The Ringer NBA Show - The Excitement of the Rockets and Blazers, the Suns' Contention, and Nerd Corner With the Lakers | Group Chat

Episode Date: August 5, 2020

'Group Chat' returns to talk about the excitement in the NBA bubble, including the Rockets–Trail Blazers barn burner and the return of Carmelo Anthony (01:29); the Phoenix Suns' excellent game and whether or not they're legitimate contenders for the eighth seed (23:44); and lastly, in the Nerd Corner segment, how Anthony Davis has massively improved and what it's like for him when Lebron is absent (39:45). Hosts: Justin Verrier, Jonathan Tjarks, Rob Mahoney Guest: Logan Murdock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Okay, everybody expects us to have an anime podcast. Michael Peters, Justin Charity, at long last, are they podcasting once again about anime? No. I'm Justin Charity. And I'm Micah Peters. Honestly, this podcast might turn out to be like the Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence movie Life, except neither of us is in prison, and in fact, we're not even taping in the same location. But we will be talking a lot about the millennial life.

you know, music, video games, strange stuff from the dark corners of the internet that piques our interest. People think this is going to be, oh, a little topic A, oh, what's topic B, oh, a little, you know, chit chat. No, every time you tune into this podcast, we are going to lock you into a room for 45 minutes, and we are going to do criticism. We are going to get to the bottom of every Scooby-Doo mystery that the discourse produces for us each week. Mark my words. Man, that was a lot. But anyway, we are excited about it. We are excited.

We're excited. We're excited. We're super excited. I'm Justin Charity. And I'm Micah Peters. And this is sound only. We're back on August 11th. Catch us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. Let's go. Basketball is very good. Hello, welcome to the Ringer NBA show. And welcome back to the group chat. I am Justin Varyer. And joining me on the line from Dallas, Jonathan Charks. What's up, buddy? It's good to be back. We've got a lot of new faces.

It's exciting. Yeah, a couple old ones. Rob Mahoney. What's up, Rob? Not a lot of enjoying this bubble action. What's up with you guys? And also Logan Murdoch, our newest staff writer. What's up, buddy?

Good to be here, man. Logan did Amin El Hassan's podcast before mine, so I'm going to hold it against him going forward. Oh, okay. All right. All right. All right, for sure. Big time media guy up here. Yeah, man.

Yeah. So it's been a while since we've done one of these officially, we've done a couple one-offs during the last dance episodes. But it's good to be back. A couple things have changed, obviously, in the world. Just a couple. Not many, though. John, you had a little bit of news during the break, right?

Yeah, I'm a dad now. Son's already four months old. Hey. Congratulations. Shout out Jackson Dean. And during the break, Rob also baked a lot of bread. So congrats, Rob. I did.

But, you know, I'm very proud. The draft profile isn't probably as good as for my loaves. as for John's son, but maybe we'll catch up in the under 17s or something down the line. So we're going to try something a little bit different on group chat. I guess it's a little bit different. We kind of settled on smaller group settings up to like one or two people at times, which I guess is more of an intimate conversation than a group chat. But we're going to try to do these first segments with three, sometimes four people.

You'll see a lot of me. You'll see a lot of charts in Rob. But we're going to rotate guests in like Logan. Chris Ryan will be here. A couple other ringer staffers will jump into the mix. We'll do that for the first half of the podcast, and then we will switch to Nerd Corner in the second half where we say goodbye to our guest,

and we dive a little bit deeper into a team or maybe a couple teams and kind of really dig into what's going on with them. But I wanted to start off with last night's barn burner between the Blazers and the Rockets. The Blazers won this game, but I kind of want to start with the Rockets because they've been super interesting. To me, they've been the most impressive team of the bubble,

so far. They're two and one with wins over the bucks and the Mavs and then obviously last night a close loss to Portland. Logan, just starting with you, have what have you saw or what have you seen with the Rockets and how impressive do you think they've been in relation to kind of some of the other teams you've seen? I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Rockets are probably my favorite team in the bubble right now. And I think it just, I have, we haven't seen a team like this that is just gone full go. We're just going to go small. They were remind me a little bit of the 07 warriors in that regard where they just don't care. They don't care about any conventional wisdom.

What anyone thinks, they're going to go completely small and unapologetically small. And I really liked that. I really liked how they played against the Bucks where, you know, the Bucks are a very, very big team. And that's probably one of their biggest tests. And they won. They went down the stretch with defense. And that's not something that I was expecting. So I think ever since that game against the Bucks, that's been my favorite team so far in his bubble.

Yeah, it was funny last night watching. It seemed like Nurkish looked like Gulliver at times when all of the Rockets, small defenders, tried to swarm him in the post. And the Blazers, to their credit, they really, like, worked that. They went to Nurkich a lot. They went to Collins a lot.

Charks, has there been anything different about the way the Rockets have played during this bubble setting, or is it just a continuation of just this extreme small ball that they've been doing? I got to give a shout-out to NBA Twitter's favorite player, Jeff Green.

He's been big for them. I think like he's really found himself as a small ball five. If you remember go back to the 2018 Cavs, when LeBron kind of carried him to the finals, they were playing Jeff Green as a small five a lot. And he's good in that role. He's a freaking tank. His lack of skill is less important at the five.

He can make corner threes. And now with like, if you go Jeff Green, Robert Covington, P.J. Tucker, you've got enough side. That's 6-9, 6-8, and 6-5. All the guys are really strong. They're pretty quick. They're smart defenders.

like for as small as they are, they play big when they have to. Yeah, I think one of the interesting things about the bubble as a whole is I do wonder how much that setting is going to play to certain team's strengths, right? You wonder if like camaraderie is more of a factor in this or if playing more streamlined style perhaps like the Rockets play, that makes things a little bit more easier because you don't have perhaps as much prep time in between games. Rob, you spent a lot of time around the Rockets. Is there anything that jumped out to you about them so far?

I think there's a lot. And some of it is just what you mentioned, you know, which teams benefit from this bubble environment from these unique competitive circumstances? And it's, you know, as much as, you know, getting LeBron rest is going to help the Lakers, the Rockets are a team that, you know, we saw in that Bucks game have to be so high effort to win against competitive teams. It really takes a lot to get enough defensive stops, to compete on the glass, to do all these things that they're going to have to do that are harder than they would be for normal teams. And, like, God, give PJ Tucker a nap for a couple months and let him come in, fresh legs. And we see the kind of difference that that can make. And so, you know, there are definitely things that would worry me about them. I mean, Charks bring up Jeff Green, who has been great.

My general principle is like the more your team relies on Jeff Green, the worse he tends to be. And so he's in that sweet spot right now where he doesn't have to play the crucial minutes, but he can. You know, you'll see Daniel House in some of those. You'll see Eric Gordon, hopefully, when he comes back in some of those. But I think Gordon is going to be really critical for them because, you know, we saw even in this game against the Blazers, Portland is willing to basically let Jeff Green shoot. They wanted to protect the rim. They wanted to wall off Russell Westbrook.

That was their priority. Teams are going to let him shoot. They're going to let Covington shoot. They're going to let Tucker shoot. They're going to let house shoot. All those guys are going to be tested along the line. And Gordon is the one guy, aside from me to Westbrook and Hardin, who you really have to treat like a shooter.

Even if his percentages are down this year, you have to be out there on him. I think seeing how much he's able to contribute when he comes back is going to be pretty critical for them. Yeah. It's been interesting watching some of these pseudo centers kind of get to work, especially on defense. They've held up particularly well. I've been surprised by how well they've, they kind of like lull teams, especially teams with Biggs, into thinking that they should post up all the time.

And even if they win half of those matchups, I think that's a win for the Rock. It's just because of the way that they shoot so many threes. The math is always going to lean into their advantage. The one concern I have, though, is you saw the Blazers attack James Harden in the post. And even though it's kind of been the storyline this season that he is such a good post defender, that's one of the reasons why I think this small ball lineup works. I do wonder if you're asking him to be such a creator on offense to do all the work he does there. And then also defending the post like multiple, multiple possessions, if he's going to wear it down.

And you've seen him already a little bit already kind of look slow, go to the ground a little bit more. And this is the whole concern with Hardin. Charks, is there anything you've seen with Hardin thus far, either good or bad? See, I would say the post-ups are a trap. Like, the Rockets want you to post-up. They don't care who you are. It's a low percentage play. They'll give you that shot.

I think if you beat Houston, you make Hardin and Westbrook move off the ball. Like, those guys fall asleep a lot, spread the floor, beat him with their own game. I think that's really the key. I suppose to do, like, the Clippers, they don't got to play Zubotch against those guys. they should just play Morris George Leonard. That's three six, eight guys. They're still bigger than Houston, and they can attack them in space.

That's what I would do. Forget trying to post-harden up. Make him move on the perimeter. Yeah, Logan, where are you on Hardin? I'm not concerned with him as a post-offender, but I am more concerned about making him tired on the other end and, you know, potentially getting him fouled out. If he doesn't get fouled out, also you want him down the stretch.

You want him to be making big shots down the stretch. And if he is getting tired on defense, doing all those post moves, or guarding all those post moves, that's going to be a disadvantage for the Rockets going forward. That's something that I'm concerned about. I'm not concerned with his ability

to be a post-defendant, but I am concerned with him getting tired out down the stretch. Rob, long-term, what are you watching for this team? I mean, there's, what, five left? Is there anything you need to see from the Rockets to be either more convinced or what?

I think it's less about that stretch of games and more. Once we get into a seven-game series, how does the dynamic change, right? It's, you know, can the rocket sustain what they do for four of seven games, especially against high, you know, top caliber competition? And then factoring into this conversation, we've been having that bigs and post-ups and what you should do against them, what is kind of the psychological effect of playing against the rockets?

You know, if you are a team who does what John mentioned, you know, you want to work more off the ball, you don't want to fall into the post trap, how does your starting center feel about that? Because, you know, the use of Nurkages and the Sond wide sides of the world, those guys want to go to work against teams like this. and if you consciously move away from them, how does that affect their effort in other areas? What are you getting from them in different regards?

There's this very strange push and pull with the rockets where the thing that they want you to do is also the thing that your big men want you to do and what effect that can have on a team's chemistry as a result. All right, let's talk about the Blazers. I think people in Portland are already mad at us for not starting with them, considering that they are now two and one

with big wins over the rockets and grizzlies and they find themselves in pretty good position in this West playing race. Logan, this far, what stood out for you about Portland? I think the biggest thing that stood out to me about Portland is something that we kind of already knew, the heart of Dame Willard. And he's just carrying this team in a lot of different ways. And even when they did lose their one game, I think that they, he really showed hard.

They had to come back and they almost beat the Celtics. And that was a really impressive outing, even Anna loss. So I think that, you know, I think we're going to get to this. later on with Darren Jackson out, this is a prime position for them to get that A-C. They are in prime position to do so. And I don't know if they're going to do anything in that 1A matchup if they get there with the Lakers.

I think it's a bit overblown that they're going to be, you know, could beat them. But I do believe that the heart of Dame Lillard has really carried this team and also the addition of NERCHAG. Yeah, during last night's game, just watching Collins and NERCITCH pass through each other in the blocks was, incredible. I mean, that's exactly what they're hoping to get from them, and it's been

exciting watching them. They're definitely a little thinner than I think you would like a team in their position to be, you know, Gary Trent Jr., Anthony Simons, obviously have provided a bit of a boost here in the bubble. But then all of a sudden you have the game coming down to Carmel Anthony. And while Mello made that shot last night, and there was a lot of talk about Just, don't be a blog boy hating on Mello. Yeah, I feel like that's Carmelo right now. I can hear it in his voice. You know, Mello made the game winner, but. Right? Give him a man some love.

Come on. Yeah. All right. Okay. He made the game winner, but let's be honest. He did not have a good game. Is that fair, Charks? I would say, like, the thing about Mello, and you go back at that Celtics game, that's

like, at the end of the day for the Blazers, they got nobody to guard Jason Tatum, no one to guard Jalen Brown. Like, you're asking Mello to be the three and guarding these big wings. That's just, like, not going to work. And that's the problem with this team, which crazy is say the guy that misses Trevor Arisa. They're having Areza here? They just don't have enough guys. We're already at the group chat take of the day, which is Trevor Areza is the most important player in the whole so far.

No, I 100% agree. And I was looking out on the core. I've watched, I think all of their games at this point. And I'm just like, where is the small Ford still? And they've gotten to the point where last game, I don't know if he's heard or if it was just because of how bad he's been playing,

but Mario Hizonei did not see the floor. They're pretty much running an eight-man rotation at this point, which I guess is what you have to do. Maybe it's just like an extended playoff. You have to look at these seating games. But I was already a little bit concerned. So sorry for trolling on Mello. But like I do think like the fate of this seating game period for the Blazers might come down to Mello.

Am I wrong, Rob? I mean, I think in a lot of ways it will. You know, to his credit, like he did the most important thing he needs to do, which is in that moment when the ball swings to him, when Lillard gets trapped, like he needs to be willing to take the shot and confident to take that shot in a way that honestly Trevor Reza sometimes even is not to say you know anything about the Blazers other wings and so having that guy helps but he is going to be targeted he's going to be put on skates in the pick and roll like he's going to be picked on and I think you raise a good point in the fact that the Blazers don't have a lot of alternatives you know they could go super small and put Trent at the three but it really is kind of a pinch point for them in a lot of ways Logan do you want the floor to defend mellow I just saw that we got TD in here that's really about no mellow sland I do get the Mellow Slander on this. I do get it.

It's very valid. He's not a great defender. It's all these things, but he's just an older guy right now, right? And I feel like the perfect situation for Mello, he is currently not in it. You want some, you want him to be in a position where he doesn't have to guard those types of players, but he can also get his, he can also get his points on the other end. He's not in that situation right now. You're expecting him to guard a Jason Tatum or a Jalen Brown.

That's just not going to happen. not at this stage of his career, and you can make the argument that probably wasn't going to happen earlier in the stage of his career, earlier in his career. So I just think he's just not in the right situation to be as successful as he should be

at this stretch of his career. So if he gets the points fine, but you're just going to have to take that L on a defensive end with Mello going forward. That's just is what it is. And we know that with Mello for years. See, I was thinking about it with Mello. I think, like, the reason a lot of players

are so kind of defensive about him is they look at mellow and they see themselves. They're like, man, what I'm 34 are, I think run me out of the league with first possible chance. Like, Yenbe is a cold, cold place. And they didn't me real wrong. And a guy like Dame was like, man, when it's my time, it's happened to me the same way. Or am I going to have, like, not everyone gets to Dirk, Wade, Kobe treatment, right? Well, this guy kicked out of the league in a pretty bad fashion.

Wow, this is getting really existential. I mean, I would say that. I agree. I mean, I do agree with that point. I mean, I don't know any future Hall of Famers right now that's. so polarizing and that sometimes gets so disrespected the way that Mello is getting right now. You would have, you know, he is

a first ballot Hall of Fame. I think we do forget that, but it is valid reasons why we do slander Mello. It just is what it is. Right, right. So I'm sorry, TD, who is our new podcast lead, who's listening on the podcast today, and welcome to Steve, who is our new

Bruce. I know he should. I will say this, Mello's ability to come back this season and provide anything is pretty incredible because he looked cooked two seasons ago. I mean, the Rockets pretty much chased them away after what, like 10 games, something like that.

So the fact that he's giving them significant minutes is something. He also seems to have trimmed down, though I'm already a little bit fatigued by the skinny mellow nickname. It's just like, we're at the point where we just put any word in front of Mello and now he is suddenly some, like, different person.

But I do want to give charts the floor here because behind Mello, they have found a lot of good guys in the drafts here of late. Collins probably is the most prominent one, but also Gary Trent Jr., Anthony Simons. Charks, for you, who's been the most impressive young guy for the Blazers thus far? I mean, I think it's been Trent. Trent's been incredible in this bubble so far. He's just not missing shots. He's competing on defense.

And the story with him for the draft guys. So he was at Duke one year. He was like the fifth option behind like Bagley. Carter, Grayson Allen. And it was hard for him to be like that small of a piece on a good team. He's taking bad shots. And no one knows how good he is on defense

because Duke's playing a zone that whole year. So it's like, okay, this guy Jack's shots. He has two lottery bigs, doesn't give him the ball. And he's playing in a zone. How good can he possibly be? But Portland, they said, wait a minute, this guy is 6, 6-2-10. He can really shoot it.

That's enough right there to be a good NBA player, right? If you got good athletic ability, good size and a good shot. And sometimes in the draft, we tend to overthink these things. And you can look all the negatives and forget, okay, this guy has 3-D potential really, really good. To get him at 37 is an incredible fine for a GM.

Yeah. So I think we're all pretty optimistic about the Blazers going forward here. Unfortunately, probably not as optimistic as we were a couple days ago about the Memphis Grizzlies. Hadn't played well thus far in the bubble. And yesterday they got some bad news. Jaron Jackson Jr., their stud sophomore, big man, has torn his meniscus in his left knee.

The Grizzly said that Jackson experienced, and this is in quote, an unstable landing after making contact with an imposing player with contesting a shot. So basically it was a non-contact injury, which is never a good thing. Rob, how do you think this is going to affect Memphis's playoff chances thus far? And I should mention that they are still an eighth and all of the odds favor them at the very least making the playoff game. But I think it's safe to say that this is a pretty bad outcome. Yeah, I mean, I think it's pretty devastating for the rotation just because the spacing that he gives you at the four, I mean, Jared Jackson Jr. is just smooth as hell. I mean, he's the kind of big you can run like a catch and shoot corner three to tie the game as we saw in these bubble games. There was like a three possession stretch. I think it was in the game against Portland. Yeah. Where he, you know, he caught on the perimeter, you know, worked through the defense, met some resistance and just dunked all over somebody. Just driving the lane on Zach Collins. That was nasty. It was on Zach Collins. Next possession.

Offensive rebound for a putback. Possession after that, like, trail into a super long three that I think, you know, force a timeout for Portland. Like, that's the full suite of what we're talking about here. And for a team in Memphis that, you know, John Morant is a wonderful player, but doesn't have a lot of dynamism collectively. You know, you're asked Dylan Brooks will take a lot of shots, kind of whether you want him to or not.

He will take them. And so you're asking a lot of all these other guys. All of a sudden, Kyle Anderson is doing an uncomfortable amount of work for your team. You know, Jonas Valanchunus is going to have to do more of your scoring, more of your heavy lifting. It gets into dicey territory pretty quickly for them, which is unfortunate because they really did have an impressive season. Yeah, they've got a lot of guys who can step up.

Obviously, John Moran has been incredible in his rookie season. Valenciennes, as you mentioned, has probably hasn't played as much as he would like, but he's a guy who can log some more minutes for them. Grayson Allen has been really good thus far, which is weird to say out loud, but there you go. Here's the reality we live in.

Logan, how do you feel about Memphis's chance? going forward. Is this kind of a death knell for them? I think it is in terms of Portland is playing so well right now and the upcoming schedule for the Memphis Grizzlies. You got Utah. OKC's really good. Toronto, really good. Boston, really good. And then you have to, you finish with the Bucks. It's a tough ass for this team without Jaron Jackson. And we've just talked about how much we love the Portland Trail Glades right now. And I think that from the combination of how Memphis is playing thus far, even before Jaron Jackson got hurt and how Portland is playing right now, I think Portland, I know this is the question later on,

but I think Portland steals at AC. I could see Charks chomping at the bit and wanting to talk about Brendan Clark. So please, Chark, educate us about Brandon Clark. Actually, before, I think one thing worth pointing out, that Memphis schedule. So notice the last game of the season is against the Bucks. There's a connection there. my guy Taylor Jenkins, his mentor, it's Mike Buttonholzer. You know if it's the last game of the season, the buck's got nothing to play for.

He's doing his guy a solid. Like, come on, right? He's going to play like Ilyosso of 45 minutes. He's at a Benz Janus Middleton, all those guys. That's a dubby right there. Like, I hate to say it, but my guy T. Jenkins is going to get some help there at the end of the game. Charks, you want to explain your connection to your guy T. Jenkins and Eric Klaus. Oh, I mean, he is my guy.

We went to the same high school. I was two years behind him. I got him in practice all the time. He won't admit it, but that's true. We were both undersized power forwards. Got him on the block, right hook, one, two step. Great. And Charks wrote a preseason feature about Jenkins

and loosely about his connection to him. But no, Charks, I need the Clark love. Can you please explain to me? Okay, so he still doesn't have to be the guy from Memphis. Brandon Clark, I think, to me, he was like the number three player in this draft. I think he has a lot of Sean Marion in his game. he's got a nasty flotery, six foot eight.

I think he's the guy. He's going to start for Jaron Jackson. I think the key is you can have to play Gorgie Jeng at the five to open up the floor of Brandon Clark. So play Gorgie at the five, Clark at the four. That'll get you some offense and some defense. That's the move to make if you're Memphis. San Jose State legend.

Oh, did you watch him back then? That's San Jose State? Definitely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember him. He was the only thing good about San Jose State basketball, like probably in the history of San Jose State basketball. His jumper from then to now is crazy,

like how he changed it. It's unbelievable. I mean, I'm just sad when the answer is Gorgie Jang. You know, like the Brandon Clark of it all aside. Like once we've reached that point, I think it speaks to the level of,

you know, at least distress or at least improvisation that the Grizzlies are going to have to work with here. It's a tough ask for them. And, you know, a lot of these teams in this bracket here, you know, trying to get into the bubble,

have pretty competitive schedules. I mean, we're at that point in the season and we're also given the bubble, you know, you drop the bottom eight teams in the league. This is kind of, kind of what happens. But the Grizzlies, again, I just, it really is unfortunately given their situation,

given the momentum of it, given all that they had developed, like, that they don't get a chance to really kind of defend their spot because I don't know that I really trust them to hold on to it without Jackson. Yeah. I'm a recording right before the Grizzlies and the Pelicans play today. So things might have changed by the time we listened to this. Maybe Morant went off for 50, but, you know, we'll just say that we kind of thought. Pelicans on Monday, I guess.

It's the Jazz today. All right, well, there you go. So we'll just... Come on, Josh. Catch up. The one thing I am... One thing I am keeping track of, though, is while the schedule for the Grizzlies doesn't look great, it looks pretty tough. I do wonder how many of these teams are going to be playing the regulars by the time you get toward the end of these schedules. I didn't think Phoenix had much of a chance when you had four or five other teams ahead of them in this West playoff race.

But here they are three and O, the only three and O team in the bubble thus far. The Raptors played today. They are two and O. let's start with Devin Booker just because he had a pretty significant game yesterday. Logan, has Booker taken a leap this season that you've noticed?

He's taken a leap to be that guy. We already kind of knew he was that guy. It's funny that you were talking about the sons being in here because I'm not even sure if they wanted to be here during the lead up to this bubble. But Booker has taken a lip.

He went toe to toe with with Luca the other day. And he has been balling. So I do think that he's done that. I don't think that this stretch right now will catapult them into the 8th scene, but I think it's something to build

on whenever we do come back into next season. Booker's been playing really well. That shot over the Clippers to win that game was ridiculous. Booker's a great player, but he has to take that mini-leap. I think he's on the way right now. I think this is kind of a nice culmination

of where he's been this year. I mean, I mean, I can only speak for myself, but I've come a very long way on Booker over the course of this season, just from an effort and feel perspective. He was a guy who I felt like before there were just signs all over his game that he played for a bad team. You know, there were just really bad habits. He would, you know, he'd be really competitive on defense in some games and then just completely fold halfway through possession and other games. And this year, you know, he's built on not only his skill level, but really built up that kind of game-to-game consistency, those game-to-game habits.

And here, you know, it's really showing out in a business. big way, not only hitting incredible shots over all NBA level defenders, but carrying the suns, anchoring so much of what they do, and really kind of contextualizing a lot of the pieces around him in a promising way. There are so many guys on the suns who are showing out and impressing right now that I wasn't really expecting to think so fondly of, you know, campaign is good now, I guess, question mark. And so there's all these little case studies within the suns that if Booker is this good all the time, then all of a sudden some of these other pieces make a lot more sense. I was watching the Celtics game the other day, the Celtics and the Suns,

and I believe it was Scow who was like, is that campaign? Is he still in the league? So that's where the Sun's backup point guard situation is that, which is surprising because they've had like 30 first round picks over the past couple of years. I don't know how they are now with campaign as the backup point card. I think the real key, I mean, Booker's awesome. He's been awesome. It's been their wings.

So McHale Bridges and Cam Johnson. That's two six-foot-eight guys who can shoot three. who know their role, who play defense. And that's really been the big difference to me is those two guys stepping up. Like Cam Johnson was the 11th pick this year. Everyone thought he was kind of a reach. But looking back on it now, he's got the size,

got the shooting ability, got the tools. Now he have Booker and you have those two guys. Bring back Kelly Ubrae next year. You've got a freaking massive team with a lot of ties around Booker. That's to me very dangerous next season. I think it's in our contract that we have to mention Mikhail Bridges,

who has become like blogger catnip out here. Blog boy kids. You see his blog boy play at the end of that Sun's game that got the deflection against the Clippers. To get Booker shot, that was his much as Bookers. Absolutely. Dedicate, you know, a good 600 words to that play right now, please. So, yes, the Wings have been good.

My, I'll say concern is always going to be DeAndre Ait, and he's always going to be diminished just because he's going to be compared to Luca and then also Trey Young and some of those other guys from the draft but as I'm watching him, all I am screaming at the TV is that you are the biggest motherfucker on the court. Why do you only shoot from five to ten feet out? Like, all he wants to do is take these shots from the block. And I just, I do not understand it.

I know that, like, Zubach, maybe he's just like an incredible post defender that I just don't realize. But to me, Aiton, I know he's made progress, especially on the defense event. I'm sure everyone here is going to throw a bunch of, like, advanced stats and tell me why I'm wrong. but it's just so disappointing watching him still do this now, what, two years into his career. Logan, where are you on Ayn? Wow. I just want to appreciate just how lit you were just now. I just want to, I just want to, you got really, really, really, really, really into that.

I just want to, I just want to just take a moment to appreciate that. I don't get excited about a lot, but, you know, DeAndre and Slander and Mello Slander are right up there. I get it. I mean, what's it, it's third year? It's a third year in the league. Give them some time. I would just say give him some time to figure himself out right now. I mean, he's already made strides on the defensive end, like you said.

Sometimes you just have to know you're the biggest motherfucker on the court. Like, you can see it, but sometimes you just got to know it in your head. So let him, just give him some time, Jess. It's going to be okay. That's what I would say. Because you were real lit in that moment, and I just want to make sure that you're fine. One, and two, just lets you know that's going to be all right. I appreciate that, man.

I mean, the one thing that the sun seem like they have going for, them, though, is chemistry. And I thought it was a good contrast with the Clippers who, like, I'm not going to say they have chemistry concerns, but clearly it took them the entire season to really figure out life with Kauai, life with these huge expectations on them. They were no longer this fun team that Lou Williams and Trez were leading. Quick tangent on the Clippers. And my question is, why do we give the Clippers so much respect that they have not earned yet? Why are we doing this? because I just feel like, I get that,

but I just feel like that I've said this, I've said this, I've said this all season. I'm disappointed at the lack of urgency that the Clippers have had all season. Now, I think that they've showed stretches where they are great,

but for a team that hasn't won anything, I would feel like they need a bit more sense of urgency, and I just have not seen that yet. I just feel like they've gotten the benefit of the doubt in a way that another team who was in that position wouldn't necessarily get. So I've been disappointed with the clippers so far.

And I just want to know why they do get, I get because I get because of Kauai, but I would like to see a lot more sense of urgency and oomph from them than I've seen all season. I mean, that's the Kauai thing, right? Like, he's just not going to go to the playoffs. I got just who he is now. Yeah, I feel like it's a case where, you know,

the franchise, not just the team, but like the whole organization can kind of take on the personality of your best players sometimes where the Lakers comparison is easy. in a lot of ways. But if you're a LeBron team and you're kind of, you know, going on some losing streak, splitting games into January, February of a normal regular season, the amount of pressure that that puts on everyone on the roster,

like those guys are asking, you know, answering those questions every day. And so, like, I do feel like LeBron and AD and those guys understood they had to come out of the gate a little stronger. They had to prove something to themselves and find that, you know, rhythm and rotation of the regular season. First, Kauai, like as St. Chuck was saying, I feel like doesn't, not only doesn't give a shit about the stakes of the regular season, but it may just be proactively healthier for him to not really participate in it to the fullest extent. The thing I'll say about the clippers,

I find it really hard to evaluate them right now in particular, given, you know, they have a couple guys who left the bubble and not to get into the personal business of those people, but they left the bubble for a reason, all of which, you know, have a lot that would weigh on a person individually. And so, you know, we've seen, you know, if you're following, you know, Montrez, Harrell, on Instagram, like, he's clearly a guy who's going through a lot right now. And you have Lou Williams and you have Pat Bev and these guys who are working themselves into a position physically to compete in these games, which is difficult after a month's long layoff. And we've seen Pat deal with some kind of nagging injuries here and there trying to get him healthy and back in the rotation. But with all these guys who are coming and going, I think we tend to look at it as almost like fantasy basketball or like a daily fantasy kind of perspective.

Oh, this guy's in the lineup. This guy's out. This is how that affects their chances. But there's like a human thing here that is very challenging in that all the people who are leaving. if, you know, even if they're, especially if they're dealing with other people in their lives, that's, that's a lot to ask of them to jump back into the mix. Yeah, I mean, as funny as the Lou Williams going to the strip club for Chicken Wings thing was, like, he even said, I think, yesterday. Yeah, exactly. Like, they're all dealing with very real things.

I think that is where I would bring in how disjointed the clippers were during the regular season. This is probably the worst case scenario for them just to have this giant pause and now for guys to be coming in and out because Kauai's whole thing is that he's so meticulous about how he paces himself over the big picture. And if the big picture changes, then all of a sudden, like, you're trying to work around these certain things. And now they're just like, they were hoping probably to have all these guys back and probably clicking at this moment.

And now all of a sudden you have guys gone. And so it's just probably, it's just not working out as well as they probably hope for. Having said that, they're still incredibly talented. even like you could take away from this game, the fact that Zubach coughed up the ball there late in the game. I mean, he was actually playing. That was McHale Bridges stole the ball later in. Sure, sure.

And he can't hold the candle to McHell Bridges, but like he actually got those minutes, whereas typically maybe that went to Trez or somebody else, and at the very least he got that rep. So that would be the silver lining. I will say, like, there'll be a good test case. Like, we all want to believe these guys got to be best friends off the court and chemistry is so important.

Maybe that matters and maybe having the best players matter more. We'll see. It's weird to that argument because how much do you have to like each other to win, right? Because, you know,

the Lakers or the early 2000 Lakers of our case study is like, you might not need everyone to like each other. You know, the end of the Warriors dynasty is they might not necessarily they didn't have to all love each other, right? So, and then you have the early edition

of the Warriors, well, they all loved each other. So I don't know. I think it's a lot of nuance in there, and it's weird to kind of get a hold on what works. It just kind of works when it does. Yeah, I think that's totally true. But then this is why the bubble is so fascinating to me, because now all these guys, yeah, maybe they didn't like each other,

but now they're like pretty much in a dorm room together. They're spending all their time. And as much as I love charks, if I spend every waking hour with charks, you would be very blessed. Let's be real. Your life would be so much better, Justin. Take you to church. This is the group chat content we need.

We need the live feed of you guys in a biome together, living out your days, you know, accomplishing meaningless tasks. Let's do it. Let's get the live feed going. If I get Justin in Bible studies, man, his life will just shoot up. There you go. But that's where I think, like, a young team like the sons, perhaps, may have a slight advantage, you know?

Just because it seems like these guys are probably, like, college age anyway, so they're probably like, this isn't all that different for them. But that brings us to kind of our big question here, Charks. Who for you has the inside track on this Westie? Because this is really the biggest question for the next week plus of these evening games. So I'm looking at the schedules and the Pelicans last five games, it's Kings, Wizards, Spurs, Kings, Magic.

I think that alone, even if not playing that great, those are your five opponents. They should go four and one, three and two at worst against those five. teams, I think that gets them in that play-in-game. So to me, the Pelicans have the edge because of all these teams, they have the easiest schedule. So they'll be in that playing game no matter what. Whereas Grizzlies, Spurs, Blazers, Blazers, sons, they've all got to play much harder teams. So to me, I'll get the Pelicans the edge for now. I was kind of riding the Grizzlies bandwagon for this just because of the play-in-game advantage

and having the seat already. But without Jackson, I think I'm like jumping on the first flight to Portland. The first, like, socially distanced, no middle seat, everyone wearing their face shields flight to Portland. That's not a bad destination on your flight, by the way. No, not too bad. Just don't go to the courthouse. But this, like, this game against the Rockets, I think, was pretty illuminating in that they played kind of a similar game earlier in the season, obviously without use of Nurkich. You know, Dame made like a less than a third third of his shots. C.J. McCollum was kind of like good but okay. And they just got completely blown out.

You put Nerkich in there and the complexion of everything completely changes. You have a guy who, you know, just by not having to involve us on White Side in a central defensive action for like possession after possession is a big change. And then you have Gary Trent Jr. who is apparently like inhabited by the spirit of Ray Allen all of a sudden, which is great for them. But like another guy who can hit shots who can make plays, I think there's enough there that, you know, with, you know, the spurs and the Blazers

especially have pretty difficult schedules. But I kind of like where Portland sits in all this, just given the guys that they've gotten back. I said the show of the Blazers, I think, are going to end up getting that eighth seed, just with the momentum that they have. And I'm not too sold on the Pelicans right now. I'm just not just for, I just don't think they're ready yet. I think that just the way this season is gone and how, I don't know how they're managing Zion. Does anyone have a really good answer for that?

I don't think we do at this point. And it's a weird way to go about it when a player that you need on a number. night to night basis to get that aced. You have them on a minute restriction. And I just am of the mind if you're going to play him, play him. If you're not, then just don't play him. Because the stakes are high right now. So with all that being said, I think that at this moment,

the way the Blazes are playing, I think that they're going to play their way into the postseason. Yeah, I mean, the Pelican situation is weird. On the one hand, they are definitely going out of their way to take care of Zion, perhaps in the ways that they didn't, like, I wouldn't say they didn't take care of Anthony Davis, but at the very least. that was a concern, their medical staff. And obviously in previous iterations of that regime,

there are a lot of injuries and it really sidetracked what they were trying to do. And so I credit the Pelicans for what they're doing. On the other hand, they very clearly could have just played Zion at the end of the fourth quarter in that first game as opposed to the beginning. There was this weird explanation where they wanted him to go in the beginning of the quarters because he needed to be warmed up, which makes sense in the first and the third when you have those breaks, but I don't know why you would have to do that in the second and the fourth. So it just seems like they're StarCross at this point.

They have all the right guys in place. Ingram has done well. Zion is obviously a revelation. It just doesn't seem like this is the year as disappointing as that would be to see him play LeBron in a first round series. I would go Blazers too. I consider in the fact they did this whole bubble so that Zion could fight for a eight seat.

You know what I mean? And didn't have this weird. Yeah, it's, I don't, I don't, I just don't get that. I just, especially in the first game where it's a winnable game. It went down to the last seconds. You have Zion on the floor down the stretch. That's a win that you need. And I just don't get how they're, how they're playing that,

especially consider, like I said, considering the fact that we, we did this whole thing. We added the Pelicans strictly so we could get a Zion, LeBron first round. And just somebody just fumbled the bag. is just baffling to me right now. Yeah, we're going to talk about the Lakers coming up after a break here, where we get into some of our Nerd Corner with Charks leading us through some of their lineups. But Logan, thank you for joining us on the return of group chat. Yeah, thanks for having me, man.

I'll talk to you all soon. Charks and Rob and myself are still here. We're going to do Nerd Corner now, which is similar to what Charks had done over the past few pods we did right before the break, where he looks at some of the most interesting lineup combinations in the NBA. Today we're going to focus on the Lakers, which as an editor is near and dear to my heart because Charks picked the biggest red meat team on the table here. But they've been really impressive thus far.

I believe they're two and one. And Anthony Davis looks like probably the best player in the bubble thus far. Charks, why don't you lead us through some of the things that have been happening with Lakers? Well, I think for the record, this is called the impossibly good-looking person's corner. Just clarify that before we can get going. How dare you, sir? Okay, so we're looking at the Lakers, the thing to me that's jumped out in these first three games

is how well they're playing when Anthony Davis is playing without LeBron. So that has been their biggest problem all season is those non-Lebron AD minutes. Because the idea was, okay, if you have AD, then LeBron can rest. He can get his time off, and you'll still be fine. But before the restart, when Ady was out of LeBron, he was minus three in like 500, 600 minutes.

And it's like, those are important minutes the Lakers have to win. In the restart, I mean, obviously is a very small sample size, but who cares, we're doing a podcast. In the restart, they're plus 19

when 80s playing without LeBron. That's just a massive flip on their whole situation. And to me, watching those minutes what stood out to me, I think, number one, not having Rajan Rondo.

Like, I think that really kind of low-key killed their team because when Rondo's playing. He has to have the ball, right? Like, Rondo can't play off the ball. So he's holding the ball. He's not really a threat to score. So no one's really guarding him.

And then on defense, he's not giving you much either. So, like, I looked at the numbers. When AD and Rondo, without LeBron, it was minus five. And without Rondo, they're playing Caruso and waiters with AD. The floor is spread. And the thing about Anthony Davis, you don't need a traditional point card with Anthony Davis. Give AD the ball in the midpost. So let's kill people, right?

He gets the ball, then it kicks out to another shooter instead of the Rondo. So it's like AD without Rondo, that's been great. And the other thing, too, is 80 at the 5. So they're going 80, Kuzma, then like greener KCP, Caruso waiters, whatever. 80's numbers at the 5 this year are insane. They're absolutely ridiculous. So, okay, looking at with no Javille and no Dwight, 80 has a usage of 28, true shooting of 66.6. Now, basically, that means in English is 80s getting the ball like he's Hardener Janus,

and he's been the most efficient player in the league. So looking at those two numbers, there's only been one player in NBA history to have to be that efficient at that high usage and that Steph like five years ago. So basically, when 80's at the 5, he's as efficient as Steph without shooting threes. He's basically scoring at Will every single time. I think long story short, 80 is more room to grow. and I think we're seeing that right now, like letting AD play in space,

giving him the ball, he's got levels still to go to. He's getting to them right now. Yeah, so the biggest thing off of that, which was great, I just wonder if their margin for error is too thin right now. Obviously, the Lakers have been incredible,

and so let's get that caveat out of the way. I think probably the favorite, if not among the favorites for the title, people like to remind us on the group, group chat, specifically Chris and I, because I don't think Charks was a party to this. I said out of that one. I remember that. Yeah. Where we pretty much, we trolled the Lakers after their first loss of the season and something they might finish. Like the sixth seed, but clearly they've, they've far exceeded

those expectations. They're great. Please don't at me. But I do wonder, as bad as Rondo has been at times, as much as Bradley is the fifth most important guy on that starting lineup at times. I do wonder if their margin for error is a little bit more thin. And you are a lot of lying on the cruises of the world, on the KCPs of the world more than you would like to. Am I wrong, Rob? No, I mean, I'm pretty compelled by this whole situation that Charks laid out. Like, the idea of shifting some of those pieces around and unlocking AD in a different way, like makes logical sense to me, given his skill set.

This is a guy who can, you know, Kevin O'Connor talked in the restart this week about how Bam out of bio inverts defenses. And AD in the midpost has a similar effect, where if you clear out, you give him space and he can just straight line drive past almost any big in the league. Like, that's such a powerful thing that there should be a way to orient pieces around that that makes sense. I think where I get skeptical is in that margin for error. And it's in, you know, if you look at kind of the core of these lineups,

AD and Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso are kind of the three-man anchor of it. And then around that, there's just a, you know, a revolving door of guards. You know, you've got some Danny Green minutes. You got some Dionne Waiters minutes. You get some J.R. Smith. You got some KCP. You got whoever, you know, they can cobble together in that minute in the rotation. And those guys scare the hell out of me a little bit.

And I think, you know, when you kind of flash back to AD as a pelican and where he was, some of where they fell apart without, you know, Drew Holiday on the floor, without kind of more traditional point guards on the floor, was just not having competent entry passers, not having just guys who could get AD the ball in positions to score, which is, it seems like such an easy thing, but it's a thing I don't trust Dion Waiters to do. But it is a thing, you know, maybe I do trust Danny Green to do it. You know, like some of these more professional veteran-level guys,

That distinction, I think, is an important one, and probably the difference between bubble seating games and bubble playoff games, right? Where you're getting the JRs and the Dions at least lower in the pecking order, if not out of the rotation on a regular basis entirely. And then you're looking at these minutes where it's, you know, Danny Green and KCP and those three guys. And can that work? I think there's a chance that it does. But I do get a little bit suspect just in the sense that, you know, once playoff defenses are really keying in on what this lineup looks like and how it works. works, what does that mean for AD? Because, you know, Janus has had that scrutiny in terms of a big who handles the ball

who's creating for, you know, space lineups. Like, we know what that looks like and defenses know what that looks like. Defenses have kind of just been dealing with these Lakers lineups without LeBron on the floor all year, haven't had a lot of trouble with them, but they haven't hammered them either in terms of the mechanics of how they work. If this starts working, then you invite that level of scrutiny. I think it's worth pointing out, Kuzma. I think he's a huge part of that as AD at the 5, Kuzma is the 4.

Kuzma's the four. He's played really well. Are you buying the new Kyle Kuzma or not? Is it a new Kyle Kuzma? Is my question? Or is this just same Kuzma, different hair color? I don't know. I'm very mixed on Kuzma. Clearly, he is sort of the, not trading him, it would be the inflection point probably of this season. And clearly this season's really important when you consider LeBron's age and some of the other things going around the league. I don't know. Rob, where are you on that? Do you have any faith that like shot is on the line? Kyle Kuzma is your new Robert Rory. I mean, I don't love it. But, you know, these are the kinds of lineups where you want him, right? Like if you're talking about do we trade Kyle Kuzma for a fifth

starter type spot up wing, you know, like a Danny Green, another Danny Green to work into this lineup, this is where that pays off, the decision to keep him. Because not only do you have a big with a little bit of stretch in Kuzma's case who can play alongside AD, but a guy who's a little bit positionally versatile on defense, who can guard some wings, who can guard, you know, pick up a guy in a switch. And if you're talking about a lineup that's, you know, Caruso and KCP or Danny Green as the back court or, you know, on the perimeter, and then you have AD and Kuzma in the front court, like all of a sudden that's a very viable, very switchable lineup that I think, you know, when you're asking second unit creators to go up against that, I think that could be pretty

formidable. I kind of trust, as with most things with the Lakers, LeBron accepted, I trust the defense more than I trust the offense. Yeah, I think for me what I look at, it's like what Rob is saying about where he's being used. To me, you didn't trade Kuzma. That means you know Dwight and Javale, they're out of there in the playoffs.

Like, I'm looking at it right now in the restart. Dwight and Javale are averaging 25, 26 minutes a game. If I was the Lakers, I'm putting them at 10. I want 80 at the 5 for like 40 minutes. I want 80 at the 5, Kuzma at the 4. LeBron at the three, two guards. That to me is your winning lineup. And that's what I want to see, too, is Frank Vogel.

How much room does he have to make these lineups work? Will he bench Rondo when he comes back? Because, like, worth pointing out, Ronald didn't get benched. He just got hurt. He'll be back soon enough. If he's hurting the team, does Vogel have the stones, just drop him. I'm not sure that he does.

I think we all want 80 at the 5. I think every coach that has ever coached Anthony Davis wants 80 at the 5. The question is, like, how much does 80 want 80 at the 5? And I do think not only is it a willingness thing, but it's clearly just like, I mean, I don't know if he wants to take that pounding. I don't know if the team wants him to take that pounding. I think ultimately everything that we're talking about comes down to the LeBron effect. And clearly LeBron has an immense effect on how the game is played, how the players play, all that.

But I also think the thing that AD had been missing in his career previously is someone who could manage the leadership load, who can really get the most out of some of these fringe guys, like the waiter. the Caruso's, the Dwight Howard's, I don't think that's happening on the Pelicans with AD as your number one guy. And while Rondo played well a couple of years ago, you've seen a lot of guys coming through AD because, and this isn't really a knock so much as like, just as like a matter of fact. I just don't think he's a number one in terms of how we think he's a number one. I think he's probably the most talented player on most courts, pretty much the entire season. But I just don't think he sees himself as that. And I don't know if you want him to see him

as that because he's done so well with LeBron taking on so much of the burden, like the being the face of everything and playing off of that. It's a little bit more, I know it's a little bit more just like reading the tea leaves and everything like that, but I do think this has a significant effect, and I've seen it up close play in effect on AD. Well, I think this is one of the best places to be in basketball, honestly, is, you know, we've seen guys like Kyrie Irving experienced both sides of this, that LeBron presence and vacuum. And both sides, there's a detriment to both sides. Like, it's complicated playing with LeBron. But you want to be the guy who's playing with LeBron, who deals with less of the extracurricular bullshit that he just kind of absorbs by being the

presence in the room. And yet you get the commentary in the media and the commentary among fans, like, oh, is this guy actually better than LeBron right now? Like, is he more critical to our team because he's that talented and that effective? So you get to be the player, you know, Anthony Davis gets to be the player he always could be as effective, as dominant. Now he has one of the best playmakers in the history of the sport setting him up. And yet he doesn't have to deal with all that other stuff. And just taking that off a player's plate, I think, is such a vital thing. And it really isn't a criticism. It's just like a commentary on who these guys are as personalities and what they are willing to do and what they want to do. Some guys don't want that responsibility and that's fine.

I think AD has gone back and forth over his career as to whether he wants to be considered a face of a franchise in that way. But now that option has been removed from him. It's beyond him essentially at that point once you kind of get into business with LeBron. And I think it's served him pretty well. So this is my thought. And forget about like the face of the franchise stuff. To me, okay, it's Lakers Clippers, down the stretch of the game. LeBron 80 pick and roll. They switch to pick and roll. Who attacks the mismatch, right? Is it 80 over someone or is LeBron pulling it out to attack and 80 being off LeBron? I'm thinking like, If the Lakers won a championship, it has to be AD as the guy.

LeBron is the number two. Because LeBron is 35, 36. You look at his numbers, like that Clippers game the other night, he didn't score very efficiently at all, right? LeBron can't bully the Clippers. He's not as fast as they used to, being not a great shooter. And I just wonder, like, when it's all set and done, if the Lakers are the champions at the end of the year,

is Anthony Davis the finals MVP and not LeBron? I think that has to happen, is my guess. I think it probably depends on what quarter it is. I could see that kind of thing happening a lot throughout the bulk of the game. I have a hard time believing that LeBron is giving that up quite so easily. I think the mantle has been, you know, the torch has been passed in so many ways in terms of the load of carrying a team throughout the regular season. Like, LeBron's willing to take a step back from some of that stuff. But like game on the line, even if it's not a switch, Kauai Leonard in front of him, they need one shot to go ahead or tie the game.

I mean, LeBron's going to make the right basketball play. but so many times in the LeBron universe, the right basketball play is him doing whatever the fuck he wants. Yeah, I mean, listen, we talked about how LeBron is probably the perfect teammate for A.D., I think it goes both ways.

I think AD is just as good for LeBron. And I think, I mean, no disrespect to J.J. Hickson, but, like, I think AD is going to go down is LeBron's best teammate. And I think it actually works perfectly that you allow AD to dominate. And then when you need LeBron to step in, like he did against that in that game

against the Clippers, when he didn't play well, but all of a sudden, he made the two biggest plays of the game, and that's it. I mean, you do need those sort of guys

to step in there. And, like, I mean, this is the story of the season as a whole. We've been saying this from day one. The Lakers have the best big two

in the league. It's just how much is that going to matter versus the clippers who have just, like, go what, 10 deeper, however far they go. I think worth pointing out,

too, what you said, Justin, about 80 being the best player in the bubble. I think that's been right so far. And I just took out the whole league, and I think all you've talking about Kauai versus LeBron, these two like masterminds building teams together. But like you look at it, there's two seven footers who can't be stopped, right,

who can guard all five positions. They play on two or three best teams in the league. It's Yonnas first AD. It kind of feels like maybe we've been focusing the wrong thing. Maybe the next five years of the NBA, it's that rivalry. Because right, who can stop Yonis but AD basically? Is he not the best Yonis guard in the league? And the verse too.

Like if it's Yonist Ad 101, who's going to win that? that's going to be so fun to watch in the finals. For sure. Charks asked the question the other day just on Slack, we were talking, and he said, would AD thrive in the way that Janus has with the bucks? I don't think that's true. I don't think he would. I just think that Janus is a particular player. And I just don't know if AD has the ability to really, like, operate the offense in the way that Janus does right now. We should be careful not to underrate the value.

of the battering ram that is Janus lowering his shoulder from the top of the floor. Like that's a thing that, you know, especially when you talk about a player like Davis, who has been reluctant to play the five, as we talked about, to be engaged in that level of physicality on an every play basis over the course of his career. Like he's wanted to protect himself in certain ways that I give him, you know, like, of course he should do that. Like he should play however he's comfortable. He should fight for whatever position he thinks is the best for him.

But like, Janus is willing to do things that other guys are not. Like he is an all-out player all the time. He will go into the teeth of the defense, no matter how many times he gets swatted in the face or bowled over, pulled down. Like that kind of thing, it's, this is superstar stuff we're talking about, but it's kind of thankless in its own way.

You know, it's funny you say that. Because like everyone's talking about with Janus, oh, could the heat beat them? Because they've got Bam. Because Bam's the one guy you lower your shoulder in him, he's not moving. But if AD's playing against Bam, he's just raising up a 12 feet and shooting over him

because he's only 6'9. And that's the thing Yonnas doesn't have. That makes them such a fascinating one too as Yonis and A.D., right? Maybe A.D. needs Janus's kind of like get to the rim mentality. And Yonnas has 80s touch at 12 foot. And what's more important in the series versus two seven footers?

I don't know. All right. That's a good place to end. We will be back next Wednesday. You will see the three of us and someone else jumping in on the first half. For me, for Rob, for Charks, for Steve on the production.

Yeah, shout out Steve, new producer. Steve. Hi, Steve, and also by Steve. We'll see you next week. Basketball is very good. Basketball is very good.