A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani Lunis catch up with Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and talk Trae Young and trade deadline talk, as well as the Celtics capping off their first West Coast trip of the season. What did we learn?
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00The Big 3 NBA podcast is powered by PrizePix and the Game Time app.
00:00:25Hello everyone, welcome to this episode of the Big 3 NBA podcast.
00:00:28I promise you, it will be the most interesting one you have ever listened to.
00:00:33It's going to be alright.
00:00:34If you're watching, A'Cherod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and special surprise guest,
00:00:41Loretta Williams from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
00:00:44And when I say surprise guest...
00:00:46Shocking guest.
00:00:47She received an invite from Sherrod on January 6th,
00:00:52asking her to be on the Big 3 podcast today.
00:00:56I wish I could show you guys the invite.
00:00:59It might blur it out a little bit.
00:01:02Actually I have it on my phone as well.
00:01:04She got a calendar invite, organizer, Anthony Sherrod.
00:01:09And there is no record of me sending her that on my set email, which is crazy.
00:01:20And you cannot find it.
00:01:21It's crazy.
00:01:22It's crazy Sherrod.
00:01:24Now Kwanye, I think you probably hit the nail on the head.
00:01:26It's Divine Intervention.
00:01:27I really think so.
00:01:28Because this has literally never happened before.
00:01:32So boom.
00:01:33There it is.
00:01:34Atlanta Hawks beat reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
00:01:37buried also my best friend.
00:01:39But the Celtics don't even play the Hawks until Sherrod.
00:01:42It's my school.
00:01:43Next week.
00:01:44It's next week.
00:01:45It's next week.
00:01:46I know, but the 18th is a little...
00:01:49We would have probably done this next week.
00:01:51It's still technically 10 days away.
00:01:52True.
00:01:53All right.
00:01:54You know what?
00:01:55This gives people more time to prepare for that game.
00:01:56Maybe that hypes the game up even more also.
00:01:59So Lauren, we'll just get right into it from your perspective.
00:02:03Obviously the Celtics are a team that everyone is vying for this year.
00:02:07The ready NBA champs.
00:02:09But the Hawks have been making some waves as well.
00:02:11Trey Young really doing his thing, a half court heave this past week.
00:02:16What have you been seeing in Atlanta from the Hawks this season so far?
00:02:20Yeah.
00:02:21I think, honestly, from the beginning, I said that I didn't think that this Hawks team would
00:02:25be a very good team.
00:02:27And Gary always gives me crap whenever I talk about the Hawks.
00:02:32It's like opposite day.
00:02:33It's opposite day every time.
00:02:37She is dependable as Charles Barkley on her picks.
00:02:39Stop.
00:02:40Garold T.
00:02:41Garold T.
00:02:42That's not fair.
00:02:43Her opinions are well-informed, though.
00:02:44Talking over Garold.
00:02:45Garold T.
00:02:46Garold T.
00:02:47And they beat the Celtics twice in three days in March.
00:02:52The champion Celtics, a month before the playoffs start, they beat them without Trey twice.
00:02:58Gary, you never heard of Magic City Flu?
00:03:00Magic City Flu.
00:03:01Oh, he know about it.
00:03:02He know about it.
00:03:03But I'm not the guys for the time.
00:03:04I'm not talking about how much he know about Magic City Flu.
00:03:05I'm not going to talk about that.
00:03:06No idea what you're talking about.
00:03:07Vote T.
00:03:08Vote T.
00:03:09Vote T.
00:03:10Vote T.
00:03:11Vote T.
00:03:12Vote T.
00:03:13Vote T.
00:03:14Vote T.
00:03:15Vote T.
00:03:17Make these teams play hard.
00:03:18Make this league.
00:03:19But, yeah, you never know who's going to go off on any given night.
00:03:23But I've always said that this team would be, to get back to the point, Kawhi, is going
00:03:27to be a fun team.
00:03:28And they've been very, very fun.
00:03:30I mean, somehow they beat the Celtics without Trey Young to kick off their NBA Cup group
00:03:35run.
00:03:37They beat Cleveland twice.
00:03:38I think this is a team that really likes to play up to their competition.
00:03:43And then you have games kind of like Tuesday night's win over the Jazz.
00:03:48They had no business being as close as it was because the Hawks are the better team.
00:03:54But they ended up beating them at the buzzer.
00:03:57So I think this is a very weird team where they're still figuring out who they are and
00:04:03what their identity is.
00:04:05And Quinn Snyder often says that this team has a long runway because of how young they
00:04:09are.
00:04:10And I think that sort of plays into the idea of them playing up to their competition versus
00:04:17not beating teams that they, on paper, should beat.
00:04:20But as any of those players will tell you, this is the NBA.
00:04:23They're all NBA players.
00:04:25Any given night, you just have no idea what to expect.
00:04:29And, yeah, I think we're having a lot of fun here in Atlanta covering this team.
00:04:34I think it starts with some of the guys that they have at the head of the snake.
00:04:37You mentioned Trey Young and that half-court heave.
00:04:39But also Jalen Johnson is such a key part of what they're trying to do.
00:04:44And he's sort of hurt right now dealing with a shoulder injury.
00:04:47But when he gets back, he just makes that offense so much more dynamic.
00:04:51Well, not only that, Lauren, but they're a dangerous team.
00:04:54And as you alluded to, the fact that they've beaten the Cavs a couple times, they've beaten
00:04:58the Celtics.
00:05:00When you have a team that's young and finding ways to beat teams that, on paper, are probably
00:05:04a little bit further down the road than they are, and you come up on a trade deadline,
00:05:08which we're coming close up on that now.
00:05:11What do you think they need to do, if anything, to bolster their chances of maybe making a
00:05:16little bit more than just an appearance in the plus, but actually make a little noise
00:05:19while they're there?
00:05:20Yeah, I think the biggest thing is they need to figure out what their future looks like
00:05:26at center.
00:05:27I think right now they have Clint Capella, who's on an expiring contract.
00:05:30He's been playing extremely well for them this season.
00:05:35As weird as it is to say, he's on the other side of 30.
00:05:39And especially for big men, that doesn't necessarily bode well for a team as young as the Hawks,
00:05:44with several players who are under the age of 25.
00:05:48I mean, DeAndre Hunter and Trey Young are their oldest veterans who play significant
00:05:53minutes in the rotation, whereas Bogdan Bogdanovich has been dealing with some injuries.
00:05:58As I mentioned, Clint Capella, he's not often the guy that they close those games with.
00:06:04It's Onyeka Okonkwo, who is 24 years old.
00:06:08So they have a very young course.
00:06:10I think they need to decide what the future of this team is going to look like at center,
00:06:15whether that's going to be Onyeka Okonkwo, who is undersized, who has elite touch around
00:06:21the rim.
00:06:22He kind of gets, unfortunately, bullied by some of those seven footers on any given night.
00:06:30It's not that he's not capable of those matchups, but it's a consistency thing.
00:06:34It's just you never know what you're going to get from him on any given night.
00:06:38So maybe this is the time that they find a center who is in maybe that 25, 26-year range
00:06:46that they can continue to develop alongside Onyeka Okonkwo, and maybe that's the tandem
00:06:51that they work with.
00:06:52And then I think they also need to address the backup point guard situation.
00:06:57Trey Young's doing a great job this year for them, but what happens when he goes to the
00:07:02bench is that the offense takes a little bit of a dip in terms of shot creation.
00:07:08And you're asking a lot of a guy like DeAndre Hunter, who's not somebody who is often known
00:07:13for creating his own shot.
00:07:14He's been doing a great job with knocking threes down, attacking the rim, but he's not
00:07:20exactly known as somebody who is able to go out and get his own bucket every single night.
00:07:26They looked at a guy like Kobe Bufkin as a potential person to be that, but he's been
00:07:31dealing with an injury all season.
00:07:34He got shut down last month to have surgery, which should have happened, I believe, on
00:07:39Tuesday. And now we have no idea what he's truly capable of.
00:07:44I mean, at Michigan, he wasn't a true point guard.
00:07:47He played more of the two.
00:07:48And so for them to kind of shift his role or what his skill set is able to do and try
00:07:55to put the ball in this, it's a lot.
00:07:58They've experimented with guys like Veet Karechi, Jalen Johnson handles some of that
00:08:04secondary playmaker role.
00:08:06But I really do think that they need to have an idea of somebody whose main role it is
00:08:11is to just go out and help create opportunities for everyone else.
00:08:15Because I believe they lost to the Clippers by like 20 points and non-tray minutes were
00:08:25pretty atrocious, especially in the first half.
00:08:27They were like a minus 15 without Trey and they were a minus five with him.
00:08:32So that's a pretty big disparity.
00:08:36So I think if I'm the Hawks, those are some of the things that if you don't necessarily
00:08:41address one at the trade deadline, that's something that they definitely should address
00:08:44in the offseason.
00:08:47Lauren, I have several questions, one, now that the Falcons are out, how is the city
00:08:56taking to this team?
00:08:57I know they've been waiting a long time for the Hawks to actually be significant.
00:09:03One, like it's kind of a double loaded question, but how does the city, what does the
00:09:10city feel about Trey?
00:09:12Like obviously he's been on the block for years or they need to get Trey or they're
00:09:16better without Trey.
00:09:19You know, they should have kept DeJounte Murray and traded Trey.
00:09:23Like what does the city feel?
00:09:25Because obviously like Dominique Wilkins is the ultimate Hawk, right?
00:09:28And then there's kind of nobody else.
00:09:30I mean, all the like there's no real signature Hawk.
00:09:33And I just think like Trey has a chance to be that guy.
00:09:37You know, what does the city think about the fan base think about Trey?
00:09:43I think the diehard Hawks fans are very much bought into Trey, especially with what he's
00:09:50been able to do this season, leading the league in not only total assists, but assists
00:09:55per game. And you look at the numbers recently, I think after yesterday's win, he's
00:10:01like 102 or 107 more assists than Tyrese Halliburton, who is second in the league in
00:10:08total assists. So with I think as far as diehard fans go, they've definitely bought
00:10:13into what Trey can do for this team.
00:10:15And they believe he is a guy that can, you know, take them to a championship.
00:10:20I think for the casual fan, Atlanta is a very weird city.
00:10:25It's a very transplant heavy city.
00:10:27You see a lot of, you know, opposing teams in the stands for certain games like the
00:10:34Timberwolves. You'll see a lot of Timberwolves fans.
00:10:36Gary, you've seen it at Celtics games.
00:10:38There are a lot more Celtics fans than Hawks fans.
00:10:42It's like that with the Lakers.
00:10:44And so I think until the Hawks start winning and all of a sudden it gets bad, like it's
00:10:49like the same people that was like, yeah, Celtics, oh, Hawks, oh, Hawks, yeah, oh, Hawks.
00:10:56Every time I'm like, wait a minute, this place, it got real loud.
00:10:59Yeah, being like 75 percent Celtics fans.
00:11:02Now the Hawks are up 10.
00:11:04Now it's, now it's, now it's Magic City, you know, like it's popping up in the air.
00:11:14No, it's totally fine.
00:11:16I mean, I remark about it all the time where it's definitely a little bit confusing at
00:11:21games, as you mentioned, until things start swinging the Hawks way and fans totally buy
00:11:27into what they're doing.
00:11:28I think the big thing with this team and sort of similar to the Eastern Conference finals
00:11:34run that they had in 2021, they're waiting for this team to show them what they're capable
00:11:41of. They're waiting for this team to show them that they're a team worth buying into.
00:11:46And so, you know, they get a lot of good spurts here and there.
00:11:49As I've said, I think this team is going to be a fun team this year.
00:11:52I don't necessarily think they're going to be a good team, but I think we're seeing a
00:11:56lot of good things as far as the foundation of a culture that Quinn Snyder wants to build.
00:12:01We're seeing them put together winning habits.
00:12:04I think, again, because they're so young, it's hard to see them being able to pull some.
00:12:09And I mentioned this to Sherrod a few weeks ago when we chatted on his podcast.
00:12:13Do you remember that, Sherrod?
00:12:15What do you remember?
00:12:17Do you remember that?
00:12:19Listen, BombDMC, relax, all right?
00:12:21All right?
00:12:23Listen up, that's it for you.
00:12:25You're getting a little warm up there.
00:12:27Loosen up the zipper, BombDMC.
00:12:31Remember that conversation, Sherrod?
00:12:33Or she got to refresh her memory.
00:12:37Or maybe refresh your image and make you disappear.
00:12:40Don't do that again.
00:12:42Don't do it again.
00:12:44I'm just asking.
00:12:46I'm just saying.
00:12:48It's just tough for me to see them facing off against a team like the Celtics in a seven-game series.
00:12:54And I think it'll be a competitive series, but when it comes down to that game seven, it's just a little bit tougher for me to see.
00:13:02Be convinced that the Hawks are a team that's going to pull them off, especially after watching, as I mentioned, games against the Clippers,
00:13:09where you have a sort of healthy Kawhi Leonard coming back, and he's still sort of running them out of the building,
00:13:17along with James Harden and Norm Powell.
00:13:20You watch the Lakers game, and that environment where the Lakers fans are just blowing the roof off the building,
00:13:28and it just seemed like the Hawks didn't quite know how to handle that situation.
00:13:35And so the playoffs are just such a different beast.
00:13:39You know, you think about the people on that playoff team.
00:13:43As I mentioned, the Eastern Conference run, there are only four people left from that.
00:13:47I mean, you have an experienced guy like Larry Nance Jr. who can speak to what it's like to be in long playoff runs.
00:13:54But this team is just so, so young.
00:13:57And I just think they have a lot more growing to do.
00:14:01But I think we're seeing a lot of good foundational pieces that they're putting together.
00:14:08Gary, you said you had other questions?
00:14:11And I also wanted to get your thoughts on the number one overall pick.
00:14:16I love Zachary. I love Zachary Ristichet.
00:14:21Seems like he's blended in.
00:14:23Yes.
00:14:25Obviously, if he's not average in 30, you know, he's not wimpy,
00:14:29and people kind of criticize his draft for not having a lot of star power.
00:14:33Yeah.
00:14:34And guys are kind of trying to find themselves.
00:14:36But what impact has he had on this team?
00:14:39For a guy that's only 19 years old, it's surprising how much of an impact that he has.
00:14:49You sound like Jason Tatum.
00:14:52He's really good.
00:14:55I mean, I remember watching some of those early games, those first few games,
00:14:59and just his instincts to drive and attack the basket.
00:15:03And some of those finishes wouldn't go down, but it was the right decision.
00:15:07It's just figuring out the NBA pace.
00:15:10I mean, he had that quote with John Hollinger where he mentioned how much more
00:15:13athletic guys in the NBA are versus what he was used to playing in France.
00:15:18And so I think as the game slows down, as he continues to work on his finishing,
00:15:23we've seen some really acrobatic stuff from him.
00:15:26I mean, I remember last night, which was Tuesday, in their game against the Jazz,
00:15:30he just kind of broke out in that first quarter and had this wild,
00:15:35like, under-the-basket reverse that you're just kind of like,
00:15:38how at 19 are you making that sort of play?
00:15:41And even though offensively, you know, it's not eye-popping stats,
00:15:47I think what really jumps out is just how much of an impact he's had on this team defensively,
00:15:52particularly when you pair him alongside Dyson Daniels
00:15:55and just sort of the havoc that they're able to wreak on the wing.
00:16:00I mean, the fact that he doesn't bat an eye with LeBron James charging at him at full speed,
00:16:07he's still willing to get in front of him and commit the foul,
00:16:10even though obviously you don't want him to commit the foul.
00:16:13It's still the right play because you'd rather try and send LeBron to the free-throw line
00:16:17than have him score that bucket in transition.
00:16:20So he doesn't bat an eye at who he has to guard.
00:16:23He's just going to step up and do it.
00:16:25And it's such a breath of fresh air on this team that, as you said, he just fits in so well.
00:16:33You mentioned Quinn Snyder and even the culture that he has started to create,
00:16:37especially with the questions around Trae Young and whether or not he could leave this team.
00:16:42What have you seen from him over this past season
00:16:45that you think has helped make this team to get to where they are?
00:16:49I think the big thing is just how much he's gotten them to buy in on defense.
00:16:53I mean, I remember you guys remember that stretch when they had that cup run.
00:16:58They were, I think, in like the top 15 as far as defense efficiency
00:17:04in terms of just slowing teams down.
00:17:06And that's not something that you associate with the Hawks.
00:17:09And so I think having everybody from Trae Young,
00:17:13who, again, is a guy that nobody associated defense with,
00:17:17but he's one of those guys that's the first to step up in front of Damian Lillard
00:17:22and try to defend something.
00:17:23Or if he gets pulled onto a switch,
00:17:26he's not the liability that people used to think he was.
00:17:30He's still going to give you that effort.
00:17:32And so I think that's a big thing when you're able to get the face of the team
00:17:36to buy into something that didn't necessarily go along with his name.
00:17:40It is huge.
00:17:41I think also, you know, the idea of moving DeAndre Hunter to the bench.
00:17:47It's not an easy thing for a guy who started almost his entire career
00:17:52with his first team to shift to a new role.
00:17:56But, you know, recognizing last year that DeAndre is a player
00:18:00that just seems to thrive off of, you know,
00:18:03having that opportunity to see the flow of the game is huge.
00:18:06And so it's not an easy conversation to have,
00:18:09but the fact that they were both able to reach that consensus,
00:18:13I mean, we're seeing DeAndre be in conversations for not only Most Improved,
00:18:18but Sixth Man of the Year.
00:18:22He's finally playing some games.
00:18:24That helps.
00:18:26It helps.
00:18:27Between him, Kawhi Leonard, and Joel Embiid, my goodness.
00:18:32But guess what?
00:18:33Which of those three has played more games?
00:18:35Oh, DeAndre, for sure.
00:18:37Exactly.
00:18:38No question.
00:18:40No question.
00:18:41No question.
00:18:42No question.
00:18:43Exactly.
00:18:44So I think, like I said,
00:18:45I don't think they're a team that's necessarily ready for a long playoff run,
00:18:52but I do think that they're a team that could make an appearance
00:18:55in the playoffs, and it'll be certainly fun to watch.
00:18:58Yeah.
00:18:59I will be looking forward to it.
00:19:01Hopefully you can get back in Boston for that.
00:19:03Let's have them go somewhere else.
00:19:06I don't know.
00:19:08Don't you want to start in Boston?
00:19:12That's the best place to start?
00:19:13No, no, no.
00:19:14If they can get to the second round, maybe.
00:19:16Yeah.
00:19:17I mean, I don't think Trae Young is ready to hear any more F Trae Young.
00:19:20Oh, right.
00:19:21Then again, maybe if it's New York, maybe if it's New York,
00:19:26you know that'll be a very, very fun matchup.
00:19:29New York is a special place in Trae's heart, and vice versa.
00:19:33Right.
00:19:34I like that.
00:19:35I like that.
00:19:36He uses that negativity to his benefit always.
00:19:39Exactly.
00:19:40I mean, I just remember that series, what, a couple years ago,
00:19:45it was when DeJounte Murray had gotten suspended,
00:19:48and it was just Trae and everybody else.
00:19:50I think it was game five,
00:19:52and Boston fans started chanting that F Trae Young chant,
00:19:57and he just flipped the switch.
00:19:59I think he scored, what, the last 14 points,
00:20:0214 of the last Hawks, whatever points, and hit the game winner.
00:20:06So who knows?
00:20:09We'll see.
00:20:10We shall see.
00:20:12Thank you for surprisingly being on.
00:20:14We need to get to the bottom of this mystery.
00:20:16When you guys find out, let me know,
00:20:19because I was pleasantly surprised when I got that invite.
00:20:23I was like, I know we mentioned it,
00:20:25but I didn't think it would happen now.
00:20:27Yeah.
00:20:28We know the problem.
00:20:30The conditions are ASB.
00:20:33You know what?
00:20:35I'm afraid for you, Gary Washburn.
00:20:40We will pray for you as well.
00:20:42We're going to make some calls,
00:20:43and we're going to get you some help after this.
00:20:45You know what?
00:20:48I'm just saying, because you're forgetting stuff, man.
00:20:51I know there's some things I would like to forget,
00:20:54but I do remember that I went to Syracuse,
00:20:58and I do remember that we betted in cows.
00:21:00Oh, here you go.
00:21:03No, Lauren.
00:21:05That's enough Syracuse for this episode.
00:21:07Lauren, you are free to go to Magic City.
00:21:10Please grab me some wings.
00:21:11No.
00:21:13Just ask for the Washburn special.
00:21:15They'll take care of you.
00:21:16No.
00:21:17I just got back from Utah.
00:21:19I'm going to sleep.
00:21:20That would be an extreme day and night situation.
00:21:23That's a sharp contrast from Magic City.
00:21:25Yeah.
00:21:26Just a little bit.
00:21:27I think I've got to ease my way back up.
00:21:29Yeah.
00:21:32Lauren, thank you so much.
00:21:33We will chat soon.
00:21:35We appreciate your time.
00:21:36Appreciate you having me, guys.
00:21:37Bye, Lauren.
00:21:38See you next week.
00:21:40Here you go.
00:21:41You're going to actually see her.
00:21:42Yeah.
00:21:43All right.
00:21:44Bye, guys.
00:21:45Bye.
00:21:46Best episode ever.
00:21:47Seriously.
00:21:48I mean, I'm still dumbfounded that that happened.
00:21:50But whatever.
00:21:51It is what it is.
00:21:52Yeah, it's fun.
00:21:53So the Celtics.
00:21:54Speaking of fun.
00:21:55Talk about them.
00:21:56Speaking of fun, where should we go?
00:21:58Do you want to talk about them beating Denver?
00:22:01Let's talk about the West Coast.
00:22:03Three wins?
00:22:04One loss?
00:22:05Yeah.
00:22:06Yeah.
00:22:07Yeah.
00:22:08Yeah.
00:22:09Yeah.
00:22:10Yeah.
00:22:11Yeah.
00:22:12Yeah.
00:22:13Yeah.
00:22:14Three wins?
00:22:15One loss?
00:22:16Yeah.
00:22:17Yeah.
00:22:18That was a good trip.
00:22:19That was a good trip.
00:22:20I mean, it was a good trip.
00:22:21It wasn't a great trip.
00:22:22Because to me, winning all four games would have made it a great trip.
00:22:25But they handled their business.
00:22:27They did what they were supposed to do.
00:22:29And, you know, the Denver game, you got to put an asterisk next to that one
00:22:34because they did it without Jokic.
00:22:36And Jokic is obviously a major, major game changer.
00:22:40But the Celtics, they love that.
00:22:43It started when they beat the crap out of, who was that team that they beat,
00:22:46like 50 points?
00:22:47Indiana.
00:22:48No, Toronto.
00:22:50Toronto.
00:22:51Yeah, I knew it was one of those bad teams.
00:22:53That was one of the first games we've seen their defense play at a really
00:22:57high elite level.
00:22:58And, yeah, it was a bad team.
00:23:00But they still, they did not ease up,
00:23:02even when they had every opportunity to do so.
00:23:04And when they went out West, their defense,
00:23:06I thought was really good in every game.
00:23:08Not great, but really, really good in every game.
00:23:10And it was a level of consistency at that end of the floor that I don't think
00:23:13we've seen enough of.
00:23:15And if they're going to repeat his championship,
00:23:17that end of the floor is what's going to get them a title,
00:23:19not getting buckets and all that stuff.
00:23:23Well, I thought it was a good road trip.
00:23:27I think that they basically could have went 4-0,
00:23:33a really bad second half at Oklahoma City.
00:23:37And I wrote this, and people give me a hard time thinking,
00:23:40you know, how dare you talk about our Celtics.
00:23:42But to me, you're looking at, when you look at the Thunder, okay,
00:23:47and now you look at the Cavaliers.
00:23:49Those are the two teams that, because this is, you know,
00:23:52you can say the Celtics are the favorites, and maybe they are,
00:23:57but I look at the Thunder and I look at the Cavaliers as the two best teams in
00:24:01the NBA at this point.
00:24:04Cleveland is 31-4.
00:24:06What is Oklahoma City, 30-5 going to their showdown?
00:24:09It's going to start in a few minutes.
00:24:13Looking at Oklahoma City, I just saw a team that's deep, right?
00:24:18And they should be deep.
00:24:20They didn't have all these lottery picks and all these first-rounders,
00:24:24and they've done well with the draft,
00:24:26and they just got guys coming off the bench making plays,
00:24:29guys like Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe and the other Jalen Williams
00:24:35and guys who made plays in that game.
00:24:38And I think the Celtics right now are a top-five team in the league,
00:24:43top, you can say top-three maximum, right?
00:24:47You're not better than the Cavs at this point.
00:24:49They're not better than the Thunder.
00:24:50So three at the highest, but top-five at least.
00:24:53If you want to get to a championship level,
00:24:55I think they need to make another roster addition.
00:24:58And I saw that in that Oklahoma City game, they got tired.
00:25:04And it wasn't because they had come off a back-to-back against Minnesota-Houston.
00:25:10They had a day off.
00:25:11It was an afternoon game.
00:25:13But I just thought the depth is not quite there.
00:25:16And it's because, to me, they're having some guys who are not having great seasons.
00:25:23And maybe they'll warm up, okay?
00:25:25Al is not having a great shooting season.
00:25:28Drew Holiday, not having a great shooting season.
00:25:31Sam Houser has dipped a little bit, okay?
00:25:34Those are guys you need to drop a bucket here or there.
00:25:37Peyton, as you guys have noticed, you've seen, the league is starting to figure him out.
00:25:43And I'm not talking about he's easy to figure out, but they're paying him more attention.
00:25:48They know he's in the game to shoot threes.
00:25:50They're smothering him.
00:25:52They're making him into a driver and a passer.
00:25:54They're not giving him all these opportunities to score.
00:25:58I mean, there are times where Peyton is just looking for an open space just to release a shot.
00:26:04It used to be, oh, we've got to guard Tatum and Brown, or we've got to guard, let him shoot a little bit.
00:26:12He had that freedom.
00:26:13That freedom is gone.
00:26:15He is a focus of the scouting report.
00:26:18And I think they need to get more athletic, another wing.
00:26:21If you want to say maybe a Jordan Walsh, is he ready?
00:26:26Probably not.
00:26:27Jayden Springer, a guy that they just has never really developed in the year plus of the year he has been here.
00:26:35He's still kind of a guy at the end of the bench.
00:26:38To me, they need another.
00:26:40They have 14 roster spots.
00:26:41They need just that one last wing, defender, a guy who can drop a bucket.
00:26:48I mentioned maybe Lonnie Walker, the fourth, who is still using Lithuania right now.
00:26:52They have that open roster spot.
00:26:54It will cost them some money because they're in a second apron.
00:26:58But the thing I saw, I saw a team that, like you said, Sherrod, is really beginning to defend.
00:27:05OK, but also you want to have depth.
00:27:09You want to have bodies because, you know, Oklahoma City, they're going to bring Holmgren back and Caruso.
00:27:15They won that game without their starting forward and probably their best on-ball defender.
00:27:19OK, they won 15th straight without those guys.
00:27:22Cleveland, you know, is going to make a move.
00:27:24Like Cleveland is looking at this and like this is us.
00:27:27Like Cleveland is not waiting until next year.
00:27:30Cleveland fully feels like they can win the East and go to the finals.
00:27:34Like I don't think there's any doubt about that.
00:27:36So believe me, the Cavs are going to make some moves.
00:27:39So for something, oh, no, our roster is perfect.
00:27:42No, it's not.
00:27:43Like it could use another body unless you want to depend on guys to get to Hauser to be better.
00:27:51But as I wrote, like Hauser's been to the free throw line this year twice.
00:27:55He does not get to the free throw line.
00:27:57So he's not hitting threes.
00:27:59He's not scoring.
00:28:01He's not all that.
00:28:03And he's not great defensively.
00:28:04He's trying.
00:28:05He was better last week, last year.
00:28:07Like their bench has limitations.
00:28:11And guys have taken a little bit of a step back.
00:28:13Drew, Al a little bit.
00:28:15You know, Mazula, as we know, doesn't necessarily always trust Mimi.
00:28:20Sometimes he trusts him.
00:28:21Sometimes he doesn't.
00:28:23Jordan Walsh has got the D down, but he's got to get the three down.
00:28:28He's not still a great shooter.
00:28:29He's working on it.
00:28:31Down the road, he'll help this team, but I don't think it's this year.
00:28:34So what I saw on this road trip was a team that is very good
00:28:40and is going to get better when they defend more, as they are,
00:28:44but could use one more little addition,
00:28:47a guy who could get some buckets off the bench,
00:28:50take some load off Tatum and Brown, and just get, you know,
00:28:54because if you're Peyton, you're scoring with the three.
00:28:57If you're Hauser, you're definitely scoring with the three.
00:29:00So who off the bench, you know, is going, can get buckets
00:29:04and get to the free throw line, can score other ways.
00:29:08I think, you know, you get a guy who can just, you know, like I looked at,
00:29:13I looked at the Thunder with Wiggins and some of those guys.
00:29:16It was like, wow, those guys can, those guys can score.
00:29:19And the Celtics have those guys,
00:29:23but maybe not as much if they're not scoring from three.
00:29:28Absolutely. Before we go any further,
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00:30:52Well done, Sherrod.
00:30:54So let's talk about this roster and specifically the main men.
00:31:00We've seen the Celtics without Tatum, Derek White, Jalen Brown, and Porzingis.
00:31:04We're going to quickly play a game of pick and roll.
00:31:07Who do you think they miss the most when he's not there?
00:31:13Oh, I'm going to go first, Gary,
00:31:16because you need to think about this and remember what you want to say.
00:31:20I'm going to go with Derek White. And here's why.
00:31:24Derek White does so many little things that they absolutely need to win.
00:31:30And the thing about it, when Derek White misses a game,
00:31:33it really is a big deal because he never misses game.
00:31:36I think he's missed maybe two games this year.
00:31:38He missed I think maybe seven or eight games last season.
00:31:41And then the year before that, he didn't miss any games.
00:31:43So you're talking about a guy that rarely is not in your lineup.
00:31:47So when he's not there,
00:31:48it is a big deal because when you look at guys that have the ability to shoot the
00:31:52way he does handle the ball, play defense, play off the ball defense,
00:31:56there really isn't one player that can check off enough of those boxes to where
00:32:00you feel comfortable when he's not in the lineup.
00:32:03And with Drew Holiday, you know, having, you know,
00:32:05really lots of highs and lows this year when he's out there,
00:32:08you really can't count on Drew to necessarily pick up the slack if Derek isn't
00:32:11around.
00:32:12So I think Derek is the one guy who when he's not there, they miss the most.
00:32:19Yeah, I agree with that.
00:32:21Ah, there we go.
00:32:24But I think Drew Holiday is a really essential part of this team.
00:32:31And I think he was last year.
00:32:33I'm not breaking any news here,
00:32:35but I just think the better they are is the better he is offensively.
00:32:40And it's good to see him starting to play better offensively.
00:32:43He's always going to play defense, you know,
00:32:45but get to those passing lanes, get a steal here,
00:32:50defensive stop here and make it hard on opposing, you know, shooting guards.
00:32:56But to me, I think Drew is an essential piece of this team.
00:33:01But Derek, he just missed that.
00:33:04All of what he brings to the table, three ball, the defense, the block shots,
00:33:09the intangibles, you know.
00:33:13And so for me, I think White's an essential part.
00:33:16And, you know, you got to give him credit.
00:33:19As much as Denver didn't have Jokic, you know,
00:33:21the Celtics didn't have Derek White.
00:33:23We'll see how that goes.
00:33:24You know, he had an illness in addition to Jordan Walsh.
00:33:28But they're starting to get healthy,
00:33:31and I think people are pointing out the injuries they've been seeing.
00:33:35My response to the injury thing, guys, is everybody has injuries.
00:33:41Like, everybody is hurt around the league.
00:33:43I mean, you look at somebody's โ
00:33:45and, you know, you can look at somebody's little management people,
00:33:48you know, Kwanee, as you know, they, you know.
00:33:53What does that mean?
00:33:55I know.
00:33:56Why are you getting shots taken at you?
00:34:00I'm not getting shade thrown at me.
00:34:03Kwanee Leonard.
00:34:05What did I do?
00:34:07I missed one podcast.
00:34:10No.
00:34:11No, you missed more than one, Kwanee.
00:34:13Kwanee Leonard.
00:34:14Still, still.
00:34:19Kwanee indeed.
00:34:20Wait, wait.
00:34:21Gary, Gary, did she forget?
00:34:22Did she forget that she missed more than one?
00:34:24You're old people, Leonard.
00:34:26You're old people.
00:34:27I see how it is.
00:34:29I did not expect that stray.
00:34:31Kwanee still, you know.
00:34:33Damn.
00:34:35No, I'm messing with her.
00:34:36But I'm just talking about you have โ
00:34:39the Celtics have been fortunate enough to have two guys in Tatum and Brown
00:34:43that love to play and don't sit out games unless they absolutely have to.
00:34:48And the same with, like, a Derek White,
00:34:50and I know Holly's had the shoulder thing.
00:34:53Porzingis is a guy that you can't play back-to-back,
00:34:56so, you know, you've got to always monitor.
00:34:58But they've been relatively, you know,
00:35:01relatively for the last month healthy since Porzingis' return.
00:35:04But I think every team is dealing with injuries,
00:35:09and every team, every time you look up, you know, we see it beats out.
00:35:13You know, LaMelo Ball ain't playing tonight.
00:35:15Like, you look at league pass,
00:35:17and somebody from one of the teams that you might want to see play
00:35:21has got a main guy sitting out, you know.
00:35:24I mean, Gary, not everyone can be Jason Tatum
00:35:26who wants to play on a Tuesday night in Charlotte.
00:35:29That's the problem.
00:35:30Damn, everybody's catching strays tonight.
00:35:32Even folks that are not on the show catching strays.
00:35:35Damn.
00:35:36That wasn't even a stray.
00:35:38Damn.
00:35:39You talk about โ people talk about the league's ratings.
00:35:42Well, that's why, because you can't even count on, you know,
00:35:47some team โ I was watching Charlotte the other night,
00:35:49and it was like no Brandon Miller, no LaMelo Ball.
00:35:51Like, why am I watching Charlotte?
00:35:53Who's on the team?
00:35:55You know what I'm saying?
00:35:56Like, no offense, but, like, why are โ
00:35:58That's true.
00:35:59Why are some of these 21-year-old guys missing, like, games like that?
00:36:02Like, it's just โ that's what people talk about, the ratings.
00:36:06I think a lot of the time people are just tired of looking at the TV,
00:36:10buying a league pass, and looking at โ
00:36:12They don't know who's on the screen.
00:36:13Yeah, they don't even know who's playing.
00:36:14That's very real.
00:36:15Yo, you can't even count on your top players for your top teams playing.
00:36:20And I think the Celtics have been fortunate that they don't have any of those guys
00:36:23that be like, oh, man, I ain't got โ I'm just going to take tonight off.
00:36:27But I'll be there next day.
00:36:29I'll be there next game.
00:36:30That check going to clear on the 15th, right?
00:36:32That check going to be there on the 15th.
00:36:33Yeah, the check's clearing.
00:36:34The check's clearing.
00:36:35So, I think for the Celtics, the best thing is try to stay healthy,
00:36:41get those guys together, play a cohesive โ
00:36:46gets cohesion with their starting five,
00:36:48and then move forward into the second half of the season because we're almost โ
00:36:52I think it's game 37, the 27 and 10, like we're almost at the halfway point here.
00:36:58Even though it's not the all-star break yet, that's not for a month,
00:37:01we're about to have almost at the halfway point of the season.
00:37:05That's a really good point.
00:37:06So, you mentioned Keita a bit earlier in the pod.
00:37:09I want to talk about him really quickly.
00:37:11Eight points in eight minutes versus Denver, but then he gets a DNP CD
00:37:16versus Oklahoma City.
00:37:17So, would you two say he's being used properly by Joe Mazzuola?
00:37:20Is there any underlying issues that we're not aware of because what's going on with Keita,
00:37:25essentially?
00:37:26I think there's a certain matchup Keita flourishes in,
00:37:29and there are certain ones that he doesn't.
00:37:32And I don't think he's gaining total trust of Joe Mazzuola in terms of, like,
00:37:38where you can use him every game.
00:37:40And even though โ I mean, you know, it's hard.
00:37:44I mean, he played, what, eight minutes against Denver.
00:37:48He had eight points.
00:37:49He scored at the rim, but he was, like, a minus ten in that stretch.
00:37:53And those people were blaming him.
00:37:54Oh, the Keita minutes were terrible.
00:37:57You know, you've got to pull Keita out of there.
00:37:59I'm looking at social media during the game at X during the game,
00:38:02and, you know, people are just ripping Keita because it's, like,
00:38:06not all his fault that Denver made a run in the second quarter.
00:38:09But I think he kind of gets a bad rap,
00:38:11and I think you've got to give him reps to get out there and learn.
00:38:14I also think, though, he's got โ he fouls too much.
00:38:18And as much as he's a guy who's going to dunk on you, like, I wish Cornette โ
00:38:23Cornette too much โ as much as I think he's brought something to the table,
00:38:28Cornette does not look to score.
00:38:30So he gets the ball three feet in front of the basket,
00:38:32and he just looks to pass it.
00:38:33Like, no, Luke, you're seven foot.
00:38:36Dunk on somebody.
00:38:38Or at least try.
00:38:39If you get blocked, everybody gets blocked.
00:38:41It happens.
00:38:42It's a random passage.
00:38:43Yes.
00:38:44But what you have to do is dunk on somebody.
00:38:46Try to dunk on Sonny's head.
00:38:48Be more aggressive.
00:38:50Luke, if you wish, you could put Keita's aggression into Luke or whatever
00:38:55and his dog into Luke, but you've just got to blend them both together.
00:38:58Obviously, they trust Cornette more, especially defensively, than they do Keita,
00:39:04and I just think it's going to be a process for Keita.
00:39:06He's a guy who, you know, didn't get a lot of reps and stuff
00:39:09during his years in Sacramento.
00:39:11This is his second full season with the Celtics, you know,
00:39:14and he's still โ obviously, they're trusting him more,
00:39:16but it's just โ I mean, for whatever reason, at times,
00:39:19they just like โ they keep him on the bench,
00:39:22and I think maybe he can do some things to get their trust,
00:39:26maybe in practice, maybe in certain games.
00:39:28But for now, he's going to be a guy who's going to be in the lineup
00:39:31and out of the lineup.
00:39:33Agreed.
00:39:34Agreed.
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00:40:23and use the code CLNS for $20 off.
00:40:27Terms apply.
00:40:28What time is it?
00:40:29Game time.
00:40:31All right.
00:40:32Let's quickly fill in the lane.
00:40:35Go around the NBA.
00:40:36We'll start with Sherrod, your Detroit Pistons.
00:40:41You were like, what am I talking about?
00:40:43It's always the Detroit Pistons.
00:40:44Wait, wait, wait.
00:40:45What did you say?
00:40:47Detroit.
00:40:51Oh, my God.
00:40:52Is he about to bring a Lions jersey?
00:40:55I thought it was going to be a Lions jersey.
00:40:56I mean, honestly, a Lions jersey would have been justified at this moment.
00:41:00Shout out to Detroit for that.
00:41:02I'm not sure what's going on with this Detroit Pistons finger.
00:41:05I don't think anyone wants to see that.
00:41:07All right.
00:41:08Let's censor that image, please, in post.
00:41:12The Pistons.
00:41:13You're talking about my Pistons.
00:41:15Yeah.
00:41:16500.
00:41:17Exactly.
00:41:20Pick and roll, though.
00:41:21The Pistons will or will not make the playoffs this year.
00:41:24Tell me what you think right now.
00:41:26They will make the playoffs.
00:41:28Because of the Lions.
00:41:29What's that?
00:41:30Because of the Lions and their inspiration to the city.
00:41:33It's just their time.
00:41:35I mean, they've been a mediocre to subpar team for too long.
00:41:39They've got too much momentum.
00:41:41And they've got the right coach for what they need to get to the playoffs.
00:41:44Jamie Bickerstaff is a great starter coach.
00:41:46By that, I simply mean he's able to get your team moving in the right direction.
00:41:52You're not going to win a championship, per se, with him.
00:41:54But he can get your team ready to be a playoff contender.
00:41:57And that's what he's doing with Detroit.
00:41:59I mean, think about that.
00:42:00I mean, we're not even at the All-Star break,
00:42:02and they've won more games than they did each of the last couple seasons.
00:42:05And by the time we get to the All-Star break,
00:42:07hell, they may have more wins than they've had the previous two seasons combined.
00:42:10So give him a lot of credit.
00:42:12And coach of the year, we'll talk a little bit about that later.
00:42:15But the Pistons are going to make the playoffs,
00:42:18because I just think they're built to do that.
00:42:20And they finally have an elite superstar,
00:42:25top-tier player in Cade Cunningham to kind of lead that effort,
00:42:28because he's having an All-Star caliber season.
00:42:30I don't know if he'll be an All-Star,
00:42:32but he certainly is having an All-Star-level season.
00:42:35Well done.
00:42:36All right, the next ones are going to actually be fill in the blank.
00:42:39That was the only pick-and-roll one we got for this game.
00:42:42Jimmy Butler, the saga continues.
00:42:45But how will it end?
00:42:47Fill in the blank.
00:42:49How will the Jimmy Butler saga end?
00:42:52For those who don't know, he requested a trade.
00:42:55His team suspended him.
00:42:57It's a lot going on.
00:42:59If you don't know what's going on, you should probably just read about it,
00:43:01because Jimmy Butler is not happy.
00:43:03Has no joy in Miami, of all places.
00:43:06At least playing basketball.
00:43:08I don't want to misquote him.
00:43:09Please don't.
00:43:11Well, I think he's going to have to eventually go back to the heat.
00:43:18They're not going to trade him by the time they get back from this West
00:43:21Coast road trip.
00:43:23So do you just tell him and make an agreement for him to stay away from the
00:43:27team?
00:43:28Or do you put him back in uniform and try to increase his trade value?
00:43:32And then he's starting, according to our friend Chris Haynes,
00:43:36his people are telling certain teams don't even trade.
00:43:41We don't even see your ass in the vicinity.
00:43:44Don't talk to the heat.
00:43:45Don't talk to Pat Riley.
00:43:47Don't call.
00:43:48Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:43:49You don't want to go there.
00:43:51And Jimmy opted in and Jimmy.
00:43:53Where do you want to go?
00:43:54That's the real question for me.
00:43:56Houston, Dallas or Phoenix.
00:43:59Phoenix does not want Bradley bill.
00:44:01Bradley bills.
00:44:02Contract is amazingly crazy.
00:44:05It's one of the worst deals probably in the league history.
00:44:09And, you know, and some guys just don't age well.
00:44:13And Bill is not aging well at 3031.
00:44:16Now he's supposed to be kind of probably at the end of his prime,
00:44:20you know, 31 is a very good age for a lot of players,
00:44:24but some players it's the end of their prime.
00:44:26Their prime is over and bill can't stay healthy and it's not working in
00:44:31Phoenix.
00:44:32So I think, but Miami doesn't want that contract.
00:44:35Cause he had to get two more years and he has a no trade cause I think in
00:44:38that deal.
00:44:39So you got to have a third team.
00:44:42I've been told,
00:44:44I've heard and maybe charades Detroit Pistons get involved to get them
00:44:48another old head and get bill and bring him in and then really try to make
00:44:53the playoffs.
00:44:54Cause honestly,
00:44:55I don't think the Pistons are going to make the playoffs because I don't
00:44:59say that.
00:45:00I say that because one, if you look at the east, okay.
00:45:04There's 11 teams for 10 spots.
00:45:07The 11th team is Philadelphia.
00:45:09Okay.
00:45:11You have to assume the six are going to put it together a little bit.
00:45:15Nope.
00:45:16He's stressing the process.
00:45:18Well,
00:45:19I'm trusting the pro.
00:45:20I think they'll put it together a little bit.
00:45:22So they're going to take somebody's spot,
00:45:24Chicago or Detroit.
00:45:26I would think,
00:45:27I think the bulls in terms of being a more veteran team will hang on.
00:45:32I think their coach's job is on the line,
00:45:34Billy Donovan.
00:45:35I think the bulls will definitely push the plan,
00:45:38the Pistons.
00:45:39What's going to happen when the games really count in February,
00:45:42March and April.
00:45:43We don't know yet.
00:45:45I think it's going to be,
00:45:46I think they're going to,
00:45:47it's going to go down to the wire,
00:45:49but I think Philadelphia is going to probably take their spot.
00:45:51Cause if you look at the east,
00:45:53there's Brooklyn,
00:45:54they're not going to make it.
00:45:55Then there's Charlotte.
00:45:56Why?
00:45:57Okay.
00:45:58Those they're out Toronto.
00:45:59So there's 11 teams for 10 spots.
00:46:01You can do the playoff teams are pretty much set besides like,
00:46:05who's going to make that final play in Detroit.
00:46:08Right now they're doing well.
00:46:10Chicago's right behind it,
00:46:11but I just think Philadelphia looming.
00:46:13I mean,
00:46:14I just don't see Philadelphia completely missing everything.
00:46:17I think they'll make a plan.
00:46:18But I think going back to the bill thing,
00:46:22you know,
00:46:23maybe he adds something we'll see,
00:46:25but the Butler thing,
00:46:27I just think it's going to last until,
00:46:29until the 11th hour.
00:46:31And then maybe he'll work a trade or maybe he'll say,
00:46:34just get me out of here.
00:46:35Or maybe he'll say,
00:46:36listen,
00:46:37I'm opting out and y'all y'all get nothing for me.
00:46:40But I,
00:46:41I think a trade,
00:46:42probably a three team deal.
00:46:44We'll consummate sometime by the trade deadline.
00:46:47Consummate.
00:46:49Well done.
00:46:51Well done,
00:46:52Cal bear.
00:46:54All right.
00:46:57Next one.
00:46:59Zion Williamson back after 20,
00:47:01say that 27 game absence with that hamstring injury.
00:47:05Zion will miss blank more games this season.
00:47:08Speaking of load management,
00:47:10what's at least 15.
00:47:13Hey,
00:47:14at least 50.
00:47:15I'm surprised.
00:47:16He's still in the league.
00:47:17Like,
00:47:18no,
00:47:19I didn't try to be funny.
00:47:20I mean,
00:47:21he's been in the league five and a half years and he's played a
00:47:23whopping 191 games.
00:47:24Now,
00:47:25if I'd even doing the math,
00:47:26I can just tell you right now that ain't that many games.
00:47:29That would be basically two and a third full season.
00:47:33So he's literally missed about basically three seasons worth of basketball.
00:47:36If you took take out injuries and stuff like that.
00:47:38And the thing about Zion is this.
00:47:41I don't know.
00:47:43If he's ever going to be healthy enough to play in new Orleans,
00:47:47because I don't think he's motivated to play healthy in new Orleans.
00:47:52When you think about it,
00:47:53how would he play in a city like Boston,
00:47:58New York,
00:47:59LA.
00:48:00Golden state.
00:48:02They're not having it.
00:48:03And I,
00:48:04I honestly think if he were to be in a major market,
00:48:07his mindset would be damn.
00:48:09I'm going to start balling out a little bit in,
00:48:12in new Orleans.
00:48:13He ain't got to worry about that because they he's,
00:48:16it's clear where they are with him and where they are without him.
00:48:19Places like New York and Boston.
00:48:21If you a great player and you,
00:48:22for whatever reason are just injury prone,
00:48:24that train ain't going to wait for you to get healthy.
00:48:27The train will keep moving without you.
00:48:29That can't happen in new Orleans.
00:48:30So he,
00:48:31for whatever reason doesn't seem to be self-motivated enough to keep
00:48:34himself healthy.
00:48:35And I know this last injury,
00:48:36it wasn't directly tied in him,
00:48:39you know,
00:48:40conditioning things like that,
00:48:41but he has had so many damn injuries that have been tied into a lack of
00:48:45conditioning that you have to figure this probably a domino,
00:48:48you know,
00:48:49effect of some sort when he is healthy enough to play,
00:48:53but his body is,
00:48:54is not responding the way it's supposed to,
00:48:57to the exertion that he's putting on it.
00:48:58The bottom,
00:48:59he's going to miss at least 15 more games.
00:49:01I can't see any scenario around that not happening because he is showing
00:49:06himself to be incapable of staying healthy in new Orleans.
00:49:10Yeah.
00:49:11The Pelicans have 45 games left.
00:49:17They'll be in,
00:49:18they'll be actually in Zion will be in Boston on Sunday.
00:49:22And we think,
00:49:25we think,
00:49:26you know,
00:49:27it's going to be a tough game.
00:49:28And the question is,
00:49:29and I agree with Sharad on this 0.2,
00:49:3115 or 20,
00:49:32because one now,
00:49:34if you're new Orleans,
00:49:35you're the season essentially over 24 games out of the,
00:49:39from the top of the West,
00:49:42the 24 years,
00:49:43seven and 30 or 24 games out from Oklahoma city.
00:49:46They're 12 games or 11 and a half games out of the plan.
00:49:50Like it's not happening.
00:49:52You're not going to make up 11 and a half games.
00:49:54Get that first round pick.
00:49:56Yes.
00:49:57So you you're playing now for the lottery.
00:50:00You're playing for Cooper potentially for Cooper flag.
00:50:03Yeah.
00:50:04Okay.
00:50:05Because they have the worst record in the NBA.
00:50:09There's seven and 30 wizards are six and 28.
00:50:12So now they got a chance to get Cooper flag.
00:50:14Yeah.
00:50:15So why would you play Zion and win five,
00:50:18six more ball games at this point it's over.
00:50:22I think in terms of like them viewing him as an organizational piece and a
00:50:28cornerstone,
00:50:29I think now he's got to figure out,
00:50:31okay,
00:50:32where do I fit in?
00:50:33What's where's my future?
00:50:35We all knew when he got into the league and he was 19 years old that he
00:50:39probably had 10 years with his torque,
00:50:42his body.
00:50:43He had a 10 year career.
00:50:45Okay.
00:50:46He's not going to play until he's 35.
00:50:48He,
00:50:49he had 10 years and it's been even worse than we all.
00:50:53Any of us could have imagined his injuries,
00:50:55the lack of conditioning.
00:50:57It's,
00:50:58it's been a nightmare.
00:50:59Okay.
00:51:00Even in Memphis,
00:51:01they're like,
00:51:02damn,
00:51:03we got John Moran.
00:51:04We wouldn't,
00:51:05we wouldn't take Zion.
00:51:06John had acted a fool and gotten suspended and all that.
00:51:08But Memphis,
00:51:09Memphis,
00:51:10they regret not taking Zion.
00:51:11Right.
00:51:12So everybody understands the situation.
00:51:16What we're all at this point,
00:51:18like waiting for the next injury to come.
00:51:20Okay.
00:51:21Zion,
00:51:22that's a beautiful move.
00:51:23Oh,
00:51:24that's a great dunk.
00:51:25But when you're going to play five games and you don't get hurt again,
00:51:27like when it's that point,
00:51:29I just think you just got to plan for the future.
00:51:32And I think if you're the Pelicans,
00:51:34you're they're a smart organization.
00:51:36I think a smart management,
00:51:37they're a terrible team.
00:51:39They're second in the 29th in the NBA.
00:51:45And point differential,
00:51:46it means they lose every game by 10 points a game.
00:51:48They're terrible.
00:51:49Terrible.
00:51:50Terrible.
00:51:51Two and 15 on the road.
00:51:53You know,
00:51:54they,
00:51:55they won the other night.
00:51:56They won.
00:51:58They won,
00:51:59I think two back to back games because they beat the Pelicans,
00:52:01they beat the Wizards.
00:52:02So it's like,
00:52:03they beat the other worst team in the league.
00:52:05They had a,
00:52:06they had a home and road against the Wizards.
00:52:08They won both.
00:52:09So I think,
00:52:10but I think if you're the,
00:52:11if you're the Pelicans,
00:52:12if you're the Pelicans,
00:52:13why would you want to play Zion?
00:52:16You know,
00:52:17the last 45 games,
00:52:18why would you want to put them out there?
00:52:20To me,
00:52:21you just move forward.
00:52:23I say,
00:52:24miss 15 to 20 games.
00:52:26Right.
00:52:27And Gary,
00:52:28by moving forward,
00:52:29if you're able to get a guy like flag Zion,
00:52:34then becomes a extremely tradable asset and you can send him on and you can
00:52:39probably get some,
00:52:40if he can stay relatively healthy and he starts missing games because it's
00:52:43clear that they're just trying to basically build for the future slash,
00:52:46try to get that top pick.
00:52:48He could hoodwink someone into giving up something real for him.
00:52:52And if you're new,
00:52:53because New Orleans,
00:52:54I think they're,
00:52:55I think they are at that point where they have to seriously consider hitting
00:52:59the reset button with Zion Williams and get him somewhere,
00:53:02get whatever assets they can in return and build around someone else.
00:53:06And Cooper flags certainly would be that type of player that they'd want to
00:53:10build around.
00:53:11All right.
00:53:13The final one is blank is my coach of the year.
00:53:18Thus far.
00:53:19Oh,
00:53:20this is easy.
00:53:21Jamal freaking Mosley Orlando.
00:53:25The fact that they're winning without their best and second best player and
00:53:30top reserve.
00:53:31And the fact that they've been doing this all season long winning without
00:53:35guys within their top four,
00:53:37top five rotation.
00:53:38You can't,
00:53:39that's not talent that you're winning when you're coaching your ass off with
00:53:43games.
00:53:44And I give Jamal tremendous amount of credit for what he's been able to do
00:53:48with that team,
00:53:49because the thought that many of us are having,
00:53:51and I don't think it's that all that out of the,
00:53:53out of the blue or crazy is that if they're able to get those guys back by the
00:53:57all-star break,
00:53:58they could potentially go on one of those runs where they're one of the top
00:54:01three teams in East.
00:54:03Because right now they've been able to hang around in that,
00:54:05that four or five and maybe slip down to six,
00:54:08but they've been pretty much the four for fifth best team in the East all
00:54:11season.
00:54:12If they get their core guys back in with enough time in regular season,
00:54:16they could easily go on a run and frankly,
00:54:19wind up being a top three seed in,
00:54:22in the Eastern conference.
00:54:24And the thing that they do and,
00:54:26and Gary,
00:54:27I know you've noticed this as well is they play hard.
00:54:31I mean, they,
00:54:32I mean,
00:54:33they got a roster full of guys that were taken in the first round,
00:54:35but they'll,
00:54:36they play like they all went to day contracts and this day nine,
00:54:39they do this every single game.
00:54:42They are without question.
00:54:43One of the hardest playing teams in the NBA.
00:54:46And when you have the deficiencies that they've had,
00:54:48as far as guys in and out of the lineup,
00:54:50you don't want,
00:54:51you can't do anything but play hard if you want to win.
00:54:53And I give Jamal a tremendous amount of credit of convincing those guys that
00:54:57even when they have all the pieces together,
00:54:59they play really hard.
00:55:00And when those guys are missing,
00:55:01they played even harder.
00:55:03And that's why to me,
00:55:04they are the team I don't want to see in the playoffs at all.
00:55:08And that's why Jamal Mosley is my coach of the year so far.
00:55:13Yeah.
00:55:15Unfortunately,
00:55:16I have to agree with Sharad.
00:55:17I'll say,
00:55:20I can also say there's two other coaches.
00:55:23I can mention Taylor Jenkins in Memphis with all the issues and injuries
00:55:27they've had.
00:55:29J.B.
00:55:30J.B.
00:55:31Bickerstaff in Detroit.
00:55:32And also,
00:55:33somebody that no one even knows about is Mitch Johnson in San Antonio.
00:55:37Yeah.
00:55:38The interim coach,
00:55:40who obviously pop is still recovering.
00:55:43Great compliments to recovering from a stroke.
00:55:45We hope he's back soon.
00:55:46But Mitch Johnson is,
00:55:49let him know 500 record.
00:55:51Like they're in the play in,
00:55:53if the season ended,
00:55:54like they're battling for those final,
00:55:57spot.
00:55:58And that's for a team that one is extremely young,
00:56:01very green,
00:56:02obviously with Wimby.
00:56:03But,
00:56:04you know,
00:56:05you bring in Chris Paul and they're fighting,
00:56:07you know,
00:56:08they're fighting every night and you gotta,
00:56:10and you gotta applaud that.
00:56:11I mean,
00:56:12the Spurs are a team that's like,
00:56:14you don't want to play with Wimby.
00:56:15And those,
00:56:16a lot of those young guys,
00:56:17Kelvin Johnson and Devin for sale,
00:56:19the cell,
00:56:20Stefan Castle,
00:56:21the Yukon kid.
00:56:22Like,
00:56:23I like what they're,
00:56:24the direction they're headed in.
00:56:25And maybe a new voice was,
00:56:27was,
00:56:28might've been a little bit necessary.
00:56:29So I give some votes to Mitch Johnson in San Antonio,
00:56:33but I gotta admit Jamal Mosley.
00:56:36One of the good guys to,
00:56:38it's one of those long-time assistants who waited a while to get his first
00:56:41job.
00:56:42And he has those guys playing defense.
00:56:44You know how hard it is.
00:56:46I mean,
00:56:47and you know how hard it,
00:56:48because we've all dealt with charade and charade being very hard headed.
00:56:53You know how hard it is to get,
00:56:55to get guys who are hard headed,
00:56:57to play defense.
00:56:58Like it's like getting charades and to agree,
00:57:01you know,
00:57:02to do something that's the right way,
00:57:04the right thing to do,
00:57:05as opposed to what charade wants to do.
00:57:07Like,
00:57:08you know,
00:57:09walking away from magic city.
00:57:11Yeah.
00:57:12I know you're right.
00:57:13It's you know,
00:57:14hard day.
00:57:15Well,
00:57:16you tell,
00:57:17nevermind.
00:57:18No.
00:57:19Yeah,
00:57:20exactly.
00:57:21Charade.
00:57:22It is very hard to get young people to play defense,
00:57:25to have a defensive mindset,
00:57:27Jalen Suggs,
00:57:28Cole,
00:57:29Anthony,
00:57:30Wendell Carter,
00:57:31like the front of the Wagner brothers,
00:57:34Ben Cheryl,
00:57:35for them to have a defensive mindset for being such,
00:57:40because you know,
00:57:41young guys want to score.
00:57:42They want to,
00:57:43they want to score.
00:57:44They want to be on the cover of the magazines and the cover of the
00:57:47websites.
00:57:48And they want to get to the all-star games.
00:57:50And it's all about us.
00:57:51Me,
00:57:52me,
00:57:53me,
00:57:54me.
00:57:55I want to Orlando's like,
00:57:56no,
00:57:57no,
00:57:58we don't,
00:57:59we don't win ugly.
00:58:00We don't play hard defense.
00:58:01You're going to come away playing the magic with some bruises and
00:58:03bumps.
00:58:04You don't come away with some scars.
00:58:05And that's,
00:58:06that's,
00:58:07and they're,
00:58:08they don't have many veterans.
00:58:09Like they're a young team that loves to play and relishes defense.
00:58:12And that to me is what great coaching does,
00:58:15because it's hard to get in charade.
00:58:17And you guys know.
00:58:18It's hard to get young people disciplined enough to play.
00:58:22One.
00:58:23I love to play defense.
00:58:24They love to score.
00:58:25They love to shoot,
00:58:26but to play D that's hard.
00:58:29And mostly has those boys playing D down there.
00:58:31They,
00:58:32they had a big impact on that Celtic game.
00:58:34They shut down the sentence in the second half.
00:58:36And,
00:58:37and,
00:58:38and now they're getting bad Cheryl back probably this week,
00:58:40Franz Wagner.
00:58:42We've come back probably another couple of weeks.
00:58:44So you said,
00:58:45sure.
00:58:47Yeah.
00:58:48They,
00:58:49they,
00:58:50they just,
00:58:51I mean,
00:58:52they remind me a little bit of that first team that Rick Carlisle coached in
00:58:56Detroit.
00:58:57They had Jerry Stackhouse and pretty much nothing about Jerry Stackhouse,
00:59:00just basically eight,
00:59:01nine other guys who play defense.
00:59:02And they made every game living hell for the other team.
00:59:07They would beat you 89,
00:59:0885 and B and that was like an offensive,
00:59:11like breakout game.
00:59:13They just,
00:59:14they just,
00:59:15I,
00:59:16the thing that Jamal has done.
00:59:17And,
00:59:18and I think this is really,
00:59:19it's important to understand is he has kept things really simple with
00:59:24them.
00:59:25I mean,
00:59:26he's not trying to come up with like,
00:59:27he's not trying to reinvent the game and come up with these incredible
00:59:30mate,
00:59:31play hard,
00:59:32every play period,
00:59:35guard your yard.
00:59:36That's literally all I want you to do every single day.
00:59:40And they're like,
00:59:41okay,
00:59:42we can do that.
00:59:43And that,
00:59:44okay,
00:59:45we can do that is something that is very rare to get three.
00:59:48We're ready to get a team.
00:59:50Hell you,
00:59:51you're likely to get like two or three guys that are willing to buy in
00:59:54selling for that type of mentality.
00:59:57He's got a whole team of them.
00:59:58That's why like watching Orlando play.
01:00:01I mean,
01:00:02it's like watching a team of junkyard dogs out there.
01:00:04They ain't playing.
01:00:05They,
01:00:06they are out to do one thing,
01:00:07score one more point than you.
01:00:08That's all I want to do.
01:00:09Give me one more point than you.
01:00:10And we're good.
01:00:11We don't care how it happens,
01:00:12make it happen.
01:00:13So you Jamal,
01:00:14to me,
01:00:15I,
01:00:16I really hope that if he continues along the path that he's on,
01:00:19that those who are voting for that particular war will recognize what he
01:00:24has done and the circumstances from which he's done,
01:00:26because I know JB's had a good year.
01:00:28There's at least four or five other coaches.
01:00:30We've had really good seasons,
01:00:32but what JB has done is,
01:00:33or excuse me,
01:00:34what Jamal has done is special.
01:00:35There's no one that's,
01:00:37that's getting guys to buy in the way he's been able to get guys to buy
01:00:40in.
01:00:41Hmm.
01:00:42All right.
01:00:43Well,
01:00:44that's all we have for this week's episode of the big three.
01:00:45I hope you enjoyed this entertaining journey as much as I did.
01:00:50One more reminder,
01:00:51please vote for us for the sports podcast awards.
01:00:54The.
01:00:55This should have been the damn entry right here.
01:00:57Right.
01:00:58But you know,
01:00:59if they got this far,
01:01:00there are real ones anyway.
01:01:01So we really appreciate you,
01:01:02but voting does close on the 13th.
01:01:03Just go to sports podcast,
01:01:05group.com slash shortlist category.
01:01:08We're actually right at the top.
01:01:09Cause it's an alphabet of order and just click through and vote for us.
01:01:13Any final words from you too.
01:01:15Namaste.
01:01:16I'm good.
01:01:18There we go.
01:01:20Thank you all for watching or listening for HR,
01:01:23Blakey and Gary Washburn.
01:01:24I'm Kwanee Lunas.
01:01:25This is the big three and the podcast.
01:01:38Okay.