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In a new series from the teams at Novel and iHeartRadio, this is the Fighting Pucks.
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Welcome back to another episode of the crossover podcast.
I'm Rohan Nagani joined today by my good friend New York Times bestselling author of
the book Blood in the Garden.
Chris Haring.
Chris, how's it going brother?
Doing okay Ron, how are you?
Pretty good.
Just wondering how I ever survived the floor to heat even once in my life.
Oh boy, here we go.
I know that apparently it's been a problem for some of these playoff teams too, Chris.
Oh my god.
So much.
Can we have a semi-serious conversation about them for like two seconds?
Darryl will understand.
Darryl's one so I'll understand.
Is it even like that hot in Miami?
What are we talking about with this?
I imagine there are warmer temperatures in other places potentially.
Maybe not of teams that are in the playoffs, but it's not.
I mean, it's also been warm in New York lately.
It's like maybe a 10 to 15 degree difference at most.
It's not altitude.
It's what are we talking about?
I could not.
So you know, there are a couple of people on ESPN started with Jim and Rose mentioned
how the heat in Miami, not the team, the literal heat, the weather, you know, was maybe affecting
the Knicks a little bit.
Mike Greenberg kind of parroted it.
And what's really kind of just funny to be at the whole thing is like there are a lot
of heat fans who have this complex.
So like the national media hates us.
The national media doesn't want to give us any credit.
No one cared that the heat were the one seed last year.
No one actually takes the time to break down heat games.
So they already think that there's this some kind of like, you know, conspiracy is too
strong of a word, but some kind of just unspoken agreement.
Everyone hates the heat.
This is not helping.
This is not helping when the heat who are the eight seed and are out of out played a
higher seat for the second round in a row.
People are talking about the weather as it pertains to basketball.
It's just one of the silliest things I've ever heard.
Yes, it is warm down here.
No, it is not like the desert or, you know, I don't even know what, what, what, what
how hot it would have to be before it affected an NBA players performance inside of a building,
but a very funny storyline nonetheless.
But Chris, I want to get embarrassing, by the way.
It's yeah, I don't think the nicks themselves ever even hit.
Maybe someone floated that to one of the folks on ESPN, like privately, and then it was echoed
and not done very artfully or like meaningfully.
But I almost feel bad.
I don't care enough to go bad, but like I almost feel bad for the nicks that they're
now being painted with that brush because I, to my knowledge, none of them have said
that certainly not publicly.
And it's like I can't imagine an NBA player, current NBA player that's playing in this
series, even thinking about making that excuse, let alone the fact that the nicks almost
lost in New York, by the way, as far as they did lose and then almost lost a game where
Butler wasn't playing in New York.
So I don't want to hear it, but also I'm not hearing it from them.
And I think maybe Julie Sanders should just play better.
Anyway, I want to talk about something that's made me laugh even more than this fake weather
storyline.
And that's the Boston Celtics losing at home to the Philadelphia 76ers in a pivotal game
five.
You saw it.
So it is whoo.
Oh my God.
What a game that was Joel and be the MVP performance.
I'm tempted to call our old buddy Michael the Podpina right now and see if he answers.
I'm not answer.
What what a performance by the Sixers.
What an just frankly embarrassing game from the Celtics.
It's one thing if you're missing threes shooting high variance, we get it.
I thought their defense was just did they know was a playoff game?
Did they know it was a game five?
They're throwing these they're throwing these this soft drop coverage at Embiid and Hardin.
It's like Embiid and Hardin got to their spots whenever they wanted to the entire night.
What I don't understand about bosses.
They were such a good switching defense last year.
And it feels like we just have not seen so much of that in the playoffs.
And I get it especially against Hardin and Embiid.
It's difficult in that pick and roll.
We saw the Nets switch it and actually have some success considering their limited personnel
mucking up the Sixers offense for large stretches of that series.
Embiid was just unbelievable in that game five.
I think it's one of the best games he's played in his career, especially considering the circumstances
and the stakes.
What he did on both ends of the floor.
He really had a 29.3 net rating I believe with them beat on the floor and game five and you
could feel it.
He just was dominant on both ends.
It was a driving man.
I was not expecting to see.
Prichard, Muscala, Cornet and Houser take the floor in game five.
I thought this would be a tightly contested game.
Instead the Sixers just controlled it throughout frankly Chris, what'd you make of it?
Yeah, this was just not...
What is that stat?
Like 82% of game five winners coming out of a 2-2 tie go on to win the series.
It's particularly bad for Boston now just because the series is going back to Philly.
You would imagine at least.
You basically need to be giving close to game seven effort in a game five where you've got
a tied series.
Boston already blew a game that they had no business blowing.
Terrible and it's come back to bite them.
In a huge way.
The defense didn't look like...
I can't stop for some reason.
Maybe it's just because it's the last season of succession and I think I've even used the
phrase here on this podcast.
I love you but you're not serious people.
This was not a serious defensive effort from Boston considering that they were at home,
considering that we've watched a couple guys in this series go off.
We've watched Hardin go off for 40 plus twice in this series.
This was a pretty balanced effort and B played really, really, really well.
Hardin I think had 17 but everybody else was getting there as Maxie.
Tobias Harris played well and offensively I think yesterday kind of solidified for me.
I've been thinking it already.
So much of what the Celtics team is missing is Al Horford frankly.
Not because he's not there but because he's not there.
If you know what I mean.
He was such a lethal option for them last year and just if you're going to leave him
open he's going to be the guy that beats you.
Oh for seven from three last night.
When you go from shooting...
What was it during the...
He was like one of the two or three point shooters in the league.
Every time I watched the Celtics game it would be the fourth quarter and the opposing team
would leave Al Horford open in the corner and he would hit the open three every time.
Right and it just...
Man it has not felt like that this year.
He was five for seven in game three and in every other game he's been terrible from three.
He's under 30% for the series.
Right so that's not going to get it done.
Not when Boston uses those guys as release valves.
I mean we watch Boston use Grant Williams to the tune of 17 threes.
Three point attempts in game seven against the Bucks in this round last year.
So you know that's a key part of what they do.
Being able to kind of just okay you're going to throw essentially four guys that are two
best players sometimes.
Everybody else has to be ready and willing to knock down these shots.
So that's part of it.
You know I thought it was underwhelming that when the Celtics really started to turn it
on offensively and by that I mean Tatum having just a massive...
What was it?
Third quarter.
It was at a time where the Celtics still weren't getting any stops and so even when
it felt like they were theoretically cutting into the Sixers lead they weren't because
the Sixers were scoring just as efficiently as the Celtics were.
So it just was not a serious effort.
I mean when I think about the fact that they're failing to get stops you know I love Malcolm
Brogdon I don't know that he should have been the one guarding Hardin.
You know I just it frees up too many other things he can get by him too easily sometimes
and it's getting other guys open even if Hardin wasn't the one really taking full advantage
from a scoring standpoint.
He's not the head of the snake but he can be depending on how he plays things and I just
just kind of bewildered and you know all year like from before the season started and certainly
Manix has been one of the most adamant about saying this season even as he's written things
about Joe Mazula and his strengths and why he's valued and everything.
We've all been saying all year how will he get into this team when they aren't really
doing what they need to do.
It was a huge turning point in the Celtics season last year that you made Udoka and everything
that he said publicly certainly behind closed doors that had the potential to embarrass
this team that had the potential to unravel the team but instead it looked like it kind
of forged them together at a time where they still had enough time to turn things around.
Joe Mazula is not that person we're learning very quickly that he's not that person publicly
at least I'm not sure if he is privately but he said something last night and he said what
did he say about like I felt like our intention was to win or something like that.
It was the weakest and I didn't hear him say it so I don't know if it sounded the way.
Yeah but like I thought we had the intent to win the game.
You thought like maybe is the best way to put it.
It's fine to think that but I mean it just didn't look it to me like I didn't think that
watching them play and that's just a weird mentality and a weird question to have to ask
when you're playing at home in a game that you win this win and you get one more and
you're done with this and you can move on to the next thing you can you know whatever
happens with the the Knicks Heat series you might even be able to get some rest if that's
the case not now not up to heat through their job tonight.
So what we'll see I mean it's it's not over for them but that was not inspiring like I'm
never gonna count out the Celtics like I thought last year when they struggled with
the Warriors and dropped three in a row I they hadn't done that in months you know until
that happened in the final so I thought that they would give a bounce back performance
they don't always do that and you know it's been a weird series for Robert Williams as
well kind of the way he's been used like it times like his intensity level whether he's
had a position I'm not used to seeing the Celtics struggle this much certainly not on
defense certainly not when a beat is not there sometimes Paul Reed's been fantastic Paul
Reed's been fantastic god there's so much I want to dive into with the series airing
because you know I might write about this I did write about the Celtics defense today
if you want to check that out but we we've seen in this playoffs now how little the regular
season has mattered right we've seen teams completely flip their profiles etc the number
of things have changed the Celtics were second in offense and defense during the regular
season I looked this up last year the Celtics had a 106.2 defensive rating in the regular
season in the playoffs 106.3 so there was no drop off now granted they played some offensively
challenged teams they also played the Warriors they played the Nets with right and Irving
they had a lot to do with the offensive struggles of their opponents this year they had a 110.6
defensive rating during the regular season it slipped to 114.2 in the playoffs that's
a difference between second and 20th in the league that's how much the defense has dropped
off so you know I was texting with our buddy Mike last night thought I would rub in a little
bit more but could tell he was in a bad place as his favorite team got booed off the floor
by the fans who hadn't left early and I don't so when I watched the Sixers in the first round
I was kind of like this is it like yeah they're just gonna squeak by these nets teams and I
thought wow Boston is an opportunity to go small double and beads switch everything make
him bead guard in space and beads been ignoring Al Horford for the most part Philly did a good
job keeping him in the paint defensively last night they switched a lot of stuff on the perimeter
and Horford hasn't been able to make them pay Grant Williams has just been buried the
second half of the season and this is another thing you know we grant Williams seems to be
a little bit of a personality I'm not that close to the team I'm gonna pretend I have
any inside info here but he seems like someone who frankly needs to be managed a little bit
is the vibe that you get from people around that team from people who cover that team etc.
He's been buried when he was a huge reason for their success in the playoffs last year
particularly I mean the game seven against Milwaukee even outside of that I don't know
why they haven't tried I would consider frankly trying like three guards with Tatum and Brown
like literally Brogdon smart white Tatum and Brown I would consider trying to those guards
either Brogdon and white Brogdon and smart smart and white Tatum Brown play Grant Williams
Moore switch everything and see if you can make him bead garden space they haven't really
made him garden space in this series I mean we talked so much about the Warriors and how
they're trying to make AD garden space the Celtics need to try doing that to him bead
and you know switching is not some cure all every year we say I just switch everything
it's not that easy but if I'm the Celtics wouldn't you rather live with harden isos and
hard double and bead like the Nets did then it felt like last night in game five the six
are just walking into their spots offensively like in beads walking into the free throw
line and pardon is walking into the the floater range and bead is facing up on the block and
the doubles aren't coming quickly enough I just didn't get that game plan from that yeah
I mean it was it was actually the opposite of what you I think a lot of times the playoffs
would prefer to happen I think if you had your pick in the playoffs you generally are
okay with having one thing to worry about so it's if it's in bead getting 50 which I
mean we just saw yokage do that against the Suns and it wasn't enough to win you understand
what I'm saying like yeah you you let you can let someone go off but you can't let everybody
and yesterday was kind of I would imagine like kind of a nightmare considering that they
had a really really balanced attack Maxi had really great moments in that game I mean he
continues to be really impressive I think your own whitesman had a feature a piece on
Maxi's ability to you know he was one of the worst shooters in the league for a while
when he first got in and very much not the case anymore but I think there's something
to be said obviously now at the Celtics down three two when you lose two games in a row
in a playoff series in the NBA you have to be willing to go for broke your season is on
the line anyway now and so it should go without saying that you're going to see a different
defensive strategy you kind of have to right and I would just imagine that even if you're
acquiescing and basically saying like look and bead is gonna do whatever he does we're
gonna try our best with him we're gonna hack him if we need to at times even though that's
maybe not the most effective he's a good free throw shooter but like the other guys are
not going to get detached from our defense they're not gonna get open look it just can't
be everybody down the line like getting good looks and having a good game like you can't
go out that way and you know I also have one like I don't know how to write about this
it's an idea I have I guess hopefully I'm not giving it away maybe I am if I am oh well
my bosses will have to get upset about that the idea that you know as we talk about Joe
Missoula how many sixers fans want to dock fire this year yeah doc is coaching proverbial
circles around Josh coaching his ass off dude like shout out to tell give the man his
credit I've always thought that maybe you know even when he's stuck with DeAndre Jordan
and Paul Reed was right there we we have we have you know premium DeAndre Jordan at home
I mean that's not even fair to Paul Reed because he's better than very much better than
that but you know doc had some things that it was fair to criticize him for sticking with
certain guys you know to his credit if you felt like you needed to move on from Ben Simmons
he was probably the guy that lit the biggest fire under that whole situation to do it you
know and in this case in a series where the Boston Celtics should be clear favorites and
I wrote that last week now that the Bucks aren't there they're the clear favorites and
doc has them up three two you know and a in a series where MB didn't play the first game
and didn't really look right the second game so like props to the sixers props to doc they've
had the right game plan here the Celtics have been befuddling they have not even from the
early stages of the series not completely looked from the early series like it really
that's a good point too is that they just haven't I mean they played around it they
have done it's almost found out what the Hawks doc would say they played with their meat
against the Hawks oh geez can we do that
pervert said that why he's shaking ahead of me because that hey freezing anyway anyway
but yeah this is a this is a really big moment for the Sixers they have a golden opportunity
here it's funny to think that they would then become favored because at this point like
I don't want anything to do with the heat with how they're shooting and how long they've
managed this for how good Jimmy Butler looks do you mean the team or the weather looks
yeah we'll see some for some reason I don't anticipate anyone arguing or you're complaining
about that again the Knicks didn't either but uh but yeah I mean the Sixers have to feel
really good I imagine that that will change really quickly if they drop game six but if
they can close this out in six which they'll have every opportunity to do playing at home
they should have every opportunity to do that at home
so this would be a massive collapse if the Celtics went out in the second round I just
want to point that out there and I'm not just saying this because I like to get on Boston
and their propaganda arm on this podcast but because of how much respect we had for this
team thereby far based on the wealth of data that we've collected in the regular season
theoretically the best team left in the playoffs again second in offense second in defense
you think about the variety of lineups they can play two big one big no big like this is
everything you'd want a playoff team and they just haven't looked like they've taken
it seriously since that Atlanta series and it's baffling to me the title is there for
them to take there's no clear favorite this year they were first in point differential
first in that rating again they didn't run away with the league maybe like they were
running away in the second half of last year but it's just been a baffling effort from
them and I'm interested to see what Joe Missoula's risk profile is because we're here talking
about these changes you have to make and yes you have to do something in an elimination
game but also it's very it's a lot easier said than done to say hey we're going to change
our strategy how we've played this entire series in a do or die game and how long is
he going to be willing to ride out certain lineups if this lineup gives up three points
in 30 seconds or you know that doesn't sound like a lot but the possessions are going to
be so heightened in this game how long is he going to be willing to ride out some of
these adjustments is going to be fascinating to watch I will say for the Celtics they were
in this exact position last year and they responded incredibly I don't think anyone
saw them going back to Milwaukee after that good point debilitating game five loss they
took the Bobby Portis offensive rebound the Drew Holiday plays against Marcus Smart that
was a incredible win they had in game six in Milwaukee last year Tatum at 46 one of
the best games of his life I forgot about the game six that game six was insane great
great game what I will say it's a little bit different I mean they earned every bit of
that win it's not taking anything from them Milwaukee was hurt it's a different it's a
different tenor the series old it was it was because they were hurt I mean they found
ways to manage the fact that Middleton wasn't there obviously they were neck and neck with
them even without him being there I felt like if I'm remembering correctly without going
back to look I feel like holiday declines so like it was very much like a car that was
running smoothly pretty smoothly and then ran out of gas by the end of it and I mean
that you know like that is where Boston has depth and they deserve full credit for that
so it's not taking anything away from them but you know they did respond incredibly but
I wonder if that was aided by the fact that they had to rely so heavily on holiday to
be the second guy and that series they you know they're if they're waiting on any sort
of assistance or help they already had that at the front end of the series and it was
in B not playing that's why as you point out that was a huge missed opportunity because
they could very easily be up three two if they win that game you know so or I don't know
it's we're gonna have to see I this is a great opportunity for Joe Missoula this is a great
opportunity for the Celtics this is a legacy game right now it is in the same way that that
Celtics game with the with the Bucks last year as you pointed out had an opportunity to be
I mean like it's one of those games that would have been remembered for all time had they
come through and won a title the way that it looked like they were going to at one point
that final series listen it's just been all downhill for the Boston media mafia since they
gave Marcus smart that defensive player of the year trophy they lose in the finals your
fans booing you off your home floor in a playoff game tough see you man's you also
say that like streaming yeah if it came down to it I'm sure they have all I'm gonna say
is the Miami Heat crowds you know what anybody everybody has an opinion on the Heat crowds
why are they why do they get there so late they're not you know fake noise they're not
that into the game they've won every home game so far this playoffs haven't gotten booed off
the floor you know the only reason the fans have been leaving early because the games have
been blowouts and then here you go Boston you know I just it's interesting to me it's
interesting to me Chris it's all going to say very very interesting to see how that series
turns out because as good as it was in game five they're gonna need another huge performance
from him in game six and I'm just so excited for it I it's much as it's it's hard for the
players I love when the series are every other day and we get two games a night mess exactly
that's me that's truly me I love mess like I'm gonna just absolutely penis gonna have
to block me if the Celtics got in the second round dude I'm probably gonna have to block
you too just like I can enjoy it for the first couple text but I'm like all right I look
up some nights and it's like I've got 89 text messages I haven't read an 83 of them are
for me all so all y'all all y'all can catch this block you want some block I love this
but I don't I don't like messing my text messages hello there this is Brett Goldstein I'm a comedian
an actor a writer a director a plumber and I love films come join me on my podcast films
to be buried with where I invite a special guest over I tell them they died we get to
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Hey there wrestling fans this is Freddie Prinz Jr. and I'm excited to announce that wrestling
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this season listen to wrestling with Freddie as part of the Michael Tura podcast network
available on the iHeart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts I'm Claire
Crofton and in my new podcast the fighty pups we're going out on the ice with the most violent
hockey team ever that was guerrilla warfare at its highest the Danbury Treasures wanted
to win at any cost you wanted to break every
boat in his body literally throwing him like a rag doll going bananas here at the Danbury
ice arena they can't restrain him right now so are they heroes or villains you decide I
don't know what to say and I don't want to get shot there's the FBI side there's my side
and somewhere in the middle is the truth listen to the fighty pups on the iHeart Radio app Apple
podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts you and I are gonna have a problem you want
to say what I'm saying to you welcome to the jungle let's move on to the other game that
was played last night my Denver Nuggets put in a shellacking on the Phoenix Suns
Nicole Okech has just been I don't know if it's because the games are on late at night
I don't I don't know if it's because they're the one seed but you know like I don't think
we're doing a good enough job of discussing and I mean we is I'm just not seeing enough
people talk about how unreal you get just been in the playoffs like Devin Booker's been
fantastic we know Devin Booker's been great Devin Booker's at 34.6 points 5.4 rebounds
7.8 assists 60% shooting that's incredible he's unreal Joker's at 35 points 14 rebounds
10 assists on 58% shooting he has been unbelievable in this series unbelievable in the playoffs
so far every bit as good as any other player whether it's Embiid Booker whoever you want
to put in kind of that best player in the world category yoga chis been there the Nuggets
were just firing on all cylinders last night it felt like they're shooting regressed back
to what it was normally which is good after regressed to the mean I should say after Game
Form Phoenix Michael Porter Jr. was just on fire from outside Devin Booker finally had
an inefficient game I wonder if it felt like Denver made it a point to make him work defensively
playing an altitude playing in the minutes the amount of responsibility you wonder if
it caught up to him a little bit he also seemed to get a little bit banged up yeah
Durant's been comfortably the third best player in this series which is kind of hurting
the Suns like it's not inconceivable to think Durant could have outplayed yokech they haven't
gotten that so far we've seen Denver now Denver had an opportunity to win both those games
in Phoenix in a way that Phoenix has not been close to Denver in the last two games in
Denver but it's going to be tough for Denver to close this one out what did you make of
that game last night I mean I hate to be Shaq here but I'm going to be yep so I'm going
to grow a foot and a half taller I need DeAndre eight and a do more because we have whittled
this down now to yokech his cast a supporting cast which sometimes it's more than that because
you get a ton out of Murray or you just get a supernova Michael Porter junior game but
you know for the most part it's like it's it's yokech nearing or exceeding triple double
numbers 30 53 29 whatever he has and then everybody else giving the sort of stacked
like down the line effort that we were just talking about from Philly and in the last game
so that's fine like you know you can try to win that game you can beat Denver even when
yokech has 53 sometimes that's if you're getting really really really like other worldly performances
from book and and Katie they're not the only two stars borderline all stars on that team
mm-hmm yeah we know about Chris Paul he's not available who else do you have you have
eight he's a guy that is capable of getting you 25 he's a guy that has a lot of responsibility
in the series but he's also a guy that is going to get pretty decent shots in this series
at times because of where he likes to operate from because Denver is throwing much of what
they have at two guys which is very similar to what we were saying about the Celtics and
the way that the Sixers try to guard them and the fact that Horford has to do more so
if I'm gonna say that about Horford I'm gonna say it about eight and because he's more of
a scorer than Horford he's not as much of a three point scorer but he's as much if not
more of a scorer than then Horford is at this point in his career so I'm gonna point some
of the blame there that said I don't know that I expect the sons like once the sons lost
CP3 I did not expect them to win the series I want to say the last time we podcasted at
length about the series I said I would be less surprised by the Nuggets sweeping the series
than I would be by the sons winning it at all so I was very very very impressed that
the two games in Phoenix that Phoenix came back to win the tie that series up I wondered
a little bit whether the Nuggets had kind of taken a little bit of this team's soul and
so to complete credit to the sons for having battled back you said you know a lot of people
have said in this series it's gonna take these two guys going off for 50 each and it times
it's been close to that yeah you know but you can't do that for a whole series and particularly
I think it's tougher on them obviously when they're playing in Denver when okay it's not
heat but it's altitude and that seems like a real thing to me for a team that doesn't
necessarily play in that particularly when you're talking about a one day gap between
the games even if you're not it's just it's hard to run like that it's hard to run like
that when you're under man compared to the other team that's used to playing in that
environment so you know are the sons capable of getting game six of course they can it
seems like Chris Paul is progressing a little bit although that is such a tricky injury
that even if he does it wouldn't shock me and reactivated at some point not enough he's
not about it like even if they advance I don't love that just because you know I've been
watching the nicks in the heat and watching these guys reactivate their ankle sprains
like it's just bound to happen when you're coming back on shorter rest in what you need
from an injury from that like that I just don't feel good about this for Phoenix even
if they're able to get game six unless there's an injury to the nuggets for game seven they're
going to be in the same environment that they just got smoked in yesterday and that they
just have not played well enough in and the first three games we've seen and in Denver
so far so I don't like the Sun's chances I didn't before even when they got it back
to 2-2 was like oh this is interesting but unless really I'm trying to think of the best
like two-man performance I've seen from a team and I guess I'm gonna naturally go to
2016 with the Cavs and and the Warriors win LeBron and Kyrie just went nuts for the latter
end of that series to come back and win but that's not normal it's not something I expect
you know I think the nuggets should be good here but we'll see if they can close it out
in six to avoid a dramatic you know game seven right yeah I don't want to take my chances
with Katie and book in a game seven even as good as Denver's been at home the Aiden
thing is fascinating you know I thought Aiden was so good during the run of the finals and
last year last year his playoffs ended parably you know and I spoke to him right before
and I felt like he was so good last year you know remember Chris Paul went out and he
was still playing really well and you always wonder you always wonder when a center is playing
well with Chris Paul is it just Chris getting them in the spots all the time Aiden was playing
fantastic Ben Golliver said something to me we did a podcast before the start of the season
thought he made a great point he was like every possession every Phoenix possession that ends
in a Aiden shot is a win for the sons and he said that before they got Kevin Durant and
it's a good point because it feels like every time he takes one of these hooks even if it's
like he's taking a hook shot over Jamal Murray first of all he still won't make it every
time secondly it's like yeah I'd rather see that shot than the Devon Booker mid-range but
I think even more importantly on the other end of the floor listen nobody in this league
is guarding Nicole Oakitch one on one and it's just nobody I maybe in Bead but that would
be a big task even for him Bead to go one on one against the Joker and they have been
committed to playing him one on one I think in part because Aiden if you remember that
son's sweep did a good job the Oakitch even credited him he said I think he's one of the
best guys on the league at defending me and Aiden was like wow hearing that from the MVP
like listen it's it's easy for me to say here sit here talking into a microphone you know
watching these games eating chicken wings from the couch and be like come on Aiden you
got it you gotta play a little bit better but he is getting so thoroughly outplayed on
both ends of the floor for someone who was a number one overall pick we're not even saying
you say like I don't even say hey man go get me 30 and 10 but at least stop yokech from
getting 30 and 10 it's tough man because we saw some early run for some of the Phoenix
bench players in game five you know Shamet got in earlier Terence Ross got in I wonder
what point you like I think Landale has been giving yokech more trouble in this series
it's not like he's guarding him one on one but the activities been better the activities
matter we have to even analyze that tells you like and I think that's part of what it
is is like you either need Aiden to just be a juggernaut on offense or more effective
and impactful defensively one or the other I mean both and you would be talking about
a series where all of a sudden the sun's win game six and then game seven you feel like
maybe they maybe with all the guys on their team that you know have more experience or
have like superstar level experience you might even favor them in a game seven but yeah I
think that's one of the things here is that with a team that has less depth a team that
has more injury risk and I remember when I've done this you know we all have done those
you know the seven things you need to watch for the five players you need to you know
keep an eye on he was on my list as immediately after they made that trade for Katie because
you know he's going to get open looks you know he's going to be less of he has to be
less of a focal point for defenses at that point but also if your team with less cohesion
the guys that are on that team have been part of that roster before take on more importance
like how does he adjust to the idea of the fact he's going to get less touches with this
group how does he defend what are his spirits like we've seen stuff get rocky with him and
Monty Williams before you know in the last year we've also seen them get to a game like
the other thing that we have not talked about here is like this would be the first game
seven they played in since the shell lacking that they took last year where it's Bonnie
called him out basically so we don't know how he or anybody else is going to react to
that spotlight if they're even fortunate enough to force a game seven but he was always one
of the most central characters to like who's going to win this title and why if a team
like Denver can make mince meat of him and make him a non relative non factor I won't
go that far he's I mean he's been but there've been times where he's been a non factor I
think if you were to look at game four granted they won that game but again you get how many
points yeah 53 and and I think eight and had eight or whatever it was like again good luck
with that being a sustainable sort of thing like you can win but it's not going to be because
of him and I find it hard to believe that you play a whole series that goes six seven
in this case would have to go seven I can't really buy the idea that they're going to
win a series without eight and being a huge part of at least one of those games where
he helps them win I think he's too important and too good a player when he has it rolling
for him to not be more impactful so we'll see I also think that if they lose it becomes
an interesting question of you're going to be looking to make some changes you're going
to be not going anywhere Denver's you know who means around yeah that team is like firmly
in place to I mean they haven't won anything yet but like firmly a place to be around for
a while their core is there I mean these guys are solid I will say that the Bruce Brown
question is going to be lume that's terrible that's so sad he's going to be very sought
after at some point but either way I just don't I to finish my thought I think eight
and has to be someone that at some point I don't know what the demand would be but he
has I mean he's making a lot of money he's really great sometimes he's really not that
great some other times and I think now there've been enough moments now since that finals
run where you're like you know like what what not it would be too mean to say like what
do you do here but yeah what like what are we talking about like you've got to be more
impactful than this particularly when Chris Paul's not there I get this challenging for
him too because Chris Paul is kind of his lifeblood on some level but he's good enough
to to command the ball and to do things with it without Chris Paul being there too and I
think that you know he probably would tell you that too so a huge reason for this is
foul trouble he's not even averaging 30 minutes a game in this series he hasn't had double
digit rebounds with one game in this series he's averaging 11 and 8 for fouls a game it's
just not good enough man it's I don't like seeing players not play well you know it
made it in was playing well and they lost like fair game man Yokech is one of the best
in the world maybe the best on any given night he can be the best it's not an easy matchup
I just I don't want to see him go out like this as far as aton goes thinking ahead a
little bit I like Monty Williams a lot I'm a big fan of Monty Williams I think he's such
a stand-up person I don't I just wonder if he's the right coach for someone like D.A. you
know I think Aiden he just seems you know he just seems so different even from he's
obviously like age wise way different than Chris Paul age wise in a complete different
generation than like Kevin Durant and I even think Booker you know they might have share
some of the same interests but it feels like even book is just like on a different page
than him in terms of the kind of person they are and I just again this is not to be like
Monty Williams is in a bad job he can't like I think Monty Williams does know how to manage
people I think he's a good coach I just don't know that he seems to be a great fit with D.A.
and I wonder if Aiden that seems sort of I mean I won't say obvious it's not fair to
say that I think that's there's evidence yeah there's part of why we were all a little
bit surprised that I mean we also saw that Phoenix was not like gleeful about bringing
the guy back right I mean they went out and forced him to go get an offer sheet who was
it that side of one Indiana Indiana and you know they bided their time with that then
they're like yeah we're gonna match and it's like okay I guess and then we all wondered
for a while too like I can't remember if that immediately made him ineligible to be included
in a sign-in trade I think it did it but we still wondered whether he would potentially
be on the you know on the trading market for as trading them somewhere because it just
didn't like if it's between Monty Williams and DeAndre Aiden and this is rare by the way
I think it speaks to the rest of the talent they have in this roster you're not normally
keeping the coach and it seemed very clear that between the two of them they had kind
of staked their claim to Monty Williams and that they would figure out something else
with with DeAndre Aiden you know it didn't happen last year they tried to sweep the
son of the rug mighty Williams kept trying the downplay the repeated questions about
their relationship and look it might be beyond the relationship at this point it might not
be a relationship thing it might just be like a does this guy fit what we're doing could
we and even if he does even if you feel like he does could they be better off having
more depth in his role getting another center who's cheaper but getting someone else you
know him and a number of other players that fit the roster better because they frankly
the reason I don't expect them to win this series is depth at this point particularly
when you're talking about depth reliance on two key guys that are gonna be handling the
ball every play without Chris Paul and the fact that you're playing an altitude for half
of that more than half of this series if it goes seven games it's a difficult road to
ho from that standpoint and you know they would have to make some changes Chris Paul
could be one of those changes at some point but I don't imagine that anybody's gonna get
give you much back for him at this point someone texted me earlier in the playoffs this is Chris
Paul's last playoffs with the sons I'm interested to see he's got kind of a weird half guaranteed
contract exactly that's where I'm saying I don't know that the value on him is enough
to wear like yeah if you could I mean they thought about swapping him out at that line
yeah so I mean it's not that they're so committed to keeping him that's not the issue I just
don't know the only value you're gonna get from any of your guys at this point is book
yeah Katie and and I imagine eight and I don't think Chris Paul is someone that you're gonna
see a lot of return for just because he's I mean it's Chris Paul he's old we're looking
at his injury issues which we knew about beforehand since like eight and is a guy that
I think you could actually get something for whether it would be exactly what you want
back for him is another question but he's talented he's clearly talented that's not the
question here it's more of a question of fit it's more of a question of personalities as
you were laying out with Booker and and Aiden and everything like that and the guys that
just seem like they're at a different place and their career and and maybe maturity wise
as well yeah listen we're looking ahead a lot Phoenix is in the series they can win
game six game seven anything in heaven especially of talents like book and KD it's just felt
like in the balance of the series Denver has been better and it's I don't want to simplify
it too much I mean Phoenix has done some interesting things picking up the pace without Chris Paul
the way they've run those those double screens but that's difficult to do Booker yeah it definitely
difficult to do in light of being short handed the way they are right yeah sustainable for
maybe a game I don't know that you want to do for all series right I don't basically I
don't wish to minimize some of the strategic things we've seen in this series but it really
is just so much of it it's just you know Joker's individual dominance especially offensively
Jen Denver is getting a good shot it feels like every single possession in this series
as long as they get him the ball as long as they get him the ball they get a good shot
and so much of it's going to be like who's going to survive one on one against Joker
if that's how the sons want to play hello there this is Brett Goldstein I'm a comedian
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Hey there wrestling fans this is Freddy Prince Jr. and I'm excited to announce that wrestling
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I'm Claire Crofton and in my new podcast the fighty pucks we're going out on the ice with
the most violent hockey team ever that was guerrilla warfare at its highest the Danbury
Treasures wanted to win at any cost he wanted to break every bone in his body literally throwing
him like a rag doll going bananas here at the Danbury ice arena they can't restrain
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don't want to get shot there's the FBI side there's my side and somewhere in the middle
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you get your podcasts you and I are going to have a problem you want to say what I'm saying
to you welcome to the jungle before we get out of here I think by the time people listen
to this you know we're not going to touch on heat next too much but I want to talk about
Warriors Lakers a tiny bit it's 3-1 headed back to San Francisco tonight I as I was watching
the you know that spongebob meme that's like please say psych yes as I was watching game
for and the Warriors are blowing it I was like please say psych like this is not going to happen
right we're not the Golden State's not going to go down 3-1 surely they have the championship
resolve to pull this game out and that's not to diminish what the Lakers have done Los Angeles
has been fantastic I owe them an apology I did not think their trade deadline moves would
work out this well and they're doing all this with LeBron not playing like LeBron James
obviously we get Lonnie Walker with a series changing fourth quarter so happy for Lonnie
Walker shout out to the you yes I just in no way did I expect the Warriors to drop that
game especially when they have a lead going into the fourth quarter Steph doesn't attack
I don't know why Steph to this moment I don't know why Steph didn't try to take Anthony Davis
to the rim on either of those last two possessions in the late in the fourth quarter there we
saw the Warriors make the starting lineup change going with Gary Payton I thought it worked
I'm not the first person point this out they ran step pick and rolls to their hearts content
in the first half and it was working beautifully second half they go away from it just because
80s on Wiggins which I thought was the wrong decision and listen Steve Kerr I feel embarrassed
to even suggest something Steve Kerr that's how much respect I have for him but I didn't
understand their reluctance to run pick and rolls against 80 in the second half just to
get him into space I have to think the Warriors are going to send this back to LA for game
six but are you as shocked as I am or are you just kind of like no I think the Lakers
have been this good I mean it's I'm shocked that just what we saw at the end of that
game happened first of all like oh gosh imagine if you're a Warriors fan man you have to be
going crazy I don't broke my TV I mean so Brian Windhorse has given us two fantastic
moments over the last year or so from the you know the jazz why would he do that and
I mean he had one that rivaled that one immediately on the Warriors if you haven't seen it already
I want to say that maybe Jimmy Trainor even wrote a piece on it just because it was so
funny he just was losing it when he was talking about the mishaps that the Warriors had at
the end of the game now keep in mind we've also seen the Warriors do that before we've
seen this exact same thing in in a higher stakes series in this one yes yes where we see Steph
kind of granted with good defense from Kevin Love we see him kind of decline to try to
go with Kevin Love and get to the basket against Kevin Love so one thing against the
stop they needed a three there that was a little bit of a different situation they only
needed one against AD great point so this was even more kind of yeah baffling I mean
Clay took one of the worst shots I've ever seen dude those two we thought the Jordan
pool shot was with Brad those clay shots yeah the Jordan pool shot wasn't as bad as much
as it was funny like it was just funny that's what happened he was open and like it was you
know he's capable of making that shot it doesn't make it the best shot necessarily because you
still have other people on your team maybe you could have gotten a better look somehow but
it was like you said it was more funny than it was just an awful terrible shot this one
Steph yeah between that that doesn't even get it the whole let me just you know throw the
wedding bouquet pass out of bounds thinking that someone's behind me the idea that they
didn't call timeout you know it sounded like Kerr was trying to or he claimed to be trying
to which I have some empathy from that standpoint that revs me up people here everyone was like
call of timeout that is such a that play happened so quickly it was not easy to call it did but
I mean that is we are talking about the last seconds of a game yeah yeah in which you're
talking about basically loose ball there's only a second and a half or two to call one
or to try to call one I mean if step is thinking let me fling it over my head and someone might
be behind me it's also rational to think that he's smart enough to think to call him up yeah
I also want to tie all that back like not to be a conspiracy theorist it's not a conspiracy
let me not even use that phrasing but look it's crazy as the maybe that's not the most
privilege did you see did you say that so I'm sorry not to derail you but no the after
like you know I love seeing the other fan bases go at each other on Twitter it's pretty
bad and and they started like after the some Golden State fans were complaining about the
calls someone I think Dom and Rangula who's like a big Lakers fan call it info Warriors
Twitter Wow I mean that that's perfectly with that conspiracy theory but what I will
say as we talk like yes the Warriors went away too early or went away too much from the idea
of the constant like we're just going to have our pick of pick and rolls we'll do it as
much as we want to our hearts content with the phrasing use I do wonder on some level
how much that takes out of step having to do it all game long and also like when we talk
about the decision making of stuff and and just everybody at the end of that game when
you're doing that and then you make a mistake like that at the end of the game like we watched
the Warriors do some stuff that even for them they've we've seen it before but we're not
used to seeing it happen this many times in one series within the first four or five
games of one series but they're playing pretty desperately it feels like sometimes and sometimes
when you're locked in situations like that you just don't make the right decisions and
well what what that on clay we can make that we can put this up what's the borderline not
conspiracy you're suggesting here that that that that just like exhaustion that stuff
is making terrible decisions oh okay and and maybe because of the fact that I don't know
I guess it would also be a more legitimate point if he ran pick and rolls the whole game
as opposed to most of the first half I don't know like again I'm also not trying to build
them out of like they have not played well enough in these key moments Jordan pool is
mia and I don't know if it's him I don't know if he's lost conference because the rotation
he's kind of in yo-yo people that maybe need to be traded bro I don't know that it'll happen
I also wonder what the demand would be around the league like I've always been curious what
does stream on look in a different like how does he look different uniform right Jordan
pool I'm way more curious about right because I think just because you'd have to anchor
your franchise yeah around them depending on what team he goes to I think dream on could
play off most for stars in the league but you put him on like the Hornets it's like not
gonna be pretty but although I still think he'd help any team defensively I think he's
one of the top five defenders ever I would have loved to say that with Portland before
I really would have loved that Shelby Shelby says the same thing yeah be a chat yeah shout
out to Shelby but no I mean he would have fit that I don't know if it would be is great
now just because I don't know what Portland's gonna do and I don't know if they know what
they're trying to do but like give me dream on and the blazers two years ago yeah yeah
it's gonna be it's gonna be weird to see dream on in Portland when Dame is gonna be on the
heat this summer all right guys so thank you so much for listening to wow wow um
his show he's not abuse yeah man I hope this series goes the distance only because I want
to see every last possible minute of LeBron and Steph possible but me too shout out to
the Lakers who we're gonna have to devote a lot of time to at some point because considering
how LeBron has not been LeBron they've been fantastic different guys stepping up every
single game seemingly 80s been a menace very see if the Warriors maybe even try to start
Jordan pool or it was also weird that Moody closed over GP to down the stretch of that
game because I thought Gary Payton was playing well and maybe could have been someone they
try to get switched on to Lonnie Walker I don't know it just very amazing he doesn't get a
little bit more time yeah I watch him he makes he makes enough shots to be out there he's
right knows enough about their offense to be in the right place like five or seven points
like immediately to start that game I just don't get it like I feel like there's something
that I'm not understanding maybe he's under restrictions or something I don't know yeah
like I get I understand that there have been enough levers pulled and buttons pushed where
you roll out to Michael Green and he plays well I understand that those things are gonna
happen sometimes and like it's gonna make her look like a genius and I think he's much
closer to being that than like the opposite but I I don't understand why Gary Payton the
second isn't like a consistent why why it feels like his minutes are less consistent
or like they're here and there and kind of all over the place sometimes even though he
plays well it gives them a bit of what they need each time he's out there seemingly look
if Anthony Davis plays a great game in game six I think that the well actually no we're
talking about three one now so this is game five if he plays great games in either game
five game six game seven I think that might be game over like I just kind of feel like
when he's brought it in this series and really come to play and really just been like a force
as much as I love Kevin Looney as much as I love Draymond I don't know if I love Draymond
but like as much as I love as much as I love the Warriors and what makes them who they are
and how great they are I don't know that they have an answer for AD when he's locked in and
when he's like a destroyer of all worlds yeah sort of and so I mean it's it's I think he
and LeBron and the Lakers have it in them to like find one more performance like that
over the next three games it's a very tough spot that the Warriors are in and also like
you knocked him a lot more than I did just want to put that on the record but like we're
all going to have to apologize to Manic's here in a minute if they keep this up I mean
it's but I mean the Lakers have looked good even from the first first game where they
had LeBron back in the lineup and all their trade you know their trade guys in the lineup
they looked fantastic it was too early to really feel that way right then but it was
very clear that the roster was improved I didn't think it was improved to this point
where they take out the Warriors potentially in five but let's see what happens I trust
that the Warriors will get at least one more but the Lakers have looked fantastic there's
no way around it they just have and I they've overcome some stuff in the series that I thought
the Austin Reeves thing was going to be a real issue for them especially after game
two and you know it has not derailed the Lakers in any way so far so I'm very curious
to see what happens I also wonder if LeBron has been kind of pacing himself for a moment
like this this is his opportunity I know he would love nothing more than to close out
stuff on his home court and I wonder if tonight's the night you see him really put his foot
on the pedal and kind of hunt switches do all the LeBron things we've been waiting for
him to do I feel like he maybe he's like nose I got one of these a series and I wonder
if tonight's the night he kind of really goes for it it's gonna be a lot of fascinating
it would be very fascinating it would be a lot of fun to watch Chris that will do it
for today's episode thank you to everyone for tuning in please continue to enjoy the NBA
playoffs
my name is Clay Nukem and I'm the host of the Bear Greece podcast where we explore American
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bob light and come straight in your ears check it out on the Bear Greece podcast I think
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