The Ringer NBA Show - This Is March: What We Believe (and Don’t Believe) From the Season’s Final Stretch | Group Chat

Episode Date: March 27, 2024

Justin, Rob, and Wos talk about five story lines to watch during the last couple weeks of the regular season. They discuss the top teams in the East, whether the Pelicans are legit, and whom they trust in the West. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming, please checkout theringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Justin Verrier, Rob Mahoney, and Wosny Lambre Producers: Isaiah Blakely, Chia Hao Tat, and Victoria Valencia Additional Production Supervision: Ben Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every true football fan knows that the NFL season truly begins after the Super Bowl champion has been crowned, and the ringer NFL feed will keep you on top of all the news still happening around the league and heading into the 2024-25 season. I'm Sheila Capadia, and every Monday and Friday, Ben Solac and I deliver sharp takes the debates on the draft, free agency training camp, and beyond an extra point taken. And every Wednesday will have dual threat, where Stephen Ruiz and yours truly, Nora Princeotti, dive deep into all of the big offseason developments, with Ringer favorites Austin Gale and Lindsay Jones stopping by occasionally to share their expert football analysis. Subscribe to the Ringer NFL show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.

And don't forget to follow the Ringer NFL on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X at Ringer NFL. Hello and welcome to group chat. I am Justin Ferrier and joining me to my right, Big Was on the screen. Rob Mahoney. This gentleman, we're back. The force is balanced. Let freedom ring. Let's go, baby. Wow.

This feels like when Chris Bosch went out in the 2012 playoffs for the big three and they went down to the Celtics 3-2 and when Bosch came back, one two straight, went to the finals first championship for the big three. That's what it feels like to have you back, Justin. We're a whole again. Yeah. So it feels like you're LeBron?

I think that's fair. Sure. I'll be LeBron. I'll be DeWade. I'm not arguing with it. I just want to know the metaphor we're setting up. Who's Rob? Dexter Pitman, maybe?

Definitely. Sexy Dexy, come on. Well, he's a UT guys, so, you know, makes sense. Welcome. Well, I'm glad you guys were able to soldier on without me, get through a mailbag. I really appreciated looking at the group chat slack as I was away because you would think you guys were piecing together an Ocean's 11 style heist. It was like, it was being like, oh, man, great job. Rob, you really stepped it up.

is literally Rob put mailbag questions into a Google Doc. Okay, relax. It's called curation, buddy. And people get paid big bucks to do that type of thing in certain industries. And so shouts to Rob for his mailbag

curation. And shouts to us for just shouldering the burden, man. And just carrying us over the finish line with questions from our audience members. I don't know why you're shitting on our culture of positivity on this podcast in the group group chat,

group chat, Justin. Look, it's okay if you just want to admit you felt a little left out. You know, I appreciate the camaraderie

while I was gone. You know, the community banded together in order to get you guys through a Sunday show in which you got all the questions from the listeners. Yeah,

but all right, we're back to our regular scheduled programming. Today we're going to talk about some stuff in March that we're wondering whether or not this has legs

going beyond this last full month of the season. I wanted to do a this is March versus this isn't March sort of set up, but we're already down the road on some of the questions that we had. I know Waz in particular likes to get his prep in advance. So I didn't want to... Oh, man, big prep. Big prep. When it comes to Eastern Conference teams, I just care so much. Yep. But can I just say, so I was in Portland this past weekend and shout to to the Blazers for putting on an adequate performance against the never nuggets in the game. I was there. I have to say I was a little perturbed because I had the experience I think a lot of fans have these days when they're going to try to pick the games that they're going to target to go to.

I was there Wednesday to Sunday, right? And so there were three Portland Trailblazers home games in that mix. Two of them happened to be against the Clippers. So Wednesday Clippers, Friday Clippers at home and a weird not back to back, but same team with the game off in between. And then the Nuggets on Saturday. And so it was like, oh, man, two Clippers games. Clippers sit a lot of players. I don't know.

That seems like a risky proposition, even though there was a back-to-back on Friday, Saturday for the Blazers. I figured, you know, the Nuggets. They're playing for the 1C. They'll probably play their guys. Unfortunately, the Clippers played, I think, all of their guys in both games, targeted the Nuggets specifically. But your guy, Nicola Yokic, just ducking that smoke from, I guess, Scoot Henderson, and Delano Banton.

Duop Reese? You don't just want to roll into a game against Dwaprith. It got no Yokic, got no Murray. I don't even think they made the trip there. I was looking at the sidelines. I don't think they actually did. There was a good game ultimately. I got to see Aaron Gordon just completely takes

Scoot Henderson's soul out of his body by playing small ball setter and just like completely exing him out of that game when he wanted to. But yeah, that's your MVP, guys. The guy who won't face off against the Trailblazers Because he's too scared. My MVP is the sicko who on his time off goes to a Portland Trailblazers game.

That's my MVP, Justin. It's a fun game. Dedicated to the craft. That's right. I was grinding in that tape when I wasn't grinding that tape. I don't think it's grinding that tape even metaphorically if you're there in person, beer and popcorn in hand. You're just having a lovely night out at the theater at that point.

Did you get a ticket or did you get a media credential? I got a ticket. I was there with a friend. Oh, respect. Yeah, I sat up there. Put some money up. I like that. That's right.

Pay for the person. product, you know, give back to the little guy in the NBA. But see, the pro move is to get the credential and the tickets so you could get some of the free media food and beverages in the media room. That's just a pro tip for you, aspiring media guys out there. Bring it back like a squirrel. Yes. Okay.

Exactly. No, but that was a fun time. I've never been to Portland to see a game. So I want to go out. Nice. Yeah. Really good atmosphere for that team. All right.

But on to today's docket. So we're coming off of last night on Tuesday night where we saw one of I would say the most March games I can remember in recent history. We had the Lakers and the Bucks going to double O T. He had Austin Reeves drilling the game winner. You had the Bucks blowing a 19 point advantage in that game. Everything you would probably want from a March game was there. I have to ask first and foremost, I want to get into the East in general. But, Waz, how are you feeling about the Bucks these days?

Because on the one hand, you had this. game, but then what was it, two days before that, he had them completely smoking OKC? I think the OKC thing is indicative of just their defense is just way more competent than it was, right? And it's just shoring up some obvious flaws that they had. And when they're actually clicking and the team has bad shooting luck, they can look how they looked against OKC.

I think the thing against the Lakers, for me, is that they still have not perfected every single element of their attack. They're still not, you know, and again, Janice has been a bit of a whipping boy of mind on this show, but like sometimes when he's setting the screen for Dame, for instance, he's setting it kind of two and three feet too low, right? And when he actually gets the ball,

he's now getting into the crowd because he didn't do that one function perfectly before. And against the best teams, he's going to have to execute that more consistently. So I think they've gotten obviously better, but they're still rounding off the edges. And, you know, it's only about 10 more games in the regular season to go.

The first round will probably be a bit of a, have a regular season feel to it too. And so they've got those games to try to iron that stuff out. But I think it's a team that's going in the right direction, but definitely is not yet at their final destination as far as who they are as a unit yet. Yeah, they're going to be one of those teams that if they do go on a great playoff run, they're going to hit their stride, end of the first round, beginning of the second round.

You'll start to see some of those edges look a little more crisp, a little more defined. But there's still lots of like. When they have their core four guys on the court together, that's basically the best four-man lineup in the NBA right now, as far as the actual on-court production. So you want to put their best up against anybody's best. The question is like some of these bench lineups, some of the things that will get whittled out, as we get into the playoffs and some of these supporting guys get even fewer minutes, but that puts more pressure on Janus and Dame to get it right and get their orchestration

and they're pairing right because Milwaukee's, they are running, as promised, a lot more pick and roll. They're doing a lot more low-hanging, easy stuff and it's paying off, but you still want to see that payoff in a really refined and sophisticated and playoff viable way. And that's the level they still need to hit. I think my question is, if not the bucks as the clear-cut, number two in the east than who because the Celtics are just completely in a different category at this point. They're currently 11 games up on the two seed bucks right now. In the West, the gap between one and 11 games back would be the difference between the Denver Nuggets at

one and the Lakers at nine. It's a completely different playing field right now. And like, I want to believe in the Cavs, Donovan Mitchell, we got an alert before we started recording. He might be back tonight. The Knicks have looked good of late. But I don't feel like there's like a clear team that I could believe in beyond the books. Well, this is the team you believe in is the team that doesn't have to play the Celtics in the second round. Right. And that's what, like, for me, as far as like, what are we learning from March and into early April games? What we're learning is who can avoid the Celtics for as long as possible.

So I'm watching, you know, the Cavs and Knicks in that three, four spot. That's going to be a huge difference, whether you're on the Celtics side of the bracket or not. Miami, whether they can lock into the seven by winning their first play in game or maybe even overtake the Pacers for six, those are huge developments for a team like the Heat who, you know, they certainly have their share of struggles scoring the ball and doing, and they've been having a lot of problems in the recent weeks. It's not ideal, but neither is playing the Celtics. And so I think whoever you are in the bracket, and Milwaukee is on a good course to secure the

number two seat. It's not like totally wrapped up yet, but a good advantage. they have been playing well. They have a lot of momentum. I think that's going to be enough, not just to make them the second best team in the conference, but to make them the team most likely to get to the conference finals as a result.

So what do you guys think? This is the question I have down here. Is there anything left to learn about the East? As you're looking at it, as you're going through these March games and into the top of April, is there anything where you're saying, well, like this thing, other than injuries,

would make me think about this 2 to 10 raised any differently? Not for me. I think the learning is how far the bucks can take their development. That's what I feel like we're learning on a night-to-night basis. I don't know that the cabs have been revelatory. I'm not seeing any new revelations out of what they do. And even the Knicks, who still haven't been made whole.

I keep hearing rumors about Mitchell Robinson coming back, if that's even an actual thing. Julius Randall, people just stop talking about it. Is this shoulder thing permanent? Like, is he out for the season? So I think the mystery is with the Bucks, because they seem to be the only people who are on a reasonably equal plane

with the Celtics as far as talent is concerned. Sure. And so to me, that's the team you have to keep your eye on. that's the team that can make this most interesting. Yeah, two injury updates on those fronts today. Mitchell Robinson is supposed to play tonight, reportedly. Is that from Mitchell Robinson's Instagram comments or is that from actual recording? There's a difference.

I wish we were getting all breaking news from players just like posting shit on Instagram. Let's get to that era. That would be wonderful. But Donovan Mitchell also supposed to return this week for the Cavs, which is needless to say, a huge development, a huge thing. and you want to see that team get back into the full swing of what it's capable of going into the playoffs too. Cleveland has as much to prove here as anybody. And so that's a team where even though we know who they are, we've seen them rattle off incredible stretches of this season, I'm always watching the Cavs kind of waiting to see something to make me want to believe in them.

They do have these great stretches. They do have incredible potential. They are a really good regular season team. I'm still just waiting for that one thing that's going to make me believe they are more. than they were last year. And some of that is what they're getting out of their perimeter shooting. Some of it is the synergy of some of their core guys playing together. But

I don't know. I still feel relative to the Bucks as a counterpoint, a little underwhelmed by Cleveland's prospects. Yeah, I was going to say Cleveland as well, if only because I believe we only have 30 games of Garland and Mitchell together. They've done a lot of their damage

separate from each other. And to see them over the next two to three weeks would be nice to see them kind of figure something out, especially after last night's game where you saw Dame and Michael Beasley overreact on a pick and roll that allowed Reeves to get that three off. Obviously, they were playing just heavy minutes down the stretch.

But like the point of attack, guard defense is where you're going to worry about the bucks. And so if the calves can get that going, you think maybe that could be their edge there. Well, especially, I don't know how you guys have felt about this. And we always talk with the calves about the bigs. It's about when Mobley is out there and when Allen is out there, you know, given the injury situation,

has made that more complicated lately. But like, what can they do? What are their limitations? Do they have to trade one of these guys eventually? In those 30 games we've gotten from Mitchell and Garland, I haven't loved the way they've played together. And that worries me because skill set-wise, they should be able to.

Garland's a great off-ball player and a good enough off-ball shooter that it should work in addition to the playmaking he brings. that Mitchell doesn't. And so you can see the way their games should interlock. And I'm not sure for as good as the Cavs have been if they really have. Yeah, they've been fine. And I think fine is a good way to put it.

The Garland thing that's been a little bit disappointed to me, it feels like he just hasn't taken an extra step this season as far as his development. He feels like the exact same guy from last year. And we're not, you know, in terms of chemistry with Mitchell, as Rob alluded to, we're not, It doesn't feel like they've taken a step forward in that sense either. They're not playing off of each other in a way that should make a little bit more sense.

And so, you know, it's not exactly Steph and Clay in their prime, you feel me, where defenses are in a panic whenever these guys are running actions with each other. Whereas Garland and Mitchell, it does kind of feel like your turn, my turn, you know, type of situation, not very synergistic. especially when I would say I've been most impressed by the Cavs when Mitchell has been out there without Garland this season and we know the limitations of Mitchell as your sole lead creator and ball handler because we just saw it.

But it's like he knows though, right? A big surround me with shooting, I can generate good offense around this thing. That's what he did in Utah. Like they led the league in offense in certain years while he was doing that in Utah. So it's like it's almost like riding a bike for him. sharing a back court with another, you know, more ball dominant.

Even if you, even in the best of Mike Conley, he wasn't that ball dominant, right? And so I don't know. We'll see if they can figure some things out down the stretch for sure. The other thing I have written down here for figuring out the East was the Miami Heat score 100 points challenge. Seriously, though. It's a fucking mess. Like Jimmy Butler wasn't out there last night against the Warriors. And we're going to talk about the Warriors specifically later.

but it's just like they imported all of this guard help at the deadline and then off of the waiver wire. They got right in there. They got Patty Mills starting games at this point. They got Terry Rozier and it really hasn't made much of a difference to the point where last night they were playing through Bam out of bio. And like, Bam is starting to develop a little bit more there. But like, good Lord, is that just a complete mud pit? Look, I was talking to a Celtics fan about like eight days ago. and he's just like, look, I'm enjoying the stretch.

We're 20 and 2, yada, yada, yada. But every day I keep looking at my freaking standings, and damn Miami, he might end up in our eight spot, and it's annoying for me. But, man, a team that can't score, man, and let's face it, you're going to have to hit shots against the Celtics to beat them in a series. I think they should be circling a Miami matchup at this point,

the way Miami has carried it down the stress. They just can't generate offense, even when Jimmy's out there in a way that any meaningful team should be like, oh, shit, this team is scaring the hell out of me. Well, they've been missing two and three and four guys in a lot of these games. That's every game. I know, well, that's the question as far as what do we think of them as a playoff team. Is Tyler Hero going to be a consistent and active part of this rotation?

Jimmy Butler, I think we expect to be out there on an every night basis. And the playoffs he's going to play. And what is Kevin Love's status? Is he a relevant part of this team? Duncan Robinson's obviously been in and out and you would hope that when he gets back, I think he has what, a back injury right now?

That's a little worrisome for a guy who has to move as much as he does and cut and strafe and run. So you worry about that. But I like the guys they have when they're out there. But yeah, if they miss two and three players, they don't have the firepower to make up for that. So you say a full squad,

heat the Celtics are in trouble? Of course not. Of course not. But full strength heat versus bucks in the first round, this was the dream matchup I picked. We were picking our dream first round opponents on the ringer.com this week. I would love to see a Buck's Heat rematch. I just wish it wasn't so reliant the case for the heat on black magic fuckery at this point. But it always is.

I know. And so like, but I'm watching these games. I'm like, how the hell is this team going to get out of the play and let alone push the Celtics for like. an Eastern Conference final bid, but then we get to the playoffs in a completely different thing. It's just like, it's such a weird thing.

I was thinking about this I was watching last night. What do you guys think about Trey Young for the heat as sort of like an off-season target? I can't see that. Culturally, it is tough to imagine.

So is it the type of thing where like two assholes just completely cancel each other out in him and Jimmy? Or is it just compounding the asshole? So Jimmy threatened the fight spolster what do you think he would do to Tray Young

after two straight 30 foot bombs with 22 seconds left on the shot clock? It's a little. Can't do that. Actually, you know, Jimmy Butler seems to dislike shooting so much. He might not mind Trey Young taking 30 foot

bombs now and again. That's certainly a zag. I wonder, I don't know, man. I don't think the personalities work at all. The defensive component of it where their whole credo is that you can't

get minutes if you're not strapping people up or at least trying to well he's he's trying sometimes you know what trying really lends itself I actually have an ulterior note I would enjoy watching it I just can't see how that would happen so I want to convey to you guys what might be the dumbest piece of scuttlebutt I've ever received from somebody inside the league are you ready for this I can't wait I see I turn the TikTok camera on so I get this the other day from someone. He's like, hey, you heard about Trey Young? He's like, what you mean?

Trade. And this is someone who I would say knows people who knows things. Yeah. So like, I would say 25% like being kind, success rate on some of the stuff that has passed down from this person.

And I was like, what, trade? What not? Sends me an array of photos from a recent games, right? And I'm like, what the fuck am I supposed to be looking at here? And I see him, Trey like,

dapping up Russell Westbrook. I was like, Clippers? Like, what was, what would they do with James Hardin? I mean, what? And he's like, didn't hear anything back for hours.

Get another array of photos in which he is giving a handshake to McHale Bridges. And also like wearing white and black. This is when he's on the sideline. I'm like, Nets must be the Nets, whatnot. Again, silent for hours. And then the text comes back,

head covering. So on the side, sidelines, Tray Young was wearing either a hat or a hoodie over his head every time he appeared on the bench, suggesting that he got plugs, and that is why he isn't playing right now. Oh, my God. Can you not play after you get plugs? I don't know the logistics of all that. And that deep throat, and that deep throat being in Justin Varrier's text message is kind of crazy.

something is going on with the Hawks though just in the sense that I keep seeing like Anne Hathaway popped up at a hawks game Don Cheadle was at a hawks game with you and McGregor what is going on that's bringing huge a lot of people shoot movies in GA so I guess Atlanta specifically but like why would those people in Atlanta to shoot

decide I'm going to go see our Atlanta Hawks that's how I want to spend my evening or they heard this plugs rumor wanted to see it for themselves needed to investigate. I don't know how Anthony Hathway's marriage is going,

but you know, very young with plugs. Not so bad. I'm glad someone's getting to the bottom of it. If it's not you, it's got to be Ann. There's no way this is true, but I just,

I figured I'd show that with listeners. Last night, LeBron's on his sideline in a beanie and he's got a du rag underneath it. I'm like, LeBron doesn't have waves. Why is he rocking a do rag in me? But I'm sure it's got something to do with

Istanbul and hair plugs. So. Okay. It is what it is. All right, next one. On the docket here, I think we need to finally have this conversation, which is, is it finally time to drop one of our longest running bitch, which is you can't trust the New Orleans Pelicans?

I think I'm getting to the point where I might want to trust the New Orleans Pelicans, and now they lost last night against the Thunder without Brandon Eam. But they made quite the effort in that third quarter. Storm back kind of just lost it late in that game. And Rob, they're looking mighty good these days. Your New Orleans Pelicans. Yeah, I've been keeping this little quiet because I feared judgment from the two of you. But I'm there, guys.

I think the Pelicans are really good. And I know that we've all been hurt before, but I'm not afraid anymore. I'm ready to lean into it. I believe, I think this is a really good team and a team that has a chance to get out of the first round of the playoffs given. Yeah. Especially, it's so hard to match up with them. If you go small against the pelicans, they're so long and they're so athletic

that they can't really be exploited. And if you go big against the pelicans, they're too strong and too athletic to be exploited that way. So they put you in this really awkward position where they have all the options. They have this deep roster. They have the flexibility.

And everything that you want to do kind of ends up playing into their hands in one way or another. Yeah. And the thing that's kind of changed for them and for me is Zion actually changed. trying to guard people for the first time in possibly his life.

And that is major because to me, he's still their best player. And when your best player is giving a half-assed effort at anything, I don't like, I think that's poisonous to your long-term prospects, specifically in the playoffs where every team you're playing is giving everything that they have, right? And so Zion is becoming a serious defender.

He's using his physical. against bigger guards. Like, bro, I'm quick and strong. Like, I can guard a Kawhi Leonard. I can guard a Paul Jones. Like, him finally putting those things together are really encouraging. I wish this guy would freaking rebound to rock

every now and again. But I'm encouraged, especially by the defense, because it's going to take those kind of efforts to eke out these really close games. And then, you know, secondarily, if they play the freaking clippers, I mean, not only a bad matcher for them, The clippers are nose diving down the damn standings.

And so, yeah, I'm not, I'm not robbed with it. But I've definitely noticed what they've been doing recently, and it's quite impressive. We're going to win you over, was. One bignet at a time. We're going to get you there. I know Vary is not. Vary will never forget the Pelicans for his time spent in New Orleans, man.

One way or another, I will never forget it. Yeah, the Zion defense, especially on J-Dub last night, was jump off the page, like you notice it immediately. And I think the thunder isolating from the perimeter actually plays into Zion's strength because then he's just leveraging his great athleticism and quick feet. He doesn't process things very well,

so some of the help stuff can still be a little messy. But like, if he's doing that, that's just a major leap forward. I've been thinking a lot about this as I'm watching some of this late season basketball. And maybe this is just completely tricking me because it is late season basketball. But there seems to be a changing of the guard happening across the NBA, and I think we tend to look at it more as like the Nuggets stepping forward and becoming the team everyone's trying to beat Yokic, becoming the preeminent, dominant player in this league. But I almost feel like it's also on a lower level like this where teams that are deep and athletic and young are just kind of blowing through some of the older, stodgier teams that are based on star talent. And so you look at the clippers, a team where like Tailu's calling them soft at this point. And James Hardin looks like a complete mess on both ends at this point.

He's got a shoulder. He's the hardest. He's got a shoulder. Yeah, whatever. It doesn't need his shoulders on defense that much, but that's a different story. But it's just like the contrast there is so stark at this point. Pelicans just have a zip and like a zest to them that's unmistakable. So they pretty much merged the team that went to the playoffs without Zion with Zion at,

if not his best, then certainly approximating that, Rob. Yes. And what defined that Pelicans team without Zion was they, they didn't try to pretend that they were too cool for anything. They played hard and they went after people and they applied pressure. And when you have that plus this athletic specimen, one of the most unique athletic prospects we've ever seen and a guy who's starting to finally put the pieces of his game together,

that's a really exciting time. And it puts this team on a really exciting trajectory. They don't have everything that they need just yet, but they have enough to beat lots of really good teams as we've seen throughout the season. And I think as we will see in the first, first round of the playoffs at least. I would say playing devil's advocate, though, to our own points, I do think the injuries

are concerned, because unlike other teams, we're just worried about injury risk in general. Like, it seems priced into the mix with the Pelicans. Like, Ingram is out. He has his bone bruised. We'll see. Yeah, I'm tracking the non-Zion minutes at this point. At this point, it's just only three games without him. Also, just like, even in that game against O'KC, Elvarado goes out with seemingly

like a hit-pointer sort of thing. Nance leaves and as Rob was alluding to like Nance is going to be a big part of that small ball lineup. He kind of unlocks that look where I think they're at their best. But having said that since January 1st was 5th in offense, 5th and defense second in that rating. Like this isn't since the trade deadline, this isn't March. This is no pretty much the new year.

Fifth of defense is that's it. That's that's it. We've always felt like these guys can score. They've got a really high level of offensive talent on this team. Right? Like they can put a bunch of shooters out there They have one-on-one studs. They have people that draw to all the time, right?

Like, I feel like their offensive can be efficient with the talent, but them reaching the level on defense is where it's at. And, you know, the thing about their depth that's important is that in the postseason, teams are going to, like, if you can't adapt once a team finds a major weakness of yours where it's just like, oh, this guy can't leave the court. Or, oh, I can't put them on somebody else. So, oh, I can't do this. That's when you die.

And so being able to be super versatile and being able to play with lineups, be like, all right, this is my speed lineup, this is my size lineup, this is my shooting lineup, this is my defense lineup. Like, you have to have all of those pitches ready. And so, yeah, you should be excited as a Pelicans band. Yeah, I just don't think they have that many exploitable points at this stage. And that's the importance of Zion being so competent and so successful. on individual defense lately.

If he can be that, then all of a sudden, other teams are starting to look across the Pelicans lineup and across the rotation, saying, like, who do we pick on? You can do that with CJ a little bit. In certain matchups,

you can do that with Jonas Valenchunis, but I think he's pretty competent most of the time too defensively, to be honest with you. It's just hard to poke holes in what they do. And when that's the kind of team you are, those sorts of teams

are usually pretty successful in the playoffs and pretty dangerous in the playoffs. Fan duels, putting the ball in your court for the rest of the NBA. season because right now new customers get $200 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $200 if your bet wins. So I am looking at Wednesday night's slate.

I'm looking at this Rockets Thunder tilt where the rockets are going for 10 wins in a row, the Thunder coming off a back-to-back, but I'm going to be honest with you. I don't totally buy this Rockets run here. I know Jaylon Green has been just electric of late. The Thunder, you know, could be game-to-game that just got blown up by the bucks the other day, but I like the Thunder minus 7 at home. Give me the sure thing. And with Fandul, bet on the NBA with a wide range of bet types, including quick bets, live same game parlays, player props, and more. And the weight is over, North Carolina. Fandul is officially live

in the Tar Heel state. So visit Fandul.com slash ringer NBA and make your first bet a layup. Fandul, official sportsbook partner of the NBA. Must be 21 plus and present in select States gambling problem, call 1,800 gambler or visit the ringer.com slash RG. First online, real money wager only, $10 first deposit required, bonus issued as non-witrable, bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook. Fandall.com. So I want to talk about the West standings as a whole, but if we're going to do the good, we also have to do the bad, which is the Golden State Warriors who beat the heat last night,

more power to them, in order to extend their lead. on the Rockets to one whole game. I believe they were half a game up going into last night's action. They're now starting Clay Thompson. So we got the core three back in there starting, which to me was strikes me as got to die as we lived. We just got to go with the guys who got us to this point because at any point, this team could look like one of the worst teams in basketball. Six and seven in March and just three and three since Steph's return. So how are you feeling about the Warriors. Do you think like the Rockets have a case to vault past them or do you think they have enough at the very least to make the plan?

So the Warriors, it's just, the offense has just been tough, man, around what Steph, who I think is still very dangerous, still obviously a superstar, but everything around it, it's, the Wiggins just being able to do nothing. at all. He's basically a neutral, if not negative sometimes, on offense. He's just not adding any value. That's tough. The reliance on Kaminga and Pajemski to be drivers of offense a lot of times is just, they don't have it in them to do that. Not yet anyway. And so that's what I think is most disconcerting. The Rock is part of it. And I've, I've been taking a bit of a victory lap on Jalen Green, which, let's face it, it's not actually a victory lap.

It's sort of like the dude that does the home run trot and strut, but he's still down three runs. That's what I've been doing with Jalen Green's sort of resurgence here or emergence. But they've been playing a bunch of bumps. And so I think the warriors will find a way to eat this out, but I don't see them doing anything meaningful in the postseason if they even get that far past the plan. Yeah, the ceiling on the Warriors experience this season. The ceiling is the roof. The ceiling is the roof.

The fact that they have to be this desperate just to make the play in. It's tough. It's not a great sign. And the fact that, look, we're at this stage in the season, I'm eyeing April 4th, Warriors at Rockets. Should we just make our whole show next week a preview of the game of the season? Do we go there and do it like a countdown? Let's do it live.

Yeah. Absolutely. Eat some crawfish. Look, we're going to have a great time down in Houston. Let's do it. So Rockets, on the other hand, still writing a nine-game winning streak, as was alluded to, playing some bums, let's be honest. But 11 and 1 in March, they have, okay, see you tonight on Wednesday. So that'll be a good litmus test from there.

But strength of schedule for whatever that's worth, I honestly don't know what to give credence to when it comes to strength of schedule. Because then I'll see, like, the Sixers are still qualified on Tankathon as, like, a good team and when obviously they're one of the worst teams in the NBA right now. Houston has the seventh toughest road ahead, Golden State 20-fitt. So that might be the difference, but I think you hit it, Robbie, where it's like this would be the Super Bowl if the Rockets can storm back into the play-in. For the Warriors, this doesn't change anything. No.

That's where it's tough. And that's why, like, you're kind of honestly rooting for Houston a little bit. I would love to see the Rockets storm back into this race and the Warriors get a little bit of And this is Steph Curry in the playoffs. So down the stretch, they got Charlotte, San Antonio, Utah, Portland, Utah, again. I mean, the schedule is shaping them pretty nice for them, I think. I think they'll be okay. Orlando is not a completely unwinnable game.

But, man, they're cutting it so damn close. Very close. And I do think they will make it. And maybe that's blind faith for a team that hasn't played very well. They haven't warranted any kind of confidence in their play lately. But I still think they get it done. You know, I think one game is probably enough of a buffer, even if it is cutting it very close. They just, was not only do they have all those problems offensively that you listed.

And I think Wiggins has been okay lately better than he has been at some points in the season. But their defense can go to absolute shit sometimes too. Like I think it's one thing to lock up the heat without. several of their best players versus trying to guard anybody else, and they don't actually apply really any pressure to anybody. If you watch the Warriors guard, they let you walk into pretty easy mid-range stuff. Kuminga's gambling on steals.

Yeah. His defense has fallen off a huge cliff since early in his career, when that was what he was supposed to be making his name off of as a player with his athleticism, with his length, with his switchability, and now he can't even really guard the guy in front of him. That's been a big problem

for them on top of everything else. Yeah. Kaminga kind of signals the good and the bad that they rely on him so much has been a boon just because they needed that spark and that athleticism.

But it's just like, it takes so much away on both ends. It's just not very in line with the warrior's way of doing things. And then you see just like Dremont clothes lining guys almost accidentally. Like I don't even think he did it maliciously the other night,

but like, he's liable to just get thrown at this point at all times. It's just like, it's at the point where, like, I saw their little jersey patch that was to signify their assistant coach who died earlier in the season. And I forgot that happened. There's just been so much dog shit with his team throughout the past couple months. It's just like, that feels like 10 years ago at this point. Dude, to several Draymond, the Rudy Gober, headlock, the comminga calling her out in the press.

the punching of Nerkich, the coach unfortunately, tragically passing away, Clay's like several press conferences of just like being distraught that he's not as good as he used to be. Now he's in and out of the starting lineup. And rightly so, they need like the Clay Thompson flotation device for offense right now

because Brandon Pajemski's basically been wallpaper for three weeks. This is such a mess. And they're paying like, $400 million for a play-in team. It's a good thing Joe Link have advocated for the second apron thing, by the way. Well, correction, Justin, for what might be a play-in team. That's right.

I don't know. We don't have to get into off-season mode with them because there'll be plenty of time for that. I just don't know what the answer is. There's just, it's a total mess at this point. This is why I would just rather see the Rockets have their moment and have a good story of appearing in the play-in because it's not

that I don't want to see Steph, Curry and the playoffs was, it's that Steph Curry's not getting to the playoffs. At the end of the day, though, it could be LeBron, Steph in a winner-takes-all game. Those are always fun. Sure. I'll take a look. All the LeBron Steph bouts we can get that aren't interrupted by

clock stoppages and replay reviews, I'm down for. So, all right, let's talk about the Westmore big picture here. Because once again, here we are, and I don't know what the fuck to do with this conference outside of the Nuggets and maybe the Thunder as the clear-cut two best teams in this conference. So 4 through 10, because now the clippers are in the morass from 4 through 10. They no longer deserve to be in the top tier, along with the Nuggets Thunder and Timberwolves.

So which team do you guys believe in the most? I feel like I ask you guys. I suppose. Have you not done this before? Well, it changes all the time. Yeah. So here's 4 through 10 in the West. I guess 11, if you want to throw on the Rockets here right now, as a Wednesday,

morning, clippers, pelicans, Mavs, Kings, Sons, Lakers, Warriors. Rob? Anyone who are you about to? Yeah. Well, what about your Dallas Mavericks? Now nine and one over their past 10 looking mighty spicy, especially with that Kyrie Luca combination. The high-end Mavericks, I think, are the best team.

No, the high-end Clippers are the best team of this group. But the high-end Mavericks are the second best team. I would put them against the best version of the sons, the best version of the kings for sure, even as great as the pelicans have been. I think what's hard for the Mavs is when they equalize a little bit. And we've seen how ugly that can be, their downstretches.

What you would hope for is during the playoffs, they can be the most honed and focused versions of themselves. And I will say one thing that has been, like, given me some hope in their play of late, the play of their bigs, kind of in tandem between Gafford and lively, And PJ Washington, especially defensively, has been all over the place. They've been using him on guards.

They've been using him on bigs. They've been using him like pre-switching pick and roll so they can manage things like the Nuggets two-man game. That's given them something they didn't really have before because, you know, for as great as Derek Jones Jr. can be defensively pressuring people and using his length. That guy gets moved around and shoved around. Like he is a bean pole of a defender. And so having just a wider variety of defensive weapons goes a long way for them when you have two

creators like Luca and Kyrie who we honestly just don't say enough how well they have played together. Like they've really found the balance of not just how to take your turn, my turn and maximize it, but playoff of each other's strengths in a way that's really conducive to winning playoff basketball. Look, I think one, the Mavericks have an ability to overwhelm teams on offense. Like, they're capable of that. And the two teams that you might say, either the Clippers or New Orleans,

we don't know if their best players are going to play. Luca's going to play. And so to me, that's who I have the most faith in. I was very bullish on deadline deals. I think they've proven to be pretty helpful, especially the Gafford part of it. Luca really loves playing with this guy. Yeah.

I just think you've got to go Mavericks as far as the highest end of this when Luca is getting it going. and it's a close game in the fourth and you go on possession by possession and it's Kyrie and Luca that you got to figure out how to stop it's tough man now granted their defense is suspect we can we can be honest about that they have better it's been better lately it has been but I think even at their very top end their defense is not good

it's like all right you know it's winnable is what it is exactly so because their offense can go Supernova man because Luca is who he is For me I'm Dallas The Phoenix Suns Get them out of here Guys Quite possibly

I'm gonna talk about this in my feelings The worst loss of the season the other night Whembleeless Spurs Wemblee Spurs in a game they have to have They need these games They're fighting for their playing lives And these dudes are losing to the worst One of the worst two teams in the league

without their best player. Yeah, Sun's not even a chance. I will listen to people on the Kings, for sure. But I think Dallas, to me, is the clear cut. Yeah, it's hard to listen to people on the Kings when they're getting just wax. When they're playing good teams, though. Sometimes they step it up.

Well, they didn't against the Maver's, that's for sure. Yeah, the Maver's just put a beating on them boys last night. Yeah. Some bonus in them double doubles couldn't save them, boy. We'll guess that in the second. I think, like, my head says the Mavs, just considering you see what Luca can do when the floor is so high.

And, like, I don't think it's a coincidence that he feels like he's happy for what seems to be one of the few times this season. There was that clip circulating where he was, like, given the Daniel Gafford the, like, look down below, and then he flicks his nose, and then you see Mark Cuban in the background,

just belly laughing. as if he was like in that clip from the Sopranos where they're going around and everyone's just laughing at this bad Tony Soprano joke. That guy, I don't understand him. Anyway, Tony Soprano, I know. Yeah, what was he thinking?

But there just seems to be enough to allow Luca to do what he does. And for all the shit we give him about his weight and whatnot, there seems to be something with these balking guys where they're just able to play through. I'm starting to wonder whether or not they have the extra padding at this point

because they know that's how they stay on the court for so long. Luca's just been there and available and playing at a high level this entire season. And so they have all of the right elements, but I'm still drawn more to a team like the Clippers and maybe even the Pelicans, if Brandon Ingram can get back in there than the Mavs. But we'll see.

I'm done with the Clippers. I was never on board. Even the 23 and 5 or whatever the stretch was. I was like, let's give it some time. Give it some time with these guys. It's a long season. The Clippers have proven they have a capacity to collapse. Their coach is now saying the identity of the team is that they're Charming Soft.

He's saying this publicly, by the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm out on the Clippers, Dallas super in on. The vibes are so bad on the Clipper. You want to think that they could be a switch flipping team, but even they have said, and even Tai Lu has said, like, you know, there are teams that can do that and there are teams that can't.

I don't know if the energy of this team is conducive to it. But somebody has to be pressing that switch, right? Who is the leader of this team? Well, Hardin. That's why he contested a Kwai Leonard shot randomly in the third quarter. I missed that game, unfortunately. Would have loved to see that in person. You have guys who have been stars and stars,

superstars of varying levels. Like, people forget when Paul George had got traded to the Clippers, he was coming off a season in O'KC in which he finished third in MVP voting that year, right? Like, this guy has been a superstar in this league. Kauai Leonard, superstar, James Hardin, superstar. At no point has anybody ever been like, these guys are leaders. They're just the leaders of the team. They're galvanizing the team.

They're bringing this group together. Never have they been. accused of that. Westbrook maybe but he's also their fifth best player so who's the organizing prince what's the organizing galvanizing figure

on this team besides Tyloot that's why I'm just like who's bringing him out of this funk I just don't see it Russ came back into the lineup earlier this week which I think is big for them from an energy standpoint but they still got smacked by the Pacers and I think like we're going to have

to see how much a guy like Russ can really do to put some life back into a team that's just been spinning its wheels for a long time now. It's really getting to a concerning length of season now that the Clippers have just been hanging around doing what exactly. And this gets back to my other point where it's like you have these luminaries of the game. You have Kauai Leonard and James Hardin and Paul George on the same team. And you have Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. And it's just like, you need a leader.

You just need something. Like it's hard it's so hard to bet against the best players like Steph LeBron and all these guys But it just seems like those are the teams that are when you break it down when you actually watch these games are the most Problematic and it kind of gets something. If LeBron or Steph we're playing with Devin Booker Paul George It'd look a lot different sure I promise you that It would not look like how it looks on those teams. That's all I would say about that They're not playing with guys of that level, you know, collectively.

Like the Lakers' collective talent is not at the Clippers level. You know, it's, you know, it's, I mean, man, maybe the suns you could say, yeah, it's pretty close or whatever. But if gold is, if Steph was playing next to a superstar of that caliber, trust me, he'd be elevating what that guy does, and things would be a lot better. I just, you know, we'll see. If we're doing Deathpool, Rob, so it sounds like we're saying

maybe Mavs at the top. So Death Pool, meaning like, these are the teams that would last the longest in the playoffs. Tippy top for me. Yeah, if it's a fluid exercise, it might be the Mavs. Tippy top.

If this is this moment in time, Mavs, you know, there's an argument for Clippers and Pelicans, obviously. I would say those three are cut above everyone else. It's very generous of you to even put the Warriors and Rockets

in this conversation, not to mention the Lakers, too. But I will say, man, if the Lakers actually make it to the playoff playoffs, I think there'll be a tough team to beat. I really do. Like, I really do still think. The office's been working, you know, if they had things rolling. If LeBron is decently healthy in the playoffs, they're going to be hard to beat.

But, you know, creaky-ass legs and backs, knees, and 50,000 minutes. It's like, come on. Big game Reeves, man. Don't put a spotlight on that guy. That's all I'm saying. Well, you guys didn't mention the Kings. or we did flippantly in order to suggest that they don't deserve to be in this conversation. Which brings us to the last topic here, which is a very late episode topic.

And one I want to get my friend Waz's take on specifically, which is that Demona Sabona is a bonus, quietly having a historic season, currently has 68 double double. He's laughing. You can't even finish the bit. So the most double doubles in a season are in, since the merger, because Wilt had, like, like a thousand in a row or something wild like that. But post-merger, most in a season, Aliawan, 92, 93, 73, 72. It seems like Sabonis is going to get there. He also broke Kevin Love's record for consecutive streak in double doubles,

leads the league in triple doubles. But you don't really hear about this. On the one hand, it might just be a blowback because of the Russell Westbrook era where there was so much triple double talk. I think we're desensitized to someone actually reaching these benchmarks because it does mean something. It's actually pretty indicative of what a good player Sabonis is. On the other hand, kings are just okay.

Yeah. So what do you think? I think DeMontas is a really good player. I don't think what he's doing in this streak is going to drive playoff success. Like if he was either a dominant offensive force, meaning teams had to devote multiple resources into stopping what Sabonis does. Nobody thinks that.

He's not a transcendent offensive player in any meaningful way, which is what you have to be against the best defenses. And on defense, nobody thinks he's a one-man wrecking crew blowing up what offenses are trying to do. Like, so no, I don't think he's getting

short shrift. I think he's a really good player. And he produces these really dope counting stats, but nobody thinks he's just going to be destroying people offensive. you know, getting opposing bigs in the foul trouble and, you know, just dominating possession of play and just like, I don't think that's going to happen.

Do any of you guys think that? No. And that's why we're not talking about. Like, everything he does is in the shadow of everything that comes after the regular season. But that shouldn't make us shy away from acknowledging the fact that he is one of the most reliable regular season players in the league. He should get his props.

And what he does, what he does. 13 mall NBA. am, Rob. He might well. And what he, what he contributes does drive winning in the regular season, right? Like, the ways in which he contributes.

There are players who, like, pile up rebounds that aren't real, that don't actually, like, their free rebounds, three-drow rebounds. You know? Yes. There are definitely some bigs out there who are just kind of goblin those things up when they can to make the box score look good.

Yep. If you look at the Kings, when Sabonis goes off the court, Look at those, watch those lineups. They can't clean the boards at all. They have real trouble rebounding and finishing possessions. They also have real trouble stabilizing their offense and just running stuff without the structure that he provides.

And so on the one hand, you're tempted to look at him, especially in comparison to someone like Yokic and say, yeah, the assists are great, but these are handoff assists. These are not virtuosic plays that he's making for the most part. They're handoffs, two really. really good shooters, two really good scores, that he's participating in and contributing to, but maybe they're not as impressive as some other assists. And yet, you take away those handoffs, and dribble handoffs and stationary handoffs are a crucial part of NBA offense in 2024,

and the Kings don't really work very well. So what he does is clearly important. It's just not so clearly valuable in an immutable postseason sense that we all have to acknowledge that he's one of the 10 best players in the league or something like that. The Kings have found a way to maximize his unique skill set. And they are better for that. They hit their head on a ceiling because of his limitations, because they have to play him at center.

And while I will say he isn't much of a stopper, watch that dude get hit in the face 20 times a game. It is honestly one of my favorite things to do. He does get a very, he gets a very rough whistle, I will say. He's also in, like he's seeking out contact on every damn near

every single play, right? he definitely puts pressure on the refs, and he's hard-nosed. Like, he's a good player. He's not going to take them to the conference finals based on what his strengths are. I just don't think that's the case. If they get to the conference finals, it's going to be because Fox is unstoppable, you know,

and some of the ancillary guys, the monks, the Keegan Murray's, they raise their level of play, and make them, you know, this sort of really tough group to stop offensively. I don't think anybody thinks they're gonna just start bludgeoning people on defense. Like, I, like, you know, and Kings fans, they've been going nuts ever since I said,

this dude might be overpaid, you know what I'm saying? Like, he might be as like a tippy top, top of the league person. It's like, you know, they're about to win 48 games, which is fire, but like, I don't know. Are you guys excited by this? I can't even imagine Kings fans are thrilled with the way their team just kind of like careens off the side of the road and explodes in a ditch in some of these games, especially against lesser teams. Well, I did do kind of like I sketched out my early all MBA.

Like it was more stream of consciousness, so don't hold me accountable to anything. And I was trying to find like where Subbonis, where you stop in the line where you're like, oh, sub bonus is probably there. So my first five I have as virtual locks at this point, Yokish, Luca, SGA, Yonis Tatum. No second guesses, right? Katie Brunson, A.D. Kauai, Edwards would have them over Sabonis, right? Everyone?

Yep. Steph, Halliburton. And then you're getting into LeBron territory. We'll see if Booker plays enough games. A lot of guys are off this list because of the games played thing. for instance. Don't know that Mitchell not going to be a factor in there.

Is there anybody I'm missing that's like clear cut above Subonis at this point? I don't think there's a lot of clear cut, but there are a lot of borderline cases. And it is a lot of guys we're going to have to see

if they hit the injury requirement or not. But if, for example, if Victor Webenyama is second on your defensive player of the year ballot, or first, I'm not saying he's on mine, but if you put Victor Webenyama

second in defensive player of the year and don't have him all NBA, I would love to hear, the explanation for why that's true. I thought about it. So he's in the mix here too. And obviously this year you're not beholden to positions.

So that provides some more flexibility here. So Sabonis doesn't have to sneak in in a center spot or even in a forward spot. Throw some bonus on the third team. Throw him a parade in downtown Sacramento. Get multiple beams going at all time. A light show of beams. It'll be great.

Okay. All right. Watch Ladyburg again. Like, go on now. All day, every day was. Let's go. Get Greta to give him the key to the city. Come on now.

Him and Kevin Johnson and DeMontasabonis, the luminaries of Sacramento. When is Greta going to light the beam? How long do I have to wait for that to happen? Oh, that'd be great. Playoffs? Kings get to the finals. We've got to get Greta in there.

All right. Why don't we wrap it there? We'll be back on Sunday. Same time, same place. Thank you to Isaiah Blakely on production. Thank you to Ben Cruz. We'll see you then. Must be 21 plus and present in select states.

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