The Mismatch - Is Kawhi Back? Plus, the Celtics Sell for $6.1 Billion, the Knicks' Tough Week, and More Loves and Loathes.

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Verno and Jacoby discuss last night's game between the Warriors and Raptors, which Golden State survived after Steph Curry went down with an injury and Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green turned in subpar performances (0:45). They next discuss the recent sale of the Boston Celtics to a group led by Bill Chisholm, who is a managing partner at Symphony Technology Group (10:11). They break down why keeping co-owner Wyc Grousbeck around for another few years is the smart business move and ensures success for the franchise moving forward. Finally, from Kawhi’s dominant performance to the Knicks' back-to-back losses against the Spurs and Hornets, the guys share their loves and loathes from the week that was. Teams they loved (22:45) Teams they loathed (34:40) Players they loved (44:28) Players they loathed (50:15) Things they loved (56:55) Things they loathed (1:03:30) Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez and Tucker Tashjian Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And join me to see us every week from The Ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. What's happening to Berno? Hey, man. It's NCAA tournament time going on, but we still have an NBA season that is taking place. What do you want to start with from last night? I did want to start with the most impactful performance last night.

It was clearly Bronny James, but I don't want to get yelled at by LeBron in the middle of a game while I'm sitting courtside. So we will start with some bad news. in the bay. Not only did the lowly raptors push the Warriors to the brink. We'll talk about the game in the second, but Steph Curry driving to the hole

goes up in the air and he didn't just land on his back slash butt. He did not break his fall whatsoever with his hands. And the visuals were pretty gnarly of this injury, but it was the sound of his body hitting

the floor. It sounded like the crack of a bat. And initially, I was just terrified that something was broken or whatever, but he walked into the tunnel on his own power. And there are reports that he wanted to re-enter the game. So what could have been a catastrophic sort of jet-like injury seems like, and again, I'm not a doctor. I do play basketball with doctors. But it seems like it won't be that big a deal for the Warriors. But it was scary. And it certainly exposed. This is not, you know, groundbreaking analysis, just how important Steph Curry is to that team, because they had a lot of trouble on offense after he came down. Well, and this is one of those moments where, and we're seeing

this a lot, and it's part of the reason that it feels like in many cases, teams are bubble wrapping stars just to try to get through this last stretch to get to the playoffs because it's one of those moments where your season flashes before your eyes, right? He goes down, doesn't brace himself. Oh, my God, what if he is badly injured? And everybody is just trying to keep their main components healthy so that they can get into these playoffs. And so as we documented on Monday, when you got this combination of stars and trying to just get them there, when we can get to the playoffs, you've got teams that have no interest in winning basketball games. I think what we've found is you have got these.

There is not a night that has gone by that I do not look at the box scores that evening of games that I was not able to watch. And I'm like, wait, what? And then I have to go figure out what happened in said, there are crazy outcomes happening every single night in the NBA. And so we've got this weird combination of trying to keep stars healthy, teams trying to lose and teams that you can't decide whether or not they care a lot about jockeying in the standings nearly as much as they care just trying to make it to the finish line that is the playoffs with their team intact.

Absolutely. And I mean, we'll talk about them in a second, but the Lakers were the biggest, most glaring, obvious example of exactly that. They're like, we are playing nobody at all against, you know, whoever we're up against ever. And it was one of those games. We were like, look, the slate of games last night looked like it was programmed against the first day of the NCAA tournament. They put some games out there, no huge matchups, no nationally televised games. And I was thinking to myself, well, this Lakers Bucks game, you know, that'll be fun. And then you find out the game's not playing, LeBron's not playing, Reeves isn't playing,

and Luke is not playing, and DFS isn't playing. Vando's not playing. And next thing you know, you got Brony James going absolutely off. But before we get to Brunney, I want to say this about the Warriors watching the game last night because I stayed up to watch that one. I just wanted to see the end. And this is not a Steph Curry is out. Jimmy Butler steps up sort of a situation because Jimmy Butler had a huge block and a huge

play. And if you watch the highlights or you look at the box score, he was like, oh, he's pretty good. Jimmy Butler was one for 11 in the fourth quarter. Again, this step is out. out in the third. And it's like, we traded for Jimmy Butler. We've got a second superstar. Let's have him step up. He didn't make anything in the fourth quarter. And Draymond Green saw what he's going to see a lot of in the playoffs, which is this, which is Darko basically being like, hey, Draymond, you want to shoot threes, shoot threes. Right. He was, he shot 14 threes. I think he ended up five for 15 or four for. Yeah, he was, it was, I think

it was five for 15, 14 or whatever. But like, they just let him shoot. And at one point, he made one and him and darker were kind of smiling and nodding at each other but like it was it was a concerning for the warriors not just because of stets health and again i'm not a doctor but it seems like he will be back it was just a little concerning that jimmy couldn't step up in his absence and they literally left draymond naked all game long and while he hit a couple it certainly felt like something you will see in the playoffs i'm gonna say this just like i said when we recorded earlier this week. I find myself watching these games and not knowing if I should take anything out of it or not. I feel like I'm almost being trick, right? It's like there's going to be a level of focus.

There's going to be a level of intensity. There's going to be a treasure the ball every possession. Like, Traymond Green is never taking that many threes in a playoff game. Like, that's never happening, right? And so it's like, maybe. Well, and, and generally, Jimmy Butler's probably not going one for 11 in the fourth quarter of a playoff game if we know that his playoff record is what it is. And so that's the hard part. I think we wanted this home stretch to be amazing, especially given the circumstances of the playoffs. But I think we've got, as we chronicled earlier this week, this very bizarre combination of teams that don't clearly. I think a lot of times you get to the end of the season,

and there is such a massive difference between who you would draw in the playoffs, that you care deeply about your seat. And I think especially in the Western Conference, that is not true. And in the Eastern Conference, we've really had three locked for a good amount of time, right? So you've got these other ones. And then obviously, you know, once we get down to, and I know one of the things you had on our rundown is just how beyond disgusting 9 and 10 is that we're getting to. It's like, do they?

I mean, a lot of times it's like you can get into a situation where 7, 8, 9, 10 are teams that are much, much better than their record would indicate. This happened a few years ago when by virtue of guys being injured, you ended. it up and you're Memphis and your two and you look up and you're playing seven who is the Lakers and the Lakers are not a seven like that's not. Oh, this, I'm sorry to interrupt. Same thing happened with the Knicks last year. Knicks played and beat in the Sixers last year.

Right. And they're the two seed. And that's just not the case this year. Those teams that we have down there are not teams that are down there because their season just went to ride because of injury. They're down there because they stink. I mean? And it's like,

I think the Western, it's not the same in the Western Conference. I think that the Clippers and the Timberwolves and the Warriors are all hanging around that like six, seven spot. So I think that there are some legit playing teams in that like seven, eight in the West. But the 9, 10 games are,

I wouldn't even watch. I think seriously. It's because those teams are not making the playoffs. I don't. And the Western Conference has gotten so good that while I, while I scoff, a few weeks ago, I may have to come back with a big apology when you were like, hey, Memphis could make the play in. Like, that's really on the table now.

It really is. They play against the clippers tonight. And if that's a bad result. And then you look at their schedule going forward with the way they have played post-all-Star or post-trade deadline. And John Morant still being unavailable this time now with a hamstring. Like, who knows? Who knows who could end up in those seven, eight. nine, ten games in the Western Conference, in the Eastern Conference, as we have talked about,

it's like, I mean, you feel like either of the two teams that get there at seven or eight are just getting fed to the wolves anyway, because they're drawing the calves and they're drawing the Celtics. Yeah, I mean, I think the magic would be the toughest out in that sort of playing bunch in the East, but I have to say something. And we'll talk about this team at length later, but I'm not so sure that that three, seat is locked up in the east bro. Well, given what has taken place recently, I understand your reasoning behind that. Because not great.

Like, look, it's a bad run for us. We're both down bad. That's why I'm wearing a Memphis Tigers jersey today. I need them. I need them winning. Who do they play today? I need a Colorado state. I need a win in my life, Jacoby.

I can't take this. I can't take it anymore. I need a win. All right. Let's get to what took place this week. The other huge story outside of basketball by a wide margin is the Celtics getting sold. And you and I don't have some kind of intense level of expertise. You can certainly go listen to Bill and Chris Mannix chop it up about this, both of them very close to the situation. I will just say, in between listening to them and then reading the articles yesterday, the one thing that stands out, the first thing that stands out to me, obviously any casual observer of this that doesn't know the ins and outs unless you hear it from somebody is the number. That number is just enormous. I mean, the idea that they got sold for more than the commanders is crazy. And then the other thing that I didn't particularly understand was the number as compared

to what Matt Ishby, got the sons for, but Ishbia got the arena and Ishbia got a WNBA team. And like there was a lot more involved in what this guy just got the team. And not only does he get the team, what is so crazy is the idea that there's this story that comes out yesterday with the press release saying that Witt Grossbeck is going to run the team for three years. And it's like, like he didn't really want it from what I gathered from what, Bill and Chris were talking about it.

He didn't really want to give up the team. The guy that thought he was going to get the team, this Pags guy, was super upset about it, put out like a five-paragraph statement about it yesterday. But there was some kind of rift between the Grossbecks and him. And then so they found another buyer. And then this guy who this private equity guy puts up $6 billion. But the $6 billion guy is going to let Wick run things. yet he's the way like that is honestly who knows the way that's going to go but like that feels like

that feels like the best thing ever like imagine if you sold your business but like but the thing you love about having the business is not the bills of the business but rather just being a part of it and getting to make you the decisions right like that's the juice that's what you love to do and if you said all right i'm going to sell this to you at this one. wild price and I get to run every like this just feels like what Cuban thought he was going to get to do and next thing you know, Luke Adich is gone, right? He has no saying anything. Like, I don't know the way this works because they've got monster decisions to make. They got a $500 bazillion dollar playroll and they got all these guys making all this money.

And it's like the guy that's who everybody loves, who's been running the team and certainly been willing to spend, spend, spend to create this thing? Like, what happens when those, and that's when, I guess that will be the Rubicon, as they say, it's like, what happens when it's time to pay up? Or there's like a big decision that needs to be made about Drew Holiday or Samhouser or Al Horford or any of these guys. And the guy footing the bill feels differently than the guy that used to foot the bill, but still is the guy that's the governor.

Like, there's still in the end one guy that makes decisions. And so the whole thing seems very strange to me. But hey, congrats to him. If you can sell your team and still get to run it. We'll see how it works out, but it seems like a dream deal. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure. One of the things that's interesting about this sale is they sold high as a franchise, not just historically, but currently.

the Celtics are in a great spot. That's the thing about this new ownership group. When you buy the Sons, there's obviously famously moves that were made and things that needed to improve. And they took a couple big home run swings and missed terribly. But usually when a franchise is for sale, it's not turnkey like this. You've got your stars,

you're all NBA guys locked in. You've got a successful roster for three or four years. and I'm not sure that all billionaires are smart and deserve it, but I think that's a safe assumption that if you acquired yourself a thousand million dollars, a million dollars is a lot of money, but you've done that a thousand times over with business moves that you probably know what you're doing.

And somewhere at some point, someone after you buy an MBA team is in your life and says to you, listen, every new owner that has done this before, the 50 billionaires that, came in and bought NBA franchises before you have all messed up by making big moves and big swings in the first year or two. So maybe you break the mold. You know what? I think if I have that data as a billionaire that just spent $6 billion on a team, I would say, you know what? This has gone wrong so many times that maybe I should just keep this structure in place and have this transition

be as seamless as possible in terms of decision-making power. That is how I read it. It was just like a smart move. It was like, this thing is going well. I now own it. Let me not make changes and just allow it to exist and build value the way it has. Yeah, I think that's the thing, right? Like that I think Whit Grossbeck, from what I gather, Whit Grossbeck and the guy that bought the team love the Celtics so much. Like it's different than buying an asset.

Like this is a passion. This is their team. This is what they care about. Because you say that, like, you know, it's not like Matt Ispia grew up a Phoenix fan, right? Or that, you know, and that was one of the things that we did love when Mark Cuban was, like that was one of these great stories in sports history, a guy that sat in the upper deck as a season ticket holder,

happened to build broadcast.com. And like the guy that's sitting in the stands, almost like a movie, the guy that's sitting in the stance, man, if I ever had the money to run this team, I do it different, right? And so he cares deeply about that. And you say you would think that these guys would learn lessons, they never do. Like it's like, maybe Matt Isfia, like, who is a basketball guy? Maybe he's looked and seen in the past.

Or maybe Patrick Dumont. And the next thing you know, he's traded Luca Donchitz. It's like, wait, what happened here? You know, like they never learned. It would be like, it's almost like, hey, I want to make sure that whoever I sell this team to, doesn't walk in and be like, you know who, you know, you know what? I just don't think Tatum's a guy that can, you know, I know he got us over the hump once, but I don't think that or winning multiple championships with Tatum is our guy.

You know, you don't want somebody to have some goofy opinion and be like, you know, I don't know about paying that kind of price for Jaylen Brown or whatever else. The other thing is it feels like, hey, the, the, the number is about to get like super extraordinary regarding the cost of this team. I'm going to stick around and run this thing until we're not good anymore. That's what I get out. Yeah. I want to still be able to, like, we still got a chance at a trophy,

and I still want to be there, like, holding it. Right. I'll sell the team, but I don't, I'm not, like, I don't want to sell until, until I'm sure that we can't. I don't, I'll be out of this when you got to rebuild. It was, it was interesting. Last year, we had all, you know, knew about the Mavericks, and they sold the team and Cuban was still involved.

And it was like a similar sort of press release to this. But there was someone noticeably absent when they won the Western Conference finals. And it was that there was a large group of people in that ownership group. And Mark Cuban was not standing in that group at that time. And I have a feeling that that won't be the case. If the Celtics were to win the Eastern Conference, somebody tells me that Wick would be right there along with the new owners.

And the other thing is what a new owner is, what a new owner typically wants to do. A new owner wants to come in and they want to do their own thing. They want to build their own roster. They want to get their own GM. They want to get their own coach. Right. You want to that to me, if I'm a Celtics fan, I am thrilled that a guy comes in and it feels like, okay, this is not going to be instability. This is not going to be, I want to do my own thing because everybody wants to do their own thing because you don't get credit for the old thing, right? Yes.

You get credit for the new thing. You get credit for what you did. You get credit for how brilliant you are, right? And so you want to show, like, I'm the guy that can take this to the next level. I'm the guy that can do that, right? And so then you look at sometimes, like with the rosters or even the management in the case of, say, what happened with Dallas, like in many cases you look at it and you go, bro, there's very little semblance of what used to be, right?

Like they're trying, like that old Mark Cuban, Donnie Nelson, like they've kind of cut the cord on a lot of that. And so the thing that you fear, especially when you're good, like it's the juxtaposition between the Mavericks and the Celtics, you look at it and you go, man, I just don't want things to be radically changed. I don't want to have, you know, like we got a good thing going here. We got to. And boy, the other guy that didn't get the team, his sour grapes, he threw in right at the beginning of his statement.

What basically, hey, you could add us. And I think the statement was luxury tax be damn. He's like, so now he's setting it up. So like, if these guys don't spend like crazy, be like, see, that's what you got. You knew you were going to get some penny pinchers. I would have spent anything to keep making this team awesome. And I didn't get the team. And so now he's setting himself up for being able to be critical if.

It's hard. Well, if they go to the NBA finals, I think that the Southwicks fan will be very, very happy with the new ownership. And there's two things I will say before we move on, because if you want Southwicks talk, you always listen to Bill's podcast. I will say that sometimes in life, there's nothing to do with the NBA or just like,

this is more just like in life. People ask me for advice. And a lot of times, I think the best advice is this. It's like, you know what? Don't do anything. Don't call him or her. Don't try to make a move. Don't write that email.

Don't do anything. Let it play out. And I think that's what new NBA owners should do. But you don't get credit for not doing anything. Right. They want to be the new owners that come in and make the team better and make some moves. And the fan base says, thank God, we have Chris Vernon, the billionaire who came and saved the team.

We love him so much. And they want that adoration and attention. But honestly, like, objectively as a consultant, if someone bought an NBA team and called my phone, I would say, do nothing. Just let it play out. It's almost like giving a trust fund to a kid that you don't give them like any access to it

until they're 30 years old. It's like you just do nothing. And then when you get the lay of the land, then you can start making moves. But yeah, Celtics. Yep. The same to me. It doesn't change my life whatsoever.

If someone else, Someone else owns the Celtics now. Guess what? Doesn't change my life at all. The only thing that will change your life and will change all of our lives as NBA fans is this makes it infinitely more likely, in my opinion, that we are going to hurdle very quickly towards expansion. That number is so crazy that once that number came in,

once you see a value at $6.1 billion, it's like, hold on now. Like all of these guys are going to be like, yeah, I'm fine with that, right? will revenue share and like they don't get a piece until whatever and like the because the as they say the price of the brick goes up and it's like dude if the sell yeah okay fine maybe these new franchises aren't that but like that is an extreme number and it's like okay if you want to put a team in seattle you want to put a team in Vegas here's the price of the brick now and it's like good grief like we're going to get two more teams for sure and probably sooner than later because of this self-exail. And that will affect us, like, just as faint. Because you add two more teams to the mix, it's going to affect everybody. Absolutely. Let's get to love and load.

All right. So the team I loved this week, I swear, I don't do this on purpose. This is just, it's crazy the way it's played out. But unfortunately, Memphis plays against the Clippers tonight. And the Clippers are the team that I loved this week. Good reason to. I mean, and because they made me look good. Because you proposed to me on a how's that sound on Tuesday,

you proposed to me about how well James Hardin was playing and about how, hey, don't look now, but James Hardin's been cooking and the clippers and, you know, and whatever. And I said, look, it's not on the basis of James Hardin. I've been through those concert dates when it comes playoff time. in terms of the box score. But it is about Kauai Leonard. And if you told me that there's a healthy Kauai Leonard

and that he's going to be a version of himself that is towards peak form, then yeah, they're scary. And then they went and played Cleveland. And he was by far the best player on the floor in a game against a team that has had the best record of the NBA thus far. Ty Lou has been, his back's been hurting, so Brian Shaw had to coach him. Jeff Van Gundy had a family emergency.

It was just confusing watching that game. I was like, what is happening? So those guys weren't there, but they end up beating the calves. And not only do they beat the cabs, which very few teams have done, I know the cabs lost again since then. So maybe it doesn't look as good. But they beat him by double digits. And Kauai Leonard was 12 for 19 for 33.7 rebounds, four assists, four steals. he's on the perimeter.

Zubach on his birthday, no less, has 28 and 20 against a team that has a very formidable front line. Then you've got these guys coming off the bench and Bogdanovich gives you 20. Derek Jones, Jr. gives you 10. Even when they bring off Ben Simmons, every time they bring off Ben Simmons,

anybody that's watching, like, damn, man, I totally forgot about Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons, Ben Simmons with his 0 for 1 in 12 minutes, but he's plus 17 in the box score, right? Because they're just long, they're athletic, they're totally veteran-laden. And I said on Tuesday, I said, look, no matter who they play, I promise you, they're not getting swept and they ain't getting 4-1. And that was on the basis of just having some savvy vets and Ty Lou and Jeff Van Gundy, you watch them in that Cavs game. you're like, hold the phone.

If they get this Kauai Leonard, they are mega dangerous to anyone. I mean, if Norm Powell comes back and returns to form, and then you're starting to look at it, you're like, wait a second, we've got Zubach, who is sort of like, Sabonis gets celebrated for not being celebrated and being consistent.

You know what I mean? Like, you can just put him in for a double double. Like, quietly Zubach is that as well. I know. Zubach is one of the most consistent performers in the NBA. You will not see a 6.3 for 12 from Zubash. You just don't see it. And he is so consistent, and he anchors the defense and offense in the middle.

And James Harden has, he's not the Rock as James Hardin, but he is, his game has matured and his decision making is at a point where you could trust him with the ball, trust him to run an offense for himself and for others. And he can still get you on that step back. Oh, and he, and he makes Zubach. so much better. Yeah. Like, yeah, you got to give Hardin credit for that. I know he shot five for 18

in that Cavs game, but he still got you 22 points and nine assists, and it's just the way he runs the offense and the fact that he can run that pick and roll with Zubach and find him. I just love, I love Zubach, I love Hardin, and I love Powell would have seen from them this season. And I just wasn't ready for the Kawhi Leonard that we saw against the

Cubs. Because he was just, he was in his robotic, I'll take one dribble, square my shoulders. Doesn't matter if you're 7 foot 6 in of me or five foot six in front of me. I'm going up and I'm putting that thing in the basket. I'm not going to make a face. I'm going to jog back.

I'm going to get a steal on defense. Do it again. He scored on all three levels and it was a vintage Kauai performance. And if you're a Klipper's fan, you just hope it's not a vintage Kauai after game two of the first round. He just decides he doesn't want to play anymore. And he's in a suite.

You know? Zubot's a great quote after the game. He's, uh, first you had you had everybody talking positively. You had James Harden talking about returning to an all-star level, and he said, I never, I never doubted it. I knew this was coming. You have Zubach saying, we're not trying to get statement wins. We're trying to get wins.

Get as many wins as we can. We can play against anyone when we're at our best. And I think we showed that tonight. That's the best team in the league right there, the best record in the league. And Zubatz, as I mentioned, had 29 and 20 on his 28th birthday. God, 29, 20. Look, and so that's about like... Against Mobley Allen.

And they're asking, is that a statement win? And he's like, no, it's not a statement win. It is a hundred percent a statement win, right? That, when I have talked about, I don't know what to take from all these games. Like, that was one that we actually got the teams playing against each other. And I thought that was very instructive in understanding how. truly dangerous the clippers can be and how if you are one of these top four seeds i'd the last thing i'd want is to see them come in if they're gonna if they can get that kawai good

it's it's that kawai yep because they've been good without kawai they've been good with kawai but that kawai come on puts them in a whole other level a whole another level that was really impressive the team team i love this week is listen it It's not hard to just look at the team's got an eight-game win streak and say you love them. And I do want to be fair about the Houston Rockets and their win-street because let's not forget. It's two against the Pelicans, Magic, Sons, Bulls, Sixers, Magic. Cabs are in there. I mean, I think you still got to give them credit because these teams are dropping weird games every night.

Yes, yes. I love Fandul. I use the Fandul app almost every single. day. But I've turned my attention to the tournament because the NBA, the NBA right now is just so unpredictable that I have turned my $5 bets towards the teenagers instead of the grown men being paid to play basketball. But back to the, the Rockets is in, it's not what you do, it's how you do it. And in those eight games, only two of them were close. Those were the games against the Sixers and the Bulls. And the, on the street, their second of defensive rating.

They're shooting 37% from three on the street. Over the league, they're four. in defensive rating and the first and offensive rebounds I think is really helpful for them. I think that when they were without Bamblite, you in particular sort of pointed out how important that was. And since he's his back, he's not like lighting it up, but he's just setting it up. Hey, but look at Green.

Yes. Look at what Jalen Green needs him the most, right? You just need that structure and let Green go beat. the score. You know what I mean? But here's the guy that can settle everything down. Here, it just needs to be organized. And when it's organized, bro, he can really put the ball in the basket. And so I, yeah, they needed Van Villeepad. Like it was, it was, um, an outsized importance. Again, we, it's, it's, I knowzy on my talk about this. It's not the player. It's how the player affects the group. Right. Yes. And Van Vival.

has a very outsized importance on the group. And I also think Jabari Smith does as well. No question. Because it's just one of the things that this team doesn't have is shooting. And Jabari Smith isn't going to light it up

from three, but he's spreading the floor. You have to respect his, you know, 15 to 18 foot jump shot because he's pretty good from there. And it just helps them a lot with what they're trying to do. And I'm looking at this team. And one of the things I found so interesting and sort of like inspiring about,

them is their highest paid players are Van Fleet Dylan Brooks and Stephen Adams. Well, I mean, the bill hasn't come up. The bill hasn't come up yet. But I mean, they've signed Schengoon. They've signed Jalen Green. Like those guys have signed extensions. But I would say pretty good deals for the two of those guys. No question.

You know what I mean? Like I would say now that their value is higher than when they sign that just four or five months ago. Hell yeah. Look, how much am I? When we're going to look up and guys are getting paid $70 million a year, those are going to look incredible. But when you are the two-seat in the Western Conference and your top three paid players,

you could literally do without? Nope. Not bad. Not bad. No. It's not bad. That's the team I love this week. No, they're going to go through these playoffs.

Whatever happens happens. It's going to be their first go-round. Whatever happens happens. And they're going to be able to look at that. And they're going to be like, all right, here's what we want to build out around. The same way that Oklahoma City looked at it and said, all right, Josh Giddy's not essential. Like we're going to, we know we're going to have to, the bill's going to come up on Shea.

The bill's going to come up on Jayla Williams. The bill's going to come up on chat. Here's the guy that's not essential to what we're going to be doing. And the same thing is going to take place with Houston. Or they might take a couple of the pieces and cash in and then just decide we're going to do a two for one or three for one. And next thing you know, they're taking Jaley Green, Tari, East, or whatever, and getting another guy that fits or they're moving off of. So this is, I think what's going to happen is these playoffs and what they look like when they get there are going to be very instructive in deciding, all right, what is our core? Who are the three that we're committing to and that we're building out around?

because I still think that that's, you know, because again, it's going to be too expensive. They've got an abundance of young talent, you know what I mean? An abundance of young talent. I mean, and Reed Shepard just got drafted, you know, third overall, you know, just a year ago and he doesn't even play. Well, I think that you'd be a good comparison with the Thunder because, you know, Chet was hurt obviously last year and that played a lot into what I'm about to say,

but they couldn't rebound for shit last year. Right. They just couldn't. And if you're watching the playoffs, It's like they got the defense, they got the scoring. They just could not get rebounds. And that's why you bring in someone like Hartenstein. It's like, you know what?

He's going to get us rebounds on both ends of the floor. And with a healthy Chet and a healthy Hartenstein, and you swap out our defensive guy, Giddy, who you can leave alone on offense for Caruso. You know, they've trimmed around the edges and made plays. And we'll talk about this in the obvious season, but I think the rockets are going to do something. They're not going to like trim around the edges

and fix the marks. I think they're going to cash in, as you mentioned, some of their young stars and bring in a superstar. But that's the team I love this week. Shot to the Red. Team that I loathe. I'm sorry, Jacoby. But what are the Knicks doing losing to the Cavs and the Hornets? Bro.

I mean, that is the Spurs. The Spurs. I wish they lost the Cavars. I'm sorry. What did I say? Yeah, I wish they lost to the Cavs. I looked down at my notes because I had Clippers calves. The Spurs and the Hornets.

I mean, there's levels to this. I mean, come on, bro. bro. Like, all right. Like, all right. My team lost to Portland. Portland has actually been like good. You know what I mean? Like, they've been really good.

In fact, they've been better than the Grisleys over the last 20 games. So that one, it's embarrassing because you can fancy yourself as a playoff team versus a non-playoff team. But like, these teams are, I thought, actively trying to lose. And you got Mamood. Mamood. Burnow, let me say this. You can't, you look, you can be a shell of yourself to a limit in the absence of Jalen Brunson. You can't lose to the spurs and the hornets without Jaila Brunson.

Come on. There's levels. Do you remember, so I'm watching this game between the Wizards and the Nuggets. And it's a little, it's a little too close for comfort towards the end of the game. And Jamal Murray hits a shot. I either tied it or put the nuggets up with like, I don't know, four or five seconds left. And you're sitting there going, this is where the nuggets win.

And then, I don't know if you remember, Jordan Poole just pulls up from like 35 feet for no reason wins the gate, right? And it was like one of those games, like the Nuggets should never lose to the Wizards. The Wizards are tanking. They're terrible. But you know what?

Jordan Poole hit a crazy shot. They took it a little too easy. It got closed at the end. They gave them an opportunity to win. That's not the Knicks losses to the Spurs and the Hornets this week. They got waxed by the Spurs and Mamu. And then you would think two days after losing to the Spurs without Fox and Wembe, you would think this team before the game would have a huddle and say,

listen, guys, like, let's not do what we did 48 hours ago again with the Hornets. And again, I want to say to you, this was not a close game. I didn't watch because they weren't even close. It was not a close game. They're not even being competitive against teams. They're not trying to be competitive. Okay. So here's the crazy thing.

The first thing that went through my mind when I'm seeing this outcome was, oh, I bet. I bet Tim's made a statement said, all right, guys, fine. I'm going to show you what happens. when you guys play lower minutes. I'm going to show you what happens when you play lower minutes. And then you're going to understand, like he made a statement. You're going to understand why you guys play the minutes you do. Because, oh, everybody wanted to, you know, Bridges, you came to me.

Oh, Shammett can do it. Oh, this guy can do it. This guy can do it. Fine. I'll do it your way. Here, you guys want to get a little load off your legs. Fine. I'll do it your way.

Nope. Ananoby, 37 minutes. Towns, 35 minutes. Heart, 39 minutes. Deuce, 35. Like, everybody played, everybody played huge minutes in a 17-point loss to the hornet. It's disgusting.

What? But they didn't even, like, make the hornets call time out. They didn't go on a 9-to-nothing run to get it to within seven and make them call time out and, like, have the Knicks fans in Charlotte cheer. Like, there was, they, they were never close. They didn't make a fun. They didn't do anything.

It was like they threw the game. They literally played playoff minutes too because they had three. They played eight basically, except for the last two minutes of the game. Shamit, they didn't have another, they had, they didn't have a non-starter play 20 minutes. Shamet played 19 and was horrendous. Oh, God. He's not helping Bridges case. where Bridges is like, hey, guys like Landry can really help us.

No, no, they can't. All right. Precious played 17 minutes and campaign played 16 minutes. So they played like short roster and still lost by 17. By the way, Spurs lost, Charlotte loss. I know that you might be so despondent that you have not looked. It's wizards. The next game is away.

Bro, if they go, if they lose, San Antonio, Charlotte, Washington. If they lose to the Wizards, that is unbelievable. If they lose to the Wizards, I'm canceling my MSG subscription, and I'm taking that money, and I'm giving it to yes,

and I'll be a Nets fan. No, Gotham. Didn't you tell me is Goth? My Gotham sports app. Gotham. The only person that hates New York basketball apps more than me as you. Couldn't get into the Knicks game.

Should we worry that there, that Nicks are only three games up on the Pacers. Thank you for bringing that up. That's a real thing. Like, you would think with however many games it left, like 12, 13,

that three games would be insurmountable. Like you said earlier in this pod, you were like, the one, two, three in the east are locked up. And I felt that way since like it, since it was warm. Like, since it was like Halloween, it felt like those three spots were locked up.

It was like Thanksgiving table. I was like, well, one, two, three in the east are all, you know, they're all done. Well, guess what? It's possible. if this Brunson thing doesn't go well and they keep playing like this

and they lose some, it's possible that they end up in the four seed, which in the first round I don't think is so bad. But I think if the Knicks draw the bucks in the first round, they're not getting out of it. I think they could beat the Pacers and they could, I mean, paces are kind of all over the place.

The bucks thing. The bucks are stunk recently. They don't, though. Hold on, hold on. Hold on now. You'd rather play Cleveland than the second round. the Boston, wouldn't you? Yes. So it's not the worst thing in the world.

Fair. Fair. I just, I just, the bucks thing is what scares me. I want to get out of the first round. And we won't bog this thing down with like, Nick's minutia, but like, I don't think that OG and Anobie is the answer for Yanis Santa Cumpo. There's no answer for Yonis de Kumpo,

but like there are, some are better than others. And like a combination of like Bridges, cat and OG against Yannis is disgusting. Team that you, Team that you loathed. Where am I? You know what?

I have to say it. It's the Caps. Oh. It's the Caps. Why? It was one thing. Here's what it is. And again, like, we've already discussed how the March results are just goofy.

Like, this is just goofy, the stuff that's happening. Like, last night's game, the Laker game was just, like, insane. And, like, you can't put too much into this. And I'll say that with all the caveats. losing to the magic was like, all right, you know, Palo had a great game, and they played really good defense, and it seemed like their physicality slowed the guards of the calves.

And then the Clippers game, as we've discussed, well, there's something there, you know. And then the Kings game. It was just like, huh? I mean, the Kings, they made a lot of shots down the stretch. And the Cavs were sort of up in all these games. I believe they had a double-digit lead in, all three of these games. And it just felt like after their long win streak, they just like kind

of assumed that they would make a run and win these games and didn't focus and concentrate down the stretch. And I'm not concerned about the calves. And I'm only saying to the team I loath because I didn't want to do the whole pod without recognizing the best team in the Eastern Conference has lost three straight. But there are some indications that size and physicality can slow down Mitchell and Garland. And I think that's something to keep an eye on in their playoff match. If you get into them and you're physical with them, even if you foul them and you just sort of like don't let them operate the way they want to, you can beat this Cavs team in a seven game series. I will say it did dawn on me, a, especially with the Clippers thing. Like did they get L.A.?

Did they, you know, they got 55 wins. They've been in the Cleveland weather. They went out to L.A. And they probably just said, you know what? We're going to enjoy being the best team in the head. NBA. And then there's a there's a hangover associated with such things. I will give them at least a chance that that took place.

I have seen it in the past. I've seen it in the past where a team just does not look as much like themselves as they have. And it's like next thing you know, there's like a TMZ like, you know, these guys are walking out. Darius Garland hanged from a chandelier and hide or whatever. The whole team is walking out and getting in a. sprinter van. Yeah. And again, to be fair,

like, they are the number one seat in the east. Right. So it really is about, I mean, they arrested Garland against the Kings. It really is what it is. If we lose three games in a row or win three games in a row, it doesn't really change our ultimate, our ultimate destiny. So, like, there's only

so much you can take away from a March three game losing streak to a team that's guaranteed to have the number one seat. Player that I loved. Oh, well, this is because you and I were texting through it the entire night earlier this week. And I know that he has gone back to the bench, but I have to shout out Obie Toppin. That game against the Minnesota Timberwolves was absolutely outrageous that he had. And one of the things that we've talked about over the years is the whole, I always respect guys, the whole stay ready so you don't have to get ready

is the thing that Tony Allen used to always say all the time about guys that are sitting on the bench and then they get their opportunities. So he gets his opportunity and he plays 45 minutes in the game. Not only does he hit the game winning shots, he gives you 34 and 10, 12 of 19 from the field, 7 of 10 from the three point line, then goes right back to the bench and plays 22 minutes and placed 17 minutes. So I went back and looked and I was like, man, when is the last time Obie Toppin even got to play 30 minutes in a basketball game.

He played 45 minutes in that game against the T-Wolves. So you go back and look and it's just littered with 17s, 16s, 15s, maybe a 23 is in there, right? Like these are the minutes that he plays. He plays between basically 15 and 23 minutes in these games. Except you go back to February 12 and you see that he got to play 33 minutes. now I was against the wizard but he played 33 minutes and he had 31 and 10

anytime that Opie like and then you can go back further it's like anytime the guy plays like huge minutes he has this crazy ass production shots to Opie Topin he is the ultimate stay ready so you don't have to get ready

I don't understand it and I get it it it could be a chicken or the egg thing right the reason he gets to play exactly more is because he's cooking. It's because he's cooking. But I'll be damn.

The guy, when he plays big minutes, the guy has these, like, huge games. And he was absolutely hilariously unbelievable in that T. Wolves game, banking in the three and then hitting the corner three, which the only thing I could liken it to, and this is only going to be for an older generation, is when we were kids and we played double dribble

and you would go down the court and you know how the guy like fades out of bounds? You could jump in the air for a jump shot, turn towards your basket, turn towards the other basket, turn towards your basket and then before you hit the ground, shoot on the basket that you're going for.

That's what his corner three reminded me of against the wolves this week. So shouts to Obie Tappen. You know, the guy goes, you know, because it's also awesome. All of his buddies are texting them, all his family to tell him. And you know he's responding. See what happens when they let me cook?

Exactly. I will say you hinted at this, but he is slated to play 15 to 23 minutes in every single game. But if he goes three for three from three, that is when the minutes go up. So it is like, yeah, it's not just if you give him the opportunity, he will score 30. It's more like if he gets hot, he gets 30 minutes and then he scores that many. but that's a good pick. Shout to Obie Top. And I'd never really loved him as a Nick,

but he's found a good spot for himself in Indiana and a career. We'll pick up the pace a bit. And I just, I wanted to shout out this guy because he has a slow start to the year. And his team is one of these stories of the NBA. And rightfully so, Cade Cunningham is getting a ton of the credit for the success of the Pistons. And he deserves it.

But I just want to be very clear, this is not a single-handed franchise turnaround. It wasn't like Cade Cunningham started putting up triple doubles and the team started winning. Jalen Dern is the player that I want to shout out because he was a high draft pick. He's huge. Derno's showing his Memphis shirt right now.

And Dern, like, he's not going to go seven for seven from three, like OB Top and score 30 or whatever, but he is a double-double machine. and he's got some really good chemistry with Cade on pick and rolls and dives. And Cade has hit him for more lobs, it feels like, in the past month, in the past three years of them playing together.

I'm just like, I'm just really impressive with him, impressing him. He's got seven double doubles from 10 games this month. And I started looking back. And again, he's not a jump shooter, so this isn't that impressive of a stat.

But I was like looking at his year as I was prepared to celebrate him on this pod, he has five games all season long shooting less than 50% from the floor. And again, like, it's all dunks and lamps or whatever. But like, still, that's pretty impressive to be less than 50% from the floor in only five games. And he's been healthy pretty much all season. I just, I just really love this team and what they're doing. And I think that people talk about Kate a lot and they say Beasley's been shooting well.

But I think that beef stew and Duren are doing a lot for them. them on both ends of the floor that aren't celebrated enough, which is why I wanted to give him a shout. And I also want to say that this Pistons team is without Jaden Ivy, you're a guy. Yeah. And like that's, I mean, he's in theory is their number two offensive option. And they've been without him for months.

They'll be without him for the season. So you start looking at this team and start projecting forward, you know, a couple off-season roster tweaks and you get a healthy Ivy back and things can start happening. Yep. Player that I loathed. All right. Well, I mean, look, we have been over the moon with the cabs all year long.

You just listed them as a team you love. Look, we got to take our opportunities. It's the only time we could tell you anything bad about them all year. And not that we wanted to, but it is what it is. They're losers this week. And so their best player has got to be the guy that I loathe. I mean, make a shot, bro. Donovan Mitchell, who has come back from injury.

Like, they need him to be back to being great, because he's come back and like it's been rough stuff you had eight for 17 nine for 28 and five for 18 I mean that is a 17 for 63 in these games six of 29 from three like he's got to be the guy like you know we're we're heading towards the playoffs we've only got a couple of weeks you know, a basket of these regular season games left, and you want these teams playing, I got it, right? They might have gotten L.Aid. They, you know, maybe it's just he's coming back from injury.

But I mean, good grief, Donovan. Like, that is not the all NBA. Oh, my God. I strike fear. Like, he's got to be the best player. He's got to be the best player. And we're, and you know what I mean? And now we're headed towards the playoffs.

And it's like, why are you, you're playing your worst recently. and I don't want to see that. So flipping around, Donovan. By the way, I'm a massive Donovan Manvin Mitchell fan. Have Ben's, his whole career. The minute I saw him in Summer League, I fell in love.

I went to a game. This is crazy. It's a game on there. This dude in Summerlead walks in, plays against Memphis. He had 10 steals. It was last. you had taken a 10-time NBA All-Star and put him out on the court.

Like Kawhi Leonard, he's just ripping the ball from people. And I'm like, who is this guy? And there's a guy who was in the front office at the time. His name was Glenn Cyprian. And Sip was one of my buddies. And Sip told me that when he was, he went to go scout at Louisville. And he said, I've never had this happen in all of my years. and all the college gyms I've been to.

He goes, I was in Louisville, and he goes, Donovan Mitchell, after the practice was over at Louisville, walked up to me, and he said, sir, I saw you sitting over here. You saw him as, like, you know, team polo or whatever. And he goes, my name's Donovan Mitchell. You know, pleasure to meet you. I just wanted to ask you, like, what can I work on

so that I can be the best version of myself and make it to the NBA and become? And he's like, I've never had that happen ever. like a kid come up to me and whatever. And so like I had all these moments, you'll get his career, I love, he's one of my favorite NBA players. And so it hurts me to load him this week.

But pro, make a shot. Seriously. It's, it's, I think that Jimmy Butler, we all give him the grace of like, well,

he was one for 11 in the fourth quarter last night. But playoff Jimmy is coming. I know. Like it's a completely different player. Jimmy Butler, the regular season in the playoffs and he's earned that over time. And I think Mitchell's in that boat. He is.

He's in that boat too. Where it's like, you know what? When the lights are the brightest, he'll give you 40. And so I understand why he is the player you load this week. The cabs with the team I load this week. They deserve it this week. But I think that we will have plenty of time to celebrate them come playoff time because Donovan Mitchell, he is one of those players, not at the level of Jimmy's

that, but he is one of those players that shows up in the playoffs for his team. And mine is easy. Mine is so easy. So a quick personal story, you know, my rec league team, we play Wednesday nights, and we had a game, and this kid hit a fete, wait, call timeout, we're up by three. In the timeout, I'm like, we should foul. Let's just foul. Of course, my teammates are like, nah, we're not going to do that.

This kid hits a fadeaway three, takes it to overtime, and we lose the game. And we go to the bar after the game, and we're watching the Knicks and the Spurs, and they put on the audio in the bar. and we're watching this dude Sondro Mamu This guy looks like an extra from sons of anarchy He looks like a

He looks like a John Wick villain He looks He looks like Aaron Baines He just like he just Doesn't look right on an NBA floor He looks like someone that you would hire as a bodyguard

that wasn't really a bodyguard, but they look scary enough that they'll deter any sort of situation security-wise. And he wasn't just scoring on the Knicks. He was hitting threes. He had two dunks. He hit another three.

And the worst part about all of it, the thing I loathe about all of it, wasn't that the Knicks lost, it wasn't that this guy had a career night. It was the fact that Flava Flav was involved. Flav of Flav from public enemy and Mamu, they share a, financial manager.

So they're friends. And Flava Flav is like, I'll fly out to a game. So Flavent gets on an airplane to fly to San Antonio and Mamu is like, well, my buddy Flava Flav is here. I might as well show out.

And then in the post game press conference, Flav of Flavis is right next to Mamu as he does his interview. Like he's one of the thunder. It was one of the most surreal things I've ever seen. And just to put a cherry on top of how much I hated this night. Well, by the way, Chuck D is like the most famous Knicks fan.

That's great. It makes it all so bizarre. If you don't know, Chuck D is like a very prolific artist, and he has drawn every single Knicks player since like 1975. Like Chuck D is a huge basketball fan. Amazing. And instead of being Chuck D's hype man, on Wednesday night, Flavent's Mammu's hype man,

as he just took down the Knicks and to put the terrible cherry on top of this shit Sunday. We all know that he's Georgian. He was born in New York City. Born in New York City. Mabu! He's the player I love that. I hope I never see that man again, ever. All right.

Thing that I loved this week, it's it. The news that Cooper Flagg's going to play in the NCAA tournament. Look, you got all these teams losing on purpose, and one of the reasons, one of the major reasons, one of the major reasons is the chance to get who people think could be a franchise altering star. I saw Cooper Flagg when he was 16 years old. He was the best 16 year old I've ever seen in my life.

I went to a game, Jacoby, and watched this kid have 14 blocks in the game. He is unbelievable. Reclass, so he's young. He's young for his grade. And now what I just put up one of the best seasons you could possibly have as a freshman. And then I was watching the ACC tournament and I watched him go down and I watched him go off in a wheelchair. And I was like, oh my God. And, you know, ankle sprains have all manner of different severity.

But it appears that they're going to at least get him out there a little bit in this first round and maybe be able to have him for two days from now. And so the fact that we were not robbed of seeing this guy who has generated so much interest on the NBA level is the absolute best. And the only thing I do regret is I told you, you asked me about a team earlier this week. And the second we got off the air, I was like, oh, my God. Why? I said San Diego. San Diego did take Michigan down to the wire last night. Sure did.

I was so mad because I watched a team in the Missouri Valley Conference and I have been so invested in a team that I can't believe I didn't talk about it when you asked me D2 Drake and I don't know if you know this story but D2 Drake DeVries this guy named DeVries was their coach they were great last year really good Drake season he ends up getting hired by West Virginia. Interestingly enough, he just got hired away from West Virginia already. This is the state of college athletics. Anyways, he leaves.

The whole team leads. Everybody. This guy, Ben McCollum, who is the coach at Drake, has been an unbelievable D2 coach. Like, wins a national title and, like, winning percentage in, like, the 8. Like, he's dominated at, like, northwest Missouri. something like that, right? They hire this guy, Ben McCollum. He has no players. So he brings his kids from Drake over there. He brings four of them. He goes gets a Juco. He goes and gets a transfer.

But like generally the guys that are playing for Drake are not like, he just had to rally together a team. And then they ended up winning 30 games and winning the Missouri Valley Conference. and then yesterday they took down the SEC's Missouri and now they've got a chance to go to the Sweet 16. Like when they hired him and then he brought in his team, everybody scoffed it. And they started calling him D2 Drake. Like, oh my God.

Drake had this really good season. Then they lost their coach and now not only did they hire a D2 guy. And so the whole story is, and there's a great story written a couple weeks ago by my buddy Dan Wetzel. The whole story goes, it's like this amazing moment of what would happen? What would happen if you took a D2 team and you made them play the higher competition?

They won 30 games and now are headed to the next round of the NCAA tournament. Like, Drake is the coolest story ever. And I lamented so much because I was so invested in them. I have them in my bracket going to the Sweet 16. And so when they beat Missouri, Missouri yesterday, I was like, oh my God, I can't believe that's not the team I talked about. I can't believe it. And I, dude, latch on to them because it's just the craziest story.

It's like a Disney movie. They've got Texas Tech tomorrow. Good luck, Texas Tech. Good luck. Well, I'll be opening up my Fandle app and I'll put $5 on that action. D2 Drake. Yeah. So good.

This transitioned nicely into the thing that I love. of is, you know, I pay a lot of attention to the NBA. Yep. And I also went to NYU, which had like a D3 basketball team that I was not interested in, had no emotional investment in whatsoever. So I'm not a big college basketball fan. But one thing I love is what I call like tourism fandom. I do this with the NHL and the NCAA every year, where right around the conference

finals in the NHL, I'm in. And I jump all the way. And, you know, for those four or five weeks, I'm the biggest NHL fan you know. And for the next three weeks, I'm all in on college basketball. And I'm all into taking my fan to app out and gambling on teenagers that I know nothing about. I don't know anybody on these teams. I don't know what offensive style they play. I don't know their coach.

I don't know their defense. I don't know who they recruited these people from. I don't even know any of the players. But I love just gambling and watching the games. They start at noon. They end at midnight. And you just go on the ride. Oh, well, you pick a team that you like.

You were the one that told me the first round was overrated. It's so not. It is overrated because, but like I would say last night watching the games, I was, I was pretty shocked. I was just because like, there's a lot of big name schools that were going now. Like Coach Cal and Arkansas were winning and, wait, could they be Kentucky, right? They beat Kansas. Yeah, Kansas went down. Yeah, Kansas went down.

Michigan's getting pushed to the edge. It was just like, it was a lot of fun to watch those traditional sort of like, I wouldn't call them Blue Blood, but maybe North Carolina Blue Blood Schools sort of get pushed. And it was just, it's fun to watch.

And I do think that the first two days of the tournament are overrated, which is an important distinction to make. It doesn't mean they're not good. I think they're overrated because the Sweet 16, you'll get better quality matchups. But I really enjoy spending my hard-durned $10 and betting on children that I've never,

ever met or know anything about before. It's great. Fair enough. It's fun. That's what I love. Thing that I loathed this week, and we'll just keep this short, because we talked about it on Tuesday. And it happened again since we last spoke. Roseion's got to stop playing with my emotions, Jacobi.

What's happening? Oh, my God. He was awesome. He was so awesome. What is happening? He was. He was so awesome. Right after we had talked about it earlier this week,

he just goes out and it's like, oh, no, this guy is truly, he had played 30 minutes. This is the game at Minnesota, 30 minutes, 29 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, three steals, hammer dunks, and it's like, dude, come on. Like, right when I told you at the beginning, I said, I'm done. I can't do this anymore. He's yanked me all the way back in. I watch him and I'm like, bro, good luck.

I'm telling him he's got a fire hose running down his bicep now. Who is this person? Who is this person? I thought that because we all watched him at Duke and he was this like, you know, just huge prospects. You all keep an eye on him or whatever. And we can watch him in a way that you can't really watch Wembenyama because he's in France.

And one of the things that I liked about him in Duke, which never translated to the NBA until like that Stan Van Gundy year, but he used to pass. He used to playmate for teammates. And in the last few weeks, he's been doing that again. Like those eight assists are almost as impressive as the 29 points. In 30 minutes, the guy has 29 points and eight assists. Like, do the math.

Like, that's really impressive. I went to Vegas for the in-season tournament last year. And I watched him look like it was like, Like he was running up down the court like a potato sack raise, you know, and they got beat by a thousand by the Lakers. The fact that you could go back and watch what he looked like in that game and look what he looked like this week, it's a different human being. That's not the same. They're not, they don't, there's nothing about those two players that is, that reminds you of each other.

Like he's barely getting up and down the court. He's all gassed. He's breathing heavy. He's way overweight. This guy looks like a friggin' marvel character. Seriously. It's also, you watch the game, you're like, all right. So what is it?

What is, if you're like a scout or a coach. And, you know, like so and Rudy Gobert, defensive player of the year. Rudy Gobert comes to you and says like, all right, so what should I look for with Zion? Well, every time he touches this ball, he's going to get to his left side of the rim with his left hand. It doesn't matter. Every time. So I'm telling you right now, Rudy, you're the best defensive player on the planet. That shoulder.

This man is going to get to the left side of the rim. He's going to use his left hand to shoot. And that's all he's going to do. And is the best player on the planet knowing exactly what he's going to do ahead of time, every possession. All you have to do is stop that. And on paper, it looks so simple. The problem is you cannot withstand the right shoulder.

Exactly. The right shoulder puts you in. into the stanchion. You can't, you can't stand up to it. He's going to create the space, and it's just sheer brute force. It is. When I watch the games, like, when I'm with my recl league team,

whatever the pelicans are on, I'm like, I don't have the ball. Be like, watch this. He's going to get to the left side of the rim, and he's going to shoot with his left hand. And he'll be on like the right wing. And he'll do it. And he'll spin or up fake,

but he's going to get to the left side of the rim with his left hand, and there's just nothing you can, dude to stop it. Plus he's now like his head is completely above the rim on these dunks. He's spiking. He's like volleyball spiking these things. I can't think. Let me, let me be a negative guy for a second. Don't. Let me be negative guy for a second. Uh, hamstring. Uh, knee's not feeling right. This is what he does. He's great. He's great. He's great. He's gone. And he's okay. And he's great. He's great. He's gone. It's just that's the rhythm of his career. And it's not going to stop. I want

believe it's not going to stop and why don't you have the grisies trade for him then trade away a bunch of young players and a bunch of draft picks bringing zion see what happens bro i could see what happens i would do it in two seconds okay when it was the last time you watch don't watch the grizzlies no i'll tell you you'll see you'll see a lot of zion's street clothes don't talk to me that's what you'll see a lot of outfits from zion they'll be throwing fits i'm so used to watching guys in street clothes you have no idea. Think anything about my life

changes? So I don't really want to get into my last one in depth because you can read the court documents yourself

if you'd like to and I'm not here to give commentary on gang relations but the thing I load this week is allegedly Adrian Broner

is out here stealing millions of dollars from NBA players using rigged dice and dice games. God. And I'll just say this.

just carmically, that's not going to work out for you in the long term. Tough, you're betting six figures against people and using rigged dice. You might have walked away with the money and you might have laughed with your best buddy afterwards and said, we just took a million dollars from these stupid NBA guys using some fake dice. But over the course of time, that's going to end up getting you. Yep. That's going to end up getting you.

That's a deadly game. That is a deadly game. I just hate it. I learned early in my time in New York City, don't play dice with strangers. I don't play dice anymore. And don't play three card Monty with the guys in the street because you might win, but you're not walking three blocks with that money. Also, don't buy their blunts.

Yes, yes, yes. I will just say this, that that, that, I just hated, I hated everything about that. The idea that you're taking six figures, even seven figures from individuals, if you You rob a bank? I get it. The bank's got the money. You're taking the money from the system. You're taking it from the man.

But when you're taking that kind of money from peers and you're cheating, just comically, I think that's terrible. And that's the thing I load this week. All right. Last thing before we get out of here, I know you say you're invested in the NCAA tournament. I need you rooting for the Memphis Tigers today. You will love their power forward more than any player.

Dane Danger, which is the greatest name ever. and and guess what else I'm going to give you a heads up on. Who are they playing? They're playing Colorado State. But get this. Also listed on the broadcast, Jalen Rose. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Jalen doing, um, Jalen doing, doing analyst work. Turn up. I love to see it. I love to see it. Turn up. I like my analyst to be fun.

They say, you know, I like to have a good time. Do you know who I love? And I, I wonder, I don't know if it's a, I don't know why. It may be, you know, sometimes you see these guys and they make the choice.

Like, you know, if you ever hear, like Tim Legler doesn't want to go and call a million games throughout the year, whatever. People are always like, why don't they use legs more or whatever, right?

You know who I always like a lot during the NCAA tournament? Greg Anthony. I like, I would like for him to be. I like his voice. I like his commentary. I just, I like him.

He has a little fun too, yeah. Yeah, and I'm like, I wonder why he's not on a ton of NBA broadcast. He should be. He's better than a lot of color commentators that we watch. Well, Verno, what? One thing before we go is we put the voicemail number out there. And producer Jesse is going to put it in the chat so we can give it to you again. And we're going to play one voicemail just to finish.

Just as a palette cleanser, we want to hear from our listeners. Okay. And we heard from you. And we heard a lot of things. So if you want to be on this pod, all you got to do is call 323-389-50-9-1. Leave us a message. Again, 323-389-50-9-1. Leave us a message.

And we'll put you on the podcast just like this caller. Jacoby Verno, my name's Charles. I needed to call in and tell you about how Jacoby helped save my relationship with my son. See, I'm a warrior's fan, so I'm watching a lot of Warriors games. and at times I can get vocal and yell at the players on the screen because it helps the way that they play. So during a particular game, Buddy Healed was not doing outstanding. So as I'm sitting there, I keep yelling, come on, buddy, buddy, stop it. And buddy is the first thing out of my mouth, and it's loud and it's big.

The problem with this is that I have a 12-year-old son, and his dad, nickname that I've called him from the beginning, as I call him Buddy all the time. So I would yell Buddy, and it would take him about three seconds for him to realize that I'm not yelling at him, I'm yelling at the TV. And so he would be traumatized for that three seconds. So I'm having this dilemma in my head. I can't scream anymore. Don't want to traumatize my son. And then the next couple days, I listen to the Mitzmatch, and David Jacoby revealed, that buddy's name Chavano

Chavano and so from now on I can yell Chavano and my son doesn't think that I'm yelling at him because Chavano is not his name nor is it his nickname

but that revelation helped me save my relationship helped me keep yelling at the TV screen so thank you Jacoby much love to you guys love the show thanks shot to Charles

just the mismatch is just Mending families and changing lives. Changing lives. And we were going to sign up, but producer Jesse says we got one more that we have to play. This is Martin, Colin, from Kansas City. I'm going to tell you I had the James Harden Wine just now, and it was pretty good if you don't mind wine, that's a little bit bad. Okay, James Hardin Wine.

Sounds like a two out of five. I won't be checking that anytime soon. All right, that's going to do it for today's episode of the mismatch. Thank you to our executive producer Jesse Lopez as always. and Jacobi. I'll catch up with you next week.