The Mismatch - Ja Morant Is the Most Fun Player to Watch in the NBA. Plus, Rule Changes and the Bulls’ Possibly Unsustainable Success.

Episode Date: October 26, 2021

Verno and KOC are back talking about the best games from this past week of basketball, starting with Bulls-Raptors and the question of whether the Bulls can sustain their current success (0:45) and Celtics-Hornets and how fantastic Ish Smith has been for Charlotte (7:45). Then they discuss the rule changes that have resulted in far less free throws for one James Harden (14:15), the incredible dunks from Jaylen Brown, Lauri Markkanen, and more (24:51), and Danny Ainge’s comments to Kendrick Perkins solidifying his commitment to Jaylen Brown (32:30). Finally, they take a look at some of the young guys who are popping off the screen early, including Jalen Green (35:24), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (39:15), and Ja Morant (44:00). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, before we get to today's episode of The Mismatch, I want to tell you about one of my favorite shows on our network, the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. Our fantasy football experts guide you through each fantasy football season, and last week they covered all the must-ad players and Shark Tank prop bets for week seven. I'm trying to dig my way out of a ditch in my fantasy league this year, and they've been helpful for me to move from last to eighth. I'm trying to move my way up some more. You can find the Ringer Fantasy Football Show every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on Spotify,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. Join me as he does every Tuesday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, a.k. Kevin O'Connor, A.K., Kevin O'Climblet, Kevin O'Champton, Kevin O'Colk, Kevin O'Kle and Kevin O'Keeland, Kevin O'Keeland, Kevin. It's going on. It is Tuesday. We have had a lot of games go on thus far. And honestly, Kevin, all we needed was for games to start for Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons. to get off of front pages, right?

Because now we actually have action going on, and it has been quite refreshing for them not to be the topic of conversation as these games are going on every night now. It's great to just have basketball, pure basketball. We have three teams that the dream of 82 and O is still alive, Kevin. The dream. Those teams are the Chicago Bulls, the Golden State Warriors, and the Utah Jazz. Now, Utah has only played twice.

They've only played twice. So they got 80 left. But the Bulls, after it got dicey last night, they blew a 20-point lead to Toronto. And you could tell everybody was sweating as Fred Van Vleet took a shot at the buzzer that clanked off. It looked good. Looks good. It did look good. It was a great crossover, a great move. Nice little move. Almost got there. But the Bulls did hang off and they're 4 and O and, you know, I'm seeing these headlines everywhere this morning, which is just absolutely unbelievable. That the Bulls are 4 and 0 for the first time since Michael Jordan played for the Bulls. that's impossible.

Michael Jordan. I know. It's just 4 and O. It's like not an outrageous record. It's not like they're 10 and no. Yeah, right. It's not like they started this season 10 and no. The last time the Bulls started 4-0,

Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen, and Dennis Rodman led a lockdown defense that was one of the NBA's elite on a team that went on to win 69 games. Nice. Nice. Much like that team, the Bulls, they've done it with defense. They've surrendered less than a point per possession. 97.1 defensive rating so far. But look, and I'm not going to, I don't want to reign on any of the Bulls fans parade

because this is a real moment of celebration. That being said, they have beaten teams that are combined two and nine, the cadeless Detroit Pistons twice, the Zion less, New Orleans, The Ciacomless Toronto Raptors. But they're four and oh. They're four and oh. And Hope Springs Eternal. We're about to find out, Kev.

Their next six games are New York, Utah, Boston, Philly twice, and Brooklyn. How about after that? After that Dallas, Skoll and State, Clippers, Lakers, Blazers, Nuggets, West Coast Road Trip, I mean, like, it gets really tough, really fast. We're about to find out really quickly. This has been a nice story. It's a cool headline with them being 4 and O for the first time since Jordan and having this 97.1 defensive rating.

We're about to see because if there is one thing that nobody thought this Bulls team was going to be able to do, it was defend at an elite level. Right. And that feels like function. of opponent so far. But again, you know, as with everything in the season,

as the days and weeks go on, we find out more and more about these teams, but we're about to find out really quickly. If they are going to be better defensively than we thought they were going to be, and kind of what they look like against teams that we expected to be their peers, because none of the teams they have played so far

are those that we expected to be the Bulls peers. Yeah, definitely. I think, you know, it's 100% true that this next stretch is going to prove who the Bulls really are. But I think regardless of opponent, Chris, these first four games, they do look like a completely locked in defense right now. You know, Alex Caruso and Lonzo ball are defending individually and collectively at a high level. Zach Levine is continuing what he did during Team USA. Team USA, he played the best defensive in the entire life. He was a lockdown guy during the Olympics.

he's trying to carry that over. He looked pretty good. He had some outstanding possessions against Fred Van Bleet last night. So for Chicago, some of these guys are defending at a high level. Patrick Williams is very good in the wing. So this bodes well for them when you also consider offensively. That's what this team is going to do. And I think I said this a couple weeks ago before the season began during preseason. The question with them was like, is this going to be your turn, my turn, not a lot of movement? And it's not that they're moving the ball. They're screen for each other. They look good. The last five minutes of that game were a disaster.

How often does that happen, though, during the 82 game regular season? No, I know. But I mean, like teams just, you know, get stuck sometimes. I watched Levine's post game and, you know, what he was saying was, you know, basically we got away with the win. He was pretty despondent about the whole thing. But, you know, he was, he was pretty honest about it. We've got three guys that are all kinds of. used to having the ball in their hands, you know, when you're, when you're getting, when you're

coming down the stretch of a game and we got to figure it out. Yeah. Um, because-huh. percent end game for sure. We know, we know, you know, because there's just a lot of standing around, like who's going to do what. Um, and there, and it did devolve into my turn, your turn. And you've got Levine, who was the guy taking the last shot for his team, the Rosen, guy taking the last shot for his team, Boozevich for that. matter in many cases, taking the last shot for his team. And so they just got to kind of figure that out because so many times there is that with NBA games and NBA teams, there's that guy that gets you home, right?

Like, that's what the NBA is. There's not a lot of, you know, six past possessions to get the great shot. You know, there's that spurs team years ago playing against Miami that did it that way. but for the most part, it's kind of, I've got my guy, you've got your guy, he's going to decide the end of this game. That being said, the other game that I watched, which was wildly entertaining, was the Celtics of the Hornets,

which did turn into that. There was a little too much of Jalen Brown standing in the corner, but finally they swung it to him and he hit a monster three, and then he caught one on the break and absolutely cracked on Miles Bridges. but that game went to overtime. Neither team, it felt like wanted to win the game at the end of regulation. Neither team even got off a shot. The Hornets got the ball back with less than 10 seconds left to go.

They couldn't run a place. Smart pokes it away from Lamello. And then on the inbound, Tatum can't handle it. And they don't even get a shot off. And I'm like, yo, this thing's going to overtime. Lamello, it's a big shot. You've got obviously Tatum ended up with 41 in the game. And that felt, honestly, to me, like a game between two really evenly matched teams.

Now, if it all plays out and maybe they're both going to be better than I thought they were going to be. Maybe they're going to be worse than I thought they were going to be. Certainly the Hornets have started off pretty well. I wouldn't be surprised if we look up and those teams have to face off for a playoff spot later down the road. And I like the matchup between those two. And, of course, the Hornets didn't have Rozier last night in the game. But that was wildly entertaining. And one of the guys, again, this is all very early in the season.

one of the guys that really stood out is one of those rookies. You knew there were going to be some of them that didn't get the extensions that are going to make themselves a boatload of money. Miles Bridges has been a different guy, Kevin. Player of the week. Player of the week. I mean, and you watch him, and he is just, we know that he's always catching electrifying dunks, right?

But this guy looks like one of the better players. on the floor regularly. And it's nice to see him start off like that. It's one of the things that sometimes it's very hard to quantify because you never know on internal growth. We focus so much on who adds free agents, who'd they get in the draft, who'd they trade for, right? Things that we know or feel like players that we know.

But with players and one thing that is so. hard to figure out is who takes a big leap, therefore changing the fortunes of a team. And, you know, early, Bridges is one of those guys. Yeah, I mean, Bridges looks absolutely extraordinary. And I just love the way in which they're utilizing him. It's not like, I mean, you mentioned the growth factor. It's not like he's suddenly become some, you know, go-to scoring dude who's breaking down defenders, you know, possession after possession. he's still largely playing off of others. But it's like they're putting him in these positions to excel because he's become

such a good spot up shooter. He is like when he is facing a rotating defense off like a kickout pass from the mellow ball, like you can't stop him when he's driving straight to the basket. I mean, he's a bowling ball and he's so explosive. The dude's nasty. I mean, like can he sustain 25 points per game on 17.5 attempts over the course of the season? I mean, 25 on,

my question would be does he continue taking 17 shots per game? Right. Like, like, well, that sustained after last year, he was only at nine.

Well, and is it, is it a function of, in some ways, PJ Washington being out, Terry Rozier being out. And so, oh,

yeah, there's a lot, plays into it. A lot more opportunity, but he's a good match with Lamello for sure. Oh, I mean,

those, those two, their chemistry is just outstanding. I mean, the Charlotte team, I mean, you know, understandably so raised questions about, well, what can this team be if Gordon Hayward misses any amount of time before the season, that was your statement with about them? Do you feel like with some of the progress from Bridges and the eventual return of Rosier that maybe even if Hayward were to miss time that they could withstand that more so than you might have expected? Maybe more so than I would have expected,

but I still think they're in deep trouble if he misses time. Because he's such a connector, Gordon Hayward. Yes, yes. Now, one thing I did not count on, though, and I must say, I want to apologize for my analyses on that team, because there's one thing I did not consider that dawned on me on Sunday as I was watching, Kevin Durant, James Harden,

go head to head with Isch Smith and Cody Martin and being on the wrong end. Isch Smith controlled that game and was downright dominant. I can't describe this to people. Lamello said to Ryan is Smith. Keep me on the bench, coach. Lamello ball played no minutes in the fourth quarter. None.

And Ish Smith, like, dominated the game and took over in the fourth. And when he didn't, Cody Martin did. And I'm like, okay. Like, this is, this is crazy. So I must say those were tremendous oversight by me watching that team play. I never suspected. You're a dope. I know.

I never suspected 10 years and 15 teams later, this Smith was going to be taking on. Look, we say, Kev. Guys develop in different timelines. It took 10 years of 15 teams, but Ish Smith dueling it out with Kevin Durant. You know, it's something that we need to think about. You know, maybe this is the leap. Maybe Ish Smith takes the leap all these years later.

James Hardin has not been James Hardin. And also, beyond. not being James Harden scoring-wise and the turnover numbers are up, not going to the line. He's only had nine free throws so far this year in three games. Now, almost every season, James Hardin averages over nine a game. Okay. So this is a massive difference. And Steve Nash came to the defense of his player,

and he said, look, he is the poster boy for these rule changes. And basically they're saying, and I'm going to paraphrase these guys, it's gone too far. You know, Hardin feels that way too. And he says, you know, a foul is a foul. And he said they're putting too much emphasis on the rules. Well, not even the rules, just certain people. And the idea is that he is being targeted, you know, the whole. I throw back my head as I drive to the basket.

You know, they're not blowing the whistle now. And a lot of the things, you know, the foul hunting is not being rewarded. And I know that Hardin is, he is the poster boy. They've probably gone a little too far as to just make an example of we're not calling this ticotack stuff all the time. but I must say it's not just James. Kev. I read yesterday that so far, and this is becoming, you know, a story, so far, free throw attempts are at an all-time low to start the season.

Now, James Harden, I'm sorry, he has now taken 12 free throws through four games, okay? Last season, he averaged seven a game, okay? And of course, he had double-digit free-throw attempts for five straight years. But the foul calls are not, it's not just hardened. Through the first six days of the NBA season, so we're not including last night's games. Free throws per game were at an all-time low. Stapmuse tweeted this out, 19.5 free throws per game this season, the fewest in NBA history so far.

I guess we're going to see, right? Does this hold up or whatever? But I got to tell you, I have really enjoyed the flow of these games. It feels like teams are playing a lot more basketball without stoppages, you know. And I think it's made for really good games. Yeah, the flow has been nice, right? I mean, that number now is at 19.8 free throws per game with the average NBA game. And, I mean, obviously, it goes without saying it's still early here.

but the previous low was 21.7 during the 1718 season. So it wasn't that long ago that we had a previous low. And actually last season was only 21.8. So that number has been on the decline, which is a good thing. Yeah. I mean, to tie this to James Hardin, like this isn't why he's struggling, though. Like, it's not just because they're not blowing the whistle on him, you know, or they're not blowing the whistle anywhere.

And he just doesn't look like the same guy so far earlier this season. he's had slow starts in his past. This wouldn't be the first time. But like without Kyrie there, they do need James Hardin to get himself into whatever condition he needs to as a player, whether that's physical or, you know, actual conditioning or whether it's like actually just, you know, getting shaking the rust off. Whatever it is. It needs to be solved from Brooklyn to be the team that they can be. But ultimately, though, like I'm I'm overall happy with these rule changes, man. I think the next thing they need to do is copy Fiba and get rid of that intentional fall on transition opportunities to stop a fast break.

You know, getting rid of that, seen a lot of that. You know, get rid of that next. I think that's an easy fix. I almost wish they did it this offseason. But other than that, man, I think the league is in a pretty good place right now with the style of play. The only real thing, like big, big picture and we don't need to talk about this to monitor is still as Kurt Goldsbury. you know, has written about in the past is the amount of threes. I mean, if it gets to a point that it's like every team is taking 60% of their shots from

three and X amount of years from now, then maybe you worry about curtailing that by by making measures that help improve the value of post shots or interior shots or extending the three point line. But other than that, the game is beautiful right now, man. Like, it's a beautiful, easy game to watch. Like, it's so fun. It's just a fun game right now. And I love the fact that they're doing this with the fouls. You know, and I will say for Hardin, there is something to the, look, the numbers are inevitably going to go up for him. No doubt about it.

And he'll start getting some more calls. But with the shooter, they always say, especially on nights where they haven't been able to find the bucket as much, the worst thing you can do is put them at the free throw line because now they start to get into a rhythm. They get that feel once they see the ball go in the basket a couple of times. and he was routinely a guy. I mean, how many possessions could you play in a row without seeing James Harden at the free throw line? Like, it was a constant.

It's what made him in many cases so impossible to guard, right? I mean, he was devastating offensively. And so, yes, he has not come back in some kind of Adonis-like shape. And there's probably other reasons that are involved. But it is a thing. it is because he was a guy that, you know, when you, if you got your hand in there, it was a foul.

If you bumped him, it was a foul. He was great at getting his arm underneath you and catching a foul. Or tilting that head back. And now when he does that and he's not getting the foul, there's a level of frustration and he'll figure it out. But so far this season, it is noticeable. there's no question. I mean,

there's videos going around where it's like, look at these hardened plays. These are a million percent of foul last year. Sure. I mean, it's noticeable,

right? I mean, it's very possible. This could be like, you know, you see across sports early in the season, they're just not going to call it.

Yep. But then as the year progresses, they will start calling it. Nah, I think it's going to be guys adjust because you remember about five years ago. Like the video, video you're referring to is the one

where he kind of does his, you know, dance on the drive to the, the rim right and he looked like he was probably filed yes right it looked like he probably was but like you don't think they're just you know at some point going to start calling that you know because it's like the reverse like in the NFL sometimes they'll call more holding penalties early in the year right and then like it'll it'll you know the tail off towards the end this could be like they're going to let let less of this you know they're not going to call the blow the whistle on this quite as

much early on because they want him to change his habits so he doesn't less. You think it could be that? Yes, 100%. I think the players, Steph started doing it. Trey, obviously, is a culprit. There are more of these guys that started doing it last year. And so it's always, you know, it's like anytime they implement the new rule. I remember a couple of years ago, there's two different ones that I recall. One was freedom of movement. In the beginning of the year, they were really calling freedom of movement. If you clutched and grabbed, if you grabbed a guy around the screen, And then by the end of the year, nobody was blowing the whistle for freedom of movement calls.

It just wasn't happening because guys adjusted and started playing that way. At the beginning of the year, a couple of years ago, everybody was getting no calls on shots for the rip through. The Durant, I've got the ball at my, you know, lower than my midsection, and I'm bringing it up. And then I act like I'm shooting. And, of course, you got your hand in the cookie jar. and they stopped giving them shots for that on the rip through. And they don't, don't see players even try it.

No, all that much. That's right. And I think that's what's happening. I think at the beginning of the year, Hardin is not getting calls he should get. Imagine me saying that. You know what I mean?

Yeah, I know. But it is, you are the most egregious at, when he says he's targeted. He's not wrong. No, he is. He's not wrong. Yeah.

And he's not wrong. Make no mistake. These rules are in there because of you and because of Trey and because of, you know, and then other guys that started mimicking it. If anything, it should be viewed as a compliment. Yeah. I'm serious. I'm serious.

No, but in the meantime, like, they've gone a little overboard to let him know you're not getting calls to the point where they're giving him no calls, right? I mean, he's going to the line. line just a few times. There's some, and there will, there will settle on a happy medium, right? Between the, every time you throw your head back, even if somebody gets a whisker on you, we're putting you on the line. And you just got bumped, uh, going to the basket.

Every superstar gets that call because he's not getting that one, right? And he'll start getting that one, the second one. But, you know, he'll come to terms with you're not getting the, you're not getting the, I through my head back, oh my God, you know, is there a sniper in the building, you know, type foul calls. But I love it for flow of game, you know. The less we can have stoppages in these games, the better because we're still going through end of game stuff.

I mean, some of the times these end of games just take forever. Yeah. Even early in the season, you remember it's stoppage. It's out of hours. It's 25 minutes later. It's challenges. It's everything else. I don't know what was in the water yesterday and what was going on, Kevin.

But it felt like every game that I flipped on to, there was somebody getting cracked on like badly. And I went up and pulled up. I sent you the link to NBA top 10 plays. And typically those NBA top 10 plays are like, oh, this guy had a huge deal with the game on the line. And this guy had a game winner. And look at this up and under. Anybody I would encourage you not that I'm here to promote the NBA, but like if you go to, I told you years ago, my son watches these top 10 plays every morning on YouTube to catch up on what took place and see all the awesome plays.

this last night's collection of top 10 plays is one of the greatest I have ever seen in terms of people getting dunked on. You had Anthony Edwards with a demolition dunk, you had Lori Markinen murdering Yokicch. Like, I'm talking the full on fly underneath. I mean, fly into the third. row, you know, victim.

Jalen Brown spikes one on Miles Bridges in overtime, no less, in transition. After Anthony Edwards got his, Brandon Ingram came down and cracked one on Anthony Edwards. And then John Collins, I mean, just absolutely straddled Kelly O'Linnick. And he also got Luca Garza, too. I mean, the whole damn thing, I don't know what was going on. I listed nine dunks on that top 10. There's not, the only one that wasn't was the Chris Middleton corner three off the dribble. Which is an amazing player.

He gets murder. It was an amazing play. Yeah. He's on. He's double teamed in the corner, raises up. And two pacer's right on them. And gets pommel. And he gets pommel.

So it's an and one. All right. And that's like number 10. Okay. So. So anybody can go watch. now they ranked the Jalen Brown on Miles Bridges. That was the number one play.

Do you think they got that right in a night of epic proportions regarding people getting dunked on? Yeah, I do. I do. And the reason why is because Biles Bridges challenged it. Like seriously, he jumped. And Bridges is a leaper, a dunker, a shop locker himself. I mean, like, like freeze frame the play as Jalen Brown dunks the ball through the net.

It's like his his elbow is like hitting Miles versus Bridges head. Like Bridges is like they're like making body contact 10 feet into the air. Like it's an amazing like just moment display of athleticism between those two. And I respect nothing more, nothing more than guys who were going to challenge a guy who's going for a poster, especially in a moment like that. Miles Bridges tweeted about it last. night saying like I'm going to go for that and overtime. I respect that and Jalen Brown, the player he's turning into. I mean, it's just, it's just a really awesome looking moment. So that was my favorite one. But with that said, Larry Mark and over

Nicole Yulich came out of nowhere. If you, so number one, the Jalen Brown cocking it as far back as he did in order to spike it. I'm going to get back to Jalen here in a moment because I got something interesting on him. But if you're Lori marketing, you got to, that game gets done. Everybody's like, oh my God,

the thing's gone viral. It's the MVP of the league. You just killed the man. You know, worldwide Wob is sending out, when's the funeral? You know, this kind of stuff.

This is your viral moment. And then you're like, hold on. I'm number two. I just dunked. like Tom Chamber style from those old like NBA videos

on Nicola Yokic the reigning MVP of the league and I'm not even number one like it that's the most unlucky break ever. He just happened to dunk on Yokic on a night where there were like five

of the most spectacular dunks you could ever imagine. We didn't even mention the John Collins once which are number one any other night, both of them. The one over Olinnic by John Collins. Jeez. He wrote them, man. Look, terrible.

Those guys set white guy basketball back 50 years with both of those. No, I will say Kevin Hurder through the lob to John Collins on that Atlantic one. Okay. Okay. So he helped us out of your head. I thought you were on our team, Herder. And clearly, Larry Marketer on Yokich as well. Just brutal.

All right. So Lori Margaret, and he has, he's got to be thinking like, what do I have to do? That was honestly like, he woke up this morning. He's heated. His days ruined. I know. Not number one. That is the most.

John Collins posterizes people every night. Every night, yeah. Jalen Brown, Miles Bridges, both of those are crazy athletes. Anthony Edwards, Brandon, all these guys. Delory Marketing dunk was the most shocking dunk. I mean, I don't even know where that came from. It was like an in and out dribble. He's full speed.

And what is Yokic doing? Are you trying to take a charge? Yeah, he was trying to take a charge from inside the circle. That's terrible. Ted is to just get out of the way. Chris, it was like 50 seconds into the game. So bad. And Yokers does some jokes.

You're telling me. Anyway, that's why he can play 82 games. Like, seriously, he just doesn't jump. That is the greatest moment of Lori Mark and his career. And it's not even close. It reminds me of, and I don't want to, look, I don't want to put him in the the Hazondia category, but the Hosonia, but the Hosonia dunk a couple of years ago when he was playing for the Knicks.

Oh, yeah. That was, you know, it's like when I think of his ownia and you told me, what is a dunk on Yanis? right? Yeah. If you said, what is a great Hizonia moment? That's what I'd say? If you said, what is a great Lory Marketing moment?

I'll be like that time he'd don't on Nicola Yokic was awesome. So, I mean, it's a play of his career. Still number two, though, tough spot. Can't believe Hizonia. I like, it's been, what, three years, four years, three years since that play, his only is stepping over Yannis. Like, he actually stepped over him after the tuck. he's out in the league is he

I don't think so he's out of the league no I don't believe he is he signed overseas I'm pretty sure right oh okay yeah okay he's playing in the Euro league now oh how about that

the United League and the Euro League okay good for him I said I was on his own you believer I was I said I had something on on Jalen Brown. Did you hear that thing about

Kendrick Perkins? I think it was on the Celtics pregame the other night. And he's talking about Jaila Brown and they were talking about

he said, I mean, he was relaying a private conversation. And he said he was talking to Danny Aange and he was saying, you know,

I think this was in regards to the James Hardin thing. And he was talking about, you know, look, Danny, I love Jalen too.

But we're talking about James Hardin. James Harden, blah, blah, blah. And Danny Aange said to him, Jalen Brown is not going anywhere. He's 25 and he keeps getting better. I'm not trading him. And he said this on the broadcast. Right.

Perkins. So Aange called Perkins asking, would you trade Jalen Brown for James Harden? And then Perkins was the one who said no, right? Perkins said, I was on the phone with Danny Aange for an hour and I remember how our conversation went. He was like, hey, Perk, would you trade Jaylon Brown for James Harden? And I was like, Danny, you know how I feel about Jalen Brown, but I would trade him for James Harden. And he was like, are you kidding me? He's not going anywhere. He's not even 25 and he keeps getting better. So, so Perkins said he would do it. So Danny Aange called Perkins. Yes. Already having an answer to his own

question that I'm not going to do it. Right. Perkins said he would do it. And Ains said no. It's interesting. I mean, like that was out there. They also could have traded him for Kauai Leonard, too. It just speaks to how much he thinks of or thought of Jaila Brown. Right.

And Jalen, of course, made an all-star team last year and has started off the season, unbelievably. They just got to figure out a way, like, especially at the end of these games, as I was talking about that Hornets game, they got to get him out of the corner. They got to get more two-man game going on with him and Tatum, right? Because there's a lot of one-man game and Jalen Brown's just standing over in the corner. Which isn't the worst thing. He's a 40% three-point shooter.

No, no, no, no. But I'm saying it's Tatum creates everything. And then like there was a big possession last night. And then all of a sudden he gets under pressure and he's got to throw it to somebody. He ends up throwing it to Marka Smart who clanks one off. Right. And so I just want to see Brown more involved because up until overtime, he was, wasn't even getting any touches.

Like he's just not even on the team. They just forget about him standing over in the corner. A couple other things that have happened thus far this season. We had Jalen Green, who the team is not winning any games, for sure. That's okay. That's okay. You want to lose right now. Get another high pick.

But speaking of highlights, some spectacular stuff. Boy, Jalen Green is going to get a dunk on someone that, like, sets a world on fire this year. Because he is trying everybody. And it's not just the crazy athleticism going to the basket. He's already had 30 points in a game. We're a week into the season, Kev. He's already had 30 on a night where he was 8 of 10 from 3 point range. Only one other guy that's a teenager's ever done that.

And that, of course, was Anthony Edwards. but the instant reviews, I mean, he's not a bad team, but if we thought this guy is going to be able to put up big numbers, it appears as if there are going to be many nights that we're looking up. And Jalen Green has some crazy performances, because not only is he a crazy athlete going to the basket, and it's just electric, but, well, he shoots a hell out of the ball. He is, man, I hate this.

we're not getting to see Cade, you know? We're not getting to see Cade at all. But at least we're seeing Jalen Green. I mean, at least we're seeing, you know, Evan Mobley and Scotty Barnes and Davion Mitchell. And they're like this rookie, Chris Duarte, this rookie class is really great so far.

And Jalen Green, he could become the best of the bunch. He could be. I mean, like that game against the Celtics 30 points, he already is a guy who can get to the basket at will with, you know,

his crossovers, his elite first step and crafty at room finishing. If he's hitting shots off the bounce like he did against the Celtics in that game, if the shots working, I mean, at his age, it's hard to have a more complete offensive package than what he has right now. He looked absolutely outstanding.

And the one thing I'll say about him, that's a bonus is that his passing looks better now than it did at the end of the G-League season, which was better than it did look at the beginning of the G league season. So his progress as a passer in terms of reading the defense, delivering an accurate ball to a teammate, that continually is getting better and better and better. So if he develops during his rookie year with the NBA, the same way he did last year in the G league,

I look forward to seeing what Jalen Green's going to look like in March and April compared to what he is now. Like these games could become more of a regular thing. Like he could be one. of those rookies that's dominant during his rookie season. He could be. Could be. I mean, we'll see how things develop, but the flashes are crazy good, Chris, crazy. Well, and he has made them much more watchable than their record is going to indicate because you get to watch him. That's the problem with Cunningham being out. You know, Cunningham's got to come back so that Detroit is, you know,

at least you're sitting there and you can watch Cade Cunningham and it's always fun to watch the rookies because there's only two teams in the league that haven't a cadiq bay fan who a cedeke bay fan chris i'm not i'm not tuning in to watch cadiq bay yeah that's too i am i am i am a fan of cidique bay i i think he's a pretty good i think he's a good player i think he's a good player um but average 18 and 10 that's great so far the season that's great you get looking look at it's sharper off the dribble go go go buy the rookies today kev because you can get him There's many available.

I don't think I'm alone in saying when there's nine games on league pass, Detroit is at the very bottom of the list in the absence of Kate Cunningham. They are one of two teams that have not won a game. There's only two teams that ever won a game. Them and at least, you know, at least they are getting Cunningham back and they're fun. That Oklahoma City thing is that it's a, it's a travesty. It's unwatchable, truly. It's unwatchable basketball.

And they got to get Gildes-S Alexander out of there. Why? Because that's a waste. Don't do this again where you end up having him injure himself at the, you know, some cockamamie thing. So they has to sit out. I mean, you got like one awesome player. Like, go let all these other guys.

Like, you know, go let Dord go be on a good team and let Gilders-Alexander go be on a good team and let them do some winning. Because those are guys that could contribute. to winning and being on good teams right now, you're in a full-blown rebuild, right? Like, I at least respect, like, they got, you know, John Wall ain't playing right now. Like, it's not like they're wasting away

some kind of talent on Houston, right? If you're going to do the rebuild thing, do the rebuild thing. But like... They're doing it, all right, Chris. Oh, I know. But the guys that are good players, I, look, I'm happy that...

He got his money either way. But just miserable, you know, to have to do that every single night. And I'm going to offer a different perspective on SGA here. This is good for him. This is good for him because he's in a situation. No, it's not. No, listen, let me finish. This is good for him because he's in a situation where he can get 20 shots per game,

develop and work on skills that he otherwise wouldn't be able to do if he was playing behind some veterans or even with some veterans. And now his deal hasn't kicked in yet. he's still in the last season of his rookie contract here. There was the rumors of soft season about Oklahoma City offering him and deals for the number one pick. If in a year or two or three, Oklahoma City still is kind of in this weird transitional rebuilding, retooling phase.

If they're still not even a playing team, then they could trade SGA to a winner. But for now, SGA can work on all of his flaws. He can fail and get better from it because of the situation he's in. and then perhaps be in a winning team, whether it's in OKC or somewhere else. Could he offer a lot to a winning team today? Yeah, definitely. No doubt about it.

Then go and get him. Go and get him. He's one of the best young guards in the game, Chris. Only 23 years old. Yeah, I pray that somebody does go and get him. They might. Maybe they will.

I'm sure. Clearly, if Oklahoma City was potentially, you know, according to reports, offering him for the number one pick the soft season, it means they're at least willing to dance

if the offer is significant. They're the only one. They're the only one, honestly. Like Detroit, when they get K'd back, is going to be watchable. But I would say league why. Because, you know, look, when when league pass starts,

I go crazy. I'm trying to watch all of these teams like all the time, right? I got multiple TVs going. I got different games on. They're the only team in the league. Like, again, Detroit right now is not watchable, but when they get K'd, I'm absolutely going to want to see him. Everybody else, I mean, I find that league-wide, there's very few teams that are just

like, I don't, I don't care about watching them. They don't, they don't particularly care about winning and so I don't care about them. You know, at least some of these teams, like, you know, know, the Jalen Green thing is fun, then the Cade Cunningham thing inevitably will be fun. I think it's in the league. It's one of my observations early. It's in a really good spot because there's at least guys on every team that I have interest in for one reason or another.

Definitely. Yeah. I mean, in Oklahoma City, you still have poker. They're the only, yeah, I guess so. I guess so. I mean, listen, like Oklahoma City is clearly not the first team I'm turning on. They're not. They're not.

But like if they are on the TV, Gildes-Alexander is a really fun player. Alexei Pokusevsky is a very funky player to watch coming off a bench for a team. Lou Dord is fun to watch play defense. I mean, like even OKC in the dumpster of the NBA still has some fun players to watch. They still do. I mean, to your point about SGA, I mean, I think it's fair, Chris. And if I were a contending team,

that had the assets to blow, I'd want to be going after him for sure. He's awesome. Can we talk about the most fun player to watch in the NBA? Yeah, let's talk about him. All right, let's talk about him. And the fact that you wouldn't even drive a couple of miles

to go witness greatness, to watch John Morant turned Staples Center into Rucker Park two nights in a row. I had a busy weekend, Chris. Two nights in a row. I know. Two nights in a row. I know.

Listen, I got to make a Memphis trip. Unbelievable. The guy is right down the street. I feel like I betrayed you. He sets, he sets staple center on fire two nights in a row. He's leading the NBA in scoring right now. And I wasn't there. 40 points, 10 assists.

And you know what was weird is the Grizzlies Laker game the other night was an outstanding basketball game. And it was cling. I mean, there was a lot of just. straight up basketball being played. It's so funny, though. Mark Davis was the referee of that game. And years ago, I had one of my buddies, and he says to me, he says, he says, oh, God, Mark Davis.

I walked into FedEx Form. Mark Davis hated with the fires of seven hells, Dave Yeager. Still does, probably. Hated him. And so when he was the coach, it was a blow. bloodbath. Like, they, like, really, like, they, I don't know what happened. But anyways, one of the guys that was there at the game, he was like, oh, God, Mark Davis.

And I was like, what? I was like, we stop. I was like, it's such a homer thing. Like, every time there's some ref shows up. They're like, like, it's like, oh, yeah, this guy's out to get us, whatever else. And he, and the guy looks at me, all right? And he says, I promise you this, Chris. you will see something tonight you have never seen before.

And I was like, shut up, dude. Well, okay, yeah. Just watch the basketball game. And Kevin, they're about to, National Anthem goes off. They're about to start the game, okay? All of a sudden, and I'm sitting at the scorestable, I hear. I'm like, what? Mark Davis walks over and he goes, delay of game, Memphis Grizzly,

the game started with tech shots. I have never had that. The guy looked down to me with my buddy Rob Fisher, who's the sideline report for the grizzly. He looked down to me and he goes, I told you. So I always think about that. I'm going to see something I never saw in my life

at a Mark Davis game. And the Grizzlies played the Lakers the other night, and this was not against the Grizzlies. This was against both these. They came out of halftime. Martin Davis walked out and goes, delay of game, both teams. He gave a delay of game to both teams.

Tech to start off the second half of tech game. I don't, what is wrong with this guy? I have a solution to Oklahoma City's problems. Mark Davis officiates all of them. You're tuning in to watch Mark Davis. And it just so happens that the thunder around the court playing basketball. That's the solution. Perfect.

Let's just make him. He did it. You know, like, when we were little kids and we did an all-time quarterback, you know, if you didn't have enough players, he could just be all-time ref. We get him a residency down in Oklahoma City, and Mark Davis could just officiate all of theirs.

But anyway, clean game, awesome game. I was watching the Lakers play against Memphis the other night, and they got to win as John Morant hits a game-tie-tying free throw with a couple of seconds left in the game. After he got fouled by Bazemore on a three, no less. Boy, they shoot a million jumpers, Kev. It's kind of wild. They're always going to be a good offensive rebounding team,

and they do get out in transition and make you pay for your turnovers. But it was like, LeBron, he just let you off the hook now. And I don't know if he's just, you know, kind of conditioning itself for the season or whatever. but I mean, there's times where he gets switches on to either little guys or big guys. And I'm like, oh, God, night, night. And then he just pulls up for three. Carmelo, Anthony, is he like, is he, do you think this is real? Because the three-point shooting to start off this season has been outrageous.

And it continued the other night. He's not going to keep it in 67% of the series. No, he's not going to keep it in 67%. but I like, he's becoming a guy when they swing it to him. I'm like, oh, hell. Like, I really think it's going in now. And, you know, guys do, as years go on, guys do reinvent themselves. And it does feel like Carmelo is kind of reinventing himself as a guy that can really shoot that shot and hit that shot, like regularly.

I forget what his three points spot up numbers were entering that year. Houston. But if I remember correctly, it was, I remember writing it was like somewhere around like 37% on catch and shoot three. Since then, he's up around 40%. So I would imagine, I mean, like I don't know this for sure, but I'd imagine that considering his current role in the league, he's probably investing more time into practicing catching, catch and shoot threes than he was when he was a 20 plus point per game guy. And that's probably helping an uptick in his percentages, turning him from like a. good spot-up shooter into a knock-down spot-up shooter. And I mean, so yeah, I would, I would lean towards it's for real because the last two years in Portland, he shot the hell out of it. So, I mean, I think this is a real thing for Carmelo Anthony. And it's a credit to him for reinventing himself. Well, they got, they got so much talent that it doesn't really matter.

But, I mean, you could, the Westbrook stuff looks so disjointed. It really does. I'll tell you what, though, end of that Grizzlies game, though, Chris. I've been saying it for months since the deal happened using Westbrook as a screener. Using Westbrook as a screener in game three, game three, we already saw it. And to me, that's an encouraging thing for the Lakers, the fact that they're already using Westbrook as a screener. He's already showing a willingness to do with some of that dirty work. That's going to help, I think, that offense gel in some of those fourth quarter situations

because Russell Westbrook can prevent issues for a defense that might. be trapping or even switching regardless of the defense. So I'd like to see a lot more of that. And also the two big lineups for L.A. DJ and AD, we were told we were going to see 80 at the five. He don't want to. He doesn't want to do it. We were lied to. We were lied to Chris. Well, what happens is AD looks up and he sees somebody like Stephen Adams. And that's exactly what he doesn't want to do. Yeah. And it's like, DJ, you can tell. that. That's right.

Take it. And Dwight Howard and let them tussle with him. Which, by the way, might be for the best over the course of the regular season. You do want to save a guy. That's right. April, April, May and maybe June or what matter for the Lakers.

Not October, November. The crazy thing is, I just thought that in terms of, you know, them taking jumpers and watching them, you're going to see a lot of this. It's exactly what I thought.

A lot of this, if you stop the tape, you got, they got to get guys moving. but you got a lot of, like, guys very close to the lane. Everybody's just going to pack it in against them. Everybody. With Westbrook and LeBron out there and Carmelo, in many cases,

they're just going to pack it in against them. And the other night, LeBron was shooting threes at a great clip. Carmelo was shooting threes at a great clip, and it's death. But to me, as an opposing fan, I was sitting there going, go ahead. shoot it. I mean, it's better than the alternative. Like, I mean, this is the, right?

Like, that's what I want. And they're going to hit them. But they do fall into the just, we bring it up and like, all right, the defense is all packed in. I'll just go ahead and I'm going to step into this shot. I'm going to come around one screen. I'm going to take this shot. They, it feels like an old, like an older basketball team that doesn't want to, like, and I think that's what we're going to see a lot during the regular season.

They've taken a lot of jump shots. you know, and everybody just packing it against them and say, go ahead, shoot it. And the nights that they make a bunch, they're beating you and the nights they don't. You got a chance. Second Kirk, Goldsbury mentioned today, but he tweeted out some staff the other day about how LeBron is taking a lower amount of shots at the rim to start a season than ever before. He doesn't even drive. Yeah.

I mean, he's clearly taking it easy. The flip side of this is that there's certain players you want to see them have the ability to take more threes off the bounce. And that's what John Moran's doing. Jah looks smoother and cleaner than ever, taking dribble jumpers. And as a guy who can already get to the rim, finish inside, draw files,

kick out to teammates. If he's adding that on top of everything else, which it appears, like it follows his trajectory as a player in recent years. He's gotten better, better, better. This year, it seems like it's really clicking for him so far early on.

I mean, Jah, he has been, This looks good, man. Yeah, he's been freaky. 35 points per game and it looks legit. Yeah. And he is to the point that you're making about the brand, Morant, as of yesterday, was leading the league in points in the paint.

Think about that at his size. Yeah. He's leading the league of points in the paint. So if you lead the league of points of the paint and you can hit threes, it's curtains. And at like what, 180 pounds, something like that? Yeah. He's still light, right? Yes.

He isn't. He's not over 190. I don't know. He's growing into it. body a little bit. You know, he wears that arm sleeve and he used to always have to pull it up. And now he says he's got enough muscles that he doesn't have to anymore. He's the only guy that ever wore a baggy arm sleeve. His arm was skinny that the damn thing would fall down. And now he fills out the arm sleeve. So he has gained some weight. He did get

in the weight room this summer. For what it's worth, the Grizzlies have him listed at 6.3, 174 pounds. 174 seems low. That was his, that was probably his rookie measurements. I think that's right. Got to get an update there. All right. A couple guys that we do want to mention before we get out of here because it's just something to keep an eye on. We talked about Miles Bridges earlier. Like guys, as we always talk about, guys developing at different trajectories and kind of possible breakouts.

We've listed some of these guys to our credit at the beginning of the year. Miles Bridges was one that we had not, but he is certainly at least given the indications that he could have a very, very good season. and what's going to be a contract here for him. Tyler Hero, as we mentioned, start off the season like a House of Fire. I believe I read the other night, the first guy to have 30 and 10 off the bench, like ever for the Miami Heat.

And that's a pretty damn good franchise. Yeah. Right. Keldon Johnson so far. We were Kelton Johnson fans. He got the team USA experience. And we really liked him. Duarte

is that middle middle of the pack I mean has anyone been better than the Indiana Pacers at snatching guys without having good draft picks. It's crazy. Like they nail that pick. Like you go all the way back to George.

I mean, they nail that pick more often than not. And they never have a good one. They're never like game bad, bad, where they've got some high pick. They get these middle round picks and they find a player. And Duarte plays a lot of minutes for them already. And it's looking good, man.

And not just taking threes, not just launching threes. You know, people thought he could be, oh, three and D guy early in his career. He's doing a lot off the dribble too. Yep. And then we mentioned Cam Reddish after game one. It has continued. Cam's been very good. But the one that I want to mention, and again, this.

could just be an early season good little run is Harrison Barnes. Harrison Barnes. I mean, look, he is shooting nine threes a game so far, Kevin. Like there are some guys that like, and again, we'll see as time goes on, right? But like Harrison Barnes always been a good player. Good, good player. but there's sometimes it's worthy of keeping track of when you see a number like that tick up a lot.

I remember at the beginning of the season last year before McCollum went out and you were like McCollum shooting like 11 or 12 threes a game. Shooting 11 per game right now too. I mean, the Harrison Barnes, not only is he shooting nine a game, he's making them. And again, it might just be an early season thing, but they've got a lot of guys that can collapse a defense. and every once in a while somebody dedicates themselves and just decides this is what I'm going to be able to do. And what's he shooting?

I mean, he's shooting over 50% so far on the nine attempts. But we'll see what those attempts do because you could have somebody like a Harrison Barnes. You know, that's how you could increase your scoring average a great deal. He's been like a 20 point per game guy. But what happens if Harrison Barnes starts taking nine threes a game and make? taking 40% of them. Next thing you know, he's a 25 point per game guy, right? I don't know.

I don't know. Last season, he attempted 11.1 shots per game and 4.4, 3-pointers per game. This season, up to 17.3 shots per game. And like you said, nine three-point attempts per game. And of those nine attempts, 5.7 of them are catch-and-shoot threes. 3.3 of them are off the dribble three. So, I mean, we'll see how many shots he keeps taking per game. But I mean, this is a league wide thing.

You have guys that go from, you know, attending a handful of threes per game to a lot of threes per game. Because teams are emphasizing, hey, you're a 40% shooter off the catch. Maybe we should be getting you more shot attempts in the half court. So I think with Harrison Barnes, part of it is that. The off the dribble stuff. Boy. I don't know how sustainable that is, but it's sure it's fun to watch Harrison Barnes

become a 30 point per game guy. Okay. Yeah. What you are out of nowhere. All right. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. This is ten years. This is Harrison Barnes' 10th season in the league.

What if Harrison Barnes makes the 10-year leap? Ten year leaves, yeah. There's a 28 a game. The nine threes is wild, though. He might take a million threes this year. Like, that just may be the thing. I mean, he's like taking them against good defenders, There was a play the other night, King's Warriors, when he like stepped back against

Draymond Green. Yeah. It's like, what's going on here? Watch out. Watch out. It's like, past the ball. That passed me. Oh, no, no, he's stepping back for a stream.

Nobody saw the Harrison Barnes leap coming in year 10. But it's something to monitor at least just because of course. You've obviously changed your game a lot. Again, in this minuscule sample size when you're taking nine threes a game. That's a big number for a guy that people don't consider a big three-point shooter. It's like small sample size alert, you know. That's right. It applies to every player and team at this point of the season.

But early season trends are worth, you know, keeping an eye on. It's worth keeping an eye on. No, some of these stuff's going to fall on its face and some of this stuff's going to hold. Right. Exactly. Some of it's going to hold out. Like, think about Jeremy Grant last year. Yep.

Jeremy Grant, I mean, he had, you know, he declined a little bit, but he still did keep it up for the most part. Oh, yeah. I mean, guys can get better out of nowhere. So with the Kings, you know, 29 years old, Harrison Barnes. Who knows? I mean, a tweak and roll, a tweak and roll in, like, other incremental improvements can lead to a guy becoming a better player. We did this with Scary Terry last year. Sometimes it's, it's a shot you're taking.

Yep. Shots are taking, opportunity you're given and the work you're putting in. It's a culmination of all of that together that leads to the results. Yep. It's been a fun start to the season for sure. And I'm glad that the off-the-court crap that people got, you know, not people, we did too, got frustrated and bored with being the headlines every single day are no longer the headlines because there's a bunch of basketball going on. Kevin, I will catch up with you Friday. Thank you to our executive producer, Sasha Ashall, as always.

Talk to you at the end of the week.