The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Draymond Green Show - Warriors Up 2-0 and a Rant About NBA Award Voting

Episode Date: April 19, 2022

On 'The Draymond Green Show' Dray discusses why the Warriors being up 2-0 on the Nuggets means "absolutely nothing", how Jordan Poole's ascension has changed the Warriors, the problem with NBA award voting, the amazing Celtics/Nets series, and his standout playoff performers through two games. #Herd Produced by: Jackson SafonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. The Draymond Green Show is presented by Fanduil Sportsbook. There's no better place to bet the action than on Fandual Sportsbook during the football season. It's easy to use. It's safe and secure. You get payouts in as fast as two hours. There's so many bet types. My favorite same game parlay bets.

There's live betting, player props, futures. If you're new, just download the Fandual Sportsbook app. To get started now, sign up. Please use the promo code Colin C-O-L-I-N. Fandul, Sportsbook, makes it easy. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. This is our 22nd episode.

And the first thing we want to do is say thank you for your support, for everyone's support of the Steph Curry episode. It was incredible. I mean, just the reception has been. amazing. And I can't thank those that reached out personally, those that reached out over social media platforms and spoke about how much they enjoyed the episode.

I can't thank you enough. That's from me and my producer Jackson. We can't thank you enough. Steph, if you heard this episode, we want to thank you again. I mean, it was incredible. I think we made magic. You know, that's every time we sit down, and we record this podcast, the goal is to always make magic.

And what's making magic? Making magic is bringing something to your headphones, to your car stereo, to your living room. Wherever you enjoy your podcast at, making magic is something that you walk away from and say, damn, that was incredible. I enjoyed that. I'm reaching out to somebody else. I think they need to hear this. That's making magic.

And that's what we strive for every time we sit down and do it. this when I, you know, I've been very, speaking very openly about my goals in media and about my goals with the podcast, how much I enjoy doing the podcast. And, you know, I've, I've spoke about how much this means to me, how important this is to me, and how great I want to make it. And most importantly, how great I want to be at it. And so, just to receive that reception, like, it never goes unnoticed. I mean, it's some, it's, you know, we have. all can work, work, work, work, work. But ultimately, if you don't see results in your work, you know, at some point you get defeated. And so I want everyone to know I don't take this for granted

at all. I don't think just because I'm Draymond Green, a basketball player that you're going to want to listen to me. I take this very seriously. And I can't thank you enough. Such an incredible episode. With that being said, moving forward, until the Warriors, when the NBA championship, which will go through mid-June, as we all know. We're going to switch the podcast up also through a little teaser out there this week about the podcast and my interviews as well. We're switching it up a little bit. The format will be different.

I want to make sure that I can always fully lock in on the playoffs. I was talking to a couple of friends yesterday. And the reality is most people don't understand. It's during the playoffs, like my family kind of takes a backseat. My fiance, she takes a backseat. My children, I almost feel bad saying it, but my children kind of take a backseat. And the reality is during the playoffs,

everything you're doing is to make sure that I'm ready for this next game that I have. Because one game changes, one play changes a game. One game changes a series, and one series changes the outcome of your season. And so everything that you do has to be so locked in on task at hand that ultimately everything ends up taking the backseat to that. And what I can afford, you know, trying to coordinate schedules and all of those different things around our schedule can be a little tough.

I've been super committed to that. We've been super committed to making that work. However, during the playoffs, I want my focus to be strictly on the playoffs and bringing you good content, but the guest interviews are going to have to take a backseat. They're going to have to wait until, until, the Golden State Warriors finish the mission and go win an NBA championship. Now, Jackson on this call is smiling.

Jackson is a big-time Boston Celtics fan. And so Jackson think they have something to say about that, which I'm totally fine with them having something to say about it. Ultimately, you have to stop it, but I'm totally fine with them having something to say about it. So Jackson is definitely looking at me like I'm crazy right now. Hey, I mean, when the Celtics, and the Warriors meet in the finals.

The schedule is still going to be the same. You're right. We are going to be putting the guest interviews on the back burner until mid-June. The outcome for your season might be a little bit different than what you're describing when Robert Williams gets back. But hey, the scheduling is going to be the same as what you're saying. So you're right. Meanwhile, we're still walking stuff back into the lineup.

But yeah, no big deal. No big deal. No, but I hope everyone has the opportunity to, to enjoy these segments. Our goal is to put out a couple segments a week. So we still want to bring you the content. We still want to give you something to listen to. And this will be a little more about the playoffs

and things going on around the league, but you'll get to catch some of the analysis, which I always think is fun. But don't worry, the guests will be back. We understand and we know and we appreciate all of our guests, and that is a huge part of the show. So we're not ignoring that side, but right now it just has to take a backseat. I want to, again, thank all of our subscribers, our listeners.

I want to thank you and apologize, but let you know. We still hope to bring you heat and fire, and we hope that you enjoy it, and we appreciate your loyalty, and we will continue to do all that we can to provide what you need on your ride to work, on your way home from work, to make that ride as smooth as possible. will continue to give all that we got. Also, with us doing away with the guest interviews for now, what we're going to add to the show is kind of like a mail-bat type of twist.

If you go on Twitter and you hashtag the Draymond Green Show, Jackson and myself, we will find some of the questions, and we will answer three to four questions per episode. Let's go four to five questions per episode. Your name will be mentioned. I will let everyone know it's coming from you. And we will love your engagement to hear some of the things you may want to hear about

what's going on in the playoffs, what's going on in the Warriors series, wherever we may be. But your questions, we will be looking out for your questions. We will probably pick four to five a week, I mean, four to five an episode, which is more like eight to ten a week. And I will be answering your questions during the segments. Like I said, your at name will be mentioned so we know who those questions are coming from. And, you know, maybe the conversations from my answers to your question continues on your Twitter.

Maybe I can chime in. I don't know. We'll see. But hashtag the Draymond Green Show with your questions. And we will be answering questions on every episode, kind of like the Melbach episode we did a while back. It'll be a few questions along with what we're already doing. So in saying that, the Warriors and starting are up to zero on the Nuggets.

What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. That simply means we had two home games. We took care of home court, and that's just that. We don't want to make too much out of being up too old because the reality is, as they always say, and it's so cliche, but a series does not start until the team wins on the road.

And now we have the opportunity to go do that. So it's very important that we come out in game three with the mindset of this is a zero-zero-zero series. You know, all we did was take care of our home court and what we're supposed to do. And so the task is still the task, jobs not done. We understand that. We have quite enough playoff experience

to understand that being up too old means absolutely nothing. Hell, we understand that being up 3-1 means absolutely nothing. So you always kind of let that sit in the back of the head somewhere and try not to lose sight of that because it's hard winning games in the playoff series. It's even harder to close out a playoff series, especially on the road.

Again, we're up to, oh, we have the opportunity to do that, but it starts with game three. I think when I look back at the first two games, the one thing that sticks out and the one thing that everyone's talking about is the new version of the deaf lineup with Jordan Poole and, Wiggins. I must say it's been pretty successful of these first two games. Now, in saying that,

I think there are some things that that group can continue to get better at. I think there are some things that that group will continue to get better at. And the reality is those two games, that's our first time playing together all year. For it to work the way it worked, I mean, it's very exciting because in your mind, you figure you're only going to get better, right? You Like, you're going to improve, and, you know, we'll cover up some things on the defensive end that we possibly could have covered up. We'll continue to get better on the offensive end and get more accustomed to playing with each other. Like, those are all the things that you hope. But in saying that, a very small sample size in two games, I mean, it's been absolutely incredible.

Now, what's made it incredible? Well, Clay Thompson and two games has shot the ball well. And to be expected, like you expect Clay Thompson to shoot. the ball well. That's who Clay Thompson is. Steph Curry is Steph Curry. First game back, you know, he was good. He was solid. He was really good and solid. But not quite, you know, what you don't expect from Steph Curry is good and solid. What we expect from Steph Curry is I don't even, I don't even need to throw words out there. You know what I mean. Like, what we expect from Steph Curry is what we expect from Steph Curry. Game one wasn't that, nor did I

expect game one to be that. But game two was exactly that. 23 minutes, 22 minutes and 57 seconds, if I'm not mistaken. And he finishes with 34 points, plays an absolutely flawless game. I mean, he got off the ball, didn't turn. I think he had two turnovers. didn't turn the ball over much. That's getting blitzed and that's making plays for other guys. I thought the way Steph Curry put pressure on the rim last night was absolutely incredible. And it opened up the three-point shot because if you watch the game, I think they're, you know, in their mind, it's like we got to take the three out of the game.

And all, I mean, their entire defense was pressed up. Like they're pressed up. They're above the three-point line. They're essentially trying to force you to drive. Well, Steph Curry took those drives, and then it opened the floor up, and it opened the three-point shot up. So I thought what Steph Curry came off the bench and did, he got us, he came off and got us settled in. I think they went up 70. Jordan Poole had his own 5-0 run to kind of get the game settled down.

But Steph Curry, when he came in at the six-minute market, really just settled things down. It really showed us how we truly wanted to attack their pick-and-roll coverage. we were able to figure out a lot. And, you know, their pick and roll coverage was a little different than it was in game one. They were, you know, I think in game one, we dissected them in the pocket. That's, you know, what's dissecting them in the pocket. That's me setting a screen for Steph Curry. That's me setting a screen for Jordan Poole.

That's Otto Porter setting a screen for Jordan Poole. And now once that guy roll and you see the big who's guarding the guy who sets the screen as well as Jordan's man pursuing once he's screened, then you roll and you open up. And a guy drops that little pass. That's called a pocket pass because you're dropping it into the pocket. A pocket opens up. That's called a pocket pass.

We absolutely took advantage of them in the pocket. And so what I noticed immediately, and if you think back to the game, there was a lot of kickballs from them because what they made a concerted effort to do was take the pocket away. And so because of that, it kind of changed up their pick and roll coverage a bit, and we had to adjust and figure that out. I think once we figured it out, we were all good.

And it's not like we, you know, we didn't really play out of the pocket much because they took the pocket away. But our guards were great. Steph Curry came in and did what he had to do. Andrew Wiggins was attacking the basket, which was great. You know, when you have a guy, I think back to Joe Dumars, who's like a father figure, mine, and we used to always talk about NBA basketball, and he used to tell me, Dremont, you all, on your team, you always have to have a fence bender, like someone who's going to

bend that fence over and over and over again. And I thought that's what Wiggins has been these first couple games, is he's been a fence bender, where he's just bending the fence back, bending the fence back. And once he bends the fence back, then everyone else can come. come in and you can work behind the play. And that's when everything else starts to open up. And so I think Wigs, the way Wigs has been attacking the rim has been incredible. But also, the way Wiggins has been rebounding and no one's really talking about that.

But that's what allows that newer version of the deaf lineup to really work. You know, if I'm battling with Joker, which is a tall task, which we'll talk about, by the way. But if I'm battling him and I'm trying to keep him off the way, board, it's very hard for me to then go get that rebound. And with Wiggins coming back in a rebound and Clay Thompson coming back in a rebound, I think Jordan Poo had four or five rebounds last night. As we always say, we all know Steph Curry's a great rebounder. That is very important into the small lineup working. And I thought Wiggins has been incredible with his attacks on the rim. I thought he's been incredible on the defensive end. He's been locked. Wiggins has been

locked in like I've never seen Wiggins locked in before. And when I'm I say that, I just mean like game, playing, discipline, in the fray, rebound, and the bass. I mean, it's been beautiful to see. And, I mean, the way he's stepping up to the challenge, doing all of the little things, it's been beautiful to see. So that, too, is what has helped that lineup. And then, of course, we get to the young sensation, most improved player, Jordan Poole, and what he's doing to defense is absolutely insane.

I mean, you think of a defense having to prepare for Steph Curry, which is a nightmare, and then having to prepare for him twice. That's a totally different nightmare. And right now, that's what I see out of Jordan Pool. When I'm out there playing with Jordan Pool, like the same little life hacks, if you will, that I use when I'm playing with Steph Curry to get him open,

I'm starting to realize, or I have realized, are the same little life hacks I can use to get Jordan open. and it's in large part due to his skill set. And, you know, Jordan, as we all know, he went to the school down the highway from Michigan State University. No need to mention the school's name. But I absolutely hated him. I mean, he played against Michigan State.

Like, get this kid out of here. Like, he never backed. I've never seen him back down in a moment. And that dates back to, then, like, I've never seen him shy away from a moment. He won all those moments. And it showed in these two playoff games. I mean, he got 59 points in two games. What is that? 29.5 point average a game? First two playoff games? That's a different thing. Like, that's a totally different beast. And not to be confused, he's out there running alongside Steph Curry and

Clay Thompson. That right there is intimidating in itself. You start talking. playoff basketball, the accolades that we have, and then you throw this young kid in there. I mean, I say that with all due respect. And he's just out there running around and playing like, like he's not playing next to Steph Curry and Clay Thompson, which is a very big deal because most people wouldn't know what to do in that situation. Most people would just be like, oh, man, I'm out here with them.

I'm going to sit back. I'm going to get out the way. No, that's not what he's doing. He's like, no, I want more of that. Like, no, bring the ball over here. Oh, man, they score. They're on a little run. Slow down, slow down.

Let me go get a layup. Like, his floor game and what he's doing right now is, that's what's most impressive to me than anything. It's not the shot making. Like, guys, there's a bunch of guys in the NBA that can make shots. It's not him getting to the whole of him. It's his floor game that's been the job. difference for me that's been absolutely incredible.

He's starting to face double teams now and like all of that stuff is different for him. The way he's handling all of those things, absolutely incredible, which leads me to another topic, as I spoke about earlier this week, the Most Improved Player Award. Again, you cannot tell me that there's anyone in the NBA that has improved more than Jordan Poole. Now, when I look at DeJante Murray's numbers, absolutely incredible, incredible numbers, incredible jumps that he's made. I think he may have added six or six and a half or seven points per game to his points per game average. I think he doubled his assist output or doubled his rebound output.

It's one of the two he doubled. He went from 5.4 assists per game to 9.2. Exactly. Like, I don't disagree with DeJante Murray being in that conversation and possibly being the winner. I don't disagree with that, one bit. I totally disagree with John Morant being a part of the conversation. because John Morant to me is a part of the MVP conversation.

Now, whether he ended up a finalist or not, that's neither here nor there. John Moran is a part of the MVP conversation. The reason John Moran is a part of MVP conversation is in large part due to the year he had last year to where everybody's looking like, oh, man, if he continues on this trajectory, he's an MVP candidate, and that's what he's done.

So for him to be a part of the most improved player conversation, I disagree with that. I, like, to me, what that's screaming out is almost a young MVP award. Like, okay, Joker's going to get the MVP or Joel's going to get the MVP. But on that list, there are some younger guys who could be in that conversation. And John Moran is one of those guys. And to me, it's almost like it's a young MVP award, not most improved player award.

Now, I'm not taking anything away from John Morant and the improvements that he's made. I think it's been incredible. But in the same token, John Morant was the number two pick in NBA drive. Like, I'm sorry, but when you draft someone with the number two pick, it doesn't always happen.

but you expect them to be that good. That's why you drafted them with the number two pick. Because if you draft someone with the number two pick, that's supposed to be a guy that you can now build your franchise around. So John Morant's supposed to be this good. Jonte Murray was what, the 29th pick? Again, I can't argue him being in that conversation. You look at who else is in the conversation, Darius Garland.

Darius Garland, who, unless you just don't know, basketball you didn't see him on this trajectory. But I know basketball. And I knew when I went to see Darius Garland play USC in L.A. when he was at Vanderbilt, that this was the trajectory Darius Garland was going to be on. If you didn't, you need to question your basketball cap, which a lot of these people do.

I think the voting system is, it's one of those things that's completely ridiculous and outdated. like there's no criteria in place for any of these awards there's no you have to play this amount of games or not there isn't well what makes someone the most improved player there's no criteria in place MVP award there's no criteria in place we've seen god win in seven of his team in seven we've seen guys win a team in first joker wins it this year's teams in six joel wins it this year, his team was what, fourth in the east? I don't really, like, it's actually a shame that there's no criteria to this.

The voting on it is also a shame. I think when you look at voting for all NBA, when you look at voting for defensive player at a year, most improved player, MVP, ultimately, these things are voted on by the media, which I think is absolutely disgusting. because these are human beings that could have personal issues against guys because that does happen because let's face it, these are human beings.

And they ultimately end up deciding on like $40 to $50 million for guys. It's like Jason Tatum did not make all NBA last year and he lost $37 million, I think, all because someone who's watching. the game decided that he wasn't an all-N-B-A performer, these are also people that don't watch every game. Like, it's not like if you're a beat writer for, let's say you work at ESPN, but you're covering the Golden State Warriors, you're not watching all of the Boston Celtics games.

So how is it possible that you can even say, that you can even say, Jason Tatum isn't all NBA last year. How is it possible that you can say Jordan Poole isn't the most improved player and you have not watched him play all year, nor did you watch him play all last year? How is it possible?

And so there's a huge flaw in the system. And it's ridiculous that it hasn't been changed, especially with the amount of money, money that's at stake. You mean to tell me someone who's upset at me because I didn't want to do an interview with them can ultimately decide if $37 million goes into my bank account or not? That's ridiculous. But it all goes back to the notion of what I've been talking about and how players are treated. Because the guy who works at Goldman Sachs bonus isn't decided by the employees, not the clients that are accounts they're working on.

Like that client don't then call to CEO and say, hey, John deserves a bonus. Or somebody from CNBC doesn't call and say, hey, Jamie Diamond, your employee, he deserves a $37 million bonus. That doesn't happen, but however, that still happens to be the case in basketball, and I don't understand it. Like, we're past the days of guys not understanding business. We're past the days of guys being completely oblivious to what's going on in their profession, how they can make money, the things they can do with that money. We're past those days.

The fact that the power of these awards, the power of these all-NBA teams are still decided by someone who could have never possibly played basketball a day in their life, which means there are things going on in the game that you just can't see. You already tell you how I know there's things going on

in the game that you just can't see? I absolutely love football. I watch football so much. I enjoy watching football more than I enjoy watching basketball. I watch football religiously since a child. I feel like I know a lot about football. There are so many things going on during an NFL game that I miss, that I don't know that thing is going on.

You know why? Because I don't have experience in doing that thing. I don't have experience in doing that. So there's little games within the game that I don't even realize it's going on because that's not what I do. I study football just like some of these people say they study basketball. As someone who's a part of the media now, I think it's absolutely disgusting that at some point I may have a vote

and deciding who wins the defensive player of the year. I may absolutely hate Marcus Smart. You don't know that. How do you know? I could not vote for Marcus Smart because I just hate him. I don't hate Marcus Mark, but you get my point. I could absolutely hate him. Okay, so I'm 32 years old.

By 40, I could have a vote. Guess what? That mean a player that's in his first year being his ninth year, and if I don't like him now, I can then decide that I don't want to vote for him and cost him $40 million. You think that don't happen now? you can't possibly think that doesn't happen.

A couple years ago, I had the most first place votes. Not a couple years ago when I lost to Kauai. I didn't remember what year that was. But I had the most first place votes. Some guy left me off his entire ballot. You think that was a mistake? Or was it something else behind it?

That ultimately changes the complexion of my career. That's one more defensive player of the year. have. That could be the difference in Hall of Fame or not. That's someone deciding that based off what merit. Like what, what is that based off of? I don't get it. And it's shameful and it's, it's ridiculous that no one talks about this. That it's just like, okay, you know why? It's okay because of how we're viewed as athletes. That's the only reason it's okay. because again, MSNBC, they don't decide what Jamie Diamond's bonness is. So it baffles me that us as athletes are still decided by somebody from Bleacher Report,

somebody from ESPN, somebody from blue.com. I mean, like, people create their own websites and become like these media personalities. Because they did a good job creating a website. Then they ultimately decide someone makes $40 million and out. It's absolutely ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. And it's a shame that Jordan Poole, not only will he not win most improved player, he's actually not even in the top three.

And he's actually the most improved player in the NBA. kids out there looking like Steph Curry. Twelve months ago he was on his way out of NBA. He's now in the playoffs out there looking like Stefan Wardell, Wardell, Stefan Curry. Second. That's who he out there looking like right now. And y'all mean to tell me a kid that was on his way out of the NBA

12 months ago is now out there mimicking and looking like Stefan Curry with all due respect to Steph, We all know Steph changed the game of basketball. Jordan Poole, if you look at his 22 years old, we won our first NBA championship, 2015. 15 years old. You can't possibly think that kid's not going to the gym like, oh, man, Steph Curry shooting these shots.

I'm going to shoot these shots. So he's out there mimicking Steph. He's doing an incredible job of doing it. Twelve months ago, the kid was almost out of NBA, and he's not the most improved player, you're out of your mind. You are out of your mind if he's not the most improved player,

which he isn't by these terrible standards that we have to live by. He isn't. But you're out of your mind and y'all wonder why I say basketball heads don't know basketball? You clearly don't know basketball. You clearly don't know basketball.

That's why I said, I want to come help say the media. Because you're losing our credibility. People say stuff with no repercussions. We just be talking, just to talk. Man, learn the game. Learn the game if you're going to do this job. Learn the game because it's a beautiful game.

It's being ruined by these narratives. It's being ruined. Learn the game if you're going to. you're going to do that. So I think I think it's absolutely ridiculous and hopefully

the NBA will realize hey this is such an outdated thing this needs to be changed whether there's some mix of players, whether there's coaches, whether there's some committee that the NBA puts together, there's a bunch of things and at this point it's just lazy.

It needs to be changed unless we're going to start allowing CNBC to decide who's getting a bonus at J.P. Morgan Chase. It needs to be changed. Stop looking at us like we're idiots. We're businessmen too. It's probably time to wrap our head around that. Okay?

All of us are done. That's just the reality. So let's look into that. The Celtics and Nets series, one game in is by far the most exciting series of the year. Again, we'll see where it goes from here. But between Kyrie letting them fans know exactly how he feel, which hurt Jackson heart because Jackson would have been in the crowd, getting all of that from Kyrie.

With Kyrie letting them fans know exactly how he feel, while going out and scoring 39 points while doing it, that. That series, absolutely incredible. Who won that game? I forgot. You know, down, down 17 points come storming back because you have two of the greatest offensive players to not only come storming back, but actually take the lead and then Boston have to fight back to eventually get the win. But let's talk about this final play for a second. Jalen Brown caught that ball and we all know Jaylen Brown shooting that ball. Out of control,

whatever, no problem. Jayland then gets to the baseline, realize I don't have anything, spins back, settles down into the post. Beautiful. Surveys the floor, see Marcus on the left wing wide open. Skip pass, swing it. Marcus Smart shoots that shot 10 times out of 10

leading up to this year. He's shooting that shot 12 times out of 10 leading up to this year. Marcus Smart shot fakes and drives. Jason Tatum, who goes on record saying, I was just going to the rim to try to get a rebound, receives a pass from Marcus Smart, running full speed, has the body control and wherewithal

to spin, know exactly where he is on the floor, have a terrible angle for the layup, actually make the layup, it catches the front rim and goes in. Basketball guys are alive and well. And what were they rewarded for? They were rewarded for Jalen Brown not forcing up a terrible shot. That is growth for Jalen Brown. That is the growth that has the Celtics in the position that they're in.

That is the growth that had people saying, you need to split those two up because they have, not, they hadn't seen, no one has seen that growth. Kudos to Jalen Brown. That was beautiful. Everybody thought you were shooting that ball. That was absolutely beautiful. Kudos to Marcus Smart, who I've been praising his floor game.

I mean, Marcus Smart and what he's done for that team and being the point guard. See, no one says for all these years he could have possibly been playing out of position. Because guess what? When we all loved Marcus Smart and him coming to the NBA, what position did Marcus Smart play? Market Smart was a point guard. Marcus Smart was a true point guard, which is what we all loved about Marcus Smart. He was a true point guard that could go score. Marcus Smart became a guy who wanted to go score and didn't really care about being a true point guard.

Insert E. Medi Udoka. Insert Damon Stadermeyer. insert Aaron Miles, the point guard whisperer. Marcus Smart goes back to who Marcus Smart was. Playing point guard beautifully, whole team changes, whole season changes, and then look at the results in game one. That's all a byproduct of Market Smart becoming the point guard that we all believe Marcus Smart was when he was coming into the NBA.

And it's beautiful to see. absolutely beautiful to see those young guys figuring it out with the help of oge o'er is beautiful to see got to give a lot of kudos to them now now karee and k d who are by far two of the most skilled guys in this league by far two of the best scores we've seen like they're incredible for the Brooklyn Ness is those two guys have to play so well for them to win. That's hard. Like in a playoff series, everybody's focused on these guys. That's a very hard task to play that well all the time.

But when you got those two guys, you always have a chance. And that's what we've been seeing as a late. They needed to win games down the stretch. They leaned on those two guys. They needed to win a playing game. They leaned on those two guys. They needed to get back in game one. They leaned on those two guys.

I think this series, number one, this should not be a first round series. It is totally unfair to the Boston Celtics. It is totally unfair to the Brooklyn Nets that they are playing each other in the first round series. But as a fan of the game of basketball, I love it. I mean, it doesn't get much better than this in the first round. Congratulations to Marcus Smart winning a defensive player at a year award, first guard. since Gary Payton, absolutely amazing. And again, when you win, everybody wins.

If the Boston Seltzes were still having a terrible year that they started off having when they were 22 and 22, 23 and 23, whatever it was, Marcus Smart would not be a defense player a year. So just goes to show you how important winning is. And for all those kids out there that may come across this podcast, You want to, you're looking for a skill to master. You want to go master three point shot?

Great, by all means, go ahead. You want to go master ball handling by all means, be my guess. But the best skill anyone can master is winning. Because when you win, everybody wins. Awards start piling in, rings and championship trophy start piling in. When you win, money starts piling in. Everything happens when you win. So if there's one lesson I can give to my young listeners out there,

master the art of winning. That's more important than anything. And as you can see, Marcus Smart is a testament to that. No one has talked about Markets Smart in years as far as defense player the year goes. They're winning. Boom. First guard since Gary Payton. Absolutely incredible.

I thought it was a shame that Bam out of Bayou wasn't top three. I'm not sure what Bam has to do to get in the top three. But it was a crime, I mean, shame that he didn't make the top three. I can go on and on about that. But I think we all know how ridiculous it is that Bam, I had a body. Sitting first place in the East did not make the top three. Absolutely terrible. But Bam, I'm not sure what you got to do, my brother.

I think you and Joelle need to sit in having a conversation and both figure out what y'all need to do because it just don't be adding up to me, man. It don't be adding up to me. I see Bam out of by you. I see him switch on the five. I see him be the catalyst to that defense, be the anchor to it.

I see all of that. I see it, bam. I appreciate your defense, my brother. I don't know what you got to do to get some recognition for it. And, you know, before we get out of here, I just want to talk about a few guys that's caught my eyes throughout this playoff, these first few days of the playoffs.

Jordan Pool, number one, as I've spoke about, Jordan Pool has been absolutely incredible. Tyrese Maxie has been absolutely incredible as well. I think the way he's playing off of James and the way he's playing off of Joel, it's great. I mean, what he's added to that team is making them a real contenders, huge part of the reason they've been destroying Toronto these first two games. Got to give that kid a lot of credit, a lot of credit, the way he's really come along over these first couple years of his career. Got to give him a lot of credit the way he's showing up in these playoffs.

I go back to Maxi. Maxi, I've never seen a moment too big for Maxi. I remember watching Maxi as a freshman go up against my beloved Michigan State Spartans. and I think if I'm not mistaken, that game was at Mass and Square Guard. This kid single-handedly beat us. I mean, he's hitting threes from like four or five steps behind a three-point line. Like, who is this kid?

Like, he single-handedly beat my Spartans. I've never seen him shrink in a moment. Another one of those guys that irrational confidence love the moment. gotta give Tyrese Maxie a bunch of credit. I think he's been absolutely sensational. I mean, and to do that again, alongside Joelle and B., alongside James Harden, alongside Tobias Harris, you have to have some type of irrational confidence going on

to just be like, yeah, I'm going to just go do this. Like, yeah, no, I'm going to go take this shot. Like, I'm not looking for them. I'm going to go absolutely incredible. So much props to Tyrese Maxie. Him and Jordan Poole are, if I'm just going to name two, those are the two guys that jump out at me and their performances and what they've done.

And then Kyrie Irvin as well. I mean, it was in a losing effort in a very tough game. But Kyrie was absolutely incredible. Kyrie, the little big man with all the handles and the ratchet. I mean, he's just putting guys on. Kyrie putting guys on his hip on his shoulder, big by him, and throwing left hand jump hooks. Like, those three guys for me so far has been insane.

It'll be fun to watch. And now I'd be remissed if I didn't mention Jalen Brunson with his 41 point performance to beat the Utah Jazz, Sands Luca Donchich. I mean, that's next level, Jalen. That's next level. Got to get your props. The way they put Maxie Claibor on the wing

and allow Rudy Gober to keep funneling into the pain and he's just kicking the three and he goes eight for 11 from three. Kudos to Maxi. You did what they put you out there to do, brother. Y'all got a win. Hey, I'm not mad at 1-1. Yes, they were at home,

but I'm not mad at 1-1 when Luke are possibly returning in game 3 or game 4. That's a totally different beast for Utah to have to deal with. So I'm not mad at that at all. I think Dallas should be thrilled with the position that they're sitting in right now. And you got to give a lot of credit to Claibor. And Jalen Brunson was absolutely sensational. So those are the guys that's caught my eyes thus far throughout the playoffs.

As I said, you know, over these next couple months, there won't be guests in the views. I hope you all enjoyed today. I'm looking forward to later this week. But until then, Dremont Green Show, peace.