The Ringer NBA Show - Can Miami Make the 2020 NBA Finals Even More Interesting? | The Mismatch

Episode Date: October 6, 2020

Verno and KOC talk about Miami’s win in Game 3 of the NBA Finals (3:07), what to look for in Game 4 (18:54), and whether they think that Miami has a shot to make this series even more interesting (31:47). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Ringer NBA show. Today we are going to be talking about our thoughts on game three of the NBA finals and the epic Jimmy Butler performance. And we will get you ready for NBA Finals game number four. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. Join me as he does every Tuesday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Climber, Kevin O'Clymouth, Kevin O'Considerate.

Kevin O'Continous. Chris Vernon. Happy birthday. And we are recording this on Monday night, which happens to be my birthday. Thank you very much for the incredibly nice tweet that you sent out today. It enabled another couple thousand people to berate me on my appearance versus my voice. But I will say this, regarding, I mean, there's going to come a time where people have seen what I look like, I hope, because we've now, as you mentioned, been doing the podcast for four years. And literally every time there's a

photograph that emerges of me, either on your feed, the ringers feed, my own feed, I am hit with, I had no idea that's what you looked like. I thought you were black. I thought that, I mean, I get everything, right? I thought you were 100 years old. You name it. I will say this, though, in every relationship, there always has to be the responsible one. The one that remembers the important dates. I had absolutely no idea, and I hope you won't break up with me over this. I had no idea that we started four years ago yesterday.

How did you remember it? Do you have it marked down? No, I knew it was in October. It's our anniversary. I looked it up on the Spotify app. I sorted by oldest. And I scrolled until I saw, you know, Chris Vernon and Kevin O'Connor,

named on there and I was like, wow, it was the day before your birthday. October 4, 2016, huh? Yeah. That's crazy. I got up hold up here, Chris. Oh, four years ago. What is the description of the show?

This is the description, written by Tate Frazier, our first producer. The ringers Chris Vernon makes his hosting debut with the help from Kevin O'Connor to discuss Ben Simmons's injury and the buzzert's luck of the Sixers. then the duo play a game of three things we feel alone and feeling and make bold declarations about the upcoming NBA season. Oh, wow. I have no idea what those were. I forget what they were,

but if anybody wants to listen back, I do know one of them was related to Russell Westbrook. I listened to like five minutes of it. You don't say. From our first episode, we did not have a full-on argument. We didn't know each other back then like we do now. All right.

Well, look, at least the NBA finals has gotten more interesting. We had a fear when we recorded on Friday night after game two, that this could be just an absolute wipeout. And that, you know, the rest of it was just getting through. I think we talked about if they got Bam back, maybe they could win a game. But here we are after a third game. and they did get a game and they didn't get Bam out of bio back. Now, as of recording, he has already been announced as questionable for a return. I've got to imagine he's going to come back for game number four.

Let's start with game three. And this was one of the great finals performances of all time, for sure, by Jimmy Butler in this game. Is there anything big that you take away from watching that particular game outside of this was an absolute all-time performance by a guy that put his team on his back and refused to get swept in a series? I mean, obviously it goes without saying Jimmy Butler was special. I mean, for all the people like yourself who have said for a long time that he is a truly great player who helps his teams win. he did it all. He did it all. He did what he always did with defense and, you know, passing and intangibles, but he showed that he can give you more as a score and a higher volume playmaker when he needs to. It was really a remarkable masterful performance by Jimmy Butler. But beyond that,

I thought there is something to take away from what Miami did on defense. Obviously, early in the series, they played a lot of zone. They played only three or four possessions of zone. in game three. And what they did was play a lot of straight up man to man. They pressured and doubled Anthony Davis and the Post caused some problems for him. And they were just perfect for the most part on their rotations. They were helping the helper. They did all the things you need to do. They forced the Lakers into taking jump shots by packing the paint and shrinking the floor. And you know, entering game four from a tactical point of view, I'm excited to see what the Lakers do. it's not like Anthony Davis hasn't seen pressure before.

Maybe he was shocked and surprised to see it and what is that was unable to adjust. But overall, what the Miami heat did, I would assume is going to be their template moving forward. Obviously, if Bam, Atabio comes back, that could change things. Maybe you're putting him on AD more often. We'll find out. We don't have clarity yet as of recording on Monday night. If Atabio will return. We'll return.

We do know he's now questionable. So we'll see what happens. but what Miami did does show a blueprints for maybe another win to tie this whole thing up. But ultimately, you know, Butler is what gave them the edge, what goes without saying. And I actually think Butler in this bizarre way kind of bailed out Davis because the story becomes this amazing performance. That was a no show. It just was. Like this guy, like I get it.

oh, he got two early fouls. Like, stop. This is the NBA finals. He has had foul trouble before. Everybody has played with two early fouls. Right. In shots. Yeah.

He was not aggressive. This was not just allowing. This was not the heat just had this masterful game. I mean, we just watched this guy play a game where nobody could guard him and he could damn near not miss one shot. Like, we know they have nothing for him, Kevin. They have nothing for him. Now, they might because Bam might be able to, if he can stay on the floor, can certainly be a lot, make life a lot harder on Anthony Davis.

But I don't know what was up with this guy. I mean, like, you can't just let two early fouls take you out of the game. And we have, it had become commonplace that he was the dominant figure for the Lakers when it came to, you know, counting stats. Also defensively, he was an absolute condor and was affecting everything. And where was he? You know what I mean? Like, it was like, I get it.

He got two early fouls. There was a whole rest of a game to play. And that was just not the guy that we have seen. We saw it a couple times in the Denver series and they were able to get away with it. He has it. He's had a few of these throughout the playoffs. Not many. He's an amazing player.

Don't get me wrong. And my thing is, I watch that game and go, geez, Louise. If it's not for Jimmy Butler's, like, ridiculous game, there's a whole lot more focus on what the hell was up with Anthony Davis. Sure. And, you know, you're right. That's actually a good point that I hadn't thought of before that Butler's all-time performance overshadowed the fact that had he not, let's say Butler had a normal 23-point game

and, you know, some of the bench players stepped up. obviously people would be talking about Miami's win, but they would be talking a heck of a lot more about 80, essentially being a no-show. It wasn't just because of the files, like you said. Both him and LeBron, for the most part,

just didn't seem. LeBron got burnt by Butler on a couple of occasions. What's the last time you saw him with eight turnovers? Eight turnovers. Yep. Not often. We just talked about after game two, he had nine assists with zero turnovers

and with the amount of points he had. It was the only time we've seen a performance like that in the final since Magic Johnson. Dare I say, his performance was downright Westbrookian. I can't believe that's, I can't believe I'm hearing those words out of your mouth. No. I can't believe it. I know it's a tremendous amount of numbers, but then he might have eight turnovers too.

Like I'm not crazy here. But, you know, obviously. But by the way, though, like just to be clear, though, LeBron almost bailed them out. Oh, for sure. He almost bailed them out. And like, this is why LeBron is the finals MVP if the Lakers win at all. It's not A.D. LeBron makes the team go.

No, he just cost himself that. LeBron did? He just caught, no. AD cost himself. Yes. Oh, yeah. You think so for sure? What if he comes out and has a dominant game four in game five?

Do the five or ten or so people to meet the NBA selects to call who is finals MVP, change their minds there? This is why. What do he lose it? I think that. I think he was going to have to have an absolutely insane finals for him to be deemed the most valuable player. I also think LeBron bitching about the Yannis vote helps. It just does.

It does. You know what I mean? Like that's been a big story. I only got X number of votes. Okay. You know what I mean? So there is, there's a little, you know, that's there. It's hanging out there.

Anybody that's got a vote is going to have that in the back of the. their head, right? Sure. How many times are we going to overlook this guy? God forbid, we overlook him again and we give this to Anthony Davis, right? Then it's going to, we're going to look back and history is going to say, this guy didn't get a bunch of awards that he should have gotten because we always choose somebody else. And because of the honest MVP thing and how dominant the voting was, I think Anthony Davis

would have to have just an outrageous series. and when you're minus 26 in one game, how is Anthony, I know single game plus minus in the end all be all. There's just no, how many games has Anthony Davis ever been a minus 26 in his life? I would guess none. Seriously.

Like what game was he trying in? He did play for the Pelicans. I know. I'm sure he's had a couple minus 20s pluses. But they were usually fine when he was on the court. Yeah. It was when he went out of the game. game that was the big problem.

By the way, we're talking about LeBron and AD here for finals MVP, but as one of our podcast bosses, bosses TD tweeted yesterday, Jimmy Butler has entered the chat. Oh yeah. If Miami picks up another win in game four, suddenly Jimmy Butler would be,

obviously be in that conversation if Miami has a chance to win the series. I still think the Lakers are in control here. I would still pick them to win the series now and five instead of four. But Miami did. do some things that could bode well for them moving forward if they're able to get a good and healthy enough Bam Anabio back on the floor. Here's the other thing that's crazy about that game.

They got 38 out of Kuzma and Morris. 38. I mean, if you would have told me that going into the game, I would have told you they lost by 50. I'm not kidding. 38 out of those two? I mean, that is a huge number for them. Simultaneous. I mean, that's just wasted amazing game.

from both of them. The thing is, though, is, you know, Miami wanted them to take those shots. Of course they did. They only allowed 34 points in the paint because they were packing the paint, shrinking the floor, like I said, forcing kickout passes to Morris, to Kuzma, to Danny Green, who on multiple occasions passed up open looks? Yeah. Did he not put his contacts in?

What was going on there? I don't know. He lost trust in his shot, it seems. after a game one, we saw him hit, you know, some shots and seemed to get back on track after a dismal Western Conference finals. Trust me. Hey, I've lived this roller coaster

because after he hit all the shots, I got about a thousand tweets. Oh, they don't have depth, huh? And then by this game, they want to shoot Danny Green to the moon. You know what I mean? Like, so which is it? Is Danny Green awesome or not? You know what I mean?

They're trying to ship him off. The other thing is, maybe the lowest impact Rondo game we have seen. And quite a while since his first game against Houston. Yeah, it was not a, this was not a good Rondo game at all. And he has been just a huge factor for them and a real advantage for them in multiple series now in a row. You know, let's talk about the other side, Miami. I mean, because these guys, it's almost.

as if also because of the Butler performance, you lose sight of how much contribution they got, even though these shooting numbers are not good. You know, they get four other guys in double digits, but Jay Crowder's five for 12, two of eight from three, Duncan Robinson's four for 12, three of ten from three. Tyler Hero, six of 18, two for seven from three. I mean, the only one that was mega efficient and has been very, very good is Kelly Olinick. in this game. Olenik has been really good.

Yeah, and it wasn't a game for Iguodala. And, you know, if you were really hoping that none could give you some of the, look, you're just hoping for some of the Dragach loss. Like, dude, he gives you, like, none of that. Like, he's just not, he looks like a guy that they haven't played for quite some time. And now you understand why they haven't played him for quite some time. in a level of basketball that's this high, you know. And so obviously he came in in garbage time and scored those points in game number two.

But, I mean, they were down by a thousand when that happened. You need a guy that could score when it matters. And I think if we're talking about, I think, you know, most people had a pretty good impression of Crowder and of Robinson and Hero and who those guys are. I feel like Olinic, like again, and you know, as someone that paid so close attention to those Boston series, he had some big games for them in the playoffs, too, back in the day. He had a big game. Yeah. He did.

It's the, you want to have guys that can pop on random nights. And Olinic is one of those types of guys who can have that. But even just aside from when he's actually shooting the ball, his ability to pick and pop can present some issues. I forget which quarter it came in last night, but there was one play. I believe Butler was running a pick and roll with Olinick as a screener. And Butler drove Olinic started to roll to the rim. And then he just stopped his roll and popped behind the three point line,

completely wide open and hit a three-pointer. And, you know, forcing the defense to have to close out on that can create more driving lanes. It can create more opportunities to whip the ball around the floor and get an open shot. And Miami's offense, you know, they're down to one in the series. but the offense, despite the losses, has still been really, really good. And that speaks to the system and the overall quality of the players on that team. And, you know, if Bam comes back in game four, which it seems like there's a strong possibility that he does getting moved to questionable, it will change things from Miami

because it has been a good thing for them to have Leonard and Olinic spacing the floor, whereas Atabio is not a floor spacer, but Bam, the variety he can provide for you gives you an overall plus addition. And with him, we did see in game one early on with the Dragich and adabio pick and rolls when they just went at Dwight Howard over and over again early in the game, how that could give some issues to the Lakers. So I think getting Olinic back in there is off the bench rather than starting him gives you that variety that could maybe help Miami even more in game four.

And I don't feel like I'm totally overreacting here to. what we saw in game three, we did see them switch from zone to man, and it worked, forcing the Lakers to shoot, and BAM can only help your defense. So that variety that they'll have on offense, maybe that can bolster them on that end even more, too. I would not rule them out tying this up two to two. All right. Well, we are going to talk about what we think could happen in game number four.

We'll do that after these words. Today's episode of The Mismatch is brought to you by Roman. If you've been dealing with acne, redness, dark spots, or wrinkles, finding treatment that works can be complicated. You need skincare that actually performs, but getting started can be overwhelming. Thankfully, there's a solution. Roman makes it convenient to get customized prescription care that really performs. Just grab your phone or computer, complete a free online consultation, and you'll hear

back from a U.S. licensed physician within 24 hours. If appropriate, a doctor will prescribe. a custom blended treatment based on your skin type and priorities. You'll receive your custom skincare treatment with free, two-day shipping. You also get free unlimited follow-ups with your doctor if you need to make a change to your treatment or have any questions. With Roman, there are no commitments that you can cancel any time. Go to getRoman.com slash ringer NBA to try out your three-month supply of nightly

defense for just $5. It's free to chat with the doctor and your first order is just $5. That's get roman.com slash ringer NBA. Eligibility requirements and additional terms apply. And now back to the mismatch. Kevin, I got to tell you, I am shocked that you think that the heat can really get back into this. You know, I said that I thought the Dragich loss was a bridge too far. Like that is the guy they cannot lose.

then when they lost Bam, I thought, geez, Louise, how are they ever going to win? I do think that they had that last game with a historic Jimmy Bucket's performance, a heat culture win, which is everything they preach, you know, fight, scratch, claw, and that the Lakers A didn't bring it, and Davis was a no-show in that game. And I've been the one sitting here yelling the whole time that I'm not a huge fan of that Lakers supporting cast. And I think that LeBron and AD have to be simultaneously awesome, which frankly, 90% of the time, they are simultaneously awesome. And it is enough. And so I look at it.

And even though, you know, I really liked the heat coming into this, I sit back and say, what are the chances? that Davis doesn't have like a big rebound game. You know what I mean? That he comes back, you know, ready to prove his worth. And if they get that, I still can't get past. I think, you know, bam, yes, it's very helpful to have him. But, you know, I can't get game two out of my mind. They had nobody to guard him, Kevin.

When he's engaged, they have nobody to deal with him. And it's just a matter of do the Lakers, if the Lakers get that guy that I watched in game two, that guy is unstoppable against this team because they just don't have the goods. Well, he was, he was stoppable in game three. But I just felt like he was like the gauge. I mean, like game two totally different defensive game plans, though, for what we saw from Miami? No, and I know, you're giving a lot of credit to Miami. I look at that guy and say, what the hell's wrong with you?

But I didn't expect Miami to go to like almost no zone. Like they went from almost half their possessions to four or five. Well, they were getting carved up. They lost why. They lost. Yeah. I mean, in the zone stuck. The Lakers were picking it apart.

They put guys in the middle, whether it was Rondo, AD or LeBron, just completely shredding the zone. And the man was pretty effective. And for the Lakers in game four, it's going to be a lot about how does Anthony Davis deal with some of the pressure that he? he's inevitably going to receive. What counters will Frank Vogel and that coaching staff install in order to get AD easier baskets at the rim, maybe some of the lobs that they've run for AD over the course

of the season coming off a little handoff, pick and roll action with LeBron with a Rondo or LeBron at the elbow? How much of that are we going to see? And how does Miami defend it? Well, the other thing is, what they did was really effective. Well, maybe I'm being too hard on Davis. Maybe it is a, hey, this thing is centered around making sure he doesn't kill us. And if Kyle Kuzma does, if Mark E. Morris does, if Ray John Rondo does, if Alex Caruso does, if Danny Green does, then so be it.

But this guy ain't killing us. You know what I mean? Like we thought, and that's the crazy thing, because I'm saying I didn't think that guy was that engaged, especially after he got the two early fouls. But that's what game four is going to tell us. Is that about the heat just deciding, hey, this is the guy that is not going to give us problems? Or is it we're, and we're, we're fine if those other guys beat us, but that's what has to happen in order to beat us. I don't know. I, maybe I am.

Maybe I'm being hard on Davis and that I should give the heat more credit for what they did in that game against him. but I guess we're going to find out, like, in game four. And I don't know. Like, I, she's, they were, maybe, maybe, maybe they just decided this guy is not going to go off. We thought at the beginning, if there was a guy they were going to be able to slow down, that LeBron would be the guy. That, right, the whole spolster knows him. And, you know, AD might go crazy every night, but just make LeBron a lot less efficient than he normally is.

and it said LeBron's been killing them. He's been killing them. Aside from the turnovers, but yeah, he was still good overall. If he would have gotten a good running mate, you know, in AD in the last game, LeBron wasn't a problem. His game was not a massive problem in that game. They haven't been able to slow him down from getting his. And so we'll find out.

One thing I do want to note is you mentioned like the, you know, Butler scoring 40 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, awesome, you know, historic night. One thing we haven't seen is Duncan Robinson and Tyler Hero going off from three point land. And in that game three win, they were only five of 17. Hey. If you're Miami and if you need something to swing a game, you got your Butler game. Maybe you get your hot shooting night performance from some of the other guys on that roster. And that's something that could give you another game to keep you in the series and extend this further.

Interesting you say that because here's what we know. it's always your your game plan and everything is always based upon what happened that didn't go right the last game right so like you were saying Miami played all this zone well yeah they got their ass kicked so guess what they aren't playing the zone anymore well get guess what we're in for in this next game we're in for hey who kicked our ass if you're Frank Vogel who kicked our ass Jimmy Butler because what were they doing LeBron will come down on him then they'd switch off on him So he'd get Kyle Kuzma or he'd get Marquis-Morris or he'd get whoever, Cassavis Caldwell Pope and they're barbecue chicken. That won't happen again. Like Jimmy Butler doesn't get to do that anymore, right? If you're worth your salt as a coach, you can't allow that to happen. This switch to just easily take place and then the guy murdered you the whole game.

And so to that point, you better believe that Duncan Robinson and Tyler Hero and those guys are going to have open shots. Like Jay Crowder, Tyler Hero, Dougan Robinson, Kelly O'Linnick, like they're going to have a lot of open shots because you best believe Jimmy Butler is going to get so much attention in that next game.

Because that's the adjustment. Like, hey, okay, we let this guy run the whole show. We let him get to the switches that he wanted to get to and he killed us. So that doesn't get to happen anymore. And now it's time for the other guys to have to step up. So you might be right about that. I mean, that's a theme throughout the postseason.

Sure. Sometimes teams too willingly giving switches. And I do wonder if maybe we'll see the Lakers adjust there. And, you know, maybe LeBron even himself says, I'm taking Jimmy Butler here. We're not switching these screens anymore because he did willingly switch a bunch of times getting KCP or somebody else on Butler. Maybe that's a tweak that we see the Lakers make. But even if they do do that, you know, Duncan Robinson and Tyler Hero, are getting some shots or getting opportunities to shoot the ball. And Robinson hasn't yet had that game where he just goes off.

He can have those nights. And that's something that that's an X factor here for Miami. Well, because that's where it steps up. Maybe what ends up happening because of that crazy-ass performance, he gets almost the LeBron treatment. But instead of throwing it out to Contavius Caldwell Pope, you're throwing it out to Duncan Robinson, who's one of the best three-point shooters in the league.

He has not been. Yeah. But he is, right? And so that's where if Butler gets the crazy attention, he's got a bunch of three-point shooters around them. He does. It's just a matter if they can hit him or not. And they didn't, for sure, in the last game.

I don't know, man. I'd like to be very, very hopeful. I just, the drochitz thing was such a killer. I'd give anything if they had him in this. And maybe Bam, getting him back does make this a lot more interesting. I'm with you. You know, since the Draggets thing happened, I thought this is going to be a tough road to ho for Miami. That being said, there's nothing I would love more than for there to be competition.

And when we were wishing on a star on Friday that, man, this bubble's been so great and this basketball has been so great, what a shame if we just have a washout in the finals? I mean, at worst, we've got a fifth game. That's at worst, right? We got a Friday night game. There's two days off between games four and five, which in terms of health of BAM or of Dragage, who knows? I mean, with Dragage, it sounds like I heard JJ Redick talk about this on his podcast with Tommy Alter, the old man in the three.

And JJ said he had the same injury. I believe he said a senior of college and he had a heel injury sometime in the NBA. And he described what it's like playing through that. and it's not like having plantar fasciitis where it's a, you know, pain managed. This is an actual tier that needs time to heal. And the pain and playing through that, you know, any body movements on defense moving laterally running after the court, never mind like pivoting in a pick and roll when you're snake and pick and roll trying to get middle.

I can't imagine Dragich being effective. Maybe he can play through it. Maybe they give him a shot like they did with Joe Johnson. We talked about that last week. And he tries. but I don't see how like how things could that be different from Tuesday, game four, and Friday, game five. It just doesn't seem realistic for him to get back out there and be effective. Will they try to get them back out there?

Who knows? That could happen. But it just seems unrealistic. And I still overall think despite what we're talking about here, the good things we saw from Miami, despite the fact that, you know, Miami has a shot to still win another game here, I still don't see a path to a serious victory now that Draghiich has gone or if he were to come back is probably not going to be the Draggich that he's been the last couple months. It's just I don't see it. Very difficult to see.

All right. We can take one more quick break and then we'll talk about what we think is going to happen in game four and the rest of the series. Today's episode of the mismatch is brought to you by Fandul's Sportsbook. The NBA finals are here in Fandul's sports. is ready to support your betting needs during the NBA finals. Fandall Sportsbook has over 400 NBA betting markets, not counting tens of thousands of same game parlay combinations, with markets as granular as first quarter player points and player to make or miss first field goal. Fandall Sportsbook also has topical pregame super boost and in-game boost so you can

continue to get the best odds of promotion throughout. And don't forget the same game parlays. Fandul's Sportsbook is the only place with same game parlay for the finals, where you combine multiple bets from one matchup or team into a single parlay. That's a lot of reasons to try Fandall's Sportsbook, but here's one more. Right now, new users can place their first bet on Fandul's Sportsbook risk-free and get up to $1,000 back in SightCardt if you don't win. Seriously, there's no strings attached. Just place any bet you want.

If you win, you keep the cash. If you lose, you'll get your entire bet up to win. $1,000 back in site credit. If sports betting is legal in your state, download the Fandul Sportsbook app to place your NBA finals bets. If not, go play the final single game contest with Fandul Fantasy. And if you're new, be sure to sign up with the promo code

Ringer NBA so they know I sent you. That's promo code Ringer NBA. 21 plus and present in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, West Virginia, Indiana, Colorado, or Iowa. Site credit is non-withdrawable and expires seven days. after a seat. See full terms at Sportsbook.

Fanduel.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. In West Virginia, visit www. www. 1,800 gambler. Dot.

In Indiana, call 1-800-9 with it. In Colorado, call 1-800-522-4-7-00. Or in Iowa, call 1-800-bets-off. And now back to the mismatch. All right, Kevin.

These things usually go back and forth. So this is what I would say. I think that LA will probably win game four. You know, this is an adjustment thing. But I do think by the time we speak again on Friday that Miami will get one of the next two. I do think now that they can get another game, right? And the reason is because the most important thing to come out of that in my estimation was the confidence that they can do it.

They know they can do it. And you can write it all off and you can say, yeah, well, Jimmy Butler had a frigging historic night and this happened and this happened and this happened and it's that confidence. They walk into that arena knowing they can beat that team. Whatever circumstances were in the end, they walked away winning a game and the Lakers walked away losing a game. And I could, I know that everybody now, look, nobody gave them a chance whatsoever of even winning a game, but they won that game. And so now what's everybody doing? They're saying, gentlemen sweep.

Well, Lakers will just win the next two. I think that's what that game did for me is change the perception of how fast this thing will be over. I don't think now that it's just going to be an absolute wipeout or, and especially they get bam back. You know, you'd figure AD's going to come out with something to prove. 80's going to come out with this hair on fire and ready to kill the world.

And the Lakers will make adjustments. And I think they'll probably win game four. But if that happens, it would not shock me at all as if we come on here on Friday night. And we're talking about the heat winning game five. And so all of a sudden we're getting a game six. I mean, would it shock me? I mean, like even when we were talking about this being a sweep or a five game series, after the injuries.

It's not necessarily that these games would all be blowouts. Miami is still a tough team that plays really good basketball regardless of who's on the floor. They don't have the talent, but they still click offensively. They still move the ball. They still cut. They still know where are they going to be on defense. They still communicate.

They still do all the things right that got them to where they are. I'm glad you said that because that's a sneaky thing. They were great offensively in game two. They were. They just sunk defensively. the whole last couple months, really. Right. But they were such a horrible representation of themselves in the first game.

Game two, they were not good on defense and rebounding. Defense and rebounding, they weren't any good. But, you know, it is a two-game trend of getting what they want offensively, you know, having good offensive nights, I would say, right? And so obviously, as you mentioned earlier, BAM can help that defense. if you can keep it simultaneously going on, that's a two games now in a row where they have been pretty good

or really good offensively. It's just it got overshadowed in game two because their defense sucked. And the rebounding sucked. You know, they didn't get smashed on the offensive glass. Game two felt like even when the Lakers missed, the heat couldn't get the ball.

You know, and at least they got the ball in game three. Ultimately, though, I'm still picking the Lakers in five. I think the heat. They showed a lot to make these games competitive. They showed a lot of intrigue in terms of maybe they could pull out another one. I feel more confident in that than I did when we talked on Friday about, you know, this looks like a sweep.

You're not going to stick with your Lakers in six? No, despite saying, no, because Dragich is out. And even if he comes back, that injury is pretty severe to have to manage and play through. So ultimately, I still say Lakers in five. It's been five for them in every round. far, maybe that's going to be their theme. They drop one each round. Gentlemen sweep all the way through the playoffs. All right. Last question before we get out of here. Has your perception of any player or opinion of any player changed based upon three games of the NBA finals so far? Anybody

involved in this? I've always thought highly of Jimmy Butler, but I do feel like I tweeted this the other night. The playoffs reveal who players really are. We see players weaknesses. We see see their strengths magnified. And with Jimmy Butler, he has always been a great defender, always been, you know, a good secondary playmaker guy who shares the ball and shares the ball in your offense. And we've seen him have big knights as a score and as a playmaker. He is who he is. But doing it in the NBA finals, down to, down two of your best players. And he willed the team to victory. He willed the Miami Heat to Victory by carrying them on offense and setting the tone and the example with his leadership and his intangibles

and his intensity on defense. It raised my opinion of him. And it raised the way I view him as a player when you look at all the players in the league because we've seen him do this on the biggest stage against one of the best teams in basketball, the best team in the West. They came out of the toughest conference. and for him to do that does change my opinion of him for the better. I'll go back to who we talked about earlier, which is Olinic,

because it's one of those where you haven't seen it in a huge spot in a long time. But I recall the Boston thing, right? And like, I feel like he's had some pretty big games. And, you know, you're listening to Van Gundy saying on the broadcast that this guy, this guy's not a good offensive player. He is a great offensive player, especially in this day and age in the NBA. I don't know about great. I love to have a piece, a piece to have.

A piece to have, right? You know what I'm saying? He's a nice piece. I think very valuable for a team. And when you can do it at the highest level against that team, you know what me? Because, I mean, he's staring up with Marquis Morris and Anthony Davis and all manner of guys on that team.

They're big. That's a big team. And he's got to hold his own rebounding. And he's also got to hold his own. you know, getting some buckets because in the absence of Tyler Hero and Dunkin Robinson, you know, you're whipping it around and you're finding shots and like here's this guy. And like you just feel like he, um, he's there for it. You know, what happens when it matters most?

Like you were saying, your perception changes when it comes playoff time. When it matters most, do I feel like I want to take that guy into battle with me? And Olinick's there for it. It's not going to be for, you know, lack of skill or lack of trying. you know, I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I like Kelly O. Linne. He's a quality player.

He's reliable on defense. You know, he's not a lockdown guy by any means. You can only really drop coverages with him. You're not comfortable with him on AD. You're putting Crowder on him. You're doubling all that stuff. But he's a reliable player who can shoot the ball. Doesn't make stupid decisions.

And those guys are important to have. Yeah. And he's also not a guy you can just throw a target on. You know what I'm saying? That's what makes you so valuable. because it's not like frigging, I don't know, Ryan Anderson or, you know, some of these guys from Kyle Corver, some of these guys from days gone by, you know,

bigger guys that can stretch the floor for you. A lot of times the floor stretcher is also the guy that defensively murders you because that's what they're good at. They're so good at shooting that on the other end, they just try to throw you in every single action. And you can't do that with Olinick. So Kelly Olinick, I salute you. All right, I think we're going to be talking about game six on Friday night.

You think we're going to be having a coronation. That's our next show. I think so. And that is our next show on Friday. On Friday, we won't be recording Thursday night for Friday morning. We'll be recording Friday night after the game. Yep. So look up for that.

You know, if you're up late night or, you know, working the night shifts or Saturday morning, check out the podcast. Kevin thinks it's going to be us talking about the greatness of the little. LeBron James for an hour. Another finals MVP. We'll see. We'll see. All right, Kevin. I will talk to you on Friday.

Thanks to producer Sasha as always, and we will talk to you Friday night.