KD & Rockets In Danger In West? Lakers Finding Something With LeBron

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Howdy, partners, and for the record, and just so Jackson's aware, since he's blind, I'm wearing a mint green hoodie here on St. Patrick's Day. It's a good Irishman would. Yes, you're a good Irishman. I'm wearing a green tie. I, it's the most green I got. That's the best I can do. Even though when this podcast comes out and is on television, it won't be St. Patrick's Day. So it's okay. You hear some, Jaylin Brown attended the Boston St. Patrick's Day for the first time over the weekend. And he saw that. Not sure he walked away without some scars from that experience. How many fouls did he draw? Well, he drew at least 11 shooting. He drew 11 on Monday. Maybe more. I don't know. He took 21 free throws. All right. But on Monday night, I left the Spurs Clippers game because I wanted to come see, come back to the hotel and see the Rockets play the Lakers. It was a close game at half. And McMahon, I feel like I might have been able to turn the game off with five minutes left because if it gets to a five minute game inside five minutes, and the score is tight, and you got the best clutch team in the league on one side and bottom five clutch team on the other, I don't think it's going to go well for the Rockets. It did not go well. And this has been the story of the season for them. They get into these late game situations. And they're oftentimes, it's not like they've never done it, but they're under 500 in clutch situations. And their numbers on offense in those situations are dreadful. It was a dreadful performance by them offensively. I think they had more turnovers than baskets in the second half, large part because of their ineptitude down the stretch. And this is very much defining the Rockets season at this point. It defined this game, McMahon. Yeah. And the fourth quarter was just absolutely abysmal. They turned it over nine times and had four buckets in the fourth quarter. They scored 12 points. Kevin Durant did not score in the second half until there was like 28 seconds left, and the game had already been decided. And look, they didn't have Alperin Shungoon, but you know, Katie said it himself, without being on the floor or not, they've seen this style of defense time and time and time again, and they have struggled to deal with it. And that is if Katie's handle on the ball up top, throw two defenders at him and dare the Rockets to pick it apart behind it and you know, give the Lakers credit. You know, JJ did, he clarified, no, we weren't blitzing. We blitzed in the first half. We were firing in the second half. It was just about the timing of the double team. But regardless, they're throwing two bodies of Katie, forcing the ball out of his hands, scrambling. What is the difference between, I've not heard that before, but I mean, blitzing and firing. I believe basically it means that a firing is, you're waiting until Katie puts on the floor and starts to drive, throw a second defender at him. Okay, you're taking a little bit longer time to make him make a decision. Yeah, and you know, and you know, as Katie says, you know, regardless of what they're doing, the Rockets process is too slow. And look, the Rockets didn't make shots. You know, I think they were, what was it? They were really, really rough. The Lakers weren't making shots for a long time either. The Rockets could have entered clutch time with more than a lead that they wouldn't have been in clutch time, but they were unable to build. The Lakers could not make a shot for like a, they went through like two points in like five or six minutes, late third, early fourth. The Rockets were not able to build a lead. Neither team shot the ball well at all, but the Rockets really, it was an absolute brick fest. But again, they committed nine turn numbers in the fourth quarter, 15 in the second half, 24 in the game. Like, God, you're not going to beat anybody doing that. And KD like, dude, he was very blunt and honest. You know, I'm just going to read a couple of quotes. I just felt like I lost the game four some nights. That's simple. Of course, we probably could make more threes, but it's on me. I mean, to be honest, I'm the offense and the opposing team is going to use all their resources and not let me get comfortable. First half, I got comfortable and I so comfortable off of pin downs, picking roles and they decided not to let me get comfortable no more. So I got to be smarter, better with the ball. I got to maybe shoot over some of them double teams, but space out, be ready to catch and shoot, be ready to be a screener, just being the dunker spot, just being able to be there as a resource for my teammates to provide space. I didn't need to have the ball as much as I did tonight. And KD basically saying, you know what? Well, who's going to have the ball then? Well, it needs to be Reed Shepard if it's not going to be KD. Well, they didn't have Reed Shepard on the floor and you know why. Well, yeah. And for example, they did have him on the floor on one possession and he's guarding Marcus Smart in the corner. What's Marcus Smart do? Of course, he's going to, what do you think he's going to do? He's going to come up and set the screen for Luca. They pre switch it with a Min Thompson, right? So Min jumps out so he can be the guy switching out on Luca. That forces, they were playing a small lineup. That forces Shepard to get down on Aitin and Aitin got his first bucket of the night. So yeah, it's that give and take. But you know, KD's basically saying, dude, we clearly can't handle when teams double me at the top of the offense, handling the ball. Like time and time again, the Rockets have sputtered in those situations. And KD, he basically said, hey, maybe I just need to get in the corner, space it out and hand the ball to the leader of our men. Well, he said a bunch of things. He said I got a screen. I got to get in the dunker spot. I got in the corner, basically anything, but initiate the offense, essentially what he said. Well, let's go back, let's go back to what you just said before, McMahon, where Brian said, well, who's going to have the ball? And you said, well, Reed Shepard. We talked on this pod before the year about how Fred Van Vilt's injury set up the Min Thompson to be the most improved player in the league, potentially, maybe being an all-star, really take a huge lead forward. He's up for a contract extension this summer. If he's not going to have the ball in his hands in that spot, how much can you really pay him? A. And B. Like, where is this rocket? Like, this is a bigger, broader question for a team that's got Fred Van Vilt hurt. But like, where is this rocket's team going? Like, I think you, if you, you have to be really harsh, I think, in looking at the top of the Western conference in particular, going forward. And right down I-10, you've got this butting juggernaut in San Antonio. What are they, Brian? 20 and two in their last 22 games? Something like that. Something like that. I'm going to tell you something. Look at their schedule coming in. They're not good. They might not lose two more. So. Right. So they're, they're trying to chase down the Thunder, who by the way, won almost 70 games last year, are going to win over 60. Or the defending champs could win again and have a 26-year-old MVP. They could give them the Thunder, depending on how things go, could qualify for the playoffs tonight. Right. So, and they've got a super young team, all these draft picks going forward. They, you know, they could have multiple lottery picks this year. Like they've got a juggernaut going forward. So if you're the Rockets and you're in that division of the league and that part of the country alone, and you're going, how are we going to get to a championship level? Like, a man, Thompson needs to take a huge step forward. He's got to be a guy that can generate shots and make plays in those kinds of situations. And, you know, like, look, you had a good game last night. I was just looking at stats. Obviously, played 41 minutes. You had 19, 12 and five. Had a few turnovers, but, you know, played 41 minutes is a great defensive player. It's not like he's a bad player, but if he and our parent, Shinguna, your top young players, going forward, where do you stack up? Like it's hard to see the path to the Rockets really being on the level of those two teams right now, which is a harsh assessment. But I think there's going to be a lot of harsh assessments going forward. Because if you're trying to keep up with the Spurs and the Thunder, it's going to be like trying to keep up with the Warriors in the middle of the last decade. Like the bar for that is super, super high. And watching the end of that game, that was just what I was thinking. It was like, it's just going to be hard for these guys to get to that level. Well, it or Reed Shepard has to make a major leap. And like the front office here still believes that Reed Shepard has star potential. I think he's going to be really good too, to be clear. He's a good player. He's going to be really good. But again, it's like, okay, let's say Reed Shepard becomes a really good player. Is Reed Shepard a men Thompson out there in Shangoon? Good enough to go toe to toe with the Spurs guys? Good enough to go toe to toe with the Thunder guys? Well, they're going to have a friend. I like all those guys. Well, I'm just saying, like, it's, I think it's a real question to ask, particularly again, there's going to be a big decision this summer on how much to pay a men Thompson. And like, you're already paying, I mean, no parent, Shangoon, they got a good deal with him. It's under the max. But like the Rocks are getting expensive. So, you know, it's, it's just, it's just an interesting spot to be in. And I think we're going to be having that conversation a lot when you're just measuring up to those other two teams that are on, on the way to being monstars in the West for a very long time. I think at 10,000 feet, yes. I mean, one thing I'll say, Raffael Stone and his staff has, has done some good negotiating. They got Shangoon for less than the max. The contract that they signed Jalen Green to was innovative and allowed them to trade for Kevin Durant. The contract they signed Jabari Smith to was a, you know, good deal. It was a pretty good contract. They've been pretty creative with what they've done with Fred Van Vleet. Obviously curveball with the knee injury. And they've drafted well and they have a lot of assets. So I'm not, yeah, I agree with you that they're, they're not the Spurs and they, and they're, and the Thunder. However, I think they're in good position. What I will say is they had four months to evaluate what this team needed a point card or not. And they evaluated that they didn't need one, even a stop gap. And I think it's because they believe in Reach Epper and they believe in their other ball handlers, whether it's a man or whether it's Durant. And that's not working right now. Now I will say this, I will say this. Well, first off, here's the numbers real quick, because I just did this on NBA today. When the, when the Rockets are in their normal situation, non-clutch time, they are a top five or 16 in the league in net rating. They're driven by their defense and offensive rebounding. Excellent defensive team, generate huge second chance points, even with losing Steven Adams, one of the best offensive rebounders in the league. And that's a factor. I think the Rockets would tell you, listen, you're evaluating, I don't mean you, Bontems, but you want to evaluate us. Remember, we lost two starters for the year, not missing them for 40 games. I hope we get them back for the playoffs. Two starters for the year, gone, surgeries. Adams didn't starve, but a critical player. Yes. Critical. Okay. A very key piece. He could start for them. He could start for them. All right. Such is one thing. Now, when they are playing straight up their normal game, they are in the top five or six in net rating. Okay. That's what per 100 possessions, how they perform. When they get into clutch time, within five points, in five, five minutes, okay, Cajone's factor time, they turn into the, they turn into the jazz. No offense to the jazz, but their net rating is, is, is about the same as the jazz is for the full season. So they go from being a juggernaut to being a tanker in clutch time. And a lot of it revolves around that point card spot. That's just, that's just a true statement. And, and a couple of things here. Their offensive numbers for the season are significantly inflated by a hot start when they were just absolutely mauling everybody with historically dominant offensive rebounding numbers. Since January 1st, which is damn near a half season, you know, two and a half months, they are the 22nd ranked offense in the league. They're 21 and 16 at that time. They still have a positive net rating, but they are the 22nd ranked offense above, I'm seeing a bunch of tanking teams and the God awful Milwaukee Bucks. Okay. So this team is a bad offensive team. Best, I don't tell me what they rank for the season. I'm telling you what we're watching right now. This is a bad offensive team, despite the fact that Kevin Durant remains one of the best individual scores in the league. Now, as far as the point guard issues, they made the determination that it was like, look, they weren't, it's not like they were going to get a healthy Kyrie Irving at the trade deadline or, you know, there wasn't like some, you know, massive upgrade who was going to be available to them at the trade deadline. They felt like, you know, realistically, they weren't going to be able to get a massive upgrade. And they made the decision that instead of getting a stop gap that probably wasn't going to move the needle, that it was in the franchise's best interest to live with and hopefully benefit long-term from the growing pains that a men Thompson and Reed Shepherd are going through now and will go through the rest of the season. However long they last in the playoffs, which I do believe will be a single digit number of games. Well, and listen, I want to be clear. I think the Rockets have done a great job. Like they've drafted really well. We've talked a lot. You mentioned it about the negotiations they've done on contracts. Like they've done a fantastic job with that. They've built a really good team. Like they've done a really, really good job. Like the Kevin Durant trade was a good trade. Like they've done, Rafeld Stone and those guys have done, they got him. They've made a docket to coach the team. He's a very good coach. Like they've done a really good job rebuilding this team. I don't think there's any question about that. It's just the reality is it's like, it's like 10 years ago with that Juggernaut Warriors team. Like to try to get to the level that it looks like the Spurs are headed to and that the Thunder, who already won 68 games in a title and have a bunch of mid 20 year old stars. I mean, heck, this year, Jalen Williams has either been ineffective or not available all season and they're on pace to win 65 games. Like to get to that level, a lot of things have to go right. You've got to get lucky. You've got to like, you've got to hit on everything. And even if you do hit on just about everything, what's the rockets have hit on a ton of things? They're a top 10 team in the league. It might not be good enough. Like that, it's, I just think we're going to have that conversation a lot about a lot of teams. And it's going to make for some really hard decisions and interesting conversations about a lot of teams going forward. Cause the, the parry or to clear to catch up is just, it's really, really high. And Houston, I think watching that game last night, it's a prime example of it. And frankly, I don't want Kevin Durant to have the ball in those spots. I would much rather just have them have a Mentopsen or Reed Shepard have the ball and try to get Kevin the ball and see how it goes. Cause your point, McMahon, if Kevin Durant is going to turn the ball over in those spots anyway, which has never really been his strength, just have the young guys do it and see how it goes. Like it's going to be better off than them just standing there waiting for the ball. Reed Shepard has had a much better season this year than last year. I mean, he definitely has improved and they get really good. We'll be back. But you know, your point is like, you look at their competition. One thing I will say in the short term here, their play again Wednesday night, it's on ESPN, McMahon, you'll be there. If they win that game and Shengun is not on the injury report, he missed Monday because of back issue. He's not on the injury report. So assume he'll be out there on Wednesday. They win that game. Number one, they lose nothing on the, on the, in the standings to the Lakers. They go one and one, they're right back, a half game back and they win the tie break for the season. There's only three meetings. It's one in one right now. So it's a double win. So listen, and by the way, like the Lakers then have a brutal, we talked about this other day, a brutal back to back in Miami on Thursday night. Houston may end up ahead of the Lakers by the end of the week. So while we can talk about this on a bigger issue, like there is, they can bounce right back. I'm sure when they have their film session and shoot around before this game, they will address the striking, not just the Blitzing, but also the striking and the firing, what did I say, strike and the striking, the firing, all the, now we say firing is worse than a strike. All the smoke and mirrors that the Lakers threw at them that they, that they failed to figure out. And by the way, I'm also with McMahon and what I think the Rockets would say to 100%. I don't think it was worth throwing assets at some stop gap point card for the final two months of this season. Instead of just letting these guys play personally. Well, we'll never know. I would say one of the grumbles of Rockets fans is that Reed Shepard's not on the floor often enough. Now I will be fascinated to see what his playing time looks like in the playoffs because Eme Udoka is a defensive minded coach and you know, there's a, there's a tradeoff there, but it's a team that really needs his shooting and his playmaking. Well, and it should be said that the three-man trio of Kevin Durant, Alperin, Shingoon and Reed Shepard in the 51 games they've played this season, negative net rating of almost five and a 117 defensive rating, which again, for an Eme Udoka, who is a defensive first coach, that is the thing he's obviously going to be focused on. More Hoop Collective Podcast after this. If you're looking to bring a little celebration into the everyday, can Fetty Cra's five hour energy taste just like birthday cake? 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That was like a beginning, a middle, and an end. No, it was a flung himself. It was a 41-year-old all-time legend, absolutely laying his body on the line. The funny thing is, the Lakers didn't even get the jump ball. Although they did, smark is smark out of steel. But it was definitely like, okay, hey, if LeBron's doing that, this dude is all in. The symbolism more than the direct result is what people are going to talk about. By the way, did you see his new golf commercial for Beats? I don't watch golf. I said it was a commercial. Tell us about it. You have concerns about the putting stroke in there. It's a funny commercial. He's playing golf and he's not afraid to show at least part of his swing, which is, listen, my jump shot is a lot worse than his golf swing. I'm just going to put it that way. Is it a jumper or a set shot? Fair point. I'm more concerned about the putting stroke that I saw. If that was in, they don't show a full body. If that was indeed his putting stroke, we, I need to have some words, but anyway, a good, a good ad for Beats. Our ESPN research came up with this. So he had 13 shots in this game, scored 18 points. He has 15 or fewer field goal attempts now in seven straight games, a longest streak of his career. He'd never done it more than four straight games. And that was back in 2013 when he was with the heat and they were, he would, in fact, they wanted to shoot more back then. He was so focused on efficiency. He was like trying to shoot 65%. So sometimes he would pass up shots. That was a different story for a different day. But in those seven games where he's taken 15 or less shots, first off, the Lakers have won all of them. No, the six and one. Oh, six and one. That's right. Competitive loss to the Nuggets is the one blemish. Okay. Thank you for correcting me. He shot 57% in those games. 6.6 assists. And listen, 40% from three point range. And it's like 6.6 assists, 19.4 points per game. It's not like he's, he isn't a major contributor. You know, I asked JJ Reddick last night, like, Hey, like, what is the bronze ideal role on this team? And he bases says, look, he like roleplayers a bit much. It's not like, you know, he's asking LeBron to, to turn into a Doreen Finney Smith. Right. I mean, he bases it. Hey, LeBron's still going to be relative to your average NBA player, a high usage guy. He's just going to be the third highest usage guy on this team. And the clear third and that pecking order, obviously is Luca. It's Austin Reeves is LeBron James. And LeBron has accepted that he's figured that out. I think the one, the one thing that LeBron still does at an amazingly elite level, especially for a 41 year old, he's leading the league in transition points. And he is still an absolute locomotive with springs. He had three spectacular dunks last night in transition. Like, what this guy's able to do as a fast break weapon is, I mean, jaw dropping. It's amazing for a 30 year old, much less the guy in his 40s. That's true. So still a tough road to hoe for the Lakers on the strip. I will say this though, McMahon, if the Lakers win Wednesday night in Houston and sweep this two game set, knock Houston two games back of them in the loss column or two games from the start of the week and get the tiebreaker, I'm prepared to call the road trip a success. Because at least they put themselves in position against Houston, who was right on their heels. So I mean, again, if they lose their next four, maybe I'll reevaluate, but like that would be amazing. So they got the first one. All right, not as amazing is the update that came out of Minnesota on Tuesday. And Edwards, who was rubbing his knee at a game in San Francisco last weekend, he was questionable then for Sunday's game in Oklahoma City, still had a pretty good game, got an MRI and reevaluated banteps, not out one to two weeks, reevaluated in one to two weeks, which you know what that means. The wolves are already in an absolute fight for positioning to stay out of the play in. The Suns who are behind them and trying to get into the get out of the play and they have the hardest schedule left amongst these teams. However, Minnesota has got a tough one too. And now, Ann is going to miss some time. Yeah. And to go to just go back to the Lakers real quick, in their last 10, which they're nine and one in their ninth in the league in three point shooting, which goes back to the other question about them. It's both their overall shooting and their defense. Like when they're hitting shots and they're playing like this, like, yeah, that like it's why they've gone on this run. And you talk, we talked in the first segment about Houston's struggles. Obviously Denver has been very up and down injuries, you know, Peyton Watson still out, the, you know, Aaron Gordon's working his way back. They've been all over the place health wise all year. And now Minnesota with Anthony Edwards banged up. Like this is the scenario where the Lakers can get to the prime spot we've talked about being that third team in the Western Conference standings. And look, is it going to be easy for them to win a round and beat the Spurs? No, obviously not. But if the choice is that path or playing the Thunder in the second round, like, yeah, you're going to take the path against the team that hasn't been in the playoffs when you've got Luca Donicic and LeBron James. So it's certainly been a good couple of weeks for them. And I agree with you, if they can manage to get this win against the Rockets, I would definitely think it's a success. And as far as Minnesota goes, I mean, I just all season long, I've been just trying to figure out what this Minnesota team is. And every time we think they're finally starting to go in a good direction, they cough up a couple of games. They had this brutal week last week, two bad losses in LA. They then play this game Sunday. I mean, we talked about it on the pod a couple of days ago. They throw the ball all over the gym against the Thunder, committed a million turnovers, you know, actually shot the ball pretty well, but we're so far behind in the shot game that they didn't really have a chance to win. And now, like the one guy who's always there and is now out, could not be eligible, could be another guy not eligible for end of season awards. He's at 11 games missed because he played three minutes in one game. It's listed as 10 games, but it's really 11 for award purposes. And if he misses two weeks, he's already ineligible. So could add him to the list of guys who might not be able to be on all BA teams at the end of the year. And more importantly, like I said the other day, I don't think Phoenix with their injuries can really get to six with the schedule they have and the injuries they have. But if Minnesota is sitting there at six, like we were thinking a week ago, they might be able to get in position for themselves to get to third. And, you know, yeah, they beat the Lakers last year in a series, but as a six seed as a six seed. But I felt better about Minnesota last year than I do this year. Well, they finished season 17 and four and they were fifth in league and defense or something. Right. They were flying in and this year they're not they're not flying in at least as of now with a, you know, three, four weeks to go on the regular season. I mean, the only potential silver lining I can see is Wendy Lastpod. You mentioned what a struggle it's been for Julius Randall since the All-Star break. And he, you know, he got a goal for the first time in a while against OKC. Obviously, they're going to need him to have the ball in his hands and, you know, to be the primary creator, you know, for this week or two. And hopefully that's it that that Ant misses, you know, maybe he can kind of rediscover his rhythm. But I have a hard time seeing the Wolves finishing above six now at this point. And I think that the Lakers would tell you they're they're much better positioned to see the Wolves in the first round. And, you know, especially with the way the Lakers have been defending lately, you know, and the fact that the Lakers won a game that was that butt ugly. And they've had, you know, JJ made sure to point out like they've had big time defensive performance recently against the Knicks, against the Wolves, against the Rockets, you know, beating three playoff teams with, you know, kind of defenses the drive and force and those wins. You know, that that's a little bit different. Now, the Lakers did have that stretch last year where they put it together for a while defensively, you know, and I think the question there is over the course of a series, you know, how are your smoke and mirrors and your, you know, your schematical defensive wins going to hold up, you know, or is the team going to be able to figure that out and pick it apart? And it'll be interesting to see even, you know, in the second game, this baseball series against the Rockets, because the Lakers are, they are playing well defensively now. And, you know, Luca mentioned effort and communications really at a high for them. And then it's smoke and mirrors. They're not playing good defense because, you know, suddenly they've morphed into a good defensive personality. Well, and by the way, just real quick on Minnesota, if you remember back during the season, they had that crazy loss sort of sums up their inconsistency all season where they were up seven with, I believe, 47 seconds to go, blew the lead and lost to Phoenix. Well, they played Phoenix three times this year. They've already lost the first two games. So therefore they've lost the season series. They play Tuesday night. So by the time you're hearing this, you'll know what the result of that game is. But if Phoenix wins that game tonight, Tuesday night, they're only a game back. And for everything I just said about, I don't, I think between the schedule and their injuries, I don't know if Phoenix is going to be able to catch them. If they're one back with the tiebreaker with three weeks to go or four weeks to go and Ann is going to miss half the games, maybe or more. I mean, again, he's getting reevaluated in one to two weeks. That does not necessarily mean he's back in one to two weeks. Now, yeah, it's a very fast healer typically. So who knows, he could be back in three days the way he has been in the past. But, you know, there is at least a scenario where if Phoenix gets this win Tuesday night, they can make things awfully interesting. And perhaps Minnesota is fighting not for a third or fourth, but like you, SubbicBand, to just stay in six. Well, point out, Devin Booker is getting hot. He has 40 points in two of his last three games, including at Boston on Monday night. And they gave the Celtics a really good run in that game. The Celtics beat the Suns as a high contested game, both Booker and Jalen Brown won over 40. Point out, Jason Tatum, he's not shooting at great. Okay. He's only shooting 41% so far. He's shooting some one-legged shots. Remember when Victor was like about to come in the league and he was messing around with that one-legged launch, one-legged three? Like, he abandoned it, I think, smartly, although when he made it, it was fascinating to see. Tatum is doing that. Oh, Yon is left leg and it looks like something he's been working on. Brian Scalabrini said during the broadcast with our manager, Carter, the other night that he's been watching Tatum practice it. So he's not shooting at great. However, he's only shooting 27% from three. He had another 20-point game. He's had 20-point games in four in a row. There are four in one with him in the lineup. And I'll just point out that the Pistons, I don't know if they're playing tonight, but the Pistons have lost five out of eight. So... That's an interesting stats in front of me. I'd like to ask you guys about... I'll sit back. So we're looking at our analytics stuff. Who do you think is favored to come out of the Eastern Conference right now by our internal stuff? I know the DraftKings folks have the Celtics. I'm not talking about DraftKings. I'm talking about like projection-wise. BBI, which is never wrong? I'm guessing by your tone that it's not the Celtics. It is not the Celtics. Would it be the Pistons? It is not the Pistons. The Knicks? It is not the... Well, actually, I take that back. And a statistical tie, it is not the Knicks. It is the Pistons and Cavs Corner. And the third place scene... Cavs Corner fresh off a double figure loss to the... So the Pistons? So the Pistons? Listen, McMahon, I had a who he played for. This guy came out of nowhere. It was hitting threes on the Cavs the other day. I did not know who he was. John Polakitas, it was his second NBA game, his first NBA points. I was not familiar with your game. Yale, great. There's two Yale guys who just got in the league. Another one, I forget his name, Ben Sumpter and others on the Jazz Hatch. You hang out with them? Actually, Jax, that's Jax. So the Pistons are at 26.9% chance of making the finals. The Cavs are at a 26.8% chance of making the finals. The Knicks are at a 21.7% chance of making the finals. And the Celtics are the four favorites at 18.1%. I find that very interesting. I like our nerds, but I wouldn't... I don't know that I agree the numbers. Why do I like the nerds? No. No. Why are they fourth? I don't know. They're projected to finish with the second most wins. I'm not sure why they're projected to finish fourth. And I've, as I've said, I think if Jason Tatum is playing, I'm going to pick them to make the finals. And I just found it. I went to look and see what the projections were as of today. And I just found it very interesting that they're... Well, DraftKings has them as the favorite. And pretty good. It's a pretty... I think the conventional wisdom, now the conventional wisdom is often wrong. Last year, the conventional wisdom, including certainly for me, was that the Knicks are going to get rolled by the Celtics in the second round. And they came back from down 20 in the first two games and went on to win the series comfortably. You know, the Kale Bridge is, by the way, as a quick aside, one of my favorite things to do is to... Yeah, the pod on this side. I went back and watched a bunch of footage of games one and two this week because, you know, Mikhail Bridges is getting maligned. And I just remember... We used to be fair. He's playing terribly going into Tuesday nights gaming. I'm not just disputing that. Since the All Star break, he's been terrible. But I went back because I just remember us being embossed for games one and two, buntems, and just, you know, both times being gobsmacked, watching the Knicks take those games. Well, I was not in games. I was not there for one and two because of the arrival of the Cinderblock. But I was watching on TV and we were texting about it. I was there for three and four. Maybe that's why I have such good memories of it. Anyway, Bridges played a pretty gigantic role in those two games. He sure did. He had 14 points in the fourth quarter of game two. And in game one, he... What game went to overtime and he had a couple of really big defensive plays, including a steal that I used to game. Well, to your point, pre and post... Mike Brown that. He's the one benching him. Well, listen, pre and post... You mentioned post All Star break. So before the All Star break, Mikhail Bridges was average at 15.9 points a game, shooting 50% from the field, almost 39% from three. Obviously, he very rarely gets to the line. How many minutes per game was he playing? 34 and a half. Okay. Since the All Star break, 14 games going into Tuesday nights game against Indiana, against the Tank and Pacers here, the Garden. By the way, did you know that like, I guess Aaron Eastman, technically, they said he had an ankle issue, but did you know that he sat the fourth... We kind of called it the other day. We did call it. We called it exactly. He got 32 and then he sat the whole fourth quarter. Then he was disappeared to make sure that they lost the game. They said he had ankle soreness or ankle injury management. Okay. If I was the Jazz, I'd be asking for more teams to get fined. That's what I would say. Based on the guy with the 100 grand. Well, yeah. And if you were the Jazz, no, you wouldn't because if fines are being doled out, they're still getting one. So, I mean, that's fine, but other teams could catch up. But post All Star break, the Calbridges averaging 10.6 points per game, shooting 41% from the field, 30% from three, 29 minutes a game. Yeah. I mean, actions over words. He's pulling them out of the game. He played them 21 minutes the other day. He was brutal the other night. Jaylen Brunson, I think, is not going to play tonight though. So we'll see. He might need some more action from Brunson. Yeah. Well, I think the Knicks will be okay. Then again, I thought the Knicks would be okay against the Warriors with their entire team out and it took right down to the last second. So we'll see. When it comes to the East, let me just say that over the last 15 games, the Cavs are 15. Holy cow. I'm looking at the, I don't, I'm sorry. I just pulled up the injury report to see who was in the Pacers, I think have 14 players on the injury report. How is that possible? That's what I'm doing the math right now. So Carlisle is going to play forward minutes. They have two players out to obviously Tyrese and then Johnny Furphy, unfortunately, Torres ACL second year forward. And then they've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 players who are 11 players. Your questionable, Pascal Siakam is doubtful. So I'm guessing some of them will be playing since they want to have enough players to play otherwise. I got to address eight. Anyway, I've never seen an injury report with that many players on it. 14 guys. That injury report has a staple. The Grizzlies had 11 players out the other day. They had, they signed it up, you know, whatever you call it. The Memphis Grizzlies medical updates are coming fast and furious. They always send them at 9pm. It was a critical loss against the Mavericks, I believe they had 11 guys out. Jaylin is doubtful and obviously the game has been played, but Jaylin was doubtful and Mitchell Robertson is questionable for that game for the next. What were we talking about with the Celtics before? We got to the very beginning. We were talking about where the Celtics look and then I derailed it initially. Look, I think as we said before, yeah, look, Jason Tatum doesn't look like prime Jason Tatum yet, but to me, he's replacing the ninth guy in the rotation and like obviously he's playing a bigger role in that person, but everybody slides down some and, you know, I think he continues to look as good as you could hope for. He still looks rusty. He's not moving quite the same, but he's still an excellent floor raiser for everybody around him. He's a great passer, great rebounder, really good help defender, knows how to play. Teams are certainly going to be keyed in on him defensively. They're not just going to leave him alone or not pay attention to him. So I think he's been a big value add even in the initial games he's been back. And, you know, it just takes some of the pressure off of Jaylin Brown and Derek White and Peyt Prichard from the defense. And I think it's all going very well. And they've still got another month to get him up to speed. And look, anything is possible, obviously, but I think I'm going to feel pretty good about them winning their first round series if they're in the two spot against whoever's coming out of the play in, in the East. So that gives him, you're talking close to six weeks from now to get fully up to speed for when they're going to face one of these other top teams in the Conference Semi-Finals. More Hoop Collective Podcast after this. 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They feature beam blade technology to improve windshield contact for maximum visibility. The professional parts people will even install your new wiper blades for free. Choose Rainex Latitude Wiper Blades at your local O'Reilly Auto Parts store or online at O'ReillyAuto.com. What player had 24 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists on Monday night? Oh, oh, I got a guess. I got a guess. Yes. Jaylen Johnson, who you've yet to pull this with. By the way, by the way, who had 41 points on Monday night? Nikhil Alexander Walker, more Alexander than Walker in this one, looking like it's Cousin Shay. I love that signing last summer when the Hawks made it. Yeah, what was that contract? Three years? It signed three years, I think it was four for 62, the final years of player option. It was basically for the full mid-level. And you know, and they signed, he was a very, he became a very, very good 3&D with a little bit of creating ability type of role player for the Wolves. He's basically doubled his scoring average without dipping in terms of efficiency. If he was a free agent this summer, man, he would be looking a lot more than that. Well, and the Wolves have really missed them. I mean, we talked about it at the time. I mean, Nas reads a nice player, paying Nas read twice as much as Nikhil Alexander Walker. I just didn't get at the time. And I, you know, I, it's, he's been a great fit for them. And look, it's like we talked about the other day, the Hawks have been a fairly disappointing team for most of the season. They were under 500 for a long time. Then they get this whole run of games against tankers. And then they get this win, you know, they dominated the magic, blew them out on Monday night. And now all of a sudden you look at the standings and they're a game and a half out of fifth, like they're all the way back in the mix again. They beat Philly twice in this stretch and these 10 wins, they beat Philly. I actually think it's 11 out of 12. They beat Philly twice. So not only did they beat Philly twice, they're now, they got to get the tie break edge. And now they've caught Philly. And so now they finally moved to the end. Philly's going to keep going the other way. Yeah. I probably agree. But they caught us. It's wild. It's wild how much it is, how much it has flipped around. And our current projection has them finishing eighth, but only a win back of Miami, Toronto and Orlando, who are all tied with 45 wins in our projection. So, yeah. And listen, the East is a deeper conference than the West. The East playing is a much more competitive playing bracket than the West playing bracket. Well, I will also tell you this, I'm not saying I'm picking Atlanta or Charlotte or Miami in a series against those top teams, but I'm not excited about playing that series. So But at least all teams are momentum. By the way, you know, you guys know what the, what the high mark for wins was. Brian knows this because I talked about it yesterday. But again, do you know what the high mark for wins in the Trey Young era was for the Hawks? I'm going to say 45. 43. I'm currently on pace for 44 this year. Yeah. I also have one since, I believe, 26. Actually, they're probably on pace for more than that because Well, and, you know, to get back to their pace for the whole 68 games, not for their pace for us. Right. That's true. To get back to the Jalen Johnson thing. You know, franchise player, you know, that's, that's, I'm not sure he's quite a franchise player or super store, but he is absolutely a big time foundation piece who's a massive bargain on a $30 million per year contract. And you know, I mean, he is, he is blossomed and really has been health that's kept them from blossoming the last couple of years, but he is absolutely blossomed this year into really a fascinating blend of size, athleticism, and playmaking ability. I mean, for the he's, he's on the short list of the best passing forwards in the league. Yeah. Remains fourth, I believe, in the league in the SIS per game. I'm really nice year. But they do have to go on the road for the first time a week's not end. By the way, like, could he be an all NBA selection? I mean, he's certainly going to have these guys. My, you know, the way things are going guys, all NBA guys are falling off the, I mean, he was an easy all star. So he's one of the top 25 players automatically, you would say, and there are several guys who are already ineligible for all NBA. So, I mean, he's certainly going to be right there in the mix at minimum. By the way, I made a joke the other night, last night I went to the Spurs Clippers game. True. I saw, I saw Victor before the game. There was a, there was a quite a, by the way, there was quite a buzz when that came. Like the Victor thing is getting real. There was quite a buzz. If you, if you have to take it to go see Victor, I take advantage. It is a show. It is a show. No question. I said to him, I go, Hey, I saw you declared you wanted to win MVP and a defensive player of the year. I go, why don't you just toss in tonight? Just say you want to win most improved. And I just sort of said as a joke, but maybe it's not a joke. Maybe. I'd just say a number one overall pick who's as hyped as any prospect since the brawn is ineligible for most improved. Sorry. All right. He has gotten better, but he's ineligible. I'm just, I wasn't saying he was going to win it. I said he should just say he should want it. He wants to win it. I mean, say he wants to win rookie of the year too. All right, Bon Temps, you pay attention to this college stuff. I don't even know who's in the tournament. What should I be paying attention to going into this weekend? I mean, for NBA fans, I would be watching the Kansas Cal Baptist game. And then if they win potentially going up against either St. John's or... Kansas Cal Baptist? McMahon, he wants me to prioritize that. Okay. All right. If Kansas wins, they will play the winner of St. John's and do we know who St. John's is playing? I know there are five seed because everybody's angry about it. They are playing the Northern Iowa Panthers who are in front of the Five Knick nurses. Five Knick nurses. I believe the last three times they made the tournament, they've won their first game. So we'll see if they could beat St. John's. Hey, didn't we go, when we went to see Kent State a couple of years ago, did Northern Iowa play in front of us, in front of Kent? I believe that is correct. Yes. I believe that is correct. I think they lost that game. I believe they did. But all that being said, the Kansas Cal Baptist game is of interest because Darren Peterson, one of the top players in the NBA draft has had a quixotic path through the college season. That's a real cap word for the day, McMahon. And I'm not sure they're going to win two games. And it's the last time we'll see him before the draft. And it will be interesting to see how he looks because I would say coming out of the big 12 tournament, I certainly think there's a real question about whether he's going to be the number one pick anymore, or even maybe the number two pick with the way Cam Boozers obviously been in. That's a quixotic quixotic statement. Darren Peterson is an incredible talent who's had a very strange season. And this draft is loaded at the top. A.J. DeBantz has been awesome. Another window discovery. Cam Boozers having one of the best statistical season we've ever seen from a college player. Caleb Wilson had a great year at UNC. It's a loaded draft. But I think, you know, if Peterson has a huge tournament and they make the final four or something, that would lead things in one direction. If they lose in the first or second round and he kind of is okay like he was in Kansas City last week, it could probably reinforce kind of where things sit now. And there's risk involved. There are at least perceived risks because of, you know, there's apparently like these full body cramps and, you know, people are as he load managing. Is there a medical issue? Like what's going on? Their teams are going to have to a ton of homework there. Cam Boozers seems to be about as safe of a draft prospect as you can find. Now, he doesn't have like the super springy upside. But if you want to call that a flaw, that's the only flaw with that. Well, somebody said to me for the story Brian and I did last Friday on draft guys said, I'll take it. I'll just take the ultra high level field guy and expect them to work it out. Like, you know, and compare them to the guy in Denver who might not be the greatest athlete either. But it's obviously a pretty incredible player in Nikoli Okic. So, and is, you know, probably as good a field guys has ever been. Two things before we go. One, just in the last five seconds, there's been a Memphis Grizzlies medical update. Okay. Scotty Pippa Jr had surgery on his foot. Successful. Hope you're doing well Scotty. Good luck for next season. And two, Wednesday night, you got a big one boys. Kent State, Illinois State, the NIT. Now, good luck, Sandy. My man, Rob Senderoff, going up against Ryan Peden is the head coach at Illinois State who will used to be a graduate assistant back on the day in Kent State. So, I told Peden, I root for you all season long, but not tonight. All right. Thank you very much to Jackson, Devon and Mark, our producers. Thank you to Bon Tomsen, McMahon. Thank you for listening and watching New Collective. We'll catch you later this week. Adios, amigos.