The Ringer NBA Show - Ep. 85: Vinsanity, Injuries in the West, and Prospects to Watch in the NCAA Tournament

Episode Date: March 14, 2017

The Ringer's Chris Vernon and Kevin O'Connor discuss Vince Carter's performance Monday night (01:00), Western Conference teams losing players (03:00), Rajon Rondo and the rebuilding Bulls (23:00), and college players to watch in the tourney (32:15). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode is brought to you by Ringer University with March Madness here, our college basketball experts, Tate Fraser and Mark Titus tell you everything you need to know about this year's tournament. You can listen and subscribe to their podcast by searching Ringer University on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or wherever you get podcasts. Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Varnan. Joining me as he does every Tuesday is Kevin O'Connor from the Ringer.com. Kevin! What up, Chris?

Well, last night was actually very fun for me. I went to the Grizzlies Bucks game, and I got to see Vince Carter, the ageless one, 40 years old lead a team in scoring and knock down six three-pointers. So it's not all so often that you get to witness history, and that was odd history to say the least. But history nonetheless, and getting to, I love him getting all this love today because he is, he's one of the few guys over the course of the last 15 years of covering the NBA. he'd be in my top five of guys I've covered. Vince Carter is the best.

And then seeing him getting thrown into a starting lineup and perform like that, like 40-year-olds literally don't do that. Like they never do that. I think it said five other guys have ever done it and no 40-year-old has ever hit six three-pointers in a game. So last night was good for me. Hey, man. I think it was good for everybody who's a longtime NBA fan, right?

I think with Vince Carter, we get to enjoy. Those performances. We're going to enjoy what we have left of him because, granted, he just scored 24 points last night on a perfect eight for eight. We don't know how long it's going to last, right? So you're going to enjoy it. And last night was a great reminder of the stud he once was in the early 2000s for the Raptors. Well, and it made everybody forget about the devastating news that came out before the game that Chandler Parsons is torn up his knee again and is going to be out for the season. And the Grizzlies got the boobie prize, certainly for this first year.

with a $94 million contract they spent on Chandler Parsons and the season ends literally with a whimper for him. And so that's what enabled Vince Carter even be in the lineup last night. But I actually do not think that's going to hurt the Grizzlies in the least this year. Parsons was just never right this year. And then the poor guy is going to, it's just three seasons in a row. His season ends because of a knee injury. I mean, it's got to help him in the sense that they've, he's played 34 games this season. and he stunk for essentially most of those 34 games.

So instead of forcing the issue with the guy, you're paying almost $100 million, right? Now you can play somebody who will produce within their role instead of forcing the issue with him. So, I mean, it sucks for Parsons, though, right? It's just a couple of years ago. We were looking at him as one of really the best young forwards in the NBA, and he's only gotten worse since then largely because of the injuries.

It's just sad to see that happen for a player, especially someone so young. Super sad. And the league has gone. his way, you know, in terms of him being able to move over like years ago, he would have just probably been a small forward. But you can get so many minutes at four and be devastating from that position if he was right. But he's just, he's never been right since he's put on a grizzly's uniform. That's for certain.

Or even before that with Dallas, for that matter. Right at the end of last year. I will say the other thing that took place was getting to see Janus in person. And he is, he is, is one of the, I'd say like five guys. He is sneaky 100% worth the price of admission. But, you know, outside of like superstars, right? You want to see Steph. You want to see LeBron. But I will say he might be number one on the list of you don't appreciate it

until you see it in person. Like you can't fully appreciate it. And I would say him and Porzingis are these guys where when you see them, you realize just how freakish they are and how much different they are. than everybody else out on the court at their size, their length and their ability to do what they can do. They're just, I mean, he is crazy, Kevin, crazy. You know, and the funny thing is, like, you didn't even see him at his best last night.

You didn't even see Janus when he's putting up, like, 30, 10, and 8 or something like that. I mean, he has, Janus is really a pleasure to watch. I think more than any under, what is he, 22 now? more than any 22 or under player in the NBA. I think Anthony Kumpo might be my favorite to watch at this point in the NBA. He's a joy. I'm glad you saw him in person, Chris.

Let's go to some of the other stories in the NBA. The Spurs caught the Warriors for the best record last night. Does that remain? Are we going to look up at the end of the year and the spurs of the one seed? So this day, today, March 14th,

2017, this day is for everybody who said, the season's over. Warriors win. Don't even play the regular season. Let's just go straight to the playoffs because this doesn't matter. Today is for those people because granted, it's true that, you know, the Warriors could go 16 and O in the playoffs and just completely just tear through the league. That's possible.

But I think, you know, as I wrote last week on the ringer.com, the spurs are still right there. They are right there with the Warriors. They have a lot of depth. And once they get healthy, hopefully Aldridge gets back. When Kauai is killing it like he has been, the last two months or so, they're right there with the Warriors. And I don't know if they'll be able to beat them in the playoffs, but I think it would be a really, really competitive series.

And I think that's a lot more than what anybody might have been expecting at the beginning of the year, or even last summer when the Warriors first signed Kevin Durant. The Warriors aren't necessarily going to be a team that's going to lose in the playoffs, but they are beatable. They are prone. I think the Spurs and the Rockets could really give it to them in a seven game series. And that's exciting. and today is a reminder that they are beatable at some point in the playoffs.

The Warriors obviously have the question mark of Durant. We just don't know at what point he's going to be able to come back. If he's going to be able to play a few regular season games before the playoffs, if he's back for round one. We just don't know. And the same thing goes with Aldridge, but it seems a little more daunting for the Spurs and their ability to have what most everybody would consider their second best player in the lineup.

because when that heart condition got announced last weekend, that is super scary stuff. And when you announce immediately that he's out indefinitely, usually what that means is that a doctor told you do not play. Right. And now you're going to have to be talking to other doctors. But somebody told him, don't go out there and play. And when you're talking about, you know, a heart thing, who knows what could happen with you. that. I guess the question now becomes, would you rather play the Spurs without Aldridge? If I told you Durant wouldn't be there in the first round and, and I'm on a low-seeded team, would you

rather face the Spurs without Aldridge or the Warriors without Durant if he's not available? I mean, it sounds a little unorthodox to say, but the warriors don't look great lately, right? Like they just look completely out of sorts without Katie. So in some ways, you're not, you're not, rather face them because the spurs can make up for aldridge i think with their depth um so in that sense i at a way i'd rather play the warriors if they're without kd but at the same time they still have more top-end talent the top of their rotation but on aldridge right on his heart condition i looked back to 2011 when he had the procedure like in December of the lockout year the original report said after that minor, minor procedure he had that he would miss five to seven days of practice and then

return to light practice. And eventually, he did return to practice and he did return for the start of the regular season in December. So I do wonder if, you know, with him, if he did get the procedure, it would be another short-term thing. That's what you would hope, right? I think everybody hopes that that would be the case for Aldridge. But that remains to be seen. It is interesting that they sit out indefinitely instead of clarifying what exactly will happen or won't happen. Right. Because typically what you have is injury, or in this case, this is a little different than an injury.

This is rather a condition. But you have announcement of injury, how you are going to deal with the injury, and then the rehabilitation process, and then you're back on the court. This one is much more tricky. And obviously, when you're dealing with a major organ, super scary stuff, right? Because it's not an elbow. It's not a knee. Like, it's life or death when you're talking about, you know,

playing with the heart condition. For sure. And, you know, I read last night, I forget which paper it was in San Antonio, but they said that he underwent new tests Monday, so yesterday, and he's supposed to talk to team doctors again today, Tuesday. So it's possible by the time this publishes that we will hear more for Aldridge. So hopefully whatever we do here is positive news. For certain.

So now the Spurs have caught the Warriors. I did not think the Warriors were just going to keep on flying high, but they have been worse than what I would have suspected, Kevin. I did think, in the end, you still got Draymond, you still got Clay, you've still got Steph, and there was a process of figuring it out with Durant. Inevitably, when he goes out, now you're going to have to go back. But there should have been, I would think, more comfortable, right? It's just like now playing without Durant.

Obviously, you've got some new faces in the lineup, whatever. Clay Thompson has probably, he's been the major culprit. I mean, the numbers are very bad since Durant went to the bench. But they are, this has hurt them, I think, more than anyone would have suspected, wouldn't you say? Yeah. Okay, so Durant got injured on February 28th against the Wizards. If you told me that game, they're going to lose, right? I would say, okay, I understand that.

But if you told me since then that they would go. two and four? I would have been like, no, no, no, no, no. No way. Because you're right. They still have a ton of talent and you would think that they would be really,

it would be simple for them to really just distribute the load elsewhere, much like they did last season. But it's been a weird adjustment. And some of the losses they've had are really interesting. And it's not like they necessarily blew out the Knicks either, who have stunk, right? It's not like they blew out the Hawks who have been super average

over the last like 50 games. games or so. They've had all close games or losses. And that's stunning to me. And I wonder if tonight against the Sixers and later this week against the magic, they start figuring out against these lower level teams or if they continue to have difficulties. Vegas thinks so. I saw this morning. They're like 16 or 17 point favorites, which that is, you don't see a lot of 16s or 17s in the NBA. You know, teams being favored by that amount. And the other thing, in fairness, We got to throw out the Spurs game. They're two and three, really.

The Spurs game, and nobody played. Yeah, that's true. That's a good point. That's a good point. And it also wrecks their numbers even worse. You know, there are those games that, you know, when you get drilled like that, like they did against San Antonio, that is going to get thrown in the pod of what things have been like without Durant,

but it's clearly not a fair representation of what things are like without Durant. But frankly, the numbers without Durant are crazy. Step two. They really are. They're shooting, including the game, Durant got hurt. As a team, they're shooting 31.1% from three on 29.9 attempts per game. Curry's shooting 27.7%.

Clay's shooting 27.3% from three. So their two sharpshooters have been absolutely horrific shooting over the past week or so, two weeks or so, rather. The thing is, though, is like, they're still going through a small stretch of games. I don't think it's worth overreacting to it in the sense that these guys can heat up at any moment. And maybe this just happens to be one of the lulls they're going through. And it would have happened whether Durant was playing or not. But the question becomes, I think that people thought, even without Durant, it could be a Western Conference Finals team.

They could not make the Western Conference Finals without Durant. I don't believe. So you don't think, okay, here's me playing devil's havoc at it here. So let's say, let's say part of the reason why they've had struggles is because of a lack of practice time during the middle of the regular season when it's busy, tons of shit's happening. And it's hard to really figure things out when you don't have a lot of time to get together and practice with your new core, minus Durant. So if Durant were out for the rest of the year, I think that they would have lots of time during the playoffs to really figure things out. and maybe they still wouldn't have enough depth to make it to the Western Commerce Finals. But at the same time, I think that extra time building chemistry together would allow them to really tweak things in a way that would really enhance the abilities of the guys that they already have on their team.

You might see Dremont's role change a little bit more. You might see Steph's change a little bit more. I understand the depth is still an issue, but I feel like they still have enough that they could make it despite not having Duran. They would not beat the Rockets without Durant. No way. If that two met in the second round. Not the Spurs either? I'm sorry?

No, I'm saying that's the way it would work out right now. If things played the form and they were the two seed and they, I'm saying without Durant. Now, with Durant, they'll beat anybody, I believe. But without him, no, they would not beat Houston. How many games is it going? Like, let's say no KD facing the rocket, second round of the playoffs. Everybody's healthy on Houston. Everybody's healthy on Golden,

except for Durant. How many games is that series going? The Rockets win in six games. What if Durant's healthy? Without Durant, I'm saying. Without Durant, they win in six. What if Durant's healthy, though? I think Golden State wins.

If he is Kevin Durant, now again, if he is hobbled Kevin Durant, I still think the Rockets would beat him. I mean, it's got to be the real Kevin Durant. That's the variable here that people aren't really focusing on, right? Is, you know, when Katie's back, he won't necessarily be Katie. He might take a little time to get back from the sprain MCL

Because that that can take time to return to form from I think a lot of people Underestimate the severity of that injury, right? I think if you look back through guys that have suffered that injury Sometimes that takes a little bit of time for them to get back to form and Sometimes it can take a whole summer for you to really get 100% healthy and it's possible the KD that comes back is only 90% and maybe that's enough Maybe they only need 90% KD, but if he's 70%, 60%, well, then we could be running into trouble for Golden State. That's right.

And the reason I'm saying this is because if you run into a team like the Rockets, you're getting to a scorefest, right? And the numbers just don't add up. It's going to be hard to get to 120 points with no Duran. Like they're just taking that. They're taking almost 30 points out of the lineup. And I don't think it's easily replaced because once you, you can't count on Iguadala to get you 20 even. I mean, he had like that monster game. What was it?

Like Atlanta or somebody? He had the monster game, but that was like a real rarity. And Draymond's not a guy that's going to go get you 20 every night. Clay's been struggling. When you're trying to add up the numbers, like where do the, where do all the points come from when you got to get to that total in order to win games? That's tough sledding without Durant. It would be fascinating to watch with or without Durant. And I hope that's the series we do end up getting.

I want to see Warriors versus Rockets because one of the comments Darrell Mori made last month after the deadline kind of fascinated me. He said, this is quote, we figured our chance to beat Golden State was to send them a barrage of three-pointers. We've got guys that can put them in the basket. And they're averaging over 45 three-point attempts per game since the All-Star break. Clearly, that's the plan. It's just fire away from three-point land, and it would be a fascinating series to watch.

I think someone like Charles Barkley might hate, but a lot of people would love to watch a unique series like that with a lot of three-pointers being attempted. All right, Kevin, I want to talk to you about what happened in that Jazz Clippers game last night. But first, these words. The NBA Playoff Chase is heating up, and Seat Geek is the smartest, easiest way to get tickets for your favorite team's games. With Seat Geek's seamless mobile experience, you can buy and sell tickets in just two taps. Seatgeek helps you find the best seats at the best prices fully guaranteed. There's nothing like being in the stadium for the biggest plays of the year, and Seat Geek will get you closer to the action for a great value.

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Best of all, my listeners get a $20 rebate off their first Seatgeek purchase. To get that $20 rebate, download the Seatgeek app, click on the Settings tab, and add promo code. Enter the promo code Ringer NBA. Seekek will send you $20 once you made your first ticket purchase. Download the Seekek app and enter the promo code Ringer NBA today. Another thing that happened last night was there was a sentiment that the Jazz have had a really good season. They have battled through injuries throughout this year. But they didn't have a lot of what people would consider real quality wins.

But they have gotten those as of late. And the big win for them over the Clippers last night. and a almost certain preview of what we could see in a playoff series. What do you think about Jazz Clippers? Is that a great series if we get it? I think the Jazz would win it. I really like that Utah team. We've talked about them a handful of times this year.

Chris, you mentioned trademark wins. They've beaten the Wizards, the Rockets, and the Clippers since the trade deadline. They lost the Thunder though last week. I just think that team, when they're totally. healthy. When they have all their guys, which they didn't have earlier in the year, they can really beat a lot of teams. And they have the adaptability to really take on different forms, right? Like they can play with two bigs or they can play with small ball. And I think that'll allow them to really play different teams differently. And plus, I think they have a deep bench as well.

They have angles, good three-point shooter, really good player, better than he gets credit for. Joe Johnson obviously can go off any night. Dante X-em. Don't give up on this dude. just don't give up on young point guards. Exxem has really made strides lately coming off the bench for them. Alec Berks is still good, right? And they're starting five. Everybody knows how good their starters are. Gobert, one of the best room protectors in basketball.

George Hill looks awesome this year. Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward, Boris Diaw. And then not to mention that Derek Favors has been out. So they have the ability to take on so many different roles. They have a great starting five, and they have a really deep bench. I feel like if there's any team in the West that nobody talks about, that can make a run, like a surprise run, I think Utah might have a chance.

I don't think they quite have enough to beat those top end teams, but I think they can really, really give it to them. Oh, for sure. They could put the fear of God in San Antonio. If San Antonio didn't have Aldridge, right? Because, again, you've got this front line. You got big guys on that Utah team. And Gobert could feast in that series, seriously.

So if it played out like that, and they were the four seat and they moved on and they played San Antonio Antonio I mean people it would not be aesthetically pleasing to a lot of people you're probably getting some you're probably getting some

92 87s imagine that second round Spurs versus Jazz and Warriors versus Rockets it'd be like watching basketball from two different eras in some ways that being said if you are right and those teams matched in the playoffs and Utah disposed of them

that could be the end for Doc and certainly this Clipper era of Paul Griffin and Jordan, right? They'd break it up after that. And Balmer might roll on Doc if they got bounced in the first round by Utah. Ooh. You know, I've thought a lot about that lately, you know, with Doc Rivers because, you know, if you're Steve Balmer, right, maybe if Doc Rivers looks at the situation and says, oh, yeah,

we don't need to change anything. This is our core. We can win a title with these guys. Maybe if you're Steve Balmer, you're going to look at it. could dock and say, maybe that's the change that actually needs to be made in order so the correct changes can be made to the roster. But the problem with that, though, is how would getting rid of dock affect the decisions of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and JJ Redick this year?

Three of their four best players are free agents this summer. And one wrong move could really blow up everything that they have going. When in actuality, I think as we've probably discussed before, and as I've written about before, is I think they should have made a trade last summer. I think that was the time to trade Blake and really maximize their return before he had the injury this year. Granted, he's still been on a tear for the most part

since returning from that. The injury is scary. And now he's going to be a free agent in the summer. Chris Paul is going to be afraid in the summer. And JJ Reddick could always leave too. I just think the time to make the tweak has been missed. And even if all those guys come back, it's going to be hard for you to make the necessary tweaks

to this rotation. because the fit isn't great enough. It's really, really, really good, but it's not enough. And it's disappointing in many ways because I love all those players individually. It's just they don't fit in the way that they could or should. Another story from last night was the Ray John Rondo comments. Ray John Rondo thinks the Bulls have a shot at the playoffs, but the front office is too busy plotting the future to truly go for it.

So here is the war going. on, right? That they are going to develop young guys and they are looking more with an eye towards the future, with an eye towards the present. It is unsurprising that veteran guys would get pissed off about this. Many don't voice their opinion. But Ray John Rondo, for certain he did. And even Dwayne Wade talked about, he talked about the frustration going on.

Jimmy Butler is funny because you got those things. You got Rondo being frustrated, Wade being frustrated. And then I saw the headline this morning. Jimmy Butler says he wants to be a bull for life. And I'm like, wait, what's going on here? I thought everybody was pissed off there. Like Jimmy Butler's like, hey, I want to be a bull forever. It just seemed like odd timing, right, with everything going on to see that particular headline.

But what do you make about Rondo and really just threw Hoyberg completely under the bus by saying he wants a coach that he can sit down with and figure out what their goals are and he just feels misled and it's just good grief what a mess in chicago so if i were rajan rondo's agent i would be like just stop talking because you're a backup point guard now and you need to have that self-awareness that teams don't want a point an outspoken backup on the team like rondo essentially now is the eighth or ninth guy maybe on your roster and and teams aren't going to want an outspoken player who criticizes the coach. That's their eighth or ninth guy off the bench. You can deal with that if that's your best player, right? I think you can live with it

if that guy isn't the easiest guy to deal with. But if he's your eighth or ninth or tenth guy in the roster, that's that's only going to hurt his chances, I think, to sign with certain teams. As for what Rondo said, I mean, look, I've written before about the dysfunction in the Bulls front office. And it's pretty clear that granted, I think Hoyberg, could be a good coach with the right roster fit. It's clear that there's a disconnect between him and the players. And if a change needs to be made, well, then maybe you do have to make the change. I honestly think the change needs to happen to the roster.

I think trade Jimmy Butler for the best offer available this summer, try to get a lot of draft picks, forget about trading for players, just get a lot of draft picks in young players, not veterans. Let Rondo walk wherever he wants to go, whether that's in Spain or another team in the NBA. let Wade go. It's just rebuild. Rebuild with a roster that actually fits Hoyberg style of playing. Give him another year. Give him even half a season to try to figure out

with a young roster with pace and space, the type of basketball he likes to play. Instead of forcing the issue with this weird mix of veteran players that everybody knew wasn't going to work. Everybody knew the Bulls team wasn't going to work. And if anything, in some ways they've been worse than some people expected. Like their low has been really,

really low. I just think it's clear what needs to happen, and I'm not sure. I think firing Hoyberg is a simple fix when in actuality, it might not be a fix at all. It's interesting because if there were bets that were going down, especially with all the turmoil and all the media coverage there's been, probably that Hoyberg would get let go. I have not seen, now maybe somebody has, and I just haven't noticed it. I haven't seen anybody address this or write about it. This year. Hey, maybe you could do it, Kevin. Hey, I'm open to ideas. I would love to know when, and not Hoyberg

specifically, it has got to have been forever since we have had an NBA season without a coach getting fired. And it's not going to happen, right? I mean, we're only 15 games left. So at this point, nobody's firing their coach. I mean, you always could.

You could always do it late. Oh, God. If you fire somebody with 15, games left to go. That's just asinine. When's the last time there was actually a season without a firing, though? That's what I'm saying. I mean, like, I cannot recall one. I can't either. It's got to, if you told me

it's been 20 years, it wouldn't surprise me. I think at least 30 years. I mean, I don't think there's ever been a time, a year in my lifetime, and I'm 26. I can't think of a single time. Granted, I can't remember way back then, but I can't remember a time ever where a coach hasn't been fired mid-season. Oh, no, most of these guys don't have their jobs for longer than three years. I mean, you have Popovich and you have Carlisle and then I think Terry Stott's.

And then there's a massive drop-off to whoever would be next on the longest tenured coaches. I mean, Doc's the next one. Doc would be next on the list. If we're just talking about the Western Conference. Tom Ziller of SV Nation. Shout out Tom Ziller. At least one NBA coach has been fired during each of the past 35 seasons, and the streak could go back further,

but records get difficult to parse in the 1970s. So at least 35 years. Shout out to Team Ziller. 35 years? Wow. Damn. And this could be the first one to break that streak. That's incredible, right?

I hope we go a year because I feel like oftentimes in every sport particularly the NFL I think more than any sport coaches get fired too quick I think oftentimes they need time to install their system and that's my case with Hoyberg it's like this roster this roster is not a fit for his style of basketball at all and sure you could say well the coach needs to adapt to the players that he's given and tailor his system towards their needs and it's true you know a coach does need to do that but this this this group of guys is not a great fit for any style basketball in the more than error, right? I still think they're 30th and three-point attempts for a game and 30th and three-point percentage. And it's not like, it's, it's not like this team can get better as three-point shooters. They're not going to turn Wade into a knock-down shooter or Rondo into a knock-down shooter. And as good as Jimmy Butler is, he's not a great three-point shooter either. This team needs guys that can play with space.

and maybe you keep Butler and change everything else, but I don't know if that can work either. I think they need to rebuild and let Hoyberg build with a young roster. Look at what the Celtics did a couple years ago. They gave Brad Stevens a young roster, right, to give him time to develop his guys, and then they added veterans throughout, right? So give a young coach in Hoyberg, a young roster

to allow him to build his system, and then we'll see what happens. I think you need to give Hoyberg time. All right, Kevin. We've got to take a quick break, and then I want to talk to you about this article you wrote for the ringer, the NBA scouting roadmap to March Madness. We'll get to that after these words. NCAA March Madness is upon us, and you can find tons of March Madness tips at Coke.com slash always ready. I heard about the website when I was at Walmart picking up a six pack of Coca-Cola and an eight-pack of power aid for the big tip-off, and I found it incredibly helpful. It also had all kinds of stats and pointers that you don't usually think about when you're

filling out your bracket. So not only to leave Walmart with my favorite game time refreshments, I also got tons of info that helps strengthen my bracket and put my friends to shame, at least for now. It just goes to show that when you pick up Coca-Cola and PowerAid at Walmart, you'll always be ready for tip-off. So head over to Walmart and get up to watch all the games with Coca-Cola and Powerade and get in the March Madness action by visiting Coke.com slash always ready. That's Coke.com slash always ready. NCAA and March Madness or trademarks of the National Collegian Athletic Association. March Madness is finally underway and there's no better place to bet on games.

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with promo code NBA25 at betDSI.com. All right, Kevin, so you wrote about the primer for the relevant names that NBA fans need to pay attention to when you're watching the NCAA tournament. It's the best prospects. This is also, I know we just talked about coaches, not being fired for the last 35 years in seasons. You know what else is incredibly rare?

Probably having two consecutive first round picks that did not appear in the NCAA tournament. What an indictment, right? Because last year was Ben Simmons. We didn't get to watch him in the tournament. And this year, I mean, I think a prohibitive favorite is Markle Fultz. He's not going to be in the NCAA tournament, which is crazy. But I guess my first question is, do you think that, somebody could get on a big run, whether it's Lanzo Ball, whether it's Jason Tatum,

whoever it may be, that has a monster tournament and we look up and there's a new number one, that somebody gets on a run, has these five, six great games and that the number one becomes their slot after the tournament. Sure, yeah. I think granted Fultz is one on my board. He's number one on the ringers board. He's number one on basically every site out there at this point. It doesn't mean he's number one on every team's board.

And I think that's kind of the misconception a lot of people have in the public. They think that the draft boards that they see, the consensus rankings are whatever team has. But that's not the case, really. Teams have drastically different boards, never mind the individuals within the front office and the scouting department. So it's very possible right now at this moment, there are teams that have a longzo ball over market. or there might be a team that prefers Jason Tatum over Markle Foltz. And for some of those teams, it doesn't matter because they're not going to have a chance at the number one pick.

But there probably is a segment within the NBA front office population that doesn't have faults number one. So I think, you know, if you look at a guy like, I especially think Lonzo Ball and Jason Tatum were the guys that could really make a run for that number one spot. Just because of Tatum's ability, Tatum forward at Duke, he has the ability to really become a go-to-scorer at the next level. He's already has advanced ball handling moves, step-back jumpers, spin moves. You watch him, he looks like an NBA veteran when it comes to scoring the basketball.

Lonzo Ball, elite passing vision for UCLA, makes everybody else on the court better, and he can spot up and shoot from way downtown. Off the dribble, he has questions, but maybe if he gets on a super hot run, he can make a push. I think those two guys particularly could. Do you think the dad deal hurts him at all? I love this guy, by the way. LeVar Ball seeks combined $1 billion shoe deal for three sons. LeVar Ball says he could have beaten Michael Jordan back in the day.

This guy is the best. I am, you know, being in Memphis, the regional is here, and that's the one that could have Carolina, Kentucky, and UCLA. I am praying UCLA makes it because I have to hang out with LeVar Ball. I have to. Can we get him on a podcast? A hundred percent. You gave me an article idea.

I'm giving you a podcast idea. Let's get a lot of a pod. I promise you. I swear to you, if UCLA makes the regional in Memphis, LeVar Ball will be on the podcast. Unless he says no. And this guy would run five miles to find a microphone. So the idea that he would say no would be stunning. And plus, I think we here at the ringer.com like Lonzo Ball.

Jonathan Sharks wrote a nice article on Ball today. I like ball a lot. So I think, tell them that. We at the ringer.com love Lonzo Ball and maybe he'll come on the show. We love Lonzo. We love Lando. We love Lando. We love what's the other one's name?

There's another one, too. We love them all. We love them all. We rock their shirts all the time, too. And speaking of those shirts. It's Leangelo who just dropped 52 points in his last game. So in terms of his dad becoming like, you know, a problem or whatever. I think in some ways it's overblown in the sense that once those kids in the NBA,

I think all that really is going to matter is basketball. And there's bigger things to talk about where whatever LeVar ball is saying is just going to be in the background. However, it is hard to gauge how that might affect, like let's say a small market team. Like let's say Lonzo Ball falls into a market where there's not a lot to talk about where where let's say, I don't know, let's pick out a situation. Like, let's say Phoenix, right? They're not necessarily the smallest market. Better example.

Let's say Orlando, right? Let's say Lonzo Ball goes to Orlando. And LeVar Ball is just completely talking about how he needs to go to the Lakers, how this is the worst thing to ever happen. It's like Eli Manning going to San Diego all over again. Then it can be a problem. Then we're running into issues. But if he's just talking, I don't think it's.

that big of a problem. But if it turns into like impacting basketball, which so far it hasn't at all, then whatever, right? It's just something you deal with. Where are you at on the Kentucky kids? Are you higher on Fox or Monk? I like Monk more. But at the same time, Fox does more things, if that makes any sense. So what I mean by that is Fox is a great defender, a great playmaker, Great in pick and roll. Can really penetrate. Does a lot of things well except for shoot the basketball. Whereas on the other hand, Malik Monk, he's a terrific shooter, literally from anywhere on the court, right?

Like he can knock down shots off the dribble or off the catch. And he's a superb athlete, too. And for him, his weaknesses are he's not a good defender, that's short arms. He's not quite the playmaker that Fox is. So at 6 foot 3, 190 pounds, he's more of like that point guard-sized player in today's NBA, and you would like to see him do more of that. And here's the thing, though. I think he can.

He just hasn't shown it consistently because the opportunity hasn't been there. I think he can become more of a playmaker and take on that responsibility. I don't know if he's like a traditional point guard. I'm not saying he would be like Fox, but I think he could play that score first role at point guard in today's NBA. I absolutely think he could. And maybe, so look at it this way. A couple years ago in Kentucky, Devin Bougar didn't run really over 10 pick and rolls the entire season.

He never handled the ball. It was spot up shooting and attacking closeouts and occasionally handling the ball in transition. Malik Munk plays a similar-ish role this year for Kentucky where he's not getting those ball handling reps, but it doesn't mean a player can't do it just because they aren't receiving the chances to do it. Carl Anthony Towns didn't shoot three, three is a Kentucky.

We know now he's a great three-point shooter and he's a total force when he has the ball on the perimeter. So with Monk, I think there's more to him than we've seen. But at this time, I do think it looks like Fox does more because he does. But really, Monk has some unlock skills that we may see more so at the next level on the NBA, depending on where he lands. How about two other high lottery projected players? which do you prefer Jonathan Isaac at Florida State or Josh Jackson to Kansas? I prefer Jason Tatum. I know, but listen, I'm assuming we're talking about Tatum having a shot at being the number one pick in the draft.

I think Jackson has a shot too. I mean, really, like it's a coin flip right now between those two from me. Isaac is the guy. I look at him as the third guy of that group of the lottery forwards. And the primary reason why is because with Isaac, he's a forward at Florida State. He has a body kind of like Brandon Ingram, long arm, six foot 10, really lanky. I think for him, I don't see the ability to create off the dribble as much as I do with Tatum or Jackson. And it's possible that can be developed.

And it's possible that he could become the best of the group. But at the same time, I think we can already see the flashes from Tatum and the flashes from Jackson. I think Tatum's ability to really create off the dribble is remarkable. And Jackson, the shot is the question for me, and then the decision making is questionable. But the ability to create space for himself is there, too. Tatum was freakishly good in the ACC tournament, so possibly a preview of things to come. But do you, if you were going to suspect that there is a Derek Rose-esque run, where Derek Rose had a pretty good season, but then just took the world by a second.

storm when it got to the NCAA tournament, despite losing in the national title game. If there is one of those, Derek Rose, prior to that, Carmelo Anthony was a one and done, who obviously went all the way to the title game. If there is one of those, like a put a team on their back guy and have just this crazy tournament run, who would your money be on? Lonzo, Tatum, who? So I don't think it would be Tatum because I think they have so much talent on their roster that the load might be distributed. Like you'll see Luke Kinard get a lot of opportunity.

Grayson Allen. You'll see other guys on that team shine. And Duke is my pick the win at all. That's what befell's Jackson too, right? With the two guards, Mason and Graham, he's not going to just take over every single game. Inevitably Mason or Graham, if Kansas is going to make a big run. those guys are going to be lethal. Yeah.

And that's why I think Lonzo Ball is the guy I would lean towards because he's the one who makes everything happen on that team. So I think if I had to put my money on anybody to really make that historic run, it'll be Lonzo Ball. But at the same time, he's still kind of already there. I feel like most everybody has him in their top three. I mean, so like if it's a non-top three guy, maybe Malik Monk, who we just talked about

because of his ability to score, maybe Monk. I think if it's a non-top three guy, I would take Monk, but if it's anybody else that's not in the top one, aka Fultz, I'd probably go with Lanzo Ball. And that's what we need. We need them to keep moving forward because if they do, I'm going to hang out with LaVar Ball. I'm hoping for that now, Chris.

You're going to start laying the groundwork to get that started now. They should kick the hell out of Kent State. And then they'd get the winner of Cincinnati, K-State Wake Forest. So pick your one on K-State Wake 4. UCLA should move on to that next round. I mean, they should move on to the Sweet 16. I would be surprised if any of those teams that I just named beat them. And UCLA, Kentucky, now Kentucky's going to have to get past Wichita or Dayton.

But, man, oh, man, you could get Fox, Monk, and Ball all in the same game. Hey, I want that. How good would Fox versus Ball be? That's what I'm hoping for. and me and LeVar just watching it together. You're going to record the podcast from the stands while the games happen. This man said, give my family a billion dollars, like he's damn Dr. Evil or something. One billion dollars.

I'll tell you one thing that I like about LeVar Ball. I think he's outrageous with some of the things he says, but he does have a vision, right? and I think that's often one of the first steps it takes to like achieving greatness in life is, you know, envisioning, envisioning that path towards that goal, whatever it may be. And he has a vision for his sons. And I think that can be a little bit overbearing. So that's the negative side of it. But you can't knock the guy for having a vision. Kevin.

Ask you, it's saying, telling a reporter that he wants a billion dollar contract from Nike. Did he put his pinky to his lips like Dr. Revo when he said that? Yes, $1 billion. It's insane. We don't even know if the two younger ones are any good. I really wish there was video of him saying that. Maybe there is. We just haven't seen it.

But I want that video. I saw that story last week. Here it is. It says, LeVar Ball seeks combined $1 billion for three sons deal. And it says, the father of UCLA guard, Lanzo Ball and his brothers, La Angelo and La Mello, are high schoolers who were both going to UCLA, said he's looking for a package shoe deal involving his three sons worth a billion dollars.

He told USA Today, he said, a billion dollars, it has to be there. That's our number, a billion, straight out of the gate. And you don't even have to give me all up front. Just give me a hundred million. He was a hundred million up front. Did you even mention his Michael Jordan comments earlier? Yeah, I mentioned it that he could cook Michael Jordan. Yeah.

So crazy, man. It's outrageous. Back in my heyday, I would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one. Come on, man. It's ridiculous. Well, here's the problem with it is because when you say something like that, it opens yourself up to everybody looking up. Okay, well, maybe was he really good and it just got shortened or whatever?

Unfortunately, people have looked up. LeVar played in high school and then played one season at Washington State where he averaged two points a game. Oh, man. That was 1987. That same season. Yeah, it should be noted that that same season, Michael Jordan averaged 35 points a game for the Chicago Bulls.

You know what it reminds me of? So a couple of years ago, Brian Scalabrini, former Celtic former Bull, played a one-on-one game, with like just like a normal person i guess i should say because because the the thought was like brian scalverney is the worst player in the NBA a normal guy could beat him one-on-one and brian scalliburney just completely destroyed him in the one-on-a matchup like it was embarrassing right and it kind of proved the point that hey guess what NBA players are really really really good and i wonder if lavar ball kind of has that mindset in the sense that i played college i just was

overlooked. That's why I didn't make it for the NBA. It was a world. People need to take a step back and say there's 450 of these jobs in the world. And you're drawing from every continent. And there's 450 people that are good enough to pull it off, or roughly. This was this quote. Back in my heyday, I would kill Michael Jordan one-on-one. I would just back him in and lift him off the ground and call a foul every time he fouls me. when I do a jump hook to the right or the left. He cannot stop me one-on-one. He better make every shot because he can't go around me.

He's not fast enough. And he can only make so many shots outside before I make every bucket under the rim. Jeez. What does he even mean by back Jordan in and lift him off the ground and call foul every time? So like, what style of basketball are we playing here, LeVar? No, he's playing.

What version of basketball is this? This man said he was going to hit him with the left hook and the right hook. Woo. Oh, boy. That's unbelievable. I hope Lonzo Ball becomes a superstar and I hope LeVar keeps talking

because it's fun. It's really fun. I'm having fun talking about LeVar Ball. See, you asked me earlier. I can't wait to watch this NCAA tournament and this has been well regarded as an extremely deep, extremely talented draft.

And so I can't wait to see who emerges as these teams get on their NCAA tournament runs. This is going to be, I love watching it. I love the NCAA tournament anyway, but I do certainly love watching it from an NBA perspective too because some of these kids are supposed to be franchise changing guys and this is, you know, inevitably the last time we're going to get to see them play in a college uniform. And you just sit there and pray that nobody gets hurt and that they perform as well as they possibly can. I'm excited. I can't wait for the thing to

start for sure. It's my favorite way to watch it, Chris. It always has been. from, you know, through an NBA lens. I know there's a lot of NBA fans that hate watching college basketball because the talent level isn't as good as the NBA and it's like, yeah, no shit. It's not, the, oftentimes it's an ugly game to watch. But March Madness is fun because, you know, just the stage that they're playing on, it's fun. And just watch it through an NBA lens.

Look for, look for the guys that you want on your favorite team. Look for people who fit into the system. And watch it through that lens. I wrote an article a couple months ago, how to scout the NBA draft and talk to like a bunch of NBA executives and college scouts about like ways to watch. Like Google that and look for that. And I think I think it's a good way, the good thing to read heading into the tournament. So I'll probably tweet that out again too. But I just think it's fun to scout.

It's really fun. For sure. Kevin, enjoy. I can't wait to see what you're right about on the ringer regarding the tournament. And we'll talk to you next week. Thanks, buddy. Have a good one, Chris. Thanks for listening to another edition of the NBA show.

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