The Mismatch - Biggest Surprises, Biggest Disappointments, and What We Love and Hate From This Season. Plus: Verno Can’t Let Ja Go.

Episode Date: January 13, 2026

Verno and Jacoby are together in New York, and they discuss the reports that the Grizzlies are open to trading Ja Morant. Verno explains why a trade would be bad for both sides and why he hopes Ja will stay in Memphis. Next, they recap some of the Monday night action, including the Jazz's upset win against the Cavs, the Sixers defeating the Raptors, and Joe Mazzulla blaming illegal screens for the Celtics' loss to the Pacers. Next, with the season nearing the halfway point, the guys share their biggest surprises, biggest disappointments, and one thing they love and hate about this season so far. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (00:55) The Grizzlies are open to trading Ja Morant (25:58) Monday night scores and recaps (37:25) Verno's and Jacoby’s biggest surprises (47:53) Verno's and Jacoby’s biggest disappointments (54:25) What Verno and Jacoby love about the season so far (01:01:52) What Verno and Jacoby hate about the season so far Leave us a message on our Mismatch voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez, Stefan Anderson, and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatchoff, Chris Varnan, and joining me right in person. The ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. I think this is a very important show that we do in person. Oh. Because since we last have spoken, there has been some news about your Memphis Grizzlies. And it's not about Cam Spencer. It's about John Moran. And I think when this news breaks, I would say 90% of the basketball world says,

I want to know what Chris Vernon thinks about this. Maybe 95% of basketball world says that. And here we are in person. You're in New York City. We're in studio together. We are. It's okay. Safe place you can cry.

What is your reaction to this news as the pulse of the Grizzlies, Chris Vernon? So let's start here. If you're listening to the show we recorded on Friday, one of the things that I said in passing was, I don't know what's going to happen, but I told you at that point, I said there's three games in a row that they have listed him as questionable

and he has not played. And now at that point, I was going to be going to Memphis versus Oklahoma City and they had already ruled him out of the game. And I said, something is up. Something is a ride. By Friday afternoon, after we recorded, the story comes out that the Grizzlies are open

to listening to trade offers for John Moran. What has followed was crazy because Memphis blew a 20 plus point lead against Oklahoma City and lose on Friday night. So you have, honestly, it was one of the most nightmare days you can imagine. Everybody's frazzled because this news has come down about the only superstar that's ever played in your city. and now this relationship looks like it's run its course and is falling apart. And he is beloved. He's beloved. And then without him, you go and blow a 20-point lead to the Thunder for the 16th consecutive loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Oh, wow. And it ends on a play that has been for six years when healthy, the call 12 John Morant go get the game winner instead it's Cedric Howard he gets caught up on Alex Caruso gets locked down

Oklahoma City win Sunday there is a day game against Brooklyn you go to the arena and every kid has got on a John Morant Cherson it's like oh God

I mean you walk into the arena as I do every every every game I walk into the arena and I'm like, oh, this is bad. Oh, this is bad. Right. Because people want to root who they want to root for, right? And I understand outside of Memphis, you know,

that there are going to be a lot of people saying they should just move on. They should just be done with it. He never plays. He's not good anymore. all that kind of stuff. Fandum is a weird thing. And when you love somebody, right, you are willing to put up with all manner of things.

And you have heard me, I have been, I have certainly carried water for him and saying, hey, man, maybe he'll grow up, maybe he'll grow up, maybe he'll grow up at some point, right? Maybe he'll be able to stay healthy. When he's got great players around him, you've seen what he's been able to be. And at some point, it feels like you're holding on to things

that don't exist anymore, right? And this happens in relationships all the time. But what was very apparent to me was, yes, there's certainly, it's polarizing. There's a segment of the fan base that are like, fine, at least it's exhausting. At least you move on. Every time you go to the arena, it's like, oh, is he going to play? Right? You don't know if you're when you, so that's a frustration.

And then with this thing, it's like last year he didn't like the offense and just looked unhappy throughout the year. And it was like, okay, this is untenable. Well, they got rid of Taylor Jenkins. Right? They got rid of Taylor Jenkins. Now they brought a new coach. Within 10 games of the year, he is now mad at the new coach. And so certainly there comes a

incredible amount of fatigue there. And then, obviously, once it reaches the breaking point and it's like the, hey, we're listening, we're listening to trades, then everybody has to recalibrate like, oh, okay, this is very real now. And I think I speak for a large amount of the fan base, which would say, I think the best case scenario, they jumped on a nine and a half hour flight and headed off to Europe. And the best. Yeah.

And the best case scenario would be for them to, for him to say, you know what, somebody to actually talk to the kid and say, look, I understand that you're emotional, like, whatever happened with you and the coach, whatever, but this is no good for you. But you want to end up in Sacramento? You want to end up in wherever, wherever, wherever the case may be, right? And moving on. And I think he will regret all of this one day. My opinion would be that the best thing for him,

and obviously they moved hell and high water to sign the Desmond Bain contract. And then they did it this offseason for the Jared Jackson Jr. contract. And then he didn't get an extension. Rightfully so, right? Like, I don't know where the ego part of this comes in. But like if you play 77 games in three years, nobody's going to want to commit to you. Sign you to a max four year extension. Right.

So that's fine. But you know, people do. get upset about contracts, right? And so you have that. Hold on, Bruno. Let me go ahead. We've talked about this for years. Yeah. Like, and I've heard you talk to KOC about it.

And anytime anybody reaches this subject about trading John Moran, right, moving off John Moran or whatever it is, you reject it. Yes. You're like, you have no idea what he means to the city, what he means to the franchise. That is something, it's a hypothetical avenue that you would not go down previously. That's right. But now that we're here, that's right. How does it feel?

I would say that there is still a, I think there is a tinge of hope. You're holding on. You think this is going to weather this storm, get through the trade deadline, Jaws still on the Grizzlies, everyone's healthy, and they make a run to the second round of the playoffs.

Well, you added a lot of extra things there. Okay, fine. Here's the other thing. He's not going to be on the team past the trade deadline. You don't put this out in the world if you're not trading John Moran. Well, you do if, because, look,

it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense to put it out. Why would you make this public? You make this public if... That's when you turn the close sign to the open sign at the shop. We are open for business. But the team would never go out of their way. That's not something you would make public unless, of course,

there was going to be a story coming out saying he's done with this coach or whatever else. If that story comes out, it buries your coach and it destroys his history. trade value completely, right? I mean, it's got, I don't understand what other way. Why, why else would you say, hey, anybody want to trade for John Moran? Like, it doesn't make sense. And so I guess I'm coming from a perspective now. The trades are awful.

You're reading them all. I don't see any of them make any sense for either side. Okay. So what is the, if that kid wanted, and at this point, right, I'm tired of calling him a kid, He should be an adult by now. But, I mean, somebody has got to sit down and say, your best chance at being, getting that contract that you want, that you think you have earned, whatever the case may be,

that's playing for a place that's got stock in you that's got a fan base that loves you. That's your best chance at getting that money. That's your best chance. And your best chance. And I have now, in 25 years, I've covered 11. coaches. Coaches come and go. If the guy's not good enough, the guy's not good enough.

But at this point, the reason that I have not broached the subject or I've always just laughed it off or said shut off. Always. Right? Always is because it's never been to me, to ball is 100% in his court at this point, right? I honestly believe, this is what I honestly believe. that if John Morant said, you know what, I'm sorry for everything.

I'm ready to, I'm ready to be all in. I'm ready to be all in and be the guy that you guys need me to be. I absolutely believe they would tell you know what, we're not trading me. Okay. I absolutely, I believe that wholeheartedly. And so, but bro, I can't defend you if you're not going to play. I can't defend you if you're going to bail on everybody.

And so I understand. Maybe the team telling him not to play because they don't want to get injured because they're not. They're not telling you. Not done. No. You kind of sound like your buddy at the bar. It's like your wife has cheated on you three times. That's right.

And she has an only fan now that you didn't know about that just got made public. It's time for you to cut ties. Okay. But let's hear you're holding on hope. No. We just said if I swear if he came out and he said, guys, I'm ready to be the person you need me to be. No. They would mend these fences and all of a sudden they're going to sign up to an extension,

ride to the promise. I'm going to continue your analogy. Okay. Okay. I'm the guy with the white whatever, right? Yeah. And I'm holding on. But you know my option is a chick with a mangled face in one eye.

You know what I mean? Great personality. And my wife is mega hot. Really funny. Right? So. I don't know, man. You know what I mean?

But you sound like you're, you sound like you still want to hold on. You still want this to be a thing. Oh, I think there's a, I think there's a huge contingent. Look, you know, you don't get superstars in. small markets. There's plenty of superstars. No, there's not. Janice, SGA.

Come on. I'm saying in the way that we, it's 25 years. It's 25 years and you've had one. Yes. Right? And again, if they traded him, then it is what it is. But I don't think that I, this, I'm a Cowboys fan, right? I'm watching a Cowboys game.

I think it was Cowboys Packers. It was. It was Cowell's Wackard. Chris Collinsworth's on the call. Chris Collinsworth, you know, they do all those meetings before the games or whatever. Chris Collinsworth's talking in the game. And he basically explains that after talking to Jerry Jones and everybody over there and talking to Michael Parsons and everybody over there, they wish it wouldn't have been the way it was.

That they all regretted it, right? Everything got too hot, too emotional, thing you know, oh wow, Michael Parsons is playing for the Packers and all of his best friends are playing for the Cowboys. And it's because he got into this tip with Jerry Jones and he felt disrespected or whatever else. And then in the end, they all regret the situation. I 100% believe that's what.

That's what I'm saying. I think that's what would happen. I think they would regret trading him and I think he would regret leaving. That's what I think. The teams that have been rumored as interested or whatever is basically like the heat, the Kings and the Bucks. And the Kings and the Buck just seems like really bad

places for John Marantam. No, and look, and look, if he's going to continue the way again, this is a this a Hail Mary, right? If you're hoping that he's going to change. But if he doesn't change, you have to trade him. That's it. You can't do, you can't let it. You can't let it. You can't let it for the Grizzlies if you're hoping that he's changed. You can't let

it drag down the whole thing. But at this point, your best chance is him going and playing for your team in Europe and being awesome. They're about to go. I mean, they're in Europe right now. They're going to play in Berlin. And I... What about his contusion? What's...

Come on. What about his contoo? He's contused. Yeah. He's been contused. Okay. His head is contused. He's contused.

It makes no sense to me. And look, Adam Silver, what if Adam Silver saves the Grizzlies, right? Because he's like, bro, we got him on all these banners over here. You ain't sitting? You know what I mean? And what? And the crazy thing is, it then becomes a constant reminder because it gets through their playing in.

Desmond Bay. It doesn't pay. It's all banners, too, because you're not putting fronds on the banners. You're not putting Jalen sucks to the banners. No, and so, look, if I'm laying it out for you, I think here's what happened, right? Like, it's just this barrel of frustration with a guy that has not lived up to what he was supposed to be. Then you have a team that decides, you know what, we're not building out around you. And we're not building our offense out around you because it's a lot.

unreliable and we can't do it anymore. You understand the way this all happens to the point that because, and I agree. And he feels disrespected. He's like, I'm John Grant. I built this entire franchise. Correct. From Studs eight years ago. That's right. So that's why the offense should be built

around me. Correct. Right. And then and and all. So you're either going to fit in or you're going to fit out. And he has decided to fit out. And that's why you get to the point where you're saying, fine, we'll trade you. I just don't think they can get value for him. His value is crap right now compared to what he is when he is

playing and at his best, right? I mean, and people could say, well, he ain't the player that he used to be. When they fired Taylor Jenkins last year and he was shooting 23 shots a game in April, what I go look at the last month of the season. Like, he, I watched him drop 40 a week ago against Philadelphia. Don't tell me that this guy is without talent anymore. It was just, Three against a thunder. He was on fire before he got hurt. Yeah. And again, that's the thing.

He's been unreliable because he hasn't been able to stay on the floor. And so when you team up being unreliable on the floor with a problem off the floor, it's like, and they've stood by him every step of the way, the whole thing. I am just telling you from a, from a perspective of being in that city, people would rather root for John Morant than whatever you're going to bring in. I think that's true. Despite all of it, despite all of it, big markets are much harder on. players than small markets.

Small markets truly love these players, are attached to these players, and they don't want to see that guy in another uniform. He's got a grizzly tattooed on him. The other thing is you always have a chip on your shoulder and an insecurity because the second you get somebody good, we've dealt with six years, I offended off. Every good player they've ever, actually 25 years. Every good player they've ever had. It's like, when is he going to go to a big market?

When is he going to go to a big market? When is he going to get out of Memphis? That's been forever. And now it's finally a lot of the media's time to really talk about it. They've been trying to trade him since the day he got drafted. He's going to have to get out of there if he ever wants to do this. He's got a Nike deal. You think Nike wants him in Memphis?

You know, I mean, so you spend that whole time fighting. And then now you found a guy who is mega talented, who was an all-star, who loves playing and being in the city? Okay, that part. That's hard to come by. And people feel that way because it's like, are we ever going to get somebody that falls, you know what I mean?

Here's a question. Because you know my theory about the Luca trade is there was so much happening behind the scenes that we don't see that made the relationship between the Mads front office and Luca untenable and that's eventually what sort of led to him being traded. Yes.

And we hear rumors about him being upset with the coach, and body language and this and that. Are there things happening that we don't see sort of locker room poisoning? Oh, yes. Body language, you know, subverting the coach's authority. Yes. If those things are happening,

then you sort of have to move him and you move him at 70 cents on the dollar because addition by subtraction, I think there's a little bit of that going on with Tray Young as well. No, I think that's all of it. And I think, no, and it comes from this level of frustration. and look, I think it probably came down to, you know, it's one of those like coach or me. And they're not going to.

We did that already. We did that already. You're not. You're losing this. And so that's where I am at right now where it's like, you lost that one. It's you this time. It's you this time. And so you've lost that one.

And so whatever you think you're your protest of not being your best self or whatever, else. But like, look, everybody stops defending the guy if he's not going to suit up and play and play hard. And, you know what I mean? If you're just going to be unhappy and you're going to be sulking and you're going to, and then you're going to sit out of games, it's over. But if you're sober, if you're such a coward and you're Jalen Wells and Scotty Pippin Jr. and Eady and whatever, and like you're just in the league and you're trying to win games. And your leader, number one guy is not joining huddles and sulking and that's it. Talking to the fans and street clubs. close while the game's going on.

That's it. You're probably better off without him in the locker. That's what makes the situation disastrous. Do you think it would be best if they trade John Moran? You can't even answer the question. It depends on the out.

The deal is not going to be great. You know that. You just saw Trae Young trade. I don't know. I can't explain this anymore. I think they will both regret it. If he ends up on the Kings or the Bucks, the Bucks thing makes no sense to me.

You've already brought. mortgage your future to bring in Kyle Kuzma and Dave Lillard is a disaster. But now Javan's going to save the day and keep you honest? What? I think they will both regret it. That's what I tell you. And I know there's a lot of people out there that are going to

go. It doesn't mean it's not going to happen. You'll be more better off for it. I mean, no, it doesn't mean it's not going to happen. It doesn't mean it shouldn't happen. But I could see a snar where they both end up regretting. I felt exactly this way with the Michael Parsons thing. His value is nothing now. was hurt, but yeah, they're out of the playoffs. No, no, no.

I'm telling you, John. Oh, I think so Michael Parsons. This is the lowest it's ever ever. I mean, no, when he got suspended was by the lowest ever been, but yeah, outside of that, yeah. So this is my thing. I mean, I would love to be able to get in a room with him and say, look,

if you want to be traded, the best thing you can do is go play it at all NBA. Go play it at all NBA level. If you want a Mac contract extension. The best thing you can do is go play it at an all-B-A-level,

all-N-B-A-level. But all of this, baloney, this is, this is ridiculous. It's ridiculous. Nothing that you want is going to get accomplished by doing what you're doing. What teams make sense for John Moran's?

And I promise you this. They will not take a bad deal. They're not going to get a good deal. I know. and so you are where you are. I do not think you will look up. I don't think there's any chance that you're going to look up and that trade looks like McCollum and Kisper.

No way. No way. What are the chances you think they move Sharon Jackson's? Oh, none. Because that was the next thing. Of course. Well, what after the trade jaw? What are they going to do with Jared Jackson?

They just extended. They just extended him. They love him. They just extended him. And he's the easy. I mean, you know, come on. I mean, you want to talk about Ghost Town? Get rid of your two most popular players.

Where's Zuki? Huh? Hizuki. Chicago. That's your most popular player. That's your most popular player. That's your second most popular player. I tell you this, you know who's jersey sold out?

Yucas. No, Pam Spencer's. Sure did. It is. It is. I went into, I was at the June starts. On Friday show, it's not going to be on the grisons. Yes.

He'll be. He's going to play in these games, I think. I don't think Adam Silver is going to not let him play. It is weird to have him go all the way out there. They're in Berlin. Feature matchup between the Grizzlies and the Magic. Right. Not bad teams.

Not the NFL. Right. Throwing the bad teams out there. And to not have job play when we all know he could play would be a bad luck. Yesterday he posted on Instagram. Yep. You're lucky that I have my spiral notebook. My spiral notebook.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I've lost it. What was it? God damn it, Bruno. No, how you wrote down this problem notebook? No, no, no, it was the little, no, no, you had a different one. The little Wayne. I'm not saying I didn't do anything wrong, but I'm ready to do right.

He's supposed to that? Yeah. Oh, God. He's not. Hey, it's like, it's like, look, I live with this all the time. I got a, I got a teenager at home. I live with John Moraine at work. I live with this all the time.

I am a master at decoding weirdness. Let's go to last. This guy is the most emo thing. ever. Let's go to last day's games. We're going to end up talking about. What do you think? You're outside of it.

Do I sound ridiculous from the outside looking in? I do. You would just say to hell with them, trade him for nothing. No, you sound ridiculous because you sound like you're trying to hold on. You sound like there's this part of you where he's going to go to Berlin, score 35 points, go out to dinner with the team, apologize and cry at the head of the table, and have a player's only meeting, and then it's all going to be kumbai. on a 10-game win street because everyone's healthy.

And then Eadie comes back and they turn it around. And then they, you know, they, they beat the warriors in the play in. And then they beat the Rockets and the sons in the first round and beat Dylan Brooks. And then they go on and beat the Thunder in the second round. And then they're in the NBA finals. And there's a parade in Memphis. That's how you feel. I love it.

It's not happening. They're going to trade John Morant. And they're not going to get one first round pick and a bunch of trash. Oh, come on. It's going to be a first round pick. in 2029 in a bunch of shows. Did you understand why I wouldn't want to do that? I wouldn't want to do that either.

Okay. But I was thinking, so wait, you are. So on one side, I'm delusional, but on the other side. The important part is if you're the Memphis Grizzies,

I think that the future of this franchise is not John Moran's development. It's Cedric Howard and it's Jalen Wells, Scottie Pippin Jr., and Cam Spencer and Edie and did that timeline, that younger group. And maybe Jared can be a part of that. Fair. But I don't think it's, let's maximize this window.

I think this window. is closed. I am just of the opinion, like, I read whatever everybody else does. And you see those names that come up and you see those trade proposals that come up. No, thank you. Oh, I'd rather have my emo disgruntled star that is at least fun to watch when he plays. Like, I don't, that's what other people, that's what you also don't understand. He is still, I go to 41 home games a year.

He's still more fun to watch than almost. anybody in the league. That's how I feel about Trey Young. If you're a Wizards fan, you're like, oh, I hate this. Like, Trey Young? Yeah. In your arena 41 times, it's fun. I literally just watched a game Sunday against

the Brooklyn Nets. And I watched Noah Clowney take 15 3s. He took 15 threes. And I'm just sitting there like, what the half is this? Who wants to watch this? Michael Ford, Jr., it's like 10 of those are my 3s. And I didn't he didn't play in the game.

That's why I got the And you know what? Maybe Moran posted what he did because he saw the Brooklyn Nets and he's like, damn, man. Because that is the kind of team. Brooklyn is the kind of team. You could totally see that. Brooklyn is the kind of team.

Yes. They got nothing going on, Jacoby. Michael, Porter Jr. Oh, God, they're getting rid of him. They're moving on from him. Yeah, they're going to get rid of it. I think he's going to the Warriors. The same way the Wizards just got Tray Young, at least it's something.

it like our fans can watch. Here's my question. Everyone's putting Michael Porter Jr. on the Warriors, right? Am I crazy or do the Warriors need a big? Like they've got Draymond and Jimmy Brutler, Jimmy Butler at that like three, four spot. They need a five. Wow.

The Celtics and the Warriors need a five. I hope Quentin Post isn't a mismatch listener. I'm not a big man to post. Nobody is. All right. Let's get to a couple of things that took place last night. Cavs lost to the jazz. Bad loss.

Wow. I mean, they had Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mowgli, and Jared Allen. 32 from Guanté George, 28 from Markanin,

standing ovation for Kevin Love. That was awesome. And just had a 55-point loss to the Hornets. Where Cody Williams set the NBA record, a record that I did not think could be broken.

What was that? Individual games. plus minus he was minus 60 oh that's that's pretty bad that's a tough one to break that's pretty bad that's a tough one to break i think it was scoot i think it was scoot for a long time it was like manny harris that guy that was from michigan or whatever but it's always like some kind of like a horrible tanking team you know and it's usually in the spring but yeah 60 minus 60 that's a tough one and they lost by 55 and then they turned around and beat the cab But I think those things are related.

I think it was one of those things. It was like, guys. Yeah. And as I was watching bits and pieces of this game, and one of the things that stood out to me is another person who's rumored to be in trades for the last two years or three years is Larry Marketing. And man, he, uh, he looked good. Like, yeah.

And he's getting a ton of catch and shoot threes. And, like, transition is just like, he's like a, like, when you watch the honest transition, it's just like on a force and aggressiveness. Like, I don't want to stay in front of that guy. He's just, like, graceful and smooth, but just as tall. Like, yes. I love Larry marketing and I don't know what he's doing on the jazz. Like, what's the plan here?

What are we doing? I mean, A.J. DeBonsta is hopefully the plan, I think. I guess. Right? He's everywhere. They're trying to, they're trying to levy that. You had some other games that went on last night. We have, let's go to Philly over the Raptors.

That was a really good win for Philadelphia. And, I mean, it's like exactly what you want to have take place where it's like Embed and Maxi are both simultaneously. Yeah. Awesome. And Paul George and BJ Edgecombe. Yeah. I mean, you know, with those four, I kind of like Don Barlow.

And then you got Ubrae, McCain, and Grimes, all guys coming off the bench. Like, if it all stays healthy, they're dangerous. Yeah, man. It does. Because Paul George is what? You're like fourth best player? One thing I found really interesting about this. And I'm curious to get your take on this.

How do you feel about these like back-to-back same team matches? Love them. I like them too. little mini baseball series. It's also the only time that you get anything that replicates the playoffs, right? Yeah. So one team plays the other team. You then go to the drawing board and you say, okay, here's the, you know, the same way

that you see many times in playoff series. If game one is a blowout, game two is either really close or the other team flips in. Because for sure, what usually takes place is the team that lost sits there and goes, okay, here's the reasons we lost. we're going to fix this, this, this, this, and this. And then there's the ebb and flow and the adjustments that take place. But I like the two game sets because you get to see each other, then you game plan against each other.

And it's the only time that we have anything that mimics playoff basketball. I think you'll see a lot of those be split like this one was. Because Sunday was a very close game. Raptors went at the last second. And then Monday night, the Sixers win pretty easily. It's also why what happened with Oklahoma City and San Antonio was so profound. because they played each other in that short amount of time. And we all were saying when they got to the Christmas game,

this feels like a playoff. You know what I mean? This is like a playoff series. You just saw them. They just beat you. And so that's why we were like, and then the Spurs just beat them again? Like after?

And the one in Oklahoma City, and they lost twice. We were all like, now's when they're really going to show up. You're down to 02 in the series, bro. And they weren't even close. No. Also, one. thing from this game.

One point in the game, Kyle Lowry comes. Well, they bullied Nick Nurse into putting Kyle Lowry in the game. And he takes off his day. And Matt Devlin, my buddy, who is the announcer for the Toronto Raptors. Oh, I know exactly what you're going to say.

He says the greatest Raptor of all time. I wrote it in my notes. The greatest Raptor of all time? So I went and looked. I'm curious. I did the exact same thought. Here's the thing. Here's the ring.

DeRoson does. have like all the records, but he wasn't on the title team. What about McGrady? What about Benz Carter? But he wasn't on the time. Jalen Anthony Rose? This is length of time success. I never really thought about it until he said last night.

Jason McGrady at his as a pique as a rapture was much more impact on a basketball court than Kyle Lauer. Also won dick. Fair. This guy won a title and in game six, close out game against the Warriors. at 26 and game winning shot. I mean, Kauai Leonard,

greatest rafter of all. I just think when you're talking about length of time and success. It's like Nick Collison on the thunder. I never thought about it before, but he's not the greatest player the Raptors ever had. Right. He's the greatest rafter of all time. I had the exact same thought when they put him in the game.

The greatest raptor of all time, I was like, oh, I remember some good Vince Conner years. Yep. You know? I remember some Bronner Rose. But he won the...

But he won the title. He won the title and he made like whatever. Hakeem Olajuwon. Greatest Raptor. Six, seven All-Star Games. Did he have a better career than Hakeeb? Who's also a Raptor? He was a Raptor.

That's a true statement. And you know what he got this far? And what's so crazy is for all of those years, it was like, Bosch is the Raptor. He's their rep in the All-Star game. We don't even think about Chris Bosch as a Raptor anymore. I do. Because of the heels.

You do? One of the things that Chris Brobosch did is a Raptor, which no one will give him credit for. He was one of the first athlete content creators. Do you remember he had a YouTube channel? I think he was like he was trying to campaign for some All-MBA or something. And he had a really funny YouTube channel before anybody else. It must have been like 2009 or 2008, maybe 2010-11. He was hilarious on YouTube.

He was like the first athlete that was like sort of in the league and also in the media content game. He's good. All right. Other games that are worth mentioning. Pacers beating the Celtics. Jay Huff, my guy, 20 points in the game. No Jalen Brown for Boston last night. Jay Huff went off.

Yeah. Oh, and everybody is in on the Jay Huff crazy dunks now. It's the reverse. It's now getting. So we knew first. So if you don't know, Jay Huff, he is incapable of dunking the ball forward. Like a normal human. He had, he was going down the middle of the lane on the left side of the lane.

and he has to right-handed. He goes up to dunk, like any normal person would do it, just dunk it right down the center. Can't do it. And he flips his back to it. He can't do it. Going by the brim. He's got a mental block. Also, you almost never see anybody do the one-hand reverse anymore.

I think he can't. Everybody double-hands the reverses. He's twisted around and did like, yeah. It's weird. It's like he's got to, it's a tick. It's a tick. The biggest thing that came out of this. this game for outside of Jayhuff. Awesome. Awesome dunks are, uh, is, uh, the post game

press conference. Joe Missoula, I mean, these poor Boston media keep trying to ask Joe Missoula questions about the game and he is only giving a two-word answer to every question that he has asked. Joe, give yourself the chance to win, I guess, take us through the last couple of sessions. A legal screen. A legal screen. Illegal screen. Illegal screen. What fell apart to get, and how were you able to get by it? Illegal screen.

What do you want people to do? Illegal screen. So he just says illegal screen. Now, by the way, this is after Jalen Brown has already gotten a $35,000 fine for berating the refs. After the Spurs game. And I went back and watched just to see how. how egregious this was. And I was like,

I mean, come on. Yeah, by the book, it's an illegal screen. But Derek White recovered. Also calling that in the moment is kind of BS too. And also it didn't affect anything. Derek White recovered and guarded it. He would have recovered faster or whatever. But point being is,

he was still in front of B. If they blow that whistle in that moment, Rick Carlisle's press conference is the same thing. Illegal screen. So it's like, I'd rather the, ref not make a call in that moment than make a call if it is on the fence. We all say that. Here's the thing. Here's the thing.

I love Joe Missoula. I think that thing, I think it's great that he is the way he is such a psycho. That being said, that press conference makes it sound like that's the reason they lost. Well,

I mean, first of all. No. That, when you, when you refuse to talk about anything else, then it's like this is the reason that that game was lost. I mean, they shot nine for 35 from three. Yeah, that may have something to do with it. That might have something to do with it.

But when you make, I don't know, I just, let me just say this on Joe Maz's behalf. When I went and watched the video, I thought it was going to be horrible. They did not warrant the press conference to me. That illegal screen did not warrant, And I mean, and I'm always one, you know how sometimes, you know, when you're working somewhere or whatever, you always have to like pick your battles, right? And you just decide like, all right, is this a hill?

Is this one I'm ready to? Big parenting thing too, not just what. Yeah. Is this is this one I'm ready to dig my heels in or am I just going to concede to that? And it's like, you're going to get screwed way worse than that. I would save it for. And it will also. But I understand

the message The message says to the players is is like we got screwed by the refs for the second game in a row when really that is one possession because when you do what we do for living you end up talking about the last two possessions of a game that had 200 possessions in

that's right and it's a and it was also that's one of those where it feels like it's a carryover from the Spurs game rather than just this one bizarreo come on yeah

illegal screen it's just a Couldn't stop Jayhoff. Couldn't stop Jayhaw. No, Jalen Brown is worth mentioned. That's lots of... Seems fair. All right.

You know what? This is actually going to be perfect because we are about the midway season where everybody's played about 40 games now to the midway point of the season. So we're going to give our biggest surprises, disappointments of things we love and load so far about the season thus far.

I will start with my biggest surprise despite their loss last night. Boston is my biggest surprise. When I went through and looked I was like, because I saw them in the preseason and I was like, oh, this is a, this is just a punt ear. First two weeks a season. No tatum. They have nobody big.

And then next thing you know, it's Namais Queda and it's Luca Garza. It's like, what is happening? I mean, Jalen, Jalen Brown is having all an MVP level season for this team with 30 points a game, 50% from the field as being the. man this year. And I got it. They're like, this stuff can all change very quickly. Ask the Houston Rockets who now look at the standings. You're like, wait, what the hell? I know. When you go look at the standings and you're like, wait, what? Look, they're one up on Toronto. They're one and a half up on Philly. They're two and a half up on Orlando. So I'm well aware, a week can change everything. But as of our recording on January 13th, there is a

0% chance I thought we were ever be talking about Boston as a home court advantage team in the Eastern Conference. And we are halfway through the season. And as up today, that's where they are. As a home court advantage. I didn't know if they could even make the play in. Like I'm saying, get through the play in, right? Even if they were at 10. But I thought they were much more in line this year with the Chicago's of the world.

Atlanta's, not even Atlanta. Atlanta's been a disappointment. But like the Chicago's and Miami's and, you know, that group. The before, it's important for me to remind myself how I felt in the past. And after the tough piston series, the Knicks were going to face the Celtics.

Before the ball went up in the air in mid-court in game one, remember how heavily underdog the Knicks were in that series. And the Celtics were defending champions. They're an absolute juggernaut. They, the Missoula ball, throw up the threes. And, and then in the offseason, we all know what happened, Tateham gets hurt. They drew holidays gone. K.P.'s gone.

Horford's gone. And you're looking at this team without Tatum. And you're looking at this team. And it's impossible not to say the two words gap year. Yeah. And you look at the way they start the first month in the season. And then you start looking at draft status. Like, that's the way I'm looking at this team.

Right. A month into the season. And now I'm looking at the season. at this team being like, can the Knicks beat this team in a seven game series? I mean, do you have an answer for Hugo Gonzalez? Well, Derek White's not been playing well. He's played better recently. Yeah, right. But he's not like it. Not like an All-Star.

Yeah, I mean, I mean, Kate has been a nice surprise. Pritchard started out mega slow. Yep, he started slow. Like, this team has really just been a function of a rising tide floating all of the boats. Yes. Everyone has played above expectations to this point, with a slow start. And that's what makes this team so dangerous. And the Tatum stuff is going to happen.

He's going to play, whether he plays seven minutes a game or 37 minutes a game, whether he scores three or 30. Who knows what he's going to look like. And let's be fair, almost every night, not every night, but almost every night, Jaylon Brown is the best player on the floor. Oh, yeah. that's the thing.

That clipper game was without, that's what I gave up. When he would score 50 on Kauai, I was like, I give up. When you are, when, I mean, we talk about this when you get to the playoffs. Do I have the best player? Then I got a chance, right? Like, that's been the story of their regular season. They hit the best player on the floor. Almost every night because of this guy.

It's impossible to deny from a macro standpoint, from like a Celtics holistic health. This season has been very good for Jalen Brown and his growth. question. But it does feel like the, I don't think, I don't think we can overstate how amazing he has been because this is like a, like a Luca Dallas type thing where you're like, all right, like, I don't, I don't really care about the rest of these guys all that much. I mean, they're fine. But this one guy is elevating this whole operation.

I think, I mean, he's that good. Even the biggest Celtics fans, the like Simmons level Celtics fans would say that they had some concerns about Jay around being able to. hold this workload of offense of what's being asked to do of him because in the past, the turnovers and the dribbling and the footwork and the bad shots. But it just seems like all of his warts are gone and everything else has been polished. And the level of consistency. I mean, average at 30 points a game is unbelievable.

Yeah. I mean, this is a guy like, all right, here, it's my time to shine. And he is shining. It's 30 every night. Yep. All right. Next, your biggest surprise so far. Well, you mention the Rockets.

Well, that's a disappointment at this point. They went from surprise. This is the Celtics of the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns. Oh. And it's similar. Some of the big names are gone. Some of the people that we've relied on in the past are no longer in the building. We're left with sort of a one-star system with a bunch of role players.

And guess what? Like the Celtics, the Suns have been baffled. Like, it's like, you saw them and you mentioned them in the last, the last pod. Like on paper, like the Royce O'Neils and Grayson Allen and Mark Williams, like these guys aren't decorated all stars or even like great role players that are celebrated. But they're getting the most out of everybody in Gillespie. And like they, they beat the thunder. They lost the rockets, which was close. Remember Booker had that three at the very end of the game.

they've beaten the Grizzlies, the Knicks Handley, the Wizards, they are ahead of the Rockets in the standings. Like, where are they right now? They're like, you know what it kind of, you know what it kind of reminded me of too?

You watch over the weekend. And the only reason it reminded me of is because of the, the new coach, the new vibe is the Bears when I was watching their locker room video with Ben Johnson and Kay Williams. And I'm like, oh man, the vibes in this.

But they get the young new coach. They kind of like reset everything. They got this culture change. They got this. And it's like a bunch of young guys and like the quarterback's all in on it, whatever. And it's like that's what I told you about Phoenix. It's just like everybody, everybody was happy with that operation when I saw them last week.

Everybody. That's, that's everyone's. And the reason it stands out to me is because everybody's miserable. Unhappy with the grisies. Yeah. It feels like... No, I had that in 2002, or 22, when it was John, Dylan, Brooks, and Tyos Jones,

and they're doing their dances out to them, whatever. It's like some of these teams, they got like a wave that they've caught. And it feels like outside of Booker, everyone's been giving an opportunity to prove themselves. Yes. Because every NBA player scored 35 in high school and 20 in the college. Sometimes you've got to come and be a role player in the pros, but you still think you could score 35 or whatever.

but you look at Gillespie and you look at Alan. Jordan Goodwin? Yeah, Goodwin, yeah, who was on the Lakers last year. Like, it's like they're all, they all have this confidence inside them that they feel has been stifled by lack of opportunity, and they've all been given opportunity, and they've all excelled at it. This is a great, this is a great topic. Because if you go back, the best teams I ever covered were the Grit and Grind Grind

Grizzlies. And it was always, the story was everybody's, got a chip on their shoulder. Tony Allen wasn't getting the start in Boston and he was the casualty. Randolph. After they won the time. Zach Randolph had all the problems in the world. And Mark Oswald was the fat little brother.

And Mike Conley was only there because he had hitched his wagon to Greg Odden. And it was like all these different reasons as to why the guy. And Devin Booker's like the one there. The rest of those, it's either like, I was underdrafted or

or didn't draft me at all, like the Goodwin's and the Gillespie's of the world, or it's the Mark Williams. They drafted me in the lottery, and now they've already punted on me or Dylan Brooks. They traded me away. I'm going to show that. Like, you do have this collection, Grayson Allen, who's been traded twice already. Like, you go up and down their roster, and it is a bunch of guys. And Jalen Green, who is going to inevitably play for them.

He's playing this week. He's playing this week. They don't even have him yet. So I'm looking at it like Sun's blogs or whatever, and it's like, well, how do we work in Jailin Green? it's going to be fine. He's like, Jailene Green's not going to mess this up. He'll fit in.

He'll, he's kind of like a, he's sort of like a, like a, like a, like a Mawford. Like sometimes he's going to go two for eight. And sometimes he's going to go 10 for 15. And if you work around his strengths,

he's going to contribute and help that team a lot. Yeah. Because they don't really have another, like, go get you a buckered guy outside of him. Right. Like, they know.

And Jalen Green, if anything, he'll try to get you a bucket. There's no question, and he is, like, I mean, I think he will just, I think where you worry about him is when it's those rat Houston teams. I thought generally he fit in last year with the Rockets. Yeah. When they won all those games and ended up with the two seats. And it was the end of the season, but two years ago when Sangoon was out, he was like 35.

Yeah, but he wasn't like, he wasn't playing like, he wasn't like he was going out there and shooting it. I mean, obviously, Emey wasn't going to let him. but it wasn't like he was holding the rockets, but I didn't think so. I was doing a little research for this. The suns are second only to the thunder and turnover. Wow. Only to the thunder.

If you think about the thunder, it's like turnover, turnover transition, turnover transition. If you're going to be the thunder, you've got to limit your turnovers. The suns are right there with them. Unbelievable. Biggest disappointment this year.

For me, it's Golden State. Huh. Well, because they were like, I kind of believed in the second half of last year. Yeah, I didn't. I believed in the second half of last year.

And I was like, man, you know what? what, I got it, that they're a veteran theme. But if you've got, if you got Curry and you got Butler and you got Dremont, and then I, you know, there's a bunch of guys that I kind of like like. But then you had that whole like comminga catastrophe over the summer that now has turned into an even bigger catastrophe. I mean, and then when you look at it, like Curry's averaging almost 30 points a game

and is having a fantastic year. Jimmy Butler, despite the fact that people, you know, have jumped him. He's averaging 20 points a game. Consist. You know what I mean? He's fine. The problem is their third-leaning scorer is, wait for it, Jonathan Caminga, who is now getting DMPs. That's per game.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Also per game, the next one? Pods. Like, they don't have anybody else. Like, I mean, Chavano stinks now. He does nothing.

Moses Moody. I mean, it's just like, I don't know. I guess I, you know what? You were more right about this to me. I just, I was a believer. I was a believer in the second half of the season. I still think they would have beaten Minnesota in the playoffs last year if Curry doesn't get hurt.

Easy to say that, but whatever. I got it. But I mean, I just, man, I thought this was going to be better. And here's the thing. Not only are they decidedly mediocre, there's too much drama. It's too much drama with it too. It was, for me, it was their offseason, right? Dremont, Steph, and Jimmy Butler are,

be nice to say veteran players, right? And this off season, it was, are we going to have with Camago? What's going to have a Camago? I mean, every damn episode of the mismatch. We probably led with Camagena this off season. And they signed up to the deal that was rumored forever, right? Oh, we can trade him now. He doesn't play.

That's drama. That's adding to it. And then this off season was what? Well, we got to wait for Horford before we make these other big signings. Remember Jimmy Butler was like storming the front office. Yeah. Knocking on the doors. Well, guess what happened? They got Horford, Milton, and Seth Curry. I know. Okay. Yeah. And who were their bigs? I think they missed Kvon Looney. It's Quinn

Post and Al Horford and Dreymont. That's your center rotation. That's your front corner. And maybe I'm just holding on to like, I mean, Curry is still awesome and I hate to see it like be like this. It's like this. It's annoying. It's annoying because he's still awesome. It's like sometimes it's like, all right. Like, you know, the Curry things run its course and you're just going to have to, you're right.

Like, I mean, we're moving on to the next group of guys. But it's like, damn, man, if he had, if he had, even Curry's, he had a better team around him. This is the kind of guy that you. Curry always had clay around him. Right. And in that, remember how good Wiggins was in the finals against the Celtics? It's like he just can't do it by himself, by himself.

I don't think Jimmy is enough. And they just don't have enough. Speaking of a disgruntled fan favorite that both teams wish they could go back and do it over, you'd just rather be rooting for Clay. Oh, yeah. The rumors now that Clay's going to come back or whatever. It's like, Clay's somebody happy. Clay hit some shots yesterday in the game.

I was happy for. I know, but it's like, damn, man. Well, Clay's like, I got it. He's like, I want to catch and shoot three from Luca. I'm a stand and just watching him to do his thing for 20 seconds. That's right. And then hit me in with a catch and shoot three. That's right.

And now he's sitting there being like, I guess. But the people that love him are the ones in Golden State. Yeah. You know what I mean? And they'd be fine. I haven't seen them. Are they fine now? I haven't checked.

I'd imagine they're fine. I haven't seen it. I'd imagine they're fine. I mean, she was cooking for him. Yeah. All right. Thing, uh, you're big of disappointment. I put the Warriors.

just because I had higher expectations. I bought in too much to the second half of the season. So this one to me is like, I didn't have high expectations for this team, but they did start at the beginning of the season and made sense. That's the Milwaukee Bucks are a big disappointment to me. Not just because of their win-loss record. When they started the season,

Yonison's shooting. Yep. Okay. Yep. And he was having the best season is NBA history. Yeah, it was working for the first like eight to ten games. Yeah. everyone said the wide open east whatever like okay this can work yonis gets hurt

ryan ralynne ralinds cracking ralyn rollins blows up and now they're like rumored to be in the jaw market that makes no sense especially with the way it just worked with with dame like what are we doing right you just stretched his contract out of four years to make up for that mistake now you want to make another mistake and it's just it's just been very disappointed in the way that yonis has handled. This is disappointed me as well. Like the whole thing just stinks. And if I'm a Bucks fan, we know how this is going to play out. And it is one of those where it's much like the Curry thing.

It's like, bro, why are you wasting? It just stinks to see here's a guy that could be the best, like, is playing like a guy that could be the best player on a team that's there at the end. Yes. And there is no chance. He has no chance. I'll ask you the same thing I said. Curry has no chance of being there at the end with what he's got.

who's the second... Janice has no chance of being... The second best offensive weapon on the Bucks. Right. It's probably Ryan Robbins. Seriously. Miles? No.

I mean, I took Bobby Portis, I think it would be... I know. But if you think about the Bucks championship team, Nilton, Lopez, Drew Holiday, like two-way players everywhere. You know, like this team is just so far from that.

And we know how it's going to play out. It is inevitable. He's not going to ask for a trade. They don't trade him at the deadline. It goes poorly. This summer, a bunch of like sub-tweets about the thing, and then he gets traded for 60 cents on the dollar this summer. I don't know.

If your team doesn't win the title, you get traded there. To the Knicks? Yeah. Well. You know there's been all kinds of smoke with that for a long time. I don't think they're in danger of winning the title. You don't think so? And all that?

All right. I think you have to worry about that hype, All right. Thing you love about the season so far. The thing that I love about the season so far is I feel like feistiness is back. Oh. Yeah.

I feel like it's back. Not as much in the East, right? Like you've got Detroit. Well, obviously they're going to piss off somebody and hang it with you. Orlando will get up in your face, you know, and certainly sucks when available. So I could see those two teams, like kind of setting people off.

But the West is a lot. loaded with people that piss you off. You have Phoenix, who gets into it with all manner of people because of Brooks and then and Grayson Allen. And, I mean, they're going to, look, if they're playing play and playoff basketball, there's going to be a kerfuffle. Golden State, when Draymond plays, is obviously always a nuclear situation. You've got the San Antonio, Oklahoma City smoke, which is very real.

Yes. Right? Where, I mean, Chet's missing free throws in Wemby's like, yeah. You know what I mean? We got Denver with Aaron Gordon, who somehow has become a live wire over the course of the last. I think it's like Stony Joe's Treadlocks guy. Also now Bruce Brown, who gets up in everybody's faces. Luca, Luca, Dennis.

You have Luca. Yeah. Who is talking reckless this year. Did he get slapped or did he not get slapped? I think Luca forgets. He ain't got the reinforcements with him there. He's got a bunch of white guys. You know what I mean?

Like, I wouldn't know. The guys chill out. Yeah. You don't want, you're, your turn around, you got La Ravia and you got DeAndre Aiton and you got whatever is like. It's a generous. I don't know. Yeah.

I think you were better off when you had the, the Gaffords of the PJ Washington's of the world, right? I think you need the, but he talks reckless and Dennis, why has there not been proper reporting on this? Thank you. Dennis Schroeder was he obviously made it sound like. I didn't attempt to hit in my head his ass. I slapped his ass. And the NBA put out that he has suspended three games for attempting to slap,

to attack or something. Attempting to, yes. Yeah, and then he responded. To strike. To strike. What he responded with like attempting question mark? And a laugh emoji. Yeah.

Which means he slapped it. You can't give him three games for attempting. Then why would they put the word attempt? I guess if you did slap something. but you also attempted to slap them. Yes. So it's factually correct. Adam Silver is a lawyer.

But also, if you don't connect, I don't think you should be suspended. Oh. It's like, wouldn't you agree? I know you're a golfer, right? Do you think, do you think, let's just say that we got,

you know what I mean, that two guys got into it in an NBA court, right? And then they square up. Isaiah Stewart and whoever, because, of course, he'll be involved. Sure. or possibly Ron Holland. Anyways, and it got wheels up and he swings.

The other guy ducks. Still a punishment, different punishment. But it's not the same. It's not the same. Different. Three games is, you better have hit him if you got three games. That's where I am on this. I think we need, but I think where you were on this to start is the correct take.

Terrible reporting. Where is the reporting on this? I thought we were doing this. Who are we protecting here? I thought, I thought, I thought this goes at the fabric of what we. believe in as a society. I was really hoping Luca was going to come out last night with the

First Amendment. Yeah. I was like, oh, it's awesome. He was awesome. He was like, talking about that game.

They lost to the Kings. Dude, Demar de Rosen, by the way. I've got this on my. If DeMarre Rosen is available, somebody better pick that guy up. It's De Rosen,

Devin Carter, and Picks for John Morant. Does that trade? You like that? Devin Carter? What are the picks? seven first round picks I mean I'm sure they're heavily protected

last night the Sacramento Kings I'm gonna give the Lakers a pass on a loss Oh is they didn't miss a single three 17 for 26 65% 65 Russell Westbrook was just banging him Russell Westbrook was just bagging If a team shoot 65%

from three against you you're gonna lose And Luke can play it really well That's it you're gonna lose Where am I at? Oh here's a real low Yeah this is easy. I love watching these rookies. Rookies are always so far to watch.

But just this weekend, this is just what happened this weekend, what I saw. Sunday night, not last night's game, Columari Bowls against the Sixers, 17 points, 15 rebounds. Con Cinnipple, that blowout against the Jazz,

12 points and 18 minutes. There are only three players in the NBA who have made 130 or more threes so far this season. Donovan Mitchell, Steph Curry, Concanipple. Wow.

Think about that. Concanipple. Yeah. They say he's taking a run at his roommate. Oh, yeah. He is. For a rookie of the year.

Because he should be. Imagine College best buds being one and two and rookie of the year. And you saw Cedricard. You don't even need to tell you about him.

Come on. Vijay H.combe. Don't even need to describe that. I've seen him hit a game winner in my face. and ruin my daughter's night. Derek Queen. Vijay Edgecombe's always going to be that to me.

It's a guy that made me drive home. He's going to do so much amazing shit that he will not be that to you. Forever he will be the guy that made my daughter mad. All right. I'm getting her an Edgecombe Thursday. She already has one. Does she have a Jod jersey? Does she have a Jod jersey?

She's a Jaron guy. But that's a whole not other thing. She saw this coming. No, no. no, that's a whole other thing. No, she wanted to be different. And, like, Jaron's always been her guy. And when she was a little girl, I'll give you a nice Jaron Jackson story real quick.

She was at a game with me. And Jaron saw her, and she ran up to him. And she went to go give him a hug. And she goes, you're my favorite. And he picked her up, and he goes, you're my favorite. And I swear I got from that day, she would take a, bullet for him. And she is so mad at him because everything she has in her room and her jerseys and everything, they're all 13. And the idiot changed his number to eight and ruined everything.

I bought her an eight jersey for Christmas. She won't wear it. She refuses to acknowledge that he's number eight. Yeah. That's good. That's good. I agree with her. I'm mad at him too. No, it's good. Denial runs deep in your family. Derek Queen had a triple double going back to the DMV. Yeah. Cooper Flagg, we know about him. And let's go want to give a shot to Caleb Love and Maxime Rayneau. If you know, it's a little bit like on the West Coast.

Caleb Loves. I know. Rayno, I'm not going to act like I know who Maxime Rayno is. I'm watching Kings games. I'm like, who the fuck is that? All right. The thing we hate about the season, it's easy for me. It's the injuries thing.

Okay. Last year was a record-setting pace. of injuries. This year, according to my buddy Jeff's thoughts from industry close, there have been over 3,200 games lost to illness and injury. And this is somehow ahead of last year's pace. So last year felt like an absolute crisis, and this year is worse. I think that not all injuries are created equal, it's stars.

It's like, well, we already started the season without Halliburton, Tatum, and Lillard. Yeah. Like that was before we even got going. And oddly, like, Iron Man, one of best players in the whole world. Kauai Leonard figured out. Who we did not mention, but also killed it last night. Oh, my God. And he's having.

And James Harden. He's having the best season of his career. Quai Leonard. Last night, I was up late watching that game because I really care about the mismatch. I'm like, if James Hardin and Kawhi Leonard can do this, they might win the championship. Like James Harden looked so good, dude. Force of nature. Getting to wherever you wanted to get to.

Coi Leonard. Oh, and it is just them. Because look at the other guys in the starting lineup. It's all like six, four, two. It was like 38 and 32 between those two guys, right? No, but I'm saying like the rest. I don't think anybody else had double digits. They don't need to.

They really don't need to. It's a bunch of pitch-ins. Well, Zubatch. but do Kauai has been Iron Man and unbelievable and it's so crazy considering

you know this year has just been marred obviously Yokic Janice has missed the time Wembe's missed the time do you think the Clippers turn this around and become like a contender

like they were last year I think it is totally in the cards that remember when we did the Christmas shows and I told you what their what their schedule had been and what their schedule is going to be

and I think that their terrible record for the first several games of the year, 30 games of the year, was in part, you know, poor play teamed up with impossible schedule. And as this schedule has lightened up, you have seen, right? And their play has gotten better. So now you've got better play and easier schedule. Yeah, I mean, I think they're certainly going to be a playoff team where it, and I think we don't have to fret about that.

I think the most important thing is that Oklahoma City does not get a top 10 pick out of that deal. Yes. That's the most important thing. I don't care what they're in the playoffs. That looked like an impossibility, but now it looks like a very good possibility that that will not be a top 10 fan. Yes. And I think that one of the things that I was very happy about their offseason moves was the addition of John Collins. Yeah.

And I didn't think they would miss Norman Powell as much as they do. And John Collins has started to found his role. The first couple months in the season he was trying to figure it out It didn't look like a good fit But he's starting to figure it out Last thing I That really bothers me about this

I'll say The one thing that I'm going to say Is the bump and jump Bump and jump Bump and jump What is that? It's the word that I have for It used to be

You could extend the forearm You're off arm To keep the defender away from you They started calling that Okay So now it's just become so Did they? So you can't extend the

arm, they'll call that. But now what you do is you just ram your shoulder into the defender, and then you create space and either step back or finish. And I've seen so many times where defenders are straight up and down with their hands in the air, sliding their feet, and the offensive player rams into them, and they get the call. You know, who I told you is the master of defending this is Nemhard in Indiana. It's a master class. He just, he gets away from you when you're about.

to do it and guys fall down. I find it so infuriating to watch these defenders just like watch someone get an and one. And then you watch the replay and they're just moving laterally. Yes. And the offensive player creates all the contacts, create all the space. SGA does this really well. Luca does this really well. Jalen Brunson does this really well.

It's a combination of footwork and contact. But I feel like if the offensive player initiates the contact, it should not be a call in the defense. You know who they're on now? You know who they're on now? it's Obdia. Oh, yeah. They're saying he gets the whistle now. Yeah, yeah.

He's the. I just feel like we've gotten the point between like the gather steps, the double stepbacks, and now the offensive player being able to ram their shoulder in the defense, it's too, that we've gone too far towards helping the offense with the cults. Gotcha. And that's one of the things that bothers me.

Because sometimes I'm like, what else is, it happens to Josh Hart a lot. It's like, what else is he supposed to do? He's sliding his feet with his hands straight up and now. What else is he supposed to do? Illegal screen. Illegal screen. Illegal screen.

That's the only way you can combat it. Illegal screen. Illegal screen. All right. It's good to see you a person, man. So hold on, hold on. New York. The reason we're here is because we're doing a photo shoot.

Yeah. For our Netflix debut. Do you think they're actually going to put us on Netflix? For sure not. Probably not. What are you talking about? Probably not. Why?

Probably not. I mean, somebody's going to come to their census before we end up on there, right? They've figured out. I would think so. What do you think of football this weekend? I thought that, you know, it was weird because obviously we had some new faces in the playoffs. No Lamar, no Mahomes, whatever. And somehow we got the best NFL playoff weekend ever.

It was unbelievable. Last night's inside night's games. I was like, never come back. I don't need to watch you. If this is what the games are going to be like without these guys, I'd say the night games, the Pages Charger was whatever, and last night's game was whatever. But like...

Bears game was unbelievable. Bears game. Bill's game. They were just so good. What was the other one that was so good? Oh, the Rams from Panthers. Yeah. Do you see, oh, how hardcore is Stafford? Did you see the Devante Adams postgame press conference?

No. And he said, he walked in the huddle. I'm paraphrasing. He said, he walked in the huddle and said, all right guys let's go rip their hearts out he said that was cold yeah that was cold and that cody parkinson catching that i mean that game was awesome forgotten the rams and banthers game because it feels like it was three weeks ago but no all those games were so good i mean we have just got NBA's got a lot to live up

49ers eagles when it comes yes that was awesome when it comes playoff time and if NBA's got a lot to live up to i'm very very hopeful that this year's NBA playoffs It's going to be lit. Last year. I know. I think this year would be good. Two years ago, we're terrible. We just need the grisies to go in there.

Oh, stop. Stop already. Yeah, win the playing game. Then it'll be fun. It'll be fun. It's worth out of the thunder. You know, Franz Wagner's supposed to make his return in this Berlin game. Oh, that Mo's back?

Well, it's... We've got both Vogners? In Berlin? Oh, no. Yeah, I know. I know. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Let's know. All right. It's got to do it for today's episode. Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez. as always. Thanks to Stefan on the Sunni building. Hooking it up. Please put us on Netflix.