The Ringer NBA Show - The Young Suns, Barea the Bully, and NBA Prospects in the NCAA Tournament (Ep. 89)

Episode Date: March 24, 2017

The Ringer's Chris Vernon and Jonathan Tjarks discuss the young Suns (01:00), J.J. Barea vs. Blake Griffin (05:30), the Knicks and the triangle offense (10:45), Josh Jackson's draft value (14:00), the shooting mechanics of Lonzo Ball (19:00), and under-the-radar NBA prospects in the tournament (29:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Thanks for spreading the word. The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon. Joining me today from The Ringer.com is Jonathan Charks. Charks. How you doing, man? I'm good, Ben. How are you?

Good. So before we get into all the college stuff and the prospects and the NBA draft, let's talk about a couple of things that happened in the NBA last night. This was, it's not so often that you see NBA history made regarding young players. Yet last night, the Phoenix Suns started the youngest lineup in the history of the NBA. Tyler Ullis 21, Devin Booker 20, Derek Jones Jr. 20, Marquise, Chris 19, and Alex Lynn 23, and they said that it, they said, the craziest thing was they said it was younger than all but one sweet 16 team.

Did you happen to see this, by the way? Now I was watching the college games. No, no, no, I mean just the stat. Did you see when they, when they posted this? Yeah, they lost to pay 30 points to the nets too, so. Here's the thing. That's historic right there. No, no, no.

What I meant is, did you see the team that they said it was younger than? Uh-uh. I would have never gotten this. Who do you think? They were younger than... No, I did see this. It was Purdue, wasn't it? I did see the stat somewhere.

That's like seriously, maybe the last team I would have picked, right? Because Purdue is not typically. Typically, you would think, if Purdue's having a really good season, they're probably veteran-laden, and they're certainly not a one-and-done school, typically, right? They don't get that kind, right?

How are they, how is, like, the youngest team not, like, Kentucky or UCLA? L.A. or one of the – like, that was crazy. Purdue was the youngest team left? And they even got Spike Alpick up on that team. He's got to be like 24, 25 by now. Spike Albrecht. He had his moment. He had his moment. Spike Albrecht at his moment, but he does. So anyways, they started the youngest roster in NBA history. But I just want to – on that point, rather than talk about them getting destroyed by the Nets, which of the guys on the Sons would you really bank on, right? because if I'm if I'm McDonough and I'm figuring out what my future is and what I want to build around. What do I build around if I'm the sons, in your opinion?

Well, I think Booker, he's definitely shown the most so far in his NBA career. And at the very least, he's going to be a really good shooter who can get his own shot. And he can kind of make playing off the dribble too and pass. So I think to me he's your one building block right now. You can kind of lock in. Okay, you would not be, is there anybody else that you would be like, all right, did it have to be a King's Ransom in order to move off of them? Like, have you seen enough out of Chris or Len or obviously Dragon Bender hasn't played all that much this year?

But is there anybody else that you would, if you're running that team, say, I don't want to say untouchable, but it would take something crazy to get him off my hands? I mean, probably not. I like Chris and Bender in the drafts. I mean, they're both really young. They both have a lot of talent. I think you want to see what you have in them. There's really no point in trading them

because you'd be trading low after you just drafted them. But I wouldn't say I was like, I couldn't move them either if they came down to it. So what is the best to put with Booker? What do you think is, if I'm trying to build a team with Booker in mind, what do I need? I think you want a lot of length and speed on the perimeter

because Booker's never going to be a great defensive player. So you want to play them with some. somebody who can kind of hide him on defense and take the tougher assignment on the wings on a nightly basis probably. Gotcha. All right. So anyway, that was NBA history. They started the youngest.

I kind of like Ulyss, by the way. I know people were kind of, he was probably helped by the success of Isaiah Thomas in the NBA. Because when Ullis came up, nobody was ever talking about his career or the way he played. It was always about, hey, there ain't a lot of guys that look like Tyler Ullis that have had a lot of success in the NBA, right? his height that was the biggest knock. But, I mean, this year, I like what I've seen out of him. I think, I think he was going to have a career. Yeah, he's a good player.

I mean, like, there's just literally a ceiling on a 5-9 guy. I think, too, when you're that size, you've got to be able to score the ball because you're going to give a lot of points on defense. So you've got to get those points back on offense however you can. Yeah, what's the ceiling, charts, 30 points a game. That's what Isaiah Thomas does. Let's see it in the playoffs, right? I'm not on the first round yet.

Isaiah Thomas does, has done more for short basketball players than anybody in a long, long time. Is that not fair? Yeah, no person or not it. Definitely. He's like the dirk for like tall white guys, but for short guys. I'm next Isaiah Thomas. Like I got this in my game. The other things that have been like, Jay J.J. Berea got thrown out of a game, which that should be the biggest headline in the NBA.

J.J. Brayah got thrown out of a game for roughhousing, no less. And then if I told you that the man on the opposite end of the rough housing was one Blake Griffin. All right, this is preposterous. JJ had had enough of Blake, I guess. So Blake comes to set a screen and JJ Berea gives him a little forearm shiver. The visual of this is like the mental visual, if you told me that JJ Barraya got thrown out of a game for a flagrant two against Blake Griffin, the mental visual would be hysterical.

And then when you actually see it, it is 50 times more hilarious. Yeah, I would think like he jumped on Blake's back and like he was riding down the floor or something. Or he did the Van Gundy, he did the Van Gundy like grabbed on Alonzo Morning's leg. Like a Shrek and donkey thing or something. But he just cage fought Blake to the ground apparently. J.J's core strength was overwhelming, Blake.

Yeah, there is that. The funniest is there was a pitcher, a still that was going around. And like, I guess it's like right after the shiver. And so like, Beret is kind of like flexed up. His arms kind of flexed up. And then you've got Blake with both arms extended flying backwards. I'm like, oh, come on. Well, you got to say, though, JJ's 5 foot 6.

If you're on the NBA at 5 foot 6, you're pretty tough guy. Like, you got to be a tough guy to survive with that size. Oh, by the, yeah, short guys are really representing. This is a second short guy story we've got. And it's a good trend. All right. But people wonder why everybody rolls their eyes at the clippers. Like, that's the perfect example.

I mean, that is preposterous. Bleak Griffin acted like you, like, there was a sniper in the building or something. There's no way that J.J. Beret hit you that hard. There's just no way. Or am I not giving Beret enough credit? Maybe he's like a ruffeuser. Well, to me, like, they complain to the refs so much and they flop all the time. Like you can't do both.

It's ridiculous. All the time, man. But I guess now, so do we take that circumstance and we say, all right, they are floppers. And Blake Griffin gets a massive tough guy or fake tough guy to merit for this. Or do we now elevate J.J. Barreya to goon status? I kind of like that. I mean, you're a Memphis guy. You remember when Zeebo just choked out Blake in a playoff series?

It's been known for a long time. Listen, every time the Grizzlies play the Clippers, I post a picture of Zibo mounting him. He just mounted, like laid on the ground, and Blake Griffin looks like he is, you know, like he's just seen the devil incarnate or something. He doesn't want that life. No, absolutely not.

But it's one thing for Zibo to roughhouse you. I don't, I mean, I don't know. I couldn't walk out of the house. And that's me. I couldn't walk out of the house. If I thought like J.J. Barreya, if I thought like I really got chucked to the ground by J.J. Barreya, much less Blake Griffin. I don't even know how he looks in the mirror this morning. Well, he's learning from Chris Paul, like whatever it takes to win.

I'll just break any rule, any norm, whatever. Punch a guy underneath the belt, whatever it takes. All right, you know what is lost in this? Because obviously we goof on the situation and the video is hysterical for anybody that hasn't seen it. But beyond that, the clipper's lost. Dallas beat them last night and the clippers have not looked good as of late and I wonder do you think that there is something awry with the clippers

because they're healthy now. I mean they got their guys by and large. Is there something wrong with the clippers or is this veteran team that's been around each other for a long time for a lot of seasons? Don't really give a shit who they play in the playoffs. And so these are the kind of things that happen, you know, when you're talking about 10, 12 games left in the season, they're not going to be going hard every single night.

Am I going to see a radically different clippers in the playoffs? That's what I'm wondering. Or is there something a right? I mean, they've been the same team for like six years. You're not going to see a different version of the clippers. They're the exact same team they were in like 2010. So they know who they are. What do they care, right?

that's what I kind of think, right? Like I, I mean, I watch these games and you see them like losing a game like the Dallas game last night or you see them losing some other ones recently. And you wonder, is that just, it's a regular season game, you know, coming down the home stretch. And so that's not peak clippers and what can I expect. Or is there something, is there something up, right? And they're, because I think, listen, everybody's thought they're going to be a hard out. right? Or do you not think they're going to be a hard out?

I think they're going to be hard out. They'll be a hard out for sure. I mean, they got too much talent. They got too much talent. All right, let me ask you about another thing that popped up yesterday, which was good old New York back in the mix. And I know you've written a lot about X's and O's throughout the year. Let me get your thoughts on Jeff Hornacek saying the following regarding the triangle. He said, if we turn around and have a different.

way that we start go right it however we're going to run it next year if it's full triangle it's possible you never know how these things will fit maybe my second year is helpful for us and he was talking about uh he said do we have the right guys to uh fit fit right fit of guys running the system if we think that we can somehow with a fresh start at training camp and go with it right off the bad if that helps us and phil and steve mills uh we think the same guys on this team could have a different outlook on it, then we'll stay the same. If not, we'll look at other guys. Obviously, every time the triangle comes up, Carmelo Anthony totally craps on it, but it's this idea that Hornacek is now publicly saying, I shouldn't have tried to meld, you know,

the up-tempo free-flowing stuff with the triangle. Next year, we're just going 100% triangle. What say you, Charks? I mean, I respect it. Cash those checks. He's making five, million bucks here. What do you want him to say? Like, well, if your boss holds you do them, you got to do it sometimes. All right. Do you buy that, all right, I get that he is doing his boss's bidding. Let's just take the actual statement. It was a mistake to blend the triangle with more uptempo style of basketball. What do you think? I mean, it was a mistake to give Noah about $70 million and trade for Derek Rose. Like, I'm not sure the system in basketball. You can run with those guys at this point in their careers to win. He's,

doing the best he can with the pretty bad mix of guys. In this day and age, do you think a team could run the triangle and be successful? Or has its time passed? It'd be tough because they don't get a lot of threes. There's a lot of long

twos. But if you had good enough players, I mean, if you had Shaq and Kobe, I'm sure it would still work. And our Jordan and Pippen. Like, if you have good players, it'll figure itself out. Is Porzinga's a good fit for the triangle? Because that's what you've got to build around there. Oh, absolutely. I mean, to me, you play him, he's such a perfect fit for like the modern spread pick and roll offense.

It's kind of crazy to make them play out of the post all the time. So in that sense, and I don't think so. When we come back, we are going to talk about some of the NBA prospects and with these NBA teams and we're monitoring their record and what kind of draft pick they can have, who they might get and who could move up in the NBA draft based upon their Sweet 16 and Elite 8 performances. We'll do that right after this. Today's episode is brought to you by the Ringer University podcast. That's where you can find Tied up host Mark Titus and Tate Fraser breaking down every game during March Madness.

Subscribe to Ringer University right now and let our college basketball experts be your buddies for the whole tournament. All right, Charks, so you mentioned you've been watching the college games. You've been writing a ton about the prospects and the teams that are involved still in college basketball. I wondered last night when I was watching Kansas, it does feel. like they're starting to be a little buzz about Josh Jackson and maybe not going three or four or where he has been slotted the whole time. I think most every mock draft has had Markle Fultz from Washington and Lonzo Ball from UCLA at the top and then Jackson and a couple others, Tatum from Duke, et cetera, behind them.

Do you think that Josh Jackson, his performance so far in the tournament and who knows what is next over the next couple of games, could elevate him to a spot where an NBA team says that's the kid we have to take number one. I mean, he's been awesome in the tournament for sure. He's been, like, Candace, they've been the best team in the field and he's been just lights out the whole time.

I think with Josh, it's just a matter of his jump shot. He's got everything else you want in an NBA wing. Of the three guys, he's the most athletic. He has a high IQ, great motor. It's just, well, a guy with a quarterback, questionable jumper can he go number one anymore if he's knocking down threes and a team falls in love with his jumper or they believe it's like it's sustainable that i can see him going number one it wouldn't stun me by any means isn't that something though that we have learned can be fixed right that like

that's the thing that you can if you get to the nba um whether you're koai leonard whether you're mike conley whether i mean you can go on and on and on with guys that have gone to the nba uh that were not The shot was the knock, but if you get in there and you do the repetitions that you can't, like that can improve, and it can in many cases improve dramatically. I mean, it can't improve,

but it could not also. Look at Aaron Gordon. Everyone was saying, if that could learn to shoot, if you want to shoot, he'd be awesome. It's been to year three now. He hasn't learned.

And it's just tough. Like, that's one of those things. You've got to go to your shooting coach. A lot of you got to talk to the player, what's his work ethic like? What's he like off the court? It's all about, I mean, it's not about practice, it's about good practice, learning the right habits.

And some guys just don't get better. And it's a concern. I'll tell you this, man, watching that Kansas team, it was a little reminiscent of the warriors, I mean, when they got going in the sense that there are these lineups they throw out there with Frankie Mason, Graham, LaGerald Vic, and Jackson. And they can all put the ball on the deck. They can all do, you know, they can all go to the hole. They can all shoot if they're open. and it's like the tsunami hits with this team, the scoring tsunami where they'll just go on these runs.

Michigan State played them kind of tight and then those last whatever seven, eight minutes, they just, I mean, just demolished them. And then it happened last night. It looked like Purdue was with them there for a little bit. And then when the doors open, it's hard to deal with a team that can get the four guys that can all put it on the deck, right?

Yeah, I mean, you've got to score the ball at a really high level to play with Kansas. So this should be a fun game. Oregon's got a much better offense than Purdue or Michigan State. But you can have to score probably 85, 90 points to beat Kansas where they're playing right now. Any other pros on the Kansas team? I mean, obviously there's going to be guys to play in the NBA. But anybody that you really like outside of Jackson?

I mean, the way Mason and Graham are playing, maybe their backup point cards in the NBA. I think Legeril Vic is interesting. If he stays next year, it gets a bigger role. He's got the athletic ability. Work on his jumper. become more of a primary option. But Jackson's really like the guy there. Okay, so I asked you earlier about Jackson,

and if we could look up and at the end of all of this, he ends up going number one in the NBA draft that a team ends up taking him. And you do wonder, right, like let's say, I don't know, let's say the Boston thing comes through and they get the pick because they got the Nets pick, right? But they don't, if they're going to resign, Isaiah, they don't need Lanzo Ball and they don't need Markell Fultz.

So that may be, right? Maybe they take a Tatum or maybe they take, you know, a Josh Jackson. Let me ask you about those other two. I'll get to Lonzo in a second because I actually got to see him up close and personal yesterday at their – at UCLA's practice before the tournament. Mark L. Fultz has been, you know, the prohibited favorite to be the number one pick in the NBA draft. He is the only one of those at the very top that we're not going to get to – outside of maybe Dennis Smith from NC State, we're not going to get to see him anymore. Like his, like whatever his tape is done in terms of his college career.

In your mind, if you say that you think Jackson or possibly a ball or somebody else could move up, I do wonder how firm do you think Fultz's grasp on being the number one pick is? I mean, I still think he's the favorite. He's got by far the highest floor of all those guys. it's just hard to see Fultz not being an elite point guard for a long time because it'd be able to score the ball off the dribble and make plays. It's really, he's such an advanced player. He could have played the NBA last year and a bit of starting point guard, I think.

So, I mean, I would think that he'd still be number one. It'll probably come under who wins the lottery, really. I mentioned that I saw Lonzo ball in person yesterday. Charks, I've never seen a guy shoot like this. I mean, I posted it on Twitter yesterday. People could go back and check it out. but I slow-moded. I mean, I was right next to the kid.

The ball is like at his left temple as he is releasing. I mean, on TV, it looks like there's a hitch to the shot, but seeing it in person, I've honestly never seen a guy shoot like this in my life. When I put up the video, everybody's like, that shit's so ugly, nobody, you know, he won't be able to get that off in the NBA, whatever. But I'll tell you this, every damn time he shot it,

I swear it went in. I never seen, it, it's a, garring visual because it looks just unlike anything I've ever seen, but the damn thing goes in all the time. What do you make of the Lonzo Ball shot and those mechanics? And do you think that should be a real demerit? I mean, it's a little bit like Kevin Martin. That's probably the only guy even close with like the sidewinder thing going on.

I mean, for me, like if the shot goes in, it's like, I remember like watching Sean Marin in Dallas, it went in. I don't know how, but it did. So it's okay. I do think it's a concern because how Lowie brings the ball, it's hard for him sometimes

to shoot off the dribble, which is why you see him take so many stepback shots to get space for a shot. But if you can make a 30-foot step-back shot consistently, which it appears that he can, I mean, it's all good, I guess. I will say this. Everything else about the guy is totally smooth.

And I know this is going to sound weird, but just like the way he moves, the way he walks around, the way he runs up and down the court, like there is a fluidity to him that stands out. Like he is everything else, that's what's so weird. Everything else, like the ball looks like it's on a string when he's dribbling it. You know, like I say, when he runs up and down the court, when he jumps, he can just, he can glide.

But then he shoots it and it's like, what the hell is that? Here's my theory about that. So shout out to my man Danny Chow. He did an article in the ball family last year. And basically the dad's kind of like a Richard Williams. I'm not sure you heard of obviously about LaVar ball at this point. But he had Lonzo shoot a 50 footers like 10 years old. And you're sitting the ball that far away from the basket that young.

It's kind of mess up your mechanics a little bit because it's a far distance. He had him shooting what? 50 footers? Like half court shots. Like routinely. In the middle of the offense. Like, oh yeah, pull up half court and shoot the ball. Okay.

So disappointed that LeVar is not in Memphis this weekend. I couldn't believe it. Oh, that's too bad. Yeah, he's awesome. Broke my heart. And then I said this yesterday, but I was talking to somebody and they were like, yeah, I think LeVar may just lay low after the LeBron stuff. You flip on TV, he's on first take yelling at Stephen A. Smith. I was like, yeah, he's amazing television.

I love that. He's really laying low. He's on first take this morning. You see what he said, he was like, LeBron warned me. So what's he going to do? Nothing. All right. So you talked about Fultz.

Lonzo Ball. Do you think that, all right, so most of the box have Fultz, Ball, Jackson, Tatum, and then some of them are getting a little higher on Monk. And I'm interested in your opinion on him. And if there is something that can happen with him over the course of, like obviously got the UCLA game. tonight may have a run to the final four hell they could end up winning the national championship um him and also uh dearon fox the point guard at kentucky and which

are those two guys you are higher on and which of them could have more to earn over the course of the next couple of games i would say fox is the better player but i think monk will have an easier time in the nba it'll be an easier transition for him it's easier to fit him into a role on a good team than Fox. I think Monk pretty much is who he is. The things he needs to improve on, like playing defense, running point,

he doesn't do it very much playing next to Fox, who kind of controls the ball and guards the best player most of the time. Whereas Fox could make more money. I mean, he's got to guard Lonzo, but tonight, I would say he got the better of Lonzo back in December.

If he can do that again, he can make a case to move up in the draft. I think Monk pretty much is who he is at this point. You think he is who he is, which is what? What is the ceiling on Malik Monk? I have heard people say, oh, he's probably, you know, because he doesn't rebound or pass a ton, so he's J.R. Smith,

which obviously J.R. Smith had a really good career and has been part of a great team, a champion team. And then I've heard other people compare him to obviously much greater players, you know, perennial all-star level players. So where are you at on Monk in terms? Like, what is he, is he perennial all-star ceiling? Or is he more like J.R. Smith or Jamal Crawford or some of these guys that are big bucket getters, but may not be the guys that we see on the All-Star team every year?

I would lean more towards Jamal Crawford. I like him to compare him to Lou Williams a lot. But like imagine if Lou Williams is like a 41% three-point shooter. So if he goes somewhere where he can play with like Giannis or he goes to Philly, plays with Ben, Simmons, and he can take like 20 shots a game, he'll score a lot of points. It's just a matter of where he's going to play. He's not a point guard. He can't really guard bigger players.

But you don't think he's going to be a massive star. Well, I mean, it just depends. Like, let's say he goes to Philly. He's playing with Embedon Simmons. He might score 25 points a game there, but they won't be their best player. The role, he can score any amount of points his team meets him to score if that makes sense. Yeah, it just depends on whatever your attitude is towards him, right? is he is he is he jr smith that that that that's not a bad floor if you're jr smith right and now should you go number

five in the draft i'm not sure about that but what if you're demar de rosen right well go over that kind of bucket getter which that would be more like when you said 25 a game that's the first name that actually came to mind right yeah i mean like he's just like he's an off the dribble three point shooter he's very athletic so he can get a shot whatever he wants so it's just a matter of how much you value that skill, I'd say. Okay. So, but do you view him, do you view Monk and Fox clearly behind the other four? Foltz, Ball, Josh Jackson, Jason Tatum? Well, to me, it's a top three.

I'm not as high on Tatum as the other guys, but I think the top three is pretty much separated themselves, Ball, Tatum, and Folds. Not Tatum, Ball, Jackson, and Fultz. Ball, Jackson, and Fultz, and you think in any, in some combination, those will be the top three picks of the NBA draft? Most likely. You never know who's up there. If they need a big man or not.

It's about team meet a lot of it too. It just depends when, but I think they're the three best talents. Is there anybody you're really high on that is not really high in the, on the mocks? I really like Jonathan Isaac from Florida State. I mean, he's high in the mocks, but I think I'd probably have them in the top five.

I think most people have like a seven or eight right now. I think he's been little underrated. God, how did they get, I mean, watching that Florida State team, and then, I mean, they had just athletes on athletes, on athletes, and they just got friggin drilled by Xavier. And I know Xavier just beat Arizona last night, but good grief. How the hell do you get beat by 25 when you've got that group of players, and you've got what you're saying could be a top five to 10 pick in the draft?

You should ask Leonard Hamilton that. Chris Mack is really pulling guys cards, beating Sean Miller and Leonard Hamilton. Like, this is a Brad Stevens like run he's making right now with the tower. He has. Well, and he's got a chance to knock off Gonzaga next, right? Yeah, knock off Mark Futes. He'll be three. Three ducks in a row. He knocks off if he does it.

Well, and that wouldn't be crazy because if West Virginia could have knocked down some shots, they would have knocked off Gonzaga. And hell, they shot less than 30%. That was an awful game. Oh, my gosh. Oh, God. They just had a bunch of dogs on their team. Whereas, I mean, Xavier, if they got anything,

they got some real dogs on their team, too. So Gonzaga could be in for it. I mean, like, to me, few reminds me of, It's not like Sean Miller. Like some of the stuff he does in games as a coach I wander about. Like he didn't play zone until the very end of the second half. Like they couldn't shoot to save their life West Virginia. He's staying in man for some reason.

Yeah. Do you think the kid from Purdue Swannigan hurt himself or helped himself during the NCAA tournament? He didn't play well last night. It was tough because Jackson guard him a lot. And he's like, what, 250 pounds? He's got to be able to post a guy like Josh Jackson. You know what? I thought, I thought that.

was the worst thing that happened to him last night was being on that court because he looked so, like his lack of athleticism really stood out to me. And scouts have told me they're really worried about his weight and he does look like the kind of guy that you could look up in his 275 pounds and you're like, oh, crap, right?

Yeah, I mean, he's already, like you usually get bigger and you get in the NBA and he can't afford to get any bigger. No. When I think he lost weight to get to where he is, Yeah, yeah, he lost a ton. It's a big store. He lost like 100 pounds or something.

Oh, I mean, that's scary, right? I mean, like, if you're, if you're banking a high draft pick on the guy. Because I know, especially after that first weekend, people were getting really high on him, and he was getting his, he was getting his praise. I think it'll probably be like a late first kind of guy. That three-point shot helps him a lot, though. He's knocking like three or four threes last night. Yeah.

And the other thing is, if you rebound, if you average 13, 14 rebounds a game in the Big Ten, you can rebound. You know what I mean? Like, you got a knack for it. And usually that translates to the next level. All right, let me ask you about this article you wrote for the ringer.com.

Six under the radar prospects. Now, we've already seen a couple of them, so let me ask you about what you thought about. Three of them have played. Three of them have not. So, you wrote about Nigel Williams-Goss at Gonzaga. You wrote about

how do I say the first name? Raoul, Raoul Alkins. I think it's Rawl, but don't hold me to that. It's Raleigh, like the city, Raleigh. Oh, see, there you go. That's all you have pay on the podcast. Perfect. Basketball expert.

Raleigh Alkins. And then DJ Wilson at Michigan. Okay. So three of those guys played last night. After watching those three guys last night, who did you feel best that you had written about? It was tough. I really like Alkins,

but he had a broken finger on his shooting hand, so he wasn't shooting very well. But I like how he's playing. I like his feel for the game. I think he's going to be pretty good. Okay. And the three that are left, which of them do you prefer the most? If I'm going out of my way to check them out, Devin Robinson at Florida, Jonathan Motley at Baylor, and Joel Berry the second at North Carolina. I think Robinson, just because of his skill set, he's a 3-and-D guy who's a super athlete, he can shoot the ball, he can score a little bit.

And every NBA team needs a player like that. So you draft Devin Robinson, you've got pretty much a surefire NBA player and a really easy role to find. All right, so you've taken in all this about it. We've talked about all the draft picks and everything, and you do teed up with Mark Titus for the Ringer U podcast. What do you make of all this? All the things we said, what did you disagree with the most, or what did you agree with the most? I just think that Devin Robinson got drafted,

DJ Wilson got drafted. And I like Devin Robinson's game, even though I've seen him play bad in the SEC with the tournament. He pretty much got drafted. And Justin Jackson, another guy. Justin Jackson. Yeah, he's in the lottery now. He's like the 12th pick I'm seeing on Draft Express.

Tate's a proud of him. I mean, what do you expect? Yeah, Tate is a tough. Come on, I'm just saying. He's in the lottery now. All right, let's see. He got killed. Oh, he got killed last night.

All right, let's see how big of a North Carolina Homer you are, Tate. This, Joel Berry, I'm going to get to see him in person tonight because I'm going to go to North Carolina Butler and I'm going to go to Kentucky, UCLA tonight. Obviously, there's three or two point guards there with Fox and Ball that are going to be the big ones that everybody's got their eye on. I know Barry's been a little bit hurt, but is Joel Barry going to be a starter in the NBA one day? A starter is a stretch.

I think he's more like a Shane Larkin type guy. I mean, Yogi Farrell obviously helps give a chance, but he's just kind of small, so that's really just holding him back. You think he's better than Yogi? Is he better than Yogi Farrell? No, I think he's not as athletic as Yogi. So, I mean, that's what's really stopping him, but he's got a good game.

I like Joel. Charch, I think that Tate has proven himself not to be. be a blind North Carolina Homer. I mean, he is not all in on Joel Barry the second. I love Joel. Well, he's trying to get Joel to come back to school next year. That's really going on. Yeah, I'm pulling the coach K move. Yeah, Tate, why did you tell me all fair that you hate Joel Barry's guts? Oh, no. And that he's going to be the reason if you guys don't win the national title this year. Why did you say that thing? I never said that. Come on, Verno. All right. Do you have a, so you've been watching all these college games. We've talked about all the prospects that are going to be involved.

Who are you most, who is the must see in college basketball now that it stands? I tell you, Jackson's really moved up my list. I'm excited to see the Kentucky kids involved tonight. You know, rare instances where I'll get to see them in person. But for you, Charts, if you could only watch one of these kids play in college, like if I told you, all the games are going on at the same time, the guy that you would go out of your way to watch. I mean, Lonzo, no question.

He's one of the most fun players you can watch any level of basketball. He's great. What do you think about his team versus Kentucky? That should be an awesome game. That's one of the best college games in a while. It was great in the regular season. It should be even better now, I think. I do kind of have this feeling that, you know,

there is the, you know how we get to the NBA playoffs and a team will play a game, and then the next game after the team, that loss makes all these adjustments. And I do think there's something to that. The fact that UCLA busted them so bad earlier in the year that this time around, if you're UCLA, you go, shit, just do what we did, right? Whereas Kentucky, I'll be surprised if CalPerry doesn't change up that game plan.

And so I actually think that it's, I think that it's wise that the line has moved in the favor of Kentucky. I would be kind of surprised if Kentucky didn't win tonight, honestly. I would say, like, watch the big men. Like, everyone was talking about Fox first ball, but T.J. Leaf really kind of bullied Kentucky in the first game. And that's kind of the key matchup, I think. Can they handle T.J. Leaf up front?

Fair enough. Chalk, you're the man. Enjoyed this weekend watching all these games, and we'll keep an eye on all of these prospects. Thanks, brother. Yeah, enjoy Memphis. I'll be fun to watch tonight. I'm jealous, man.

That should be awesome. The only thing it would be better is if I was sitting with Lovar Ball. Yeah, there's some hashtag content. for you right there. I know what I'm going to try to do. And now this is this to tell you. Some could say it to step down. I'm happy with it. Now I'm going to go try to hang out with a blue three, which is the actual bulldog, the butler bulldog. I like him. I like the little, you know, that little white bulldog. That little white bulldog. Yeah, I like him. So if I couldn't hang out with Levar Ball, I at least want to hang out with the Butler Bulldog. That's what I'm going to

do. It's going to do it for another Ringer NBA show. If you do what you're hearing, go give us a rating and review on iTunes, and we will talk to you next week.