The Mismatch - Are Tanking and Resting Ruining the Game? Plus: Finals Odds, Whether the Clippers Can Pull Off a Playoff Upset, and Zion the Superstar.

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Verno and Jacoby go through last night’s games, especially looking at teams that are either resting or full-on tanking (1:06). The guys debate how long the league will allow this to continue and what needs to change to prevent teams from tanking and resting starters who are healthy. They also discuss Tony Allen's jersey retirement ceremony over the weekend, the nonexistent Heat Culture, and the standings in both conferences (25:45). Next, the guys debut a new segment on the show called How Does That Sound?, where they each fire off a take and debate it. They discuss the Rockets' chances of reaching the 2-seed and whether Cooper Flagg will stay in college, and Jacoby details his idea for a new way to present the Larry O'Brien Trophy (45:40). Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez and Tucker Tashjian Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me as he does every week from the ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. What the hell happened last night, Ferno? What happened last night, Bruno? Well, look, you and I have been incredible proponents of the NBA. We are true NBA fans. We love to watch the NBA on a regular basis.

and we are defenders of the NBA. There is very little I can come up with to defend last night. I will say as a true NBA fan, I was absolutely mortified by last night. Not that we were without good games, but I just thought as I was flipping around, this is an absolutely toxic combination of resting stars and tanking teams. Like up and down the line.

You flip to a game and you're not getting to see the team that we would see in order to evaluate for playoff purposes. Like over and over again, I'm not seeing that team for the good teams. And then there are teams that have actively quit. on the season, right? The Pelicans are getting beat by 40,000 points. Miami has just totally quit on their season. And so we've even added teams to the list as these weeks have gone on.

And I don't know what the answer is. I was trying to think about it last night. Obviously, the resting stars thing, Adam Silver has come in and attempted to threaten people, attempted to find them for sitting out their stars. but as someone who loves the league, I was mega depressed with last night's outcomes. Just watching it, wanting to enjoy it,

wanting to evaluate it for playoff purposes, especially as we're headed down the home stretch. And I thought it was a massive disservice to the fans that that's the product. Like somebody like us that's like attached to it, I know we've got to talk about it. But honestly, as I've said over the year, years, I'd be watching this stuff.

I'm watching regardless. Even if I hadn't, yeah, if I didn't have to do a show this morning. And to flip around and not that I wasn't entertained by some of the games, I'm just so, I'm so depressed at what we've got as the product when we're right here in the home stretch headed towards the playoffs. I don't know if you felt the same way or not. But man, I was just, you know, by the time I went to. bed last night. I was like, dude, this stinks. This stinks. I don't even want, like, I don't,

am I supposed to talk about what Denver did to the Warriors last night? Yeah. Am I, am I supposed to talk? But why does it matter? It's totally and completely insignificant what happened in that game. Am I supposed to, you know, talk about what happened with the Pacers and the wolves? Yes. They didn't have Halliburton. They didn't, they don't, that is not the team that is going to be representative of that franchise when we get to the playoff time. And so that's what upset me. Okay. First of all,

Verno, I understand how you feel. You're on the couch right now. I'm the therapist. It's not your fault. Chris Vernon, it's not your fault. But let me start by saying this.

I generally am a pretty negative person. I smile a lot and I'm friendly. But like I see I'm a glass half empty guy often. But I will say this, just because your glass was full. empty that I will, I'll try to fill it with a little bit of liquid and say this. It was a fun night of NBA basketball. And I think that NBA basketball is like sex in this sense.

Sometimes it's better than others, but it's pretty much always good, regardless. So we didn't see the stars. And I, as I said in the last spot, I fully agree with you. There needs to be some heavy duty reform that de-incentivizes teams from losing basketball games because this is what we get for the most part. And there needs to be some schedule reform that it doesn't feel like you cannot be a star player and play all of the games and then play in the playoffs. That feels like an impossibility at this point. So there needs to be some serious reform to avoid resting stars and tanking teams. And I understand that. But at the same time,

when you ask the question, what am I supposed to take away from the nuggets beating the Warriors, and I think there's a lot to take away. I think that what we've learned in the last month is just how important Aaron Gordon is to the Nuggets and just how it changes the geometry of their offense when Aaron Gordon is hitting threes at the clip that he is hitting. He's improved by like 10 percentage points from three. The dude had 38 points last night, and it did make me feel a little bit about the Warriors, who were pretty much at full strength.

They didn't have Pajemski, but there was a part of me that just watching that game, not going to sleep, waiting for the Warriors to come back and make it a thing. Just waiting for it to happen. And it never happened. And it made me start looking at the Warriors. Like, you got Tyson Hunter and Conchar out there scoring buckets on you. Like, is this a team that's supposed to contend for the titles? This is the hottest team in the Western Conference?

It didn't feel like it watching last night. So I'd say that there's serious change that needs to happen. It was fun. It's always fun because NBA basketball is like 7. it's always good sometimes it's better than others and i think there is something to take away from these teams even the underman teams even the rockets being pushed by the sixers who're playing dudes have never heard of before and the warriors losing to the nuggets and also the timber wolves one another hot team in the western conference losing to the pacers don't just have not have

haliburton they don't have siacum it's t j mcconnell and obi tomming tearing him in overtime all right i'm going to stop you and I'm going to go with your analogy. Okay. That's fine. You want to say that. I feel like I woke up with an STD. Was it still fun? How fun was it, Jacoby? How fun?

How fun was it? I don't know. I hope you got all those ones you can just take out with some antibiotics or something. Well, we'll try. Look, I mean, find the geometry of Aaron Gordon. when they have Nicola Yokic, when they have Jamal Murray, when they have whatever. And then guess what happens? The Warriors lose that game last night.

They're now 14 and 2 with Jimmy Butler. Okay. And you go to the post game quotes. And what are the post game quotes? You know, got a second game of a back-to-back tomorrow. We're probably going to have to sit Steph. He's just been carrying us for so long. You know, he just missed 10 of 14 threes.

he just had seven turnovers. You know, I got to find him some rest. I'm going to talk to the GM and it may just have to be another big game against the bucks tomorrow night. Like, I really don't know what the answer to this is. Like, you know, a couple of months ago when I was up there in New York, you go to Broadway and I told you I saw that Nicole Sissinger or whatever name is. She was amazing in the lead of Sunset Boulevard.

Well, like she gets laryngitis or something, whatever. Like, you get a refund. Like, she's not there. No, the understudy, buddy. You get the understudy. No, you can. You can ditch your ticket. If the star that you paid for is not there.

And so I don't know if it's like, you just got to start hitting these teams in their pocketbook, right? Like, okay, if you bought tickets to this product and these guys are not going to be available, well, all of a sudden, if you want to turn those things back in, you can turn those things back in, right? Because I tune in, and again, I'm not even in person. And I'm lamenting for the fans that go to these games too. Like they have got to stop crapping on the fans over and over and over. If you keep teaching us that the regular season doesn't matter, at some point, we are going to understand that the regular season doesn't matter and they're just going to stop going to the end

season. Obviously, look, people have stopped watching on TV like they used to. That's the truth, right? They've stopped watching. I mean, I don't know if that's, there is some correlation between resting players and tanking, but I think a lot of that has to do with just the way that we take in media as human beings in 2025, less so than the quality of basketball on the floor, but that's another conversation for another podcast. Well, look, and let's just say, the best thing for the Nuggets last night, Russ, Russell Westbrook, because he had his 203rd

triple double, 12 points, 11 rebound, 16 assist, three steals. He is 5 of 17 from the field. And then after the game, he's asked about another triple double. And his quote was, that ain't nothing you've never seen

from me before. And man, did he ever preach it? Well, you know what else we, we know what else we've seen for Westbrook before? Do what else we've seen? two for nine from three just being left butt naked wide open and then him

looking around being like I'm butt naked wide open from three I gotta take it and they're like clang right off the rim and if you start projecting as I am posibly projecting Aaron Gordon's important to the nuggets they've leaned on Westbrook in big minutes they've played him in clutch minutes

they need him to perform for them to be successful and in the playoffs man those wide open threes you missed the first couple of and the day gets tricky. And he wasn't hitting from the floor. He started turning into like a passer playmaker type. And you could tell that he did not want to shoot. He wanted other people to shoot.

And that's why he ended up with 16 assists. Given the players that play and you make an evaluation of that game, like, I don't think my opinion changed of either of those teams given that outcome, honestly. I have a question. Am I crazy? Am I crazy? He wasn't John Conchar on the Grizzlies? He is on the Grizzlies.

right because they got another conchar they've got yeah they've got got the nuggets have a conchar i was like wait i'm looking i was like he don't even have tattoos i'm like who is this guy it's like batali conchar he's a euro from i've never heard of this dude before but he's got the same last name spelled completely differently than your conchar i was i was like i don't remember the grizzly traded conchar it's like what is this it's spelled the same it's spelled like c-on-c-c-r oh oh blatko yeah black co yeah whatever his name is That guy. That guy. Yeah.

He played 23 minutes for him last night. Look, the other game and the one that both of us were watching and we were texting about was the Minnesota Indiana game, which I must admit, despite the fact that Indiana. It was fun to watch. It was awesome. It was. But it's hard to evaluate because you're looking over on the sidelines and Pascal C. Accom is not playing. And Miles Turner's not playing.

And Tyrese Halliburton's not playing. Burton's not playing. And so, you know, you're watching Ben Shepard and you're watching O.B. Toppin and you're watching all of these different guys for the Pacers. But, you know, it's one of those things where it's kind of like the Warriors deal. It's like, do we then take more? Like, you feel like some of these teams, whether it was the Warriors, whether it was the Wolves, whether it was Houston who we will get to, looked across the court and we're like, okay, we'll turn it up in the fourth quarter when we got to turn it up in the fourth quarter. And then they were, and then in some cases they were able to, and in some cases they were not.

But I don't think the wolves ever thought that they were actually in peril. And then OB Topin just became like a tent-time all-star. They're up five in the final minute of overtime. Yes. Up five. Like they're thinking about where they're going after the game. You know, they're like, who's got to do the postgame interview? I hope it's not me.

And then all of a sudden, Bryant hits a three. Edwards misses. And then Topin, we all know, hits this fadeaway leaning thing from the baseline. Toppin was on fire. But I'm glad you mentioned the Warriors, the Wolves, and the Rockets. Because all of those teams prior to the tip off last night were like on little win streaks. Impressive win streaks. All of those teams were at least six game win streaks.

playing well. Van Vleet's back, you know, the Butler trade, Gobert being available. And it felt like those teams were all hot. All three of those teams gave you reason to completely not believe in them last night. Even the Rockets ended up with a win. They went to overtime against the Sixers. I got it, but I just think they all looked across and they're like, all right, what? Aaron Gordon's going to beat me and then Aaron Gordon has 38. Obie Topin's going to beat me and Obie Topic can't stop making shots. Or in the other case, Quentin Grimes is going to beat me.

Oh, he is. He tried to have 50 last night in the game. And if, and if Hood Chafino hits basically a wide open free throw to win the game. I mean, it was just a, it was a crazy night all the way around. But I do,

I do want to say that you are correct in this is, you know you're playing the Nucats, right? you're Steph Curry and Draymond and Jimmy Butler and you're on the group text. The second you find out that they're not just missing Murray and Yokic, but they're missing Christian Brown too. Strauthers? Strother? Strother didn't even play.

Yeah, yeah. But you're just like, if you're the Warriors, it's impossible to be as up for that game as you would have been knowing you're playing against Murray and Yokic. It's just impossible. So that's what I'm saying. It doesn't allow you to do that. It's just I'd love to draw from these games that we watch. last night, but I know the circumstances, right, as we're headed down this home stretch,

and I know teams are playing for their playoff seating, but the one discouraging thing, I will say, on the wolves front, and this is instructive when it comes to playoff basketball, which many times can come down to last possessions, is I saw their radio guy, Alan Horton, post last night a shocking stat. And you wonder if there will be if this is emblematic of just what they are or if this is

going to have some real regression to the mean in the good way because the wolves in the last 11 shots that were game tying or go ahead shots, the last 11 shots they've had to either

tie the game or go ahead in the last. How much time left? The last 10, 10 seconds of the fourth quarter in the last 10 seconds of the fourth quarter. So Julius Randall time is what you're talking about. Randall time. The last. The Randall hour.

I mean, it's usually the Edwards hour. But in the last, in the last 10 seconds of the fourth quarter overtime, they're 0 for 11. They have missed every go ahead or game tying shot the last 11 times they have been in that spot. That's wild. Huh. I mean, that is a huge swing. you would figure you're at least like, you know, 50-50. One, yeah.

I mean, well, I mean, you would think that you know. They could go to the line or something and won a couple. 11 shots that were either game-tying or go-ahead shots in the last 10 seconds of a game or overtime. I don't think when they broke the huddle, they're like, let's get this to Julius and just let him cook. And I don't think that was the plan when they broke the huddle last night. But that's what ended up happening. And anyone who listens to this show knows that David Jacoby is not a Julius Randall fan. And the people of Minnesota are learning that very quickly, very quickly.

I mean, you had last night and shots to Obie Topper, I mean, look, come on. He banked in a three and then he hit one of the crazy. Banging a three is fine. If you bank in a three from the wing, like I get it, you probably didn't mean to, but like, I get it. But when you bank in a three straight on from the top of the key, like, Like, that's just stupid. And then you miss. You missed so, you missed by so much.

Well, and then that like, and then that like feet not set, you know, careening out of bounds three from the quarter. I mean, what is the percentage of that? It's crazy. He had 12 points in overtime. Like, like, Obie Toppin is a, it was great night for former Knicks. How do you feel? Yeah. How do you feel?

I said to see on text. I didn't think much of Grimes when he was on the Knicks, and I didn't think much of Topton when he was on the Knicks. I'd be lying into this microphone if I was like, oh, I always saw Quentin Grimes as a 40-point score. Yeah, he could be the engine of your offense on a winning team. I never felt that way. I never felt Topin was going to hit seven threes in one,

maybe a season, but on a basketball game, he was a guy who could jump and dunk and would miss open threes. Like, neither of these guys I found particularly impressive as Nick, so I'm not going to sit here and lie about it. because I did not miss these guys when they left the Knicks. The 76ers, that is a case study in tanking in the sense that you got the huge performance, you played it out, but you still ended up losing. I mean, at one point they were up by 25 points.

The third, not like the first. Like the third quarter, they're up 25. Then by the end of the third quarter, the lead is erased, and then they go back up. double digits in the fourth quarter. And then they're up three at the end of the game foul intentionally to put Javari Smith on the line. He makes the first free throw, misses the second free throw, and Shengun bullies someone out of the way and puts it back in.

I mean, the rarest of ways to get your three points to tie the game at the end. And as I mentioned, go the other way. Hood Schofino's got like basically. a wide open free throw to win the game and he clanks it. Yeah. And the Shengun, I forgot also who that was underneath the basket. It's a big thing about. I don't know who's playing for the Sixers nowadays.

But he, Schengun fouled him, but they're never going to call it. You know? And that should, that tied the game. But they should have, the Sixers should have won. It's such a weird game. But I did walk away from last night being like, that was a, I had a good time watching NBA basketball. So you can complain all day long, Chris Vernon.

You can be one of those naysayers to try. tractors, negatrons. But I had a great time watching NBA basketball lesson. I wouldn't mind if the Warriors came back to just sort of justify me staying up late. But I kept waiting for it to have it. It never really did. It never, never did.

Well, and I'm glad you didn't watch the Grizzlies versus the Kings because that was a disaster. Desmond Bayne had 44 points. It's a huge night for him. But Memphis got beat by double digits. And look, this is a team that's very high in the Western. conference standing still.

But the last eight opponents that Memphis has played that is 500 or better, they have lost all of them. And they have lost six of those by double digits. So if you are looking for, there are some of these teams, especially as we head down the stretch run, right? We have talked about the wolves who had been red hot prior to last night, the warriors who had been red hot prior to last night. This was instructive because we saw it last year with the Dallas Mavericks down the stretch.

And it's like, oh, this team is playing their best basketball as we are heading into the playoffs. For Memphis, they are playing their worst basketball now. They were much better earlier in the season. And so it gives you incredible cause for pause in terms of what they would be able to do in a playoff season. setting because their record against these good teams has been beyond abhorrent. And I know they were down some guys last night. Obviously, Morant's not playing. But again, again, you want to be in a flow.

You want to be playing good basketball as you head down this home stretch. And it just goes, I mean, they have not won a game in California this year. And they have not won a game against anybody good in their last eight games. games, many of which they've gotten smoke. At the risk of getting sidetracked to talk about the Grizzlies way too much, I will say this. You started the show talking about how tanking and rest of star players has sort of like ruined your evil.

What are the war, what is wrong with John Moran outside of him just not playing? Like I thought it was a shoulder. Why is John Moran not playing? He's finally getting, he's finally sort of like getting these call 12 big moments. He's scoring. I think he had like 40 in a loss a couple games ago or last game. He's starting to... No, the Cleveland game.

Yes, exactly. He had 40. He started to look like himself again. He's starting to look like a player that is a go-to playoff performer that can win you games. That can in those final five minutes in a close game, we know where the ball is going and he can perform for you. He started to get his groove back, start to hit a stride in the way you want John Moran to if you are a Grizzlies fan.

And then last night, with all this momentum, oh, he's not playing. Why is he not playing? We don't really know. Just not playing. Well, he was listed with a hamstring last night. Okay. Yeah, I know. Does he have a hamstring injury?

No, I feel like all of these, like, look, that team is not, they don't fall outside of this. It is frustrates me more than any because that's my team. It's like it feels like you're bubble wrapping him to just get him to the playoffs. That's exactly what it feels like most teams are doing. Yes. Yeah. You know, LeBron's going to come back to the week after that he could. Oh, yeah. Do you see him running up and down the sidelines when it's one in the state championship?

And same thing for Jalen Brunson. You think they're bring back Brunton early? No. Right. They're not going to do that. It's stupid. But there's no way to legislate it either. Like, we've talked about this for years. Like, how do you like they find where they find the jazz $100,000 because of marketing, right?

$100,000. No, that's what I say. Give people their money back. That's one way to do it. There's a million reasons why that's impossible to do. But I will also say this is there's two ways to sort of change behavior. And you're a parent. And even if you're not a parent, you'll understand this.

You can sort of like reward good behavior, right? Or you can provide consequences for bad behavior, right? The reason I don't rob banks is because I don't want to go to jail, right? Because the reason I don't just steal from the grocery stores because I don't want to deal with the negative repercussions and consequences of that action. The repercussions and consequences of resting star players is not strong enough to deter the action of the teams from resting star players. It's too easy to make up an injury, and it's impossible to prove that a player is healthy if they say they're not healthy. So I think that finding the

jazz $100,000 is not going to deter that action from reoccurring in the future. The penalties need to be stiffer and the incentivization of teams to lose at the end of the season needs to go away, i.e. a flat lottery system. If you don't make the playoffs, you get the same chances. If you

lost, if you won one playing game and lost the second one, you have the exact same chances of the number one pick as the team with the worst record in the league. I don't know why they don't do this. Because what we're watching is just unacceptable. Yeah. I mean, look, the only reason I brought up the whole, whether it's a reduction

in ticket price or refund or whatever the case would be is because the only way that anybody seemingly is motivated in this league is by money, right, and by playoffs. And so if you are incentivizing the regular season, right, that is what would hurt? What would hurt?

Right? And that's the answer. Because this $100,000 thing, they don't care about that. I mean, $100,000. Come on. That's actually money. Not remarking and not playing?

Like, I mean, like, and if you. really cared, you could probably, you could probably appeal that and get it and get it, make it go away. Because it's impossible to prove that someone is healthy if they say they're not healthy. It's impossible. All right. I saw a team that you watched last night in person over the weekend. It was the Tony Allen retirement ceremony, which was awesome at FedEx Forum. But they played against the- Hold on. Let's not breeze over that. Let's not

freeze over that, Bruno. All right? Because not everyone that's listening to this pod is such a big Verno fan as I am. And Tony Allen's not just like an ex-Grisly. He's a friend of yours. He goes on your show. You have a relationship. You can have the floor for 90 seconds to celebrate the grind father. No, I mean, I don't need to. I think everybody saw it online.

It is one of my favorite moments for sure in terms of melding sports and life. And once upon a time, we came out with the all heart grind t-shirts me and my producer who you know roser were out there selling them on the street back in 2011 voice of the hustle and it became it became like a wave in a way and those teams though they never won a title went to a western conference finals once they became an embodiment of the city and he was the heart and soul of the organization. And very rarely do you see a role player become a real folk hero? And he's a great, you know, he always loved Memphis and Memphis loved him back. And the outpouring of love love

over the weekend and to see his number nine go up in the rafters was, I mean, it is super emotional for sure. Because I love him. And I love that he was recognized for kind of what he brought to the table and making people. There's so many people, I can't tell you how many people, Jacoby, that I saw that are now, you know, people that were teenagers and now they're adults with their own kids that are at the game. And he made them, and that team with him and Zibo and Marcosol, Mike Conley,

made them NBA at Grizzlies fans for life. And so I love to see his name going up in the Raptors. they played Miami that night, who you watched last night. I watched a little. What is heat culture now? You got to take that off the jersey. You got to take that off the court. You got to take that I don't know.

They just quit. I mean, it was unbelievable to witness. Like there has been over the course of the last 20 years, you watch the heat. You know what you. you're getting. And to watch what I watched on Saturday night, or I'm sure to watch what you watched last night, they have won one game in March and like you watch them. It's not, it's not like they're playing just the Pelle Larson's of the world. Like Tyler Heros out there and

Andrew Wiggins is out there and Bamadabio is out there. They just don't care. Well, they didn't have Wiggins last night. But here's where they started. High Smith, Hawkes, Etabio, Hero, Robinson got blown out by the next. That team has lost, what, eight in a row? Eight in a row. First time under SPO, eight in a row. And this is who the Sixers started, just for compare and contrast. Ricky Council the Fourth, Justin Edwards, O'Shea Brissette, Quentin Grimes, and Jared Butler.

And which team looked competitive? The Sixers. You've got Etabio and Hero. That has sort of been the two cornerstones for your franchise moving forward. Duncan Robinson is a guy. Hockes is like your up-and-coming scorer. Like, and then, you know, where is available? Off night's available.

Okay, I'm going to tell you something. And also I have a very brief, very brief interaction, not an interaction, very brief sighting, walking down in Fidey yesterday, the financial district, Sunday, actually, with my children. And I see, I don't know his name, but you know that, like that ubiquitous like it looks like he's a 40 years old white assistant coach for the heat you probably know his name he's always been there for he's been with spo for like years i see him and i recognize him and it's basically the the heat coaching staff is walking down the street like and i'm going the opposite direction

with my kids and i'm not going to say anything to them you know because i don't know anybody personally but man body language wasn't great chris quinn thank you to our producer for giving me that guy's name. Body language wasn't great. Four dudes in heat gear, heads down, not talking to each other, just trying to get lunch in the city. You can just tell they're going through it. And when you say, what is heat culture? I don't know. I don't know. All right. I'm going to tell you this. I'm going to tell you this. Years ago, on the ringer, there's an old video of me going on with Jason Concepcion. He was doing his show, network.

He was doing his show. And he said, hey, I want you to come up with, he used to call it Spice. I want you to give me a hot take. And I went on his show and I said, eventually people will understand that they don't. Jimmy Butler is one of the best basketball players in the entire world and the most underrated player that we have. had in the last 20 years. And so I was going through it. And I, and I chronicled one by one. I said, all you have to do is look and see. He leaves. The team goes to hell. He comes. The team becomes awesome. Chicago, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Miami, and now you have Golden State.

And every time he has gone, he has improved. the team in a massive way, and he has left, and it has gone to hell. I don't know what more you can do to prove how much you matter than when you come, the team becomes good, and when you leave, the team becomes terrible. And the mantra is always, well, Jimmy Butler, Napalm sings, whatever, what is left out is, yeah, but you were really good before he left. And then you didn't take care of him, and then your team went to hell. And it happens over and over again.

The team that gets him becomes really good. The team that he leaves becomes really bad. It's happened his whole career. It's crazy. And it's happening again. And the heat have gone to absolute hell. And the warriors are 14 and 2 with him. If you're the heat, you've got Wiggins and a bio hero.

Robinson who can shoot. Yeah, Kelle where? Like, I don't understand why they can't win a game or be competitive. You're saying that I watched the Knicks Heat last night. I did not because it was not competitive. Carl Anthony Towns came out on the third quarter and they had like 12 straight points or something. And it was just they just blew the door open. I was like, all right, well, let me just get on this league pass and see what else is happening out here.

And also, you watch the Warriors, Jimmy Butler's not putting up 30. He's not put up 38 and 8. it's like, he's obviously made a difference since he's got there. Like the win-loss record is like night and day. It's like yin and yang. They were an average basketball team that might be in the play in. I think they were below 500 when they acquired Jimmy Butler. Honestly, I swear to God, they were below 500.

Yes, because they're, I mean, look, Jacoby, they're 14 and 2 with him, and they're 39 and 20. So they're 10 games over. Two games under. They were below 500, but they acquired him. But then you watch the game. It's just like, he scored like nine points, 12 points, 13 points. He's not feeling the stat sheet, but there's a confidence that he brings. It's kind of like having like your big brother with you or something.

Like you're just confident. And it takes a little pressure off Curry, allows Curry to be a little bit more Curry. He's a connector. He's a connector. And little plays, man. Like I saw this one rebound yesterday. and he it was a this was a nuggets offensive rebound and jimmy runs in from like 15 feet out and just swoops in it's towards his body between two no-name gigantic nuggets and just comes down

with the rebound and leads the break and in the statute that just goes down as a rebound but what it was that was a four-point swing it was a four-point swing from a hustle play from jimmy butler it's little things like that like the hockey assist and things like that that he's providing which is so impressive. And you look at the standings right now. They are sitting at six, and they are three and a half behind Memphis. Given last night's outcomes, it is wild that the Warriors and the wolves lost the games that they did.

Because by virtue of Memphis losing to the Kings, they could have both shaved that off to two and a half games. and the idea that they would be able to play three games better than Memphis down the stretch, especially given their recent success, is not crazy at all. They still might be able to make up three and a half games. It's unlikely, but it's not crazy because, look, if you've got teams, all you have to do is have another eight and two stretch and Memphis goes five and five, and then you're right there in the mix.

But as of right now, Houston is two and tied with Denver right now. And then you have the Lakers in Memphis, one game back. And then you have Golden State and Minnesota three and a half back. So it and then obviously the first of the two, or I guess bottom two play-in teams, which is Sacramento in that game last night, I tell you this, the first, In the first quarter, Luke Kinnard's head hits Sabonis, and it breaks him open. So he's bleeding everywhere. So he's got to go get fixed for the, for the butt.

And then he comes back. Then he comes back, dominant per usual, and then he had a nasty ankle sprain. Like bad, bad. And so bad that, I mean, he went back to the locker room. And when he went back to the locker room, they had to pick who was shooting the free throws for him. And so that is something to certainly keep an eye on because you know they've got a ton of offensive firepower. So they're dangerous for those play in games just because if you're playing one a game against them and they go 20 for 40 from three, which, and they've got

Levine, they got to Rosen, they got Sabonis. But now this is super scary stuff with the subonis injury. You know, they can't defend you. But again, if you, if one of these teams, you, if one of these that's playing in a play-in situation, like gets in an up-and-down game with them. Like, you're matching with Monk and DeRosen and Levine and Sabonis. I mean, they can score. They can score. And so.

And Valchunis, you know. I mean, he's still muscle. He's something. Like, it's not like, it's not like if you lose Yokic. And now you've got like DeAndre Jordan starting for you or whatever they're going to do or this conchere fella. Right.

Like Balanchunus is someone you can plug into that role that will obviously not perform the same, but he's serviceable. And in a play-in, when in you're in game, it's not impossible for them to make something happening. And then on the other side, I mean, it's really just how the, we're pretty well locked at one, two, and three in the east. I mean, can you imagine any scenario, which it's not those, that one, two, and three. I can't remember the Eastern Conference being locked with three spots.

like this this early. But the other three are completely up for grabs because there's only one game separating Milwaukee, Indiana, and Detroit. And so that's the thing. While we cannot keep an eye on the top three on a regular basis to see how much they change because they're not going to change, four, five, and six will. And that is a, it is a massive difference for some of these teams dependent on the kind of matchup they get and how they match up with each other.

But it seems like it's going to be some combo of Milwaukee, Indiana, and Detroit playing each other. And then the other one will draw the Knicks. And you will, it's kind of like I always say this is we always focus on like the last possession of a close game. Like we're always like, oh, if Hoods Caffino hit that shot, things would be different. But we forget that's only two points and it's one of 100 possessions. And the one in the first quarter is also worth two points.

And I say that to say this, that fucking. OB Toppin 3 can be the difference between a 4 seed and the 6 seed. Seriously, like a fade away prayer from a red hot OB Topin could be the difference between being the 3 seed or the 6 seed, you know, or even like the 5 seed or being the 4-5 matches versus the 3-6 matchup. Like, I'm sorry, the 4-C because the 3-seats already locked. But like, you could end up as the 4-seed. Oh, yeah, there's going to be all of these regrets that take place.

Because especially with the way these games are played out, you could for sure see a scenario where, you know, the Warriors lose to the nuggets. And then let's say Steph sits and then they drop another one to the bucks. And they could look back and they could go, bro, we would be playing the Rockets, but instead we're playing Denver because we drop that frigging game. Well, your Grizzlies could end up in the playing. I know. Because they rested John Morant with a fake. hamstring injury. Right.

It's like, is it really worth it? Are you, is he rested? I'm glad he's rested for this playing game now because there might be two of them. Right. Like it's, it's. The one thing we know is like a lot of times tricky decisions. Well, and a lot of times you're like jockeying for position at the end of the season, trying to get desirable matchups.

There's just no way to do it in the West. There's no way. No. Because I mean, the last game of the year, I can see like the absolutely. last game of the year would be the only real opportunity. Because when you're within one or two games, you can't start playing around with losing games and dengineal. Literally only the last

game of the season. Literally the last game of the season, yes. Which makes it fun. Which makes you remember when John Moran sits out for no reason they lose to the Kings without a bonus. I promise you, the King's game where they probably could have lost anyway, that's not the one. It

will be, it will be games like Brooklyn. It will be games like San Antonio. It will be games like that that they dropped that I will look back on and go, dude, if you just would have taken care of business. Again, it's always the teams that you should have beaten that you didn't beat. And they were not favored last night in that game against Sacramento. You could say they should have won, but I mean, they weren't favored last night in that game.

And they could have lost that with John Moran. They weren't favored because John Morant wasn't playing, I would contend. And I would also say that. I don't know. It's also those games like the Rockets. If the Rockets end up in a favorable seed, it's because Sengoon pushed that dude out the way and got a footback. They lost that game.

The Rockets lost that game to the Sixers. They lost it. Well, and it's funny because on the other side, I'm sure there are Philly fans going, bro, if we friggin lose our pig because of Quentin Grimes, because of Quentin Grimes, what are we doing? You have brought me literally.

no joy and the only joy I can hang on to is the fact that I might get a high pick and now you got this guy going for freaking 50. Now it's going to the thunder. Yeah. That's going to the thunder because when Grimes goes for 50. And I'll say this about resting star players and jogging for position and tanking and all that. The Nets are about to do something that we've never

seen in the history of the NBA. Oh. They're about to shut down their head coach. Jordy the boys are playing too well they're too motivated this is not this is not in line with what we're trying to do as a franchise it take the rest of the season off

we bought you tickets to Aruba the five star resort for the whole family you're going to go down there for a month just whatever you do do not contact anybody that has anything to do with the Nets organization you are too effective at your position at winning games

we apologize we'll see you next summer see you maybe you know what uh darko might be in for too with toronto because i mean they're giving him jemma jemma's shed and a who's who colin castleton he's still winning games they're like bro what is wrong with you the rickie council vlato conchar and castleton are just just headlining Endlining NBA nights. The beauty of the tourney, it's the underdogs, the chaos, the stories that will make you believe. It's why we love college basketball.

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And it's tricky this time because you never really know who to pick on any given day. And they have to be the lowest seed that will win. And I'm going to hop on with my guy, Chris Vernon. He got upset at Michigan. and Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament championship. So upset with Michigan that he is picking UC San Diego State to upset them Thursday night at 10 p.m. Right now, Michigan is favored by two and a half points.

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Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-help.com. All right, let's get to our segment of the day. Our segment of the day is, how's that sound? We're going to make a statement. then you tell me how this sounds, all right? I'll start. The Warriors are the best bet to win the title at plus 2,100 on Fandle. How does that sound?

Sounds like I will not be taking gambling advice from Chris Farnham moving forward, because there's a reason they're plus 2,100. There's a reason it's 21 to 1. I mean, they did just lose the Tyson Hunter and Vladko-Kanchard last night. I said it's the best bet in terms of odds versus a chant. Well, you're very predictable. I'm prepared for you to say that once I said that. So I'll retort with this.

The Nuggets who have the best player in the world and have won a championship. Oh, right, because Curry and Draymond have it are plus 1,700. I forgot, 1700. I must have been in a coma. Would you rather have, would you rather have? Would you rather have, answer this question, would you rather have the Warriors at 21 to 1 or the Nuggets at 17 to 1?

You'd rather have the Nuggets. I asked you. The Nuggets. And if we're actually talking about it, actually gambling on it, I would go the best bet to win the title. It's not sexy. It's the Cavs at 5 to 1.

If you get the calves at 5 to 1. Oh, that's terrible odds. That's terrible odds. 5 to 1? Yeah, it's terrible. With the team with the best record? with the number one seed? It's terrible odds.

It's low. Five to one. That's a better value. All right, go ahead. Put some money on the Warriors. Put some money in the Warriors. Look, I just, you're with Looney and Post.

I did not say. I didn't say it was my opinion. I made a statement and asked you how it sounded. All right. Sounds bad. You know what? I don't feel bad. How's this now?

Stupid? When you look at the standings in the schedule. Oh, I didn't realize you hadn't said anything yet. The Houston Rockets are going to end up as the two-seed in the Western Conference. Oh, the Rockets that did it want at the buzzer versus 76ers last night? When is a win? I don't even know the plus were the 76ers. I don't think you can call it the 76ers.

What a win. How's that said? Two-seat. All right. Look at it. I'm going to look at a look. At Orlando, at Miami, Denver, Atlanta, at Phoenix, at L.A. Okay.

I'm going to say that my initial reaction was going to be that sounds about right, but I'm going to say that sounds wrong because the end of their season is maybe the worst you could ever draw up in the world. It's all going to come down to these last couple games. They go Oak City at Golden State, at the Clippers, at the Lakers, Denver. Jesus. I mean, that is a murderous last five games. And so if we know that the last five games are going to decide what seed you're in, them having to play Oak City and then all of those on the road against teams that are desperately going to be trying to get wins at the end of the year, Golden State, L.A., L.A. And then Denver is your last game? Yeah, those last five

games make that an impossibility. Okay. Counterpoint. The teams that they're competing with, the Lakers, the Grizzlies, the Nuggets, all have more difficult schedules to finish the season when it comes to opponents' winning percentage. I got it. I'm just talking about those last five games, and you know there's not going to be a big enough separation in those last five games, and that is murderous.

I mean, Oak City and then Golden State, both L.A.'s and Denver? That is terrible. That's tricky. That is terrible. All right. I don't know who the two seats can be in the Western Conference,

to be honest with you. I really don't. And you might be the two seed. You might end up playing the Warriors and the Timberwolves. You know, congratulations. You're the two seed. You clawed your way up from the five seed to the two seed. Here are the Timberwolves in the first round.

Red Hot. The NBA has to take more severe measures to stop tanking. How does that sound? Sounds like you're speaking my language. I, like, there's something called the competition committee. At their next meeting, how is this not the only thing on the agenda? Because there are people on the competition committee that know way more about NBA basketball than you or I, that know way more about the ins and outs of the season and how things work and who you rest,

and that have spent 50 years on the sidelines thinking about just this. There has to be a way so this is not the end. end of the season of the sport that we love. And the most simple thing I can think of is flat odds if you don't make the playoffs. So there was, I don't know if you saw this, but one guy had sent us a response to that last week after we did the show, because I was, I was with you. And he said, and this is something that I had not thought about. He was like, the unfortunate part of that is like, let's just say with Miami, right?

they're not going to be one of the worst six records or whatever, but they've obviously quit playing right now. Understood, but they've quit on their season. But his thing was the unfortunate side effect of that could be that the team that doesn't care about being in the play in or whatever, that then they, that you end up having more possibly being incentivized to join into that mix because it's flat.

That if it's flat, then you losing a million games, yes, it does you no good to lose a million games versus, you know, somebody else that loses a million games. But if there was a flat one and you knew you could still compete

for a good portion of the season, but then at the end, hey man, we're going to make sure we're part of the lottery because we got as good a chance as the worst team. Wait a second. Bruno, I just thought of something.

I hate it when my own ideas completely take down my other ideas. Because imagine if you're playing in the loser, loser for the eight seed game and the play-in, you're like, all right, we can win the eighth seed in the Western Conference if we win this basketball contest. And then we go up against the thunder. Or we could lose this basketball game and we have the same odds of getting Cooper flag as the jazz. That's the problem. And as a franchise, if you own. a franchise, you could not convince yourself that is better to win the eighth seed

than have the same chance of getting Cooper flag or whoever, getting a high pick in the draft, in a good draft, than the other teams that are like 10 and 72 or whatever. I mean, here's the truth. Smarter people than us are going to have to decide. Guess what? We're not the competition committee. So competition committee, we'll provide catering for you guys, multiple meals, whatever time you want. Yeah, we'll rent out a really nice office for you guys to stay in.

We'll cater it with the highest quality food we could possibly have. We'll have a nice coffee break with a barista in there. And you guys spend some time and figure this out. And by you guys, I mean Bill Simmons and Adam Silversteel the idea because that's what happened with the playing tournament and the midseason tournament. Fair enough. Next. All right. Recently, James Hardin has been playing the best basketball he has played since he was in a Houston-Ruston. pockets uniform, and the clippers are poised to upset a top seed in the first round of the

playoffs. How does that sound? Ridiculous? Have you seen James Hardin lately? Are you, oh, you're asking, I've also seen his entire playoff career. Well, oh, this is a, hey, Verno, you're going to, you're going to trust James Arden. I believe in 17 chances. I believe in 17 chances, Verno.

Late down the road. This is who I'm hitching my wagon too. People can change, Bruno. I believe in the evolution of the human spirit. You know, they always say, like, the biggest games he's got, like, you can go through so many massive games in James Arndt playoff history, and it looks like concert dates. One, two for 13, 21, 21, 21, 213.

He said, like, he said, like, multiple two for 13s. Anyway, like, no, no. Hold on. Look, it's nice. Look, if you want to tell me, I should hit him. my wagon that Kauai Leonard is going to be fine and available and he could be the best player on the floor in a playoff series. Like, that seems like a real long shot. But if you wanted me to take the long shot and hitch my wagon to something, it's that Kauai Leonard could still be awesome.

Not that I'm trusting James Hardin to pull off an upset against an all-time great team. Okay, we'll stand by. James Harden had 50 points against Detroit. Cool. Last eight games, he's got 29 points and 10 assists. Last 5, 31 points, 25 points, 24 points, 25 points, 29 points. 7 assists, 7 assists, 11 assists, 17 assists, 17 assists and 25 points against the Pelicans. Hidden threes playing well.

Now, let me ask you a question. You can't poke holes in anything he's ever done in the regular season, ever. Let me ask you a question. Regular season player. Norm Powell healthy, Kauai Healthy. James Harden still riding this street. Would you pick the Grizzlies over the Clippers in a 4-5 matchup? 4-5?

How are that thing? You mean 7-8? Oh, yeah. My bad. They ain't playing 4-5, brother. No, they're not. They ain't playing 4-5. Okay, 7-8 playing game.

I wouldn't want any part of them. That's what I would definitely not pick. the Grizzies. No, it's a terrible matchup. And Ty Lou and Jeff Van Gundy, look, they're going to be a bitch for somebody when it comes playoff time.

They will win. They're not getting mowed. They're not. No, no. Because their defense is going to win them one or two. Like, I don't know if they've got enough offense, but they will be able to come up with a defensive game plan. Again,

they're able to come up with defensive game plans on a regular basis, and their strength of their year is on their defense. And they've got a bunch of wings. and so you're going to throw Derek Jones Jr. out there and Norm Powell and Kauai and all these guys. Like, they are going to make it difficult for someone. A Clippers. No matter who they play.

A Clippers Grizzlies 7-2 matchup. Who would you pick to win that? I do not want to face them. A Clippers Rockets 7-2 matchup. I would not want to be the Clippers. Again, I think- You wouldn't want to be the Clippers' Rockets? I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, the rockets. Again, I think that the, I'm not saying that these young teams can't beat them. I'm saying that is the exact kind of team that you have to get over the hump to prove. Because they're like totally veteran laden. They've got a great coaching staff. And when they're only focused on making your life hell, they will put together a defensive game plan that's going to make you look bad at least twice. And they will make somebody look. Give Lou and Gundy three games in a row against the.

same opponent. They're going to figure some stuff out. They're going to make it difficult. I would be. What about it? A one eight. A one eight. We would both pick the thunder to beat the Clippers in a seven game series. But how many games is it go? That goes six? I think the Clippers get a couple. I will go on record as saying I do not think the Clippers will lose.

I think they will win at least two in their first run series. Yeah. I think that's very fair. Regardless of opponent. Yes. Again. And it's a lot of. It's just because of the respect I have for vets and these type of coaches. That they're going to be able to, again, it might not be enough, but they will, they're going to be a bitch to play. It is fair to say that the two biggest variables are Kauai's health and James Hardin

playoff. No question. Availability or performance, I think is fair to say. No question. But they're interesting. The Clippers are really interesting team in the playoffs. Next one. The Knicks and the Wolves would both be more dangerous with last year.

rosters. How's that sound? Sounds like you're trying to hurt my feelings. I'm not. Because I've expressed this before. I disagree. Okay. We watched the wolves last night. Both of us watched the wolves last night. I disagree. Because the word is dangerous that you used.

And I feel the team, both of these teams with Carl Anthony towns. Yeah, I would say it's true for the the wolves and not true for the Knicks. I would say the wolves were more dangerous last year if you take out Devencenzo and Randall and put in towns. Because of the second level guy, like that if it's not

Edward. If you scheme up, if Edward scores 40 in game one and you take them away in game two, you've got a guy who can replace all of that production right there. Whereas Julius Randall cannot do that. Randall has been awesome for them recently, though. Whatever. Go ahead. Last night, last night and missing the game winner, notwithstanding, he has been great since he came back.

Randall just hasn't had the opportunity to disappoint as much as James Harden has in the playoffs. But if you give him the opportunity, he will disappoint just as much as James Hardin in the playoffs. Would you rather have Randall and Hartenstein and Devenzo and that group that you had last year? Do you think that group would be more dangerous than this one? I'm going to answer a different question, but I think you're really asking. is if I could just like, what's the undo hotkey command, control Z? If I could control Z, both of those moves to acquire cat and to acquire bridges, I would probably do it.

I would probably, as a Knicks fan, I would probably say, let's take both of those away. And let's just restart from where we ended last season and be smarter about this cachet of draft picks. and these assets that we want. You really are glass half full. I like the Knicks. Uh-uh. That's half-empty, bro.

No. Okay. No. Because, because, I just feel like, yeah, you had, I just feel like they're like,

they've got a gun with one bullet in it, and they fired it right at McHale Bridges, and I just feel like that is not. He has been amazing since Brunson went down. He has. He's been amazing. He has. Give him his credit.

You're selling me on the like the benefit of Brunson being heard is that Macau Bridges gets these chances to sort of like run the offense through him and score 25 points. Ultimately that's going to help him in the playoffs. Guess what? In the last five minutes of the game, it's going to be Brunton fucking dribbling the ball 75 times, drawing a foul going to the line every single possession. Bridges will be standing in the corner and Kat will be standing on the wing to space.

That's what's going to happen. So whatever. All right. I'm out of the name. I'm excited about this one. I love the Larry O'Brien trophy. I think it looks good and I enjoy it. But I have a way to make the playoffs and the trophy more interesting.

The Lary O'Brien trophy is essentially a ball on a basket with a base at the bottom. And the base is circular, correct? So here is my pitch. Every time you win a playoff series, you are given essentially a puzzle piece for the base at the bottom. So let's say there's a first round series between the Clippers and the Grizzlies, as we mentioned. And the Grizzlies are up three to one. The Clippers coach has to bring that piece of the trophy out at halftime if you are facing elimination.

And if the Grizzlies win the game, if you win a series, the opposing coach, then gives that piece of the trophy to the winning team. So now they have two pieces. Why does he have it? Well, I guess for the first round, let's not get stuck in the details. The first round, you just get a piece, all right?

The second round, you have to bring the piece that you won. So then if you lose the second round series, you then have to give your piece to the winning team. So in the NBA finals, each team has half, of the base of the trophy. So then when you win the NBA finals, the first thing that happens is the opposing coach

gives the winning coach the half of the base. They put those together, and then the commissioner comes and puts the ball and the hoop on top. So every time you win a series, you accumulate another piece of the trophy base, and every time you lose a series, you have to give it to the team that beat you.

Tell me what's wrong with this. how's that sound? Why do I care about that? Okay. Okay. What's wrong with just giving somebody the vision? Some people won't see the vision. Wait, why do I need to enhance the trophy?

You're not enhancing the trophy. You're not enhancing the trophy. You're creating traditions and pomp and circumstance at the end of every scene. It's like in the tournament, right? When you win a tournament game and they cross out the thing on the bracket, it's like that. Every time you win a series, there's a little ceremony where the losing coach has to hand over what they've won to the team that won, which they will then carry on and put at risk in their next series. And you just want the moment where they have to like have this utter humiliation of giving you the bottom?

The losing team has to shake hands with the coach and then hand over their piece of the base of the trophy. This is brilliant. This is one of my best ideas. and you're just laughing at it. I've spent so much time thinking about this. This is years in the making. Why? Why are you sitting there just because you have one simple,

after this brilliant idea gets planted in your brain, your simple response is why? Why? Because it's fucking awesome. That's why. Because it rules. Hey, hey, look, I'm going to do one of these. Look, I'm not saying it's a terrible idea.

I'm not. Kind of. I'm not. You're not not saying it's a terrible idea. I'm going to tell you this. If they do it, if they said, you know what? We just heard Dave Jacoby on the mismatch. And this guy had a great idea.

And they did it. Fine. If they don't do it. But in the base of the trophy, it has all the data from the previous series. This piece of the trophy is when the heat upset the Celtics in round one. And this piece of the trophy is where the Dix lost it. They replaced it every year? Yeah, you make new ones every year.

Have you seen the Stanley Cup? No, it's the same Stanley Cup though. They write names on that thing every year. They write names on that thing every year. I like that. No. Just like the claret jug or whatever. I like the whole guy is engraving it.

That's what's happening. They engraved the piece of the base. The history of what got to that championship is right there on the base of the trophy. Okay. Look, again. If they wanted to take you up on your idea, that's fine by me. If they didn't want to take you up on your idea, that's fine by me. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings.

I'm saying never once, no, never once has it crossed my mind. You know what? We don't do enough with the Larry O'Brien trophy. Thank you. We don't. That's exactly my point. No, I think that's never crossed my mind. But like, wouldn't it be cool?

Okay. After the end of a second round series, a very contentious series where the two coaches got mad at each other, where the losing coach, right, your guy, Taylor Jenkins, has to take the piece of the trophy and hand it over to IMA Udoka. And then Eme Udoka puts those pieces together and says, let's go to the Western Conference finals and put these things at risk. Again, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings. I'm just saying, like, I am impressed that you have time to think about this. Like, I'm trying to figure out how we get the best players in the world to want to play basketball on a regular basis. Make the trophy cooler. Make the trophy cooler.

That's how you eliminate tanking. Why would you tank when you got such a cool trophy you can get? You know what? I just fixed the All-Star game, too. I fixed the All-Star game, too, and the slam dunk contest. You know what you can do the slam dunk contest? Just make the trophy. We'll make you a trophy 20 feet tall of you

And then give it to you of your winning dunk That's what we will do You're big trophy guy Big trophy guy Zion Williamson can still be a superstar How's that sound? Sounds like you don't even believe it I look man

Earlier this season you were on this show You said I'm out I'm out You said that about Zion Williamson I think I've changed I think he's wrote me. I think he's wrote, I saw a couple of dunks and I think he wrote me back in. He would hit the dunk on beef stew? Oh, my God.

And then the one on the Lakers where he just spiked it and his heads all the way above the rim. And he's got like a frigging fire hose running through his bicep now. Yeah, he keeps on bringing me back. I don't know, man. It's. Every time I think I'm done. I don't know. I'm out.

I'm just all the way out. I'm out on Zion Williams. I'm out on Joel Embed. I'm out on Joel Embedde. I'm out on Zion Williamson. I don't want this to be the case. I want more good players in the NBA. I want as many good players and superstars in the NBA as possible.

I just don't foresee a world in which Zion Williams and turns it around and is healthy for three straight seasons. And shooting 45% from three is getting eight assists and running the offense through him. And he can be the best player in a champion team. You're kidding me? In fairness, his stuff is always like soft tissue stuff. There is massive structural damage to Joelle B. You know what I'm saying?

Those are not the same. Fine. You won't call them to say. I don't see a world in which Zion Williamson is the best player on a conference finals team. I do not see that world. I think that he could be on a conference finals team, but he's like the third option. Okay.

I don't see it. Do you see it? How does that sound of you? I think it can happen. Who are you? I know. Who are you? It's a guy that doesn't care about trophies.

I tell you. You want LeBron in the slam dunk contest, make a cooler trophy. You've got LeBron and the Slam dunk contest. Zion is it? Jha. Slam dunk, all we got to do is make a better trophy. They'd be lining up.

All the stars. Vince. Vince Carter's coming back. Nate Robinson. I actually caught up with Vince this weekend. Oh, yeah? Yeah, he was in Memphis for the Tony Allen thing. Oh, nice.

I love him. Awesome guy. Awesome guy. Yep. It was great to see him. I had not seen him in years. I got one for you. Let me hear.

So I look this up. Draft lottery. May 12th. You can remove yourself from the draft, June 15th. Okay. After the lottery results, Cooper Flagg decides to return to Duke

for his sophomore year, how does that sound? Zero percent chance. Zero percent? Yeah, I mean, look, he's been wearing Nike's all year and he's already got a new balance deal. Like this is already in the works. Like he was doing,

and he reclassed so that he could hit the thing earlier. So this is about getting- Time out, time out, time out. Duke Superstar, prospect like one we've never seen before. I understand. Gets drafted by a team, doesn't have a lot of success,

the New Orleans Pelicans. I'm talking about your guy, Zion. And you're just asking the question, will he ever be a superstar? What if Cooper Flagg finds himself with the Pelicans in the number one pick? The Jazz got the number, the Hornets have the number one pick.

Do you want to see Cooper Flagg on Hornets next year? Why wouldn't you go back to college, develop for another year, you're going to make $5 million at college. He's going to be okay financially long term. Yeah, but he's also going to get the number one.

draft pick contract which sets him up for life. It'll be waiting for him next year. Maybe so, but I mean, you never know if you could have, I mean, if you want to live the life of just getting an insurance policy and praying I don't have some kind of career altering injury, you know, that I have to, that I have to, you know, cash in on. I just think, again, this was a one stop. he's already signed all these endorsement deals for the next level.

He's going to go to the NBA. He's going to go to the NBA. He had an amazing season, but look, he may not get to play in this NCAA tournament because of injury. We don't know yet. Hopefully we get to see him,

but that is what you're dealing with at all times when you are that kind of level of prospect. And so you kind of saw it like he's already seeing this season kind of flash before his eyes, where it's like, geez, man, I might not be playing in the NCAA tournament these first couple of rounds.

And hopefully he'll be able to come back and hopefully he'll be able to be himself. But again, you got the opportunity to be the number one pick in the draft. I don't think anybody is passing that up. I think that's fair to say. But I will say this. I believe star prospects when they say they think about staying in college. We all know that it doesn't make sense logically, financially, we wouldn't do it ourselves for all the reasons that you mapped out.

But put yourself at Cooper Flagg Shoes. Oh, I know. He grew up in Maine. No, he's caught up in the moment. And you're your first year of college, the freedom that you have, your parents are thousand miles away, you're the big man on campus, you're being celebrated everywhere you go. You don't even have to go to class.

You're going to parties. You're making out with girls. It just seems like so much fun. He's so happy. I don't think that he will remove himself from the draft, but I understand the logic path that will get you there. Okay. And I,

look, and I know that people say this, right, where it's like, hey, but he can make a ton of money playing a Duke, right? No,

he can't. Not the same. Okay, he can make a ton. But it's not comparable to what he could make a ton of money. Okay. And I just don't think people understand when a guy has a chance to go number one in the draft.

So Zachary Risa Shea went number one in the draft last year, right? Zachary Rieschisei signed a... It's not Jaylon Wells? No? It was Zachary Ries to say. Four years, $57 million.

You're not making that. College is super fun. I agree. 57 million. I'm not saying he should or would stay. I'm saying I believe the human being when they say, I want to stay at Duke or I want to stay for another year. I don't doubt that.

the top prospect that has a great time in college. And it's like, you know what? I'm happy. This is awesome. I'm making money. I'm developing my game. Maybe I don't want to be a professional basketball player quite yet because I'm 19 years old. I was sleeping in my parents' house 10 months ago.

I do not doubt. I do not doubt that if all things were equal, there's no question these guys would stay in college. College is the best time of your life. It is $57 million. Okay, Vernon. Nobody, nobody, nobody looks at that and turns it down. You know, I don't have a lot of respect and admiration for your intelligence or basketball knowledge or human. But I will say this.

Thanks. You know a lot more about college basketball than I do. And I'm really looking forward to firing up the old Fandual account and betting on teenagers that I've never seen play basketball before. So will you please just give people like me that, it to smaller colleges and don't really have an allegiance to the college basketball game or a passion for it or spend so much time watching the NBA that they don't have time for it like myself. Give me a little primer on what to expect in the tournament. Who do I? Well, here's what I would encourage everybody to do because this year is the best that we've had in a long, long time for evaluating like guys that your team might actually draft.

And that's even at the top level. And they're playing in the domestic United States in courage basketball. We went through that stage where we had a lot of overseas players. And we also had those that were within, you know, Yeah. And we overtime elite with the Thompson twins. And, you know, obviously Lamello went overseas and Scoot played in the G League. And I mean, we've had all manner of players that we have not been able to see.

There's tons of great young players in the NBA now. that we do not remember or did not see in the NCAA tournament. We'll obviously talk a lot about it on Friday after we see that first round, but I will tell you, if you go to anybody's mock draft right now, whether it's ESPN or Tankathon or Wasserman's or anybody's, you will see that the lottery is littered with players that you are going to have an awareness of by next season because American College basketball is where they're all at,

right now. It sucks because Flag is the number one guy in virtually every single person's mock draft and some combination of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, who are the Rutgers kids, are in the top five, but Rutgers didn't make the NCAA tournament. So those are very high potential draft picks that you are not going to see. But even teams like Baylor doesn't have a super high seed, and Vijay Edgecombe is super high on these mock drafts or even in the play-in game that is going to take place with Texas. Texas is going to be playing in this first four that is going on. Texas is playing Xavier.

Like Texas's guard is projected in a lot of places to be top 10, top 15 maybe. and all the way down the line. I would say that to print off any of these mock drafts, what you're going to find is it would be easier for me to tell you the Dylan Harper's and the Ace Bayleys that are not going to be a part of this, than it is to say who is? Because they're all going to be in it.

If Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey are so good, how come Rutgers is not in the tournament? Yeah, right. Can you explain that for me? You've got not one guy. You got two guys. Guys. It's a colossal disappointment, and I think it is a, I would say that it is, A, a colossal disappointment, but B, like, look, right now, the number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament is Auburn.

Okay. Auburn's average age of player is like Oklahoma City. It's like Oklahoma City. Okay, so here's what's happening, right? You've got the player of the year candidates. So many of them started off at mid-majures, right? So what's happening now in college basketball is now these guys are staying longer. They are using their extra years.

And so these are like full-grown men in many cases on a lot of these teams. Of the COVID exception, I believe. So I think you've got like 25-year-olds on the sixth year of college, but it's all above the board. Auburn's second best player is, I think, older than Zion. Zion's been in the league for six years. Jacoby? I mean, that's just the situation that we got into, in between the transfer rules,

in between the sitting out for COVID and all whatever. So I would just say that part of it is, you know, it is hard, no matter how great the freshmen are, it is hard to have your two best players be freshman now. Duke's pulling it off. where they've got, you know, a pretty good combination, but they've also got these very young guys that are super, super high level, and they have been great.

But generally, what we're finding is that most of these teams, in many cases, you can go look, and it's a lot older group of players now. Some of the best teams are not, and in fact, many of the best teams are not the ones that are loaded with the professional prospects, right? Your professional prospects, you know, a lot of those are on the lower seeds, in fact,

when you go and look through it. You know, you don't have these teams that are the best of the best in many cases. You know, they might have one young big-time prospect, but, you know, whether it's the Edgecombe kid or whether it's a kid at Texas or whether it's, I guess, you know, Jason Richardson, Jason Richardson's kid at Michigan State's still young. But, you know, you've got to have vet teams, and that's what all these big teams are doing.

they're going and finding the best player at like the best player in the country this year has been Janai Broome. Geni Broome, you know, this is his third school at Auburn. He's probably going to win. He's like some male pattern baldness going on. Yeah. He's a college. He's a full grown man.

No shots at him. He didn't choose to have male pattern baldness. But he's a full grown man. He's like the best player in college. He's like 24, right? Yeah. And so what I would say is yes, it's disappointing on Rutgers case. but I mean, bro, it's now become, you can't walk in with a couple 18-year-olds to play 23-year-olds.

No. You've been 18 and you've been 23 and you know the difference too. Hell yeah. It's a different world, different world when you're 23, when you're 18. You know, basketball. Give me a quick pick for Thursday's action. Give me something. Give me something.

I'll open up my Fando account. Get it going. Give me some for Thursday that I can make fun of you for losing on Friday. A little profit boost. Thank you, Handel. I'm trying to find one that's like a

You know, there's always those 12 versus fives. And I, and maybe I'm just down on them and I shouldn't be. But UC San Diego is playing against Michigan. And I watch Michigan, Wisconsin, Big Ten.

on Saturday or on Sunday the title game and I almost I almost poked my eyes out. I mean it was unwatchable. It's like, bro, you still have to score. It was like 23 to 20 at halftime. Abhorrent. Evaharan. So I'm going. I look, no, no, no slight to Michigan.

You know, Dusty May has done a great job there in its first year. they've got a pro prospect but I'm going with UC San Diego I'm going to take them because I want payback for what they put me through watching that dreadful Michigan Wisconsin

Big Ten championship so there's one for you there you go I look forward to talking about on Friday buddy all right I'm sure it'll be wrong hold on one more thing before we go you know what they should do if you win a tournament game they should give you like a puzzle A little tiny piece thank you A little time.

Thank you. This is brilliant. It's brilliant. Now you see the vision. One thing I want to say to our mismatch listeners is we want to hear from you, our mismatch listeners. We'll be taking voicemails. So you can be part of the show.

If you call us in, have a question, a comment, anything. Our producer will listen to all the voicemails. Pick the best one. We'll put it on the show on Friday. So call us at 323-389-5091. 3233-389-9-1. Leave us a message. We'll play it on the show next week.

Thank you, our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always, and Jacoby. I'll talk to you later this week. Must be 21 and over in present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino, or 18 over and present in D.C. Got a gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. Call 1-888-88-98-9-77-77, or visit ccpg.org

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