The Ringer NBA Show - Spurs in Danger, Lillard Elevates, Unpredictable Playoff Picture, and Prospects on Display | The Ringer NBA Show (Ep. 227)

Episode Date: March 13, 2018

The Ringer’s Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor discuss the possibility for the Spurs to miss the playoffs for the first time in two decades (6:05), the Steph Curry–like ascent of Portland Trail Blazers All-Star Damian Lillard (14:47), the minimum number of wins necessary to make it into the competitive Western Conference playoffs (22:17), intriguing Eastern Conference teams on the rise (27:21), and prospects to look forward to watching during March Madness (47:23). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You can find it all at the ringer.com and The Ringer Podcast Network. And now The Ringer NBA show. Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon and joining me as he does every Tuesday from The Ringer.com. He's Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Bomber, aka Kevin O'Moddle, aka Kevin O'Conflict. Kevin! Verno!

How are you doing today? I'm doing great. For those that saw our Twitter interaction, it was, I believe, last Friday, I ran into one of our biggest listeners, and it happened to be a halftime performer at NBA games. Christian Stonyev is his name. He got famous or got the gigs by he did great on America's Got Talent. So his whole bit is he's got a dog with him. Like he does all like kind of like the Cirque de Soleil type stuff, right, where he can balance himself, you know, on a pole. And then the dog jumps on him.

And the dog like runs on a basketball too, which is rather unbelievable. Right. The dog can run around on a basketball and like it's a great halftime show, right? So anyways, I get to the game and our game ops people are like, hey, there's this guy and he really, really wants to meet you. And I was like, okay. And they're like, he says he's a big fan of the Ringer NBA show. He's actually performing at our halftime tonight. And I was like, oh, man, well, I got to go meet this guy.

And it's the act is called Christian and Scooby. Scooby's, of course, the dog, right? So I go back there and meet him. He listens to every episode of the Ringer NBA show. He travels to obviously to all these NBA arenas. Happens to be a massive Raptors fan, which is interesting, right? You don't come across all that many Raptors fans in the wild. But anyway, he obviously listens to the point where he even brought up you and Tinder.

So I was like, wow, this guy really does listen. Says he wants to be your wingman, lives in L.A. So this has got to happen, especially if you bring Scooby along. But anyway, what do you think I asked him? I don't know. How do you even figure out that you can do a halftime show with a dog jumping on top of you and doing all these tricks, right? Okay. This story, Kevin, unbelievable.

I'll keep it short. Mom, circus performer, dad, circus performer. Ah. Okay? Two circus performers. So the kid grows up in the circus. He grows up in New York. They're in the Big Apple Circus, is the name of it, right?

I've been to the Big Apple Circus. I've been to that before when I was a kid. So he leaves New York after high school, after, of course, being brought up in the circus. He goes to college for the circus. Circus. And I was like, what? Circus. I was like, where do you, like, what kind of classes do you take for circus?

And he's like, no, no, it's not like a major. It's like the football team or the water polo team or whatever, right? And I was like, what? And he said, there's two schools in the country that offer circus. And so I got a full ride to Illinois State University. Oh, my God. And I was like, wait, what, this whole story is great. He goes to Illinois State University. He says they practice like circus stuff like three or four hours a day, just like a team would. And he got a full ride for circus. I said, Illinois State. I said, where is the other school that offers circus? You want to take a stab at it? Duke. Coach K coaches the team.

Hey, almost is funny. Florida State. Really? Seriously. Those are the – there's two schools in the country that offer circus. Illinois. State and Florida State, and he wanted to go to Florida State, but he got a full ride to Illinois State. Like Jimbo Fisher coaches the team? I have never heard of such a thing in my life. Did you even know you could go to school for circus, much less get a scholarship for it? I had no idea, man. I said, I said, I came home and I told my wife, I said, my daughter, she's got to grow a beard.

You'll be the bearded lady and get a full ride to Illinois State. What are it funny if, like, Jonathan Isaac and Dwayne Bacon come out in last year's draft and it says the list all the players what they make. majored in. It's like communication, psychology. And for Jonathan Isaac, it's circus. And Florida State. Yeah, the Florida State Circus Department. I don't even though. I guess they have like a big top and I don't know. I mean, do they have the animals there and everything? I got it. I had so many questions. I just let it go. But anyway, shout out to Christian. He's got a great NBA

half-time act. He's a big listener to the show. And the story is something that I will never forget. and hopefully none of our listeners will. Last night was extremely interesting because by far the most pressing story regarding the outcomes of last night's game was what was going to happen between the Spurs and the Rockets, which of course, especially given the fact

that the Spurs were without Kauai Leonard and Lamarcus Aldridge last night and the rockets have been beaten by virtually nobody that the Rockets would win, but the impact that that would have and the impact that has is for the first time this season, look at the standings and the spurs are not involved in the playoffs right now. They sit at 10th

as of right now and the jazz are now in the playoffs. As virtue of winning six in a row and eight of their last 10 and they've had this great record since Gobert came back, they're now in the 8 seed. The clippers are in the 7 seed. So the spurs right now are 10. Do you foresee any circumstance where the spurs are not a playoff team this year? Yes. I wrote about it last week, where they have an incredibly, incredibly, incredibly tough schedule. Talked about it yesterday with Shea and, you know, Shea Serrano, who I love very much and respect very much and enjoy his books very much. It's a rough spot for the Spurs.

If Kauai comes back on Thursday like he's supposed to and he pretty soon becomes typical Kauai, that I definitely think they have a real shot of making the playoffs. They do anyway because they're the Spurs. But their schedule is really tough, Chris. It's really hard. You have, it says, all right, so they're 37 and 30. So, talk of 15 more games. You've got 15 games.

And they've lost three in a row. They've lost eight of their last 10. And they are, so you got 15 games left to go. What number do you think the eight seat has? I think that's what we need to examine first, right? Well, let's outline their remaining schedule. With 15 games, they only have two games versus, quote, unquote, tanking teams. They face Orlando tonight.

And then the second, the last game of the season is against Sacramento. So they have 13 games. games against teams that are either in the playoffs or really hot or in the playoffs right now. So they have two against New Orleans, two against Washington, one against Milwaukee, one against Golden State. They face Utah, the Clippers, the Lakers, Blazers. I might be missing a couple. I have one more against Houston as well.

Their schedule is just like gauntlet. And then it's really tough. Like they need to win at least half these, right? Maybe more. All right. Well, let's just say, all right. So we'll give the two for certains, which were the Sacramento Kings and Orlando. We'll give them to tonight, okay?

That would get them to 39, 39 with 13 left, and you listed off the other ones. And that's the question. How many of those 13 are you going to need? What number do we think the eighth seed has? I mean, it's going to be pretty high. Like, we get three teams right now, 37 and 30. And then you get the Clippers at 36 and 29 and the seventh seed. it's got to be 44 at a minimum, right?

It could actually end up being like you needed 47 to get in. Interestingly enough, right now, you know, every day ESPN has that BPI playoff odds that they update every day. And as of right now, they give the San Antonio Spurs a 71% chance to make the playoffs, but they would be the eight seed. And they would have 46 wins. 46 and 36 is the projected outcome for them. The teams on the outside looking in would be the clippers and the nuggets. I think I kind of agree with the BPI number here.

538 looks at a little bit differently, Chris. They have the spurs only at 50%, 52% for the clippers, 48% for the Nuggets. So they're calling it a toss-up for that eight seed, which is interesting. And obviously we have to throw in the fact that Kauai Leonard's going to be back. And if he is any semblance of Kauai Leonard top five player in the league, you know, what percentage of that level player do you get out of him? It's clearly extremely significant, especially with 15 games left to go.

And if this is, let's just say that 46 is the number that it takes. I do think, I mean, that would be winning those two that we talked about. And then in those other 13 going 7 and 6 would get you to 46, if that is the number, right? what a friggin nightmare that would be if you're Houston. Oh, God. Can you imagine you finally get the number? It would be so wild if you fight and you fight and you fight and you get the one seed. And then it's like the worst thing ever to have the one seed because Golden State would get to play New Orleans

and you've got to play the friggin spurs with Kauai Leonard back. That's true. But also, on the other hand, you might be looking at that like, okay, this is our time to show. everybody that we're for real. Like if you're if you're the Rockets, if you're a player on that team, you're like, okay, people were saying this team actually has a chance at beating us when we just killed them last month. Let's show them like that we're for real. We're a real one seat. We're a real threat. And if you like, if you face the Spurs in round one

and everybody's hyping it up as this tough matchup and then you go out and sweep them, I think that says a lot. Do you want the Spurs if you're the Rockets or do you just feel like, I mean, I'm just saying right for the challenge of it, dude, for the challenge. zero percent chance that they sweep them. A zero percent chance they sweep. And you've got that mental block. This team boned you on your home floor with the season on the line. Thal Kawai Leonard.

Yeah. Last year. And I get it. They're different. They're better. They've got Chris Paul now. But they are so much better. They might be better than anybody you play in terms of equipped to give you problems if you are the Rockets.

it would be possible that outside, and we don't know with the Warriors, and Steph Curry's had four ankle injuries already this year. Iguidala was just out, obviously. I know he was game time on Sunday. But, you know, they are, and they're going to be playing 100 games for, you know, the fourth consecutive season or whatever it is. But I could see the Spurs being, I mean, that's a team. They've got, they've got the most experience,

and they've got the most playoff victories underneath their belt. And if they have Kauai, they by far have the best team. You would hope to not have to face them at all or in the West finals. Because if you are, you would play theoretically if everything would have stayed the same. And those were the top three teams, as we thought all season, it would be the warriors that have to catch them in order to get to the Western Conference finals. By virtue of the Rockets being the one seat. And that's what we talked about so much through the year.

How significant was that one seed? And I kept saying it's not as much the home court advantage as it is getting away from San Antonio. And that's why I say, because I think there is a real difference between those three and everybody else. Nobody else has proven anything. Anything. Portland's never proven anything. Minnesota's never proven anything. This incarnation of Oklahoma City, Utah, New Orleans, none of these teams have done squat.

San Antonio on the other hand, you don't want any part of them. That would be a nightmare. I mean, it says at all that the Spurs haven't missed the playoffs since the 1996-97 season. They've had so many different types of rosters that have all found success. And this year's team is good. They're not a bad team at all. They've struggled lately, but that's a lot to do with missing your best player. I hope they make the playoffs.

I hope Kauai gets back and he's healthy. It's just there's a lot of questions. There's a lot of uncertainty with that team. But if Kauai's back and if Kauai's healthy, if they're able to play basketball like they did earlier in the season up until maybe early January, there's certainly a threat, Chris. You're right. Yeah, you're going up against Popovich. You know he's going to make those adjustments.

And the other thing is you never know what's going to happen throughout the course of a series. Sometimes Draymond punches LeBron James in the nuts. And sometimes Kauai Leonard lands on Zaza-Pichulia's foot, right? You just want to be playing the inferior teams. And there's no doubt that a fully equipped spills. Spurs team is better than any of those others that you would face. I'd rather face Portland. Portland's a three seed. I'd rather face them. People pick the Spurs ahead of the Rockets before the season. Obviously, that ended up not being

the right choice, but it just speaks to how talented the Spurs team is when Kauai is healthy. It'll just be interesting to see what happens moving forward because some of the surrounding pieces perhaps haven't developed as much as they would have expected or hoped to over the course of the season. You said last week that you were becoming a Portland. Portland believer. And I must tell you that while I was a bit skeptical, they have been rocking and they have won 10 games in a row. They got a 10 game winning street going. They are now two games up in the standings on the four seed, which would be Oklahoma City at this point. And they are, obviously, they have no chance at the one or the two. Those are all locked in. But Portland certainly has a chance to be a home court advantage team. And they have won 10 games in a row. Is this team much more dangerous than maybe we have given it

credit for, and when I say that we've all thought it was a foregone conclusion that Houston and Golden State will be there in the end, and they've established themselves throughout this season as the two best teams. I've told you, I think San Antonio is still super dangerous for either of them, but how dangerous is

Portland for either of them? Well, Lillard continues just channeling Stefan Curry's 2015 season. They definitely or somebody who can stay in games or get themselves back into games or extend leads. Damien Lillard, since February 1st, is averaging 32 points on 40% shooting from 3. Super efficient, scoring from all levels of the floor, 6 assists, to only 3 turnovers. Dude is just unbelievable right now.

Did you see the highlights or the full game last time against Miami, or really, what I should say is against any team these last two months? Dude has just been outstanding night in and night out. 50 against the Kings, 32 last sign against Miami, dropped 44 against Golden State last month. Dude is just unstoppable right now. You know, and I gained a... Obviously, I always had respect for the guy and thought he was an outstanding player,

but I gained a new level of respect. Earlier this year, at the beginning of the year, the Grizzlies took a second round pick named Ivan Rab out of California, former McDonald's All-American, and obviously big buddies with Jalen Brown. But somehow those guys are big buddies. right, I suppose from the same area

and Lillard kind of took him under his wing and he at one point I was having a conversation with him and said he worked out with him during the summer and it was a colossal wake-up call as to why the great players in the NBA are great and he said because in the middle of the summer right, he is there early in the morning and he is taking a million shots

and he is adding things to his game and he was just like this this eye-opening experience for kid that was just about to come into the league that in many cases, yes, there is unbelievable talent, but what differentiates guys like Lillard is his work ethic is just outrageous. And I don't think that's something that has necessarily tagged Lillard, right? You don't hear about that. We always heard about, you know, Kobe Bryant's work ethic and Michael Jordan's work ethic and all

these guys, right? People talk about Dame as a rapper. That's what they do. Yeah, right. I haven't heard as many stories about that, but he said, this guy is absolutely ferocious, and it's every day, every single day, no days off, and he is just constantly working. And obviously it pays dividends, right?

Because he is, what season are we in? And he's getting better. Yeah, look, here's the thing. Like, sometimes with these players, when they enter their mid-20s, like, Lillard is 27 years old right now. A lot of times when these guys are 24, 25, you think they're finished products. But that's not necessarily the case. Lillard today is significantly better than he was. two years ago when he was already at

All-Star level, 25 point per game score. He's continued to evolve his game and that's what the game's great players do. They don't stay the same. They constantly reinvent themselves when they're already at the top or when it seems like they're at the top of their own respective skill level. Liller

to somebody's still getting better and right now he's just putting the blazers on his back and it's remarkable to watch. He looks like Stefan Curry, not 2.0, but he looks like a clone of Stefan Curry these last two months. Got to watch him play and think about Steph a years ago, that sort of feels like watching the game right now. We know that against

the rockets and against the Warriors, you have to hope that they do not shoot high percentages from three. But the other thing is what has been commonplace of teams that have given them problems over the years is you have got to be able to kill them on the boards. And it's damn near

every night, Kevin. Either Ed Davis or Yusuf Nurkich is like 15, 16 rebounds. I mean, they are really, really rebounding. which I think is a big part of why their defense has taken a big tick up this year because clearly the last line of defense is getting the ball back, right? Limiting these teams to taking one shot.

And so they've had some big rebound numbers out of a couple of their guys and they don't go to the bench and it'd be this big downturn on that. I don't know why the hell they were playing Vonley at the beginning of the year. That experiment ended, but like shots fired and Noah Vonley. Well, seriously. Can you believe he was a starter for that team? I mean, that's bananas. Speaking about rebound,

Dame also averages four and a half rebounds per game. Great rebounder is a point card. All right, so we got that 10-game win streak, and it's not just a bunch of rat teams. Golden State, at Utah, Minnesota, Oak City, Golden State again. I mean, these are good wins, really good wins. It's not like, of course, they're sprinkled in there, Phoenix, Sacramento, and the Lakers and the Knicks.

Lakers have been good. That's a good win right now. Well, and not only are they winning, they beat Golden State by 17. They beat Miami last night by 16. They beat Minnesota by 9. Obviously, they smoked Sacramento. They won that game at Utah, 100 to 81. I mean, you go at Utah and win by 19?

I don't know, man. When you said 100 to 81, I was like with 181, I miss heard. I was like, I would have believed you. No. Because they've been that hot. 100 to 81. So I don't know. I mean, I don't think that they're good enough to beat those top two,

but I certainly have come around to the fact that they could make their life hell and maybe make it a six or seven game series. That would not be the craziest thing ever to me. For sure. You need balance. And Portland has balance with its firepower on offense, it's good defense, and it's elite rebounding. They have balance.

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Oklahoma City has made a surge a little bit. They have won three games in a row. They are seven and three in their last 10. And unbelievably, they were on the cusp of not being a playoff team. But this is the way the standings go, right? You're on the cusp of not being a playoff team, and the next thing you know, you're the four seed, which is where they stand right now.

You know, it feels like we've just gone a roller coaster with them, right? You watch Oklahoma City sometimes, and you think, oh boy, if they get it figured out, or you know, you saw that game against the Warriors earlier this year where they were mega impressive. And I know Carmelo didn't play in that game, but George and Westbrook both simultaneously were amazing. And Stephen Adams was a force to be reckoned with in that particular game. What are we thinking on Oklahoma City? Are we starting to believe that they could be just talent because of their level of talent, a dangerous team for one of the top seats in the playoffs? You know, no, I'm thinking that they also, like the Spurs, have just an incredibly difficult schedule.

They face Atlanta tonight. They face Memphis last game of the season. But between that, Clippers, Raptors, Celtics, Heat, Blazers, Spurs, Nuggets, Pelicans, Warriors, Rockets, Heat. That's a lot of tough teams. A lot of really tough teams. So, yes, like you said, they've won three in a row, but those wins are against Phoenix, blah, against the Spurs who are struggling right now and then against the Kings last night. they're surging, but it's against not so great teams at this moment.

So they're still only up two games. They're the four seed, but they're only up two games on the Clippers, jazz, nuggets, and spurs, who were tied at seven and eight. So this could flip quickly for the Thunder just as it could the other way for the nuggets or the spurs or the clippers could surge up the standings too for that matter. The West is so wacky, man, and that's why I'm looking so much at the schedule. They have these games against the teams that they need to beat. Those are going to be the games that ultimately determine who gets in.

If the Thunder beat the Clippers, they take care of business against the Spurs and the Nuggets. They'll be in for damn sure. But if they drop those games, next Tuesday, next Tuesday, depending on how they do the rest of this week, we can be talking about the Thunder being on the outside looking in of the playoffs. All right, pull those up real quick because, all right, so you've got the Thunder one up right now, right? Because one of the things that has been interesting is they have been an under 500 team on the road, but have won virtually two out of every three games at home. The same goes with San Antonio.

In fact, they have won even more. They've won like three out of every four games at home, whereas they have a 14 and 22 away record. So both of those teams have really struggled on the road, yet have these extremely good home records no matter opponent. So how many of those Oklahoma cities are home versus road? When you're talking about the in-between, Let's give them the Memphis game and the other game that you had mentioned.

Who was it, Phoenix? I think it was. Five at home. Clippers, heat, blazers, nuggets, warriors. And then the rest are on the road besides the two games versus the tankers. Yeah. So if you played that to form, if you played that to form, right? And we say we've got five at home.

And let's give them the, we'll say at minimum they get three of those. So we give them three there. And then we say they're about 500 team on the road. So they split the other ones. You say eight on the road. I'd give them seven more wins. I'd get them to 47, yeah. You'd be fighting.

That's got to be the number, right? I mean, we've talked about this a little bit earlier, but what is the number that you need to get in? It's got to be 46, right? All those teams there at the bottom that are fighting for it, Clippers have a couple extra games to be played. They are right now sitting at 65 games, so they'll have 17,

whereas the Jazz, the Nuggets, and the Spurs, all have 15 remaining. Oklahoma City only has 13 remaining. Yeah, because they're at 69 right now. Nice. 30. You like that? That's good.

37 and 30. Yeah, I think, I mean, what are they going to go? I think probably 46. What, that'd be 9 and 6 the rest of the way? 9 and 6 the rest of the way? I'd say 46, 47. You're right there. I'd be scared if I had 46.

I'd feel okay if I had 47. Yeah, I think so, which seems rather high, but I think it seems appropriate for this season. Oh, the spurs will go, if they get Kauai back, they'll go 10 and 5. I'm just telling you, they get into 8 seed. I would just be like, I don't know, give me a break.

I don't know. How the spurs the 8th year? I don't know, man. Right now. I mean, there's... You don't know. You don't know if they're going to go 10 and 5 the rest of the way. Like I said, you got to look at the other schedule,

like a team like the Nuggets. They have a run where they're facing the pistons, the Grizzlies, the bull, I mean, there's a lot of tough games left for any of these Western Conference teams, but that one extra game against a tanking team might make a difference. Or not as a tanker necessarily, but a poor team. For sure. All right.

Let's flip to the Eastern Conference right now, and I'll be damned the Pacers are the three seed as of this morning. I mean, how crazy is that? At the beginning of this season, I mean, there is always somebody that wildly outperforms what we think they are going to do. But this is another level. For the Pacers to be the third ranked team record-wise in the Easter conference, I mean, unless you're talking about like the first 10 games of the season.

But when we're talking about they have played 67 games so far. And right now, they are the three-seed with Cleveland being the four-seat. They're a half-game up on Cleveland as time of recording. I feel like they are a rather unbelievable. story. I mean, I don't think, I guess maybe New Orleans. I'd say New Orleans without their success without Boogie and the Pacers would be the two biggest stories in terms of outperforming what they thought. We clearly thought the Pelicans were dead without Boogie, and that has been the total opposite of what has happened. And the Pacers, I mean, I think right now, they have 39 wins with

15 games remaining. And I think at the beginning of the season, if you would have said, I mean, they're over under number probably had to be close to that, right? 39. They're probably supposed to be about a 500 team. Is that correct? Yes. And they're only getting better too, Chris. Only getting better.

Miles Turner, 21 years old. DeMontasabonis, a bonus, 21 years old, Victor Oladipo, 25 years old. That team, a team that I was dead wrong about, a lot of people were dead wrong about after the Paul George trade. I mean, like we talked about over the course of the season, like in the article I wrote,

Old Evil transformed his game. Sabonis, Turner, have developed Turner lately more so than over the course of the full season. But they're getting contributions from their key guys, but also they're contributing players like Thaddeus Young has been solid for them. Call us on off the bench.

Glenn Robinson third. Lance Stevenson, dude. They're getting a lot of strong contributions up and down their roster. And they're not a real contending team, but the strides they've taken to season are very encouraging when they'll actually have a little bit of cap space in the coming years too i just looked it up it was 31 and a half i mean they have smashed that already so

so clearly they are the in terms of who has outperformed their number they are the one by a wide margin a wide margin i mean even the pelicans were projected to win 39 and a half and i believe do they already have 40 right now the pelicans have 38 so they'll certainly hit the over on theirs but they have overperformed for certain the Pacers. Good grief. 31 and a half and they're already at 39. And they may get to whatever, 47, 48 by the time this thing's all said and done. Do you think, while the Pacers have clearly been a good story and have played extremely well,

do you think they are a dangerous playoff team? If we're talking against Toronto, probably not. Against LeBron James when he's playing 45 minutes per game, probably not. But I do think that there are a team that can keep it competitive. I don't know if they're a danger, but they can certainly keep it competitive with them. To me, it's more like they have shown that this current core with Oval Depot, Turner, and Sabonis,

and all the surrounding pieces can be a really, really good, really good competitive team. And then they enter this summer with the ability to create a lot of cap space. And if you're a player, maybe you're looking at Ola Depot and Turner and Sabonis, you're like, you know what? I can get paid.

there and I can join a winning team seems like a pretty good deal. I think they have shown that they can sustain success and get better with the money that they'll have this summer. That's the way I look at it. If I'm a fan of the Pacers, I'm thinking

whatever we do in the playoffs, great, it's the bonus, but it's leading to something potentially really special over the off season to get even better going into the next year. Yeah, essentially, because they have been one of the teams that has had virtually

no success with big free agents, right? They have never, never. They just don't sign big free agents ever. And the thing is, it's different now because nobody has max cap space. There's like six or seven teams that are going to be able to hand out a max. And if you're a player, some of those teams aren't going to want to give out a max because they're not at the level where they're ready to do it. Or they're a team that they're not going to want to pay a long term $17 million annually

for that matter, never mind the max. the Pacers are the team where they're ready to give that money because they're trying to win. They're ready to win. And I don't know. I mean, it depends on what they want to do with their non-guaranteed contract. Bogdanovich, Collison, Jefferson, all non-guaranteed. And then their younger players also have non-guaranteed deals. Team option for Lance Stevenson.

So a lot of their core guys off the bench have options or non-guaranteed deals. But they do have the ability to create a lot of space. And maybe if there's a player out there that they want to target or that they think they can sign, then it's worth going for them. All of this stuff is so fluid. I mean, even as of right now. The seven seed as of today is the Milwaukee Bucks, and they are three games back from being the three seed.

So within, you know, by the time we speak next week, we could be talking about the Bucks being the three seed. You just never know with how fluid all of this stuff is. That being said, I saw the Bucks in person last night. Brandon Jennings was just out of his mind. I mean, came back from China and was just, he kept putting, and I get it, it's the Grizzlies, they lost 18 in a row. But he was, but he was, he was everywhere. I mean, he was rebounding.

He was finding guys across the court. He was putting pressure on the defense all the time. He looked in great shape. He's been playing over in China this year. But just, I mean, my first impression was, holy mackerel, I could see him. You know, you get into a playoff. game, he could come off the bench and maybe get you, you know, 10 or 12 real quick. And maybe, you know, certainly, because he's so damn fast and they've got some real runners

on that team, obviously Henson finishes stuff and you've got Janus, that he could help them. And inevitably, they'll get Brogden back too. If he can get in the rotation and then you have Brogden, who you can also play alongside Bledsoe, you're talking about two rotation guys possibly that you could throw in a, in the, in the, a theoretical playoff lineup, right? They could get minutes for you. The big thing that stuck out to me last night, and I tweeted about this,

I mean, it's 17 years of a team that I have covered. I have never seen any bucks gear in a stadium ever, ever. And last night there were Janus Jersey everywhere. And it speaks to the massive leap he has taken in stardom, right, that there would be that much gear in a crowd. It was a real wake-up call in terms of how big he has gotten nationally. Even in the NBA's smallest market, you can look around and see his jersey everywhere, just like you see when it's Russell Westbrook or LeBron James or some of the other superstars

that come through town. The other was I was very focused on Jabari Parker. I know you loved Parker once upon a time. I did too. I feel horrible for the kid because of his injuries. Yeah, of course. Yeah. He's lost, you know, basically two seasons already.

And he's clearly coming back still from all of that, you know, whether it is the conditioning or whether it is the leaping ability or trusting yourself to drive hard to the basket and do something. You can see that it's not just playing without any, without any breaks on. And I really wonder what kind of decision is going to be made this summer. and what kind of money Jabari Parker commands slash gets. What do you think? Well, just quickly on Jennings, it's just something else to me to see how poorly Derek Rose played on and his debut for the Wolfe's compared to Brennan Jennings.

Just the disparity in performance is remarkable. And that may not continue. Obviously, Rose might be a little bit better than he was, and Jennings won't be as great as he was. But it's just something to see how different a signing can impact the team when they first get back. But as for Parker, he's exactly the type of guy that I think, or not necessarily made for the pacer's,

but if I'm a team with cap space this summer, I'm thinking, yes, Jabbaria suffered the two torn ACLs, but when that guy's healthy, and if those torn ACLs are something that's just going to be in the rear mirror, he's a really good player, man. Like you said, he's still getting back. He's not quite what he was,

but he's shooting the hell out of the ball since he has returned. Granted, it's a small sample size, but that was always the big thing with him is the development of his jumper. And even despite the injuries, each year his three-point shooting has gotten better. each year's free throw shooting has continued to improve.

He's a guy who I still think has a higher level. He's only 22 years old. Turns 23 this week. So only going to be 23 years old when he's a free agent this summer. Interesting fit with the bucks. I'm not sure if he's the guy you want to pay into that slot based off the composition of your roster. But he's very, very appealing to me if I'm another team in need of a scorer. Well, his age, it is so crazy when we think about, like when you mention stuff like that.

and you talk about how young that kid still is. And we just get so used to them, right? And they've been in the league for a little while. And then sometimes there's this shot of realism of just how young they really are. This happened to me last night, and this was mind-blowing. The aforementioned Dylan Brooks, right? He's asked after the game about guarding Janice onto Ticompo and, you know, about how he's been in the league and he's, you know, obviously,

one of the great players in the league, and he's like, you know, but he's just a year older than me. And, I mean, it stopped me in my tracks. Or the guy we talked about earlier, Damian Lillard, he came into the league at age 22, and Jabari's still just 22 now. Crazy. I mean, think about that. Janus is a year older than a kid that's a rookie. I mean, I was like, you got to be kidding me.

And you think about the way he has developed, you know, since he has been in the NBA. and you think about how young he still is. And I mean, what the hell is he going to look like when he's 28? My God. I know he's the freak, but I can't even, I can't even fathom like what that kid's going to look like at 27, 28. That's like three and four years from now. You know, it's the type of thing where, let me just preface what I'm about to say.

This isn't a shot at Ben Simmons at all. What I'm saying is, like, on Twitter, a lot of people compared, Ben Simmons's rookie season at age 21 to Janus when he was a rookie, but Janus was 19 when he was a rookie. I think the important thing is you got to compare ages. And Janus at 19 when he came in, he's a little kid, dude, he was a teenager. What he's turned into is something else. And I wonder with Janus, if the jumper is at like 35% average,

is he a yearly 30 points per game score, like year and year out, that dude just drops 30. Yes. He ever says 27 now and doesn't do it. It's crazy. I mean, the damnedest thing is he really is. For everybody out there, you got to see that guy in person to truly appreciate it. That dude is eight feet from the friggin' basket and takes one dribble and is at the ram.

I mean, it is. It's bananas. That's why there's the jerseys in the crowd, Chris. That's why there's the Greek freak. Yes, that's why there's the jerseys in the crowd. And speaking of that whole age thing, you know, I saw some. something I was reading an article yesterday in regards to this upcoming NBA draft that was saying that Aiton is virtually a year older than some of those peers, like Bagley and then there was

one other guy. I can't recall who it was. Maybe it was Bomba. I don't know. But that he was almost a full year older than both of them. And so that that should be taken into consideration. And I was like, oh, I didn't. I just figured all freshmen were about the same age, or roughly, the same age. Some guys do that leap year. thing where they reclassify. Others, they might have stayed back when they were in elementary school or something. Yeah, right. You never know. Or obviously, depending on the portion of the country that you grow up in, you end up going to kindergarten earlier. Absolutely. Since some states, you go at four, some you go at five. All right, Kevin, get right back to it. First, I want to tell you about Squarespace.

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It says you need a new website. Make it with Squarespace. head to Squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use the offer code NBA to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. That's Squarespace.com, offer code NBA. The other one that I did want to mention,

and this is not, unlike Kauai or Curry or some of the other big injuries, I feel like in many cases, when somebody like Andre Roberson got hurt, we did not give it enough significance. You're right, it matters a lot.

more than the level of story that it is, right? It's something that can impact a team in a greater way than the name recognition would necessarily, would give you. And it has happened again, and it is after getting him back and looking different, now Marcus Smart out indefinitely for the Celtics. Do you think that this will have a profound impact on what that team is capable here down the stretch and then more importantly in the playoffs. Yes, 100%. That guy is a difference maker. It feels like a killer, right?

It feels like a killer for them. For sure. I think Marcus Smart is obviously one of the game's elite defenders, one of more versatile defenders of the guard position. Dude can defend up to, and the guy has defended Paul Millsap, Kirstap's Porzingis. That's all you got to know about him. But not only that, he's a really good playmaker. Controls that second union when Irving's off the floor, who's also up, by the way.

They're going to need other guys to elevate. their play to an even higher level than they already have over the course of the season. And I'm not sure they're going to have enough juice to do it. Having Hayward go down at the beginning of the season, we've all forgotten that, right? But that did happen, and obviously it makes your roster shorter. It was only up from there for all NBA fans watching the season.

Do you think this is crazy to say that outside of Kyrie and Horford, smart is the next guy that they could least afford to lose for the playoffs? Yeah. I feel like they have slapsed. picked up in the other areas, right? Yeah, I think that's fair because of his defensive contributions and his playmaking.

But I'm not sure if I... It's close between him and Jalen Brown, but I think Smart's defense is just outstanding. I have one question that I wanted to ask you, Chris. Oh, please. So Sam Hinky said something at Sloan that's been on my mind lately with Irving being out. And he was talking about Danny Aange

and how he compiled assets and built up to trade for the next superstar that would be available and that star was Kyrie Irving. And Sam Hinky, you know, as intelligent as he is, he's like, well, the thing nobody's talking about now is, was that the right decision to pull the trigger on Kyrie Irving and make that move or should they have waited for the next guy? Because there will be more guys that are available. Should they have waited?

And I think it was the right decision. I think because those Nets picks would possibly depreciate and value. But it is an interesting question worth asking with Kyrie being out with that weird knee tendinitis of the same knee. that he had the broken kneecap a couple years ago with all that stuff that's happening. Right now it feels like they made the right choice, but when you look back,

it doesn't mean they necessarily did. It's just something that's been on my mind. As great as Kyrie's been, availability is the greatest ability. And right now, Kyrie has not been available. I just wonder. But that's just recent.

You know what I'm saying? He has not been a guy over the course of his career that, I mean, he's been. What? I guess the first two years, you know, it was 51 and 59. Clearly, he got injured his last year at Duke. Look, you can't believe every rumor that's floated out there, right? But the fact is that Kyrie is a guy that had a broken kneecap in the finals, and he had surgery on that.

He had tendonitis at the time it was reported. Then this season, all year his knees been managed, and then there was a report about the threat that when he threatened to have surgery, when he was still with the cavaliers and to miss the entire season. And now late in the season, the knees acting up. He's starting to miss games. He missed the Bulls game. And then against the Pacers on Sunday, he played on the first half and didn't come back. And now he's out.

I'm not saying you believe every rumor it's out there. But it's like sometimes whether there's smoke, there's fire. And with Irving, it's the type of thing where I think it was Danny Eange said in the phone that it's the type of thing that a lot of players have, just something that needs to be managed. But I just wonder, you know, like Sam Hinky said, will, was there actually the right? decision. I think it was. I think even if things go sour, it was, but it's just something worth thinking about. I mean, if you get, he had played 72 games last year, while shooting 47% from the field, 40% from three. He's unbelievable. He averaged 25 points a game and he's 25 years old. Yes, he's unbelievable. But he's also 25 years old and having a guy who had a broken knee cap and

is having knee tendinitis. 25 is not old. I know, that's what I'm saying. That's what I mean. like he's 25 and he has knee tendonitis on a knee that he previously had a broken knee cap. I'm just saying it's scary. It's scary. Kyrie is one of the games great young players. He's still young, as you said. Wouldn't you imagine that they're being extra cautious with him giving the playoffs, being around the corner?

As they should. As they should. They already get their seed locked up. If they get to rest them two weeks, rest them two weeks. Tenonitis is the type of thing, reading about it online, seeing what other players have done. It's the type of thing that rests is probably the greatest anecdote for that. Well, and yesterday, Adrian O'Rajanowski reported that his soreness is no more than tendinitis and he'll not need to miss any significant time. And even as of now, he's considered day-to-day.

Rub some dirt on it, meaning it's not anything structural. It's just sore. And I mean, hell, they've played 60-something games, you know, and he plays minutes. I mean, and he's going to get sore. I wouldn't worry about it unless there's some kind of structural thing or if there is, I think you're being a little too scary on this. Look, I always get scared with injuries. I always do. It's what can prevent players from achieving their greatness. It's what's always the concern with Chris Staps, Porzingis.

It's always the concern. I think medical, it's like with the NBA draft, you're probably not going to draft the guy unless you get to look at his medical records. It's the most important thing. So yes, I am very worried about that with any player when they have especially lower body injuries. All right. Let's talk about the NCAA tournament starting this week and the fact that this is great scouting time, right? Because so many of the, in fact, you know, the last couple of years, Fultz wasn't involved in the NCAA tournament.

Simmons wasn't involved in the NCAA tournament. And yet when you look down, although outside of Luca Donchich, obviously who plays overseas, virtually everybody that is predicted to go in the lottery is going to be involved in this NCAA tournament. I think actually all of them. Thank goodness. Yeah, I don't think there's anybody that's not going to be there. You know, Trey Young, I swear,

when they came out as a 10 seat on Sunday, I was like, what in the hell? I've watched them. I swear, I said to the guy next to me, I said, I swear I've watched them. I feel like I've watched them eight times, and they've lost every damn time I've watched it. And then they said they've lost 11 of 15 or something like that.

I'm like, I said, you know what? I said, I wasn't wrong. They really have lost every time I've watched them. Like that wasn't hyperbole. Like, they really have. I went back and looked. I said, I think they've lost every single game. I've watched them play in the last, you know, since January.

All right. So they made it as a 10 seat. So that would have been the one that was kind of, is, is Tray Young going to be involved or not? Most of the others were all, you know, teams were all solidly in. Who are you most excited? Because, you know, it comes out and then you see the matchups. I know NBA draft scouts were all salivating over the possibility of Arizona playing Kentucky in round number two. If Kentucky can get past Davidson and Arizona, I forget who they play, but whoever their first round opponent is,

if they can get past them, that you would see those two meet up. Was there anybody else that had jumped off the page? Their particular matchup was fascinating to you of the draft class. Well, I'm hoping we get Duke versus Michigan State. That's a matchup. I'm really hoping we get at some point.

Arizona, Kentucky is the one. I mean, even talking to people last night, it was like that. And I think it's in Boise, Idaho. Yeah, everything good is in the Midwest. Like,

San Diego. I was supposed to be going to, the games of San Diego and the games, they are terrible, really bad for scouting. Well, and I live close enough to Nashville, and it's terrible, too. The one seat is like Xavier. It's like, all right, what am I going to go do? Watch Trouon Blewett. See, who are you getting Nashville?

Nevada, Texas. Porter, Porter is the one. That could be worth it. Go see Michael Porter. Boy, I tell you this, Kev, we talked about, listen, I know you were saying that there was no downside to him coming back. I disagree after watching the SEC tournament. Because here's the thing.

And this is what I've always said. The unknown is always your biggest friend. Because I can envision what you could be, right? I can watch your high school stuff. I can watch when you were healthy. And I can sit there and I can say, I can imagine anything. And usually what I imagine is great, right?

And then, but I can't imagine that anymore if the reality is in stark contrast to whatever my vision was. And obviously it was in his first game back playing in that SEC tournament. And I don't know. Like, I mean, that's no matter anybody's opinion on Luca Donchich, that is that is a grand benefit. Right. That like if he was playing in this and he was playing against somebody that is always a benefit that I have to, I have to project and envision what you will be.

Very rarely do guys come back and improve. And you can go back to Jared Salinger or Marcus Smart or Roy Hibbert or now this year the Bridges kid right at Michigan State. Or I remember Thomas Bryant who was thought to be a possible lottery pick comes back and it was a problem. Ivan Rav who I mentioned earlier. I mean, the more we see you, the less of the unknown there is. and that seemingly works against you in the draft over and over. I'm not saying nobody improves their draft stock. I'm just saying in all too many cases,

the unknown is greater than whatever becomes known because we usually overrate the unknown. You know what I mean? Yeah, I feel you. And I think with Porter, this is something we talked about briefly on Friday's episode of draft class. Charks, Tate, and Titus were all on at the same time. And we talked about Porter's game.

he had played on Thursday, and he stunk, as you say. Like, he didn't look good at all, and yes, you have to view that within context. The fact is that it was his first game back after missing games for months, so you can't overreact. But Porter, what he showed in that game are some of the same exact weaknesses that he had in high school. He wasn't very physical. Had trouble creating space in the half court.

He's a good athlete, but not a great athlete. His offense is largely predicated on hitting, on taking and making. tough jumpers. And that's what we saw on Thursday night. Yes, he struggled, but maybe, maybe that just shows how far he needs to actually go, not just as a college player, but it's a player in general. So I'll be curious to see how he performs this week. I hope he has a more efficient game because he's certainly capable of it as a scorer, but he needs to show more than just the ability to hit tough jumpers off the dribble. Also, I would have kind of tried to blend in a little bit. I know that this is, you know, your stock is on the line.

But that team has been pretty good without you. And they've obviously had other leading scores without you. And for him to come, I was like, pass the damn ball, kid. You know what I mean? Like, just blend in, right? Come back. That's what I mean. He's not a passer.

Like, show it. Show you can do other things, too. Yeah. I mean, that Robertson kid average like, you know, whatever, 16 a game this year, I think it was. You know, Porter did it? He played, what, two games? I think he played two games. He played two minutes in game one.

so he didn't do much playing. All right. And then you come back and what do you take? Like 17 shots or something in the game? 17 shots in 23 minutes. 18 shots is 18, 6 for 18. I mean, he did have 10 rebounds. I guess it was in that Georgia game.

The 12.8 rebounds. Yeesh. You know what I mean? All right. So you are most looking forward to you. Hope we get to see Duke versus Michigan State. That would be a great. God bless.

What an evaluation time for both. Jared Jackson and Marvin Bagley and Wendell Carter. Yeah. Oh yeah, and Wendell Carter, right? Yeah,

you were very effusive in your praise on Carter. You're a big Carter fan. And who was your comp? I think you said Al Horford. Am I right on that? Yeah, I think Horford,

that's going to be the guy, one of the guys we have in the draft guide as a comp for him. And then Miles Bridger's also on Michigan State alongside alongside Jackson. A lot of guys in that game.

All right, Kevin, we'll get right back to it. First, I want to tell you about hotel tonight. Fun fact, unlike flights or other travel, hotel rates actually get cheaper at the last minute. In fact, Hotel Tonight partners with awesome hotels to help them sell their unsold rooms, which means you get the amazing deals. All it takes

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try Hotel Tonight's H.T. Perks program. The more you book, the better the deals get. So start scoring amazing deals at incredible hotels and download the Hotel Tonight app now. All right, let me ask you about one particular player before we get out of here. Okay. And that is Villanova's McKell Bridges. Okay. Um, he is the one amongst all of these kids that are supposed to go high in the draft that is an upperclassman, right?

He's a junior. And so for sure, that will be held against him as it is always, right? He's older than all of these other guys. Um, projects obviously to be one of those three and D type wings on the next level. Hit big, big shots in their conference tournament game. And man, I watch him. And I think like, you know, when I talk about one of the things. you wonder is, is this guy going to suck?

Like, I see very little possibility that he's going to suck. It's just a matter of how high the ceiling is. Can you foresee a high ceiling for Bridges, who, I mean, like I said, it's going to be held against him, that he's, you know, a junior, whereas the rest of these guys are significantly younger, but seemingly a fantastic player for sure. I think with Bridges, it ultimately comes down to his development as a ball handler and as kind of a dynamic score off the dribble.

He certainly can hit spot-up threes. He certainly can defend. He certainly knows how to play his role. He's competitive, unselfish player. He moves the ball well as a passer, not necessarily a playmaker, but he makes the right plays. For him, it's how much does his ball handling develop

and how much does he become a good shooter off the dribble? And he's shown flashes, the potential's there, but it doesn't necessarily mean he'll get there. His shot off the dribble isn't quite the same as it is off the catch, but he can certainly improve as he has each year at Villanova. He's a very, very intriguing player. And yes, you're right, the age will be used against him, Chris,

but he's still somebody who, he might be a pretty nice consolation prize behind those teenagers that go ahead of him. Yeah, he can dribble, pass, and shoot, which are usually guys that I like. And the other thing is, if you could figure the other stuff out and the kid clearly has a good head on his shoulders, so I would trust that he would be able to figure it out. He plays pretty hard-nosed with a motor, so I like that.

The other thing is just the raw measurables. He is an athletic kid and he is 6667 and he's got like a 7-1 wingspan. And so what's the worst thing, right? You can, you could be a great defender, right? If you're 6-7 with a 7-1 wing span, that stuff is so useful in the NBA right now. Now, forget all the offensive stuff, right? Just that, having that level of length and athleticism on your wing can be very helpful. I think he could be good.

I do. I'm warming up to him a lot. Right now for the draft guide, the comparisons I have are Roddy Hood, Kent Basmore, Tony Snell, which don't feel great to me. I feel like there's a higher-end player to compare him to. Well, it's better than you say in like Kauai or that's what we do with everybody, right? For sure. I mean, you want to be careful. For sure. And those are those are supposed to be like more realistic comparisons. I think if he's a, if he were a healthy version of Rodney Hood, that'd be a damn good player to have. Rodney Hood is a good player. If he's a more consistent Rodney Hood, a healthy Rodney Hood, great. No, and I can appreciate those comps and here's why. Because it is much more likely that guys underperform versus whatever we have for their comp than they overperform, right? For sure. To be told, 80% of the league is those kind of guys.

the Rodney Hoods. You know what I'm saying? They're not the the Kauai's and the Yonis and the, you know, this guy's going to be the next Elijah Juan. You know, I goofed on that a couple of weeks ago. This guy's going to be the next bird and this guy's going to be the next Ewing and this guy's going to be the next Elijah Juan and this guy, no, they're not. Well, sometimes they are. Sometimes they are, Chris. Sometimes they are. Sometimes they are. That's what the players are today.

But I'm saying that can't be the comps for everybody. The comps can't be. So I can appreciate when the comps, you know, are more. more attainable, right? When they are more, like, hey, that's a good player. It's nice to have Riding Hood on your team. That's a good player. For sure, right?

Like, that's kind of the goal that I have with these comparisons is like, yes, sometimes there, you see, like for DeAndre Aiton, like, you might see Patrick Ewing's name on there, but you also see a lower end guy as well. You need different degree, like, look, there's different outcomes for all these guys. Some guys have a 0.001% chance of being having a Hall of Famer. some guys have like a 5% chance. I think it's the guys with the 5% chance that you can put the high end comp on there,

but you also need to balance it with kind of the lower and more realistic outcome for that player. Yeah, I'm not sure that any of these kids are going to be an NBA superstar. That's what I'd say. Until they are.

And they're leading the Grizzlies to just historic playoff runs. Hold on. Dream big, Chris. I want you to dream big, Chris. No, in years past, I could foresee it. Listen, this does not make me happy that I feel that way.

I wish there was a LeBron. I wish there wasn't Anthony Davis. I wish there was a Carl Anthony Towns. People thought Wiggins could be a superstar or Parker could be a superstar or people thought that. It was overrated, man. Simmons could be a superstar, but people thought that that was possible. Simmons is becoming a superstar, though. That's what I'm saying.

And I don't think that's true with these kids. I just don't. So you still don't see it with DeAndre Aiton. Like you watch him put up 32 and 18 on USC, just completely. punked them. He punked them. Punked USC. He is so much bigger than everybody on the court. Oh, come on, man. It's more than just size with Ait. Look at his steel rate. Look at his block rate. These things. Look at him. Dude, I get it. I get it with a steel and block rates. Okay. Look, I would be curious. I wish there were a stat that could track contested or altered shots without falling.

Because I think that's something Aiton's pretty good at. He's good at using his body in his arms to contest without following. Their post defense sucks. Oh, dude. Aiton's going to get attracted by the Grizzlies and you're going to fall in love with him. We're going to talk at Summer League in Vegas. You're like, I love this guy. He's the best.

He's great off the court. He's funny. He's engaging. I bet I don't. I can't wait to watch him for the next 10 years. That's what you're going to say to me. I bet I don't. I bet I don't. Oh, no. So you're telling me, you're going to come. You're like, he's an 80.

He just scared. He reminds me of to be. I tell you this, hey, if the Grizzlies love them, which I'm sure they do, you should panic like hell. I promise you that.

I promise you that. I promise you that. I mean, come on, man, every time, all right, I don't want to get everybody all mad

because I already get enough tweets about it. But, I mean, half the time I watch the guy, he's playing against, it's like me playing against my son. Of course he gets to, of course he gets to,

Of course he gets a freaking ball every time. Like, I mean, my kids never getting the ball. I'm so much bigger and more physically imposing than him. He ain't getting the ball. You know what I'm saying? He played, listen, I didn't get any tweets after their game against Colorado because Colorado's got a seven-footer and a 6-10. And he fouled out and had eight points and did dick.

You know what I mean? And then all of a sudden he goes big against the team whose biggest guy is 6-6 and everybody's chirping me. Fuck him. I can't wait until the grizzlies get eaten. I can't wait. I like Bagley. I do.

I do. I like motors, Kev. I like motors. I like guys that I feel like when the chips are down, they're going to make the big play. I think it's the most underrated thing of any of these guys. It's like, who goes hard all the time? That's why I love him. And that's why I love Sexton, which, by the way, almost puked when you said he could fall out of the

lottery. Good grief. Hope you saw him lay waste in that SEC tournament. Pretty damn good. Yeah. Stick with me, Kev. Watch DeAndre Aiton carry his team with a friggin' title. I'm sure he will. I picked them in the ringer brackets.

We needed ringer brackets, and I picked Arizona to win it all. Like, that shit's random, dude. Nobody loves DeAndre Aiton more than you. No, there are definitely people who love DeAndre Aten more than you. I don't think so. I think you are the biggest DeAndre Aitin fan in the whole world. I'm not.

I'm pretty sure. I see you tweeting about him all the time. DeAndre Aten this, DeAndre Atenh, Aiton, DeAndre Aiton, right? Don't overthink it. DeAndre Aiton's the best big. I wish he was playing, I wish I'd give anything if they were playing Duke.

I hope he faces Bagley. Oh, that's the final I have. I just picked the NBA Skelling Dream. That's like all I care about. It's Arizona Duke in the final. It's not a real prediction. just what I want to see. That is what you want to say?

Yeah, that's what I want. Did you really pick them to be each other in the final? Yeah, Arizona versus Duke in the final. Yeah. I don't care wins. I just want the best scouting matchups. So here, I just want to see if I'm going to get chirped in the first round of this thing.

Does a Buffalo have anybody on their team that is over 6 foot 5? Because that is usually, almost every game that I watch, it's like little kids he's playing against. Our little kids are all teenagers I understand I get it That's why I'm like Luke Adonter He's playing against grown men overseas

All right Buffalo Yeah the tallest guy on their team 6 8 They have three guys 6 10 6 foot 11 No who buffalo? Yeah No those guys don't play

Yeah Yeah they play like 13 minutes per game at the most Yeah they don't play So I mean their biggest guy that plays any minutes Is 6 foot 8 Buffalo Now, Kentucky, on the other hand, that they can get to Kentucky, and they play against Kentucky. Kentucky, we know. They got some trees in there. That's for sure. Not as big as they usually are, though. Listen, they go across that front. Everybody they bring in is like over 6.5. You know, even their like wings or like Knox is 6.9. PJ Washington, 6.7. Winnie and Gabriel. My God, did you see him catch fire? Gabriel? Was it Bama? Yes, Bama. He was like 7 of 7 from 3? Winnie and Gabriel? Kentucky's intriguing. They have some very intriguing players on that team.

Shea Gildes or Alexander at their point card who was outstanding against Tennessee. Feels a little bit like that year that they made the run that everybody thought they sucked. The year they beat Wichitae? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It does feel a little bit like that, where they still, in the end, they just got immense talent. They're intriguing for sure. I can't wait to watch this NCAA tournament. I'll settle in and be scouting DeAndre Aiton and hoping I warm up.

I hope you do, Chris. And then maybe you will allow me into the fan club. Oh, you're totally welcome. Doors always open. I know, you're the president. All right, Kef. I'll talk to you next week. Talk to you next week, Chris.

Have a good one. That's going to do it for another Ringer NBA show. We will talk to you next week.