The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - NBA Power Rankings: Will Jalen Brunson, KAT & Knicks TAKE DOWN Celtics?

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Jason Timpf continues his NBA power rankings with Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks. Jason discusses why the Karl-Anthony Towns trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves will ultimately help the Knicks despite the loss of Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle. How impactful will Mikal Bridges be alongside his Villanova teammates in Brunson and Josh Hart. And what is the key for New York to take down Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the defending champion Boston Celtics? Timeline: 4:15 - Introduction 6:15 - Top Tier of Championship Contenders 13:15 - Reacting to KAT trade 23:00 - Building a defense around KAT 26:30 - Outlook on Knicks in 2024 32:00 - Knicks vs. Celtics 39:00 - NBA Mailbag (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) #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 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. 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart 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. Hey, what's good, y'all?

You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability

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gaming resources. See dkng.c.c.O. FT. Ball. All right. Welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody. I hope all of you guys are having a great week so far. Got a jam-pack show for you today. We're continuing our season previews with the New York Knicks today at number four in our power rankings. And then at the tail end of the show, I've got a mailbag that we're going to hit. We're going to bounce around the league and answer some of you guys's questions. You guys know the drill before we get started.

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Game Time. All right. Let's talk some basketball. So we have moved into our top tier of championship contenders. As I talked about when we started the power ranking series, I had a group of teams that I thought were good that didn't really have a realistic chance to win the title. And then from 11 to 5, that group of seven teams there,

which I believe was Grizzlies, and then I think it was like Sons and Lakers and Bucks, and there was the Timberwolves that were in there. We had the Dallas Mavericks in there, and then there's one that I'm missing. But we hit a bunch of teams in that specific tier, right? then we move into this top tier of contenders. This is a group of teams that I think should all feel really good

about their chances to win the title. The teams in that 5-211 group, they have this thought in the back of their head, like, yeah, we might be able to do this. If some things go our way, you know, catch some favorable matchups, maybe we hit on a trade, maybe this young guy pops, maybe this guy like starts playing better than he did last year. There are some pathways where things might go their way

and maybe they can make a run. these four teams in no particular order, the Nuggets and Thunder out west and the Nix and Celtics out east, those four teams should feel really good about their chances to win the title. So why? Why is that the case? Why do I feel like these four teams have separated themselves in terms of a tier from that group that I had at 5 through 11? So I wanted to go into some of those specific characteristics. Number one, they're elite on both ends of the floor. Interestingly enough, those four teams, the Nuggets, the Thunder, the Celtics,

and the Knicks were the only four teams in the NBA last year to finish in the top 10 for both offense and defense. And that's fascinating considering the Knicks and Thunder in particular have added a substantial amount of talent since then. But last year, these were the only four teams that could confidently state they had an elite unit on both ends of the floor. Two, tons of half-court shot creation. Denver has Yokic, who I think is the best offensive player in the world. Oklahoma City has Shaggillard Alexander, who's in that tier of offensive players, but is also surrounded by what I think is the most talented roster in the Western Conference. Boston has the most talent in the NBA by a wide margin, and the Knicks have three players

who have averaged 25 points per game at some point in their career, and they're all in their prime right now. So tons of half-court offensive firepower for all four of those teams. Three, tons of physical size. Boston's not particularly big on the front line, except for when they're perfectly healthy, but Boston is huge on the perimeter, right? Drew Holiday, big and strong, can guard up on forwards. Derek White, long arms is a guy that can guard a couple of different types of perimeter initiators, right? Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, two of the most versatile defensive forwards in the league, but there were both big, strong athletes, right? Oklahoma City has one of the best and most physical perimeter defender duo is in the league

with Alex Caruso and Lou Dort, right? Combined with two centers that can play alongside each other now. They dramatically improved their physical profile in one summer. And the only weaknesses for The Thunder were like experience, which now they have a year of additional experience, and they brought in some veteran experience. And two, that physical profile, which they just dramatically improved with those particular deals. Denver, has Michael Porter, Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Yokic, you're going 610, 610, 7 foot on the front line. And Aaron Gordon and Nicole Yokich in particular are incredibly big and strong. Now that you we had Christian Brown into that lineup, too.

They're actually bigger and stronger in the starting lineup than they were last year. That is a physically imposing group. And then the Knicks put Josh Hart, Mikhail Bridges, Ogen, Ndobie, and Carl Anthony Towns out there. That's quite a bit of size and strength as well. To win four playoffs series, you have to be able to win rock fights. You have to be able to win when things get ugly, and rock fights take size, strength, and athleticism. That's a strength for all four of those teams. And then lastly, you have to be able to play different.

ways. Boston can play two centers. They can go small. They can drive and kick you to death, but they also can hunt matchups better than most teams because they have so many different guys that can initiate offense for them. On defense, they have the ability to put length at the rim with Porzingis and run drop coverage, but they also have Tatum who can guard centers and legitimately throw a wrench in a lot of other teams' offensive attacks. Horford at Center gives them a switch look where they can switch one through five and really shut down screening actions. they can change their defense or their offense to meet the challenge, the unique challenge that is in front of them. The Knicks.

They will have cat at center looks and they'll have cat at the power forward looks with an extra center on the floor. They'll have switch looks. They'll have drop looks. They were one-dimensional offensively last year, but by bringing in Mikhail Bridges, Carl Anthony Towns, that makes them much more versatile offensively this year. They will have many different ways to attack offensively, which we're going to talk about here in a minute. Oklahoma City. Now, they have a too big look, but when they go Chet at the Five, they still have this look with tons of speed and skill that they can go to as well.

They'll even have a bunch of different looks they can go to in closing lineups. Like, you can imagine a scenario where they go with the same closing lineup as last year, but instead of having, you know, Aaron Wiggins in instead of Josh Giddy or Josh Giddy in there, they can have Alex Crusoe in there. They can have a big lineup where they go Chet and Hartenstein and they can decide whether they want to go to Dort or Crusoe depending on the matchup. and what specifically is needed there. Like, there's so many different ways that they can kind of construct things for them, and they have three different dudes who can legitimately initiate offense for them at a high level.

They are very versatile. They can change to meet the challenge in front of them. And then Denver, they have a good deep drop look, and they have a good high drop look. Again, I think a lot of people don't realize this, but Denver was top 10 in defense last year. With Christian Brown in the starting group, too, they're going to be better defensively.

He is able to guard some bigger forwards in a way that Cantavius call what Pope was now. This is one of the things that allows them to keep Aaron Gordon and help more often, which will make them even better on the defensive end of the floor. And then on offense, they have so many different ways they can attack you. Yokic post-ups, Yokich Murray two-man game. They have like a well-rounded five-out attack where they get lots of off-screen stuff for Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.

And then like look at game one of the finals in 2023, where they just spam Aaron Gordon post-ups because they like a matchup. Like the nuggets just have a ton of different ways that they can play on both ends of the four. Again, versatility wins because you have to face four likely very different types of opponents on your way to the trophy. And having that malleability is a big part of what allows you to beat four different types of teams. Again, these are the differentiators for these four teams. A lead on both ends of the floor, tons of half-cord shot creation, tons of size and strength in the ability to play different ways. Those are the things that these teams have that the teams in that next tier are lacking in various ways.

All right, let's start, once again, power-ranking style. Number four, the New York Knicks, an off-season recap for them. They lost Boyan McDonovic, Alec, Devenc, Inchevonzo, Isaiah Hartnstein, and Julius Randall. They added McHill Bridges, campaign, Landry, Shammett, Carl Anthony Towns, and some end-of-the-bench guys, which we'll see how they panned out, pan out over the course of the season. On the cat deal, I've talked about this bunch on the show. We've done a, I did a really deep dive with San Vassini on his podcast, about a week ago,

so you guys can check that out. He talked about it in detail during the Minnesota pod, as well as the night of the traits. We've got lots of that content out there. Really quick synopsis, they need a center, and you can't do much better than Carl Anthony Towns. He has his defensive limitations, which we're going to get into in a minute. We're going to have a whole segment of the show. How do you guard with Carl Anthony Towns at center? We're going to get into that.

But he's just one of the most talented players in the league at that position. He can shoot well enough that he can play alongside another big, so he gives you a ton of lineup flexibility. And if you can work it out with him at center, he gives you a bunch. of ammo for like some legit matchup problems for some of the other teams in Eastern Conference. Like with Philly, that pick and pop is an excellent counter for a deep drop big like Joel Embed, right? For the Pacer, same thing for Miles Turner, who's a rim protector wants to drop to the basket. For Milwaukee, same thing against Brooke Lopez. Lopez and Embed in particular can really struggle to cover ground in rotation.

And that's something where having Kat's ability to pick and pop and get them in rotation consistently and have those big, slow bigs closing out at him could be something that really helps. Or if they rotate from the weak side closing out on other shooters, right? Boston, it's complicated. It depends on whether or not you can actually get Porzinger's to guard cap. But we're going to get into that in more detail because I have a whole segment just on the matchup with Boston

that we're going to do at the tail end of this power ranking segment. But that's the thing, is like you're just going to get legitimate matchup advantages that you didn't have last year without a stretch big, and you have a different look. that you didn't have last year with two bigs that you can go to by virtue of this. When Mitchell Robinson comes back, if they end up keeping him, again, Mitch and Kat together, that should be a very physically imposing group that still provides a decent amount of spacing.

The loss of Devencenzzo, obviously it hurts. I mean, Dante Devencenzzo's awesome. Nix fans don't need me to tell him. I think he's one of my favorite two-way guards in the league right now. But good players are expensive, and Kat is going to do more to help the Knicks than Devinchenzo leaving is going to hurt the Knicks, in my opinion. you, thankfully, you have options that you can go to, right? Josh Hart is big and physical and can do a lot of switching with McHale Bridges and Ogen, Nobie, so that's kind of an interesting

look. I love Deuce McBride. I still like to see Deuce McBride with those guys quite a bit. He played alongside Brunson a lot in the playoffs last year and had a pretty successful two-man game with him. As a matter of fact, he logged 11 roll man possessions in the playoffs and scored 14 points on them. All of them were ghost screens with Brunson, shot 46% on unguarded catch and shoot jump shots in the playoffs over 40%. I thought he was like 45% is on above the break threes in particular. I think he's an interesting look for them to go to there.

And then the other thing they can do is they can size up with too big. So like having Dante Divencenzo out of the lineup makes them get a little creative, but they have a bunch of different directions that they can go. And most importantly, they have improved offensive flexibility. Last year was like a 2001 Alan Iverson-esque approach to offense with Jalen Brunson. he logged a usage rate of 36.4% in the playoffs. That was by far the highest out of anyone who played at least 10 playoff games last year.

Luca Donchitz, by comparison, 32.4%. So, like, that was pretty crazy high usage from Brunson. As a result, his efficiency suffered. He went down to 53.6% true shooting in the postseason. That was about 6% down from what he was in the regular season. This year, they will not need him to do that. He can function more as an initiator, just to, guy who gets the initial advantage and then all of their talent can capitalize on it.

The cat two-man game. Even above the, like the pick and pop is the most simple concept of it, right? Talked about this at length. Every drop coverage involves the big having to keep the ball handler in front of them, right? And so if the big man, instead of rolling into the drop coverage big pops out to the three-point line, it's like the ultimate counter to a pick-and-roll coverage. You're either going to have to have your center close out from the drop cover to the top of the key, which is a nightmare, or you have to rotate from the weak side,

which can leave openings on skip passes, right? Like the pick and pop is like just such a great weapon to have in the back. But I think they can also use it to set cat up with advantage situations, just simple basic isos, right? Like this is what Tyrese Maxie and Joel and Bede do, right? Run the ball screen, pocket pass, Embed goes to work from the elbow area, right? I think you can do similar stuff with that with Cat above the break. Just have him run most of his ISOs out of two-man game where he catches with the guy closing out of him, basically have him be an initiator who already has an advantage. We saw already in the preseason game, examples of Brunson operating as a screener.

You can't really do that if you don't have scoring threats off of him that can capitalize on the attention that Jalen Brunson garners, right? This is something they'll be able to do this year. They ran Brunson as a screener on the first play of the preseason game and almost got O.G. and Nobie a wide open layup out of it. That's something that they'll be able to get to. concepts. Not a whole lot. There were five out concepts last year just without the necessary firepower to make it really work. Having OG Ananoi and O'Neumee and McHill Bridges in there as a bunch of

additional ball handling and scoring ability can unlock some of those five out concepts. Posting switches. This was something that because of the Ananoby injury and because of the centers that the Knicks had, not something they could consistently get to last year in the postseason. OG Ananobe and Carl Anthony Town should be able to post mismatches in situations where they screen for Brunson and get switches. So, just a ton of additional offensive flexibility compared to what they had last year. 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 IHard 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, Cliver 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, untoward. filtered 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 Clifford 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at a podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what you? went down and tried to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. They're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have really. real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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 IHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. How do you build a defense around Kat? I would think of it from the perspective of the way that the Denver Nuggets defend with Nicole Yokic, even to a greater extent, because Yokic is a better rim protector than Kat. But don't ask a guy that's not going to be some big vertical deterrent to protect the rim. Ask him to be active with his hands on the

ball handler instead. This is where I would use him in more of a high drop, meaning I would bring in ball screens towns further out and ask him to primarily work on disrupting the ball handler. That leaves you in rotation, but you have lots of backside athleticism, right? So in that case, that means the roll man is going to get behind Kat a lot. But if you've got OG and and Obie kind of setting up as that low man tagging the roller and rotating, and you've got Mikhail Bridges and all of his foot speed in Josh Hart or Deuce McBride, whoever it ends up being, or if they go big and it's precious to chew or whatever it is, they have lots of speed on that backside. That is a way that you can account for Carl Anthony Towns's limitations. Obviously, it depends on the matchup. If you're

playing against a team that doesn't have great guard play and they're running ball screens and you're not worried about getting torched from the mid-range or torched by a dude getting downhill at you at the rim, then yeah, maybe you can run a deeper drop and try to stay at a rotation. but in terms of the tougher matchups in the league with higher quality pick and roll ball handlers, I would just bring Kat up to the level as much as possible. I think they need to do more switching two through four. In the preseason game, they were having McHale Bridges Chase, even in guard, guard screens. Like that involved Josh Hart or O'Janinoby.

That's not something I agree with. I would not have any unnecessary screen navigation in this group, especially when you're already going to get into rotation, some with Kat. But most importantly, have to contain the ball. you contain the ball, you don't need to protect the rim as much. If there aren't straight line drives with guys really getting ahead of steam, rim protection isn't as important. This is just kind of like a general philosophy I have about basketball. It's like I always talk about things in terms of a bracket. If you have on it in a pick and roll coverage,

if you have a great guy chasing over the top of the screen and makes the drop coverage, his job easier, right? So if McHale Bridges is chasing over the top, that makes Kat's job easier. Same thing goes with just a simple drive and kick attack. The bracket of your primacy, defense versus the bracket of your ability to protect the rim. The better you are at the perimeter at the point of attack, the less there is stress on your backline to cover ground at the rim or cover vertical territory at the rim, right? So like, again, I think it's going to be a lot of stuff involving rotation

and chasing guys off the line, but I would bring Kat up to the level and use him more as a guy that is attacking the ball handler than protecting the rim. What's my outlook on this team? I think they'll win a lot of regular season games. The East is super weak in its bottom half. The Knicks have a ton of talent all in their athletic prime. The fan base is all jazzed up.

They're going to have a great home court advantage. I think they're going to get the two seed behind Boston. I think they'll finish above Philly and Milwaukee in the standings. As for the playoffs, I think they match up super well with Philly and Milwaukee. Kat is just such a nice counter for slow-footed centers, as we talked about earlier. O.G. and Ninobe is one of the better bodies that you can throw in the league at Janice. Mikhail Bridges and Deuce McBride are a couple great options for Damien Lillard. Tyrese maxi went off on them, but they put O'G. Annobe on him a lot,

and he'd likely guard Paul George in this type of matchup. Mikhail Bridges is the guy that's going to end up getting that matchup now. I think that's a better option for them. I think Philly probably presents more issues for them than Milwaukee does just because of the Embedd problem and them not really being able to match up with him super well. But as we saw, especially at the end of games, they were able to really swarm Embed in to limit his efficiency. effectiveness last year. So like, I think they match up pretty well with Philly and Milwaukee.

Let's talk about Boston, though. Boston is why you get this aggressive. Boston is why you make these types of deals. They are the ultimate barrier to a finals run for the Knicks, right? The main question for me in this matchup is can they get Boston in rotation? This means can they actually force Boston to consistently put two on the ball so you can get quality catch and drive, catch and shoot, catch and pass situations on the weak side. If the Knicks go with their starters, let's talk about Kat for a second, because Cat is the key here. If they go with what they started the preseason with, with Josh Hart in the lineup, we know how the Celtics will guard that. They'll put Tatum on Kat.

They will switch the Brunson Cat two-man game, and they'll put Porzinger on Josh Hart. And they will dare Josh Hart to make above the break threes. We just know that's what they're going to do. That's what they do to everybody, right? I also think if they go with Horford at center, they'll just switch everything, but we'll get to that more here in a minute. So let's say that the Knicks counter this

by going to Deuce McBride instead of Josh Hart. Deuce McBride shot 45% on above the break threes in the playoffs last year, pretty decent volume, shot 40% on above the break threes in the regular season. You put him out there, you're not putting Porzinger on Deuce McBride. Now Porzengis is probably on Carl Anthony Towns. At that point, now you're opening up, the pick and pop. Now Boston is putting two on the ball with Cat, with Brunson in a ball screen

with Cat every time down the floor. That is where you have the potential to play Porzingus off the floor. Why is it important to play Porzingis off the floor? Because he is one of the best switch beaters in the entire NBA to attack your mismatches on the other end of the floor. I think the key to guarding Boston well is to switch and contain the ball. If you let them get to their easy screening actions, they're going to get you into rotation with just a go screen or a pick and pop, and then they're going to pick you apart in their driving kick, right? Anything you have to hedge or drop against, they're going to get you in rotation. But if you can switch and you can contain the basketball, that's where you can potentially

get them to settle for jump shots, maybe take some lower quality threes, go cold, and then you have the opportunity for Brunson to potentially alpha dog them on the other end the floor, right? Then on the other end of the floor, you can turn it into Tatum trying to attack Kat and ISO, Tatum trying to attack Brunson and ISO, and then you have Mikhail Bridges, OGN and OB, guys like Juice McBride that can cover ground in rotation on the weak side when they get beat, right? But if Porzingis is off, the Celtics will likely go to Horford at center. And with that group, they switch everything, and now Brunson's probably going to have to attack Horford every time. And Boston, similar to the Knicks,

has a lot of length and speed on the back end to rotate as well with Derek White, Drew Holiday, Jason Tatum, and Jalen Brown. So honestly, like, the more and more I try to talk myself into a Knicks' defeat of Boston, the more and more I just think Boston's the better team. I think Kat is a slightly better player than Porzingis, but Porzingis is better at some specific things that make him particularly valuable to Boston. For instance, Porzingis is better at posting switches than Kat.

That's a significant thing that Boston can use in the playoffs when things bogged down in the half court. He's also better at protecting the rim than Cat. O'Gennonobi and McHale Bridges are two very good forwards, but Tatum and Brown are substantially better. And Jalen Brunson is obviously better than Boston's guards, but the two Boston guards together, Drew Holiday and Derek White, they kind of keep that battle pretty close.

Brunson is the key. He's the one guy who's capable of out-executing Jason Tatum in the half court at the end of these games. but the Knicks have to keep it close for that to be a possibility. And Tatum is no slouch. She's just as capable about executing Brunson in those situations.

So there's a path. You can see the path, right? Play Khrasps Porzingis off the floor, get into a lot of switching on defense, bait Boston into taking bad shots, Brunson starts picking on Horford on the other end, keep the games close, Brunson out executes Tatum in the clutch.

That's kind of like the pathway, but it feels like a very slim path, among all the possible outcomes. The NICs are certainly closer to Boston than they were, and I think they do have, in all likelihood, the best chance of getting this done, but the talent is stacked against them. It's going to be a challenge. So how can the NICs increase their chances? How can the NICs make it more likely that they catch the smaller of those outcomes, which is them finding that pathway to victory? I would just attack the regular season like nobody's business. Boston is the defending champion.

They have massive talent advantage over the rest of the league. It's possible that they approach the season with a little bit more of a lack of a dazeical attitude. I personally think Boston will stay locked in. I think they're pissed off at everybody because they're not getting enough respect for their title. But there's a chance that they come into the season with a more lack of dazical attitude. You have to be playing better basketball than Boston when you get to that matchup in May, in early May or late May, right?

and that's going to require an obsessive attention to detail that starts now. One of the big things I'm going to be looking at with the Knicks early in the season is just how dominant they are. The example I want you guys to think of is Houston in 2018. They were sharper than Golden State all year. We all knew Golden State was better, but they were sharper than Golden State all year. They stayed significantly above them in the standings. They had the best record in the league, if I remember correctly. I think they won 65 games.

And so when they ran into Golden State, they were able to jump them a little. little bit. Now, they ended up losing, but maybe if CP3 doesn't get hurt, it goes differently. I think Golden State so wins no matter what, but Houston gave them, gave themselves a really good chance to win by just taking the regular season more seriously than Golden State did. And I don't think, these Celtics are really good. I don't think they're as good as the KD. Staff Warriors. So, like, control the controllables, attack the regular season, be sharper, and jump Boston when you get there in May. That I think is the best way for them to increase their chances,

just attacking the regular season and being one of those truly dedicated day-in, day-out types of teams. 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 IHard 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Clifford 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on The Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversational. with so many incredible guests. I'm talking.

Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now.

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 taun 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, let's move on to our mailbox. Mailbag. I think Dre needs to play the five most of the season.

When he's paired with Trace or Loon, there's not enough shooting on the court. Maybe in three-guard lineups with Steph, Heald, and whoever the third-best shooter is, but you put Drey at the five and there's a lot of space for J.K. Wiggs, Steph, and the other guard to operate. The warrior season crumbled last year with Drey and Loon playing together without enough shooting. Too easy to double off them. Trace might pair a little better with Drey, given he's a lob threat, but it still gives two players defenders that defenders can ignore and focus on Steph. So we all agree that, and I think most Warriors,

fans agree that Draymond at center is going to be their best look. There's no doubt. And they're going to close games with that. It'll be Wiggins coming at Draymond and his step and whichever guard makes the most sense, whether that's, you know, Buddy Heald's Red Hot tonight he's closing or it's Anthony Melton or it's Brandon Pizjewski, whoever it ends up being, they're going to do some combination of that, right? But it's about eating innings in the regular season. When you are smaller, you have to compensate with obsessive effort because you're constantly covering ground to make up for it, whether it's in transition or in rotation.

But when you're big, you're big no matter what. And so the idea behind going big is you make it easier on a night in and night out basis for you to do your job. Because you don't have to cover as much ground when you're big, just being big vertically. By just standing, you're able to get to more defensive rebounds. You're able to protect the rim a little bit better. You're able to absorb contact a little bit better. So that's the idea. It's about being big for the sake of eating innings over the course of 82.

games, which I understand. Again, we all know that what they have to do when it comes down to winning time, but this is just about treating the 82 game season with the appropriate level of like conservative nature to make sure that you have all your guys when you need them. And that I do understand. I do lean Trace Jackson Davis over Kavan Looney just because I think Trace brings motor and I think he brings speed. And I think that gives them the ability to kind of convert defense into offense. And I do think this team is going to be able to force a lot of turnover. and get out on transition, especially with Draymond playing helpside defense more this year as a four-man. So I am curious to see how it all turns out, but I do understand why they have to go big to start the year.

I genuinely cannot fathom how the nuggets are above the maps. So let me just explain why I have the nuggets above the maps. I just think the nuggets are a more talented team. I think Yokic is slightly better than Luca. I do think Kyrie is slightly better than Jamal Murray. But I do think that Murray and Yokic complement each other a little bit better and have more pop as a two-man game. so I'm going to give them the slight edge. After that, though, I think Gordon is a better player than PJ Washington.

I think Michael Porter, Jr., at this point in his career, is a better player than Clay Thompson. I think the Nuggets will have a better defense than Dallas this year. I think Mike Malone is a better coach than Jason Kidd. So, like, I also think the Nuggets just present more matchup issues to teams because of the Yokch problem. So I just think the Nuggets are a better basketball team. That's why I have the Nuggets over Dallas right now.

This guy refused to explain how the Nuggets and Thunder beat Dallas, and instead goes on about the Celtics who they can only play in the finals. Denver ran into a match-up issue with Minnesota, and that was exacerbated by the fact that both KCP and Jamal Murray got hurt in the Lakers series. And the Nuggets were a bit worn down a bit, like worn down just by a long playoff run the year before,

long season, hard series against the Lakers in the first round, right? Like they get worn down, they break down officially in that Minnesota series. Like imagine that too. your guards are how you navigate Minnesota's ball pressure and both of them were dealing with bad wheels and then KCP was an ankle and Jamal Murray was a calf. It just makes things harder, right? But here's the thing, they were still up 20 in game seven.

They just blew it, right? If they had survived, I would have picked them against Dallas because Dallas doesn't have a soul who can remotely guard Yokic and Aaron Gordon is one of the best options in the league to throw out Luca Donchich. So like, and then it's, As far as Oklahoma City goes, Oklahoma City was a free throw away from playing Dallas in game seven at home. They allowed dunk to Chet that put them up by one heading into the final possession in game six in Dallas.

Dallas won, Dallas won fair and square. Luca made a play. PJ Washington got fouled. He made the free throws. Game over, right? But that was a very small margin. If Oklahoma City gets a stop on that last possession, we're heading to Oklahoma City for game seven where they're favored. And they added this summer two additional role.

players that are high-level veterans that will help them on both ends of the floor and address specific needs for them. I think Oklahoma City would beat Dallas in a series this year. So there you go. I just didn't explain it in the last one, but like, I think the Nuggets present more match-up issues for Boston. I would pick Denver over Dallas right now. I would pick Oklahoma City over Dallas right now. And I just gave you some of the basketball reasons why. There was an interview with Jason Kidd this week in which he talked about applying some triangle offense concepts with the Mavs after visiting Phil Jackson. He really specifically emphasized less dribbling and more quick passes instead of holding

the ball as a key takeaway. Besides that, he also mentioned wanting someone other than Luca to bring the ball up and to have Luca attack from different areas on the court. Beat writers have speculated this might mean more mid-post and low-post touches for Luca, as well as more handoffs since Kyrie and Luca ranked first and second among 57 players who ran at least 300 handoffs last year. Do you think these are things that are beneficial ways to improve? the Dallas offense. As for defense, I think Dallas's potential woes have been a little overstated.

Clay's no longer elite defensively, but he isn't below average or a cone. By the way, I know Mavs fans sound a little salty in the comments, but it's because it feels like everyone is underrating the moves we made and our chances just like last season. Hope you aren't too annoyed with the comments. Jason, thanks for the breakout. Don't worry about the comments. I've been doing this for like, what, two and a half years now. February 1st will be three years since I started with the volume. So I'm kind of used to it at this point. I've just basically learned that every fan base is mad all the time. Like literally every video up to this point has had fans complaining about where teams are ranked. Like it is what it is. Like go look at the

Minnesota video or like the Milwaukee video. Like everyone's pissed off all the time. I'm kind of just used to it. Every fan base thinks their team gets unfair coverage. Um, so I never take that sort of thing personally. Also, I, I know that for every one person who complains in the comments, there's, you know, a thousand or so that, uh, that actually watch the video and don't complain. So I try not to read too much into that. I do love the idea of having Luca start possessions off the ball and specifically coming off of handoffs. This is actually a five-out concept. And this is an example of an easy five-out concept that could add this year to kind of juice things up for them offensively. It saves wear and tear from ball pressure. There's just no reason to have Luca bring the ball up the floor against a guy who's

going to turn him once or twice and make him make all those additional cuts. Over the course of a game, that's another 40 and other 50 cuts that can wear a guy down. I'm not saying you don't have him bring the ball up at all. But I think it is helpful to have Lucas start some possessions in the corner and then literally have the ball handler bring up the ball at the floor and then just run that like kind of five out delay action like a Chicago action where like Kyrie brings the ball up the left wing. Luca's in the right corner. Clay Thompson is on the right wing. You have Kyrie bring it up the left wing. You dump it to Lively who's trailing at the top of the key. Derek Lively turns towards the right corner. Clay Thompson pins down and screens for Luca.

Luca then comes off of Clay and off the dribble handoff and comes downhill into the lane. It's the same type of reeds that Luca makes in his ball screen, right? Like, Lively's rolling off that dribble handoff going to the rim for a dunk. Inevitably, by virtue of Chicago action, Clay Thompson is probably going to be open on a skip back, right? Like, I love involving Clay in screening actions with Luca as much as possible. But it's just a simple way to like save him wearing tear and ball pressure, have him attack with a little bit more of a complication. And once again, one of the things I talked about yesterday, remember, running action just makes it so that there's more likelihood that the defense will make a mistake.

If you bring the ball up the floor and just run a ball screen, it all of a sudden just becomes entirely about Luca's superpowers. And we all know that Luca has great superpowers. But running offense is what forces defense to make lots of decisions which can lead to more mistakes. Well, what I want to see is I want to see Lucas superpower combined with defense as making mistakes. That's what I want to see. Because that's where I think you can squeeze a little bit more out of that sponge. So, like, I think that makes a lot of sense. You can always default back to Luca ball at the end of possessions.

You run some stuff. It doesn't work. Oh, there's 10 on the shot clock. Throw it to Luca set a ball screen. Now we're playing, right? But, like, I think just exploring more of those five-out concepts will just help juice their offense a little bit. It might increase their pace a little bit too, because Luca tends to bring the ball at the floor a little slowly, have someone else bring up the ball at the floor. There might be a little bit more pace to the offense.

it's so fun to watch the Lakers actually drop plays instead of freestyling all season. So a couple things. The Lakers actually ran plenty of action last year. In fact, even though JJ Redick has added some stuff, those dribble weave concepts we were talking about in the Monday show. A lot of the stuff they ran in the first two preseason games were the same concepts that they were running last year. Some like post-up split-cut stuff and some like horn sets that they run. Like a lot of that was the same stuff they were running last year. The key is running action more frequently, which they have,

and two, adding complications and counters, which will take time. These are like little wrinkles that you add to sets both on and off the ball, depending on what a defense is doing to cover it, right? Those are things that take time, though, to implement. And then most importantly, overall attention to detail and accountability. So, like, for instance, one of the things that JJ Redick's been talking a lot about in his press conference is a screening. So, like, one of the things I talk about all the time is, like, you know,

focusing on sets is important because they obviously bring value and all the things we've talked about by promoting more mistakes from the defense, things along those lines, right? But, like, the most important thing is how well you actually run the set. Like, if we run a basic ball screen, but my guard does a really good job

of setting his man up for the screen by selling one way to then come back the other way, and I get a really good screen, like a really good screen. Like, that's going to get me better offense than if we run a beautiful five-out set, but no one fucking screens right. Like, those are the little details that matter.

Setting up your man for a screen. Screening properly. Actually coming off of that screen with power, like coming off with force. If you come off the screen soft, you're not going to engage the screen defender. There's all these little details that makes sets effective. And that's the thing. Like, they can run the same shit they ran last year, as long as they run it better with more attention to detail and more frequently. And so, like, like, those are all these, like,

little details. Like, basketball at its very core is fundamental. If you, like, literally just run your lanes and transition really hard, make kickout passes when they're available and drive closeouts properly, you can get good shots just by playing drive-in kick and transition push basketball. You can be successful, like we talked about in a spaming ball screens, if you're just really good with your details in the ball screens. Details matter.

And so you have to coach details. You have to hold people accountable on details. So you have to, that is the type of obsessiveness that every good basketball team has. All right, last one. At some point, this guy needs to be honest about the Lakers. Here are the facts. Lakers 2023, 2024 season. Offense was not good.

Play-in team swept first round. Offensive rating 116th out of 30. Defensive rating 115, 16th out of 30. Net rating plus 0.06, 19th out of 30. Again, this is just a really dishonest way to characterize the Laker season. over the Lakers' last 46 games. They had the fourth best record in the league and the third best offense.

That's not just a stretch run. That's not just the end of the year when the best teams are preparing for the postseason and the bad teams are tanking. That's 46 games. That's 56% of the entire season. And that's not just stacking wins against bad teams. That's 17 wins against the top 10 and point differential teams,

which is tied with Boston for the most in the NBA. And that's bracketed on the other end by them winning the in-season tournament. They were bad for less than a month. Now here's the thing. A 3-10 stretch in a remarkably talented Western conference will be very damaging. And that is what colored the Lakers the way they did. And that's why most of the casual fans who weren't watching them very closely didn't think they were very good.

But they were very good in all of the games spanning that. Just again, you can't afford to go 3-10 out west. They won 47 games, though. Look at that 3-10, right? That's 13 games. Let's say that they just go with their normal win percentage of the season. So let's say they go seven and six. That's less than their normal winning percentage of the season.

Let's just say they go seven and six. So barely over 500 in that three and ten stretch. Now they're a 51 win team. And again, during that stretch, they were actively trying to get their coach fired. Like pouting, not playing hard, leaking stuff to the press. It was an ugly stretch. I'm not debating that.

but it was a 46 game stretch after that where they took off and were awesome. Not to mention the fact that it had a lot to do with the fact that they started using a lineup that never played before January. The lineup of Austin Dilo, Rui, Braun, and Anthony Davis, the one that carried them to that 46 game stretch did not play at all in the first half of the season, did not play. So here's the truth. they were bad for less than a month, but they were mostly awesome, the majority of the season. Are the Lakers in the inner circle of contenders?

No, they have too many flaws, but they absolutely belong in that next tier of teams. And I've been consistent about that. I picked the Denver Nuggets to beat the Lakers last year in the postseason. I don't have any delusions of grandeur with the Lakers. I think that they're another one of the good teams below the contender tier. But they have a really strong foundation in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, so if they can hit on a trade,

if they attack the season with the appropriate level of attention to detail, they can crack into that group potentially if some things go their way, which is the same thing that can be said about every other team that's in that tier. All right, guys, that's all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys

for supporting the show. We will be back. I'm actually later this afternoon recording with Claire DeLoon about the GM survey. That's coming out on Friday. Tomorrow is going to be a bunch of preseason reactions. So preseason reaction tomorrow, GM survey stuff on Friday.

Then we have one more week before we get into the regular season. Again, as always, I appreciate you guys. And I'll see you tomorrow. The volume. 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 supporting us.

But if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate 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. 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

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. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. the Look Back at it podcast.

In 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians,

and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all?

You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast, This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.