The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Nuggets SHOCK Warriors on Nikola Jokic buzzer beater, Steve Kerr on the hot seat?

Episode Date: January 6, 2024

Jason Timpf reacts to Nikola Jokic's game winner as the Denver Nuggets staged a big comeback against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Is Steve Kerr wearing out his welcome as the Warriors head coach? Plus, Jason does a deep dive on Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans who have quietly crept up the Western Conference Standings, and gives his updated MVP Rankings. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Hope all of you guys are having an incredible week. We have a jam-packed show for you today. The Denver Nuggets come back from 18 down to beat the Warriors last night on a heave from Nicola Yokic. We're going to break that game down from the perspective of both teams. Then we had a report this morning that Jonathan Camingas very first. frustrated with Steve Kerr. We're going to talk about what that means for the Warriors.

Then we're going to do a deep dive on the New Orleans Pelicans. After getting their ass kicked by the Lakers in the in-season tournament, they're playing really good basketball ever since then. So we're going to break them down for a little bit. Then we have our latest edition of the MVP ranking, something we haven't done in a couple of weeks. And then last but not least, we have eight mailbag questions for the end of the show as well. You guys know the joke before we get started, subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel.

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And then don't forget to keep dropping mailbag questions in the YouTube comments so we can keep hitting. them throughout the week. And the last but not least, have you guys ever had a really frustrating ticket experience? I actually had one this summer. I was trying to go to a, uh, um, to a dead and company concert in Phoenix. And it was just an absolute nightmare. Well, I want to talk to you guys more about game time. I think they're the best ticketing app out there right now. They have two, a couple of specific features that I really like. They have all in pricing. So you know up front what you're getting yourself into from a cost standpoint, but they also have really good pictures of of what you're seeing from every single seat.

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Download game time today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, let's talk some basketball. So, you know, one of the things we've talked about this season is I've never really been concerned about Denver, no matter what happens. You know, they haven't had the most impressive regular season so far to this point. I think after last night, there's still like 9 and 11 against teams that are 500 or better. That said, I've never been worried because I think they're the best half-court team in the league, in my opinion. What does that mean when the game slows down, when the transition opportunities are few and far between?

It's which team can execute in a slow-down half-court environment. And so I made a thread this morning of every single play that took place from when the Warriors were up 18 with six and a half minutes left or so to Nicola Yokic's game winner. And in that thread, there's a really detailed breakdown of the specifics of what I'm about to talk about. But the short version is, on one end of the floor, the Nuggets knew exactly what they wanted to do on offense. And then on the other end of the floor, the Warriors had no idea what they wanted to do. They started by trying to post up Andrew Wiggins on Jamal Murray. And Nicole Yokic was just completely ignoring Kavanaugh-Luny, camping in the lane, making it so that Wiggins could not make an aggressive move. And then off the ball, the Nuggets were doing what a lot of teams have done to the Warriors since the Lakers kind of demonstrated it in the playoffs last year.

And that's top-locking the off-ball actions, meaning on this particular play that I'm referencing, and I have a video clip of it in the thread. Wiggins has the ball in the post. Yokic is helping in the paint. Jamal Murray is guarding Andrew Wiggins and Kvon Luni goes over to set a screen for either Brandon Pizamsky or Stefan Curry to come flying off of that action towards the basketball to try to get open. KCP's on one side of the screen

and Aaron Gordon's on the other side and they're both just denying the screen. They're like if you run this way, you're just going to run right into me and Andrew Wiggins or excuse me a KCP and Aaron Gordon were prepared to switch. They had it all set up so that KCP would take the first guy off the screen

and it just shut down the action and they didn't know what to do, right? They tried ball screens, but Denver was just chasing Steph over the top with Contavius Calvo Pope and Yokitz was just doing his best to trap as best as he could with how fast Steph is, right? But they just ignored Andrew Wiggins on the weak side

and they covered Looney with that low man and nothing was open. And they tried to make the pass to Wiggins once. Steph made a really nice cross-court pass, but Wiggins is shooting 31% on catching shoot threes this year. Not a very good shot, right? then Steve Kerr tries a lineup change. He brings in Chris Paul.

He brings in Dario Sarge. He brings in Trace Jackson Davis. They start ducking under every single Chris Paul ball screen so Chris Paul can't get into the paint. That shuts down that action. They put Aaron Gordon on Dario Sarich so they'd switch the Steph Sarge pick and roll. That put them in a situation where Steph couldn't get downhill on that action. Right.

And then with Trace Jackson Davis, they could do the same thing that they were doing with Looney, which is just having the bracket with KCP and Nicole. Yokic and just show help on the roll. As a matter of fact, there was one time that they got a good shot down the entire stretch of this game. What they did is they ran a Sarich ball screen to get Gordon switched on to Steph. Then they brought Trace Jackson Davis and Nicole Yokic into the action. Then when they bracketed, Steph hit Trace Jackson Davis. And now Denver's two biggest players are out at the three point line. And Trace Jackson Davis got a left-handed layup at the basket. That was an easy shot because Denver's smaller players.

were on the back line. That was the one good shot they got in the entire six and a half minute stretch. And what was crazy is they had three additional possessions after that play where Trace Jackson Davis got the layup and they never went back to that same sequence, the screen to get Gordon onto Steph and then the ball screen involving Nicole Yokic's guy. Steph tried attacking KCP in ISO. That didn't work. He kind of got downhill, but KCP defended it well and he missed a scoop shot off the glass. They got one high percentage shot total in six and a half minutes with one of the very best offensive players of all time and certainly the best offensive player of his era on the floor. It was just a great example of some of the personnel

limitations that the Warriors have on the table, which we'll talk about more here in just a minute. But credit to Denver's defense, first of all, Contavius Cullo Pope and Aaron Gordon had three or four so stops on Steph Curry during that stretch. The rest of the guys executed their scheme to perfection. I talked about the top blocking of the shooters to shut down some of their split-cut stuff, the ducking under ball screens on Contabius Caldwell Pope, or excuse me, on Chris Paul. That was actually Jamal Murray doing that, tagging and rotating on the weak side. Even Jamal Murray, who is a lesser defensive player, had some big contributions down the stretch

on the defensive glass, had two massive contested rebounds over that stretch. But the main reason, as much as I do want to, credit Denver, and I'm not trying to undercut that in any sense. But you saw a lot of the personnel shortcomings with Golden State on full display, right? Like whether it was Looney and Wiggins or is Trace Jackson, Davis, and Chris Paul, no matter what Chris Paul, no matter what Golden State went with down the stretch, they had two non-scoring threats on the floor. And that just made it so that Denver could throw the kitchen sink at Steph without reprisal.

And it's the biggest latest example of why Golden State desperately needs another high-level offensive player to put in those final groupings. disagree with the lineup Steve Kerr used down the stretch, but we'll get to that here in a few minutes. On the other end, Denver just continually spanned their pet actions and got great shots on every single possession. Steady dose of two-man game with Yokic and Murray, and it would be like the first time they ran it during the run, Yokic just gets a sweet little hook shot that he makes all the time, right? Second time, Luni gets a little more physical with him. He smokes that little hook shot, but Aaron Gordon gets an offensive rebound. That's a key little storyline here down

the stretch is like even when they did get a stop on the Murray Yokic post up or excuse me the Murray Yokic two-man game, Aaron Gordon would just be there to clean it up on the back end because he had Clay Thompson on him and it's just too much of a of a physical disadvantage there, right? They ran a bunch of double drags sets down the stretch. Now remember double drags where they set two ball screens. Typically one guy rolls and one guy pops to the three point line. On the first one like Steph Curry went like he was going to hedge way on the outside. So Jamal split after the first screen and got downhill, made a kick-out pass to Peyton Watson who knocked down a corner three.

By the way, shout out Peyton Watson, who's been getting a lot of opportunities at the end of games because he's a really good defensive player, and he's knocking down shots. He's actually shooting 38% on corner threes this year. And then they ran another double drag set where Steph didn't hedge this time. He actually switched out onto Jamal Murray, and they ended up getting the ball to Yokich on the roll who ended up hitting Aaron Gordon for a lob dunk. they just managed to get good shots every single time down the floor. Even if they did rotate out of the action that Denver was running,

they could just throw the ball to Yokic in the post on the key possession late in the game, the one that tied the game. Chris Paul actually shut down the two-man game with a really smart stunt in rotation to take away the corner three from Peyton Watson, and they just threw the ball to Nicole Yokic in the post, who just calmly worked for an easy shot in the lane to score over Dario Sarge. So it was like the actions were getting great shots. Even when they stopped the actions, they just go to Yokic in the post.

Even if Yokic missed a shot in the post, Aaron Gordon was there to clean up the mess. Really the one shot during that stretch where you were like, eh, that was lucky or not a, you know, not necessarily great offense was there was a strong side help play from Clay Thompson where Aaron Gordon knocked down a corner three. And Aaron Gordon's shooting like 26% on corner threes this year, so you could say that was somewhat lucky. But outside of that, it was just a boatload of high quality. shots for Denver, and then one high-quality shot for Golden State, which was the Trace Jackson

Davis slip of the ball screen, which they never went back to the rest of the game. And even then, chances are, even if they just did it a second time, Denver probably makes some sort of adjustment. Simply put, they probably just have Aaron Gordon run a variation of a drop instead of switching, and then they don't end up with Aaron Gordon on Steph, right? So like, it just was a complete personnel mismatch on both ends of the floor, not just the physicality, not just the rebound in the rebounding and what they're capable of doing in terms of defensive rotations,

but also an offensive personnel. You know, there was a play where Yokic is going to work on Kavana Luni, and Brandon Pizhemsky just can't help because it's Michael Porter Jr. That's on the strong side, and he just can't help because he's leaving too good of a shooter open.

There was even a play where Michael Porter Jr. missed a wide open wing three. It was just a complete, in total, personnel mismatch. And on the Denver front, this remains... the main reason why I think Denver is comfortably the championship favorite to this point. Even more so than I've been saying earlier.

I've been saying I think Denver is clearly and discernibly better. Now I think there's starting to be a little bit of a gap. They are by far the best half-court execution team. And it's like legitimately on both ends of the floor now. Yeah, they can generate quality shots every time down, but they are a really good defensive team this year. First of all, they have two outstanding individual defenders in Aaron Gordon and Contavius Cobble Pope. talked earlier about how they had, like, I think they got at least three ISO stops on

Steph Curry, KCP got one, and then Aaron Gordon got two. But then everybody else just does their job. And now they even have the ability to go to Peyton Watson, who's shot the ball well enough to close games for them and just bring another outstanding athlete onto the court. So at this point, to put it simply, I've seen enough to say that if Denver is healthy, I'd be genuinely surprised if they didn't win the title this year.

I think they're just a better version of the team that ran through everyone last year. Only an injury to a starter would crack the door enough, in my opinion, for someone else to get through. So shout out to Denver. You know, I was literally thinking this as I was watching the game last night. I only watched the very end of it live. I watched the rest of it this morning. But I was actually watching Game of Thrones with my wife or going through a rewatch just for fun. And I checked the score in the game and I'm like, holy shit, the nuggets are coming back.

So I pull my phone out at 127, 127, 12. and I watched that final bucket against Sarich in the post and then the Steph turnover and then the Yokic game winner. By the way, the Yokich game winner was just completely absurd. The dude, it's unbelievable what this guy is doing. He's missed five shots in the last four games. It's insane. He's comfortably.

He's got a stranglehold on the best player in the world title right now. But I was thinking as I was watching to get the end of that game on my phone, I'm like, every once in a while in the NBA, a special team comes around, like a truly special team. And, you know, the last one felt like the Warriors, I think. They've been really good teams since then. I'm not trying to undercut that. But like a truly special team where you just know that they're going to be a level

above everybody for a little while. And that's what Denver feels like to me. It feels like they're the next in that long line of truly special teams. If it was like the spurs and the heat in the early 2000s, and it was the Warriors in the late 2000s. And, you know, I think we're flowing into now, this is the Denver era. They are the truly special team of this era. On the Golden State Front.

So we get this report coming out from Shamsaranya this morning. Basically, Jonathan Kaminga, just saying that he's completely lost trust in Steve Kerr and his ability to help him reach his potential. And basically what happens is Kaminu ends up sitting the majority of the end up. end of the game. When he was supposed to come back in late, Kerr's excuse was basically like Andrew Wiggins was playing well. And Cominga was sitting too long, so I didn't want to go back to him. But that doesn't really make sense considering with like three minutes left, he made a line shift of Chris Paul and Trace Jackson Davis and Darius Arich. So like I don't really necessarily agree with that reasoning. But here's the thing. Jonathan Cominga handling that stuff

in the press, not a good look. And it's not the first time he's done. on it this year. But he does have a point. Kerr was literally throwing stuff at the wall at the end of that game. And like, Kaminga just has to be one of the things he throws at the wall there, especially against a team as big as Denver that's killing you and helping recover situations and on the offensive glass. Now, I personally would have gone with Stefan Klee with Wiggins and Kaminga and then Dario Sarich, maybe you, if Moody was in the rotation, but Moody's out of the rotation. Maybe you can go with moody in place of Wiggins there. But like, I would have gone with those guys.

I think it would have just given you a much better chance of hanging defensively. You were already having all sorts of offensive limitations. Now, Steve Kerr is on the record, and he talked about this last night. He doesn't think the two of those guys fit well together. He said it doesn't look good on tape and it doesn't look good in the numbers. And there are some numbers that backed it up there. Here's my concern, though. Like, he's right.

They are a little bit redundant. And they do need a perfect trio of players around them to be like really, really good, but that doesn't mean anything when the lineups he's throwing out there are also redundant and also lacking in key areas. It's not like he had a clearly defined lineup that made perfect sense that didn't include Kaminga. He was throwing shit at the wall, and Kaminga wasn't among the pile of shit he was throwing at the wall, if that makes sense, right? And those are really aggressive words, but I'm trying to make a point. The bottom line is, in my opinion, if you're going to be bad, you need to be bad with Kaminga on the floor. Like, because in terms of upside, he has a

some of the highest upside on the team. He was playing great that game. Having success attacking Jamal Murray in the post. Like, I don't understand how that wasn't one of the options that he went to down the stretch of the game. So even though I disagree with handling that sort of thing in the press, Jonathan Camiga has a point. But, like, it really, to me, shines the light on the bigger issue here.

It's time. It's time for Golden State to pick a direction and go already. Is Steve Kerr a bad coach? No. I genuinely believe he's one of the best coaches in the league for a good veteran team that has an opportunity to win the title. He's very, very good with the tactical adjustments in playoff series, and he can manage the ebb and flow of that playoff path, right? But it's clear that philosophically he hates playing young players that aren't excellent in the dirty work areas, right? Or at least in terms of their reputation. Like, I think it's interesting that he continually trust Trace Jackson Davis and Brandon Pizamsky, but not Moses Moody and Jonathan

Kaminga. And it's because these guys have the higher end potential. I think Pizamski is a really good two-way player, but those two guys have like the really high end potential on offense. But like the thing, too, is like they can defend on the perimeter, too. He's mainly concerned about their decision-making process. And Kirk gets so paranoid about guys making bad decisions that he gives these guys really short leashes.

But like he doesn't have to worry about Trace Jackson-David's making a bad decision because he's screening and rolling to the rim. But I would argue that he made, like, here's the thing, though, like, Trace Jackson Davis made a key defensive mistake at the end of the game overhelping on a Yokic role that gave up an Aaron Gordon dunk. And even though that's not throwing a bad pass or taking a bad shot, it is still a decision-making mistake that led to two points for the other team. So I don't even necessarily buy that as a reason.

But I'm just trying to say, like, I think Kerr's philosophy here is these guys are loose cannons, I can't trust them to do their job. these, so I'm going to go with the veterans and I'm going to go with the young players that he trusts to do their job. And so it's clear that as long as Kerr is at the helm of this thing, Kaming is not going to get consistent opportunity. Moody's not going to get consistent opportunity unless there's some sort of directive from on high that he's willing to listen to. Maybe that'll happen here down the stretch. I mean, that's what they need to happen, at least until the deadline. But here's the reality.

You need to do one of two things. you either need to fire Steve Kerr, rebuild around the young players, and move on to a new era. Because Steve Kerr is not the right coach for a young rebuilding team. He's not good with young players, right? But he's the perfect coach for a soft rebuild around Steph, Clay, and Draymond. Not to mention Steph and Clay in particular would probably mutiny if you fired Steve Kerr if they were still on the roster, right? So do one or the other. Make up your mind.

It's the middle ground which is getting you into trouble constantly over the last couple of years. So like, trade Jonathan Caminga, trade Moses Moody, trade draft compensation, bring back a Seacum or a Markanin or a Jeremy Grant, and run at it again with Stefan Clay and Dremont and those guys in Andrew Wiggins. And Steve Kerr is the perfect guy for that group. You'll never have a Jonathan Camingo report to the press again after that. But if you don't believe in that, then yeah, fire Steve Kerr and go this way. there's been so much talk about Steve Kerr being a bad coach.

He's not a bad coach. He's coaching a bad team right now. That's what's happening. And they're a bad team in large part because one of their most important players has been suspended. There's one of their other most important players in Andrew Wiggins is just playing really bad basketball by his standards and what he's used to, right? And there's a philosophical schism taking place between the young players in their development and what's best for the team in the short term. and like I would argue playing the young players is actually also better for the team in the short term until the trades are made, but Steve Kerr feels differently.

And so in this in-between stretch, before they trade the young guys and up until the stretch where, or from now up until the stretch where they get something back at the trade deadline, that gap there, Steve Kerr is the bad coach for this group. Not because he is a bad coach. He's just not the right coach for this specific. personnel dynamic. And that's what you're seeing manifesting there. But like at the end of the day,

and maybe they do have to wait until the deadline because that's the best way to drive the price up, right? Because people just get a little bit more desperate when we get to February, right? But if that's the case, you either need a directive from on high, like I said, that said, hey, stop it with the comminga shit, get him out there on the floor, right? Or Warriors fans need to be prepared for a really ugly stretch here

up until the deadline, which is not the end of the world because once again, once you get to the deadline that we've seen, just like with the Lakers last year, you can make a run, get up to that seven seed, and try to make some noise in the playoffs. And, you know, if Golden State gets to that point and they have an OKC or they have a Minnesota in the first round, like Golden State's going to go into that series thinking they can win, especially if they bring back a high caliber player at the deadline, right? So like not all is lost, but they need to make a decision. And before that decision, it's either going to look really bad or there needs to be. to be some sort of flexing of muscles in the front office or the ownership group to try to get

Steve Kerr to start playing these young guys. 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, competition. 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 Clivert 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 you 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 was 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. Then you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for Black. 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. All right, let's move on to the New Orleans Pelicans. So I was watching Pells Wolves this morning, and it was a really interesting game because it was close early, but then the

the Pelicans just completely dominated in the second quarter. C. Jim McCollum and Brandon Ingram are both absolutely cooking and pick and roll right now. So those guys were going off. They were defending extremely well. They had Anthony Edwards frustrated and complaining at the refs. Carl Anthony Towns was taking one-leg fadeaways. The Minnesota's got some personnel shortcomings too when it comes to off-ball shooting, which has been a big problem in their half-court offense. But they ended up running away with the win. As a matter of fact, the Pelicans held the wolves under 25 points, or 25 points or fewer in each of the first three quarters as they ran away. It was actually one of the more impressive wins of the season

when you figure it was on the road in Minnesota. So I figured it was time to check. on the Pels because since getting their ass kicked in the in-season tournament game against the Lakers, they are nine and three and have avenged that loss of the Lakers. They are sixth in offense, second in defense, second in net rating, and second in rebounding percentage. And I want to start on the defensive end of the floor. It really just comes down to them being excellent in three key phases. They're excellent at the point of attack.

They're excellent in backside rotation, and they're excellent on the defensive glass. And when I say backside rotation, that's help, that's defensive rebounding, that's rotating when the ball, when the defense is compromised and you're kind of in like a chaos situation. They have athletes and they communicate really well. Brandon Ingram in particular has been so, so good as a help side defender this year. I think he's having one of his better defensive seasons of his career. But specifically, what's interesting to me about it is Jonas Fallon Chunis is not a very good defensive player. And it kind of reminds me of Denver in the sense that, like, what they have bracken, it around him with the point of attack in their backside rotations, kind of makes the whole thing

work, especially when you factor in that they're cleaning up the glass. And again, it comes down to some of that backside athleticism, too. You know, when we look at Denver, guys like Michael Porter Jr. and Peyton Watson, in addition to Aaron Gordon as a low man, go a long way towards making that whole thing work. And there's just always so much length and athleticism on the floor for the Pelicans. And I think it's the primary driving force behind their defensive foundation. On the offensive end of the floor, over this 12 game spans, C.J. McCollum, Zion Williamson, and Brandon Ingram are all averaging over 20 points per game very efficiently. Zion's up over 60% from the field. Thanks to those three guys in particular, the Pelicans have been the sixth most productive isolation attack in the league.

Brandon Ingram in particular, it's getting 1.14 points per isolation possession, including passes. There are 26 players in the league that have attempted at least 100. Brandon Ingram's at number six right now. Still love his combination of over-the-top shot making, and he's always been one of the better playmakers at his position group. I talked in the game breakdown a little bit about their pick-and-roll attack in the second quarter, and both CJ and Brandon Ingram have been excellent pick-and-roll players, all sees Brandon Ingrams at 1.05 points per possession,

Sage Jim McCollum's at 1.03. It's the most common play type in the NBA, so pretty much anything over one is good. There are 67 players in the league to run at least 100. Brandon Ingram and CJ are 24th and 27th, respectively. Trey Murphy is shooting 45% from 3 on 6 attempts per game during this 12-game stretch. Then I want to shout out Jonas Valcunis because, obviously, we've talked some about his defensive limitations, but he's having an awesome offensive season. He's been one of the best post-up players in the league.

1.13 points per possession, including passes, 6th out of 23 players to attempt at least 100 post-ups to this point. And then he's become a super important part of the Pell's pick and roll attack. He's got a really good pick and pop and pocket pass chemistry with Brandon Ingram. As a matter of fact, Jonas Valensunis is converting role man possessions at 1.38 points per possession, which is outstanding. That is second in the NBA among players to attempt at least 75. There's 20 players that qualify, and he ranks second.

And then the last guy I wanted to shout out was Jose Alvarado. Alvarado, excuse me. Just such a useful role player off the ball in particular. He's an absolute menace at the point of attack. 2.3 steals per 36 minutes so far this season. He's really aggressive up underneath players. He's got a low center of gravity. He slides his feet well, beats players to spots.

He disrupts the basketball. Still getting people with that sneak attack. But he's also a very good offensive player off the ball. He converts spot-up possessions at 1.09 points per position. possession and is shooting 62% an effective field goal percentage on catch and shoot jumpers. And you can see it on the scoreboard. The pelicans are 13 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor versus off, which is the second best mark on the team behind Trey Murphy.

So shout out to the New Orleans Pelicans. Let's see if they can keep up this level of play over the rest of the season. Now, let's move on to our MVP rankings. So we have a couple of guys dropping off this week. week, specifically Steph Curry and Jalen Brunson. Between the two of those guys, they have lost eight games since our last edition of MVP rankings. So they're dropping off the list for now. Number 10, and remember, my MVP rankings, like if I was an MVP voter, I'd feel different. I just want to use my MVP rankings as a means with which to basically just say,

who's been the best regular season player this year? That is the main. That is the main. purpose of my MVP rankings. And for one, it's worth, that's the way a lot of voters see it, too. So we'll see if it ends up panning out at the end of the year. But I just wanted to, I know we've done them a few times, but I wanted to just give that quick little briefing. Number 10, Deeran Fox. His scoring and efficiency have taken a little dip since our last rankings, and the Kings have dropped some games. So he drops to 10, and he had a nightmare game against the Orlando Magic the other night, although he did hit a couple of big shots in double overtime. But he's been one of the best volume pull-up shooters in the league this year, which I wanted to shout out

really quick. He's getting 1.1 points per pull-up jump shot. There are 23 players in the league that have attempted at least 200, and he ranks third. Only Tyrese Halliburton and Tray Young have been better. So an excellent pull-up shooting season for Deer and Fox, and just a huge deal when you factor in the fact that he's already one of the best downhill athletes in the league, and already a great mid-range score as an excellent floater, great rim finisher, and great passer. Number nine, Anthony Edwards. He's averaging 34 points, four rebounds, and five assists since our last MVP rankings on 40% from three, by the way. Best player on the best team in the Western Conference, even if it is largely on the strength of the team's defense.

I do want to shout him out, though, because he's been one of the best pick and roll ball handlers in the league this year. He's getting 1.1 points per pick and roll, including passes. 6th out of 48 players to run at least 250. He's got really good chemistry with Rudy Gobert on the role this year. Number eight, Jason Tatum. Even though I get annoyed with his offensive approach, and even though he's not as efficient as some of his peers around the league, the Celtics are 4-1 since our last rankings,

and Tatum is averaging 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists, so he'll hold on to the 8th spot for now. Number 7, another one of the new guys on our list, Kauai Leonard. Most folks don't know this, but Kauai is having the most efficient scoring season of his career. He's over 63% true shooting for the first time ever. he's getting 1.22 points per ISO, which is outrageous.

Only his teammate James Hardin and Tyrese Halliburton have been more efficient on volume. I think it's like a minimum 100 possessions, if I remember correctly. He's also making 48% of his catch-and-shoot jump shots, getting 1.3 points per shot. The clippers are 15 points per 100 possessions better with Kauai on the floor versus off, and the clippers are now up to fourth in the Western Conference and riding another four-game winning streak. So he could climb much higher on this list if he stays healthy throughout the rest of the season. Number six, Janus and Tenacumpo. Janus is still an absolute wrecking ball, even if Victor Wemanniam, that play where he blocked him at the room last night was one of the craziest basketball plays I've ever seen.

And Victor just keeps doing stuff like that, right? But despite that, since our last rankings, 32 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists on 63% field goals, and 36% from three since our last rankings. He had two huge threes against the spurs last night in crunch time, but the Bucks have dropped three games in the last two weeks, including back-to-back-out classings at the hands of the Indiana Pacers, so Janice is going to drop to sixth for now. Number five, Luca Donchich.

Our leading score since our last rankings, 38 points per game to go with eight rebounds and 10 assists per game, 50% from the field and 41% from three. He's also led the Mavs to a 4-2 record in that span, so he moves up to 5 this. week. Number four, Tyrese Halliburton. Five straight wins, all against good teams, including back-to-back wins against the Bucks, who, you know, have some issues at the point of attack as we've broken down on this show. He resoundingly outplayed Damien Lillard in both games. I'm telling

you, this is a theme I've seen around the league this year, too. These young guys are really starting to outplay some of the veterans around the league, and it's getting to that point where it might be a changing of the guard of sorts. In that five-game stretch, 27 points, five rebounds and 15 assists per game, 51% from the field, 39% from 3, 88% from the foul line, and 1.4 turnovers a game to go with 15 assists. As a matter of fact, in terms of pure value, in terms of who is doing the most with the least, I actually would put Tyrese Halliburton at number one, but it's team success that's keeping him down to number four for now. But I don't think anybody's done more with less this year than Tyreys Halliburton. Nicole Yokic, is only a lot of

He only missed five shots over his last four games, hit the nasty game winner over Kvon Looney last night. He's a different candidate than some of the other guys on this list because he's not very aggressive as a score this season with the team healthy. Hasn't attempted 20 shots in a game a single time over the last seven games, but he's still dominating and the nuggets are rolling. He's up to number three. Number two, Shegildjus Alexander, the only guy to beat Yokic in the last month or so, and he did it twice, including with a game winner.

Here's a crazy set of Shea stats for you. 1.1 points per pick and roll, including passes. 1.2 points per ISO including passes. 1.31 points per post-up, including passes. So he's basically getting almost 1.2 points for any self-created possession in the half court. He's become one of the top five shot creators in the league. I'm very, very excited to watch him play meaningful playoff basketball this year. Last but not least, number one, Joel and B.

He's only played in two games since our last rankings, but he's averaging 31, 13, and 10 assists. Yes, 10 assists per game. You heard that correctly over his last two games, averaging five turnovers game over that span. But we can't deny anymore that Joel Embed is taking a leap as a passer. And that's a very, very encouraging thing for him as a postseason player. I want to credit Nick Nurse, too, for simplifying some of his reads this year. He has the best combination of total MVP case, which is like two-way impact, insane counting stats, team success. and specific value to his team's success on this list. So he's at number one for the time being. All right, let's move on to our mailbag. First question. Do you think that Tatum will continue to hunt difficult pull-up threes late in games or against favorable matchups and playoffs when it's so clear that driving and kicking and hoping for the ball to come back to your hands

for a high percentage shot is a better option? I don't know if I'm just very accustomed to your show in your words, but man, it has become so obvious when he's taking these contested difficult shots that don't go in anyways. In other words, if it's so obvious to us on TV, why hasn't Boston adjusted that part out of his game yet or will we see it adjusted come playoffs? So I think the reality is,

is Jason Tatum is probably trusting his work here and he probably just has a great amount of belief in that pull-up jump shot. That doesn't mean it's a good shot, but that I think is his reasoning behind taking it. I do think the coaching staff could be a little bit more, you know, deliberate about trying to talk him out of taking those shots, but at the end of the day too,

it's a fine line between that and taking away a player's confidence. You want him to be confident taking those shots. And he has made him in the playoffs at times. Like we saw him make him in game seven against the Philadelphia 76ers, right? That was a big part of his late game comeback there. But we do have a really large sample size

of him being largely inefficient with that shot. And the reality is, in my opinion, he's young still. And eventually it will click for him as he learns to truly value every single possession at a higher level than he does now. I just think it's a matter of time. Most of these guys don't figure this kind of stuff out

until they're late 20s, early 30s, right? That's why all the great superstars, you know, don't win until they're 26, 27 years old, right? So, like, I just think it's only a matter of time. He just needs to figure out, you know, what the best way to attack every individual possession is for him. Next question. Do you have any interest or capacity within the framework of the show

to mix in some WMBA coverage and or analysis? It could fit in nicely as some NBA offseason opportunities for content that wouldn't need to replace your MBA offseason coverage and opportunities for rest and relaxation for you. But maybe some coverage that would give you the chance to address interesting observations about the basketball and personnel in that league. There are certainly other shows out there that are exclusively covering the WMBA, but I'd certainly be interested in hearing your perspective on WMBA basketball and have some fun hearing you talk shop about some of my favorite players and teams in that league. Thanks for all you do and keep up the great work. So here's the thing. It's not just the WMBA.

There's a lot of sports out there that I don't watch as much as I'd like. Like, I'm a huge NFL fan. And I, you know, I went into this season. I ended up paying for the All-22 package because I wanted to kind of learn more about the schematics of football just because I've always been a fan of the game. And then the season starts, and I'm so busy with my job. It just falls on the wayside. I barely use that package.

So I might as well have ripped up $70. and I haven't followed the NFL very closely. I'm a big college football fan. I'm a big college basketball fan, a huge U of A basketball fan. We have a really good team this year. I've only watched like four or five of the games. And it's just because like this job is so demanding

from the standpoint of like, think about all the things on this show that we still kind of need to hit. Like Trey Young, hooping his ass off, would like to talk about it at some point, right? Like the calves, despite being without Evan Mobley and Darius Garland have been kind of feisty. They're worth talking about. Like, I could go on and on.

There are so many NBA topics. I'd love to do a rookie rankings at some point, right? And like talk about Victor Wimbunyama and Scoot Henderson and the Thompson twins. I'd love to do all that stuff. But the reality is, is like, it's so difficult to find time for all of these things that if I have an extra hour, like I'm going to be, like, this morning. I'll be like, you know what I need to hit the Pelicans. They're hooping. I need to get to the Pelicans.

And so I crammed in time today to watch Pelicans' wolves and to do a deep dive into the numbers. And like, if I have time, I direct it towards the NBA. And so even though I'm a huge basketball fan who loves watching women's basketball, specifically I had a great time watching the women's tournament last year. I thought Caitlin Clark was one of the most entertaining, you know, a television phenomenon that I've seen in the last couple of years and what she did in the tournament last year. I'd love to do that.

It's just when I have extra time, I devote it towards the NBA because I just want to keep doing a better job of this. And like, I don't think there's a version of it where I could cover other things and still do this as well. It would have to be part of some larger shift to just covering all sports in a lesser capacity.

And right now, first of all, I'm not even sure I ever want to do that. I love the NBA. It's like, you know, the second most important thing in the world to me to my family and friends, right? So, like, I, for me right now, like, I just don't see it in the cards. That's not to say never, but for right now, I just don't see a universe where I start covering

the WMBA, just simply from the standpoint of how much time I have. Next question. You move the thunder into your contender tier. Are there any moves that could make their pool of assets that moves them into your Denver, Boston tier right now? And if so, would you make that move and wait and see what happens this playoffs before changing anything. They're young, but rookie contracts will end and they might not be able to retain all the key guys. So again, I've said this before on the show, but an upgrade at that

four spot is what would move them into the contender tier for me. I agree from the standpoint of like they're not being urgency. I don't think they win the title this year anyway, just simply from the standpoint of like, you need experience. Like I always talk about battle scars. Like, you need to be scarred by losing in the playoffs so many times that you're not. You know, you suddenly break through. There's nobody that gets to cheat that process. The Warriors lost in 2013 and lost in 2014, right? Like, you, you suffer on the way to that point. It's a, it's a very important part of that process. The Nuggets lost to the Lakers in the 2020 bubble, right? And they lost in 2021. And they lost in 2022 when they were injured. It's like, it's all part of that

process. And you get so terrified of losing that you start to make these crazy extra efforts. I remember in the 2012 NBA finals. That was a big storyline. Shane Badié is like making these crazy efforts for extra rebounds because he's been in the league for a decade and he just wants to win so bad, right? And it's like as good, it's not to say that the young players aren't competitive. It's just, it's hard to explain other than to just say there is another level to this. And as good as the thunder have been, the other level is winning a.

in April, May, and June. And that is not something that teams pick up overnight. It takes time. And so from that standpoint, you wait to make that all-in move for the right player. Now, if the right player is available at this deadline, get them now. Because the more time you have to build that chemistry, the better. Might as well build that playoff scar tissue this season, right? But if the right guy is not available this deadline, you can be patient because I don't

see this year ending in a championship for the thunder. I have to include them just by virtue of their overall talent in my list of contenders, but I would be shocked if they won the title just based on everything we've learned from NBA history. Next question. This is less of a question, just a comment. I got like four Celtics fans saying this in the comments. Definitely a worthy game to talk about, but just to be clear, that's seven for seven on Celtics videos immediately following a loss. Let's try to match that amount with videos after they win if that's not too much to ask. Lots of Celtics fans said this. To be clear, I pick the show, the kind of the layout of the show, which games I'm going to cover in advance. So like, when I covered the Celtics, I planned on covering

them before the game. If they, I haven't looked back to see, I don't, I don't agree with that stat because I literally covered the Celtics beating the Lakers on Christmas Day. So that's, it's at least some amount of inaccurate. That said, like, like, I have no vendetta against the Celtics. I would pick them to win a playoff series against everybody in the league except for Denver, and I'd give them a chance to beat Denver. We've talked, one of the reasons why we don't talk as much about them on this show as some of the other teams is they have a very clear style that they play, and it doesn't change. They're not a team in turmoil. They're not a team trying to figure out how they want to play. They're not a team that has major rotation concerns, and so they're not a team that has

as much like debate surrounding them other than can they get the job done, is Tatum capable enough of being that guy, which I think is something we've covered in detail on this show. But the reality is, is like, I've picked them in a lot of big high leverage games, and they've lost a lot of those big high leverage games, which has a lot to do with some of my concerns surrounding the Celtics and what their potential is in the big picture. But here's the thing. I'm going to keep picking Celtics games based on major matchups throughout the season that we're going to cover.

and if the Celtics win, that we're going to cover them as if they won, right? So, like, it's not any sort of, uh, of, you know, uh, cherry picking Celtics losses. This is predetermined stuff here for the layout of the show. Next question. The Warriors have experienced lackluster performance from Clay Thompson, Kavanaughan and Andrew Wiggins. Seems unusual for this group of historically consistent players to be struggling at the same time. It seems like their issues are more than on the court.

What is the likelihood that the chemistry and the buy-in from their cores is broken. And if this continues, is Steve Kerr's job in Jeopardy. So I'm not going to talk about Steve Kerr's job, because we talked about that in the Warriors segment earlier today. But here's the thing. To talk about each of those individual players, Clay Thompson's just getting a little bit older. That's all that is. Kavanaughn is a big part of it is scheme. I think as the overall offensive talent on the floor is dipped, having Kavanaughn Lune out there has become a bigger problem than back when Andrew Wiggins was playing really well, and back when Clay Thompson was playing really well, right? So as the offensive talent is dipped,

Kavana Luni's offensive shortcomings have kind of risen to the table, and that was a big issue down the stretch last night. Andrew Wiggins, your guess is as good as mine, man. I don't know what happened to him. He's just not the same guy. And I wish I could give you some sort of explanation, but I don't know what to say. He's not shooting well. He's not defending as well.

He's not making decisions as well. He's just not the same player. And that is a really unfortunate circumstance for the Warriors because it's changed the, you know, the trajectory of that team over the course the last couple of years. Next question. Please tell us what shoes you wear while hooping. Would love to know what your favorites have been throughout the years, what you're

currently wearing, and how your play style affects your preference. Thanks for putting out such great content. We don't deserve it. Well, I disagree with that last part, although I do sincerely appreciate the support in the kind of words. Basketball shoes. When I was younger, I played Kobe's a lot. um played in hyperfuses when i was in college that was my go-to i were hyperfuse lows my uh my second

year in college that was one of my favorite shoes that i played in uh but a lot of cobies after that post cobi it's been like i basically tried to find whatever a new shoe is performance based me i shouldn't say performance base that fits my my foot in the way that i play best and it's funny when I was younger, I used to care so much about what the shoes looked like, and I'd find a pair that looked sick, and I'd buy them, right? But, like, now I could care less. All I care about is, like, does it feel good in my foot and does it feel good to hoop in? And so the last two that I've been, because what I'll do is, like, I'll find a pair of shoes that I really like, and then I'll just buy as many of them as I can and just ride it out until that shoe doesn't exist anymore. So the previous

shoe to the, because right now I'm wearing the Yonescu's. Very similar to Kobe's. I'm on my second pair of them. One of the things for me is I like a lighter low top shoe, kind of like a Kobe. The problem is I weigh 230 pounds, and so I wear through them super fast because I play like a guard. I play out on the perimeter, and so they just break down really fast. So I do go through shoes relatively quickly, unfortunately, but I like having that lighter shoe because I like to be quicker on my feet. But the UNESCOs have been my go-to shoe as of late. But before that, I went through five pairs of LeBron 19 lows, which is crazy because I never was a LeBron guy. I think his shoes are generally too heavy and kind of uncomfortable and the traction's not great.

I've never been a huge fan of LeBron basketball shoes, but the LeBron 19 lows were really, really nice, and I really liked those, and I went through five sets of them. So, like, I'll probably end up riding out the UNESCO's for the next year or so, and then I'll be on to the next one. But the UNESCOs kind of follow this Kobe trend, and so I kind of have a feeling that that's going to be my go-to basketball shoe for a little while. and I know I've said this on the show before, but I can't even begin to describe how much better it's been just being back out on the court

because that injury saga was just an absolute nightmare. I'm slow as shit. It's still going to take a couple of months for me to get to the point where I can play at the level I was playing before, but it just feels good to be back out there. I just don't get having the Lakers as a top five contender when they clearly need the trade

and not have Minnesota in there who are not currently a theoretical team. You've spoken often about theoretical basketball, or that simple, you've spoken how theoretical basketball is simply that theoretical. Lakers aren't even guaranteed to be a top-tier container with a contender with a good trade. They're certainly not top five at the moment and totally, and got totally owned by the wolves the other night.

So here's the thing. The Laker thing is up for debate. So is the wolves thing. Like, they're like up for debate topics and then they're not up for debate topics. Like if you tried to sit here and tell me that you didn't, think Denver was a championship contender, I'd be like, yeah, you're just wrong about that. Like, I don't know what to tell you, right? But this stuff is up for debate. And here's the

reality. When I say theoretical basketball, to me, the wolves are the theoretical team because I haven't seen them make a long playoff run. I watched them last year. We were not good enough to beat Denver, right? But like, I haven't seen them against multiple matchups. I haven't seen them have to make multiple defensive adjustments or offensive adjustments against multiple opponents. You have to win four series to get through. I have personally watched LeBron James and Anthony Davis win six playoff series. I just watched them last year. Beat the two-seed Memphis Grizzlies, beat the defending champion Golden State Warriors, and then lose to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets. That's not theoretical. They have issues within the regular

season that they need to address. They are not a theoretical basketball team. I know exactly what they look like in the postseason. That to me is exactly why I have the wolves below them. You should know this. I've been working on adding things to the show to have more reverence for the regular season. That's kind of like what my power rankings are. That's kind of like what my MVP rankings are, right? Like I want to do a better job of acknowledging the regular season accomplishments within the 82. But I am like, it takes a lot to move me in a regular season. like it just takes a lot because I value postseason basketball is almost like a different sport. It's not really a different sport, but it's like such a higher level of basketball in terms of

intensity and physicality and adjustments. And like an experience suddenly comes to the table and superstar talent comes to the table and all these different things. And like the problem with the wolves is like I know Anthony Edwards is going to be really freaking good one day, but like I don't know when. and their half-court offense sucks. It was a huge issue against the Pelicans when they got their ass kicked the other night. Like they have all these big red flags

and they don't have a playoff foundation that gives me margin for error with them. Notice I haven't taken the Warriors off of my championship contenders. Why? Because I know what Steph, Clay, and Draymond can do in a playoff series when they have two other really good players on the floor with them. And if they go out and they make a trade

and they bring back a Pascal Seacum or a Lori Markanin, they're going to be really dangerous. I'm good again. And I know Steph Curry is one of the best playoff players in the league. To put it simply, Steph's a way better playoff player than Anthony Edwards in my opinion right now. So that to me makes even Steph and the Warriors somewhat less theoretical than Minnesota. I have Minnesota higher than Golden State right now because Golden State has major personnel issues.

I actually think the Lakers who have personnel issues have significantly better personnel than the Golden State Warriors. They've achieved in a lot of ways. We've talked about their coaching situation. I think the Lakers are actually pretty close. And that's why I still have them at fourth in my championship rankings. I don't view them as theoretical because I've seen LeBron James and Anthony Davis and what they can do in a playoff series.

More importantly, LeBron and AD look better than they did last year. So to clarify, theoretical basketball to me is more referring to the playoffs, not the regular season. Like, you are correct. The Minnesota Timberoles have been a much better regular season. team than the Lakers. But that to me is not the same as what I saw in the postseason last year when I just, I think LeBron James and Anthony Davis are just a significantly more impactful playoff

duo than Anthony Edwards and Carl Towns or Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert or however you want to look at it. It doesn't mean the wolves can't win. I just view them as more of a long shot as a result. Last question. Did you forget about the clippers as contenders or do you think they aren't contenders? Here's the thing with the clippers. I'm really concerned about their front line size.

And a lot of the shot selection stuff, the James Hardin Playoff stuff. So for me, I'm not saying I won't put them on there. As a matter of fact, I expect that I probably will at some point this season. I just want to see a couple more high leverage games. I want to see them in like a major nationally televised on the road in Oklahoma City against the Thunder, which I wanted to see the other day, but Kawhi was out. But I just want to see them get a couple of really big high leverage wins before I add them to the contender list at that point. Because there's a lot theoretical with the clippers as well, unfortunately, as it pertains to their front line.

All right, guys. That is all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate your support. I hope you guys have a good weekend, and we will be back on Monday. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their

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

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's 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 offers. Like Mark Lamont Hill.

on the 80s. 84 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.