many more options that have risen to the surface. Why urgency? Every regular season game feels huge.

Every postseason game is single elimination. The urgency is off the charts. Okay. The bottom line is an NBA team can lay an egg three games in a row and it really doesn't matter. I rooted for the Lakers as they have dicked around at the bottom of the standings for two consecutive years and barely crawled up to the seven or eight seed and got in. into the playoffs at the end and they haven't cared. This year's been a little bit better on that front,

but like the reality is, is you can afford to be bad for a while in the NBA. The Pacers were awful to start the year. Didn't matter. The Mads have been pretty bad this year because of injuries. If Luca and Kyrie come back, it's not going to matter. Like there's, the sons got off to a great start. Now they're terrible.

The Warriors got off to a great start. Now they're terrible. Like both of those teams could easily rebound with a trade. the NBA regular season is too damn long. I believe that shortening the NBA regular season to 66 games will space the games out more so that more players play more often and every game then has about 20% more urgency. And then if you want to do a play in tournament, fine,

but don't let 20 teams in. You got to get that back down to 16. There has to be a more realistic like, oh, half the teams don't make the playoffs instead of, oh, two-thirds of the teams do make the playoffs. Urgency is the problem. It's the number one thing that can be addressed to actually lead to tangible results. People do want to watch our best athletes compete when it matters, but it just doesn't matter enough in the NBA. And that is the main issue.

Guys like us, people who really enjoy the game, we're going to get a great deal of enjoyment and appreciation of the NBA regular season. The casual fan is going to tune in and out based on when they think things matter. And there's just not a lot of times where it matters in the NBA regular season. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what?

We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name hey Jonas guys. I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before

Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than me.

I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives. helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian.

I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit.

This is help from a hypocrite. The worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself.

We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole. This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey Jason, big fan of the show and I feel you're the best in the business. Thank you. That's a very kind thing to say. My question is in regards to Lakers starting five. What do you think of a lineup of LeBron, Austin, Dorian Finney Smith, Rui, and Anthony Davis? I feel that lineup would be good, able to switch one through five and allow Rui to shift back to his original position. You talk about how great LeBron is as a hub for the offense. And with him and Austin, trading PG point guard duties, I feel like this could work well. Plus it allows them to play

big. And even if LeBron doesn't commit to defense every night, they are a bigger team. And LeBron still has the quickness to handle guards, but could also punish teams with a size at that position. Would also love to know your thoughts and keep up the work. So here's the thing. I talked about this with the bucks earlier.

There are these defensive responsibilities you want to fulfill. The Lakers are not good as a switching unit in the regular season because LeBron and Rui, LeBron is a great rebounder and great defender who doesn't try the vast majority of the time in the regular season. And Rui Hachamura is a mediocre to bad defender and a mediocre to bad rebounder. So when you couple that with Austin Reeves, who's athletically limited, and you put all three of those guys on the floor at the same time, and you start switching, you start to end up in situations where Anthony Davis is on the perimeter.

When Anthony Davis is on the perimeter, you need LeBron and Rui and Austin to be athletic around the rim as helpers and as rebounders. And it's just a lot to ask. So like, I actually think that this is why the Max Christie into the starting lineup thing has worked as well as it has. It's allowed the Lakers to do less switching with their five-man because Max is more capable of chasing over the top of screens. It allows them to basically keep into more favorable matchups, keep in. Anthony Davis closer to the rim where he can defend and rebound. Now, to your point, let's say the Lakers trade Rui, which I think is still a good chance before the deadline. Let's say a different version of that lineup. So it's Austin, Dorian, Vando, LeBron AD.

Could I see them trying switching in the postseason? Yeah. With that type of lineup, sure. Because all those guys can switch. And because those guys would be able to in the postseason, because Vando is an excellent defender and an excellent rebounder, you suddenly have more of that kind of talent on the floor. LeBron now in the playoffs is trying harder, so he becomes an excellent defender, excellent rebounder. Now all of a sudden you have the personnel to pull off that type of look. But that's why I've been talking about that with the Lakers. I think there's one through five switching should be more of a situational thing and not like a base scheme because of the fact that they're just not good at it, good at it in the regular season. Since Jaden Ivy's

injury, Cade's usage and turnover rate have skyrocketed. And while initially we got away with it, the last few Ls have all had the same thing. Teams realizing no one else can dribble or or break down the D from half court, so they end up trapping and blitzing him in every pick and roll. I don't believe this is sustainable. If the Pistons are so serious about making the playoffs,

Cade will wear out, and we don't have the high-end talents, keep losing the turnover differential, and expect to keep winning games. I think a trade for C.J. McCollum or Sexton using Tim Hardaway Jr.'s expiring plus seconds, is a cost-effective solution to add ball handling slash scoring punch

without sacrificing the future, but no one in the Pistons community really knows how trade-jum will approach this deadline. My question is, would you make this deal for CJ and Sexton to ease the load off of Cade? And if not, what can be done from a coaching schematic standpoint

to cut down on his usage turnovers? Thanks as always for your content. So I was watching the Pacers game this morning, actually, is a game I wanted to get back to. And so Cade's not actually facing blitzes or traps very often. He's facing a lot of like traditional coverages that are just the way traditional coverages look against really good offensive players.

There's a thing that happens when you get upgraded in terms of your level of respect around the league where you face aggressive traditional coverages, whereas there's a thing that you face around the league when people don't really fear you, where you face passive traditional coverages. A really basic way to look at that is the type of drop coverage that they face. He's not facing traps. He's facing big at the level. That's a aggressive traditional coverage, meaning the guy guarding the screener is showing at the level of the screen and then recovering back.

He spent a lot of time attacking Tyrese Halliburton in the Pacers game using Malik Beasley. They're using a basic hedge-in recover scheme. That's literally what the Pacers use with Tyrese Halliburton against all primary ball handlers. They'll have Tyrese hedge out, meaning briefly put two on the ball. And then Tyrese is going to recover and keep his hands up and try to deflect that pass. You got to steal on Kate Cunningham on one of those slips, right? But Malik Beasley is going to go like he's going to set the screen. He's going to slip and he's going to run out to the three-point line.

He's going to catch a pass there. By the way, Kate did hit Malik on that multiple times in the first half. He just missed them, right? That's part of basketball. But when you're facing a bad offensive player or an offensive player that no one's really scared of, they are going to be like, let's run a deep drop. Stay out of rotation. like, okay, now Malik Beasley's going to set a screen.

Tyrese might linger for a second, but he's not going to hard hedge because he doesn't fear you, because there's not that level of respect. Kate has now entered into the star ball handler tier, where now he is going to see a big at the level every single time he runs a ball screen. He is going to see a hard hedge every single time he attacks a guard in a ball screen. That's just part of the job. Now, to your point, the... I still think Cade's been navigating that pretty well,

but there's something to be said about what you're talking about, which is there's not enough skill on the court to quickly translate that into buckets. There were a couple of, for instance, kickout passes that Cade ran in ball screens that end up in Ron Holland's hands. And Ron Holland's going to make some threes, but he's going to miss some threes, right?

Like, he's going to probably miss more than he makes by a lot, right? So, like, that's just a reality of this roster. Now, to your point, do I think that the pistons could benefit from a secondary ball handler? Yes. Would I do anything that sacrifices future flexibility for that? No. That's where like, yeah, if you can get a C.J. McCollum, I think Sexton might be a little bit more expensive.

But let's say you can get a C.J. McCollum, without including any first round draft compensation and giving up only one of these veteran players that's on a contract, I do think it would be worthwhile because you are probably going to end up in a playoff series with K. If you're going to end up in a playoff series with Cade, you want to see what it looks like if he doesn't have to do absolutely everything. So it's not about winning the title. It's about getting good experience for Cade. And one of the best ways to do that is give him a legitimate experience

in the sense that he needs a secondary ball handler that can spell him when he's on the bench and run second side action, make life a little bit easier for him. Also, guess what? If it's C.J. McCollum that is setting that screen and slipping out of it, he's going to have an opportunity to create with an advantage, and he's a better ball handler playmaker type. So he'll be able to help capitalize on those situations better than a Malik Beasley can

when the shot's not falling, right? So, like, again, I'm not opposed to that kind of move. Just everything has to be within the context of the big picture goal, which is this team has real potential in the long run because Kate is a superstar in the making because I do like Jaden Ivy because I do like the pieces that they have around them. So it's about being delicate and cheap in that regard. But yes, if you can get C.J. McCollum for cheap, I do think that's a move that would allow the pistons a little bit more of a traditional ball handling structure as they head into the postseason.

Last one. Jason, you've been advocating for Cam Johnson to be traded to Golden State to fill the second option role. Laughing my ass off like, what? Cam is a great shooter, but he can't even average over 20 points per game on the Nets. That's why we've been calling you crazy for the Cam Johnson obsession. Zach Levine is the obvious ideal option, even if it costs more. The problem with going with the Zach Levine type is you have to include Andrew Wiggins or Draymond Green. That just makes it infinitely more difficult. Also, you just, as you get into those big salaries, because the Warriors have six players that make between five and ten million, you just have to piece too many of them together and it becomes a depth, a problem with the amount of depth that you're losing.

I'm not saying don't make a Zach Levine deal. I'd be happy to make a Zach Levine deal. I think a Jimmy Butler deal would be good too. I'm not disagreeing. I'm saying Cam Johnson is also an option. The reason why is I think Cam Johnson has an offensive skill set that works really well in Golden State's system. So a couple things. First of all, Cam Johnson's better on the ball than you think.

He's run 176 actions this year, so ball screens, post-ups, ISOs. He's run 176 actions with passes and generated 185 points. It's a good amount over a point per possession. That's really solid. of the 91 players in the league this year to take at least 100 pull-up jump shots off the dribble, he ranks 13th out of those 91 in effective field goal percentage at 54%. He gets 1.08 points per pull-up jump shot. That's really good. He's also shooting 52% from the field coming off of off-ball screens.

71% in effective field goal percentage when you wait it for threes. 1.4 points per shot. Of the 28 players in the NBA that have run at least 50, actions off of screens and taking shots. So coming off of an off ball screen and shooting, of the 28 players have done that at least 50 times, he ranks number one in the entire NBA at it. That is a specific skill set that perfectly fits into Golden State system. So he is real on ball pop, great pull-up shooter, and a great off-screen shooter. I keep talking about the concept of value for a team versus value in a vacuum. The example I always uses Jamal Murray. Jamal Murray's value to the Denver Nuggets is much greater than it would be

elsewhere in the league because his pull-up shooting over the top is so immensely valuable. His ability to score against switches with Yokic in the two-man game is so immensely valuable. But put him in another situation where he's with a less dynamic ball screen partner and where he's actually dependent on night and night out to be great, you're going to be wishing for more from Jamal Murray, right? If Cam Johnson was the best player on a really good team, or if he was in a situation where they already had a bunch of ball handling and they just need him to take catch and shoot threes and to drive closeouts and play a little bit of defense, his salary slot doesn't even make sense at that point.

But on a Warriors team that could really use a guy that is consistently good as a scorer coming off of action, off ball and on ball. He is such a perfect shoe-in fit in the Warriors system that I think his value there, especially on a team that is so utterly devoid of scoring talent at the top. He's such a natural fit there that his value would be greater there than it would be elsewhere in the league. That's why I'm advocating for Cam Johnson. If you could do that and not give up Wiggins and not give up Jonathan Cominga, now we're talking about a roster that has some real upside. I like that as an option. I like Levine as an option. I like Jimmy as an option. I'm just saying don't discount Cam Johnson as an option because he's a better offensive

player than you probably think he is. All right, guys, that's all I have for today. I'm also out of town for the weekend. I'm going skiing. I'm leaving tomorrow for my annual ski trip to Breckenridge. I will be back in time for the trade deadline. So I will have a trade deadline reaction when I get home. I also bring my to-go gear. So like if I end up in Breck and a trade goes down, I will record something at that point. But there's a chance if nothing goes down that I won't see you guys until Wednesday. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show, and I will see you guys.

What's up, guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Hoops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys, I appreciate you guys. If you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 D. 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA.

Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joey Dardano. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives. helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant,

and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help From a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.