 Run it up, do run it back, yeah. Run it up, do run it back, run it back, run it up. Uh-oh, it's Wednesday, no pen Wednesdays. But yeah, that's a weird mood right here. This is Run It Back Fan Duel TV, my name's Michelle. That is Chandler, that is Lou, and of course, joining us because he hates us and he's far away. Shom, Shoraniah. Is it true Shoms, that the reason you're not here is you don't actually care for any of us? No, that's not true, but we did tell you all on Monday that Joellen Bied was probably gonna play on Tuesdays. Heard it, from Shoms. You did, and so much so that yesterday, all day long, I thought, oh, okay, I guess he's out now? I don't know, and then the questionable pop. How funny is that that NBA teams should just follow Shoms for the real scoop instead of the injury report that they just last minute throw up there that the MVP's playing? Yeah, I know. I don't like the line. They listened to the show. They would have known Monday, Shoms. They know what's up. Shoms already told you guys this, but yes, Thunder at Philly last night, OKC without SGA, no Maxi on the Philly side, but they did get Embiid back, 24.6 rebounds, seven assists, including the game-winning free throw. Seven games is what he's got left on his schedule to finish out the regular season. A, I'm shocked he's back, but B, how did he look? Is this enough time to ramp up, as they say? It's enough time, because it's always got, right? This is the push he's gonna make, and he looked unbelievable. The fact that he missed nine weeks and can come back in an NBA game against, arguably, the best team in the NBA, I know SGA was out, no Jaylen Williams was out, but so is Tyrese Baxi. The fact that this was his first game back, he looked, in some plays, he looked a little fatigued, and that's normal. You can't emulate a game situation from practice and shootarounds and things like that, and he had six turnovers, but the most important thing for me, it just gives them confidence going forward. This gives them this feeling that, OK, this season's not just thrown away because Joel is hurt. He's coming back. Oh, look at that. And, yeah, it's gonna be a tall, it's gonna be a tall mountain to climb, no matter who they face, because they do just have seven games to kind of get that chemistry back, play through him, but this was one of the teams that people were scared of early on with Joel. So, seven games, it's not a lot, but I think with him playing 30 minutes already in the first game, I think we'll see that to continue to grow, and I'm happy for him. I mean, nine weeks only for a torn meniscus, but that with his injury history is super impressive. So, welcome back, big fella. I know he had the sucket t-shirt out. It was a beautiful thing to see. Ah, look, they're eighth in the East, Lou. You know, making out of the play-in. You're gonna eventually have to have Celtics, Bucks, and any of these things could happen. And, again, who knows? What kind of chance are you giving up? Like, realistically, when you look at this team, what are we giving up? Yeah, let's not pretend this guy wasn't an MVP candidate before he went down nine weeks ago and seeing what he did game one, back in almost putting 25 on the board, big time win without Maxi. If there's gonna be any team that can put pressure on the top that you would hate to see at the bottom of a seven or eight is gonna be the Philadelphia 76ers with a healthy Joel and B back on the floor, with a Tyrese Maxi healthy back on the floor and being able to ramp up. You know, this is, if I'm Milwaukee and I'm Boston, I'm kind of pissed right now that the 76ers slid to this position only to get Joel and B back two weeks before the playoffs start, because, you know, they can get into a position where they can put real pressure on these top teams. And then, by the way, whoever gets them, the other team most likely is gonna get the Miami Heat. Now, they have time to get fully healthy and we don't know about Tyler Hero, but now, you know, Jimmy's back, Bam's back. So, seven and eight seeds in the Eastern Conference, they're not gonna be an easy out. So, Boston Celtics, they've had a great year. Milwaukee's been a roller coaster up and down, but whoever they draw, and it could be Chicago or Atlanta, I don't see that happening because I think those, you know, Heat and Philly teams are really good, but with Joel coming back again, this just gives them that belief, this gives them that confidence that we can go out, we can beat anybody any given night because we have the best player on the floor anytime Joel and B plays. So, I'm happy to see him back. I didn't think he'd come back. You know, Towns is still out. He, the fact that he's... We all didn't. It's crazy. I missed six months for a Torne ligament. I even said they should sit him the rest of the year. It's great. Like, it's not just like you put a Band-Aid on it or like an injection or even like a scope. This is a real go under, fix a Torne ligament. So, it's crazy the fact that he's back. Especially given his size and the way he plays and his age and his injury history, it's nuts. I hope he can sustain this because again, Philly, when they're fully healthy, they are dangerous and they're not going to be an easy out for Boston or Milwaukee. No, you know how I feel about Milwaukee. But, Shams, you all said some more Joel and Bede news yesterday. It wasn't just what we saw on the court. What else is going on? I'm told Joel and Bede has signed a new multi-year endorsement deal with Skechers. He will be the face of Skechers basketball. He's been trying different shoe models with Skechers since October. He finally found one and he will stick with it, at least for the remainder of the season. He wore it for the first time last night. Julius Randall, Terrence Mann, also part of Skechers basketball. But for Joel and Bede, I think like Chandler and like Lou said, I mean, for him to come back, I knew just knowing Joel, no one knows his body better than himself. He's been through so many different injuries. He knew exactly what time would be the right time to come back. He wanted to ramp up, use these next five games to really get right. And when Joel and Bede steps back on the floor, he, in his mind, he feels like he's gonna dominate the game, impact the game at a high level. I don't think he wanted to come back to this season and just be a shell of himself. So we'll see if he gets back to that place before the start of the play. How big is that bag from Skechers? No, I'm gonna assume they're comfortable. The picture, Kershaw, I think he's a Skechers guy. Tony Romo does those kinds of things. I think it's time for us to get us a pair of Skechers. But once you go Skechers, it's no going back to being cool and young. That's literally the best thing. I don't know Skechers is the move after a guy with that many injuries, especially to his life. Skechers has a history of being a comfortable. They never built a basketball shirt, they do. Do you think that they can't figure it out? He has a history of injuries and three Skechers. Regardless, he's getting a bag if he's going to play. Well, the original Skechers wasn't the demo was like older people walking a lot, right? And they're like hukas or hukas. They're like comfy, they're comfy. I just don't know if I want to hoop. Soft cushioning. I mean, they got to start a set. Look, what do you think? Garbage. Really, I like the color. Stop. They look comfy, bro. That's a lot of, that's what they're built for. He knows what he's doing. But the NBA is not comfy. They need to be built for speed and power. I'm gonna say it. 20 years from now, Skechers is gonna be the best. Really? Yeah, yeah. No chance. It's a hot take. No chance. Check back in. I'll be dead, but still. We got to come back to that one. Yeah, yeah. We'll come back to that one. Sean will still be going. Producers just put the highlights to it. Like, all right, we've just got your talk. By the way, this was fun. You didn't have Jamal Murray. Doesn't matter. It was a close one till the end, but the Nuggets did win 110-105. They now sit first in the West. This will just flip-flop for the next two weeks. Yolkic with 42, 16, and six. And Victor Wimbanyama finished with 23, 15, 8, and 9. Oh, we'll get to that in a second. But first, here is Yolkic talking about Wimby. You say anything to him after that? If you block and more shot, I'm gonna... Something, but he blocked like four after that, so I didn't do anything about it. He had... Translator? Do we have a tiny translator? I don't think he was stoked that Wimby blocks him in the shots. He blocked a lot of things. But you heard that stat line. Two assists and one block shy of the quadruple double. The one I'm waiting on, the one I check on every night. If you had to pick what was most impressive, I mean, he mentioned the blocks, but... That's gonna be the nine blocks. It's gotta be the blocks. I think the most impressive thing was Yolkic's 46, and 16, and six, and the win. But yeah, this stat line is insane. We're talking about, are we still gonna do it next year? I think he might pull this off this year. Like, every single game... Well, I'm counting on it. He looked at the 23, 15, 8, and 9. He's just three little stats away from getting quadruple double, which is just insane. We never thought we would see that again because we don't have someone with that size and that talent and that skill set to be able to do all four of these statistical categories. So the points are gonna come easy, the rebounds are gonna come easy. Even the assists, he's gonna have the ball in his hands, but the fact that he could possibly have, you know, double digit in four different categories, it really is nuts. And we're talking about a kid in his rookie year, too. So he's going to get it. It's just a matter of when. Exactly. I don't think the casual fan understands how hard it is to get nine blocks in a game to almost have 10, and that'd be the reason that you have a quadruple double. That is the most impressive part of everything that he's done. So not only is he an offensive threat, he's gonna put himself in a position to be in the defensive player of the year, conversation for years to come at nine, 10 blocks. That's insane. Does he have more blocks than 86% of the players? Uh-huh, in history. Like, we're apart. He's got more blocks than we're talking about here. Oh, yeah, of course. For sure. For sure. He probably does. What do you mean, probably? It's crazy, man. It really is. As a matter of fact, he does, because I probably have 100 blocks in my career. I probably have less. Really? Yes. I was a swipe to get out of the way, or a charged guy. Pull it up, ladies. So let's see how many we got. Probably got way more to give you some credit. I don't think so, dude. Yeah, you might. Well, you know what? We'll effort that. We'll try to find out what you had. Shoms, this game was fun. Like, look, I get it. Spurs are just playing for fun right now, and they're missing a couple dudes, but it was an entertaining game. What would you take away from it? I was texting in the chat. Like, I wish it went to overtime, so we got a chance to see Victor Romaniyama go for that quadruple double. Because then I could team up. I mean, it is just a matter of time. We've been talking about it for months now. There's four players in NBA history that have accomplished it just one time. Victor Romaniyama will be the guy that we're going to think about as far as being the all-time quadruple double leader. I think it's only bound to happen as long as he stays healthy. We think about Russell Westbrook in terms of triple double king. Along with Oscar Robertson before him, it's going to be Victor Romaniyama very, very soon, whether it happens this year, whether it happens in the next two, three, four years. And all he has to do is get two, and he's the all-time leader. And I think when I see this game, and when I see the Spurs, obviously they're down Devon Vasell, down Jeremy Sohan, getting talent on this team is going to be the number one priority this summer for them. They're GM Bryan Wright. The one good thing that they've done is they have optionality. They have a ton of flexibility. They have a ton of draft picks. They have tradable contracts. That Dejante Murray trade they made a couple of years ago, getting three first trump picks, getting a draft swap. That's all stuff that's going to come in handy come this summertime when they really are going to have to be aggressive this summer, next summer to add talent around Wimby. What's really fun about his rookie season is that, yes, they're a bad team, right? But it's like they're rebuilding. It's not like they're tanking. They have the future. They have the assets. They have all these pieces. So Wimby is being able to grow as a player and as a teammate. And when you look at their roster, when you've got guys like Sohan and Johnson and all these are kids that he's going to be playing with in the next three to five years, hopefully, and have this core kind of continue to grow together. So it's a very good situation for Wimby that he is on this team where he does get the menace. He does get the reps. He's going to be the best player. But also, there's light at the end of the tunnel where we're trying to win as soon as next year. So it's a great, it's a perfect situation for him. They've been showing some good glimpses too against some pretty good teams. All right, over under Chandler on your career blocks. I just saw it. You looked it up. 152, which is, by the way, is way more than I thought. Yeah, yours is way more than you thought. I got 192. See you guys, you're selling yourself short. Who to thunk it? I mean, it's Wimby guy. I think we might have combined. We might have him, for sure. I'm not going to have him. 17 years of star weekend next year. I'm not even done yet on this first year. Jokes, though, with the 42 points, that tied, of course, his season high. I don't even know, Lou, what's left to say. I watched the Denver feed last night when I watched this game for a while. There's just three little letters of what left to say. By the way, the Denver feeds giving it to him. You know what, I'm going to have to agree. I felt like the window was slim for SGA to actually pull it off, and that was going to come with having a 1C and carrying the team over and them having a little slippage, him being out. These games are pivotal when it comes to voting and the opinion of the voters. And so Jokes, having this big game, while SGA sits out, I think this kind of hurts my position. So I think he's the guy. The number one seed, obviously, that's the thing we've been talking about, too. And they got the hawks, the jazz, the spurs, the grizzlies. They have some bad scheduling coming up. So they should probably finish with the 1C, which obviously is going to be the cherry on top for him getting it. But here's the thing. I love the SGA exploded on this scene, right? So I think that helps his case that, yeah, I think the NBA and voters want someone new. They want someone young in that market, where that team's going to be really good for a long time. It's just hard to overlook what Jokes does consistently night in, night out with this team and this championship aspirations. If you looked right now, who has a better chance of winning a championship? I think 99% of the world would say the Nuggets this year than the Thunder 2, which I think that has an input. But it's crazy. We get numb to these stat lines. If SGA had this stat line, I would be like, whoa, like what a game. Jokes, I'm just like, ah, it's another day. I think we should do the voting and completely after the season. For sure. I think playoffs should be factored into the voting as well. We always talk like Dirk won MVP and he lost first round and it's just like, it's you gotta go back after for the ceremony. That's like, it just, it sucks. Do you think that's a thing that they talk about yearly? Like, or that are never going to change that. They're going to keep it two separate seasons, basically the regular and the post. I think they should, I think they should talk about it. I think it should be a conversation is something that they consider because you get to see who's really the guy in the playoffs, you know, especially with these guys that are leading all the way, like Jokes, he deserves to be the finals MVP, MVP the things that he's done, but you know, you should give him an opportunity until the end of the season for everybody to be able to vote. It's the same thing for All-Star, right? Like there's people that don't make All-Star but then make like all NBA, like Sybonus didn't make All-Star, he might make all NBA, like so that is also the voting starts. You can't be all NBA and not a mouse. Voting starts like a month into the season. All you have to do is have a really good first two months and you're an NBA All-Star. Correct. I know. I don't love that pattern, by the way. I actually kind of hate it. Here's a tough one, Chandler. If you could have only one of the two for the next five, let's do five years. Wemby or Jokic? Who are you taking? How old is Jokic? This is easy for me. I think I'm going to go Jokic just to say know what I'm going to get for the next five years. Wemby, there's still like a learning curve. There's still a process with him. There's still the worry about him getting stronger and missing games. I thought I was like 29. 29 years old, I got to go Jokic because I know exactly what I'm going to get at least for three or four of those next years and then we might start seeing a dip with his game the way he plays his body. Even if he loses athleticism, he's still going to be an elite player. Like, you know what I mean? It's not like he's blowing people away with his explosiveness and above the rim. Anything he's doing now at 29, he can do it 34. So I got to go Jokic. He's going to be Jokic for me as well. He's a proven winner already. I wonder if he'll be like, he's the kind of guy that's going to stop playing basketball earlier than we want him to, isn't he? Like, I wonder how long we'll get to see him play. For sure. Especially if they win again. I got another three years. And also, he continues to tell us he really doesn't care. Yeah, his horses are waiting. Yeah, his horses need to be tended to. So in 10 years, obviously, it's Wemby. We don't need to. And by the way, next year, when the first two months start and Wemby's an all-star and he's like the top five put in the NBA, it might change. But we just, there's too much that we don't know about him yet. Future's bright. Yeah. Future's very bright. Mavs Warriors, Dallas and San Francisco. And they win 104-100. It's their fifth straight. It's like they know something's up. Andrew Wiggins with 23. And he also had to guard Luca. Six of those Warriors in double figures. Luca finished with a pedestrian 30 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists. It's his 20th triple double of the season. And there's seven game win streak for Dallas. It's over. Luca said afterwards, you can never, ever count out the Warriors. I mean, I thought we kind of almost had reached that point, Lou, that we were starting to count them out. No, he's right. You can't count these guys out. There's too much legendary history there. And the core of a lot of those moments are still there. They're on a five game winning streak right now. What better time of the year than right now for this team to be gearing up, to surprise some people. The only thing that's gonna stand in the way, very much like their legendary run, there are some young guys, the yokiches of the jokers of the world. And these young guys, they are at the beginning of creating those moments for themselves. And that's the only thing that stands in front of the Golden State Warriors for making one of those legendary runs. It's these teams are ready to make their runs themselves. Other than that, you can never count this team out. I look forward to it. Andrew Wiggins. All right. Andrew Wiggins. He was the key on their last championship run. He's been their key this year with the, he hasn't played good. Everyone knows though, he's not a 12, 13 points per game guy. He's not a 36 or 45% for the field guy. He's had his struggles majorly this year. But when he shows what he did last night and not even the 20 plus points, he guarded Lucas so good. Lucas still got his stats, but he used his length. But he only had 30 points. Exactly. He's still gonna get his with just the amount of times he has the ball. I mean, for him, that's awful. Seriously though, but his defense was unbelievable, the way he moved without the ball, the way he got out in transition. This is the kind of energy and the spark they need from Andrew Wiggins. Cause again, you can't count out Steph Curry. You know what you're gonna get from him. Even dream on when he's playing, the team is a lot better and he's been pretty consistent in what he brings to the table. They need Andrew Wiggins, especially with Kominga. We don't know when he's coming back and he's been a bright spot, but Kominga should be and needs to be their second most important player. Cause he is that guy. I can go give you 28 and five and guard the other team's best player. And I know you hate it, but give Draymond Green credit. I don't hate it. Big time, big time block. You don't love. Big time defensive stance at the end of that game to get them over that hump. These guys are gearing up. You gotta be excited for the postseason and what's to come into playing. You know what's crazy? As I was looking at that, I think the spread finished at like, you know, the Warriors were favored by one and a half or two points. And I'm looking at him like, Kominga's out there. I get it there at home. How the hell are the Warriors favored? And it's just, it's crazy how good they are, but that's the respect that the Warriors have. People know how good they can be. People know at home. I mean, that building is pretty good. It's a good building. I don't know. That's why. This is exactly a perfect example of why if I'm a play in, it's scary to have to play this team and just beat them one time cause they can go and they can advance and they can make noise even later in that. If they get to, if they draw the Timberwolves of the Thunder. Oh man. It's gonna be tough. I get it. It's gonna be tough. The same thing with the Lakers. The Lakers look good. So it's crazy because the Western Commerce is so deep. We're talking about a 10th seed board. You remember one of the Brons. They're still so good. I know. You remember one of the Brons that whoever created the play should be fired? Yeah. They should get a raise. They probably did. They probably were given prizes. Those play in games are gonna be better than some of the first round series. Agreed. 100% agreed. There's just much more on the line quickly. And by the way, for the record, I don't hate it because here's why I get so mad about the dream on stuff. He came back in late January and they're 23 and 11 cents. That's why I get aerotated because I'm like, dude, why? What is aerotated mean? I hate you so much. Have you seen his pants today, Lord America? John and then Kominga, he mentioned it is four straight game that he's missed Shoms. When can we expect him back out there? John and then Kominga will be back on Thursday in Houston. According to Steve Kerr, obviously a massive game in the standings. Houston has been coming right behind Golden State the last few weeks, 11 straight wins. But there now I believe three games back of Golden State. I mean, that's going to be pretty insurmountable. You got to win if you're Houston on Thursday to give yourself even a chance. But Wiggins has stepped up in these four games that Kominga has been out with Niten and Nytus and getting Kominga back in the lineup, getting him a rhythm before the playoffs. That's going to be big for them. But I'm looking at the standings. A Warriors 10-9 matchup against the Lakers in that first playing game potentially. I mean, one of those teams is going to be going home way earlier than they thought. That is true because the Kings, I think, are going to struggle. I think if right now they're going to lose to Phoenix, which means the Warriors or Lakers, one of those teams are out, which sucks. Sucks for who? Whoever is out. Oh, interesting. Luca and Kyrie combined for 57. Top duos, where you got them? Middle of the pack. You and your middle of the pack. I think they're lower than middle of the pack. I think Tatum and Brown, they're the best team, you know what I mean? Yannis and Dame are up there. Joker, Murray. I don't know, I don't know. That's a championship duo, what do we say? It is, it is. So where does that put Luca and Kyrie? They're not a championship duo. In the upper echelon. In the middle of the pack. I think they're in the upper echelon. That's it. They're in the middle of the pack. They're a top five duo. Oh, there's KDM. Okay, cool. They're a top-out duo, but where do you put them? Okay, so they're worst in the middle of the pack, man. KDM and Brown. Yeah, well, what's the pack? How many is the pack? If they're in the top five, where are they in the top five? Fifth. Oh. So they're not. So when you were answering it, you were saying pack, what, how big was the pack? I was thinking the 30, I was thinking the 30 pack. Maybe the 34th best duo in the league right now. Oh, you had them worse. He has them worse. He says five out of five. I'm saying at least three. All right. That was being said. Can we just show, I just want to show this video. I know we're going to break here in a second, but this half court competition, I would pay money for this. Shooting them like free throws. It's just Steph and Luca having, they're like kids. I would watch this. Yeah, this is fun. Yeah, make this a thing. We should have this shoot at it all start weekend too. Right, Shoms? Like, let's make this happen. No, I don't like how friendly they are before the game. I really don't, but I also, but I do like the, I do like this for the fans, especially they're there early. I also like those shoes. Those were good shoes. Not sketchers. They were not sketchers. Got it. We're going to take a quick break. Shoms, love you mean it. We'll see you bright and early tomorrow. When we come back. Oh no. Ryan Recillo. Jordan. Ryan. There he is. With an E. God only knows where he's coming from right now. He's coming from his kitchen. I haven't seen this dude in forever. You just did his podcast. Lou, have you met Ryan Recillo yet? I have not. Well good. Then we're going to have an introduction right now from the Ryan Recillo podcast and a thousand other things. Who are we kidding? Recillo is here. What's up, buddy? Good to see you again. I know. It's the last time I saw you we're at ESPN and I remember you came on to Sports Nation and they were like, he doesn't have enough energy. I'm like, that's who? He's just a dry dude. Like let him live. That's what you said about him? No, I didn't say it. And then he and I talked about it and mocked everybody that said it. True or false, Ryan Recillo has been to my house in Malibu for a party. True. Well, quite false. I think I got there after the party been going on for 48 hours. Oh my God. That checks out. That's true. Yeah. Chandler, it was so bad. Chandler left his own house. I remember I brought a friend, shall we say. And I was like, this house is sick. Great dude, a lot of cool people. It's going to be amazing. Chandler and I's mutual buddy was like talking it up and she was like, all right, this is going to be great. Big car service, SUV black. Oh, wow. Obviously. You dirty dog. Yeah, so I was like, I'm doing this up huge and it looked like a bomb went off. And then Chandler left. You left her. You're friends with these guys? I don't know. Do you trust people in your house? I would steal something if I knew you. Yeah, I trust it. By the way, so the record, Chandler was fine. It was just like everything else going on. It was over. If it was, yeah, if it's a week, it's a three day party. It's coming to go as you please. Lou, have you been to one of these parties? I have not. I have not either. Because now I'm a working man. I'm a father. Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm sick and tired of you. All right, so let's get to some hoops talk here because Embiid made the big return last night which is still shocking to everyone on this panel that he's already back. But he had 24 points. They make it out of the play-in. Can we be hyped for this? What kind of a chance are you giving it? Well, it's a lot more fun than watching what they've been since he was gone because they've just been terrible. I think they've tried to piece it together as much as they possibly can. But last night, it was interesting for a few different reasons because they were subbing him in and out with that game mattering. They could have just said, all right, fine. He got back. He got his run. It's clear. I don't care what Nick Nurse said about his conditioning. I mean, it's just not realistic that he would be back and close to peak conditioning for him because he's a big guy. He hasn't like playing in a real basketball game is completely different than all the work that you would do leading up to it. So he had a couple of big shots. I actually thought he was a little passive which is understandable, but going up against Boston or Milwaukee this late in the game, like Boston has a lot of things they can throw at him. I think Boston with the history of those two teams would welcome it. So the name brand part of that being the first round matchup, you're like, wait, this isn't what's supposed to happen. You're getting back to the NBA's MVP in the first round. But I just don't know if those two teams would be afraid of what we saw last night unless it gets a lot better the next two weeks. Yeah, I think just that as a teammate of Joel's, I think that does give us that boost, that confidence that okay, any given night we have Joel and B, we can feed him, we can down to him. The seven games, is that enough for him to get in good shape? That I don't know. But I said, Ryan, I've torn my mask is four times. The fact that he's back playing 30 minutes doing what he did last night, after just missing nine weeks was the most impressive thing to me. And yeah, his cardio is gonna come. He's gonna turn the ball over. He's gonna be a little passive, like you said. But the fact that he's on the floor to me gives them at least that the season's not just a waste. You know what I mean? Like now at least we have a team we can go to war with in the postseason, no matter who we play. If it's the Celtics, so it's a big mountain to climb. But at least now we have the confidence with Joel and B going. But on the flip side of that, think about if you're the Boston Celtics, what are you thinking? You're like, well, damn, I put this team in a position to be one of the best in the league this year, only to be rewarded with Joel and B and Tyrese Maxi for the first round of the playoffs. Like he's changing the whole dynamic of the playoff look. Yeah, Ryan, if you're the Celtics, would you rather the Miami Heat or the Philadelphia 76ers? Because they're probably gonna get one of those two after having a hell of a season. Yeah, I know. I mean, you would think, and you guys can answer this a lot better than I can. But I'd always like to think, like if you think anything of yourself, if you have any kind of personal pride, knowing that you blew that series to Miami, because I still, like, I think that Eastern Conference Finals outcome is still one of the most surprising playoff series I've ever seen because Miami just punked them for three straight games. It's like, Boston, you're like, you're really gonna let this happen? And then Boston wakes up, they get it to 17, it turns to the ankle. So you would think like, yeah, no, actually we want those guys again because we wanna prove what happened last year. The difficult thing about, I'm getting emotional about it. Oh my God. I don't think we could play it cool, play it cool. Stay cool. Deep breaths. All right, all right. I watched the heat for what, five, six months? And then it's like, okay, none of that mattered. Like the team I watched last night against New York, where most of their guys are back and Butler's defending Brunson and Kailin Martin's back in there and Jovic who I have a sneaky love for. Like I watched that game against New York who's missing all of their other guys and be like, wait, would this be a four seed if they had played like that the entire time? So I still think Miami would be the more challenging basketball team than Philadelphia because I don't know why it's gonna look so much better in two weeks, but you would think there'd be some lingering personal pride from athletes after what happened last year to Boston losing in the Easter Compass finals. Yeah, at any time there's like a banged up team all year long and you just know Miami at some point they're gonna get Tyler Hero back. Now they got Martin back, you know, they're getting Jimmy Butler back. So it's like at some point this team's gonna be full strength and I don't wanna play them in the first round but given as a competitor of what happened in the past, yeah, I'm a little more juiced up than playing, you know, a banged up Philly. Well, but also I wanna survive in advance too and just play Orlando in the second round. So whatever's the easiest path also would be kinda nice. We give Miami a lot of credit because they usually turn it on at the end of the season and they become one of those teams that you don't wanna run into but pre-Joel Embiid injury Philadelphia was the top three team in the Eastern Conference. So to run into them with Joel Embiid back for the first round of the playoffs, I think in my personal opinion, that's a scarier matchup. Just selfishly as a fan and people, we're all gonna be watching. I love everything about what's happening right now. I'll tell you this, whoever Philly plays the first round of Joel Embiid was implying, I probably wouldn't watch that series at all. Now what's Joel Embiid at least it's spicy. It changes everything. Let's talk Celtics for a second, Racillo, cause they are, it's just a crazy team and I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they're watching Joel come back and they're like, damn it. But they got the best record and then Jason Tatum takes a lot of heat. Predominantly clutch time critiquing. Where are you on what he's done, what he can do? What are his limitations, if any? Just a real quick thing. I think with the history of the playoffs Embiid, Boston's like whatever. Really? Seriously. Yeah. I think they think Embiid's easier to guard in the playoffs than the other top guys in the league. Than Miami. So I just think it's harder for a traditional center to destroy you in those late possessions. But as we're talking with the sessions we show. I don't think anything is traditional about Joel Embiid. I feel you, but Joel Embiid, like that's not traditional to me. You know what I mean? Look, I mean, if we're going to George Mike and you got me. No, not that traditional. No, we won't go that back. We won't go that far. Yeah, but also who won the Celtics Ryan? Who won the Celtics Ryan? Przenka St. Garden, Joel in the half-court offense. Horford, so they're going to be double teaming. So these guys like Ubre, Harris, they're going to get a lot of more open shots than they have the last nine weeks. Horford does, and I can't believe he's still doing this. I guess I got it. He does an incredible job of like just making everything, all the work before the catch and the setup. He just does a better job against Embiid than other people have done. I think that's why the Sixers were motivated to sign him as a free agent years ago. And here we are like five, six years later and he's still giving them good minutes. You're right, Przenka's one-on-one. Like nobody's going to handle Embiid one-on-one. I would just say I've noticed stuff. I feel like late with him and some of those big possessions where he needs to be set up to get into position or he needs to be set up to get that catch of the free throw line, which is a layup for him. But it's just a little bit harder for him than say like a list of two or three other perimeter guys that can kind of get the ball and just go. At least that's the way, you know, look, we may just disagree about it, but I don't think Boston's going to go, oh no, we have to play him again when they've had a pretty good track record against him in the playoffs. And to me, the Celtics, they're issuing... Like who's stopping Boston? Well, their weakness was their depth. But the fact that they went through a whole regular season, they're 59 and 16 with Pritchard and Hauser and Horford as they're only three real rotational bench players is nuts. So everyone knows getting into the postseason shortens anyway, so now I think that's almost an advantage to them because now a guy's really good, the team's just going to go seven, eight deep anyways. So now I think that weakness turns into a strength because those guys are proven, those guys are ready, they've gotten all the reps, all year long, and they're healthy. And they've been healthy, which helps a lot. Who's stopping them? Well, you want me to, go ahead. Like, look, the late game stuff though, Michelle, you're asking me about, like I see it too because, you know, if you dig into all the numbers, and we did this with Bill on Sunday, there's not really like this number that jumps out. They're like, oh, in 2020 they did this, but then the late game they did this or their playoff efficiency and offense went down at Hill and you're like, you know, it's all kind of pretty steady. Like 22 is probably more about defense. But I've looked at all the clutch numbers. I think it's more of an eye thing than something that's looked at in the number because they only have like after the all-star break, eight games that qualify as clutch. But I do think they get a little isolation, jab step, triple threat happy where Tatum and Jalen are so good at making absurd shots that they kind of default to that. But the byproduct of that becomes that everybody's just standing around watching to see if the shot is going to go in and they make themselves easier to defend. So this is an historically accomplished statistical regular season team, but I think some of that lingering stuff that those of us that have watched in the locker like, hey, is that going to be enough not just to get out of the East, but to beat say a Denver in the finals? Because I thought that was a very clear difference between the execution of those two teams when they play twice this year. But right, so right now, would you take the Celtics or would you take the field just to get out of the East? I take the Celtics over the field, but I wouldn't take them over Denver. Yeah, me neither. That sounds fair, right? I mean, in the fact that they're 32 and three at home, which is, like you said, sometimes we see Tatum take these like, it's like Luca, when you see him take this 35 foot step back three at the end and he misses it, it's like, what the fuck? What? Especially when teams are going all runs. Yeah, it's like, why are you taking the shot? So when you see Tatum and Brown, they get to their mid-range to do it, that's a low efficient shot, right? That's a low percent shot. But when he makes it to hero, what a crazy shot. But most of the time, it's not a high, it's not a good shot. Live by it, die by it. They are a jump shooting basketball team. They like shooting jump shots and they like shooting three-pointers. They're going to live and die by it. Even when teams go on a six to eight point run, you would think they'll come down, get something flowing where the ball moves side to side. No, this team plays Iso basketball and they're going to live by it and die by it. And that's what we wait to see in the postseason. I can't wait to hear your take on Draymond Green because the fourth ejection of the season just happened. It was so egregious that I think he finally lost Lou as a staunch defender at least this week. It was the first time it has happened. So where are you? Are you reading Kerr and Currie as just like, they got to be over it, but they got to also stand by their dude? Yeah, I think that's what it is. I think it's standing by him. I think it's, sometimes you do everything as a parent. I don't know what that's like, but you kid just sucks. You just go like, we tried, we did a lot of stuff. We bought him stuff. We deprived him of stuff. We tried all these different angles with red books. And you know, he's just, he's not going to listen to us. So I think the stuff that's really frustrating about Draymond is I think his personality is really important to this entire run. I've always felt like every team needs one guy that's going to kind of live in the gray area and fight for you emotionally because the rest of the Golden State Warriors over these years have been kind of passive personalities. I mean, they're great. There's a bunch of my favorite players I've ever watched, but they needed Draymond to be this kind of emotional fuel for them throughout a lot of this stuff. So I think that was kind of the agreement where they all understood, hey, we're going to need to let him go a little bit further because this is just who he is. I remember I interviewed him after the 16 finals in person in Toronto at the All-Star events. And I was like, is there any part of you that regrets, you know, what happened in 16 and really the finals turning on that? He was like, nope. I was like, I wouldn't have 70 million if I acted like you or something like that. And I mean, he wasn't actually being a jerk about it to me, but he was basically saying like, I am wired this way. This is what you get. And that's why I have all this money in the bank. And I've got it. So I don't think that he's ever really felt like he has to be more accountable. Like all of us want to be more accountable. I think he finally said it on his own podcast though. He said, I might have cost us a championship in 2016. I believe that's what he said on his podcast. So what does he believe? Because he says one thing. He says another thing. Absolutely. What is what? What's up? My thing is, it's all fun games. He is the emotional leader. He is that heartbeat. He is that toughness. But when you're not on the floor for your team, all that shit goes out the window. So if you, yes, you are that emotional leader and you are the tough guy in locker room and Clay and Steph is great as they are. They are kind of passive and they're super nice guys, but they're not going to be the guys to jump you in practice. They're not going to be the guys to check coach, you know, Steve Kerr. Punch you in the face. Yeah, they're not that. But when it comes to this level, where now he's missing games and as Steph Curry, as Steve Kerr, you realize that we're a much better team when he is on the floor. That's where then I'm pissed off. That's when Steph Curry is literally crunching on the court. Because where there's 23 and 11 since he's back, that's a huge difference than the bad product they were putting without him. So his value is more important than his attitude and his toughness. That doesn't matter to me if he's not able to play because he's suspended doing dumb shit. Agreed. End of the day, Jordan Poole was not the only player that got punched this year, last year, trust me. He was the only one that somebody leaked the tape. Trust me. You mean punched by Draymond? There's a hot take. There's like a serial puncher left? I mean, hold on. How many years have you seen him get punched in the face? You know what's crazy, the crazy, I saw Omri Caspi and Garrett Temple beat each other and there was no video of it. That's a deal. That's what I'm saying. The problem is the video getting leaked. It's not the problem. Somebody gets punched. Oh, you're not saying Draymond's punched like 30 games last year. We bet not. Because that would have been a story. Not it? Yeah, that's what I was like. There is probably 25 other altercations that with Draymond, with anyone else that if it was on tape, we would really be mind blown. I know. What are we not seeing? But side note, the Omri Caspi, Garrett Temple, but it was the Omri Caspi. That's the weirdest duo I've ever, why wouldn't he be mad at him? Garrett Temple's like the nicest guy in the world. And Omri Caspi, it was crazy. What was the deal? The loss that we were in Memphis was after loss. And I'm talking like blows, punching each other in the face to where like we were so caught up, we didn't even break it up. We were just like watching. And then finally, it was like hockey. But it was a crazy fight. It was literally a hockey fight. I kind of love that. Let him breathe. If that video came out, it would have been so viral. People get punched every day, B. What is wrong with you? Lou, Lou is the worst. Caspi wasn't a big rebounder, right? Caspi? Can you break it up? Let me ask you this. Warriors Lakers, we've got the whole play and situation. You're one of those, in your opinion, a viable option to make a deep run? Both, I don't know. This is the most clueless I think I've ever been entering the West. Seriously, I like so many of these teams. And I'm like, all right, I can find the argument, right? I could find the argument against them. Like I got asked the other day, I was like, okay, after Denver, because I think Denver, it makes sense to default to Denver. And that's with Murray back because they have a really hard time with guys on the ball creating on their own. There's just not a lot of those guys. And when Yolkich comes out now, you can just see that the offense is strung a little bit. So anyway, when I look at the match-up part of it, like I think Minnesota, with the way they've handled the Clippers, with the way they can have Gobert cover Gordon in the dunker spot, and then Denver tries to have Gordon bring Gobert away and they just ignore it and they're like, fine, you wanna shoot corner three, just airing to it. That means Yolkich isn't shooting the basketball. Like I like Minnesota as another option, but I know you could come back at me and kill me on the late offense. What is the thing that you trust? What does it look like with Kat coming back if he's coming back late and all that kind of stuff? So when you start factoring Golden State LA into it, like Golden State's been, I mean, actually both these teams have been really good since you look at these record points, but I think it's an awful match-up for Golden State. Like last year in the playoffs, you just went, this is impossible. We're talking which of those teams make a run. One of those teams aren't getting out of the play-in. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, one of the- Which is weird to- Yeah, like, I don't think they're catching Phoenix, and Phoenix is gonna, you know, Phoenix Sacramento, and then one of those teams are out. So it's- Do you guys like Phoenix? Dude, I'm so scared of Phoenix. I love Phoenix. I thought they were so, you know, underperforming, but I've said it all year long. I think they have it all. I think the pickup of like a Royce O'Neill is great. Nurkich, they'll constantly have 15 and 15. Nobody talks about that. Beal's been a little bit of a roller coaster inconsistent, but when you have that much offensive firepower and you have Grayson Allen now having a career year of shooting three. What a world we live in. They have so many weapons offensively, where to me, that's scarier. Minnesota had a great year. OKC had a great year, but I'm not scared to play them in the postings. I haven't seen them do it before. I haven't seen- So KD is why you think- I've seen those. I've seen Devin Booker do it. I've seen Kevin Durant do it, though. So those guys, their resume scares me more than- But you haven't seen them do it together. That's my problem. And they've been super inconsistent. I just know what they're capable of. There we go. Ryan, why'd you ask? Because are you not buying them? I had a really hard time, and I know it's one game, but the rematch against the Spurs, where they lost- You mean the three of the four they lost? To love it so much. Yeah, or that. They were a team where I was like, I don't really care what the record is, I don't care what the seed is, I don't care where all the numbers are, like those guys haven't played enough, get the games together, like once they roll it out. Like, I love Booker. He is one of my favorite players of the last few years. It wasn't immediate with him, but just the way he is, and he goes about his business, like I wish more basketball players, just as soon as they stepped on the court were like that guy. I think he has that thing that you need to just raise your game to another level, and we've at least seen with the run in 21, and we're like, okay, there's something there, as opposed to some of these other players that I love, that, you know, I think there's always a moment of, oh, is that guy comfortable right now? Like, I remember Shay Gilgers Alexander in that run with the Thunder where they went to the Rockets and it was seven games, and it was Chris Paul, and it was Shrooder, like SGA, granted he was younger, he wasn't the first option. You're like, I don't know if he's entirely comfortable out there. And now I would never even think that of him, going, you know, because the team is his and all these different things. So with Phoenix, they check all these boxes, but I feel like I gave up in the last week, and their closing schedule is absurd. When you look at everybody they're gonna play, with more than regular, it's unbelievable how bad it is. Yes, somebody was mad at that. Yeah, I'm gonna write on this one. Like, you just, they haven't had that firepower that you would expect from the talent that they have on paper. I hadn't seen them put one of those runs together, where I'm like, yo, this is gonna be a dangerous basketball team, compost season. It's just so many inconsistencies in how they play and how they defend, it just worries me sometimes. Minnesota 52 and 23, Phoenix 44 and 31, if they put in the playoffs, I think I'm taking the suns. I mean, when you put it like that, it isn't interesting. You know what I mean? I don't care about their regular season record. I really don't. The numbers are the numbers. I'm just, I'm a vibe guy. I ain't from the vibe. I love vibes, I do. Yeah, I'm not from the vibe. Bring the vibes. Yeah, we've got vibes and visions. The sun's in four. We're gonna get that kid back. We're gonna get that kid back. And I'm all full. I sweep him. I think, like, a few weeks ago, I probably would have gone with you on this. By the way, this is what we're getting. We're getting, and then I'm waiting around for the Clippers, and they're just gonna go, hey, we showed you what we needed to do for two months, and now we're gonna stink. Yeah, me and Lou, me and Lou were hot on the Clippers now. They have shit to bet. I think, I'm still there, so we agree again. It's so many of these teams in the West that I really, really like that it's just, it's all over the place. You guys should exchange numbers after this show, dude. But seriously, like, what about Dallas? Like, I know they're all the last three. Dallas is scary. Dallas is scary. We've named ten teams out, and they're all good. They're all deep, and they all can beat you any given night. Dallas is one of those teams I can't get with, but Chela loves it. Same, the vibe. I can't get with it. By the way, I just want to fast forward to the playoffs. On the MVP thing, Luz had SGA, had him since, before the season even started, Chandler's got Yolkic. You actually have a vote. Where are you leaning? And if it is Yolkic, and he gets his third, is he best of all? I mean, I know Tony Cuckooch has his opinion, but where are you? I'm just stupid. A ridiculous take. What was it? I missed that one. He was a hit. New York's players, man. You guys getting mad at us in the media. You've been on fire the last game. Cuckooch went nuts. Yolkic isn't on the level of Lade. He was in top five. Someone else, some Dino Raju coaches. Yolkic is good in all the stats are cool, but he's nowhere near as good as Dino Raju. Stats are cool. That was a real quote. Stats are cool, bro. It reeks of old school. Wait, you get a vote, Ryan? OK, what can we get? Look at that. Yeah, what? He just said it. Thanks, Chandler. You seem excited about it. He died. Oh, wow, that's cool. Like, what's wrong with you? Do we get a vote? No, we don't get a vote. We're not real. I just got it. I didn't get it until after I left the ESPN. I thought that was the best part. That was the weirdest. Like, all these things that happened when you post the ESPN, it was like, oh, is that because the ESPN? It was like, no, I actually, as soon as I left, I think. It's gone, everything's good. I don't really get it either. No, I think somebody in the office, he was like, do you know how many games this loser watches? That's just. You should get a vote, though. Think about people who do. Like, you should get a vote. Do you, how hard do you think about it? Or you already know. You're like, I already, I've had it. Last year, I really had a hard time with it. OK. You know, because I think it is really important. Yeah. You know, you're as a vote. Last year, too? Just shut up. Thanks, buddy. He's never been more impressed by a human God in his life. I don't know if that, I feel like there's a tad like, meh, all right, you know. Because when we started bringing up the Ku Coach thing, I started bringing up the globe, being like, let me try to figure out what's going on and why they're dumping on Yolk. It's so bad. Last year, I struggled with it. I really, really struggled. I ended up going with Embiid. I didn't, but I just tried to make the vote, the vote. Because last year, there was so much bullshit going on, just warring tribes on that that was so frustrating. Because I felt like you just had to be so dismissive of either one of the players to make your point. And I just didn't think that's what it was. And I thought the way Embiid closed, and Yolkic in Denver was kind of like over it. And you're going to try to go the whole season. So anyway, having said that, I have no hesitation with Yolkic this year. Like, none. There's no way. There's no way he could wear a T-shirt that says, Ryan Rossellos sucks, or mocks. There's just no way I'd be voting for anybody else. It really comes down to Luca and Giannis 2-3 for me, which makes Lou probably upset that I'm going to miss you. Well, today, I conceded. I thought the only way that he could possibly pull it off if they finish the season with the one seed and him being the leader of that. And with some slippage, I think they're in third today or something of that nature. He could change it two days. But Lou, he said Luca and Giannis are his two and three. I didn't hear SGA. I'm about to pass that part. And not Tatum, but it's a love for Tatum. It's a lot of people that likes Giannis as well. Giannis is a sleeper pig. I just feel like there's almost like we're so used to it now that I almost voted Giannis last year. Really? Not one. Yeah. It's like we're just, it's just he's there. He's in our subconscious all the time. But he doesn't have the, I'm sorry to show. I think it's because sometimes to Giannis, and I think the guys that played, like, he just gets it and goes through everybody. There isn't like, we had that thing this season. We're like, where's the bag? Where's the bag? Like, I don't know, man. Whatever it is, it works. And I love that he's up for it every single night. That's the thing about it. Not to mention. I think he's mad. Ryan, Yoko just scheduled. They got the hawks to jazz, the spurs, the grizzlies. Like, they're going to get the one seed, too. Yes, he is. Stamps is. Let's first things not a given, so let's slow down. You're right, because this last game is nobody will play. No, maybe not. They've been fighting the Chet Holmgren-Rookie of the Year thing basically all season, although that's weakened a little bit. It's Wemby's, right? I mean, who cares what the team right is? Go ahead, Ryan. I hate Rookie of the Year being factored in by like, oh, those games mattered more. Same. Like, Chet, Chet can have a game where he doesn't even have, like, I like Chet. So I don't want to argue against Chet. But Chet's role and responsibility on this team is completely different than Wemby and Yama's and Victor's the better player. Yeah. See, I think we've returned the corner on Wemby again, the things he's doing. 19 wins, I just think when, yeah. So we're not looking at all at wins and losses in this only award. Everything else, All-Star, MVP, wins matter. Rookie of the Year doesn't. Right, you're rookie. You're just doing it. But it's just, it's crazy when it's a draft. OK, we're talking about the best team arguably in the West and the worst team in the West. You don't think Chet will put up those numbers on the Spurs and still get that many wins? We almost had a quadruple double and lost. On the flip side, though, how good would the thunder be if Wemby was on the thunder? This is what it's been all season. This is hard. Like, it's mesmerizing, but it's just hard to root for. If we can, it's the winning and an award. Yeah, if we can agree that winning does not matter, fine. Wemby, by far, is the better player, better future, and he has had a hell of a year. Fine, winning just does not matter. A lot of these big numbers have come with losses. That's all we say. Most of them. Right, and he also had like three months where no one on the team could throw him an entry pass. OK, but Chet is living possibly at number one seed, Ryan. That's got to come for something. It's coming. It's coming, Ryan. We, this has been awesome. I hope you'll come back on again. Was it Bill that said he, when he watches Wemby, he feels like he's in a dream? I think so, although he lost his mind. I mean, I'm glad we're leaving now before I get to say. I'm flirting with Wemby for defensive player of the year. Yes, all right, let's come back. This is all, I love this so much. All right, this has been great. It's been good to catch up. Talk soon. Thank you, Ryan. We'll take a quick break. We'll be back. Run it up, then run it back. Run it. Guys, we can't finish the show and not show this. Oh. This gracious little moment. It really is crazy to do in a game with like five minutes left. I mean, they're up, put it up, Tony. Still. By the way, is that considered disrespectful? It's not considered disrespectful because whoever this guy is had an opportunity to play defense. He decided not to. You know what's crazy? Here's the highlight. He fully gave up. Yeah, he gave up. That's fun. That's not Jackson Hayes' problem. I would lose my mind if I was up that game. That's silly. That's a Toronto Raptors problem. You should be mad at your own team. Look at the pitch reaction. Look at number two. Dance it on your grave. He's there. Also, those Toronto uniform, everything's throwing me off with the color scheme on them. Those are the drink uniforms. I don't love it. I don't. That's a weird thing. My man just did a through the legs dunk in the NBA game. It's pretty sick. Well, did you just get it? Yeah, I mean, it's nuts. All right, we're looking at that. That's hard. Don't need to do Tyler Hans, bro. Malik Rose on the show tomorrow. Two guests, double guest.