The Ringer NBA Show - The Return of Michael Porter Jr., Bridges or Bridges, KBD in the NBA, and the All-Sleepers Team | Draft Class (Ep. 225)

Episode Date: March 9, 2018

The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor and Jonathan Tjarks are joined by Mark Titus and Tate Frazier of ‘One Shining Podcast’ to discuss the impact of Missouri freshman Michael Porter Jr.’s return on his draft stock (2:49), compare two lottery prospects named Bridges (10:47), debate Ohio State junior Keita Bates-Diop’s NBA potential (23:21), and select sleeper picks for each position (34:51). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, on today's episode of draft class, Jonathan Charks and I will be joined by Mark Titus and Tate Frazier from One Shining Podcasts. And we're going to discuss the return of Michael Porter Jr. and some 2018 NBA draft sleepers. But before we get to that, I get to tell you about Yahoo Fantasy Baseball. Spring training's in full swing, which means it's time to start thinking about Yahoo Fantasy Baseball draft so you can flex your skills like a real general manager. The new weekly lineup format makes it even easier. Use the set active players feature to set your lineup for the week in one tap. Yahoo Fantasy Baseball is the official fantasy game of Major League Baseball. Sign up now at Yahoo.com slash fantasy baseball.

We also want to tell you about the ringer.com where you can find an incredibly well-researched piece by our colleague Danny Chow about the tanking race in the NBA. And Danny will actually be back on the show next week. Also, we have a plethora of podcast to listen to on the Ringer podcast network, such as a tiny little show called The Bill Simmons Podcast. You might have heard of it. Check that out. Our boss Bill had on former NBA All-Star and two-time champion Chris Bosch

for an excellent two-part podcast. And the first one, they talked about that incredible game six rebound and shot by Ray Allen. And in the second part, they talk about virtually everything else you can imagine. You can find that interview

and more on the Ringer podcast network. And now, time for Draft Class. Welcome to the Ringer NBA show. I'm Kevin O'Connor. This is Draft Class, our weekly Friday show breaking down the 2018 NBA draft, calling it from Dallas, Texas,

his fellow Ringer staff writer, Jonathan Sharks. Hey, man. I'm really excited for this show. March is my favorite time of year. I've been catching up on all these college basketball teams. To get in the spirit of the NCAA tournament, our producer, Isaac Lee, has been dropping

bags to get some blue chip gas to the pot. Yeah, I'm going to have to submit some expense reports for these two duffel bags that mysteriously lost in the ring our office. I hope our CEO, Jeff Chow doesn't mind. Well, it's definitely a better deal than DeAndre Eton just for 100K. We have the host of the greatest college basketball podcast in the universe. One Shining podcast. It's Mark Titus and Tate Frazier.

Welcome to Draft Class, guys. Oh, we are so excited to be here. I'm pumped. We have so many opinions. I don't know where to start, Tate. Exactly. We don't know where to start. That's Kevin's job on this podcast.

We just get to let Kevin ask us questions, and we can get to yell things back and act irrationally the entire time. Totally unscripted. Yeah, you may not know it from their pod, but these guys two are the biggest NBA fans at the Ringer. I've heard Titus loves the league. He just claims he doesn't to maintain his brand. I get it.

It's important. Yeah, we love the NBA. We absolutely love it. We love all the NBA happenings going on. We love, you know, the memes. of the NBA. My question, you guys, do they actually play basketball in NBA?

Or is it just like all exist on Twitter? It's all press conferences. It's all Twitter, all press conferences. It's just about TMZ style. It's not a stat generating. It's like the WWE, you know? Yeah. To start off, we are going to be talking about

top NBA draft prospect, Michael Porter Jr., who returned last night after missing virtually the entire season except the first two minutes after having back surgery. Porter scored 12 points on 17 shots, had 12 rebounds in Missouri's 62, 60 loss. After the game, Porter said,

I knew I wasn't 100. percent, more like 65, 70 percent. The last thing to come back with this injury is your explosiveness, your pop. That's just not there yet. I have to be patient. We also have to be patient. But, Tate, what are your initial takeaways? No, we don't, because we have had to wait this entire season to hear Michael Porter,

Jr. say, my back's hurt. We get that. We had the surgery. We saw the shot. We call it the Michael Porter Jr. mystery on One Shining Podcast. So we waited this whole year, and he has the doctors at Missouri, and they say, hey, Michael Porter, Jr., you're ready to go. You're 100%.

And he's like, I don't think so, guys. So he goes to do his own doctors. He flies them in. They come in. They say, Michael Porter, Jr., you're 100%. And we're like, finally, this guy's going to play. Then he waits another two weeks to make sure he's like 110%. And then when he comes back, he's like, I'm 65%.

I don't get it. I don't get it. It's amazing. The one thing he didn't bring up on there that he's the skill that he's waiting to come back is just his overall talent. That's one thing he failed to mention on that whole list. I'm overreacting. The guy was, like, he looked lost out there.

He looked, I don't know. Tate. He just... He's mastered the art of, I want you to pass me the ball, but as soon as you pass it, I just throw it back. It's like Jackie Mood and Simi Pro. He's like, feed me, feed me, feed me. And he throws it back out. He says it's like, no, I don't like it. He moves really well, but I don't think he should have come back. No.

I think he should have set out. I know you have a scolding hot take about Michael Porter Jr. Let's hear it. Well, I was just wondering, like, if he's not 100%, why take 17 shots? That thing that kind of blew my mind. He's like, I'm really kind of hurting right now. This is not going that great. But I'm going to shoot the ball every time I touch it,

I'm Michael Porter Jr., like, what? Like, what did his teammates think of that, I wonder? Here's the thing with Porter. Last night, you know, had a hard time getting to the rim, turn in the corner, lost the ball a couple times, handling it in the half court. And it's like, oh, yeah, he's rusty, he's rusty. But those were weaknesses in high school.

Right. That's not new stuff. That's the type of thing where, yeah, maybe the explosiveness isn't there, but the ball handling was never there and still not there. I wish that were something that we saw a little bit more of last night, but it's just not there yet. But nobody remembers any of this because, first of all, very few people actually watched him play in high school.

And then he's been sitting out for so long and you hear so many people talk about how much of a game changer he is and you see like his brother, Jonte's having a great season and he's supposed to be the one that sucks in the family and you're like, oh, if Jontesie's that good, Michael's gonna be like, this is unbelievable when this guy comes back. And the only video anybody has ever seen of him is that John Wooden

McDonald's All-American game. The McDonald's All-American holding up the John Wooden pyramid of success and they just show that same clip over and over and they're like, this guy is versatile. And you know who else playing the McDonald's All-American game folks? LeBron James. I think about that for a second. He's like, oh my God.

Is this guy LeBron James? And that's just kind of how it's all been. And then he actually plays. You're like, oh, that's it? You're like, Yante Maiden is way better than this guy. Yeah, speaking of what Tyos was saying, like, is it possible Jontay's the better brother? Because Jontay can really play, man.

That guy's got a really good feel for the game. He can move a bit for a big guy. He can shoot threes. Like, it wouldn't stun me if that's like a possibility out there. That like five years from now, he's the better porter. Yeah, he's only like, what, 16? They did the thing in college basketball

where they made him reclassify, which is like, we've talked about this on our pod before, how it's like, nobody bats an eye at this, that these kids are like, you're like, hey, you're a sophomore,

how about you just skip two years of high school? Or like, you know, if he didn't reclassify, what was that final year of high school going to look like for him? Like,

what kind of classes would he take? But no, this kid just like reclassifies. He's very young. So, yeah, I actually, like, really like, Jonte. The thing about Michael, though,

is like, he was hyped up into this. And I guess if you're making excuses for him or saying, you know, just give him time. If you're taking that approach, if you're being an apologist, this was like a very tough situation to step into with the SEC tournament, and

going up against Yante Maiden, who's a very good player, and just kind of all the hype that's surrounding this, and he's kind of like built as this savior, that Missouri is just sort of like keeping the ship afloat and waiting for him to come back to save the day, and he didn't really get to slowly progress into things, so. Well, they sort of played it like,

they had this Carmelo chip to come in and just run through the Inslee tournament. They could get him the ball and they needed a score. He shot like Carmelo. Yeah, he did. He just didn't make anything. Carmelo this year, Oklahoma City. 5% of the current. Current Carmelho, yes. The weird thing about Michael Porto Jr., and I tried to make all these excuses.

Like, he's a freshman. He obviously hasn't played at all. But Tillman comes in, who's also a freshman, who was a five-star, Jeremiah Tillman. And he looks miles and miles better than Michael's Jr. in every faster of the game, even though they don't play the same position. But at the same time, Conzo's sitting over there, and we call him Conzo

now. He's Cronzo now. It's Conzo. And this new coaching way with Conzo where he had to put Michael Porter Jr. back in, Missouri played better when he was off the floor. Because he didn't take shots away from Jontay and the rest of the team. Did he make the right decision to come back? Should he have done it? No. No. He should have set out this year and come back to Missouri for another year.

Nice. That's a good take. That's what I thought he should do. I thought he should set out all of this year and come back. Well, right now he's ranked like six, seventh. I've even heard eighth from a handful of people. And it's the type of thing where I think he looked at it as, well, if I come back and I excel, given the circumstances, as you guys outlined, maybe I can play myself into that upper echelon of the conversation.

I mean, what does he need to do moving forward with whatever amount of games he has remaining to do that? Do you think they'll tone him back for the actual NCAA tournament? Because, like, that's a really important game. Like, Mike, take like seven shots and move the ball a bit or just like, do your thing out there. Can he tone it back, though? I mean, his game is scoring, scoring, scoring, right? Well, this is why I thought he shouldn't have come back because his reputation had just blown up

so much that the only way all of us would sit here today and talk about how he was successful and Michael, oh my God, did you see Michael Porter Jr? is if he would have scored like 30 and if he had 33 and 17 like Marvin Bagley. That was the bar that has been set by how everyone has talked about him, which is why I thought he should have set out the rest of the year because what is there to gain? Even if he would have played like instead of going five for 17, he was like eight for 17 and had 20 points or something, people still have been like, I mean he was good, but you know, is that really? Didn't see this, didn't see that. And it's like, that's why thought he should have come back next season. I thought he should

set out all this season, come back next season. But the problem now is now that he has come back, you know he's going to the draft. Yes. It's confirmed. The fact that he came back, tried to play in this game means that he's worried about his draft stock or wants to improve his draft stock in some way and thought he could play a shitty Georgia team and it would improve his draft stock. It turns out Georgia's not as bad as you thought. And Mark Fox had a great

game plan. And I don't know, Missouri, Mark Fox's game plan of let the guy who hasn't played basketball in three months. Let him shoot three. Oh, he wants a fadeaway three. Let him take it. Charks, have there been guys who have missed virtually the entire season, then come back and become Grammy? We got Kyrie Irving, but is there really anybody else that comes to mind? I don't know. I mean, it's usually... Tyler's one.

Tyler came back in 2009. That was pretty helpful. There's not a lot. Cancer missed his whole season at Kentucky. Canter played it right. He was done and done. He was like, yeah, I will never play a minute for this school. I've already played professionally for five years.

But now he's one of Cal's guys, too. So he got it all, yeah. He's in. Maybe it'll work out for Porter like it did for Canter, be a social. media star. Let's take a quick break. Tate, it's important to get practice as a producer, right? Yes, of course. Well, that's also true in fantasy sports, which is why I'm telling you again about Yahoo Fantasy Baseball. Spring training's in full swing, and it's time to start thinking about Yahoo Fantasy Baseball. So you can flex your skills like a real GM and crush your league with the Yahoo Fantasy app.

The Yahoo Fantasy app is the number one mobile app and fantasy baseball. You can draft, trade, and manage your team right from your phone. The new weekly lineup format makes it even easier to run your team all season. Use the set active players' feet. to set your lineup for the week in one tap. Sign up now at yahoo.com slash fantasy baseball. Create your own league or join a public league. Don't miss out on baseball season. The Yahoo Fantasy Baseball is the official fantasy game of Major League Baseball.

Now we're going to talk about bridges. There's two bridges. There's a lot of bridges in the world. Charx, you wrote about one of these bridges. Actually, I think you wrote about both bridges this season, Miles Bridges and McEl Bridges from Villanova. Which one do you want to start with? Let's just go, Charks.

We'll start with Michael. I love the guy. He's great. Love his game. He'll be great in the NBA. Why do you love his game? I mean, I think the things he does really well are the things NBA teams need. He's a great shooter. He's a great defender. He makes any team better.

And I think just like you add him to a team. They're better on offense. They're better on defense. Like he's kind of the way the league is going. If you're going to have a great team in the NBA, you've got like Michael Bridges. Like, to me when I'm building an NBA team, I want one or two guys like that. And guys like that are very, very hard to find. So a guy like that should go really high in the draft.

Well, Titus, he hasn't always been this guy when he was a freshman, he was a bench player and Villanova's championship team. When I think about the bridges, so both the bridges frustrate the hell out of me because they're both so damn good. And for various reasons, both of them struggle to like realize their potential,

at least in college. With Miles Bridges, he just wants to shoot threes. And that's like, when you look at what the NBA game is today, I guess you're sort of like, I get at Miles, you want to shoot threes. That's cool. He's playing to impress NBA scouts at this point. With Mikhail Bridges,

it was always like more concerning to me because it felt like a mindset where like I just didn't feel like he was aggressive enough and he didn't. And I don't know why that was because I mean part of it maybe you're playing for Villanova who has been the best college basketball program in the last five years. The system at Villanova is designed like an old school college system where you bide your time,

wait your turn. On the team now, Tate and I were talking about this last night that Jalen Brunson is like everyone's pick for national player of the year, his teammate and Mikhail Bridges is better than him. And so he's like it, might be that situation where he's just like got a weird pecking order he has to sort out. But there are just games where he just sort of like, I wouldn't say disappears. That's probably too harsh.

He fades. He just sort of fades. And it's not that he's playing bad. It's just that like you want to grab him and just shake him and be like, dude, you could be like a top five pick if you just played, you know. I mean, he, the year they won the national title. When he was a freshman, he was a huge reason why playing defense, just being the energy guy, being the X factor, dare I say. So that's always been my concern with him.

He's certainly gotten better at that. he's gotten more as he's progressed in Villanova and it's become clear that he's a stud. Those sorts of things have worked themselves out. But just sort of the situation he's been put in is such that he has to defer at times. And I wish in an alternate reality, he would be the guy, he would know he was the guy, and we'd see what that would look like. That's kind of one of my key concerns too. If you're taking this guy in the top 10, I think there's some home run swings out there,

greater risks, but possibly guys with much greater reward. So with him you have the mindset, does he have the mindset to, want to become that star player? I don't think so. But not only that, I think he's really lanky. And I wonder, he has a seven-foot-two wingspan, but I wonder, is he as versatile as he appears to be tape? At the NBA level, that is. I mean, I think he definitely is. I mean, in my head, I've always thought he was basically Kerry Kittles 2.0 every time I've ever watched Carrie Kittles back in the New Jersey Nets days. I think that's what Bridges does. My problem, you're talking about deferring, you watch these Villanova games, and it's like, DeVincenzo at times has the mentality that

I wish Bridges has? He'll defer to DiVincenzo, and Dante's like, okay, I will just drive to the basket and get out, or I will shoot this three. I have no problem doing that. And you're looking at Bridges. You're like, you're the guy now. You're a senior. You're finally here.

Just do it. And that concerns me. But my question to you guys, I mean, I see that he's going to be the number 10 pick, which I think is higher than I ever thought that Bridges would ever go, especially if he stated four years of Villanova. But is Trevor Reiser or Kerry Kittles worth the number 10 pick in the draft? I mean, I think it is personally, especially if your team like the Sixers, and you bring them into a team where you already have.

have stars. I don't think Bridges is going to come in and be Andrew Wiggins and we're going to say you're the star of the team. I think he's got to come into a system that's in place and you're like our Harrison Barnes on the Warriors. Like you're our third or fourth option and you're going to play good defense and you're going to help us out. I would say like I'd rather have him than Andrew Wiggins. Like Wiggins takes a lot of shots, but who cares? Like in the NBA, you're going to have guys who take shots on your team. So like I'm not sure Michael can really like assert his will. He's not really a shot creator. But I think like a guy of his skills. skills at the next level, when everyone around him is going to be better, it doesn't matter as much.

Like, if I can get a guy who can take like 10 shots a game and really help a team, I think that can have more value than like a traditional shot creating guy. Like in my article I talked about so with the Wizards this year, Otto Porter has a better net rating than Wall or Beal. Because like, if Wall goes out, well, we'll give Beal more shots. We'll give him, we'll give Sotoranski more shots. Like shots can be redistributed. But a guy who shoots three, and defends, that's just got value anywhere in any situation. But Charks, if you're redrafing the entire NBA,

wouldn't you still rather take John Wall and Bradley Bill ahead of Auto Porter? I don't know. I mean, Wall makes like $40 million a year. He's an older guy. He's getting older now. Throw out contract. Yeah, all new deals. Like, no money. Well, I don't know. I don't know. I feel like there's more

good point guards in league than there are good three and D guys. I'm not sure Wall is like a Steph Curry level guard that I have to take him top 10 or whatever. I think this is the beauty and the difference between like us when we're watching basketball and watching these guys in college versus like the NBA outlook on players because to me if you were to come up to me and say and I judge most of these guys from what I know talent wise in college and you were like I've got Bradley Beale I've got John Woll and I've got Otto Porter which one you're going to take

by your team I mean there's not even a question you know like I almost laugh in your face and I'm like I can't believe Otto Porter is involved in this conversation but in the NBA it makes sense you know because like the way the teams are set up and how it's just such a different style of play and it's such a contrast in the way you think about basketball. Say it. It's not real basketball. Say it. It's not real basketball.

It's entertainment. It's made for television. They don't play for the love of the game. Damn it. Is it fixed? Then how does Miles Bridges, a guy who I have a hard time assessing what his role will be? What's his role in this fake basketball league called the NBA? So to me, I think he's Carm-I, and we already invoke Carmelo's name in a derogatory sense on this podcast.

He looks to me like Carmelo Anthony. if Carmelo's shot left-handed. He's got the body, he's got the skill set where he's got the mid-range game. He's got like all of the stuff that Carmelo had when he was at Syracuse and he kind of reminds me of that sort of guy. But he also just like wants to shoot threes.

And part of that is he's played out of position. I think Charx wrote an article about this. That's what I was going to ask you. How much of that is just having Nick Ward there kind of clogged up the lane? If you follow Michigan State all year, they have this guy named Nick Ward who's like a pretty good college basketball player,

but he's also like kind of out of his mind And in an ideal world, he would be brought off the bench. He's Michigan State Center. So Jaron Jackson has to play the four. Jaron Jackson should be playing the five. Bridges should be playing the four. But Izzo can't bring Ward off the bench or Ward will just shut down. Yeah, Ford will like punch him.

He'll literally fight Tom Izzo if he tells him to sit on the bench. So Ward has to start and Bridges has to play the three and it clogs up the pain. And he's like, well, I guess I can shoot. And by the way, he is actually a good three-point shooter. Like he's got a smooth stroke. I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to become like a, you know, like a solid three-point shooter in the league. I don't know if he's going to be, you know, hitting five threes a game or whatever, but he's going to be like consistently hitting him.

It's just... He's got spots. So he knows... When he knows where he wants to go on the three-point line, like he has little spots like on the semicircles on both sides. Like, it's like LeBron. He knows where he needs to get two to shoot a good three. Right.

If he gets forced in a position where he's taking like a corner three that's not in the offense and it's like a random shot, he'll brick the shit out of it, you know? And you're just like, kind of came out of nowhere. He's also the guy that a defender will get switched on. Some like 6-2 walk-on dude will get switched on to him. and everyone in the gym's like, look in their lips and they're like, oh shit, here it comes. He's about to just dunk on this guy,

and then he just pulls up for three. Or like a little mid-range, too. Like driving back him down and fade away. That's the stuff that's maddening to me because the dude is probably the best dunker in college basketball if he really wanted to be. He's built like a brick house. He could post up like pretty much everybody

that's guarding him and score that way. And he just kind of floats around and shoots jump shots. Okay, college guys, I got a question for y'all. So, like, Michigan State's in the Sweet 16, eight minutes left. Is it going to go small with Jackson, the five and the four is keep his bigs in the game. He's going to stick with it.

He's got the bigs in. He's also got other big men. He's got like Gavin Schilling that he loves. And he's got a ton of big men that he puts in there. And he's sort of like stuck with... I think there's a perfect world in which for Izzo where Nick Ward gets in foul trouble early where Nick Ward has three fouls. And then I think he's forced to do that.

And then he can sort of like, you know, say, well, you know, we were dealing foul trouble. Jaron had to move down to the five. And that's where we cut in at the two and then just shift everyone down, Langford at the three. Duncanville, Texas. Matt McQuade. Listen, this is a different conversation. I know we're supposed to be talking about the draft, but in bringing up the bracket situation,

a lot of people are going to be excited about Michigan State, and that absolutely terrifies me, that they have their two best players playing out of position. But a lot of people are going to look at Michigan State and be like, oh, you know, it's Tom is it in March, folks. We should do that with the bracket. Yeah, that's actually my article next week is about that very topic. Nice tease, yeah. Well, that's the tough part about Bridges, I think, is he is playing out of position.

If you're NBA team or NBA scout, just evaluating him right now within that situation, he could be the type of guy where you're like, okay, clearly there's shot creation potential. You mentioned his ability to get to the basket, and yet he settles so much for jumpers. How much of that is because of the situation, how much of that is because of his mindset? And that's what I think between now,

whatever the season ends from Michigan State and the draft, whether it's through workouts, through interviews, group workouts, individual workouts, teams are going to have to figure out, is this in his mind? Does he just want to be on the perimeter? Or is he the guy, when you do space that floor with the NBA spacing,

have four out, five out offense, that he can turn it up to another level. Kevin, do you think he's a four in the NBA, Miles? Yeah, he's good enough of a rebounder to be a four, I think. Okay. Tate, do you think he does have that ability to reach a higher level? I think the thing that holds Miles back right now in college basketball is that, I think Miles Bridges is one of those guys in the NBA that can get a rebound and start the break himself.

Like, he's talented enough to run the break, and you just don't do that in college. Like, that's just, you're not given that leeway to be. He barely has any possessions doing that at all. Exactly. So he doesn't do that, and I think he has all the skills to do that. I mean, I sort of always thought of him as Julius Randall, but I think he's got more ball skills than Joyce. Like, I think he can actually handle the ball

and actually has vision and can make passes. And so I totally can see him doing that in the NBA, and I wouldn't be shocked if he's just amazing in the NBA and we all look back and we're like, what was Izzo doing, you know, boxing him in to this situation? The one thing I want to bring up about Miles Bridges that needs to be mentioned as well is that he often gets talked about in terms of the NBA draft

like he's damaged goods because he came back. And I think we need to make the point that like, this dude, if he would have come out for the draft last year, my understanding is that, He would have been like a top five, maybe top seven. Certainly top ten. He was like Billed as that. He comes back.

He's doing like the exact same things he did last year. He's like having the exact same season. He's actually got like better teammates. So like last year he was given more opportunities to do this stuff. And now he's got Jared Jackson he's got to deal with. They've only lost four games. He's having it in a phenomenal season. Everyone's like, eh.

It's kind of like when rookies get drafted. Suddenly it's like the cars off the lot. Right. And it's suddenly, oh, their potential's all gone. They stink as a rookie. It's like, well, let's... It's like Josh Jackson now. I see it all the time.

People talk about Josh Jackson. Like, he's getting hot at later in the season. He's been great lately. Yeah, everyone earlier was like, I just don't think this guy has it. I'm like, I think he like 18 years old. Like, give him a break. We're going to move on to Titus talking about Keda Bates Dia. But first, let's take a quick break.

Isaac, you're a big music guy, right? Couldn't live without it, man. Well, I've been using the wireless Sonos play bass and two Sonos one speakers to watch TV and listen to music and podcasts. Just the other day I was listening to One Shining Podcasts while I was cooking my breakfast. It's pretty good. And the sound quality is just unbelievable. It's like a Kevin O concert in your own home. Exactly. And I can control the audio with my voice to use any streaming service that I want. I've been using iTunes lately, but might be switching back to Spotify soon. I can do it anywhere in my apartment. I love it. It's like having a movie theater in your home.

And once the NBA season is over, I can't wait to sit back, chill, just watch all the movies I've missed this NBA season. Isaac, what movie do you recommend? Believe it or not, I really enjoyed the shape of water, which just won the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Score. The score, by the way, composed by Alexandria, this plot would sound incredible on Sonos. Well, and now, Sonos is offering the listeners of the Ringer NBA show 10% off. One order of $2,500 or less for any product on sonos.com. That's S-O-N-O-S dot com. Just use the promo code Ringer 10. That's capital, Ringer 1-0 at Sonos.com. This offer is available for a limited time only and cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions.

And now, Titus, it's time for you to tell us on something on our new segment called Show and Tell. What is Show and Tell, Kevin? Explain to me. I'm ready. I went to elementary school, but I'm not sure I remember what it actually happens here. And Show and Tell, we're going to bring in Ringer's Staff Riders

and employee, yes, you are. That's me. I'm not. Present their takes or their thoughts on players, teams, whatever topic. And under a minute, going to try to sell the classroom. that's us and the listeners about this topic. And then we're going to talk about it. So this week, Mark, you're going to be talking about Ohio State redshirt,

junior forward, Kada Bates Dio. Oh my God. So are you aware of a basketball player named Kevin Durant? Because I have a man who is basically, dare I say, Kevin Durant 2.0. Now, if you like long-armed, very skinny guys who play on the perimeter, and that's pretty much where the Kevin Durant comparison stops. So the story of Cato Bates-Diab is this. Ohio State was terrible.

Kada Bates Diop is so good that his absence last year got Thadmada, who was the greatest coach in the history of Ohio State basketball, fired. Thadmada might be the greatest coach in the history of college basketball to ever get fired for performance reasons, to not have be some sort of scandal off the cord or... It's usually a scandal. It's usually a scandal for these guys getting fired.

He might be the greatest coach of all time who got fired because they're like, we think you suck now. And the reason that they thought he sucked now is because Kada Bates Diop was out all last year. Ohio State fans didn't even realize this as it was happening. He comes back this year. Ohio State was picked to finish 13th in the Big Ten. In a conference called the Big Ten, they were picked 13th. They go all the way up to ranked eighth in the country,

basically because he's honestly probably the best two-way player in college basketball. It's not to say he's the best two-way prospect in NBA draft, but in college basketball, as far as he's a shutdown defender. He can score on anybody. Say his nickname. Say his nickname. Just throw it out there. Cato Big Dick.

The initials line up. KBD. Is there more to it than that? That we can talk to him. The more to it. The more to it is that Ohio State basketball fans were non-existent.

They had all given up. They had all transitioned back into the football program. And this man has single-handedly captured the attention of an entire fan base and got everybody excited. And we're probably going to lose

in the first round to a 12-seat. but it's okay. Charks, do you share Titus' excitement for KBD? He seems like a good player. Nice. Yeah, who's the non-Cavin-Duran comp for him, Titus?

Jonas Jerepco. Yeah, there you go. Deep cut. How about McHale Bridges? They're basically the same guy. They're basically the same guy. He's just... Left-handed versus right-handed.

Well, McHale is right-handed. No, I'm saying. Bates. Isn't he left-in? No, Bates-D-Haw-J-Selt-in. Sorry, right. See, Ohio State basketball for me. It's just a blur.

Just a blur. So he also, like, has had injury problems. I wrote an article about Kada Bates-Dia up on the ringer.com. dot-com. And it was sort of like his, he had the same issues going on that McAil Bridges had in that he was deferring. He's a very passive guy by nature. And I guess that's the concern. Very soft-spoken.

Very soft-spoken, very passive. And I say that, like, even if I knew nothing else about him, I go to Ohio State practices, and he's like the one guy on the team that comes and talk to me and that's always a red flag to me. It's like if you're an actually good player, why would you talk to me when I got... It's a good point. Is he a fan?

Yeah, that's how I judge people. I go to practices and whoever talks to me, they're always like the managers, the walk-ons, and then Kada comes and talks to me. And I'm like, that's kind of a red flag. It's usually Michael Potter. Yeah. Usually Potter comes over. So I guess those would be the concerns.

I certainly don't think he should be like a lottery pick or anything like that, but I will ride hard for him going in the first round. I would ride hard for him in the right situation can be an effective. My question to you is, is he going to go to the NBA draft? Because if I'm KBD, I just come back to Ohio State. I try to win a national championship. I try to win national player of the year. He's already graduated.

He's already... Oh, so he's going to transfer. Oh, no. Stopper, Tate. Don't do this. Purdue? Don't do this. Tark, 22 years old, if he does enter the draft, where do you think he goes?

He seems kind of like a mid to late first. I wonder if he's like a small ball four or if he's going other roles in the NBA. Yeah, I'm curious to see. If he's mid first, he's got to go. He's 100% going. for sure. He's already graduated from Ohio State. His stock's going to be, you know. Speaking of being 22 years old, are we ever

going to see a senior or a redshirt junior or just a guy who can actually legally drink be the number one pick in the draft again? Can that ever happen again? I don't think so. No, but because all the best players always come out early. It's so sad. Unless one of them really loves college basketball and the college education like Tim Duncan.

Bridges was the one. Miles Bridges. Miles Bridges is the one where if Michigan State goes to the final four this year and they lose in some heartbreaking fashion, and Miles Bird just somehow is convinced to come back again, that would blow people's minds. And it just does like a rocky montage all summer and just like somehow... When Lawson and Ellington and all those guys decided to come back for their junior season,

everyone was like, why are you going to come back? You're going to be a first-round pick, and they're like, no, I'm probably going to go win a title. But he's still not going to be number one because he's 21 years old. He's only averaging 25 points a game. What if he's like Marvin Bagley and he has 33 and 17 and they win the national title? Can we talk about Marvin Bagley, by the way, KOC? So we have the thing. I don't know if people followed the Ringer podcast network,

but it occasionally gets brought up. It occasionally gets brought up on the various shows that we do, that there's a thing called Slack that our company uses to interact with people. Now, I personally, I'm not good with technology. I do not get on the Slack machine. It's made as a flip phone. I recently got on it for the first time in a very long time. I saw, do we call it a Slack?

A Slack message. I believe the words that Kevin O'Connor used was Bagley is trash. I think that's when I saw Kevin O'Connor put on the college basketball. This is first half of the Duke Carolina game, correct? Yes. I will allow you to defend yourself. Maybe I misread. Yes, there was a follow-up that Charks also criticized me for.

My perspective is that based on the hype set for him by, you know, these big networks. So Michael Porter Jr. is definitely trash. Based on the hype that's out there, I think he could severe. disappoint the fan base of whatever team drafts him. I think he's a really good prospect, potentially a really great player, and he's an outstanding college basketball player. And you condensed that entire

thought in the trash. That would have been too much to type out, so he's like, we'll just put trash. I mean, I'm trying to edit myself. I mean, Slack is for takes. It's not for takebacks. You have a take, you drop it on Slack. Bagley's a terrific prospect. He's terrific. But I do

wonder if maybe there's a chance of a guy like Wendell Carter could be a better pro. So what I'm curious about in sharks, sharks, maybe you can answer this. I'm curious, what are the concerns with Bagley? Because as Tate already brought up, like, Tate and I watch basketball, we watch these guys very differently

in a very different lens. And Marvin Bagley, to me, is like, just like the best college basketball player. He's honestly the most insane thing. I've seen since Anthony Davis. I've seen anybody out on a college basketball Florida. I'm like, how is this man playing college basketball

with these young people? And he just completely rips him shreds. And then I hear, you know, this talk like, we're not really sure about him at the next level. What is it that we're worried about? The big thing is positions. So like, he doesn't really block shots. So can he be a five? He's kind of an inside guy on offense. Can it be a four on offense?

Because the NBA for like big guys is very rigid these days. There's very defined rules you have to fill. And if you don't fill them, it's hard to kind of move the team around him to make sense. I think it's that, but I look at it from a different perspective. I think you could feel any type of role. But it's like he's just not thick enough or long enough to defend the Joel Embedes or Carl Anthony Towns is of the world, but his defensive instincts

also maybe on the perimeter aren't quite at the level they need to be. And it's the type of thing where, yes, that can improve. That can get better. It certainly can. But if you're drafting that guy number one, number two, number three, it's just I prefer some some of the other guys in this year's draft class. He's really good. The way you get around the defensive problem is do what Coach K did, run a two, three zone.

They do that in the NBA, right? Nobody talk to each other. We're running zones. It'll be fine. We've got to get back on offense eventually. We'll figure this whole thing out. My thing with Bagley is I feel like everyone's talking about him like he's Okafore. Like he's some, you know, like remnant of the past, like a big man that just can't translate to the NBA.

My favorite quality about him now is that he'll shoot two or three threes a game. He'll go two for three from three. He'll catch the ball at the perimeter and you'll be like, for a second there's a hesitation where you're like, this guy might pull it. But then he'll just drive right by you and just cock it back and dunk. I've never seen anything quite like it. He literally is the scariest player in college basketball. I mean, he's one of the worst Duke headaches of my life, honestly, like, of recent times. Like, I've seen Jabari, I've seen all these other guys.

He's the scariest one. Can we talk about Duke running zone with five NBA prospects? It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing. That's ridiculous. I love it. The greatest coach in college basketball can't teach man-to-man defense. I love it.

I love it. Can we hear an impression, why are you running zone, Coach Kay? He's running zone because he doesn't want to teach them how to communicate and run man-to-man defense, and he can't trust Duval at the top of the zone. I mean, he can't even trust with the top of zone to stay disciplined. What was the speech he gave his team when he was like, we suck at man to man and we're going to get bounced in the first round of the tournament unless we switched his own, so that's why we're doing it.

You can't say it. It's actually X-rated. The amount of expeditives that Coach K used to describe that moment. So we're trying to get Tate to do his famous Coach K impression that he does on one shining pot. I know, come on. He'll do it on command. We got to wait until the night where when Duke beats North Carolina for the second time and what, like seven days tonight?

That's not going to happen. I'm feeling really good about that game. Well, Bagley's going to be really good. It's just, I just wouldn't take him ahead of some other guys. He's definitely not trash. Can I throw out one thing? What if he gets drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, right? And he plays the five.

And you have John Collins, Prince, and Bagley. I feel like that's the most formidable, like, front line you can put out there, and all three of those guys can be on the perimeter. Can we get that? Like, I don't understand why he's not a top five pick. Why am I carrying water for a Duke player right now? I don't like it. Like, would you want to play Bagley and Collins together?

Would you want a guy who can block shots? That's literally my dream lineup. Would you take John Collins number one in a redraft? Yes, absolutely. Love John Collins. Well, before we get to discussing draft sleepers, have a quick question, Titus. Used Hotel Tonight to book your trip to L.A. I did, yes.

Well, 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 amazing deals. All it takes is 10 seconds, just three taps and a swipe to book a room. no long, endless lifts of zillion hotel choices. Hotel Tonight only shows you the best deals at the best hotels. Perfect, or if you're busy or you don't want to overthink things like Tate Frazier,

juggling, producing, and hosting GM Street and one-shining podcast. How do you do it all, Tate? Barely. Going to get fired soon. Well, you can book 100 days in advance if you need to go somewhere else. Absolutely. Glad it'll be cheap. To the top destinations and up to a week in advance everywhere else.

Book next week tonight. Book next month tonight. Book St. Patrick's Day tonight. Hotel Tonight is great for last-minute getaways or quick staycations, whether you're a planner or like to leave things at the very last minute. And with Hotel Tonight's H.T. Perks program, the more you book, the better the deals you get. So start scoring amazing deals in incredible hotels and download the Hotel Tonight app now. Anyway, speaking of sleeping, let's talk about some of college basketball sleeper prospects.

We're going to build a team of sleepers. We have five players. Let's start off with our starting point guard, Devante Graham, from California. Kansas. Oh, this is Tate's territory. Yeah, I'm going to jump in right now. Devante Graham, aka the apostrophe. He already has a nickname for people that I don't know. Devante has an apostrophe on the E. He has basically been Frank Mason's Robin for his entire career. He came in his freshman year, Kansas, average five points per game. This guy from Broaden High School, Raleigh, North Carolina was always like a good number two guy, was never the number one guy.

So he came in this season, everyone's down on Kansas. They have no front line. People were worried about Graham being able to lead this team. And what does he do? He's the big 12 player of the year. He completely carries Kansas to a one seed. And right now, he looks like he should be a contender, a serious contender for national player of the year. A lot of people won't say that for whatever reason. But I think he should be the guy. And as far as translating in the NBA, I like guys that people like to play with. And Devante is a leader. People have always enjoyed playing with him. He can pull up from 30 feet. He's not afraid to do that. I mean, he can just chunk the reason. He can get hot and go like, you know, nine for 13 from three if he had to in a game.

And he's just a tough kid. I can see him draw on a big charge in a big game. You know, he's not afraid of the big moments. Really gritty on defense. Absolutely. He's also like 5-11, which is awesome. We love that too. That translates really well to do it. Is he actually six-foot two? But he's a small six-foot-two. He's got the hair that sticks out. That's the six-foot-two. That's what? You have to use your hair to your advantage, and also

listings are very important. You know, if you can start, you know, when you're at 11th grade, 12th grade, and get whoever is putting you on recruiting profiles to say you're six-foot-three, it just stays in people's minds. It doesn't mean that you have to be six-foot-three, but you just need to put it out there that you are. So I think that will help him. And then his vertical, I mean, he can jump like 46 inches.

Like he's going to do that at the draft combine and people are going to be like, holy shit, this guy's a freak athlete. Charks, entering the season, Graham was a guy I had on a list of NBA college prospects to watch. And what I liked about him is the defense, the energy, the shooting. But I was worried about the passing ability. And that's something that's improved a lot this season. Do you think Devante Graham has made enough strides to potentially just get into the back of the first round? Or is he the type of guy where you're still viewing him as a second round prospect.

Back of the first round seems a little ambitious. Just because, like, senior point guards who probably aren't going to be stars in the NBA, like how much better to see than Tate's guy, Joel Barry? I don't know. I think... Put him to a tough spot. These are his two favorite players.

Well, I think Devante, the reason that he's better prospect than Joel, is that he has a quicker release. Joel has a lot of problems we saw against Michigan State getting his shot off, especially, like, when he got switched on Jaron Jackson a couple times, and there was just no way he had a chance of getting shot off. Because he shoots it from his chin. It's what Steph Curry shot used to.

be before they changed it when he switched over in college. And so for that reason, and I hate to say this because I love Joel so much. Shout out to Joel Barry. But I think Graham's a better prospect overall just because of his shot, you know, it's just quicker. Let's go to Mo Wagner, Power 4th of Michigan. Oh, yes. Wagner. Junior forward, 6 foot 11, 245, scoring 14 and a half points per game on nearly 40% from 3, Titus.

Versatile big guy, love his energy. If you watch the Big Ten tournament, I mean, the guy, like, he was struggling in the first half of games, then he come out in the second half, he'd get hot, steps out, hits the threes. He's perfect in Michigan's system, like with B-line, picking and popping, and the offensive weapons they have at Michigan. Michigan's actually not that good on offense this year. They're weirdly a defensive team, which is kind of not normal for them. But when you're watching him in the NCAA tournament, he's going to be one of the guys, like, he's the reason people are going to believe in Michigan,

and he's the reason Michigan won the Big Ten tournament. He's the reason that if you're looking for like a team, Michigan's probably going to be, what, like a three or a four seed in NCAA tournament? And you're looking for. And you're looking for like a fun team to pick to go to the final four, win it all. He's going to be the reason that Michigan gets carried there because Michigan, again, like, they play great defense. Usually the Michigan teams are like, we play awesome offense. No one wants to guard anybody. But this seems different.

They play great defense. And then Wagner's the one guy they can throw the ball to and be like to score for us. Yeah, we're down six. We need a quick bucket. Get back on defense and get this thing going. It's funny. The most fun I've had watching Wagner play was when he plays Purdue because he guards Isaac Haas. He's like 7-4, 360 pounds of just.

a mountain of a man. And Wagner can't guard him to save his life, but then Haas couldn't guard Wagner either, and it was awesome. So I'm not really sure, like, I'm not sure, like, how well he is going to be, like, guarding low post guys, if that's what he's even going to be asked to do in the NBA.

But his offensive skill sets awesome. I love his energy. His mom was in the crowd for the Big Ten tournament. He's pointing at her. He's raising the roof, all that kind of shit. I was going to say we definitely underrate his attitude, too. Like, he definitely has, like, a big personality and attitude.

Like, he seems like the type of guy that could definitely get in a fight with Bobby. Portis, you know? Like, he has definitely like Yeah, like, he's afraid. Nice. He looks like the guy that all the guys will want to dunk on, but he's not going to take

that shit. Like, you try to pull some on him. He's going to, yeah. Exactly. He's going to have like a little McRoberts in his game where he's like, let's move on to a drastically different type of player. DeAndre Hunter from Virginia, freshman player.

One of my personal favorites, six foot seven, long arms, hits three, he's only 18. Just the quintessential three and D type of player really locks down on that end. Tate, Hunter might not enter the drafts. But maybe he could. No. Don't do it, DeAndre.

Don't do it. There's no way that Hunter enters the draft unless Virginia goes and wins the title. And it's like one of those Marvin-William situations where our bench guy, our six-man, is so good. The team is so good that he gets drafted somehow. I think the most impressive thing about Hunter, obviously he can score and do all these other things. But they were playing Louisville last night. And he was guarding Mahmood, who was their five-man. And he did a great job against him.

But it was like, we have this six-seven guy, like a Draymond type that can guard the five. And then when he was on offense, it's like Mahmood's trying to guard him. He's like, I don't know what to do with this guy. Why is he playing the five right now? So I think talking about translating to the NBA, the guy can play one through five, and I know that's a big thing in the NBA right now, so I think Hunter has a lot of value.

There's barely any hype for him. It's odd. It's very weird. It's because nobody watches Virginia. Yeah, that's really exactly what it is. We were watching. Someone sent me a screenshot today. Virginia plays Clipson tonight in the ACC tournament,

and someone sent me a screenshot on ESPN. They were talking about who the X factors are for Virginia going into this game. Who's the big X factor? And I think there's your boy, Seth Greenberg, Devin Hall, who is literally Virginia's best player. He's a sonner. But that's, to your point that no one watches Virginia, they're like, I think the X Factor is going to be the best

player on the team. So I'm working on an article for the ringer.com.com. About Virginia and what makes this Virginia team different than the recent Virginia teams, and because the recent great Virginia teams, the Malcolm Brogdon's, the Justin Anderson type teams, and the Joe Harris.

Joe Harris. Yeah, we got to throw him in there. None of them have made it to the final four. The last Brogden team lost in the lead eight. And sort of the thesis of my article is like, why should we be confident in this Virginia team when those other ones couldn't do it? And the answer is basically DeAndre Hunter.

Like, spoiler alert, if you're going to read the article, we're going to arrive at DeAndre Hunter. He's unbelievable. He gives like Virginia a wrinkle that they haven't had. He sort of like fits the Justin Anderson mole, but he can do so many more things than Anderson could do. And I'm not saying, like I wouldn't dare say on the air that he's better than Brogden because that would get me killed if I tried to go to Charlottesville.

The NBA. Yeah. And people in Virginia, like he's a demigod to them. So I wouldn't say that, but... But he could be better, is what you're saying. But he could be, yeah. He's the raw talent unquestioned. I think he's definitely a better pro prospect.

This is a safe place for takes, Titus. Just drop your take. Charx, I feel like Hunter's your type of player. Yeah, I mean, honestly, I haven't watched me not much this year, so I can't say that much about it. I got to watch some more in the tournament. Well, one guy who I'm guessing isn't your type that I was a little bit surprised to hear Tate mentioned yesterday

when we discussed this ahead of time was Brandon McCoy, freshman from UNLV, near 7-foot freshman, Everaging 17 and 10. Not physical on defense. Fundamentals and effort, just okay. Charks, he does not seem like you're a type of big man in today's league. I will say, though, I interviewed him at the McDonald's game last year.

He's a really nice guy. Like, he was one of the best things. Really good guy. But you're swiping left still. Really nice guy, but you're swiping left. Is that bad or guy? I don't know. Yes, that's bad.

It's bad. Okay, yeah, we're going to swipe left. Ted, tell me on Brandon McCoy. I think the reason that I like Brandon McCoy is you mentioned that you interviewed him. I've watched him be interviewed a couple of times and I was like, wow, this kid is, like, I like him. I like personalities and I like the way they play. His personality doesn't quite translate to the court. I've watched U.N. L.V. play a few times.

The reason I like him is there's all these seven footers at the top of the draft between Jackson and Bomba and eight and obviously at the top. He's probably going to be the number one pick. And I keep seeing all these seven footers. And I'm like, first of all, that's not as valued as it used to be in the NBA. We know, this is in 2004. We're drafting seven footers and we need big men first. And there's Mitchell Robinson and Brandon McCoy. who I've seen late in the first round.

And if I'm one of these teams that's picking late in the first round, maybe I trade back and I try to get a guy like McCoy or Robinson, and I try to develop them on my own because I feel like they have similar skill sets. Robinson's one of those guys where we know nothing about him. He literally, we committed to Western Kentucky and then just doesn't go. Stansberry is upset. And now he's just like working out in L.A. And I feel like McCoy and Robinson are two guys you can get late that are just like Bamba and Jackson.

Maybe Jackson's obviously a different tier than those guys. but I just think they're good sleepers in the late first round. It's funny you mentioned that because I actually interviewed Mitchell Robinson too. And if McCoy was the best interview, Robinson was by far the worst. They're like polar opposite personalities in every way. It's kind of funny you mention those two guys. I'll leave it at that. So I'll take McCoy then, exactly, over Robinson.

I don't know how much history matters, but it is interesting. The last couple of UNLV, big man to enter the league, Stevens, Zimmerman, blah. You know, Ken Birch. Pulling out. Blah. Then you get even some of the guards. Christian Wood. Blah.

Rashad Vaughn. Anthony Bennett? Anthony Bennett. We were getting there. We were getting there. Never heard of it. Yeah, never heard of him. Patrick McCaw is really the only U&LV player that's come out and been any good at all.

We should say this. I mean, you talk about culture. Like, people want to have culture around programs. And, you know, obviously we talked about Virginia. They have this amazing culture there. There's probably not a worse culture in college basketball than going to UNLV being in Los Vegas, like having the turnover of coaches and, you know, have it Bishop Gorman there and all these prep schools that are trying to funnel guys UNLV. I mean, it's a tough place to be.

And we saw it with Suleiman Zimmerman. You mentioned all these five-star guys. They were basically homeless trying to find a school that would take them on. And UNLV was like, okay, we'll just take you on. I want to protect us from the idiots online that are going to complain. We mean recent UNLV people aren't good. We know about Larry Johnson and Stacey Ogman. Calm down people.

Oh, my God. That's the UNLV you want to see. Well, we said, we said UNLV people. Sean Marion. Yeah, we know. We know. But there's somebody who's going to be like, what do you mean UNLV people? You know. Come on. We love Tarkania. Even Joel Anthony. Pretty good player. At least he's a 12th man.

LeBron loves him. Last guy, our two guard, Bruce Brown from Miami. Projected first rounder, so maybe not a sleeper, but he slipped because he got hurt underwent foot surgery mid-season. He's about been out since. Six-foot-five wing. Numbers aren't that great. 11.4 points per game, 27% from three. But Tate, you mentioned him.

I want to know what is so good about Bruce Brown. What I learned about NBA people in the past year and a half is that they love triple doubles, right? That's what you guys are all about now. Everyone loves triple doubles. Well, it's hard to get a triple double in college. And guess who got a triple double this year? Bruce Brown. Bruce Brown.

And that's my guy. And we talked about this Miami team a little bit. If you're trying to look for a fun team or you're just like you want a bunch of athletes that could be drafted. And then they got this guy Lonnie Walker who's probably going to be a top 15 pick, I would assume. And you got Bruce Brown, Lonnie Walker, this whole Miami team. Laronnega is getting all these guys going in, at least for now until who knows what. Dropping back. Who knows what to come.

But yeah, I really like Brown. I think he could be a point card. You mentioned he was six foot five. I really like the way he can facilitate and run a team. When he's on the court, you can fill his presence. Like, he pretty much sets everyone else up. He's not afraid to drive. He can take some big hits.

He's got like a low center of gravity. I don't know. I'm a big fan of Bruce Brown. I always have been. But I could be talked out. I also thought Shane Larkin was going to be one of the best four guys. I have lost Miami guys. He's ranked like 16th in 2013.

Yeah. So, I mean, I've been wrong in the league. He's back in the league. He's back. Oh, Shane Markin not good. I really didn't know. He's in the Celtics now, right? He's like an occasional energizer point guard.

off the bench. Nothing special. What, four teams in four years? Something like that. Yeah. When he played overseas and had success over there and now he's back, but still, it's just okay. It's time for grades from our producer, Isaac Lee. Okay, this is a very long episode. I want to start. You mispronounce Mikhail Bridges. It's not Michael. It's Michael. It's Mikel. Oh. Right, Tateis? Yes. McHale. I like Michael Bridges. He sounds like a star. We mispronounced things all the time. I just roll with it sometimes. I mean, listen, a benevolent producer would have stopped you and corrected you on the spot, but I'm not that nice of a guy. Instead, I'm roasting you about it right now.

You mispronounce his name. And so you get a C-minus today. Oh, that's not bad, though. I passed. You passed. It's pretty good, boy. I can graduate with that. Barely.

Kevin O. sponsored. We had a lot of ads this week, and you did a great job reading them. Shouts to all our sponsors for dropping the bag. I give our sponsors an A-plus and Kevin O'Codder an A. Thank you. Mark Titus, you gave a very objective assessment on Miles Bridges,

very journalist of you. But I'm not into objectivity. I'm a Spartan. Go-Green, Go-Go-W-W-W. white, and I want you to unequivocally praise my MSU guys. And of course, you're a B. And if I was someone who used swear words, I would replace the B with another letter. And that letter is F, which is the grade I'm giving you.

Oh, my God. Wow. Wow. I never come back on this program again. Wow. Holy shit. Nothing personal, you know. Just... Not personal.

Just business. No, no, very personal. So these grades are four. They're personal. Get out of my face. Nothing personal. On the other hand, Tate Frazier. First of all, your desk is literally within an arms.

reach away from me in the audio office. So I'm not saying that has anything to do with this grade, but you do get an A. You are my predecessor as a producer of the Ringer Ambia show. You are the OG podcaster on the Ringer Podcast Network. Therefore, you get an A. Nice. Would it kiss my ass?

Nerds. So the nerds got A's. Congrats guys. Us bad boys, me and sharks were bad boys in the back. It was goofing off. Making paper airplanes. We're getting chicks. We're getting chicks to go to prom with us.

Sorry. Put your gum under your desk. Guys are asshole. Tate. Thank you again for joining the show. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us. For extra credit, please listen to the One Shying podcast with Titus and Tate and Charks from Texas.

Isaac, our producer. As always, that was fun. Thank you. Thank you. Sweet. Special thanks to Elon Musk. Unfortunately, not able to make the show this week. He is going to South by Southwest, but we'll try again.

Future week. But next Friday, we have Danny Chow, editor at the Ringer back on the show. In the meantime, please keep submitting hashtag Ringer NBA comments and questions during March Madness. Our next mailbag will be back the first week of April. Talk to you next Friday. Peace out.