The Mismatch - Exploring the Thunder’s Chemistry, Playoff Prospects, and Tournament Anticipation

Episode Date: March 19, 2024

Verno and KOC discuss how the Thunder’s organic team chemistry has led to their success this year (03:04). The guys react to Kyrie Irving’s game-winner over the weekend before taking a hard look at the Suns after losing to the Giannis-less Bucks (19:59). Also, was Alperen Sengun holding back Jalen Green (33:56)? Finally, the guys discuss how important OG Anunoby is to the Knicks and share their excitement for the NCAA tournament to begin (45:06). Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out http://theringer.com/RG to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a world where coaches are still the main characters, the players are now legally chasing the ultimate bag, and the game of basketball is always the top priority. There was only one brand you can trust to help you wade through all the madness. Hey, I'm Tate Frazier from One Shiny Podcast, and you can join me twice a week as we navigate the always entertaining world of college basketball. Every Monday, the ringer's comment helps me make sense of the biggest stories from the weekend, and on Fridays we talk to our many friends of the program. We're locked in on the best postseason in sports. Make sure you follow OneShining podcast on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mismatch.

I'm Chris Vernon and joining me on this Monday night from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Bombermer, Kevin O'Bomberma, Kevin O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien. Kevin O'Brien. How are you doing on this Monday night, man? I'm doing great. It was a very busy weekend as I spent a lot of

time at the arena Friday night since we last spoke I went to WWE Smackdown the reason I'm mentioning this because it made a lot of NBA rounds with the rock making the Jammarant joke in Memphis and it was I mean it was unbelievable the whole event is unbelievable I don't know have you ever been to live wrestling before

no I'd love to I've never been though never so I was a wrestling paid if it whenever it comes to crypto or wherever it comes in LA, you need to go because I've been a wrestling fan like my whole life. I mean, I've been. And then obviously my son got into it. I have not been that many times in recent years. We went more when he was young. But the Rock was coming in town, so I had to go. And even... Is this his comeback or something? Like, why is the lockdown on? Yeah, like, he's gotten back involved and he is now... And since all the Vince McHandle... He's a heel again, right? But he is also like part ownership in, he's got an investment now in WWE.

And anyways, yeah, he has come back. And so one of the cities he was going to be in was Memphis, saw him. And even my 75 year old mother was like, can you get me a ticket? I want to go see the rock. Wow. And I'm like, man, I mean, you, he's obviously, he's probably like one of the most five most famous people in America. But when you get everybody from like five years old to 75 years old wanting to see you, you know you have.

I mean, that's when you have like cornered the market. And it's a great show. And it's super fun. And we loved it. Absolutely loved it. The next night, I went to a basketball game. And the reason I bring it this up is because it's the first time that I've gotten to see Oklahoma City in person this year. I have watched them demolished Memphis twice in road games.

But I had not seen this version of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who has taken the league by storm and is the number one seed in the Western Conference, as we speak, in person yet. And I've got to tell you, I walked out of that arena, absolutely thrilled with what I saw from Oklahoma City. I went to a game. It was a big return for Desmond Bain, who had not played since January. And Memphis had 34 assists.

Memphis had 18 threes. And they still could not beat that team. I walked out of that arena going that team is awesome. And for so many years, for anybody that's listened to us on the podcast, I always talk about not having guys that suck. Like, don't have, not having to play guys that suck. And they just bring none. They just bring good player after good play.

at their good player off the bench. It's like, oh, you're not going to respect giddy shooting. Okay, here's Isaiah Joe. Here's Gordon Hayward. Here's Kenrick Williams. Here's this guy. And a couple of big things from watching them. The first thing is, I love Chet.

I love him. We talked a couple of weeks ago about how, if it were not for Wenbenyama, we would be going crazy over Ched Holmgren. We still are going crazy. But he would also be standing head and shoulders literally above all other rookie competitors.

The thing I love about him is he is skinny still and he will fill out. I don't know how much he'll fill out. I don't know if we're going to look at any, some big Hulk. No, no. He doesn't have the wide shoulders for that.

Man, he's got swag. He's aggressive. He's like there for it. He is in the mix no matter what. I love him. And I think he is something to behold. He was really special to get to see in person.

Obviously, you have an awareness of Jaila Williams at the great season he's had. And Gilges Alexander, it's the first time that I've seen him where I I was having a conversation with my producer while we were watching the game and I was like you could tell he spent those years with Chris Paul because there's so much of the walk you down or that quick crossover

get to the free throw line quick stop like if he gets to the elbow now it's torture chamber he either kicks it out for an assist he throws it up for a lob but like he gets to his spot and he does it obviously in an unconventional way and I did not see some kind of I mean he averages 30 I think he had like 20 or 20 low 20s in that game

that I went to but man I really hope for the sake of that team a young team I hope they draw Sacramento or Phoenix or

some of the others that are down like I just want to be or Golden State I just hope they could stay away from the Lakers or Dallas because I think those are the kind of teams that are going to make that team that's really good out on the fly,

pace and space. I think those are the kind of teams that could really dictate pace, hurt them with size, and be a real problem for them. But man, I'd love to see them in a fly up and down the court series. And here's the other thing, and this is the most important. It was in January, that I saw this clip

that was about how Chad Holmgren I believe he's from Minnesota was getting his jersey retired at his high school and he's getting his jersey retired at his high school and the whole team showed up they all went

they all walked in and they supported Chet at his high school ceremony right? The whole team went to that and it stood out to me as something cool I was like, wow, that's cool. You know what I mean? It's not, I mean, seems to do it for sure, especially if they're on road trips. But it's still cool that you get that kind of participation and you get that many guys going to somebody else's high school retirement.

On Saturday night, or no, Friday night, the night that I was at WWU Smackdown, you know, my local producer, John Roser calls games for the Memphis Hustle, which is the G League team. They were playing the Oklahoma City Blue. there's nobody at these games. Okay. And he just, he said, the entire Oklahoma City team just walked in and they're sitting on the front row.

Hmm. And it was like, and like Usman Jing's playing for them and a couple other guys, whatever. And I just say this to tell you, like you could see it on the court. And then there's two different examples of off the court of like this togetherness

that they have as a group that I do think is something, something that's not necessarily tangible, but can matter a great deal. And I do think it's very special when it comes to a very young team. It seems like they are legitimately friends. And I do think, and honestly, they've not had bad injury issues this year, so they've gotten a lot of minutes, two years in a row together out on the court. But it does seem that they've got a very special group there. And I'm saying like Gildes Alexander's all in for them.

And even when the last time that Memphis played there on the road, our social media guy told me, he sent me this picture. And it was like before the game that Gildes to Alexander goes out like super early and works out. And then he walks over and he said, this dude just signed every single autograph. I mean, I'm telling you, Kevin, there are throngs of people. Throng. like six deep all through a section.

He said he worked his way one by one and signed every single person's autograph. And I was like, I think every story I hear about them, I like them more. And then, you know, you see what they did. You know, it's not the biggest deal in the world for them to all go together to something. I'm just saying, I think it speaks to. It does matter though, Chris. You're spot on. The chemistry aspects.

Look, that's one of the reasons why Sam Presti decided not to try to overpricy. decided not to try to overpay for someone at the trade deadline or why he decided not to go for Daniel Gaffer or PJ Washington like Dallas got because they wanted to ride it out with this team that has a plus chemistry to see what they have. And so normally if a team was a one seed or in competition to be a one seed and they didn't make a big trade, I'd be ripping them for it. Like how do you not go completely all in when you have an opportunity to try to win a championship? You need go for it. You have all these future picks. You got to go for it. You got to try to overpay for like an Isaiah Stewart type from Detroit. Somebody who's not available, a Jared Allen,

overpay and go get that guy, right? But because the chemistry is so good, on top of the fact that the team is great as is, I understand why they would want to ride it out as is to find out what they have with this current group for this team to grow together as is. And maybe it turns out if they make it all the way to the Western Conference finals that they decide to stick with pretty much the roster as is and just make little tweaks. Because this team definitely has something to it. And I don't think they can beat the nuggets. I think the nuggets are too big.

I think Yokic is unstoppable at this point. They don't have a answer for him. We've seen the issues they have against size like the Lakers, maybe even in a seven-game series, Minnesota with their size could present issues. We'll see how the playoffs go for Oklahoma City. But they're not a team that doesn't have a chance to go all the way. If things fall right. I would just say two teams.

I want to see them in the second round of the playoffs and not be one of these like one seeds that like, oh, it's just a year too early. There's their playoff scars. They got to make it the round two at least. Just stay away from Dallas or L.A. Honestly. like if you want to play sack if you want to play i'm not saying they'll beat all these teams

what i am saying is sack phoenix golden state uh who's the other one that's down there uh towards a towards the play in that's a yeah well no phoenix there's four of them right that are down there towards right now right here are the standings as a as of monday night the games aren't over yet so standings could change slightly right monday night pelicans are the five They're a game in a half, half up on three teams, the Kings, the Mavericks, and the Sons.

And then the Warriors and the Lakers are three games back from that group of three teams. Yeah. Okay. So I'd say kings, sons are warriors. And stay away from L.A. or Dallas. I mean, it's highly unlikely they would get New Orleans matched up with them at this point. The way seating is, if anything, New Orleans is going to catch the Clippers. They're the five.

They're a game back from the Clippers right now. it's looking most likely that it would be Kings, Mavericks, or Sons, unless they're the one seed, then maybe it ends up the Warriors or Lakers. But honestly,

I'd pick the Thunder in any of the series, I'd say. I think I'd pick O'C. in any of them. I just don't want to, I would much rather, I think for also aesthetically pleasing, watching that team get up and down the court

as well, and not have the size. really hurt them. You know, those teams are not going to destroy you with the ones that I mentioned, right? Golden State's not doing that. Sacramento's not doing that. Phoenix isn't doing that. You know, the other two teams can play pretty big and can also just, they've got the two guys that kind of like just control the pace of the game and slow it down to a slog and can turn it into a 96-92 game. And that's just not, that's not what you're best suited to play. But anyways, I think when you're looking for reasons beyond just the hardcore basketball reasons, they're obviously well coached. They've obviously got a superstar playing point guard who is a really good guy and everybody. The only reason I told the story about him signed in the autographs is because everybody I know that's coming contact with him loves him. And so I do think that that matters when that guy's at the top of the chart there. and also acts just like he's part of the team

rather than this massive superstar that he has become. And kids, the reaction to Gilg's Alexander was huge. Kids love him. Kids love SGA, like little kids. He's like one of their guys. I think it's just, you know, obviously he's fantastic, but he's also cool. Like they think he's cool.

And so it was interesting to, it was interesting to see that. And I was really impressed. It was really impressed. Getting to see them as a team and unit. And then that off-the-court stuff impressed me as well. Since we last spoke, there's been some stuff that's going on. The NBA sent out a memo on officiating, put it out there after saying nothing happened.

How about that, huh? They record a podcast Friday morning with Zach Lowe. And they're denied, deny, deny, deny, deny. And then hours later. strikes me as an organization not very connected in terms of messaging. And the crazy thing is there were some media members that acted like people that were writing about this

and or noticing this were like, you know, keeping their third eye open. Like they're talking about something that's like some kind of kooky conspiracy theory. And it's like, just watch the games. Yeah, I know. Like, do you?

you watch basketball games? Do you watch basketball games? All you'd have to do is watch the basketball games, and anyone that is an ardent fan could notice something is different. Anyone. Anyone that goes to games could notice something is different. And yet, here we were trying to be convinced that, like, nothing happened. And then the idea that, yeah, well, the league told us that they were going to have

points of emphasis, like in January or February. It's like, yeah. and obviously nothing happened. Like, it all lines up at this post-all-Star break. Teams were scoring like 120 points right before, literally the night before the All-Star break. The whole damn league scored 120. And it wasn't just because everybody was packed up

and ready for All-Star weekend. That was a commonplace thing. And then we fast forward into after the All-Star break, and we've had several nights where no one. scored close to 120. So like something changed, but it's not, it's not something like salacious.

It's just, and then obviously there was some kind of an attempt to like throw everybody a bonus to say, hey, yes, you're not kooky. Here's points of emphasis that have been talked about. But for them to keep on coming out saying, so like we got in a meeting, we sat around and we talked about this. Like, oh, well, fine. Like, however you want to parse through it, it's happened, everybody notices it, everybody loves it.

The end. Right. Well, I mean, today, Ethan Strauss wrote an article again on House of Strauss, his substack, and he quoted Joe Dumars from the low post. Dumars said, I will emphatically say, no one day of a meeting of the minds that we needed to change that we're seeing the scoring. Like absolutely not, Zach. When you hear stuff like that and you're sitting in here and you walk into the office, you just kind of look around and you go, we haven't said a word to Monty and the referees about changing anything.

That has got to be a blatant lie. They admitted it. Hours after that podcast was released with low. We said what we said on Friday's pod. Anybody can go back and listen to it. It's probably the best podcast in the history of the world. It was a good pod. I was happy with it.

I enjoyed chatting with you about it. I got some good feedback. Some friends texted me about that. I liked it. Since we last spoke, Kyrie Irving. So you say, for the listeners who don't follow you on Twitter X,

every time you tweet out the pod, you do a fake review or a real review. Maybe you're getting real reviews. Fake. Are you saying dog fancy doesn't review our pot? But you just saying that is the greatest podcast ever, just reminded me of one of your reviews that you post. No, I really meant that one.

Yeah, yeah. I love positive reviews. Also, give us five-star rating if you're listening on Spotify. Apple means a lot. Helps the show. Give us a real positive review, not the ones Verno puts on social media. Fan duels putting the ball on your core for the rest of the NBA season because right now, new customers get $200 and bonus bets with any winning $5 bet.

That's $200 if your bet wins. Bet on the NBA with a wide range of bet types, including quick bets, live same game parlayas, player props, and more. And guess what, North Carolina, the wait is over. Fandul is officially live in the Tar Heel State. So whether you want to bet on the NBA with game lines, futures, or even on the tournament this upcoming weekend, including on North Carolina, visit fandul.com slash mismatch and make your first bet a layup.

Fandul, official sports per partner of the NBA. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit the ringer.com slash RG. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued, just non-grawable bonus bets that expire seven days after a seat. See terms at sportsbook.fandle.com. Kyrie Irving hit one of the best shots ever since we last spoke.

Oh, my God. Dude, I lost it watching the game. I thought as he was dribble on the ball with his left hand, I glanced down at the clock. I'm like, he's not going to get a shot off. And then he goes to the lefty hook, and I'm like, oh, my God. And it went in. I was losing it, Chris, when that happened. It was one of the best shots I've ever seen at any moment in any game.

Never mind. It's definitely one of the greatest game winning shots I've ever seen. That was remarkable, truly incredible. You're going to love this because it was about a week ago, I think. somebody was talking to me and they were saying they were like, how many shots could you make from so and so? And I was like, I don't know. I could probably make like six, seven out of ten, something like that.

They're like, what is the last time you even shot a basketball, whatever? And I was like, today? And they were like, what are you talking about? I was like, I've shot a basketball like almost every day for 14 years. My son is 14 years old. Like we literally, before this podcast, we were outside. okay tonight I tried that shot

three times with my left I'm righty I'm right hand I airballed that shit three times I could not get the ball to the rib

with my left hand like we try we were trying to do the Kyrie game winner and he put it over a seven footer over a seven footer with his left that's what I was trying to do

I was trying to do with my left hand I just flat air balled the thing short three times. I couldn't even get the ball to the rim. And again, I'm not expecting. I'm not expecting to make it like Kyrie Irving. I'm not expecting it to have a chance. I certainly could never do it over a seven-footer. I'm saying I couldn't even like,

I couldn't even get it there. I couldn't even get it to the basket. And this guy's just off-handed and frigging skyhook game winners. That was crazy. It's incredible. One of my favorite things about it was the reaction from all of his teammates. You know it was special when every basketball player on the court is freaking out as well. They're all like, how the hell did he make that shot too?

They're in the same way as all of us. And every NBA player on social media. Yeah, everybody, everybody. There is nobody in the NBA that has a different perception from fans. and media, and media especially, and NBA players in history, in history. If you ask anybody, there was this thing on Instagram the other week, or last week, I think it was maybe as complex. It was one of those.

And they were asking players, the five most skilled players, and every single one of them, every single one of them. They had different guys that the other four slots. Every single one of them had Kyrie, every one of them. like he is a basketball player's basketball player they all love him and i've told you this many many times the people i know that like know him personally all love the guy oh yeah and so like every perception the perception is always different than obviously what he has put off and some of that is his own fault but just in terms of a fun and wildly unbelievable basketball player

given his size. He is, he's right up there at the very top. When he does incredible things, it's the best. The best. And that was,

I mean, there's a friggin Mona Lisa. Who hits a game winner against Denver, no less? I know. And the game was amazing too. It's an incredible game.

And they have to win these games. Yeah. You know, like catch some of these wins that are not necessarily chalked up his wins, you know, steal some here and there or beat teams that are ranked higher than you because they got to stay out of that, you know, play in situation. Yep, got to get a top six seed.

They got to get a top six. And right now they're tied with Sacramento and Phoenix. Oh, yeah. And well, in Phoenix is their schedule is just murder. Rural. And they can't figure out fourth quarters. And Kevin Durant can't make a shot in the fourth quarter. He's got like four points in the last three fourth quarter.

I don't know what the hell is going on. Dude, that game on Sunday against the bucks without Janus, and you get smoked, they gave out 39 in the first quarter, 42 in the second quarter, and you enter halftime with a big deficit, and you don't, it didn't feel like there was any urgency in coming back in the second half watching the game. I guess they just didn't make shots, but also I just didn't sense any urgency from that team. And you watch them. And this is one of the things that we talked about all year long.

It's like, A, there's always going to be a risk involved when you're assembling these three guys because of their track record of missing games. Second thing was every time another one of them went out for any extended amount of time, I said, man, we're getting low on even the number of possible games that you could play together, the number of reps and minutes that you can even get together. And while the sample size is small and it's very good, it's like, you've got to have reps. You just do. And it's like every time one of them would come back from injury, like when Booker came back from this last thing, we were like, you know, even if they played all the string out, you're still talking like less than a quarter of the season. It's like, that's just not enough times to have a bunch of different defenses thrown at you.

A bunch of different teams prepare for you differently. a bunch of different team, you know, see how this team wants to attack you and what they're going to do, when they just decide, okay, we're taking Durant out and we'll live with Booker and Beal. Or we're going to take Beal away completely. We're just going to face guard him the whole time so he can't be a safety valve. Or we're going to play these guys straight up. Or the next team's going to bring a double and make sure, or maybe the next team's going to make sure that we're guarding him with one, but then we're going to have somebody at the free throw line extended.

So he's got a C2 every time he comes. It's like all these different situations. And I think you see it really come to a head in the fourth quarters. Because they don't know what to do. And it's because they haven't had the reps. If they had the rep, like obviously they don't have a point guard, but also if they just had a bunch of reps being in these situations, being in these situations, like, okay, here's what we go to.

And it's such the advantage that some of these. teams have, like they know who they are and they know what they're going to down the stretch. You're not going to see some weird-ass plays come out or some weird, like, you know, maybe there's a kickover to a wide open Royce O'Neill or whatever. It's like Dallas is going to get that game decided by Luca or Kyrie. And, they might not have the reps. They've had enough. And they also know exactly who is the man and who's going to get us home.

it's like Phoenix is going to get to wherever they are, playoff, play in, wherever. And they're still, they're just not going to have enough reps because these games all come down to the end. I think with the Sons, it's, look, we talked about them last week, Chris, as are they number two in turn? Are they the team most likely to beat the Nuggets? They're tantalizing. And I think, I think you could argue that they're the team most likely to beat the Nuggets, but as I believe you said, there's a difference between saying

that the team most likely to beat the Nuggets and the number two team in the West. They're not the number two team in the West overall. And I think it's at the point with them that it's very possible they don't even end up in a series against the Nuggets. And in a 20 second time out, it's all from the standpoint of

nobody's beating the Nuggets. Who could, you know, if we could foresee somebody having a best bracket there. Because none of these teams are very well equipped to deal with them. I agree. I think with the Sons, if you're a Sons fan at this point, it's probably a good time to lower expectations. And then hopefully you become pleasantly surprised that those lower expectations are exceeded. And that's disappointing considering where things were a couple years ago where you're in the finals.

You know, the year after that, you underwhelm. And then you make the trades. and now all the good energy and the good stuff with McKell Bridges and Cam Johnson, all that stuff is gone and you've got this kind of, you know, sad team in some ways that's underwhelmed despite all the promise.

And now we're talking about lowering expectations, but I do think that's probably the wise move now and then hopefully the soft season you could kind of recalibrate and make some changes to further bolster your odds. Still got a better roster. They still got a better coach. And they still connect.

And they still can have the best player on the floor any given night. Not impossible. So it's not, I mean, it's just now, think of it's them, you're just fighting like hell all these teams, as we mentioned, as they're knotted up, you're just fighting like hell not to have to play in. Yeah. Right. You got to get to the 16th. Got to get to the 6th. You really do.

And right now, really, really hard for them because Sacramento and Dallas are the teams you're knotted up with. You know that your schedule is the hardest of the entire group. Now, I suppose it would be possible. They're, you know, they're three and a half back, I think, from the clippers. And that's all the way up the standings. So, I mean, there are enough games that if the, you know, if you caught a real hot streak and you can go eight and two, you can go nine a while.

If one of these teams is going to have to do that. They're going to have to do the back-to-back seven and threes, eight and twos, whatever. and then hope that the clippers and teams like that ahead of them are staying 500. And then you could see a massive swing in the standing, right? Like if the Pelicans or the clippers, you know, start going 500 over the course of 10 games, you can make up three pretty quick if you have an 8 and 2 stretch. And by the way, Chris, that's kind of the position these are in. That's chances right here.

They have Philly on Wednesday, Atlanta on Thursday. Atlanta on Thursday, and then they have the Spurs on Saturday and Monday. So they have four games coming up. They need to win these next four games because then after that, listen to, I'm just going to rattle off. Murder. For the rest of the season after that. Denver, OKC, New Orleans, Cleveland, Minnesota, New Orleans, Clippers,

Clippers, Kings, Wolves. That's the rest of the season after this four game stretch. They have to win these next four games because all of them. that. All of them. Oh, man. Oh,

those games are tough. Yep. And look, Sacramento and Dallas are both formidable teams that have been there and they're going to

play out the string as well. Yeah. None of those teams, all of those teams, you would not be surprised if they had a 500 week or even a four and six week

at some point. But you also wouldn't be surprised if they reeled off eight or nine at ten. It can happen. They're all, they're all kind of in that mix where they're good enough to do something great,

but they're also, you know, they can be mediocre. They can be mediocre as well. So it's going to be a fight to the finish for sure. And then you've got all those that we're talking about, and you've got real play-in pressure facing the Warriors and the Lakers.

Whom played each other since we last spoke. Davis went out. O'Brien went big. He had that massive catastrophe with the clocks and all that crap at the end. That was the worst. could have left and watch the Godfather and come back. They still hadn't finished the game.

But that's like, there's real play and pressure with both of those because each day that passes, you keep looking at the standings and it's like, holy hell, are they really going to play nine and ten? And then I guess the Lakers have to look back and it's like Houston won't lose. Well, I mean, I guess the Warriors do have to look back too. They're both 11, they're 11 and a half games back from the one seed right now. So I'm just looking at that number on the screen, three and a half up from the Rockets. Right.

That's what I'm saying. So, I mean, Houston's on both of them right now. I mean, are we really going to get nine and ten Warriors Lakers? That's crazy. Mm-hmm. That's crazy. I know. We might.

We might. It's kind of cool from a drama standpoint that those teams, the loser is out. The winner gets another chance. It's kind of fun. How are they in jeopardy of not, I mean, look, if this is the way it used to be, we wouldn't even be talking about them. No, we'd be talking about them because it'd be only be three games back from the eighth seed. Yeah, and then probably not be a playoff team.

Yeah, probably not. It is very likely right now that they are going to be nine and ten. I know. That's the most likely scenario that they are nine and ten. Yeah. because those other teams are battling it out, right? And that they don't make up the three games. Yeah, Houston could catch as well.

They could. Watch out for Jalen Green, bro. Player of the week. I know, Jalen Green, dude. Man, for all those that sold off their Jalen Green stock, they're trying to get some back. I'm glad I've held. I'm very happy that I'm held.

So with Jalen Green, obviously, scoring the hell out of ball this past week. And it's been a really, It's been a really great month for him overall. It's been great. One of the things that's been interesting with Houston is their lineup choices. This month, or I should say ever since the All-Star break, their most common lineup, as you would expect, involves Al Paran Shengun, who's now out. That's the typical lineup, Shengun, Smith, Green, Brooks, Van Blee.

However, their second most utilized five-man lineup has been Van Bland. Leet, Brooks, Green, Smith, and then Amen Thompson. Amen Thompson has been playing center in those lineups. And in those lineups, they are posting a 137.5 offensive rating, a 119.6 defensive rating, which means they're outscoring opponents by 17.9 points per 100 possessions in the 42 minutes they've been used. That lineup was not utilized prior to the All-Star break.

It has been a more frequent lineup since the break. And with those lineups, it's been interesting. It's giving Jalen Green space the score. And also, Amin Thompson in his center roll. They're putting him in the dunker spot near the rim. They're using him as an on-ball screener for Fred Van Bleet. He's rolling to the rim, getting finishes, able to get touches and pass out of it.

It's interesting the way they're using Thompson as a five with his athleticism. It's a very difficult action for opponents to defend. you have Jared Allen, a seven-foot center defending Amen Thompson rolls to the basket. It's just weird for a defense to have to operate against that. And it's playing very well. I look forward to seeing how they continue to use it with Schengun still out, giving green room to score, Van Bleet Room to Create, and all those other guys room to do what they do.

And for Amman Thompson, after starting the year, not playing, he was out. You know, it gets slow to start after he comes back. he's looking like an all-rokee player right now. He has been absolutely stellar for the Rockets. This is where Bill Simmons says there's going to be a meeting of the Ewing committee and we are going to have a long meeting about Alper and Schengun, the Ewing theory. Is that Alper and Shembroon has gone?

It's a lot of Ewing theory here. This is a very serious Ewing theory. Schengun was good all year for. No, they were also pretty miserable for a long stretch of time and played their way out of playoff contention. And now he's gone out. And Jalen Green's turned into like a frigging all-star since he's gone out. Alper and Schengun was holding back Jailen Green. I don't think that's fair to say.

It's not fair to say. Jailen Green. Except that everybody thought Jailen Green sucked and now everybody thinks Jailen Green's awesome. Sam, Alper and Shengun went out. Yeah, but Jalen Green, it's not like Jalen Green didn't have some big games with Shengun active. He had 34 points last month twice in a row against the Suns. He had 23 points against the Spurs. He had 27 points.

Are you sure Shengun played in all those games? He played in all of those games. Okay. And the past week, I mean, this is, you know, all due respect, his performances were against the Wizards with 37 points. Come on, Kim. Let me cook. The lowly sad wizards. I'm trying to slander someone.

He cares about facts. I can't let that go. I'm trying to be the Jalen Green fan club. Man, they were holding him back. Get that big lug out of there and now let me cook. He's just in the way. Get him out the way. I love Shangoon.

I love Shangoon. I know you do. I know you do. But it is fun to watch them fly up and down the court to be athletic. They're playing different. They're playing different. They're athletic as hell. I mean, they got some guys that can go and using their speed and youth to advantage with Thompson and with Greene and some of these guys.

Because they could also force turnovers. You got a really active defense when you got Fred and Dylan and Amman Thompson, you know, flying around and passing lanes. Yep. And that gets you, you know. It's not like they're setting up a bunch of half court all. offense, and that's how they're doing it, that you don't get to a number like 136 per 100 possessions by playing, you run a play, we run a play. You get there by getting the ball off the rim and flying or getting the ball in transition from a steal. And by the way, their schedule coming up,

we talked about Phoenix. They have four games that they should win. The coming up schedule for the Rockets, Washington, Chicago, Utah, Portland. That's the next week. That's, that. That's their, they even tell you I saw them. I didn't even tell you I saw them last week. I think I talked about Charlotte. I saw Washington and Charlotte back to back in person. Disgusting. Sorry you had to watch those games.

Washington is a, truly a disgrace. I know. Like, Kevin, they could have taken, there are two things that were said to me, or one that was said to me and then one that I said to my buddy at that game. My buddy said, if you walked over there right now,

It's before the game was about to start because you could just see them, like even going through warmups and whatever. And he said, guys, not only do you not have to play tonight, you don't have to play the rest of the season. You could just forfeit every game the rest of the year. They would take it. A hundred percent they would take it. They would take it.

None of them want to play. None of them. And then when I watched them, I said, I swear to God, if this team right now, if you took their ass over to Lifetime Fitness, they would not play any. different than they are playing right now against this Memphis team. This is a disgrace. They're not even trying to run anything.

This is just, I mean, seriously, it's like watching a five guys show up at Lifetime Fitness and they're playing with each other and whoever gets the ball shoots it. It was gross. Now, I will say, you juxtapose that, you say you're sorry I had to see that, totally different the next night.

because Charlotte also sucks. They only have like, you know, what, six or seven more wins than Washington. They hustle. They are, dude, and I know you're not a huge Clifford fan, but they run like, they play real basketball,

and they have real players. And I also said to my, I said, you can't be, they are like six games, or I think at the time they were, like six games in the standings, this is night and day.

That team, that we saw last night is so friggin' far away from being anything even close, a semblance of okay. And this team tonight, you could convince me that they make some prude moves in the all season, and they are firmly in the playoffs next year. I'm like with Lamello, with Brandon Miller, with Miles Bridges, with Mark Williams.

How about, Mietch. You saw Mietchich drop 25. What did you think about him? He's been good for the Sharma. He could make a whole mix tape of Memphis games this year. I think he shot 90% in the two games that they've played against Memphis this year. He was even better in the first one. The guy, I don't even know who the hell this guy is, but the guy said, I've watched him at 60 points.

It's unbelievable. Unbelievable, this guy. Like, Charlotte's not far. And, man, he has destroyed any perception. You say it. I don't even know who this guy is. That's why he's in the NBA. He's like, nobody knows who I am,

even though I'm a EuroLeague champion. I'm an MVP. He's one of those decorated players in European history, but it's like you're not worldwide known until you come to the NBA. And I hope Beechich can continue playing well in the NBA, because he's such a fun player, man. His playmaking, the scoring ability, he's such a fun guy. The point is Charlotte, look, they get a different coach.

You get a Grant Williams fits with them. You get a couple other players. Miles Bridges is fantastic. Yeah, he's... I hate this off-the-court stuff. Obviously, I hate what he's done to the fact that anybody that watches him can't help think about is off-the-court stuff. But if we're just separating, you know, what he does as a basketball player, he's unbelievable.

I mean, he's... I think he had 27 and three-quarters in the game I went to. I was like, wow. and he looks bigger and stronger than he ever did before. But Charlotte's not far. They're not far. I mean, Washington is like a decade away. They got nobody.

They suck. And they're going to ruin the kid that you liked. They're ruining him. Oh, Belau Kulabali news came out today. Oh, it's the worst spot in the world. But news came out today. He's out for the rest of the season. Good for him.

It's the best thing you could ever happen. I mean, the thing that sucks so much He takes shitty shots too, because they don't do anything. It's seriously Lifetime Fitness basketball. I'm like, who is this good for? The Wizards, what they need is the number one pick in 2025. That's when they need. And six and seven.

They suck. But they need Cooper Flagg in 25. They're seriously the most helpless of all of them. I know. Without a doubt they are. I've seen every team come through town, I believe, now. I've seen all the rat teams. And there is certainly a big difference in rat team.

Oh, I haven't seen Detroit. I'm going to see them coming up. But Detroit's got fun young players that we trash them all year for not playing. But they got, like, fun young players. That Washington team, oh, my God, there's nothing fun about it. I'm sorry, House. I'm sorry. You're having to deal with this.

this is a disgrace what they are. There's nothing even to get excited about. There's not one player on the roster. Not one. It's crazy. I've never even seen a team like that, I don't think, where it was like nobody I like. I mean, I love Tyous Jones,

but I mean, he's in like purgatory. He'll get out of there. You know, he just has to serve. It's almost like he's serving apprenticeship sentence for a year. Poor guy. Anyways, we covered the West, and now that's all knotted up. In the East, Nick Nurse made some real headlines by saying, so he was asked outright. He gave a bunch of word salad about M.B.'s injury situation.

And then finally, somebody just said, are you confident that he's going to return this year? And his quote was, I'm still hoping so and pretty confident, yes. All right? you want to parse that one? I think he'll be back. I think he'll be back. Yeah, I do. Unless there's a setback that we don't know about.

A better question, is he going to be back in enough time? Yeah, I think he'll be back on enough time. I do. For them to be eight and play Boston in the first round? Yeah. Oof. Yeah, I think he'll be back.

They've been in a free fall. As we're recording, they're playing tonight. They had a big game against Miami. me tonight while we're recording. What's going on in that? Let me see. Right now they've, they won. They won the game. 98.91. That happened while we're recording. Wow. Wow. Tiree maxi, 30 points. 11 of 24. Ubre, 22 points. Mo Baba. 8 points. Dude. Four rebounds. Three assists. Kelly Ubre had six blocks. Wow. What?

All right. I got to go back and see this. Kelly Ubre's six blocks. interesting on the Miami side, Bam at a bio, two three-pointers. This is his fourth game in a row with a three-pointer. This is his first game with two. He has more three-pointers in the last four games than he's had in any single season in his entire career. He had the game-winning three-pointer on Sunday,

two three-pointers tonight, one in each of the prior two games. This is feeling like a new thing that's going to sustain for the heat. So I know they lose this game. We didn't see the game so we can't. We're talking about it. Yeah, yeah. It was one of those that there's like a group of these tonight.

Because OG's not playing for the Knicks. Yeah, yeah. This is one of those nights where a bunch of guys are playing. But there was no hero and they'll butler for the heat tonight. Oh, yeah, of course. And no Joe bitch either. Yeah. But still, that's a really good win for the Sixers who,

they were both 37 and 30 going into this game. And so that one mattered a great deal. You know, you only get so many to play your immediate peers. And those teams are directly fighting with each other to not try to be in the play in, especially because they're also trying to catch Indiana and Orlando. Otherwise, they're going to be the ones that are solidly in. And Philly's only two games back right now from the Magic. And they are two and a half games back from the Knicks before tonight's game against the Warriors. So, I mean, look, Sixers

five and five in their last ten games. They're hanging on. They're keeping position. Like, good on them, man. Good on them for continuing to win a couple of games here and there. Because no, Joel, they could have easily lost a lot of these games. Well, they have lost a lot. They've been pretty miserable.

Yeah, they have. They have. They have, but they've won two in a row. They beat Charlotte. They beat Miami. Like, these are games that they could have lost, is my point. And this one is a big one because they had the same record as Miami and Indiana got dropped by Cleveland tonight. So right now, when those hit the standings, you're now, you know, again, you're coming down the home stretch and Orlando and Indiana are going to be fighting like Hill to hold on to those spots where they don't have to play in.

Because you know that just because of the first time through, they're susceptible. You don't want to be having that be in these must win games against freaking Miami or Philly with Embed. Yeah. You want to stay away from that if you can. Now, obviously, it's a little bit of a break for the East on 9 and 10. Because unlike the West, where you're going, oh, God, if we lose the 7-8 game, now we got to play the winner of Warriors and Lakers in a winner go home deal.

On that side, you're not nearly as nervous about losing the 7-8 game. Is that fair? Yeah. Because, I mean, who you scared of? You scared of the Hawks?

I guess Chicago. Chicago would scare me a little bit more than Atlanta. Chicago would scare me, certainly. Oh, for sure. Chicago's been pretty good since early in the season. And they could be a little scary. if they remain 9 to 10.

So those new blood teams, as we mentioned, they're trying to hang on for secured spots. The magic keep on cracking. They're like 8 and 2 in their last 10. And have you seen, like the Suggs numbers are unbelievable? Suggs has been just absolutely awesome for them. And, you know, we've chronicled on this show, Gary Harris getting thrown into that lineup

and kind of what he's done. And so I'm really hoping just for the new blood and getting some new teams in the playoff mix and letting more teams catch some playoff scars, these young teams. Let them go through it for the first time and see what it's like for a team to just to prepare for you. I hope that I hope we get to see those teams in there. And I hope they are able to hold on to their spots. You mentioned Jayland Sugs, Chris. He just cracked 40% from three on the season.

Wow. 40.1% on the year now. up from 32.7% his second year, up from 21.4% his rookie season. So good on him improving every year is a three-point shooter for a team that desperately needs shooting.

Gary Harris provides it. Now Jalen Slings is providing it too. We talked about how the Knicks are going to be playing that game against the Warriors tonight, but they're going to have to do it without OG and and Obie. That'll happen after we record this. Brunson's been absolutely unbelievable.

It's just one Easter conference player of the week. 35.7 points per game, five assists and 54% from the field for Brunson. And some of those numbers that have both him and O.G. and Ninobe, since he has been with the next now, we said he's going to be out for this game. But the individual highest net ratings per 100. possessions per qualified players in 2024.

You ready for this? Fire away. O.G. and Nobie. This is net ratings per 100 possessions plus 24.5 with the Knick. Number two, Jalen Brunson plus 14.9. They are 9 in the games that he has appeared. and New York has outscored their opponents by 163 points in 316 minutes that he has been on the court. What the hell?

They've outscored their opponents by 163 in 316 minutes. It is impossible. Number one, OG. Number two, Brunson. Number three, Donovan Mitchell, four, Tatum, five, Derek White, six, Isaiah Hartenstein. Like, the mix with O.G. and Inobie, it had fed. I mean, the numbers are freakish. Truly freakish. It's just he was out. You remember we talked about it when he was here. After they had made the deal, we were like watching those numbers and like, Jesus Christ, they never lose.

Like, their numbers are just crazy. He's now come back. and the same thing has happened. You've ever watched the hell out for the Knicks, man. I'm telling you. You never watch the hell out because their numbers are crazy. Plus 24.5. How is it even a thing? Dude, it's been amazing, dude.

They need OG, the cafted obvious statement of the day. They need OG and an OB with how special they are defensively with that dude. Okay, so he's been there 17 games. You know what their record? is? 15 and 2. I said 14. Wow. 15 and 2.

Crazy. Crazy. It's just not normal. I just looked. Okay, so the two games they lost, they lost by four points to the Mavericks and four points to the magic. Two games they easily could have won. This is happening and it's something to monitor.

I know. They are not the same since Aquatic. firing that guy. Yeah. They're not the same. At the same time, though, at the same time, though, like, they, it's worrisome that the fact that, like, he's cut back for three games and already the elbow flared up. And Woj reported that he's supposed to be L for more than just tonight's game.

That's scary. You only hope that he can get healthy. Oh, because there's steady, weird reporting about Randall. Yeah. It's like they said the, I read over the weekend, he's still not doing contact. Yep. I'm like, oh, we ain't got that much time left. Woge did also say they don't know the status of Julius Randall moving forward.

Okay, so then he's just out. Yeah, I think that's probably just a bad shoulder that they were probably hoping he could, you know, play through, but it's just, it's probably going to end up requiring surgery. I totally, that's completely what it feels like. You're trying to not have it be required surgery, but it's like. like, okay, I keep trying this thing and it hurts me every damn time I play. Mm-hmm. You know, I mean, that was always the thing, like, that they, honestly, yeah, that was the thing with Morant. Most people will tell you, like, something happened that actually, like, twinged it, like, in a

workout or something. But he had just had a hurt shoulder and then was going to play through it. And then he had heard it a while back, like, a long time ago. and then it's going to try to play through it. And then most of these guys, there's all kinds of guys that are playing through something right now that will require surgery after the season. But they just try to get through the season

and then get the surgery done. And I think they've probably been hoping against hope that Randall can do that. But there's never any positive reporting on it. No, been nothing. Yeah. No, that sucks for them. It sucks.

Because when they have, I mean, look, Even with just Ananooga, they might be fine. Because they got so many guys. They got heart. They finally got those two Detroit guys cracking over the weekend with Berks and Bogdanovich. Finally got something out of them. Anyway, it's going to be fun to watch it all unfold over the course of the next couple of weeks. I'm going to go to the NCAA tournament this week.

In Memphis. Yeah, they're playing on Friday, Sunday? Friday Sunday. All right, tell me, is there anybody that I for sure I need to, I've got to I've got to go see him, the kid from Nebraska. 100% you've got to get to see him. But in terms of keeping an eye up for,

I know you've got a Baylor guy, right? I can go watch him. So the highest ranked prospects on my board are Misi, the center from Baylor, and then Walter, the guard wing from Baylor. I have WALTER. Oh, Jacoby Walter. I had him like ninth on my board.

I had him top five prior to the season. It's been an underwhelming overall year for him, shooting below 40% from the floor. The three-pointer hasn't quite clicked. He's the type of guy that I think will shoot the ball better in the NBA as he continues to extend his range. But I really like Walter. And then Misi,

you'll be very impressed by his athleticism, his activity. Dude's like just a hard-nosed, tough guy, rebounder. he's got good hands scoring around the rim, versatile on defense. You'll like him a lot. They're pretty athletic, both of them? Yeah, both of them, especially at BC.

Well, the reason I asked him because a couple years ago, Colgate, I think it was Tennessee. They gave a run for their money. And then last year, I remember they were a big problem for Arkansas, that Anthony Black team.

And then finally, Arkansas just like totally overwhelmed them athletically. You know, Colgate, they could play good basketball. They could play, you know, get themselves open, play together, but like you can also athletically overwhelm them, press the shit out of them and whatever.

And so that's why I ask, because that Colgate team is, they're usually one of those teams that you look up in the first half and it's like, uh-oh, upset watch, you know. All right, so there's two.

I can go see on Baylor. And then, you know, Houston, the one seed, Jamal shed, six foot one point guard, having a very strong season for them.

He's not much of a shooter, but he's hard-nosed, tough guy. He's somebody to watch. And then on Clemson, P.J. Hall, not currently on my draft guide, but I think he probably belongs somewhere in the top 50. The big white guy. The big white guy, six foot 10, do it all guy.

They came to Memphis earlier this year. Yeah, you like him? All right. For a college player. Yeah, I think he's going to, you know, shoot better, obviously, than he did this season. 31.6% from three. He's a near 80% free throw shooter.

I had 100% want him on my college team. Let me be clear. Yeah, for sure. For college basketball, great. He's not good enough athlete to be a pro. I didn't think. I didn't see. I'll see.

This is where, you know, March Madras can show a lot when teams are game planning and they're coming with full energy and maybe a PJ Hall ends up standing out. See if he can move his feet and stay in front of house from New Mexico. So did you see that over the weekend? Everybody tweeting that out? He does not. He talks real high pitch. and everybody was shocked.

But then it's Eddie House's kid. Eddie House is in the crowd yelling. That's my MF son. So good. So, yeah, at least I'll get to see Eddie House's kid. That one's there. And then Nebraska.

I can't believe that's his son. He used to be a Celtics ball boy for the 08 championship. That's crazy. Where's all the time gone, man? Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

And then I'm seeing Houston, Longwood, and then who? Oh, yeah. Japanese Steph Curry. Maybe someday Jason Tatum's son will be playing D3 or something like that. How dare you? A little inside joke there. Deuce Tatum? All right, you Celtics fans have got to stop getting Deuce Tatum's autograph.

That shit is wild. Y'all are wild for getting Deuce Tatum autographs. The kid's like four. How old is it? seriously. He's like, I don't know. People ask him for his autograph. Enough with the Deuce Tatum autograph.

I say this as a father. All right. Anything else in the NCAA tournament that you're super looking forward to? Was there anything in terms of like the way the bracket broke that you thought, oh, we could get a blank versus blank matchup? I'm excited for the Los Angeles bracket for the potential Los Angeles team. North Carolina is in that bracket so Tate Fraser being

here in L.A. Be nice if North Carolina can make a run all the way to the Sweet 16 at least with the West bracket. And I believe they could face Alabama, I think, which would be an interesting matchup there. And then if it's the Elite

8, let's see, they could have Baylor by that point, could have Arizona. So it's not like anything, you know, particularly amazing in that bracket. I was so depressed. My group of games suck. You don't have a great group.

No, I've seen great ones too. I saw Blake Griffin and Oklahoma. You don't talk about old. I saw Blake Griffin in Oklahoma. I saw Johnny Flit in Syracuse. I saw Ty Lawson and North Carolina. Oh, wow. I saw the last time I saw Deeran Fox demolished Lanzo ball.

It's the best college basketball. ball performance I've ever seen in my life. That must have been a fun one. It was Deerrin Fox. Yeah, that must have been so cool to see live. And then that team had Deeran Fox, Malik Monk, and Bam out of bio. And the next round,

they got knocked out by the Luke Mayshot. That was in Memphis, in FedEx Forum. And that whole, I mean, that arena, it was 16,000. Well, maybe like 15,000 Kentucky fans and 3,000 North Carolina fans. you could have heard a friggin pin drop.

It was crazy. Because if you go back and watch the end of that game, Malik Monk hits an insane three. And then no timeout is taken. They get the ball all the way up the court and Luke May hits a buzzer beater. It was crazy. And now I'm going to go watch

frigging Houston versus Longwood. Who gives a shit? I've gone from De Aaron Fox and Lonzo Ball and Luke May hitting a game winner to Houston versus Longwood. Maybe, I don't know, maybe they'll pull a 16-1 ups and a you never know. I love the tournament.

You too, it's going to be fun. And I love getting to go. So maybe I'll get to see a buzzer-beater. And I'm getting to see Japanese Steph Curry for Nebraska. Yes, you are. That's the only thing I care about. So that'll be fun. All right, we will catch up later this week.

Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always. And Kevin, I'll talk to you on Thursday. night. We hope you have a good rest of your week, man. Enjoy the games. Must be 21 plus in present in select states. Fandul is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with the Kansas Star Casino LLC. LLC. Gambling problem? In Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. Call one and her to gambler or visit fanbill.com.com. In Arizona, call one and her to next step or text next step to 5334342.

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