The Mismatch - Brunson Closes, Wemby Injury, and ROY Race Heats Up Again

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

 Verno and Jacoby return to react to last night’s matchups, including the Knicks-Hawks matchup, Victor Wembanyama’s injury, and Cooper Flagg’s legendary weekend. Welcome to The Mismatch! (0:34) Grizzlies tie NBA record with 29 3-pointers and still lose (3:04) Michigan Wolverines win second national title in program history (9:52) Knicks-Hawks: Jalen Brunson clutch in the 4th quarter (13:59) 76ers-Spurs: Wemby leaves game with a rib contusion (16:02) Raptors in a tight battle for the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference (24:13) Jokic-Wemby matchup was absolute theater (26:23) Strahinja Jokic goes viral again for altercation with fan (31:29) More headlines: Steph’s return, AD Pranks Draymond, Flagg ROY (39:42) Injury update: Can the Wolves hold it together without Ant?  (44:38) Injury update: Luka going overseas for injections (47:29) Bulls fire front office, and Billy Donovan gains power in Chicago (51:59) NBA not the place for the “my way or the highway coaches” (59:15) Huge week ahead of games will set the playoff stage (1:01:40) Verno teases his Masters Weekend Updates The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Stefan Anderson and Jeff Shearin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Farnan. And joining me see us every week from the ranger.com. It's Dave Jacoby. Verno, Michigan Wolverines, national champions. But the Knicks beat the Hawks and televisioners. Let's be honest. That's all.

I was actually keeping up with both last night as I was in attendance to watch a team hit the most threes in NBA history. History. And lose by 16 points. More threes than anyone's ever hit in the history of the game and lose by 60. So it was the last home game for the season for the Memphis Grizzlies. And I went to Grizzlies cabs last night. And you would love this.

Who hit? I believe I believe I've got this right. The tying three. The 29th three of the game was hit by Adama Ball. A ball. Number 72. It's the most perfect thing ever. And so, hey, look,

six. Ball had six. Whitehead had six. Dude, this is the best. Okay, so look, I'm trying to watch the national championship ball at this game. I pull up on Amazon Prime, the Knicks versus the the Knicks game so that I could watch that.

I'm watching MBD versus Wembee. Like, I'm trying to keep up with all of this while this Godforsaken game is going on in front of me. It's pretty interesting. Okay, I know. Because they hit 29 threes in the game. And so if you go, look, nobody in the free world was watching this game. I understand.

But one of the funniest things I've ever seen in an NBA took place. At the end of the game, they have 29, okay? The record for the most threes hit in an NBA game is 29. they intentionally foul down like 16 twice in the last minute. The camera pants to Kenny Atkinson, and they have no idea what's going on. They're like, why are you? Can we go home? Yeah.

Can we go back to our beautiful hotel? What are we doing here? We're trying to go home. Like, why are they fouling down 60%? And so they tried to break the record and they couldn't break the record, of course. Anyways, the post game to your guy to Omas was like, they wanted to go for it. So we went for it. Hilarious.

I didn't even. It's crazy that they even knew it was going on or that that was a record. That being said, I'm trying to keep up with that Michigan game. And I don't think there's any question. The prospector will get to this later as in the weeks to come as we get towards the lottery and then the draft, but the big center for Michigan, I tweeted this over the weekend. He helped himself the most. Of any of the guys in this NCAA tournament, it felt to me like the DeVincenzo run a couple of

years ago when he was at Villanova. And a guy that was projected to go like maybe early second round, late first, maybe. like and then everybody watches him in the tournament and we talk about how this tournament can really change how guys are perceived and certainly their draft stock. I think most people that are NBA fans watch the national championship and the lead up to it and saw a 7 foot 2 slash 7 foot 3 guy who can pass the ball and who can set screens and that finishes, you know, when your when your guy drives into the basket, he's right there to dunk it back in. and go, all right, like, especially in a huge league that includes the Wenbanjamas and the yoghages of the world, you know, this kid puts on some weight, like this translates. And I think that kid, there's nobody that is going to go high,

that much higher than what they were projected to go because of the tournament. That's what I'd say. I mean, the story of the game yesterday was just, it was Mara and Johnson inside and just they made it really, really hard for the Huskies to score. shot 31% from the floor. Michigan won, and they were 15 from 3. They were just getting the ball inside, getting fouled, getting to the line,

getting buckets. You know, and if they missed, they would get the rebound. It was just their size, was undeniable. It wasn't a particularly pretty or exciting game to watch. It wasn't really that close. We weren't a lot of lead changes. It just felt like Michigan took the lead in the first half and just kind of controlled the game from there. Well, and we're seeing this, we're seeing this in all levels of basketball, how huge.

the eventual champions typically are, right? They have size on the wings, and they have size up front. And the other thing is that Michigan team, and we just saw this happen with Indiana and football, you want to talk about a sign of the times. They're starting lineup, started school at Texas Tech, North Carolina, Illinois,

UAB, and UCLA. Not one of them. not one of them started their career at Michigan. I mean, that is the landscape of college basketball now and the fact that you can throw together a team and have that level of success, right? Like, not only can you just poke kids from all the other schools, that you can throw it together and have them play great basketball

and great enough basketball for them to win a national title. Wild. You know, typically there's always like one. Because you think continuity in playing together year after year, like you look at the nuggets. There's just this sort of like institutional knowledge of knowing where each other are going to be on the basketball floor, which they sort of thrive with. And you think that would be important in college, but I guess it's not. Well, I mean, look, I mean, these were the number one seeds. The number one seeds, Florida had Washington State, Florida, Arkansas, Florida, Princeton.

So they had two Florida's in there. Duke had all five that started their careers at Duke for their starters. Arizona had four of the five. Michigan was the only one that was like this, but much like that Indiana team that was thrown together by Kurt Signetti, right? Like, I mean, this is just the sign of the times that you can go and put together a roster from all around. And so those kids, congratulations to Michigan. And that was, that was mega impressive.

It was a great run. You know, they took care of business every, every round. It was also like, you know, we covered this a few episodes ago. Like Nebraska won their first tournament game this year. I was pretty surprised that they hadn't won a championship since 89. And then you start looking back because they've been to the final four a bunch, you know. But then you look back like, oh, yeah, that's right. Like, they have it.

If you were to ask me before yesterday, when was the last time Michigan won a championship? I would have said sometime in the 21st century. I would have to, I think. Yep. Shout to Jail and Anthony Rose. Real quick, I will say, it was interesting watching the postgame stuff last night because years ago I talked about on the mismatch, I went to an EYBL event.

It was the week before Peach Jam, and I went out of my way to go to the EYBL event, came back home, came on the show, and said, I just saw the best 16-year-old basketball player I've ever seen. And it was Cooper Flack. dominant. At that tournament, at the like tournament, so you're walking around.

There's a, no, no, no, it's the week, it was the week before. Oh, because the PCHAM was this big, like, coming out the next week. There's a hundred million games that are going on at this thing, right? So the first game I went to included, uh, uh, one of the teams was from, I believe the DMV. It was outstanding. And then the other team was from Atlanta and featured a 15 year old named

Caleb Wilson, who was on the team. But then we get done. Me and my son are at this thing. We walk over to the adjacent court, and it is slammed. Slam. And I'm like, what in the world? And I start asking around.

I'm like, why is everybody watching this game? They're like, we're here to see the number one guard in the country. And I was like, I mean, because I'm just there to go see flag and maybe the booze or twins and whoever else. It was Elliot Kadoe. It was slam at this Nike event. Oh, Elliot Cado. I'm telling you, this thing was slam.

Like 70 around the court. And I'm like, who's playing there? I mean, that's how big a deal that kid was when he was a prep. And then, you know, didn't go the way he wanted to at North Carolina. And there I am watching him hold up the National Championship trophy last night, saying everybody counted me out and nobody believed to me. And I was like, man, once upon a time, I was in a gym where there was like a thousand people.

Yeah, a thousand people watched your high school game. Got a while. All right. So congrats to Michigan for winning the national championship last night. How good was that Nick Hawks game? I did pull that up on my phone. I pulled it up on my phone and I was like. I was texting you to make sure you pulled it up.

Yeah. Because it sort of concluded during the first half of the Michigan, Yukon games. I was like, screw this. I'll check you back in with this national. championship game. We got to get this win against the Hawks. And Brunson, man, it's that time of year. Just give the ball to J.B. Let him operate. Well, and I think, you know, you saw down the stretch of that game, it was Jalen Johnson, like, that's the thing Jalen Johnson has to turn into, right? Because

they tried to give it to him and then go to the basket on that last one. Quintznyder is so good at drawing up plays. That wide open three he got for C.J. McCollum, when they were down four where Okongwu caught it. They took up a lot of time. But my God, to generate like a totally wide open three where nobody is within 50 feet of you was wild. And it actually gave them a chance to tie it on a heave, which I'll be there. McCollum almost did it.

I mean, what are we? I thought he hit it away. He didn't seem like, I mean, even when you watched the replays, I was like, oh, it looks good to me. What a game. That would be, you know, look, they're trying to hold serve to make sure, but that would be a, that would be a fun series to watch. I mean, look, I'm glad that Atlanta has gotten in the mix in the way they have and have been so good. Because if nothing else, no matter who they match up with, they give us one more good series.

Because I'd be surprised if they don't win two games against anybody to play, honestly. And they have a legit superstar. Damn it, superstar. Nikiel Alexander Walker? I mean, Jesus. Is he not going to be most approved? I don't understand how most improved even works or like what the criteria are,

but like he is just unstoppable. I texted you during the game. I was like, Nikola Alexander Walker is just absolutely murdering the Knicks right now. Unbelievable. And you go back, what's so crazy about a trajectory like this where Walker is that awesome is go back and look at the beginning of his career.

And he's just like thrown in and tossed around. Other teams didn't see this. If they did, they would have held on to it for dear life. Now, I understand Minnesota couldn't afford him. But there's a, there's a, there's a, there's a list of teams before he was in Minnesota where he got his chance to break out and then earned this deal with Atlanta. And it's like, yo, like you never know, like, you know, they always say development isn't necessarily linear, right? But like there's certainly teams that are looking back as he was thrown in trades at the beginning of his career, not playing, et cetera, that are going, oh, my God.

What a regret. This guy is awesome. You just don't see this too much. Like you see kind of like a Diabate thing where it's like, you know, marginal, you know, wave by team. it gets in the right spot and then he performs. But this reminds me sort of like Norm Powell, where it's like you've always been good. And then all of a sudden,

a little bit later in your career, you get the opportunity because a good, last year a good Nikila Alexander Walker game was like 16, 17 points. Right. Last night he had 36 and had an easy 36. Easy. Like it was like a smooth easy 36.

And like it reminds me a little bit about Norm Powell. This is like a late bloomer. Yeah. And, I mean, they got good players, man. The Hawks have a bunch of good player. They got a bunch of guys for Brunton. Dyson Daniels was making it tough. And, you know, I think McCollum is it might be a little long on the tooth to stay in front of, you know, some of those pivots and upfakes.

They were kind of looking for that matchup and got it when they needed it. He can still make shots, though. Oh, yeah. He could still make shots. So that was a good one. The Spurs beat the 76ers. That was another big one. The big story out of that is that Wemby left with a rib contusion.

Now, he's got to play 20 more minutes, at least one time this year, to reach the 65, which I'd imagine, you know, they didn't seem to be too terribly stressed about it last night when he got the risk. Well, he came out of the game, came back in the game, and then at halftime was ruled to stay out. It seems like a precautionary. There's nothing on the tape that when you watch it that seemed like there was a serious injury. there. So I think they'll be back. Again, I think it probably put him back in to get the minutes count, right? Because there's this stipulation. I know. I know it is. But like, I think that's probably why. So he would hit the, so he hit over 15 minutes in that game because you can have two of those where you played over 15 minutes in the game. And so, and then he came out and obviously

Cornett started that second half. Look, Castle had a triple double and they had, that's their 60th win. 60 wins is a outstanding, unbelievable accomplishment. I mean, it is hard. It's kind of like what the pisses did last year because the previous year they weren't even in the playoffs.

It wasn't in consideration. Obviously, the blood cloud had a lot to do with that. But to go from a team that's not even fighting for the play in to now pressing the champions for the number one seed is really impressive. And it was pretty wild that like last night,

Maxie was doing nothing in the first half of that game, but he was just like, they were kind of just playing through Wemby, like, I'm sorry, through M.B. And M.B. It had a big game. Like, I mean, you, you know, it looked like he got hurt right at the very beginning of that game. And it's like, oh, my God. Did you really just last three minutes?

Like you know, I mean? And then he had 34 and 12. They couldn't find themselves in the six seed. They're a half game out of the six seed right now. Well, the Raptors hold a half game lead over the Sixers for that seed. Toronto, this is huge because they have Miami on Tuesday

and Thursday. Who's this 10 seed? So that is going to be the deciding, it's this weird two game mini-series that's going to have a profound effect on the standings because Miami's sitting at 10,

Toronto's sitting at 6th. Now the Sixers have the tiebreaker over Charlotte and the Magic. So they don't have to worry about that if they have the same record. But yeah, pretty wild that with this half-game lead that the Raptors have, now they're facing Miami in this two-game set. As we record this on Tuesday morning, they're playing tonight and Thursday night.

And that's really going to decide what their fortunes are. I mean, I'm looking at it from a Knicks perspective, I'd rather play the Raptors. I'd rather play the Raptors than the Sixers. I may or may not in the last episode said that I'm not concerned Bring on this Yeah, I know you were You were bring on the Sixers

Bring on the Sixers And now you're like, eh, let me see Toronto I'll take either of them I'll take either of them I'll take either of Hey, if you get Toronto

You'll get like what I did on Friday night Front Row Glorilla Oh Oh, she'd take over the garden She'd take over the garden That's right Get her next to Shalame

She was in the mix. Every time Brandon Ingram scores popping along. I love Colville so much. I love Colo. I'm concerned about that. Hawks, if it's a four or five Knicks Hawks, this has happened before.

Nick's Hawks has happened before and it didn't go great. Oh, trust me. I know. I took my kids to New York for the first time about maybe four or five years ago. And we were leaving, we went to go see, this is when Otani was playing for the Angels. And so I was like, you know, we were in town and I was like, let's go over to Yankee Stadium,

but we could go watch, we could see Otani and Trout in person. This is great. So we went over to Yankee Stadium. I know where the story's going. And then we went, we went and got in the subway, and the whole subway starts chanting F. Tray Young. Yeah. Hey, P.S.

It's the summer after, not the summer after they lost to the Hawks. A year after. And it's the summer and it's July. And my daughter's like, what are they saying? And I was like, never mind. Don't worry about it. This has taken me so long to explain. 18 months ago.

18 months ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like bowed like he was in a Broadway show in the middle of Madison Square Garden. So, yeah, you still, like, it's still, it's still the jersey. It's not just a Trey Young thing to you? Oh, it's PTSD. there's trauma there's real trauma there I'm having to go back to my therapist if they play again the pistons lost to the magic so the magic need every game like blood but the pistons have clenched

that number one seed and the magic are fighting for their playoff lives so I'm not going to draw too much from that but what is interesting is you're always looking at down this stretch this final stretch as we lead into the last week of the season you look at the schedule of all these teams and who's drawing the tanking teams, who's drawing who. Interestingly enough, the Pistons are at Charlotte on Friday. And it doesn't mean anything to that.

Right. So that ends up being unbelievable for Charlotte. Right? Like typically you're looking at it, you're going, oh, God, and we've got a game with the Pistons left. But the fact that the Pistons cleanse make that totally different.

You know, A, you're not going to care desperately about the outcome. Now, it'll be. interesting because they might want to send a message because that is two teams that could match up in the first round. They could definitely be in the first round. And they had the mini melee earlier this year with some real smoke. So who knows the way that

one's going to play out? I think rest is more important. One thing that it doesn't get discussed enough is if you are the number one seed, you wait the longest to start your playoff series. So not only do you get home court throughout is you have to wait for that second

playing game. And then that team has to travel to you. So you basically get like six days off at the end of the season. Probably like Sunday. If you've got like an MVP candidate with a collapse long, something like that can be very important. That would be actually a literal week because I think, I think their season ends on Sunday.

And you wouldn't start until probably Saturday. The next weekend. Yeah, probably Saturday. More than likely Sunday, though. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it's six or seven days either way.

But it's a huge advantage. Oh, huge advantage, to say the least. All right. So those are the major. Was anything else from last night that you want to mention that took place? I was talking about the Grizzlies hitting 293s right in front of your face and not even being in the game. Like, you remember when Boston did this to the next thing?

It was like opening night. It was like two years ago opening night when they tied it. The Bucks, the Celtics, and the Grizzlies. have hit 29 threes. But Boston, they boat race to Nixon that game. I think they had like 17 in the first quarter or something. How do you hit 29 threes?

And it's like not competitive. The other thing is, the other thing is I didn't even know what was going on. Of course not. You got the national championship game going on. You got the Nuggets and the Blazers game going on. You got the Nixon Hawks. Like, all right.

All right. I'm, I'm admit something here. When they started in, intentionally fouling, I turned to a guy. So what the hell are they doing? He said they're going for the all-time three-point record. I was like, what? What three-point record?

What? I'm looking at it. What? Is this Adama Ball, Derek Whitehead, Lucas Williamson? Oh, no. There's a name. No, no, no. There's another name on there that you've never heard in your life.

I can't even remember it. What's the guy's name? Hold on. Where is it? I don't know. No, no, no. Who hit all these threes? This is not the Splash Brothers.

No, there's a new guy that played over the weekend. You're going to love this one because it's even better than it's even. You remember when I like quizzed you last week and I was asking me. Yeah, trying to make me look like an idiot. Yeah, for the- I didn't get a Venmo, by the way. Whoa, thank you for reminding me. I did not get a Venmo.

Oh, I must have sent it to a different Jacoby. That's not what happened. You just completely forgot to do it. You're a liar. You just said you were going to Venmo me $5 for everyone I got right. I got two right and I got no Venmo. you know what hand up i will correct that oh this is the guy's name toby o'conny toby o'conny okay look i don't know who that is me neither uh toby o'conny on sunday afternoon

this was a game at milwaukee played 41 minutes He played 41 minutes on Sunday. On Sunday at Milwaukee. Toby O'Connie. This is getting serious. I mean, they were not winning that game. I was watching the Pacers on Easter after the women's game. Women's game was just not competitive.

Bummer. And I watched the Pacers and my daughters in the room, we're at an Easter party. I was like, that's Harry Potter. I was like, that's Harry Potter. starting for the face. He's about Harry Potter. We got a bunch.

All right, we got a bunch of get to that has happened since we last spoke. All right, let's get through it. I have not been tagged on anything more this season. And I'm so proud of us to mismatch. Because you know what this means? This means that people were hardcore listening to us last summer. Because that's when I went to a summer league party. and I ran into Yokic's brother.

And that became a big thing on the show. And I tell you this, Yokic versus Wembe this weekend was absolute theater. Like I could not, this was so perfect. Like, okay, so it rained all day here on Saturday. And so it rained. I was like, yes, this is great.

I have every excuse in the world. Not to go anywhere. And we had the two final four games. My whole basketball focus was on those final four games. I was like, I guess I'll check out this Nuggets first thing. It ended up being the best game I've ever seen my whole entire life. And then it went from two, that started at two o'clock central. And then it went straight into, then we ordered a bunch of pizzas.

And then the final four came on. I was like, this is, this is. How many pizzas did you order? Well, my son had the knee surgery. His best friend came over. So, okay. Then his best friend came over and we invited the mom to come over. Yeah, some extra miles to feed.

Okay. Yeah, yeah. So we actually did get, we, we, I ended up ordering too much pizza, but it's better to have too much than not enough. But the point is watching those games back to back. And then so obviously you're watching all the highlights, you're watching the yokech, step back. Look, everybody's already covered that game and how incredible it was.

Yeah. But there I am. I go and check Twitter, Instagram, whatever. and I've just got the, on a random Saturday afternoon, I've got this barrage of mentions. And I'm like, what did I do? You know what I figured like? Terrifying.

There's nothing scarier. You'd be like, oh, God. I know, because, like, it'd be my luck that it would be like somebody. Something about the hotels and LeBron. No, no, no, no. No, my luck would be that somebody had like, clip the show where I like randomly said Michigan sucked or something. You know what I mean?

If you're like, what? I said that like an October. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't say, I never said Michigan sucked. But the point is I'm fearful that there's like some old show. Now it's been clipped. I got old takes exposed or something.

So imagine my delight when I click my mentions and everybody is sending me, Yokic's brother yelling at a spurs fan. I was like, oh, this is so awesome. It was like, so I got, Yolkich got fouled, right? And then. I believe so. And then a Spurs fan turns to Straunya and taunts him. Something, I guess he thought that he was acting,

thought he was making a big to do about something that he shouldn't have. I mean, this is like, it's like, this is like when you see like the headline, like someone like jumped inside the lion's den at the zoo. It's like, well, that's your fault. Like, it's like you climb the fence and jumped in the lines to him. Like, why would you taunt Straanya Yokic? I'm going to do that. I'll tell you this.

So anybody can go and look this up. Anybody can go find the viral clip that we're talking about. And what has happened with me, I have gained a lot of credibility with our audience. Because what did you just say? I've gained a lot of credibility with our audience. I've gained a lot of credibility. of credibility with our audience. Normal people don't say things like that,

Chris Verde. And you say it like, it's just like a normal thing. You're just like, oh, I've gained a lot of credibility with our audience. I have.

I've gained a lot of credibility with our audience. Because you just lost it. Because of the party story where I said this was the most terrifying human I'd ever seen because every time our audience sees him, it's not like I was exaggerate.

That's where I... I think he got bigger. I think he got bigger. Oh, wait. You sound like you're saying I gained credibility. Because I now, they tag me on it and they're like, everybody is like, you know what, bro, you were right. Like that guy, when he gets, he was mad in that clip and he's mad. And I'm telling you, when I first saw him, he's standing with his arms folded like this number right here. And he's like this. Like, we're at a party.

It's not, you know what I mean? And I'm like, yeah. And that's when I walked up to him and I stood next to him And he's like like looking at me like a grunt And I'm like I just wanted to see you know How small I felt compared to you and he was like Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha I'm like oh my god dude

So this is this is that way through my mind You see his eyeballs when he's looking at that guy And I'm like he's angry The only thing that is saving your life right now Is that sweet that's yeah and the fact he's caught a he's caught a previous for getting into it with a fan in the stand so he probably doesn't want to do that again i don't think that matters but if i'm mad this is what i was thinking this is the hypothetical i was thinking of imagine this you're working security at the game and you've got an earpiece in with a walkie your boss comes over the radio and says you need to apprehend stranya yokish oh god come on i quit i quit on spot i quit yeah i Imagine if it's your job to apprehend that man or to make him do something against his will. That's your profession.

No chance. How many people would it take? You know, we talk about the silverback gorilla, like a hundred men against silverback gorilla? Just, just, just, if something broke out, there would have been 20,000 bloody carcasses and him. Exactly. He's also the kind of guy, you know, you know people like this. So we grew up with people like this where somebody's got that, like, you know, kind of loose screw brother or something like that.

And you can't tell them nothing. Like, it's not like Yokin, I think, could tell them like, hey, man, chill out on that. Like, there is none of that. There is no conversation like that. That conversation literally never takes place. Ever. He never tells them like, hey, man, chill on that. You know what I mean?

Like, there's a lot of people that would say that, like, they're, you know, hey mom come on like don't get into it with the fans or whatever like no i think this guy i think yoghish probably loves that his brother intimidates the world i don't think it because i think the yokech has been through it before and seen it so he's like i'm not going to try to stop him he's in a rage you go ahead stop he does what it was but thanks to everybody for tagging me on that that that was you gained a lot of credibility a lot of credibility a tremendous amount a tremendous Yes, very credible. With our audience.

Very credible. Very credible. For my stradia take. Steph Curry came back and looked like Steph Curry. That was awesome. Yeah, man. I'm all for it. You know, because I do understand,

I understand if someone's like, listen, why would you risk further injury and you're in the playing, you're the 10th seed? What are you going to do? You can hope to hope to win a couple of games to go up against the thunder. But I love it.

Guess what? your professional basketball player, play basketball. You're ready to go, go play basketball. It was awesome. And also awesome was the end of that game where Draymond Green is screaming for Pods to come over and help set a screen so that Curry can get the switch onto Shengoon and Pod's just standing on the wing

watching Steph Curry in no man's land and then have to heave up some kind of shot. And then the second he does, and misses it, Draymond B-Lides to Ponds, like, what are you doing? Seriously. Oh, oh, 20-second time out. Tell me you've seen the clip going around everywhere of the, is the Anthony Davis prank show funny?

That Draymond clip is hilarious. That Draymond clip is funny. It's funny. No, it's funny. It's funny. It's funny. I just, he genuinely says, he's like, oh, I will fuck you up.

Yes. He's LeBron is like, okay, it's time. I think we got to call this. Yeah, before the Saginaw comes out. Yeah. The fact that they, and Rich Paul's sitting next to him too. Rich is right there. He's in on it.

I mean, dude, the funniest is that old white guy going, this is the NBA, not the G League. This is investors. Do you know what Gabby? I thought it was Tom Hanks. When you first look at him, I'm like, is that, does it get Tom Hanks to do this? I have not watched it yet, but I've seen that clip on my feet of bunch. And it's funnier. Hell.

Well, of course, your first episode, you're going to put your best material out there. It was funny. I'm taking the under. I'm taking the under on this on this show, long term. Sorry, Rich. Love you. We goofed on it, but I'm going to give it credit. That clip is funny.

The clip is funny. Making Draymond Green that mad is funny. It's, I remember Punk's, when Punk's was really good, it was good. And I'll never forget the Jada Kiss episode. It was like some driver wouldn't let him out of the car, and he just lost it on her. And he just called her an asshole in a way that I've never seen a male call a female asshole before like that. It just made me laugh. When they're legit anger, people being legit mad, like Strahanya level of mad, is just funny every time.

It's funny every time. It's so funny that you bring up the anal thing because I, I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life than did you, did you see Eastbounded down? Of course. What is that? Bro, when that, when they're in the lodger mat and that dude said, I love you, baby, but you dress like a dickhead? I don't think I've ever left calling a girl a dicket. That's what made me laugh so much about Jake is.

I know. I know. You're just like, you're like a male-to-mail insult. Nobody calls girls assholes Yeah, I never thought of it like that until Jada kids crossed that line. He said, baby, I love you, but you dress like a dickhead. I was like, I laugh, but I still laugh about it. All right.

Anyway, the point was, Draymond Green also told Podzinski he would F him up as well. And so he almost met the same fate as Jordan Pooley. it felt like after that game. Possibly. Like seriously, what is he doing? Why is he just demanding? I don't know. I don't know.

Dremont is also yelling at him in the middle of the play. Come on. Come on. What else are you paying attention to? The whole point of this is for us to get Schengun on this guy. Why are we, like I just got Thompson off him, but now he's got Jabari on him. We need one more switch. And that's your job.

Pots is like. twiddling his toes over there looking with this stupid hair. All right. Next one. Cooper Flagg making a run at rookie of the year. I mean, 96 points in two games? I know.

I had it locked, sealed, delivered for con canipple. Everybody does. Haven't you starting to think a certain way about it? Absolutely. Me too. It's not fair. So of the odds.

I know. The odds are crazy. I mean, the amount that the odds of Switch based on these two games is, it's ludicrous. I mean, it is 96 points in two games. And it's like, look, they have both put on, like, historically outstanding rookie seasons. Khan has, he's going to make more three-pointers than everybody. He's like the best shooter in the league. Hey, hey, not rookies.

I don't know. And has been part of winning. Like it feels like, here's what I'll say. I don't know. This will be, this is going to come down to like literal, singular votes. That's how that's-

Co-ro rookie in the year. Give it to a vote. Oh, we did that one year. Who was it? Jason Kidd? Was it kid? I'll go do it. Who was the co-ruikies of the year?

It was Jason. It was Jason Kidd and somebody, I believe. and it was goofy as hell. Stand by. That did happen. Stand by. That's like early 90s. Dave Cowens and Jeff Petrie,

Elton Brand and Steve Francis, Grant Hill and Jason Kidd. God, you can't get better than Grant Hill and Jason Kidd. Yeah, Grant Hill and Jason Kidd. Because, I mean, give them to them both. That was the last one. That was the last one.

Oh, and their roommates. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. And collegiate teammates, yeah. The whole thing. Give it to them. Give it to them. Give it to them. It might come down to that.

But, man, it's he made it. And look, meanwhile, the Hornets have gotten hot again. Yeah, they won four in a row. Well, you're battling right now, right? Like, I mean, you're trying to get to a point where you don't have to play your way into this deal, which is we just talked about Toronto and those games against Miami that they have, both on Tuesday night and on Thursday night. But Charlotte, with their, with their recent.

recent wind street. They're trying to get up. Can they get up to what's the highest they could get to? Charlotte? With their mind of games left. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Six is the highest. They have the Knicks on Sunday.

So I got that one circled. When I told you they have the, the, the pistons on Friday night. So the Pistons Friday night obviously does not look as bad seeming because they've clinched. And the Knicks, I'd like to think the Knicks will be. solidified in a position by then and not need that game. Depending on what the Cavs do. They're not making it to two. Not making it to two.

Right. They could slide. They could slide to four. Yep. Knicks have some tough games. Well, Charlotte has obviously flipped it on Orlando and Miami. At least they've got, at least they've got that. But, I mean, those teams are all, you know,

be either tied or within a half a game of each other. I mean, the Hornets have the Celtics, the Pistons, and the Knicks. even if they don't need those games, the Celtics are pretty much locked in. It's still tough games. They're in Boston. Remember last time they were in Boston? Yeah.

They waxed last time they were in Boston. Yeah. Boy, this is going to be good. This is going to be good. The wolves lost since we last spoke, and I'm a little worried about this, okay? Me too. This is a real, uh-oh.

So I was reading John Krasinski, who is, John Cresensky is the best beatwriter and has been for I can't over a decade for a team. He has broken more news. He is more locked in with any team than anybody in the country and has been that way. They are so lucky to have him in Minnesota and he always has the news. And boy, when I was reading this, he said the technical term for Edwards knee condition is Patelo for moral pain syndrome.

More commonly known as runner's knee, it is the same condition that kept Warrior Star Steph Curry out for 27 straight games. Speaking the day before his return to action, Curry described the injury as frustrating to deal with because of

the recovery process that's not linear. Initially, Curry said he believed he'd miss a week to 10 days, but the pain lingered and kept him out for over two months. Every time I got on the quarter tried to push it in that first month, there was always a reaction. You just knew it wasn't healing as fast as you thought.

I read the same thing. I read the same exact column. And I thought because he came back from it and then he was out because of illness. So I was like, oh, he's just going to be sick. Like this is a viral thing. He'll be fine. But then he came back and now he's back out because of the runner's knee, the Pateleformal pain syndrome.

anything that has pain syndrome in the title is not good. Well, especially when you've got to play four rounds to reach your destiny. And you've got Steph Curry, who had the same thing, was out for two months, and he had the, you know, rehab, trainers, 24-7, doing everything you can to get back on the court, couldn't get back on the court. And then you've got maybe you'll come back with not 100% in like game four of the first round. And that's your superstar. meanwhile, there's a monstrous question mark on your most important role player slash best perimeter defender in Jadenis.

So, good news is. And they're, and they're like limping into this deal. Like, playing wise, like some of these teams, like the aforementioned Pistons, last night notwithstanding, they've been able to hold the fort down without Kate Cunningham, right? You've seen teams throughout the league, you know, even, but this has gone the wrong way fast with these three losses for Minnesota. And more importantly than the losses is what kind of condition would they be in? Can you imagine if we somehow, some way, ended up with Minnesota and L.A. playing each other and nobody's there?

But the chances, the chances are low, because the Nuggets are a half game up on the Lakers. I know, but it would be hilarious. aren't trending in a good way yeah with no Reeves no Luca no Anthony Edwards no McDaniels right it would be LeBron Julius Randall yeah Julius Randall no god like that was but they there's three up the suns and there's three back of the rocket so they don't really need the games here's a here's the reason look the McDaniels thing was obviously week to week and that was already something that I sounded the alarm on right because he's a hundred percent essential in a playoff series.

Okay. They have to have him. And we've mentioned it before, but when you do look at what Nikila Alexander Walker is doing in Atlanta at the same time, that they have this sort of like lack of wing depth. It's tough. Meanwhile, that was the first time

that I felt like the alarm went off on Edwards. Reading that column, I just figured, you know, this guy has been so durable. He has been It's so durable. He plays so many minutes. He's tougher than nails.

He always wants to play. But it's like... But he had already come back from this injury and then was out for an illness. So I wrote it off as like, oh, well, he's fine. He's fine. He's for sure. Reading that and reading that he's got the same... Here's what it tells you.

This ain't going away, bro. Yeah. This ain't going away. Whatever the, I don't know, the technical term, the non-linear recovery, I don't like the way that sounds. Yeah. That sounds like it can just flare up whenever it decides to. This feels like it's just going to be a bothersome thing until the offseason.

That's it? Yeah. You know what I mean? But, I mean, they've got to playoffs that they've got to play. They're most important games of the season. Can you see him win three series in the Western Conference? I don't see it. He needs to jump on a plane with Luca, head to Europe.

What is going on with, what's going on? What is going on? Is this an indictment of American doctors? Why do we have to fly over the Atlantic Ocean to get these procedures done? I don't understand. I don't either. People do it. I watch the pit.

There's great doctors here in America. They're more advanced. The thing is, like, I got it with, like, the knee things and, like, some of the, some of the injections. It's like some of the stuff that they try. Stem cells. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it, right? They may be more of it.

Spin your blood. But what do they do with the hamstring? I don't know. How are they more advanced at hamstring? I don't know. I just feel like it's crazy that we have to outsource NBA player health. But it's also like, I tweaked my hamstring. Next flight to Frankfurt, please.

So all the best players are from there and all the best doctors are from there? This is some bullshit. When's July 4th? July 4th is coming fast enough? Yeah. I don't understand. I thought we had the best doctors here. Them too.

We're almost at the moon. We got Artemis up there. Come on. I know. We got Luca and Reeves. It's kind of bullshit they're not landing on the moon, right? Like, you got to land on the moon. Like, we're just going to cruise past the moon?

We're just going to drive by? Not going to stop? Stop and land on the moon. Come on, NASA. I agree. Stop and land on the moon. So Lucas is headed to Europe and Reeves is out. and so everybody's like, yep, there goes the Lakers.

I guess we'll see. I guess we'll see. I mean, if they have to miss the first round, they can't win. I mean, and look. I'm just so curious. I'm so curious what happens with LeBron after this year. I say this. You'll be elsewhere.

Where? Not Memphis. Look, I say this every year. Groin's, hey, groin's hamstrings, calves. any one of those, I'm freak out mode. 25 years, I've been through this a thousand times. Don't tell me it's a groin. Don't tell me it's a calf.

Don't tell me it's a hamstring because it's never faster than you say. Ever. Well, it says four to six weeks. I'm like, they're not going to be around in four to six weeks. Well, he'll be okay in four to six weeks. Great. Unfortunately. Start that.

Call men's health. You can do another, look how hard I worked out in Zoff season, because that's all that is in front of Luca. Because I do not think that the Lakers would be playing competitive basketball and it's six weeks from now. Do you? No. The Chicago Bulls cleaned house.

Rightfully so. I mean, Arturis, Cardasovus, and their GM, Mark Eversley. Look, I mean, the guy should have been fired the second he gave Patrick Williams five years and $90 million. Yeah, the article just stated some of the transactions that they were sort of in charge of and I was like, ooh, it was not a greatest

hits album. I was like, oh, oh. Hey, when you keep on mentioning like the original sin, like you can find a bunch of different carnisovas articles and they will all like say the original sin was the Vooch trade. The original sin was the law.

Lonzo Ball and then not pivoting from Lonzo Ball. The original sin was the Patrick Williams five years, $90 million. And it's like, and then it's like, bro, how many original sins can you have? Like this guy, this guy stunk. And they had one winning season, which was 21, 22, and then they got mauled by the bucks in that. Now, I'm going to tell you something that I have not seen a lot of places. and I'm just going to pass this along. Oh, you're going to gain credibility.

You're going to gain credibility with the audience? You know I'm not Mr. Newsbreaking. But I'm going to pass on something. I had a guy I know who's known, he's known Billy Donovan for probably 20, 30 years, I guess. This is what he said to me. When I was talking to him about it last night,

he told me, take this for what it's worth, he told me that Billy told them, I'm going to North Carolina unless I get more power. And they cleared it out. And that's why the Michael Malone thing happened. That's what he told me. So we'll see. Just keep an eye on what they announced

in terms of Billy Donovan and more power. Was that white chocolate, Jason Williams? You and white chocolate? We're just watching the Grizzlies to talk about Billy Donovan's future. No, no, no, no. But this is what he told me. Said Billy told them.

Billy told him I'm going to North Carolina unless I get more power. Well. And it stands to reason why, because it was out of nowhere yesterday, right? This is typically something that doesn't happen. So why would, just think about it. Add it up.

let's say let's say this is so what i've heard is so okay added up why why april six why now yeah why now and then they went and the michael malone news came down and immediately the season ends in seven days you couldn't just wait seven days it feels like that was a decision made because pressure was put on because the timing is all weird so I'm asking why? Like, A, how did Billy survive? B, why are they getting rid of their management on April 6th? That's what I was told.

And I'm telling you, this guy knows Billy Donovan. And he said, Billy told them he wants more power or he's going to North Carolina. And they said, we'll give you more power. Don't go to North Carolina. So just keep an eye out. See what happens with Donovan over the course of the next, you know, whatever they announce. But I'm going to bet you it's not less power. because they just cleared out his bosses, right?

And he didn't go to North Carolina. And you know that he wanted that Carolina job because the college guys like Jeff Goodman and whatever, they floated that out there immediately after they fired Hubert Davis. Sources say Billy Donovan would be super interested in listening to North Carolina. It's like, wait, what? You know who the source is?

Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, that got flogynville. it out there pretty quick. And so it does, look, that does make sense, right. I thought Mike Malone was a, was a curious decision for that position. Just bizarre.

It's just like, I don't know, like a Long Island. The other thing, you know, like Long Island pro guy, just weird. Here's the other thing. There's such a hassle that goes along with Collegiate Athletics right now, right? Oh, yeah. There are guys that come in and say, I want X number more.

You have to re-recruit your team every year. Like, it just seems like things that Michael Malone is not going to want to do. And you'd be halfway through the season thinking how many of these guys are going to leave? Like, you'll be six games into the season being like, well, he seems upset. I bet he's going to leave in the transfer portal. He seems upset. He'll probably leave.

I've got to play him more minutes to keep him around. The other thing is, Jacoby, it doesn't seem to me to be wise because they did this in football, too, with old ringer host Mike Lampardi. and it feels like they brought in Bill Belichick and just said, hey, you ain't got to deal with all that stuff. We got you a GM, we got you this, we got you that. They'll put your team together. You've got to coach ball.

And it feels like they probably did the same thing with Michael Malone, right? Like, you ain't got to go. Right, because you think Michael Malone is going to be on the phone, like the Will Wades of the world, trying to recruit guys away from schools and whatever. And you have to, like, you. You have, it used to be you go into the living room couch and say, like, I'll, I'll show your son how to be a man. Right.

You know what I mean? And now you go to the living room and you're like, $7.4 million. And then someone else pulls in the driveway behind you. It was like $7.8 million. That's just how it works now. The other thing that this does make me think about, honestly, though, is with Michael Malone, you know, you saw it with your guy Tibbs last year. we've seen it with other coaches over the course of the past, you know, several years now, that college might be the place that the My Way or the Highway guys have to lay up

because there's just not a place for the My Way or the Highway guys in the NBA. These owners are younger, these front offices are younger. They're super analytics based right now. I mean, look, you got to think about it when these guys really like no ball and are like the old school guys, I remember hearing a story. Years ago, I used to have Chris Wallace, who was General Manager of the Memphis, Chris on my show every week. And I know Chris very, very well.

And Chris told this story about, and so when Darryl Morey would come to town, Darrell would come in studio with us. And any time I wanted Darrell on, Darrell would be more than with. willing to. And that's not because he cared about Bimfish Radio. It's because he loved Chris. and I was, and Chris vouch for me, right? You mean Biggie Smalls, Chris Wallace, right? Yes. No. And then how did they become big friends? The way they became big friends is because Daryl was the guy that walked in with all of his binders into their draft war room and all the old heads hated it. Like, get this idiot. You know what I mean? And, and Chris was nice to him,

right? Like, took him under his wing and it was like super nice. They've been friends for whatever, 20-something years. But I'm telling you, that was like what happened 15, 20 years ago, where the guy walked in with the binder and the old school guys are like, get this freaking nerd out of here, right? That's all that exists in these rooms now. They all, walk in with their binders and their AI studies and their MIT conference, you know, paraphernalia. And it's like, that's all of them.

And like these guys, like the Tibzes and the Mike Malones and the whatever, those guys are like, no, like, it's from a bygone era. And I'm saying, I don't know if we're ever going to see those guys. Like those old school NBA kind of guys, I think it's an extinction thing. And I think that's probably why. somebody hadn't already hired Michael Malone, right, to be their head coach and why teams hire the Jordan knots of the world and the Jordy Fernandez is of the world or whatever, right?

Like the league's gone younger and they want all these front offices want somebody that's going to be down with what they're telling them and, quote, pulled the same rope as them. Not a, you build the team, I'll coach the team. Leave me the hell alone. because they do not want to be told how to coach their basketball teams. And so college may be the landing place for the old school guys. Like, I'm saying even like the old school NBA guys because that's the one place where they can just like, nobody's going to tell that. No AD is telling them how to coach.

No AD is walking in going, no, so-and-so's a minus 16 on off, whatever. Like Michael Malone like wants to urinate on stuff like that. And he doesn't worry about it if he's at North Carolina. So that's the only way. it fits. But in terms of dealing with the current climate of college basketball, I think he'll lose his mind.

He'll lose his mind. I mean, shit. He was mad when they traded or when they lost Contavius Colwell Pope and spent a year bitching about it at every press. Bruce Brown, too. Yeah. Imagine. It did not end well in Denver.

Right. Well, and we just saw PS. Like, it's not like North Carolina holds on to all their guys. too. I just told you a kid I saw at EYBL who was the North Carolina point guard is the one that won the national title for Michigan last night. Like you wake up one day and even your point guard at North Carolina leaves for another place. And because there's also, it's also the Wild West. There's no structure. I had a guy at a small school last week who's a, he's a general manager at one of the small schools. He told me that their best player, much like it, Wohd, their best player,

got offered $4 million from one of the big schools. And then what are we supposed to say to that? What are you supposed to say that? Stay here. I'll give you free meal pass. I know. That's the world, though. That's the world.

And good for them. Get $4 million. Yep. Get your $4 million. Kind of crazy, though. It's the current climate. We've got a huge week ahead of us for sure, because all of these playoffs seeds are going to be decided.

And by the time we reconvene on Thursday, night, it's going to be lit. Like, we're going to have what? We're going to have two games left. In most cases, most these teams are playing either Friday night and Sunday or, and like, there's so much. There's so much. And it's all up in the air, except for, like, a couple

that have sealed their deals. A lot of them will be. This is Celtics Nicks Thursday night. Should I buy a ticket and go to the game? Joey is out of town. I have a babysitter because we're taping Thursday night. What are the cheapest? I'm going to say, here, let me look right now. look on an app. Well, if you Venmo me the $10

you owe me, that might help. Oh, my God. I mean, that's ridiculous. I just forgot. It's not like I wouldn't have sent it if you would have reminded me. Oh, no. I have to remind you that you owe me money. Okay. All right, Boston Celtics versus the next.

It looks like, I mean, do you want to hang from the Harry Styles banner? All right. One ticket. 370. Just to get in? Yeah, 370. Just, and I'm in those bleeds for $370.

Yeah. No chance. 3.7. I can't. I can't respect myself. You ain't getting in that lower bowl for under a grand. No. Really?

Oh, here we go. Section 105, row 990. There you go. 990? Yeah, but then if I give you the 10 bucks. That's 980. I should just Venmo request Bill. Send Bill of Venmo request $1,000.

All right. So needless to say, you're not going to Celtics Nick. That's a big game. Not going to that. Not going to that. But we can record. This Heat Raptors is that night, too. That's going to be good.

Hawks Cavs tomorrow night. Tonight we got Hornet Celtics and Thunder Lakers. Why are you looking at that? Hornet Celtics, really good. Also, you did not mention Hawks Heat. That's the biggest one. No, no, no, no, no, Charlotte in the heat. Isn't it Charlotte?

No. Charlotte Celtics tonight. Toronto. Toronto, I keep screwing this up. Toronto. Toronto, Miami is going to decide, help decide six through ten in a massive way. They're a half game up, but they play. It's going to be tough for Miami to get out of the 10. Not if they win, twice.

If they beat them. The Hornet Sixers magic is in Raptors. They're all. To Miami, he beat them tonight and Thursday night. No chance. It's a different world. No chance. Of course they could beat the Raptors.

Come on. Those teams are not. I mean, come on. That's why they're a half game separating them or whatever it is. A game and a half separate. Two, but. It's two right now? Yeah.

Between those two? Okay. There's a game and a half separated. What it is is is the, yeah, the Sixers, the Hornets and the Magic are all right there, 43 and 36. They have the exact same records, those three. A lot. The point is, there's a lot.

lot to be decided. A lot. We'll reconvene. No, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I want to tell a personal story. I fell in love with Chris Vernon because of your master's updates that you do on the local show. And that's when I, I think I texted Bill and I was like, I need, I need this guy's phone number. And I was texting you out of nowhere. And I was like, I'm a big fan of you and these things. And then I, and then I would text you what's going on in Augusta, what's going down in Augusta, just every like two months. I would just text you that. And for those that are unfamiliar, they're listening to mismatch right now. Chris Vernon, please

educate the people about the Chris Vernon show of Masters Updates. We attempt to update people on what is going on at the Masters on Thursday and Friday of the tournament in a

humorous and energetic way, which I must tell you, you and I are the same age. I... Dude, stop acting like you're running a marathon. You're doing a radio show.

No, I'm... I am legit, like, worried about this year. Every year you say this. We used to have to show at KOC, you do the same thing. Like, oh, my God, I'm so exhausted from those master's updates. You're doing a radio show. I don't

think you understand. You're not climbing Everest, bro. You're doing a radio show. You don't understand. You have... I don't. You have... You have never, you have never screamed and moved like that for, I'm not built for it. You don't know my life? You don't know my life? I don't know I haven't screamed and moved. You haven't.

I'm not built for it anymore in a way that I used to be. I used to get excited about it. Now I dread it. But it's really, it's really, really a unique piece of sports media. It makes me regret being a piece of crap and laying around so much. for a year before I do it. You put on like the walk-a-flock of beat. I used to be way more active.

It's going. And then there's some mascots in the background. Oh, I will tell you. Here's a little, here's an interest. I will give you one little nugget that the world does not know. We. One of my great regrets was a couple of years ago. No one notices this.

but I always think the walrus is so damn funny. And I, no one noticed last year, we lost it. You lost the walrus? He wasn't there. Bro, we found it like a week ago. We found him. We found him. We found him.

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. We found him. It was like somewhere. What time the bear's head come off? And you go, it's not a real bear. hurt just off the top of your head. You just go, it's not, I think it was a bear.

You're like, it's not a real bear. And I was just like, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. It's not a real, not a real dog. I'm going to tell you this, the walrus is showing up. The walrus. Yeah, he's showing up. Wait till you see him. He's brown and he's got these big, he's got these big tusks.

Oh, he's amazing. I missed him so much. It's not a real walrus. It for sure is. It's all in your mind. How do you care for a walrus year-round? I don't know. Just to do two days of radio.

It seems like a lot of time and energy to spend caring for a live walrus. But, you know, I agree. That's a lot. Whatever you got to do for the master's updates. They're coming up this weekend. I dread it, but I'll get through it. We always do. All right.

That's going to do it for our show. Thank you to Jeff. Thank you to Stefan. Chikovic, I don't want to talk to you on Thursday night.