The Mismatch - The Most Interesting NBA Players Down the Stretch, Plus March Madness Prospects to Watch

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Verno and KOC discuss how the NCAA tournament can greatly impact the draft stocks for prospects and highlight a few of the prospects participating, including Purdue’s Zach Edey, Colorado’s Cody Williams, North Carolina’s Elliot Cadeau, and more (01:34). Next, the guys each select four players they are keeping a close eye on with just a few weeks left in the regular season (23:34). Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out http://theringer.com/RG to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey there, humanoids. This is David Chewmaker. The pro wrestling world is currently on fire. And so we've got you covered five days a week on the ringer wrestling show. Every Monday and Thursday, hang out with me and Kaz on the Masked Man Show. And this is Peter Rosenberg, the host of Cheap Heat. Join me and my guys, Stack Guy Greg and Dipperstein, on Tuesdays and Fridays. We talk wrestling, we have bagel breakdowns, mage interviews, and so much more. And Ben Cruz here. Come kick it with me, Cal and Brian, on Wednesday. Worldwide, where we hit the most interesting headlines and even react to some of mass mans, cheap heats, or even your hottest tics. Don't tap out. Tap in to the Ringer Wrestling Show feed. Now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.

And stay mage, everyone. Worldwide. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me on this Thursday afternoon from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'O. Bomber, Kevin O'Coneman O'Compter, Kevin O'Chylan, Kevin O'Blessarian, Kevin. How are you doing, man?

I'm great. It's NCAA tournament time. I am going to go to the NCAA tournament on Friday, possibly Sunday, depending on how it all shakes out. But I've been watching the games, watch the first four, watch these games that have been going on today.

We are recording in between those games this afternoon as some of the NBA prospects are playing. and then tonight there's a great NBA slate. So don't get mad at us as we are releasing this early on a Thursday that we are not covering what took place on the Thursday night games, but we will get you ready for this stretch run of the NBA with players that are standing out to us and those that we are going to keep our eye on for the next couple of weeks as we head quickly towards the playoffs.

Regarding the NCAA tournament, this matters. One of your functions at the ringer is always putting together not only a draft guide, but a mock draft and heading up the draft content at the ringer.com. The NCAA tournament can greatly alter

big boards, mock drafts, how many millions of dollars these guys are going to make or how many millions of dollars are not going to make dependent on what in some cases is, you know, for some of these guys,

it's one of these guys. it's won and done. For some of them, they might play five, six games in the NCAA tournament and change their draft stock dramatically. I really look forward to this every single year. We see it happen every year

with teams and players that go far in the tournament and all of a sudden they are looked at radically differently. I'm going to go through some of the guys that you have on your big board. The first of which, is very, very high on your big board. I went way out of my way to flip on the Colorado game.

Cody Williams, is this where we're going, or Tristan De Silva? Who are you going with? Okay, De Silva was really good. Excellent. The guard, the guard who's not on any draft boards, he's a dog. He's the one. KJ Simpson. He's the one that stood after me watching the game.

I'm like, give me this guy. This guy is like a, uh, uh, Suggian is tough as tough as he. is. But, buddy, I went to tune in Jalen Williams little brother, Cody Williams, who is very on these draft boards, and I got a big nothing. Like a literal nothing. I think he had zero, didn't me? Yeah. He was, I mean, he's also playing limited minutes. He injured his ankle in February, and he's playing through it right now. So you don't want to read too much into Cody Williams' struggles as of late, considering he's playing less minutes to do it earlier in the year. He's dealing with injury, but you would like to see him actually doing something out there.

And that's where hopefully over the course of the month, if Colorado wins some games on Friday, they have a game against Florida, tough opponent. On that side, Zion Pullen is my favorite sleeper in the entire draft, six foot four guard, good seniors. So you'll see him go against KJ Simpson from the Colorado side. But Cody Williams, it'd be nice if he had a big game off the bench, you know, some cuts to the rim, some spot-up three, some hard-nosed defense. of place, he just hasn't really been able to make a big impact with that injury, it seems.

Do you think he has helped greatly because of the incredible success of his brother? And do you think that, you know, a benefit of the doubt will exist in a way that might not because his brother has turned into one of the great draft picks? Yeah, in a way, perhaps. I mean, I think for me, I had him 20 back in August when it was going only off of college film. And then I've had him in my top five since, like, he bursted out and had a great start to the season with Colorado. He is a talented player. He's gut size.

He is somebody who has shown versatility at 6-6-6-7 ability to handle the ball, you know, create offense, finishing at the basket. You know, like his, like his brother, you like that potential versatility. Does he get the benefit of the doubt? I don't think so. I mean, he's down to five on my board right now. I'll probably drop him a little bit more. But like I said, I don't want to, I don't want to overreact because think about last year with Brandon Miller, Brandon Miller gets hurt late in the season.

He struggles in the tournament, but he's playing through the injury. It kind of, I think, in the eyes of some evaluators, overshadowed what he did mid-year when he was getting better and trending up. So for Cody Williams, he's dealt with multiple injuries this year. He hasn't been able to bounce back from that. That in and of itself as a concern, you'd like to see him still producing through pain. But I'm not going to overreact and move him down to 20 or anything like that.

I think that was too low. I think if anything, you can look at it. Like with his brother, Janeland Williams, he wasn't a one undone. He was somebody that took multiple years to become a lottery prospect. Cody Williams is probably a bit of head of schedule right now. So I don't think it has anything to do with his brother necessarily, no. It's going to be interesting to see because some of these guys that are young, that they get into this situation for the first time.

You know, even North Carolina, you know, beat the piss out of their first round opponent as was expected, but that Elliot Caddo, who I actually saw in high school last year, I went to the Nike EYBL circuit and saw him. and he was the best player probably that I saw outside of Cooper Flag. He was great. But, I mean, again, some freshmen thrown into the mix. He hit that huge shot against Duke a couple weeks ago, but I mean, he did nothing in their game today.

He's a little bit lower on your board, but you just do wonder. He probably doesn't even belong on the board, to be honest with you, Chris. I don't think he should be a one of done. It's just talent. Yeah, right? It's just talent. Yeah, I had him top 10 prior to the season back in that August board, and he's in the 30s now.

He probably doesn't even belong on it if we're being totally real here. Like he's 30 because he's still a name I think that's worth monitoring during the tournament. Like North Carolina, like you said, there were one seat.

That might go to a final four. If Caddoe starts actually hitting threes, like he is just missing the jumper. That's it. Like he is a tough, hard-nosed defender. That dude dives on the floor. Like he gets rips in his compression shorts

from his hustle and his effort. He's a great, Playmaker. He's so cerebral as a freshman. It's just going to be a matter of can't he shoot, which is the question for so many guys. But I think he's worth at least monitoring, you know, for now. But really, the main prospect on that North Carolina team is Harrison Ingram, their upperclassman. And, you know, he's talking Tate about him. Tate, obviously, a Tar Hill's guy. Ingram hasn't shot the ball as much recently well with a wrist injury. But I still like Ingram, versatile guy, you know, playmaker, big, you know, his size at six, seven,

six eight. He's probably going to be an early second round pick, I would think. There's for sure guys that could fall down the list, depending on what happens at the tournament. We started with Cody Williams. I tried to highlight some guys that if their

bracket falls the right way could go on run. So maybe guys a little bit lower on your big board list. Because those are the guys with the greatest opportunity, right? They don't look like a top half of the first round pick right now. But maybe we look up and their teams in the final four, their teams in the elite eight,

and they've been a huge part of it, or the reason that they're there. And so, Exxout Colorado, they've got the two guys there for sure. You know, Shepard and Dillingham, I guess could go higher, but they're, they're very, very high on these mock drafts, as are the Yukon kids. And the Yukon kids are great, Castle and Klingin. And they're the first rounders, but, you know, they have Carabin and Spencer, who could be second round picks. So they have multiple guys that are, you know, NBA caliber prospects. When I looked and I was looking down, I was thinking, so as I got down the list, no idea what to do with McCullors, obviously, is he's going to be out for Kansas.

Dalton connect who you have towards the, you know, the, I think you got him at 14, I think under a big board, something like that. Like if Dalton connect through the Tennessee team on his back and is in the Final four or in the final game or something. You can obviously see him. People start to try to make him a top 10, top five pick. It feels like this year for this NCAA tournament that this is wide open. When you look and you see Cody Williams 5 that if I throw a team on my back and everybody's

watching me and I'm playing in the Sweet 16, the elite eight, and the final four, and I'm going huge, you're going to look at me a lot differently. and it's not like there's a set group of guys that everybody has. It feels like everybody's top five, top 10 could be radically different this year in a much different scenario than almost any year. We have these every once in a while where it's an open door that you could walk into the top 10. But it is rare. you know, there's a pretty settled, you know,

nine to ten guys that most everybody's going to have in the same range. You know, they might have one a little bit higher than the other. So I put Connect. Edy obviously could, you know, people, some people already put them like in the lottery. Gvone. Gavoni has them in the lottery and now over at ESPN, which I mean, I think it's something that's noteworthy at least.

Like a lot of people, like Wassermanet Bleacher Report still has Eadie in the 30s or 40s. I have them in the 20s right now. So I'm kind of between those guys. But Edy, Edy with his size and with his skill and with the importance of Biggs in today's NBA, if Eadie has a good month for Purdue, they've been one and done in the tournament in two out of three years, Purdue's made it. They made one sweet 16. If they can make another sweet 16 or elite eight, or they should be a four.

final four team. Right. And if Edie can survive defensively, not just survive, but make a positive impact defensively, that I think a lot of people are going to move towards Gavoni and having him in the late lottery considering the need for Biggs. And not every team is going to be an Edie team. But I think, like,

think about pairing him as a weapon and a front court with Chet and a front court with Wemby, like those younger centers. in the Western Conference, guys who can play the four or play the five. To me, that's the ideal fit for Edy, in my opinion. I think that's the best home for him is next to a guy like that where he can play 20, 25 minutes per game, maybe more, maybe a little bit less, depending on the opponent in a seven-game series. I'm jumping way ahead here.

But to me, that's the ideal situation for him with a versatile big like Chet, like Wembe, where like maybe his perimeter concerns, aren't as much of a worry next to somebody like that. Think about how, like, the Celtics used Robert Williams and Al Horford last year. Like, just think about, like, that concept is what I mean. This guy doesn't move his feet like that, you know? I know. I know he doesn't.

I know. Rob Williams can, you know, stand up on the screen. I do think, I do think. How about Brooke Lopez, Janus? Like, something like that, where he's just drop, drop, drop, drop. And then Janus is helping off and just disturbing everything around the rim. No, I think the Walker Kessler thing helps him. Yeah, sure.

Another big lug who, you know. Kessler was a great defender in college though, too. I got you. I got you. But he was somebody that people thought this is going to go one way or the other. And I think with Edie, I will say this for him. Eadie has been looked at like a sideshow, right? Like he's your Bobon.

He's your Taco Fall. He's your, you know, he's better than Bobon. Like, he'll be better than Bobon, right? But that's what people think. You know what I mean? I think that there's a general consensus or was. And he has gone from that to a much higher opinion. And if he murders everybody and takes him to a frigging national championship,

I know he's going to end up. I know where he's going to end up on these draft boards, right? I feel like his could swing dramatically. If they lost a frigging grambling or something, people are going to be like, to hell with him. I know. He's freaking Bobon. And Purdue plays tomorrow on Friday, right?

Right. Today, yeah. Today, today when you listen to this podcast, Purdue Grambling 425 p.m. A couple other guys that were a little bit lower that are teams that I could foresee making a run. The Marquette kids, hopefully Tyler Colick is going to be okay. But Iguadoro and Colic. Dude, Igo Doro is like Taylor made for the NBA, isn't he? Yeah. Versatile, versatile guy, 6-9, smart player.

just like he just reminds me of kind of the year you know where it was like you know you got Grant Williams you know you got some solid old Brandon Clark like these upperclassmen who are just smart players in the world with a 20 or 21 draft one of those two years like Igador is just going to be

a good NBA player straight up a good player And another kid that's great on that Marquette team is Cam Jones who I have had an awareness of he's Memphis kid and so I've had an awareness of him for a long time and kept up with what he's doing and rooted him on.

He's great. He's an unbelievable high school player, and obviously he's had a very, very good first couple of years at Marquette. But that Marquette team could make a run, and then people are going to look at those kids and go, you know what, man, they got some pros on this team that could maybe move up. And then another one that I marked down, he's low on your big board,

but I'm mentioning him because in their first round gave me a 26, and it's another team that you look at their bracket it and I'm like, eh, they could make a run because I was trying to mark up, you know, I mean, of course I'm going to be wrong about the tournament, but I was trying to mark up who could, who do you have listed on teams that I could foresee making a run that are a little bit lower. And one of them actually worked out perfectly for this exact purpose today. And it was Terrence Shannon Jr. Oh, yeah, yeah, a huge game. He had 26. and he shot nine threes because that's one of the things you always pay attention to right it's like okay here's a wing

how do you shoot from three he made i think he was three for nine from three today but he had 26 points it's obviously rugged guy i mean you can you can't play for that coach uh brad underwood and be some uh shrinking violet so you kind of know what and tarrant shannon was one i think you had him at yeah you had 39 again and i don't know where he should be right now. I had no real opinion of Terrence Shannon. But he had two steals, two blocks. I know what they like. Guys that could shoot threes or will shoot threes, guys that are tough and guys that get steals and blocks. Like NBA teams love those. Right. And so when I see 26, two steals, two blocks, I know there was somebody that was watching

that from an NBA perspective going, hey, maybe we should take a longer look at Terrence Shannon Jr. He had a layup in the first half. I was watching Noir today. I was flipping around games. One of my eyes were on him. He had this play where he got the ball, like right at the half court line where he looked like Westbrook just going downhill,

hard dribbles. You know what play I'm talking about? Where it was like he like crossed over in the lane and it looked like he was going to go with a righty layup and he went with the lefty layup and the left side. It was like this absurd attacking layup. And that's like the type of play you see on the break, but you're like, oh, what about open floor NBA spacing, pick and roll with a really good screener that you can see a lot of finishing like that. I like Shannon a lot and he definitely should be higher on my board. But I'm just saying he's one of those that when you're watching, right, they win a game, they win a game, they win a game.

Now all of a sudden everybody's going to be talking about this guy who's helping Illinois do it. Oh, for sure. I mean, and there's a game currently happening as we speak. Dayton. Nevada Dayton making a massive comeback right now Dayton is and Dayron Holmes I have him in the 30s he's somebody who could end up

in the teens. It wouldn't shock me if Dayton ends up making a run or even if they don't. Like Dayron Holmes is the type of guy the only reason he's in 30s on my board and why he's not like a lottery pick on a lot of people's boards is because of the strength of schedule. Dayton is just they just don't face a lot of great teams

and so Dayron Holmes doesn't have a great sample size is a six foot of guy who can shoot threes and versatile defensively can block shots. You just want to see him against higher quality talent. But I think with pre-draft workouts, the NBA draft combine, if he competes in the scrimmages, if Holmes, you know, excels in those formats, it's not going to shock me one bit if they aren't Holmes is somebody that rises way up draft boards. And you see him allitered around the lot, the mid-late lottery or, you know, late teams come June.

I'll tell you this. I've got a buddy that's on their staff who I became friends with over the years, James Kane, who is the guy that discovered Morant. He discovered him in a side auxiliary gym. And then he and that group went to Iowa State. They had, guess who? Halliburton. Guess who?

Talen Horton Tucker. Then that group is now at Dayton. And they've got a couple pros these last couple. Like, they have been good at finding these, like, you know, you try to find the people that are like the under the radar guys that end up being way better. Obviously, Morant and Halliburton are two of the great, you know, recruiting slash what they became in the NBA success stories ever. Yeah. You know, the overlooked for some reason or not thought of in the same class as many of their peers as high school players and yet became literally all NBA talent. you know and so and that's anthony grant that's at dayton who's recruited a lot of big time athletes

both at florida for years at florida under billy donovan and then he had that alabama job for a while and now he's at dayton but he's recruited some players as well so if they found one in that kid you're talking about it would not shock me and the thing i really love about homes is he has gotten better every single year like he's gone back to school and he's worked on the things that he had to get better at. And even in the final minute of this game, I just saw he defended one-on-one on a switch, forced a turnover, Dayton gets the ball back, 15 seconds left at the free-throw line. And I mean, the thing with him is, if he did this, if he does this throughout the month, like, if Dayton holds on and wins this game, which it seems like they

might, we'll see. And if they continue winning games, if he does this against proven opponents, I believe next round in the bracket, let me check who Dayton has. They were down like seven So, yeah, down 17 and Holmes that had a big second half. Like I obviously were recording so I didn't catch everything at the end, but they face Arizona next round if they hold off and win this game. Arizona, like, if you're in that bracket, then maybe if you win that game and then who knows who you can end up facing on the other side of it, there's some intriguing matchups against a lot of NBA caliber prospects that that's what scouts want to see Dairon Holmes go against. And so it's the best to the best. Exactly.

And so I think for him, this is a great first test granted, you know, it's against a 10 seed in Nevada. It's not, you know, like you're facing a two seed like in Arizona. I got you. But you got to look at these and go, who does these, you know, where are the matchups that kind of set up nicely for these guys? Because they are, you know, I even see both like Kentucky and Marquette if they are able to do what they're supposed to do in the first two rounds. They're going to play each other. Yeah, isn't that awesome? And then you got all those guys.

Like to me, like I, I mean, I want, A, I want entertaining games. I want the funnest possible games. That's my priority watching March Madness. But B, I want the best draft matchups. That's just the reality of how I watch March Madness a lot of the time. It's like, I want fun and matchups for draft purposes. So sorry to Tate Frazier with a one shining podcast, but that's my priorities. Oh, who can.

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Must be 21 plus from present in select states. Gambling problem called 100 gambler or visit the ringer.com slash RG. First online real money wager only, $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued and non-drama bonus bets to expire seven days after receipt. See terms of sportsbook.Fambleau.com. All right, look, we obviously are going to be keeping up with the NCAA tournament and everything that happens regarding the draft. But today, what we are going to do is we have challenged ourselves to come up with five guys

that we are keeping our eye on as we are in this home stretch, these last 15, 20 games before we get to the NBA playoffs. It is a fool's errand for us to every day talk about the standings and where these teams are in the standings because I look, and like this morning when I was looking at stuff, I was like, the Pacers were in sixth. I'm like, okay, all right. But again, you can look up by the time we record our next podcast,

And we're talking about a team's got home court advantage. The other team is like, so to try to figure out how this is all going to shake out is very, very difficult and hanging on every individual outcome that takes place. I was very depressed. I really thought we were going to come on this Thursday show and be able to blow it out talking about the bucks and the Celtics. But that just was not meant to be with Janus not playing in the game. I get that it ended up close at the end. I mean, again, we're evaluating this on what would this look like as an Eastern Finals, and that can't tell me what this would look like as an Eastern Finals.

And so it's a shame because we have, we've had a very high hit rate of the great games that we have looked forward to. Should be a really good slate on Thursday night. Unfortunately, for the NBA, the NCAA tournament, it's going to be going on at the same time, but there are a lot of good matchups. Anyways. Nick's Nuggets, that'll be a really fun one, I think. Really good. There's a magic game.

It's really good as well. I think Pelicans? Yeah, magic Pelicans. Very good. Yeah, that's starting in 10 minutes. Yep. All right. Here's the deal.

Five players that we have got our eye on as we head towards the NBA playoffs. For whatever reason, you've got your eye on these players that are standing out to you. Do you want to start or do you want me to go first? I'll start off. I want to start off with a player that this fan base will be happy than I'm mentioning. But they don't like me. That's okay. Keon Ellis

Keon Ellis went viral for the wrong reasons This guy is going to say I can hear it now you finally talk about the Kings and you're not bringing up Domas that's crazy

We can bring up Domas but Keon Ellis went viral for the wrong reasons when Jalen Brunson called for a screen and Ellis got caught looking but the Kings are 7-0 when Ellis is a starter they're 8 and 1 when he plays

over 21 minutes. They have the number four defensive rating in the NBA this month. And when Ellis is on the floor this month, they're allowing 101.1 points for 100 possessions on defense. And when he's off the floor this month, they're allowing 11.4 points per 100 possessions. So Ellis has been just this, despite that viral play, just this tenacious point of attack defender, six three, long six nine wingspan. He gets in everybody's airspace. He's versatile. he can switch. He sets a tone. And on offense, he's a 40 plus percent guy from three who doesn't make dumb decisions. He's a smart player. He plays his role. He can fit next to Subonis. He can fit next to Fox. He can fit next to everybody on that roster. And now with Kevin Herder out with injury,

I would think Ellis should be playing even more minutes. He shouldn't be hovering around 20, 25 every night. He should be at 30, 35 every night with the impact that he's making on this team. And I think for the Kings, this is something that they were missing. It's what they hoped for from Davy on Mitchell, except he also brings on offense. And so you start games with, you get Ellis starting now, and then Mitchell coming off the bench for spurts going hard on defense.

This is why the King's defense has been much better this month. It's interesting. You say it's sometimes you trip into something. Something that would not have ever taken place under other or normal circumstances takes place, and then you find, oh my god we've had this sitting there the whole time like this guy and maybe do you think it moves the needle at all in terms of what you think their playoff chances are no what a dick

i love it all right no it doesn't by the way you know i have this sitting on my desk the king sent me this for uh what is that all-star voting oh domas and uh fox it's a lunchbox there you go I love lunchbox. I should give this away to a Kingsman. That'd be like a cool giveaway thing. It would be a cool giveaway. P.S. before I get to mine,

because I'm going to ruin your life by taking somebody that's probably on your list. Really? Okay. I'll see about that. Dayton ended the game that we were just talking about on a 24 to 4 run and your guy got the walk-off interview. And his headband game is strong. Just on site looks like a perfect

good looking guy league fits guy as you know I can see this guy wearing the mink wearing the on league fit walking into the game

this guy got the you got the walk off interview got a good smile hopefully he's got some good charisma let's go Dayton I'm with it it's pretty awesome man so cool

yeah home I mean homes homes I had him in the 20s on last year's rankings before he dipped out. I'm going to put him higher on Monday's board, because it's so fluid in like the 18. Why not? Why not us?

Like the 18 to 40 range. Yeah, let's put homes higher on Monday's board. All right. My number one pick, since you went with a fan base that doesn't like you, I'll go with a fan base that doesn't like me. Zion Williamson. Oh, yeah.

Bro, that alley-y-up the other night was unbelievable. And then, When Horse had that report that he's lost like 25 pounds since we saw him, you know, out of breath during the in-season tournament. Okay. So I went. Isn't that amazing? 25 pounds in what, two months, three months? What the hell are you doing it?

You on Ozeptic? I don't know. 25 pounds is a lot. Maybe he just cut out carbs, started caring about it. Like, there was going to come a time where he's going to start caring about it. And as this season is going on. But more importantly than the lost weight, which has turned Zion back into a guy where I watch him and I go, oh shit, like you better watch out for this.

I told you years ago, said, this guy could be one of the top five, ten players in the NBA. Like, he's just got to commit himself. But it's in there. And when everybody got so down on him, I was saying, man, I trade for his ass just to try. because if you hit on it, it's like winning the lottery, like literally winning the lottery. If you were to trade some assets for it, and then you could get him to take it seriously. And then you just pray one day he's going to really commit himself. And if he ever does, you got a monster on your hands.

And we're seeing that monster start to come out. 24 points a game, eight rebounds a game, five assists a game, a steal a game, a block a game. okay, that's all March, 63% from the field, and seven free throws, uh, attempts a game. Now,

the other thing, and this is what, and I'm not going to bag on the Pelicans for not going to it sooner, because the guy had to become in shape and be able to be the guy that could carry the low, that this team had to become his team. Ingram's not the guy that's going to be your best guy. There is a pecking order. and the more this pecking order is flushing itself out, the better it is for the Pelicans.

There's 7-1. I know their schedule is easy, right? But there's 7-1 in this month of March. He's now two full-shot attempts ahead of everybody else. This isn't, you know, everybody's on the same level. Like you go back to December when you and I were watching them and we were like, Jesus. Like, he's just kind of shuffling. up and down the court and then they got bagged by the Lakers in that game that we went to.

We were so depressed about it. But in December, I was depressed to watch the Pelkins. You were, you were gleeful. I was depressed because I was all the way out in Las Vegas to watch a basketball game. And it's like, what the hell is this? I was at halftime, I was at the Park MGM playing video poker. Right? I was like, they're down by 40.

This is stupid. All right. Oh, my God. Brandon Ingram, though, in the month of December, he's taking 16 shots of game. Zion's taking 13. McCollum's taken 15. He wasn't ready for that, right? You look now, and Zion is the guy that on most nights is going to be taking, you know,

that's who's buttering the bread, as they say. And then Murphy's 13 attempts, Ingrams, 13 attempts, McCollum's, 13 attempts. McCollum's 13 attempts. Everybody just fall in line behind him. And he wasn't ever ready. Like he's the guy. We know he's the guy. He's our go-to guy.

He's our guy that's going to deliver the mail every night. The trick is he was not going to be able to do. I get it. He wasn't going to be able to deliver the mail every night. He just wasn't. This version appears that he is. And if Zion Williams is your best player, he's this version. and there everybody has obviously come to the understanding with that team.

This is the guy. It's not Brandon Ingram. It's not C.J. McCaw. Like a pecking order finally flushed out with their actual best player being the guy that has taken most shots every night. And it's slowly melding into that. And we always talk about when you get to the playoffs, I've got this guy, you've got this guy. So many times the series will. come down to who's got the best player on the floor.

This version of Zion can be the best player on the floor in almost every series, you know, that he plays. It's a possibility. We're leaving Yolkut aside. But could he be the best player in a series against Gilded's Alexander? I don't think that's crazy. No. Could he be the best player in a series against Anthony Edwards?

No. It's not crazy. Not crazy at all. Could he be the best player in a series that includes Kauai Lennon? I mean, I wouldn't put him up there yet because Kauai is a hell of a playoff performer. But not crazy for one series, Chris, right? So save Yokic for a series.

Like, I don't think they had that guy. And now within the course of the season, it is flushed out to where they do have that guy. And it is a hell of a thing to see. Even when you watch that, like, we haven't seen that. Where he caught that lob and finished that with two. hands. It's been a long time since we've seen that guy. There have always been very small spurt, but the athleticism, and you just look at him, he looks like a different human than he looked like in December. And then obviously the report tells us, well, that's because he is a different

human than he was in December. He literally is. So you got to analyze this guy and not the one that we've been, you know, now I don't want to say tricked into because he was that guy, but what we've been used to believing about him. Because the best version of Zion, and if he keeps doing whatever he's doing, you've still got a month. What's he going to look like in a month if he keeps committed to this? It's like you've just attained a top 10 player, truly, because he wasn't close. not even close to that.

And now he's, I've always said he could be one of the best players in the entire league, and he's finally playing like that, and they're treating him like the guy in New Orleans. So I want to see this continue through the end of the year. You know, you've got to run through the tape with this, but certainly makes me feel very differently about their playoff prospects if he's that guy. Absolutely, Chris. I mean, you nailed it. I mean, I'm very impressed.

I'm very happy. You took one of my guys, which is fine. It's okay. It's okay. One of the stats I wanted to share with you, Chris, is. Oh, we were just doing four players each anyway. Yeah, sure. I think I said five.

Well, one of the touch stat, the touch numbers per game prior to the All-Star break, Zion was touching the ball 58 times per game, possessing it for 3.4 minutes per game. Since the break, he's possessing the ball 4.9. minutes per game and touching it 69.2 times per game. So I think that increase for Zion is indicative of what you're saying with the shots, with the offensive role, the responsibility,

what he's able to withstand and handle. And I can't help but wonder, can he even do more? As you said, what does he look like in April? What does it look like come playoff time when they're feeding him 20 plus shots per game, not just leading the team by two shots over everybody else,

but when he's getting force fed, what does it look like at that point? So for Zion and the Pelicans, obviously incredibly impressive, you've got one of the best defenders in all of the world and Herb Jones leading your team on the other end. They have so many different pieces, Dyson Daniels types,

like they have so many different guys who are just straight up good players. It's your old line, Chris, that you always talk about, you know, like where like even the guys who aren't playing, the guys who aren't playing right now, like in nice of Daniels. They don't suck.

Like the guys who aren't playing don't suck. But like never mind the guys, you know, who do Valentunas, Alvarado, Najee Marshal, Larry Nance, Jordan Hawkins. He's sometimes plays on all the time. But like up and down their roster, they just have so many different good players, including the guys who are D&Ps or out injured. Like it's crazy how loaded they are.

All right. Who's your next guy? Let's go with somebody who's underwhelmed. Scoot Henderson needs to show something. He's this month, this month of March, he's averaging 11.9 points per game on 12.1 shots per game. And that's like it's not getting better with him over the course of the season. I think his shooting ability, he's at over 80% from the free throw line that's encouraging. He is below 40% from mid range.

He's around 30% from three. Those are poor numbers. But to me, the number one concern with him is the at-room finishing. He does a good job at getting into the pain. He can playmaking, kick it out, he can find rollers and cutters and all that. But the at-room finishing has not improved. On the season, he's shooting 47.6% in the restricted area, 34.5% in the paint.

He doesn't have a floater. He is not finishing well against contact off of two feet. In the past, he's somebody that he got by on his speed and his burst and his athleticism, but he's been blocked 30 times this season. in the paint and because that athleticism isn't getting him where it once did. So I think for Scoot, this needs to be a big awakening here. Like you're not an elite athlete. You are a good to great athlete.

And now is the time to add to that with some craft over the offseason because he needs to become a good at-room finisher because the shots aren't going to fall every night. And you hope the three-point shooting gets better. But at the least, he needs to become a guy who can reliably finish around the basket. And as of now, he does not look like it. I think that's the biggest red flag at his game right now. Yeah, because we're seeing a bunch of these other rookies that are showing us something. Trending out, trending up.

And he's not the least of which, right? Yes. Oh, and I don't have him on my list, but can I just mention this real quick? I saw, did you see the ringers? There's a video, you probably haven't seen it yet, but there's a video they put out. I think it was like on Instagram or something, and it was the group chat guys, all talking about Amman Thompson. Mahoney was talking about how they're using him and they're talking about the space.

and all this kind of stuff. And about like the small ball center stuff and whatever. And I could not help but watch that and think this is exactly what Kevin wanted Ben Simmons to be. Yeah. Is it not? You're right. 100%. This is exactly like what Amman Thompson actually is doing,

which is wreaking havoc on the defensive end. And then on the offensive end has not taken it as a demer. Like, I think people thought he was going to be a point guard. All right. It's not a point guard. But here's this role that I'm being put in, and I'm amazing at it. And I'm a problem for NBA teams by doing it. Yeah, 100%.

I think you're a spot on. It's what I hope for Ben Simmons, and he's never been willing to embrace. Meanwhile, you have Amman Thompson, who is completely selfless, and he's a willing screener. He'll, like, hang around the paint and wait for dump off passes. and yes, sometimes he will run points. Sometimes he will bring the ball up the floor. But he does everything that the team asks him to do.

He's played every position that imaginable for the Rockets this year as a rookie. And I think for him moving forward, that bodes very well regardless of what they do with the supporting cast. Well, here's the thing, he can't shoot. Yeah, he can't. He's like a 20%, 18% guy from three right now. So how do I become super impactful? I can find a way to fill in these gaps. I mean, a guy has like 27 points in a game,

and he doesn't space the floor and shoot three. So how does this happen? Like, because he does all this other stuff. Great. He could pass. He can rebound. He can hustle. He can block shots.

He can steal. He could dunk off vert. Like, I mean, he could do all this stuff. And it's like, am I going to let the fact that I can't shoot destroy my ability to be on the court? is a whole lot of guys that weirdly could look at Amen Thompson as a great example

of how you can be mega impactful instead of you're unplayable. Right? 100% true. Yep. 100%. And one of the guys in the draft that comes to mind,

we just saw Virginia have one of the most ugly games imaginable. Don't talk about that. They'll talk about that. It was really bad. But Ryan Dunn, just one guy where he can't shoot, but he can defend.

He can finish at the best. basket. He's got a mind on the court. It's not like he doesn't know how to cut or roll or has feel for the game. Dunn is one of those guys where it's like, hmm, you plug him into a situation and embraces him like Amman Thompson and that he's willing to do those things. Maybe he can work out even if he never develops a jumper. All right. The next one is I, you know, you were talking earlier about how I've said in the past, you know, just not playing guys that don't suck. One of the other things I've said is history always tells us, Kevin, you got to have one of the five to ten best guys in the league to win the title. And so I can almost write you off if you don't have one of those guys.

So my next guy is somebody, every night I'm sitting there and I'm thinking about talking about this, but I've held off. Is it possible that Jalen Brunson is one of the five to ten best guys in the league? but because we have held this opinion, much like the Zion thing, for so long about what he is that we're missing it. This guy now is averaging almost 28 points a game, six assists, almost four rebounds, 48% from the field, 40% from three.

When we've seen him in the playoffs, so the last time we saw him in the playoffs, played 11 games for the Knicks, he averaged 28 points a game in the playoffs. So like we've seen, and he was a huge part of the Mavs getting to the West finals the last time we saw him in the playoffs with the MADS. But even with the NICs,

he averaged 28 points a game over 11 games, playing with them. He is up to sixth in the NBA and scoring behind M-BED, Luca, SGA, Yannis, and Durant. All right? Now, he's in his sixth year in the NBA. but there's part of me that goes, all right, we had this perception for so long that we haven't, we already had our opinion of how good he is or how good he is in the pantheon

of the other great players in the league. And I sit there and every night, I mean, you could, anybody can go pull up a game log right now. Go look at the damn game log of these last like four or five games. It's like, my God. like he has curry numbers. These are Steph Curry numbers. But we don't look at him like we think about. And I'm talking about Steph Curry when he was at the best of the best.

Steph Curry ain't got many seasons that he aver's over 28. You know? And this guy is at almost 28 points a game at like high percentages, almost 50% from the field as a little guy. and 40% from three. And so it just, you know, I've obviously been a few to be my praise in the Knicks. I've talked about them being a very dangerous team. But also, and I think it was Candace Parker that got in trouble for it earlier this year,

which is like basically, eh, you know, there's a ceiling if your best player is Jay LaBronson. That's what keeps going through my head. As much as I think I love that team and as much as I've seen them like stymie teams defensively, he's putting up these Curry numbers, but nobody thinks of him in that way. I constantly find myself going like, bro, is this guy like Curry and we're just missing it? Like, you know what I mean?

Like, am I going to look up in the playoffs and he's just throwing the damn team on his back and killing everybody? Because this season that he's having is unbelievable. And maybe that whole, there's a ceiling on you if your best player of Jalen Brunson, I've got to and everybody has to just recalibrate that

because that ceiling is not the ceiling that we probably thought it was. And with him, he's not a one-trick pony. Brunson is not just a guy that you run high ball screen after high ball screen that he creates for you. In the second half of the season, you're seeing the Knicks pretty much ever since Randall went down.

out, they're running Brunson off a ton more off ball screens, more actions, more versatility where they're getting him the ball off of movement and getting motion within their half-court offense. And so I think you're seeing dynamic wrinkles being added on top of the foundation of this Knicks offense. And isn't that exactly what you want in the playoffs? Having a plan A, a plan B, a plan C, a plan D. And I feel like with the Knicks, that's what they're building towards right now.

and that's despite having guys who have missed time, Brunson remains the rock of that franchise. And you could be on to something, Chris, that perhaps Jalen Brunson is one of those guys who can pop off in a series and be the best guy in a series. And didn't we see him do this in the playoffs before with Dallas, where he is dropping massive performances without Luca? It's not like we haven't seen him do that before.

So I think with the Knicks, they are a sleeper for the finals. They're not the favorite over the Celtics or the bucks, and you've got to give, you know, still a lot of credit to the heat and respect to the heat. But the Knicks are scary, man, because that defense is going to keep them in a lot of games and if Brunson can pop off,

I go and check what happened the night before and the games that I wasn't able to see every morning. And every morning. I'm like, Jesus. I know. I had friggin' 42 again like this. What is going on here? And it is the weirdest thing because he's in the biggest media market.

Usually everybody out of New York is massively overrated. Massively. If Frank Nilakina had eight points, there'd be frigging 50 memes about it. Everybody from there. And somehow, I feel like this guy is in the number one media market and is underrated. I don't know how the, I don't know what's happening here. It's so bizarre.

And by the way, you know who else has been really good with them? Not on my list, but Miles McBride. Remember when we raved about it a month ago on the show? The dude has been like playing way more than even anticipated. And he's been excellent with them, dude. Hold on,

I'm going to find this while we were on the air because you're going to love this. When I was looking at something earlier today, I'm going to pray I can find it. When I was looking at something regarding the Knicks, You know how, like, sometimes those sites will have, like, headlines underneath whatever you're reading about or whatever. I've got to see if I can find this. Okay, here we go. This is a GQ headline.

It was like an ad underneath, like this Knicks thing I was reading about, okay, when I was doing the Brunson deal. Miles McBride has been unstoppable since attending the Dune Part 2 premiere. I was like, what? It says if you've been following the New York Knicks this season, you know this team is experienced major turning points, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It said on February 25th, Miles Duce McBride attended the premiere of Dune Part 2 in New York. As this Twitter user, Doink Patrol, nice, pointed out, I swear to God, they list that. He's been absolutely, he's been going absolutely crazy since the,

that fateful night. In 44 games prior to the premiere, at which we should mention McBride looks spectacular, he was averaging six points a night and shooting an admittedly very strong 40% on three. Pretty standard second string numbers. But in the 11 games, since he went to the Dune premiere, he skyrocketed to 10.5 points per game while knocking down and observed 45% of his threes. and then you know it's a GQ article because the next line is for context

Steph Curry the greatest shooter ever owns a career three point percentage of 42.6 and then it's like it's really like a celebrity story about Miles McBride and how awesome he's been since going to this wow, Dune 2 premiere. Wow. Yeah, McBride. Good good for him man.

I just looked up while he was. were talking January 30th was when we had our podcast raving about him. averaging 25 minutes per game ever since then. Well, in fairness. Listener of the pot. In fairness, no, Brunson missed like those. There was like a series a couple of weeks ago where Brunson had to miss two games. No, Tibbs played McBride like 44 and 42 minutes like back to back.

Yeah. Jesus, man. There's some games where he's played 45 that are way out. He's like, oh, you want to start? Oh, you want to start? This is, now you're in my world. Do you think Tibbs does it so no one can ever complain about playing time? Yeah.

Like that he's a bastard. He's like, no one is ever, like, look, there'll be bitches. There'll be guys that bitch that they don't get to play. But of the ones that play, they're never going to say they don't play enough. I promise you. Did you see Dune 2? I did not. I haven't seen Dune 1.

Okay. I see. I didn't even know that Dune 1 was a thing until Dune 2. I see. Because I've read some article saying that it had like a 98 on Rotten Tomatoes at the time. I don't know what it's at now. But it was like in the 90s. And I was like, oh, is this awesome?

I like Dune 2. Dune 2 is really good. I like Dune 2 a lot. But everybody said I got to see Dune 1. No, I disagree completely. You can read a recap or watch one of those five to 20 minute recap videos in YouTube. You don't need to watch Doon 1. Is it worth watching?

Just read a recap. Or no? I think Dune 2 is great, really good. No, one, is one not worth watching? I didn't love it personally. No. I saw it once in theaters when it was out, and then I saw it again prior to seeing Dune 2, just to give it another shot.

I didn't love it personally. Oh, then I'm blaming you for not knowing about Dune 1. You're the biggest nerd. You're the biggest nerd I know, and you didn't mention it to me. Am I really the biggest nerd you know, the number one nerd? No. That I'm friends with. Oh, God.

I'm kidding. Oh, geez. Our producer, Jesse, is probably the biggest. I'm kidding. I'm goofing, man. Jesse does love movies. Oh, I guarantee Jesse loves Dune One and Dune 2. He's probably wearing a Dune T-shirt.

Dune 1. just a bit slow. It's very slow. It's very slow. Dunn 2 is a bit more pace. The story moves more. And I think even the Dune fans would admit Dune 1 is a set-out movie. Dune 2 is where the action really begins, which is why I would recommend

for you, Chris. You're a father. You work multiple jobs. You're a busy man. Read the recap for Dune 1. Get set up. And then go, spend three hours in the theater for Dune 2 and enjoy yourself. It's great. It's really fun. I would like to issue an apology to our executive producer Jesse Lopez.

He has alerted me. He has never seen either of them. Wow. I have miscast him. I have miscast him and he's obviously offended. I put him in the same pool with you. Wow. I'm shocked, honestly.

I'm very shocked. All right. I just offended a whole bunch of people who are like, dude one's up boring. Oh, who cares? Yeah. Let's go to pop quiz. Let's go to pop quiz here, Chris.

A pop quiz. A pop quiz for this player. Over six seasons, regular season and playoffs combined, over six seasons with one single organization, this player has appeared in 419 games and played 14,323 minutes. And this player has drawn a grand total of zero charges. Who is this player?

Six years Six years I'm gonna do that Look I'm I'm only looking up teams So I can look at a list of this The teams So then I could try to whittle down a six year player And he has not drawn a charge

Not a single charge in 419 games And 14,323 minutes Regular season and playoffs combined I mean I can whittle this down Pretty good just by going through six years years with one team. Yeah. Miles Turner?

Nah. Do you want any more guesses or you just want to know the answer? You want to know the answer? Easter Conference or Western Conference? Eastern Conference. Six years with one team and has never basically taken a charge. He was traded in that first season, during that first season. So I don't know if that messes up the six seasons of time.

He was traded in the first season, but he is in his sixth season. Julius Randall. Has he been there six years? Julius Randall? All right, go ahead. Tell me. Okay. The player is Tobias Harris.

I mean, you know, Rissillo's got this, you know, long-running joke every year when it's like, wow, Tobias Harris plays for the Sixers, right? Like, every time he'll have, like, you know. 22 points at a playoff game or something? Yeah. Well, the reason why I bring up Tobias Harris is because now in 17 games without Jewel LeBeed, he's shooting 29% from three, only 51% from two. He has been an absolute non-factor for them at a time that they could have needed help the most.

And now the Sixers are in the plan. There was a report today from NBC Sports Philadelphia that Embedde won't be back for another two to three weeks. if he's back in two weeks, that leaves six games remaining during the season. If he's back in three weeks, that leaves three games remaining in the season. I think this is the point of the season now where can you do something, Tobias Harris? Can you do something? Can you step up somehow, some way and perform? Can you take a charge?

Can you put your body on the line? I'd like to see him at the end of the season. Take a charge. take a charge, move up the leaderboard. You can do it. I believe in you. Put in some effort and help this team win some games. That would be good for somebody to come up with like those crazy stats like that.

Because I was watching Minnesota versus Denver the other night, which is a great game. And I was super impressed with Minnesota. They were without obviously some of their guys. A lot of guys fought to the end. And then Ann Edwards had a good. look from three to tie that game. I mean, they just, you know, they, they show me something with that. That felt like playoff environment.

Totally agree with you. I felt the same. It might have been in that broadcast or it was one of their recent ones. Because, of course, we tracked this for a long time in Memphis, but Mike Connolly has still never gotten an attack. That's impossible, Kevin. I know, I know. And so it was like those kind of things like that, like the Tobias Harris has not

taking a charge, like these statistical anomalies that you wonder, like, the guy's never done at one time? Like, you would just think randomly, you would think you'd randomly be in a block charge situation and you got the call. By accident. By accident. Yeah. A guy just mowed you down because you were just because you were standing there.

Yeah, you're defending man to man on a drive of the rim and like you'd legitimately get, you know, pummeled and you fall over. The guy lowered his shoulder into me. Yes, 100%. You would think that would have it at least once. Once. Maybe once. Maybe once.

And 14,000 minutes, you'd think it happened once. But he's just not an impactful player. He's not shooting the ball well. He doesn't play make. I find my Sixers fan right now watching this team. I am absolutely furious that a guy making $40 million is not stepping his game up without my best player out there for two months now. Okay.

Next one for me, oh boy, I may catch some heat from this from my higher-ups. If you listen to Bill's podcast, you would think Damian Lillard is frigging like Terry Rozier now. And I don't know if it's just because it's a Boston thing and they want it to not work in Milwaukee. But it's like constantly, I'm hearing about how, you know, Damian Lillard is like, he's good once a week and he's got this terrible contract. And it's like, but Damien Lillard now in 10 games in March, He's averaging 26 points a game on 45% from the field,

42% from 3, 9 assists and 4 rebounds, 26, 9 and 4, 45% from the field, 42% from 3. And if he goes to the free throw line, he's auto. He's 96%. And he's made all manner of clutch shots, and they are one of the top clutch teams in the entire NBA. Like, I don't get it. The disconnect between what Damien Lillard has been and what I keep hearing he has been is great.

Damian Lillard's been frigging awesome. And you better watch the hell out because it's about to be playoff time. And he's got this new T-Soe watch ad. And so he's going to be hitting this T-Soe watch as he's downing people when it comes playoff time. Like, what are we talking about? Damian Lillard is frigging awesome. What do you want, 26, 9, and 4? If he's once a week, then he's got to be having.

fucking 100 points a week in one game because how are you doing this? The guys averageed 26, 9, and 4 on 45% for the field, 42% from 3, and 96% for the free throw line. In March, there are 10 games that they played in March. Like, Damien Lillard is still awesome. And you want to line up all the guys to get me ready for the playoffs, he's still going to be a very, very high pick. the death of Damian Lillard as an elite top-level guard in this league is highly exaggerated, highly exaggerated. And all you got to do is look, look at what this guy's done. And it's starting to catch fire.

So this is something to monitor. Spot on, 100% true. We are on the same exact page with Damien DeHord. I mean, I think the last time I was on Bill's podcast, him and I got into it over Dame. And I'm with you, Chris. Maybe it's a Drew Holiday Hive or something. I don't know. I don't know.

With like Bill, Doris Burke, you know, a number of others. Well, he's a Celtic now. Yeah. Right? So it's like, okay, we got the better guy. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah.

But Damian Lillard is freaking awesome. What are we talking about? And just to add on to the Dame love here, guess who's back? Middleton, Chris Middleton, 22 points against the Suns, 22 points against the Celtics. He's playing 30 minutes a game right now. I think the Suns game he had seven assists. Yes, seven assists in the Suns game and then six to six,

six assists in the Celtics game. So with Middleton, you get him back. They need Chris Middleton to make a finals run. They need Chris Middleton. And so I think this Buck's team is, their defense has not been as good after a stretch in which it was awesome. We'll see how that translates over the course

the rest of the regular season, but getting Middleton back is gigantic on top of Damien Lohard finding himself on offense. Your last one. Oh, I stole it. It's Zion, right? Well, I mean, I did an extra one. I had a fifth just in case. Oh, you owe us one because you did freaking Keon Ellis. It's wrong with the key on else? I mean, I get it.

But you're trying to throw a bone to Sacchar Meno. So using one of their four valuable slots on Keon Ellis is, I mean, that, come on. We could throw a different bone to them. I was setting up a thought about their defense using Keon Ellis as the end. So, okay. All right. Last one, Devin Vassell over the last two months with the Spurs. He's averaging 20.

Oh, real who cares? Yeah. they even still have a camera on at their games it's like the frigid wilt 100 point game nobody's seeing this by the way they play the grizzlies tomorrow night everybody tune in devon visell over the last two months

averaging 21.4 points per game shooting 39.6% from three and with 4.9 assist to only two turnovers per game after a shaky start to the year, Devin Vassell is back on the positive trajectory that he was on in his recent years with the Spurs. And so I think with Vassel,

you look around San Antonio's roster, there's a handful of keepers around Wembe. Devin Vassel's one of them because of his versatile scoring and creation ability. Jeremy Sohan is another because of his defensive ability and his connective ability on offense. And potentially, your guy, Trey Jones, could be a backer

got point guard of the future rotation guy for them. He's improved from every zone as a shooter from three point range, mid range, the paint, restricted area. So on top of being a really good playmaker and then a hard nose smaller guy on defense, his scoring has improved this year. So I think those three are guys that I can see the spurs keeping long term, particularly Devin Bissell more than any of them. What do you think about the big tall guy? Do you think they'll keep him? I mean, we'll see. Wembenyama, I think. Oh, okay, yeah.

I mean, we'll see if they hold on. You see if they hold on to him? Okay. We'll see about that. Tough decisions there. Since I do want to show some love where I'm not using him because I wrote down a bunch in case that we, you know, bled over on top of each other. So I do just want to mention very briefly. No key on Ellis on your list?

He was like, I actually had him. How many players are in the league? like 450, 400 or something like that? Yeah, yeah, I had it. Give Keon L of some respect. Let's give him some respect. He's a really good defensive player.

Huge Keon fan. Jalen Green got to mention him. We just talked about him. That's why I didn't get him on my list. Yeah. He's 8 and 1, 27 points a game, 50, 40 from 3.

And then he's six rebounds, three and a assist. Like he's starting to look like the star that we thought he could be draft time. We talked about him, what, last Friday show? That's right. We did. We talked about him. Yeah.

All right, the last one. And he's had big game since then. Like, it's not like it slowed down. Yep. And he had 42 the other night. Yeah. And that was after winning Western Conference player of the week. All right.

The last one. And I think this alters the playoffs the absolute most. So earlier I was talking about Zion Williamson. I was like, you know what? Maybe you could have the best, you could have the best player in a series. whatever. This is the one that's got my eye the most as we head down the home stretch.

And that is Kauai Leonard. Kauai Leonard has had a couple of injuries, back spasms, I think was the last thing that flared up. But then he keeps coming back into the lineup. And he's okay. Did you know, he has never shot a higher field goal percentage. He's at 53%. He has never shot a higher three point percentage.

He's a 42%. and he's 89% from the free throw line. He is a percentage point off of a 50, 40, 90 season. Okay? And we saw him in the playoffs, but we only saw him for two games. Last year against Phoenix. And he was absolutely unbelievable. He averaged 35 points a game in six and a half rebounds and six assists.

And then he got hurt. The last time we saw him in the playoffs before that was back in 2021, and he averaged 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in the 11 games that they played then. Okay? This is a guy that when it comes playoff time, now it's even elevated. There's part of me, like, once you've got to fight this out to the end because of the seating and whatever. But I don't think there's anybody in the league that is more. important to keep healthy leading into this.

He could truly be the best player in the conference in the playoffs, but there's nobody that's a bigger question mark, right? Like the ceiling and the floor are so immense for them because he is maybe the one guy in the whole conference that I could go, he could have a better series than even Yokic. Like he is that good at his apex. And when you've seen him in the playoffs last year, and he's averaging 35, 6 and 6, when we see him in the playoffs here before,

and he can be the best guy. But he can also be unavailable. So whatever the difference between that is, like being the best player outside of Yokic in the conference, and then you might not have him. And can you keep him healthy for, you know, three, four rounds of this. He has stayed healthy.

He's had a couple flare-ups recently, but he is having an unbelievable statistical season. And if they weren't fighting for seating, man, I'd throw that dude in shrink wrap. And I'd break him back out when the playoffs start. You know what I mean? I'd just be like, all right, we've gotten all the way to this point.

Let's just get you there to the playoffs. But obviously they've got to play this out for seating, and it's probably best for him to stay. you know, active and playing all the time. But I feel all of their hopes hinge on how awesome he is. Because you know the other two are flakes. They are. George may flake on you and Harden may flake on you.

But Kauai could average 30 to 35 points in a series and just be, you know, dominating on both ends of the court as a wing, which is super, important. So just him and can you play this string out, get through the tape and then make it to the playoffs healthy because I do think their ceiling is great if he is what he has been in the playoffs. But the trick is, you know, he's great in the playoffs last year. And then we saw him for two, two games.

And then didn't see him again. But hell, they might have gone to the frigging West Finals last year. that that version of kawai that we saw in game one game two i mean he was heads up with durant whooping his ass whoopin his ass you remember the old ty luke thing like they don't think you got it anymore they think durant's the guy in this series kawai went out there and looked like friggin' michael jordan it's crazy so i don't know clippers are seven and eight since the all-star break i know it they are lazy too they're lazy just lame

Hardin's turned into a pumpkin. Yep. Besides contesting Kauai's own three-pointer the other night. That was crazy. Best defensive player of his career. I mean, it was best effort that we've seen in recent weeks for damn sure. Yeah, I think with the Clippers,

Tyler talked about it after one of their recent games. He's like, can you guys flip the switch? He had a back and forth from the reporter. He's like, I've seen teams do this before. We'll see. We'll see about the Clippers. I think ultimately more than. Anything else, though, it's all up to Kauai, as you just said, Chris.

Kauai is the guy who makes it all happen. He's shooting only 30% from three after the All-Star break. His three-point numbers are down. If he turns it on on offense and gets back to the 25 plus point per game, 30-point-per-game guy on elite level, 50-40-90 efficiency that you were talking about that he was at one point this season, then they have a shot. Like, that's obvious. It all starts with Kauai Leonard more than anything else,

But also their defense, their overall team, like it just feels like things aren't clicking the same way that they did prior. Like, what has the hell happened? That's because they again got that boy, Russ. Put some respect on his name, Kev. We'll see. Put some respect on Russ's name. We'll see.

We'll see if it's due to Ross. Once Russ comes back, we'll see if he's the energizing. Oh, man. It's going to be like letting a pit bull out the cage. Oh, I can't wait. I can't wait. Yeah. I mean, the thing is is their struggles kind of began.

before Russ went out though that's the thing. It's like he played five games after the other. Stop bringing up details. They were two and three in those games. Let me cook, man. There were two and three in those games and Russell wasn't getting defended in the half court. But anyway, I digress. No one will I hear that shit.

All right. There's our list. Everybody enjoy March Madness. We'll obviously talk about all the prospects that made it out of the first weekend when we reconvene on Tuesday. Thank you to our executive producer who's never seen Dune, Jesse Lopez, and Kevin, I'll talk to you next week. I have a great weekend.

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