The Mismatch - Eight Story Lines for the Rest of the Year and a Live Show Announcement

Episode Date: February 22, 2023

Verno and KOC begin with the announcement of their first ever live show in Los Angeles (00:53)! They then discuss this weekend’s All-Star festivities before diving into the low TV ratings (08:36). After the Hawks let go of Nate McMillan, the pressure is all on Trae Young to make it work or likely be the next one on his way out in Atlanta (27:46). Next, the guys discuss eight story lines to follow when the season resumes on Thursday. Some of the story lines include debating which teams in the crowded West will make it to the postseason (35:37), discussing the transactions made in the buy-out market (46:39), how will the final stretch of games impact the MVP voting (56:43), how important the top seed is to the Bucks (01:03:06), and so much more. *The MisMatch is coming to Los Angeles for their first ever live show! Get your tickets here!* Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm Danny Kelly, host of the Ringer Fantasy Football Show, and from now until the draft, we are turning our feed into the Ringer NFL Draft Show to talk all things draft with me, Danny Hyfitz, Ben Soak, and Craig Horlebeck. Check us out on Tuesdays and Thursdays and search the Ringer NFL draft show. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me on this Wednesday. Before the season gets restarted is Kevin O'Connor, A.K.K.A. Kevin O. O. Bomber, Kevin O. Concert, Kevin O. Conflict, Kevin O Candyland, Kevin O Camera, Kevin O

Characters. Kevin O. Burdow! How are you doing today, man? We have an announcement, don't we, huh? We do. We have a huge announcement. We are doing a live show in Los Angeles, California. Now, the odds are stacked against us. This live show was announced at 5 o'clock on a Friday as if it were horrible news that was attempting to be buried. But we are not going to allow this to be buried. I asked chat GPT for some of the all-time Friday news dumps. The Monica Lewinsky scandal January 1998. Lance Armstrong doping admission January 2013.

The Stormy Daniels hush money scandal, May 2018, and then the mismatch live February 2023. Yep. And so we are going to be at the L-R-R-R-E-T theater in Los Angeles, California on March 6th. And so you can go and get tickets.

We've got links up everywhere, but I think you can go to the L-R-R-E-E-A-V-A. The-R-E-Y-E-Y. That's E-L-R-E-Y. That's where you can buy tickets or head to my Twitter page at Kevin O'Connor NBA or at Chris Vernon's show.

and we'll also have the link in the description in the show notes below the podcast you're listening to, whatever feed you're listening. So for those of you that are listening to the show and have the ability to get to Los Angeles on March 6th, make sure you do that because we'd love to meet all of you. And this is our first live show.

We want it to be a success and we want it to prove everyone wrong that you can't just dump us off on a Friday afternoon. It's like the producers. Have you ever been? ever seen the producers?

I don't know. I don't remember. Okay, it's a Broadway show. It's great. I've not seen the producers. Okay. You know who Mel Brooks is, right? Well, the producers had a segment in a curb, right?

Was it in Curb? Probably. To Mel Brooks. Yeah, yeah. Anyway. In Curb your enthusiasm, there's a producer's episode or storyline. Okay. So the whole, look, the whole premise is that these guys are going to get all of the investors

to put on a show. show and then they are going to put on the absolute worst show ever that they can find. And so they find the worst script they can possibly find. And then they put on the show and the critics all love it and go crazy for it. And so it backfires completely. It's absolutely hilarious. Anyway, it's just kind of like that. Wait, have you not seen curb your enthusiasm, Chris?

Yes, I've seen curb your enthusiasm. I don't know. You're familiar with the, there's a. There's a season where they have a, like, Larry David gets hired to have a part in the producers. Oh, no. I haven't seen that season. Okay. Wow.

Well, sure enough, Mel Brooks, one of the great geniuses. Season four, according to Google. All right. I'll check it out. I'll go back and watch it. I saw the producers on Broadway, the actual show. It was great. Great.

But people should come see the mismatch in L.A. they made a movie of it with Matthew Broderick, I believe. Are we going to do a show on stage like that? Are we going to do a playwright? Or are we just going to talk basketball for? I mean, I think you're going to sing. I'm definitely not going to sing. You don't want to hear me sing.

Well, you can at least bring your guitar, Kevin O Shredder. And you can sing. I've heard you sing. You got a little bit of a voice in you. I mean, come on. A little bit. I mean, I've been compared to Poverati, Adele. I mean, there's many of the great singers, I have.

compared to. But anyway, yeah, we'll try to make it a full experience. Though all odds are stacked against us, we believe in you, the listeners of the mismatch. Compared to Adele. You will come support us at the L. Ray Theater. He's trying to make a play for Rich Paul once he's in L.A. That's right. I've been told there are going to be many Hollywood stars there, many Hollywood stars.

So I would get your tickets before the Hollywood stars. stars get theirs. All-Star weekend was this past weekend. I was there in Salt Lake City, Utah. Shout out to Salt Lake City, Utah. I thought it was a very good host city. In many cases, what you want is somewhere you can walk to, walk around. I was there for like 23 hours. I might as well not been there. Yeah, you just darted it, darted out. I didn't even pick up my credential, to be honest with you. You didn't? I mean, I thought I was staying at the hotel where they had the credentials and then I realized that I wasn't and I was like I don't have any time to go. My flight got delayed 12 hours on Friday.

So I was supposed to get there on Friday morning. I did not get there until Friday evening. And interestingly enough, same flight as I get on to the airport. I see Grizzly's general manager, Zach Climitt and Washington Wizards general manager Tommy Shepard. I thought it was weird. I was like, what is Tommy Shepard doing here? And so everybody's headed out to Utah. When I boarded in L.A., you know who I saw Get Off the plane? Who? So I, this was Saturday morning I left. R.C. Buford. Oh.

Yes. So he might have been doing some scouting in L.A. There was three college games. USC, UCLA, and Pepperdine all had games on Saturday. So it might have been one or multiple of those games. R.C. Buford was there to see. You know how you always, there's certain people that when you hear their name, you don't know much about them, but there might be something that you heard about them in the past, or that you have witnessed in the past that makes you think highly of them. It's exactly what comes to mind when you bring up R.C. Buford. In 2011, the Grizzlies were the eight seed. They beat the spurs in right. round one, eight beating a one seat. And this was a massive upset. And after game six, I saw RC Buford walked into the Memphis locker room and one by one went to every player's locker and congratulated that.

And that has stood out to me for over a decade where I thought that is the classiest thing I've ever seen. I mean, I couldn't believe it. You know, because you know he's mad. You know he's mad. And their season's over, right? And he went one by one and congratulated every one of those players. And I just thought, man, this is something you just don't see. And obviously it wasn't a broadcast or anything.

I just happened to see it. And I've just always thought so highly of him simply because of that moment. Because I just, I thought it was a massive lesson in, you know, taking loss gracefully. And that at that moment when he was probably very, very low, he took the time out to go and congratulate everybody that had just won. And so I thought that was crazy. Anyway, I would mention that to him. That was the 61 wins first, too. Yeah, man.

They were awesome. They just didn't have another big besides Duncan. Yeah. It was Bonner and McDice. And, I mean, Zeebo put him into retirement, literally, like a lot of those guys. Anyways, yeah, R.C. Buford always thought highly of him. Salt Lake City, walkable, walked around everywhere. That was cool.

I liked the arena. I had never been to Vivin Arena before. I thought it was fine. I had lunch at Reddy Gwana, who came highly recommended. And? It's good, very good. Yeah? Good tacos.

I love seeing the mountains. You know, I'm not around mountains, so I like seeing the mountains. And, you know, all in all, it's very busy weekend for me at least, but it was fun and then of course, you know, today there's these big stories out about the ratings for

the weekend. Now, I didn't watch the television version of this. Obviously, I was at all of these events, but you know, I've thought a lot about this. It's like, oh, the ratings are down enormously for the All-Star game. I mean, they are down big. And they're not great for this. Well,

I think, you know, I've thought a lot about And Kevin, I think the reason, I think the reason is because it sucks. And I don't think that I've tried to come up with all kinds of different reasons as to why, you know, what they could do and whatever. Like, it's not good. So should we be amazed that people are not interested in watching it? I was in the arena and I was like, this sucks. Oh, it's terrible.

I mean, it's hilarious. Like, you see, you see the tweets from sports media watch saying how, you know, ratings were lowest ever for All-Star Weekend. Then you have NBA PR tweeting out, 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend delivers record social and digital engagement. Most viewed Instagram account. Most viewed brand account on Twitter. Most viewed ever on NBA app. Most viewed AT&T slam dunk ever. And it is interesting.

And 5 billion video views across social and digital. So you see record highs for social, but record lows for television. And interest in the arena, I've been there past years. I wasn't in the arena on Sunday. I mean, it's dead in there all the time. Oh, yeah, it's dead. Look, by far, the best two moments that I saw were Damien Lillard winning that three point of Mack McClung winning the dunk contest.

Those were actually very exciting moments that the crowd got crazy for. Because Day Matt on the Weber State jersey. And then the McClung dunk performance was amazing. It was. He never missed. He was shocking everybody. He was animated. And I think that our expectations were so low and it was so exceeded that it made for an electric environment.

Yeah. I mean, look, like it's awesome. Mac MacCleong was unbelievable. did indeed show us dunks we've never seen before. The 540 dunk was unreal. Trey Murphy had some great dunks as well. But let's be honest, Chris. John Morant saying at the podium at his media day,

I'm not doing the dunk contest. John Morant is afraid of Mac McLung. Afraid of Mac McLung, how? In a dunk contest? Yeah. He is. Nobody wants to get showed up by the G-leager. Yeah, I would encourage you to,

look up, John Morant, Murray State's, what's called Midnight Madness. Okay. Stop and stop. All right. Come out next February and do with that. Mack McClegg is going to be there trying to defend his title. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on now.

Magma Clung is going to be there next February trying to defend his title, right? Go back to back and show new dunks. So I'd love to see these NBA stars, well-known NBA players trying to take him down. Well, that's what I'm going to see. Hey, get your boy's eye on to do it. I'd love to see it. I'd love to see it. If he stays healthy, I'd love to see Zion out there.

I think he said he would do it. It would have way more meaningful if MacMachlan, you know, took down Zion and J.A. instead of, you know, Trey Murphy and Jericho Sims. I mean, all due respect to K.J. Martin and these guys, right? I love Trey Murphy. Jericho Simpson. Is he just going to, if he got one more dunk,

he's just going to throw his whole head in the rim? What is this goofy bastard doing? I mean, just all due respect to those guys. I mean, they could dunk in all that. but I want to see some stars, man. I don't know. I love the McClong one. I thought it was great.

It was great, but it would be even cooler if the competition were John Morant. Instead, he, you know, he's being a big baby. He's not going to, he's not going to surpass what he does in the games. That'd be my opinion. I mean, I don't think. Would you want to see John Morant in the dunk contest, Chris? Dunking on someone is infinitely cool.

Then dunk on someone in the dunk contest. It's injuries. They're all scared of injuries. That's not what the, you're right? Mm-hmm. You know, so, I mean, to me, this is part of the problem, right? It's like, I mentioned the one cool thing, and you're like, yeah, but it should have been cooler. And that's the problem.

Like, we are impossible to please on some level, right? I don't think so. I think the All-Star game itself is the main thing. It's awful. That's where the source of disappointment is. I mean, you get Anthony Edwards saying at his media day how, you know, He wants to go out and play all 82 games. And Jalen Brown after the game on Sunday saying this wasn't basketball,

you got guys saying how it's not basketball, glorified layup line and all that. Next year for the All-Star game, one of those guys needs to come out, talk trash, you know, talk up the game and go out and just grind the whole game. Be that try hard. You know, tap into your Jose Alvarado. Yeah. And you'll be the guy who either motivates others in the game to actually try or at worst, you're just going to win a lot of respect from fans

who see you going out there and putting on a great display for what is one of the highest viewed games during the entire NBA regular season from October until April. The All-Star game is one of the two or three most viewed games around the world. The NBA has got their social metrics they're talking about, but the TV ratings are still amongst the highest of all regular season games.

So that's where the source of just, appointment is you have this stage where all year long we're talking about how many great players there are and how fun it is to watch the league right now. If you're somebody who tunes in for the All-Star game, you didn't see any of that. None of it. Like, you're not going to be a retained viewer from what you saw on Sunday in Utah. So I think for the league, that's where the opportunity is. Like, we talk about incentive. Is it money, financial incentive? The incentive is like growing the popularity of the game. And I know that's, you know, a long view. The point. players may not necessarily care about when the goal is staying healthy, when the goal is

winning the championship. But I just wish we could, you know, tune into these games. And as Kobe Bryant has said over the years, and it could be like the greatest pickup basketball game ever. That's not what it is right now, but it is what it should be with all the talent that's out there and all the great players we do have. We do indeed have league-wide that just aren't put on display in ways that they are able to control themselves. It's unfortunate. I am for anything that will make it more entertaining because that was, it was ridiculous. Including a financial incentive, Chris, Seattle? I don't think people are going to care.

Like you say, oh, every player gets $1 million. I don't think anybody actually really cares about anything, including. No, people don't care. Nobody cares. No, the only thing that matters is if the players care. What will make the players care? And if the financial incentive makes the players care, I don't care if they win a million bug.

What does matter to me? Nobody really cares. I know people say, oh, it will. send the wrong message. Nobody cares about the message. Nobody actually cares about anything. What does it matter? They just care about being entertained. They just want good content. Well, and I do think that the NBA promoting how well it does on social, promoting how much it does globally, it does, I think that is legitimate. And so much of the focus is always like, oh, the NBA is in bad shape, bad shape, look at the ratings. Ratings are down so big and whatever. And I do think that there is some of. It is a shame. It is. It is.

It is a shame TV ratings aren't higher, though. But they're not for a reason. In America, I do think that the game, and there's a myriad of reasons for this, the game is not as popular as it once was. And I think that there are a lot of different reasons. Look, Kemp, Tim Bontemps, we talked about his MVP poll last episode, right?

All right. So that MVP bowl was Nicolioch, Janice Ante Cunpo, Joel M.B., Jason Tatum, and Luca Donchich. Foreign international players. And one dude you saw for one year of college. Like when I was growing up, I had stocking all these guys watching them in college, and then a couple of years, maybe sometimes three or four years, and then them going on to the NBA.

And there's a lot of college fan bases that then became fans of different NBA teams because they followed their guy. And now, I mean, you even look at this year, right? Right. Top four picks. Victor Wimbayama, Scoot Henderson, Amen Thompson, Azzur Thompson, Brandon Miller, if you want to throw him. There's one of them that's playing college basketball. He's in a heat blow to trouble right now.

And then the other four, there's going to be a lot of people that have never seen them play. Like, you've got to be hardcore to see them. In fact, I'm going to go see Scoot, I think, on Friday night, just because I've got the opportunity to see him in person. If I said four of the top five most popular NFL players were not from America, you would think that's wild. I think that's part of it for sure. It is a truly, but again, you're not going to Paris and walking around and talking about

the Seahawks to somebody, but you can talk about the bucks. Your point about the college aspect is sound too, where like there's so many one and duns nowadays. You know, it's just like players are in and out. That has changed the way college sports operates, has changed fandom and attachment and loyalty to young players. I mean, that's the culture now. Like high school players are transferring year after year, college players leave after

one year or even like, you know, they transfer from one school to another school. In NBA, it's the same thing. You have players demanding traits every single year, constantly changing teams. It's hard to stay attached, right? I think that's where fandom has changed. You want to hear a great example of that. So the University of Memphis is in the town where I'm at. Last year, they had a pretty good team that ended up going to the NCAA tournament playing against Gonzag.

My son watches the games because I've got him on the house and that's his team too because it's his dad's team. It's his grandfoss team. So watches Memphis basketball. So last year we went to a game and I said they have like a, For NIL, they now have like the t-shirt jerseys at the game. You can buy any different player, a t-shirt jersey of the player at the gang. And I said, we bought him the one that we thought he could at least have for a couple of years. So that's the jersey we bought.

So we bought Josh Minot. And he's gone. Josh mine, I played 10 minutes a game. You know what I mean? And got drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. But that just speaks to, like, even the guy that we tried to just say, okay, here's somebody we can root for for a couple of years. You can't root for anybody for a couple of years. If they're worth a shit at all, they're gone.

And Moni Bates was supposed to be there for two years. And he didn't even make it. That didn't happen. That didn't happen. And I don't know where he, if he's going to be. going to get drafted from Adam Eastern Michigan this year. I saw on some board he was like 40-somethingth or whatever.

Yeah. Now and so... All of this plays into the lower TV ratings as well. It does. It does. Player Powerman has its pros and cons, right? But one of the big cons is the fact that there's no sustained teams. There's no teams. That's actually, you know, and there's no loyalty

to a specific player and all that. There's, yeah, player fans. And yet you've got, you know, you do have, you do have Curry who's been with this team, Janus. But look, the two most popular guys in the league, you know, outside of LeBron are probably Curry and Janus, and they're both 10 plus years in one jersey. And Yanos played 20 seconds.

Right. And Curry wasn't there. And Curry wasn't there. Yeah. Right. And the game was terrible. Oh, it's horrible. This is an absolute waste of time.

But Tatum goes down as the, that's one of the thing that bothers me, too. Tatum goes down, you know, 55 points. all time high in the All-Star, wins the Kobe trophy and all that. You know, he's a big Kobe guy. There's no effort. Like, you want to be more like Kobe. Go out next February when you're an All-Star again

and grind, hustle, plate defense, set a tone like Kobe did in a lot of the years with those All-Star games. And granted, when I was a kid watching All-Star games, it was never like these high-effort affairs. It's always been lower effort, right? It's always been like that. At least they faked it.

It definitely is worse than it was before. There's no doubt about that. You can pull up any All-Star game, first quarter, second quarter, third quarter from the early 2000s, never mind some of the games in the 90s. And it was higher effort than it is now. And that's in part because of the relative financial reward with what players got before in comparison to their salaries compared to now where the hundredth, you know, highest paid players making $14, 15 million. dollars. There's a dramatic difference there. I also think there was a sense of pride

in the Eastern Conference, Western Conference thing. And they should go back to that. You think they should, though? Yes. Either, I mean, if you're going to, if that's how you're going to select the teams, if you're going to select the teams, East and West.

I still think there's something to the draft, though. I still think like... They screwed that up too. Well, I know. The pre-production for that was like, you know, we don't need an hour-long draft. that it should be done in 10 minutes. And you watch the old one

with where LeBron forced Kevin Durant to choose between Rudy Gobert and James Hardin right after the Hardin stuff had happened and it was amazing TV and Charles Barkley's cracking jokes

about all the draft picks and everything and it's like when that video started surfacing around it's like well damn this was so much better when it was on TV like that, like as a made-for-TV event, the draft and those guys goofing.

I just don't think we need like these long explanations from LeBron or, you know, I'm drafting the fastest players from end to end in the league. Terrible. De Aaron Fox, though we don't need the intro.

Cool. Make your pick and let Charles and Shaq those guys handle the jokes in the commentary. That's just, from a production standpoint, I think that's the way they should do it next year. Just quick hit, make your pick, and that's it.

That's what we've got to say about All-Star Weekend. Or, Chris, you could use that extra time to ask questions afterwards. Why did you decide on this guy instead of that guy? What was your logic behind making these selections? Like, analyzing. People like to analyze, you know, rather than, like, wasteful comments, like, the fastest guy and then. It's just, I don't know. I'd just like to see it done a little bit better.

I want to stick with the drafts a bit longer, Chris. You don't even know the rules. He tried to draft John Moraine. I mean, very basic stuff. I know. I just think it's true. It could be, I think the draft has something to it. That's what speaks to, you know, the best pickup game in the world, right?

Is you line guys up and you select them. There's something organic to that that was just, and also I think the jersey has jerseys too. I think, you know, you watch some old videos of All-Star Games in the past. Some years they have custom jerseys. Some years they wear their authentic team jersey home and away. I'd love to see the home and away with the patch. I just think that's a cool look personally. The jerseys are terrible.

Yeah, they were gross. They look at pennies. You put on a gym class. Yeah, I know. They look cheap. You know, reversible pennies. Why would anybody buy those for, what, $150 or whatever? No way.

Career low sales on those probably, too. I did not buy those. Yeah, good call. The NBA season is heading towards the final stretch which makes this the perfect time to download Fandul, America's number one sportsbook because new customers get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's bonus bets back if your first bet doesn't win.

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So wherever Nate McMillan is, hopefully enjoying the sun and a cocktail, he can just stay there if he wants to, right, the rest of the way. And such a strange deal where Nate McMillan was brought in, saved a season, you know, got a team on the right track, ended up having this crazy year. they end up making it to a Eastern Conference Finals at the run. And now you fast forward and there's been over the course of the last like year, year and a half, there's been, well, really, I guess we can go back to the Lloyd Pierce stuff. Like just tremendous amount of leaks about everything that happens in Atlanta.

Like any, even the most private conversations ends up becoming some kind of, story that we end up knowing all the details about. So they've done a pathetic job about that. And then the biggest one was a story we talked about at the beginning of the year, where Trey Young is out. Obviously him and Nate get into it. The reports are that if you've pulled the players, they probably side with Nate instead of Trey on this.

Trey Young doesn't even come to the game. and then Atlanta rolls him out there in front of reporters and one of the TV reporters in Atlanta just wears him out about why he is not at the game and why he couldn't be at the game and John Collins ain't playing but he's at the game and there's these stories about you and Nate getting into it and so at that moment we rehashed the whole

best player and coach obviously not on the same page age as each other. You fast forward, they've had this decidedly mediocre season. Trey's been better over the course of the last, you know, month and a half, for sure, numbers wise. But now they're going to play out the last 20-something games of the season with the different coach, I suppose, trying to get a jolt. But I think, I mean, I texted you yesterday.

I'm like, man, this is going to be, you know, They'll have this interim. You'll be working on like a fourth coach that will be on the sidelines with Trey Young and second GM. That's a lot. For a team that hasn't been like a losing team. For a team that hasn't like sucked, quite a bit of turnover in the Trey Young tenure in Atlanta thus far.

What did you make of the timing of this? And I guess the Atlanta decision, like to try to get. get a jolt for the last 20-something games. So, I mean, just to be clear, third coach, Lloyd Pierce, Nate McMillan, now Prunty. But we'll eventually get... Yeah, no, I'm saying next year we'll be a fourth.

Yeah, we'll be his fourth, okay, because who is what they had on their list to hire? Kenny Ackinson, Quinn Snyder, Charles Lee, a number of different candidates. And they're supposed to start that search immediately. So I think regardless of who gets hired,

this is Trey Young's, you know, prove it time. This is where we find out about Trey Young. When you're on your third coach now with Punti, your fourth coach with whoever they hire. And if you stick to some of your piss poor habits on defense and

some of the iffy, shaky leadership we're talking about Chris, you know, with the story earlier this year with McMillan, they add to Jante Murray with the intentions of pushing Trey off ball more often. If you don't buy into that, playing next to a guard like Murray, if you continue to

stay still, you know, hands on your knees without moving and having any desire to use screens like McMillan tried to have you do earlier in the year, you're out of there next. Just impossible, you know, we've talked about this, just one of the ongoing things for the last seven years. Those guys have to be on the same page. The best player in the coach, there's just no way to be highly successful if they're not

on the same page. And it was like good soldier stuff when Nate comes in because he didn't want to play for Lloyd, right? And so I would imagine it'll probably be. be, you know, Kumbaya for the rest of the season. But that's the issue, right? It's like, when are we going to find somebody that could just be on the same page with

this guy, you know, to be able to have the success? Because if you look at every successful organization and, you know, for an extended amount of time, you will find that to be true, that those guys are pulling the same rope. And it's like, okay, so now we're going to get rid of this guy and now you're going to, you know, you'll be happy for a little while and then you'll get tired of that guy. Then we'll move on to the next. Like at some point, you just wonder, and it's because we know the details of this isn't, we don't have to pontificate. If we accept that the reporting has been true about what took place with the Lloyd stuff and now what has taken place with the McMillan

stuff and that they really butted heads. And then it felt to me at that time that Atlanta was like, screw this guy. Because they just left him out there to explain for himself with absolutely no coaching, PR-wise. Like he had no answer except to say it's internal and it's none of anybody's business. And it's like, and that's when that reporter was like, no, no, it's not internal. when the game is public and we're at the game and you're not at the game on the bench.

That's not internal, right? Like that's not something that happened at practice. This is something that happened very publicly. You're not at the game because your coach said if you can't play or you can't practice or whatever it was, don't show up. And that was like at the beginning of the season. So who knows, maybe they'll all play nice for Joe Brunty for the rest of the way.

They're kind of playing team anyway, right? The other weird factor here is with McMillan. Remember mid-year, there was the report about him wanting to step down and he didn't. Shams Sharani has said, I believe it was yesterday morning. He said, I'm told Nick McMillan multiple times requested and asked to step down as head coach of the hawks. Wow. But he wasn't let go.

So they wanted to keep him on. Unbelievable. And then now, like, he's fired. He's dismissed whatever terminology you want to use. But, like, for a while, he was asking to step down. That's been going on for a while now. So I think with Atlanta here... Can you imagine your coach is asking not to coach the team anymore?

And you're like, yeah, yeah, just keep doing it. Like, no, please. Please, I don't want to coach them anymore. That's crazy. Trey's got a lot to prove. That's my main time after all this. It's got a lot to prove. All right, here we go, Kev.

Eight storylines for the rest of the year. We've got 20, 25 games left, all right? The West and how every game is going to matter for the rest of the way, given the margin. I think this is a massive, massive story. Just given the fact that we talked about this after the trade deadline, It doesn't feel like there were any new teams punting on the season. Utah made their trades, and they are just going to fall down because they're just not going to be able to win as many games.

Switching out personnel. That being said, you've got 11 down to Portland, and then you've got to add in the Lakers there, because the Lakers are going to play this thing out. So you've really got 12 teams that are. going to try to compete for 10 spots the rest of the way. And the crazy thing is the Lakers are in 13th right now. But there's only six games separating them and the third seed Sacramento Kings.

And only three games separating them and the seven seed pelicans as well. Yeah. And three and a half for six, which is Dallas. So if somebody gets on a run, like you're going to have a lot of these teams playing it out. And I do think that, you know, we expect, we're going to see what happens with the Clippers and Phoenix. There's so many question marks with all of these teams and how well we think they're going to be able to play for the last, whatever, 25 games. And a lot of them are going to have a lot of figuring out to do. Like, there's a feeling out process for Phoenix, for Dallas,

for the Clippers, for, you know, if New Orleans is able to get some of their guys back in the fold, if Minnesota gets towns back in the fold. A lot of extenuating circumstances in this, which is obviously one of the other storylines, and that is these injuries and the health of all of these stars and how much it impacts it. I don't really know how to feel about this. I mean, of the 12,

is there anybody you're confident is going to drop out, of the top 10 right now that would open up a spot for either Portland or the Lakers or possibly open two spots for both of them. I mean, OKC, I think. They'll drop down. I mean, OKC

is playing well. But I think with OKC, you can't rule out tanking tactics down the end of the final stretch of the season. And by that, I don't mean sitting at Shea Gildesis Alexander. I mean, from a tactical standpoint, like what are the things that you

can do to focus on development, even if it means decreasing your chances of winning games. I think New Orleans without Zion, they're a major threat to slide out as well. Like if they lose Ingram for any amount of time or even with Ingram, they're definitely a threat to slide out as well. They do have an easier schedule, though. They have the third easiest schedule remaining in the NBA right now. That's worth noting in the case of New Orleans. Oklahoma City also has the fifth easiest schedule.

So, I mean, but Lakers have the sixth the easiest according to tankathons remaining strength schedule. So I don't really look at the strength of schedule too much overall. I think I think that's the easy answer there, Pelicans and Thunder. I mean, is there anybody else, Chris, that you'd say out of that top 10 right now that you have to put the spot out? Yeah, I feel like Minnesota's going to keep their spot, right? I think so. Yeah, I'd say so. And I could see some of the others even falling back.

I mean, I don't know if these are the players. in teams. You know, we'll see how Dallas assimilates with the Kyrie thing. I hate to even bring this up because it just scares me to death for my

beloved King's pick at the beginning of the year. And I was just so sure that they're going to break this playoff streak. Only up three. And their schedule is murder. I think I saw, when I was looking at it yesterday, they got like four left with Phoenix.

I think they have four games. I'm like, How is that possible? How can they have that many games left with Phoenix in the last part of the I'm like right after they get frigging Durant? They only got two left with Phoenix. Oh, they only do? Okay.

They only have two left. Okay, good. Well, they did have the last game of the pre-all Star break was against Phoenix. So at one point you might have read the- Okay, so maybe it was, yeah. Yeah, but they only have two remaining now. But their schedule is tough. It is.

They also have a long road trip in the middle of it too. Yeah, really. hard schedule for Sacramento. And when you look at Sacramento, they're eight, they're eight games back from Denver, right? But like, you know, Golden State is...

Only three up on Minnesota. And Golden State is two and a half games back from the Clippers, which is the four seed. I mean, that's home court advantage. So, you know, some of these teams they bear down.

Like, I think we could, I don't think the play-in's going to look anything, like it looks right now. This is just, I think that's the biggest storyline is that every single game becomes good.

Like, this is the benefit of parity. Who do you think makes it? The Lakers or Blazers make it? Would you pick one of them to make it? Or both of them? I certainly would be more confident in the Lakers making it simply because of their want to.

And you'd really just have to keep Davis and LeBron healthy for 20-something games, you know, the rest of the way. They've, like, put together a goal as to what they need their record to be. They've got a win total that they want to get to. And I do think a lot of their lack of success is a lack of care. I think they do dick around throughout the season. And so I think they desperately want to make the playoffs,

and so they'll try really hard to make the playoffs. And honestly, like, even in that last game, it's like, oh, okay, it didn't take that long to figure out that New Orleans game. Like, at least they started. When they put that starting line up out there, they put AD and LeBron with Russell, Beasley, and Vanderbilt. So it's basically just you just added LeBron and AD to last year's Timberwolves. Or I guess the Timberwolves bench unit, whatever. But that was a lot better than having, you know, Dennis Schrooter and Lonnie Walker and Ruby High Chachamura and those guys out there.

Like, I do think that that is a little more balanced and you at least got a little more shooting in there with the two guys. And Fanderbo could do some dirty work. So that last lineup that they played in that Pelicans game right before the break, I actually think that lineup could win games, you know. So I think the Lakers will get there.

By the way, it's actually the Thunder who plays the Suns four times. Oh, that's who it is? Yeah. So the Thunder face feet. Phoenix four times. That's crazy. I knew it was somebody. I thought of Sacramento.

It's them. Geez. All right. So look, we're saying Oklahoma City falls out. Yeah, I think O'KC falls out. I think the Lakers take that spot.

It's just a matter of are the Lakers, the six, seven, eight, nine, or ten? Like, are they going to have to win two games to get in, no games to get in, or just the one because of the play in.

And not only their plate, but all these plays with LeBron. And then how many games these guys play and how good they're going to be? It's with Durant, it's with Curry, it's with Zion, it's with towns getting back in the lineup of Minnesota and kind of what kind of effect does that have? Because it didn't look very good with Gobert at the beginning of the season before he got hurt. And so now how is he going to assimilate back into that?

And those are just the dinged up guys. We're for sure going to have other guys that are going to suffer an injury that we haven't, you know, we don't want it to happen, but it's just the way it goes. and other guys are going to get injured. But, I mean, those are massive, those players that I just named are truly going to determine whether teams win or lose. I mean, there's a chance

to Warriors miss the Posties. Like, we still don't know when Seth Curry will return. He was just, yesterday it was announced he's doing non-contact shooting drills. It's February 22nd right now, and we don't know when Seth's going to come back. He's only doing non-contact stuff.

The Warriors at this current moment, they're just into playing it. And they've been a 500-ish team without him. They have not been great. It is very possible at some point the warriors are fighting for their lives to get back in as well. They're only a half game up on the Thunder right now, just two and a half games up on the Lakers. I have been playing attention to basketball, of basketball news, virtually my entire life, certainly my adult life. And with Shams tweeted out, some medical-ass terms I've never even heard of,

to describe the injury, I was like, yeah, that's probably not good. Like when you heard, when the description of the injury is something that I feel like I need to be in a class for it to be properly explained to me, and some anatomy class where the teacher is explaining what exactly is injured and how. I found the tweet, I can't even pronounce these words. I know you can. Stefan Curry has suffered partial tears to his superior. tibio fibular ligaments and intero-sus membrane as well as contusion and lower left leg, warriors say. My mom would be so ashamed of me, too.

That's what my mom did. My mom was at anatomy and physiology and microbiology, like, professor. That's the one word I can't get. An introsus, something like that. Enterosis, interosis membrane. Does that sound right? interosis. Yeah, so what's that, Kiv?

I have no idea. Don't really care. All right. I mean, I guess it's just going to depend on how is... I just Googled it. Enterosis response. It's a tissue with an oblique orientation from the radius to the ulna. Oh, perfect.

Yeah. That sure helps. Now that you've explained it. So how long you out? The point is, though, with the state. Sounds bad. It sounds bad. And right now, right now, Chris.

If you get that complicated describing anything, it's bad. Right now, Chris, the Warriors, they're only four games back from the sixth highest draft lottery odds. I'm just saying. Oh, wow. They could get another Wiseman. Or this time they might get a wendy. I'm just saying. I'm just saying.

So Steve Kerr can't play him because he can't be Draymond? If Stefan Curry has a stepback at some point, you never know. Could land a top pick, Chris. Another storyline for the rest of the way. Did the clippers raise or lower the ceiling with Westbrook? Well, they raised their ceiling, but they also lowered their floor. I'd say with Russell Westbrook. The thing that surprised me this past week was the paint pressure slogan that people

were using how Russ will help there with paint pressure. Russell's not the same guy in terms of putting pressure on the paint that he was even just a couple of years ago. I'll be interested to see he might be he might do it now you know it's pretty there's not a lot of spacing that was going on

at that Lakers situation. Yeah well how about the clippers? I mean the only way you're going to have spacing is if you take out Zubots but there's pros and cons to doing that. Yeah I guess like their point guard play has not been good anyway.

Yeah, the tennis man has been playing really, really well on both ends for them recently. You just get Bones Highland and Eric Gordon. The ball, I mean, like, you get Lawrence Frank himself, who had said in a quote, you know, what do you look for in a backup point guard for, you know, he's like, Kauai Leonard and Paul George are going to have the ball in their hands 60% of the time, you know, in playoff situations. So, I mean, does Russ help you space the floor? No. Look, I did not. I wanted to go to Washington. I thought that was the best fit for him.

This is a gamble. It is a big gamble. There's no way. It lowers the floor. Yeah, one way or another, the impact is going to be there. Like, he is going to be impactful. The question is, is it good impactful or bad impactful? But he is, you can't play him without him having an impact.

And he's not just going to fit right in and just assimilate with any kind of team. He's going to affect you. and it's either going to make you better or it's going to make you worse. You're not going to be the same. He's going to do one or the other. And I think if I were trying to do the positive spin, I would say he was fantastic with George. He was.

He was fantastic with George and they worked well together. I know, but they did work well together and they played well together when they were in tandem. And he brought out the best in George in many cases when they had those Oklahoma City teams. George was right there at the top of the MVP ballots for a time when he was playing in Oklahoma City. And so I think that would be your hope

is that, you know, that you've seen him with one of the best players on that team. And when we did, even though it was a long time ago, he enhanced that player rather than hurt that player. And that would be the positive spin on it. It's to say, he made Paul George better when they played together the last time. And so Paul George is going to be the guy that you're counting on the most. You're hopeful that you can keep Kauai healthy and available throughout an entire playoff run.

But George is the guy that is going to, you know, that's the one you're really counting on. And this guy proved, even if it was a long time ago, that he can play alongside this guy and help make this guy even better than what he normally is. So in that way, I could see it working. But it's not an easy fit, for sure. And it's going to be something.

At least it's entertaining. It'll be entertaining. It's going to be something. The paint pressure aspect, though, that's where I think Clippers fans, you know, for them, maybe he does help. He certainly does help. They could use someone who could do that.

But the fact is that this season, Russell Westbrook is shooting 47% on drives to the basket, which is one of the lowest amounts in the NBA of the higher volume drivers. So, I mean, like, he has not been efficient. He has not drawn help the same way as he did before. He is not as explosive as he used to be. Maybe he helps in comparison to what the clippers have had. But if you help there in terms of, you know, paint pressure, kickouts and all that, what are you losing by not having Terrence Mann out there? What are you losing by not having, you know, Eric Gordon out there as often?

Or Zubots out there with the rim protection. Like there's a push-pull aspect with Russell Westbrook where maybe certain situations and matchups he can help you, but there are others he could be detrimental like he was for two years to the Lakers. He is a dog, though, and they need that. Not on defense. They need, no, I'm saying they need that in the, that's good for them. You and I talk about this with the Clippers thing years ago

where it felt like they all just went back, probably didn't even speak to each other, put on their clothes, and left the arena after they'd lose playoff series. It's like, you do need somebody that's mad. And that can have a good effect on a team. Other buyouts,

Pat Bev, going to Chicago, think it makes any difference there? No. Okay. That was quick. Kevin Love I think Kevin Love

does have an impact Isn't this kind of weird though Like you're with Cleveland And you're this team having their best year So the post-Lebron James era And they got good vibes And then you're like I want out I don't want to be here anymore

It's kind of weird It is weird Because you're like well You'd gotten injured and lost a spot right Yeah I know I don't know I don't like it Well he wasn't play No

So they were like yeah fine Should you really really be playing ahead of Kayla Martin? I don't know. Caleb Martin's really good on defense. I'll bet you we hear from Kevin Love in the playoffs. Yeah. For Miami.

And what? 13 minutes per game off the bench? I bet he has an impact. That's what I tell you. I bet he has an impact in a playoff game. It's going to be interesting to see the way Spolster installs Love into the rotation. You know, because you've got Caleb Martin starting right now. He does add some size and some rebounding, but you lose a lot on defense and you're going to have to change the way you play.

with Kevin Love out there. So he adds a new wrinkle. I'll say that. Yeah, they're not that deep, dude. No, they're not. No, I mean, it's a good addition for Miami. He's going to play for them. He's going to play.

Will Barton getting bought out? You know, a couple weeks ago on the show, I told you I had heard that he was going to get bought out and go to either Milwaukee or the Nets. And I think that was when KD was with the Nets. So they got a million wings now. They wouldn't need anything with Barton. I'm not sure if Barthens any good anymore.

I don't know about the bucks or wherever. I mean, veteran guy that can play wing minutes for you in the playoffs. He did nothing all year for the Wizards. The last two years of the Denver Nuggets, he has not been a positively impactful player. No. He's another wing guy that can play minutes for you. You know,

that you could throw into a, you can throw into a playoff game and not, it's not a rookie, it's not a young player that you think's going to, that it's going to be overwhelming for it. Yeah. But like one of the reasons why, one of the reasons why you feel better about Denver this year is the absence of Will Barton and what he's been replaced by.

He's just not that guy anymore. Let's see. Next one. Did Sacramento hold off the usual playoff teams? We already kind of covered this. Their schedule is brutal. It makes me so nervous because God forbid they get to the damn play. It's not that far from three to the play in.

But who's going to surpass them? New Orleans without Zion, Minnesota trying to get, you know, Caldon State would be the scary one. Yeah, but Golden State doesn't have. have Steph right now. Yeah, I know. I think Sacramento could certainly fall from the top four, but I just don't see them falling to seven to ten.

What about Phoenix, Clippers, Dallas? Do you think those teams end up? Yes, I think they could surpass the Kings, yeah. But I just don't see the Kings falling into the play-in. I mean, you're talking about them falling to six, so it's not that big of a stretch, Kiv. Yeah, I know it's not, but I just don't know who's going to climb from. And their lead is just not big considering their skills.

the rest of the way. I mean, what if they catch Memphis? They're only three back from Memphis right now. Again, we're talking about their schedule. Their schedule is brutal. I know. Memphis's schedule is one of the easiest the rest of the way. I'm just asking, what if they catch Memphis?

That's all I'm asking the question. What if they catch Memphis? Let's talk about realistic things. Come on. They're more likely to fall into the play. Let's check back in six to seven weeks. I love it. Look, I let you off the hook talking about the Pelicans falling

out of the play yet completely earlier. Yeah, but they haven't had Zion. Oh, I know. Nobody else has had injuries. Our entire conversation around the Pelicans earlier in the year was about it. If Zion stays healthy. You just said Seth Curry's out. The biggest if in the league, if Zion stays healthy.

He just said Steph Curry was out. And he did not stay healthy. It was the biggest if we acknowledged that. That was part of the conference. That was not acknowledged. So it wasn't it all, by the way, also Ingram was

way long as an expected to. Hey, hey, why did you say, uh, if I grow a 15 inch wiener, how about you do that one too? Since you were,

since you were planning on Zion being healthy, you dumb ass. I don't even know. If Zion was healthy, it was all contingent on something that could never happen in a billion years. That's what, And so don't hold it against me. I know.

I think you love it. I think you love it. I think you love it. Jago's too. And right now you're the team of the better spot. You love it. I mean, deep down inside. You love it.

I mean, I want to die on to stay healthy. Yeah. That's what you say. You love it. I mean, I'd love to watch him get shut down by Dylan Brooks again. That'd be awesome. Like the only guy Dylan Brooks shut down. It was amazing.

MVP race. How much do you think the last 20 to 25 games are going to affect it? I think that it'll decide it. You do. Yeah. You think that it is, though we discussed this, how there was an overwhelming amount of people that said they would vote for Yokic. March 25th against Milwaukee, March 27th against Philadelphia.

Janus has got the messed up hand now, though. Yeah, no, we'll see how long it's an issue, though. Yeah. I mean, it could be an issue, though. We talked about this last week, I think, the MVP, my MVP order. I had Yonis 1, Yolch 2, Embed 3, Tatum 4, Luca 5. You think of that order, like, what do you think changes the most? I think that Tatum or Luca would have to be, like, otherworldly.

And I'm talking, like, 38 a game, you know what I'm saying? Like something crazy for, like, the last month of the season. And Dallas move up to, like, first or second in the West, and Boston, like, by far and away, be the number one seed. Because they're kind of kind of trying to be fighting off Milwaukee down the stretch. But that would be the way. I think Embedd feels like a strong candidate to end up winning it. Because I think people would lean towards it anyway.

You know, people are, though they're saying right now, I don't care if it's three years in a row. I don't, you know, by the time it comes voting time, I do not think a debate is going to be won by Yokic. That's what I said. Yeah, and also, like I said, that March 25th against the Bucks, March 27th against the Sixers. If Yokic dominates both those games and Denver wins both,

that's going to strengthen his argument significantly in the weeks leading up to when votes are cast. if Embed Punks Yokic again, if Janice and the Bucks beat the Nuggets, if they lose those games back to back, both at home in Denver for what it's worth, I think that's going to change the conversation a lot around MVP. Right now, like the first, I know, from October until March,

it changes so much. We saw that with the Bon Temp Strappel, how dramatically the vote changed from Tatum to one to five. You know, huge difference. Those games, I think late March, are what's going to end up determining a lot of things. in terms of how the final weeks leading up to the votes being cast, how those discussions go,

it won't necessarily dictate the vote that voters make, but I think it will change the way we as media as a collective are talking about it, and how fans view it too. Those are two massive games. Is there any other name that you could foresee wedging their way into the discussion? LeBron James for the top five, but not winning it, no.

I guess I'm not looking through this. Mitchell, like if Cleveland, you know, had this crazy record the rest of the way and ended up like the one seed or the two seed. Yeah, I guess that would be a way to wedge your way in. Mitchell's a good. What if for top five we're talking, not winning it, right? For top five. No, but yeah, I'm talking about like a guy that like he's in the discussion amongst the other ones.

I think along the same lines, like what if Portland like finishes, like they win 75% of their remaining games. They get the sixth seed. Damian Lillard. Yeah, he could... Crazy season. Historic. Yes, he could move his way into the top five for sure. Other than that. That's fair. I mean, and maybe like same thing

we just said about about Dame copy and paste that to SGA. Gildes-A. Gilles Alexander, if the Thunder were to get the six seed somehow. And he, you know, is kicking ass down the stretch. He could move it into the top five, too. I could see that. Especially after the season he's had thus far. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So, I mean, there's a couple names that But it would take those teams ending the season with some crazy record and moving into a place in the standings where they're just currently not right now. A couple more storylines before we get out of here. Can Brooklyn stay in the mix? And is Chicago, can they get in the play-in? And if so, who drops out? So first let's do Brooklyn.

Yeah, Brooklyn can stay in the mix for sure. Still have a great defense. You know, they get some juice on offense. I love seeing McElbridge performed the way he has. I still like Brooklyn. Chicago, no. Chicago would have to replace either

Washington, Atlanta, Toronto. Because you figure Indiana, Orlando, Charlotte, Detroit, they're done. Like, they're not,

they're not fighting for it. So Chicago's the only other one that is fighting for it. And they should be fighting for it. I don't know, man, they just, look,

I know you just. Well, they are fighting for it. I'm saying they shouldn't be fighting for it. But you just waved it off completely when I brought it up earlier. You forgot they got play in Pat. Mm-hmm, yeah. Play-in Pat is a dangerous breed.

They signed him up just for that. He's going to be up a hump in that scoreboard in Chicago. Yeah. If they win in the play-in. Next thing you know, Pap, all he does is win, play-in games. and is delivered a play-in championship to Chicago one year after delivering it to Minnesota. He just travels around and gets you in the play-end

and wins it, play-in pet. So you think Brooklyn does stay in there? Miami's going to replace them in the top six. Sure, yeah. I think they'll stay in the play in, though. Yeah, because they're... By the way, the Bulls have two games against the Lakers in March. those are enormous, huh?

Yeah. For both those teams. Yeah, I mean, some of these, like, I'm glad that these games are going to matter down the stretch. There's a lot of teams that are trying to make the play. Whether they should or not, they are trying to. And so I guess I can see Chicago replacing Washington maybe, even though Washington's record over the course of the last couple of months has actually not been very bad.

Yeah, they're better. Yeah, you're probably right. and DeRosen got banged up right before the break. Do the bucks flip the number one seed and how important is it to stay away from Philly? I like this one. So it's a half game separating Boston and Milwaukee. I actually do think it is of the utmost importance to win that number one seed. Because you would feed into, while I find Cleveland to be dangerous, you would feed into Cleveland.

or possibly Miami if they worked their way up rather than Philadelphia because you've got to figure Philadelphia is going to be the three. Don't you think that... Maybe. I know there are three backs, but... It's only February.

I'm not really looking at state seating right now. It's so early. They could slide to four for sure. Who do you think ends up with the number one seed in the east? Milwaukee. You do? So then that would be Boston,

Philly in the second round, if it held. I mean, you've got to figure those are going to be the top three teams. Maybe. Unless something, well, I mean, the only other one would be Cleveland. The other ones, you got somebody like, you know, New York. We need to get down to them. Nobody else. It's just Cleveland or Philly.

That's right. The top four is going to be the top four. It's just a matter of what order it's going to be. Yeah. So early. It's so hard to say right now. Boston Philly second round would be crazy or Milwaukee Philly second round. Oh, yeah.

All of those would be cool. That's what I'm saying. You got to stay away from that. that. I think the number one seed matters a lot in the East. A lot. Just to get away from M.B., right? Cleveland's tough, Chris. I get it. I love that. I love that. I think those top four teams are all tough in the East. And Cleveland had those two wins against Boston earlier this year. Those were great games. Both like overtime games, right? I remember watching that thinking, man, I wish this would be a playoff series. last one.

Who joins the Tank Fest? Or is that already set? Do you think anybody does? I know you mentioned Oklahoma City. I can't decide whether I think they're going to try to keep winning or if they're, I don't think they're going to join it. I think they're maybe fall out of the play yet. But, you know, there's just some of these teams got like 14 wins.

So nothing you can do about that. No, you're not catching those teams. It's a matter of like, OK, C right now is three and a half back from the sixth worst record. It's a matter of if you get the sixth best odds or you're not catching the top four. You can't catch Houston, San Antonio, Detroit, or Charlotte. It's just a matter of the teams right behind them. Can you catch them? And what I'm saying, some of these, Indiana and Orlando have not, like, actively tried to lose games yet.

I mean, Indiana couldn't help themselves with the Halliburton entry. So they just felt back. You do wonder, like, say like Orlando, who is. is they've been a fun watch for sure. Do you think they're just going to, I kind of feel like they're the kind of team just going to play it out, don't you? Yeah, I do.

For better or worse, I think they're probably going to play it out. What do you think about Utah? I think Utah will just punt, or do you think they just play it out and not be that good anyway? I think a lot of these teams, like with Utah, they should definitely be playing it out to an extent that, like, you still have a lot of good talent. but at the same time, like I said earlier with Oklahoma City,

is there things that you can do tactically where you position your players in ways that might not be advantageous towards winning but could be advantageous towards development? What are the things that you can do in that regard? I think Oklahoma City trading Muscala, that seems like a minor move on the surface, but Muscala was part of some of the league's most efficient

pick-and-roll duos with Shaggis Alexander. The bench units were awesome with him. Trading Muscala hurts your team. Now it's like you're focusing on development and putting some younger guys out there and you're playing with Jalen Williams and Jalen Williams and your front court. You're smaller. You're exposed in the boards, but you're focusing on development. What are the things that you can do if you're Utah or Orlando to assure that you keep the fifth best

odds? That's the stuff that tanking teams do that's less obvious than just straight up sitting a guy. Sounds like you're talking about 38. P-O-K-U minutes. bring Poku back for 38 a night the savior run him out there for 38 a night

you want to lose strategic I mean I'll tell you what he was way better earlier in the season though like than he's ever been dude is a good shop locker shooting 38% from three Poku was looking good Chris

he might actually help you win some games oh that would be a total backfire Yeah, yeah. Much like we want there. By the way, like we don't even know

what he's going to be back. He just started shooting recently too. So he might not return. I didn't even know he was out. Should tune it to some OKC games, Chris. I just figured he wouldn't play in him. Are you sure?

He has been injured. Leg injury. Oh. I thought he'd just fallen out of the rotation. No. Oh. Jeez. Yeah.

broken. I'm sorry, Coco. I didn't notice. All right. A non-displaced the tibial plateau fracture. Thoughts and prayers.

All right. Look. We don't want our live show in Los Angeles to fail. We need you to go to it. And so come see us at the El Ray Theater. I'm going to be flying out there. We're going to be there on March 6th.

And despite all the power's working against us announcing it on a Friday at 5 o'clock. We will defeat the odds at the L. Ray Theater together. Kevin will bring his Les Paul and he will start playing I don't have a Les Paul.

He will bring his Ibanez. I don't have an Ibanez. He will bring his Gibson. What? Don't have a Gibson. What do you have? We should have talked about this first. His stradocaster.

I have a partsocaster and an Ernie ball. His telecaster. Yeah. And he's going to be Kevin O'S shredder. For what it's worth, right now, almost the entire front row is sold out. Nice. That's just the Kardashians. Yeah.

Yeah, there's like a, there's a sign seating in the front in the orchestra section, they call it. And then there is general admission seating in the back. And we're going to have Kevin bring a guitar. So if you get like super bored of the show, we're just going to have this up for me to bring a guitar. Yeah, yeah. Are we really setting this up? Oh, yeah, you're Kevin O Shreddy.

Yeah, but I don't want to lug around a bunch of equipment. It's all, stop it already. I'll bring my guitar. But if there's equipment there, then maybe I'll play a little bit. And you can sing. I'm not singing anything. Okay, if you're not singing, I'm not playing guitar. I'm just saying if the show gets boring.

Oh, yeah, we'll just have it. We'll just have it up on stage. Yeah. And maybe we'll do that. Maybe. All right. Come see us. Yeah.

Link's going to be in the description of the pie. podcast today. Yes. Or on our Twitter feeds, you know, Bringer, or on the L.ray. com.

The L. Ray. Which is interesting because L. Ray means the Ray, right? I don't know. The,

the Ray theater. Anyway, I just Google this according to the king. The king. The king. That's what L.

Ray. L. Ray. Rerno. The. The. The King, the King Vernon. I like. All right.

It's going to do it for today's mismatch. Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always. Kevin, I'll talk to you next week. Come to the Elway Theater.