 Run it up, they run it back. Run it up, they run it back. Run it up, they run it back. Good morning, welcome to Run It Back from cold, wet, rainy Los Angeles this morning. Can't golf, losing my voice, freezing. But it's Thursday, which is our Friday. Let me welcome my panel today, stadium insider, Tom Serania. With all the tea and all the news, three times six man of the year. Lou Will, what's cracking y'all? What's good morning, fellas? What's good? Congrats again on your debut, whole Sting Chandler. Hey, how about that? How about that? The kids trying to do it all in the second day of losing my voice. Just sounds about right. We had some games last night. It's a really good game. Started with Minnesota Timberwolves. Pulled a 26. They got smacked around by Joel and B finished with 51 points, 12 rebounds. His seventh career 50 point game, second of the season. Against the number one defense, by the way. Harris Maxi, also threw in 35 points. Lou, Joel, 12th straight game with 30 points, 10 rebounds. Set an NBA records. What's your take? Dude is balling, man. Got to give him a lot of credit. 12th straight, 30 and 10s, that's nothing to sniff at. He's playing basketball at one of the highest levels of anybody else in the league. It's only a couple of other different names that I can throw out there that's playing better basketball to him. You know, Luca Dunches is going to be one of those guys. It's going to be him right there in the mix. And then it's a collage of everybody else, man. You got to give him a lot of credit. He's been leading this basketball team at a high level. They're playing at a high level. I'm excited for things to come in the future for this team. But right now, Joel and B is super balling. It's crazy because he has to just continue to have games like this, right? For us to be putting him on the MVP radar with everyone, with Tatum doing what he's doing. Luca, Jokic, it's crazy that we're not even talking about him that much. But with what you're seeing with the 76ers so far this season, do you feel like this year, the playoffs are going to be different? Now they got the, you know, they moved on from James Harden. They got their team moving forward. Tyrese Max, he's been unbelievable. You think they're primed and ready to go this postseason? Yeah, it feels like it, right? Like this team, it feels like they figured out their chemistry. They figured out the lineups. You know, there's a clear, clear cut pecking order. Who's going to take shots? Who's going to play defense? Who's the glue guy? Who's going to be the guy to go out there and get the, get the crowd going? The energy guys and Pat Bev. And, you know, they have a pretty good basketball team that's lined up to do some damage in the postseason. So I'm excited to see it. Tyrese Maxi is playing lights out as a, as a robin or secondary guy to a Joel and B. Yeah, and they're balling, they're figuring it out. They got, they got a great bench. Got guys that are going to come off the bench, give them energy, give them bench scoring. Guys that also aren't going to play on the other end of the floor. And so this, this team looks good going into the playoffs. Yeah, when I watched them play, it's not just Joel and B and Tyrese Maxi, right? They're obviously the focal point. They get going, things they did last night, really special, but they have guys like, you know, Tobias Harris, Kelly Uber, that can go and get you 25. Like you said, the depth of their bench, the way they can defend, how deep they can go. They have sides, they have versatile, they're versatile. So I really like what they're doing. Choms, they obviously made the big move. Governor James Harden, is there anything else in the horizon for them? The Sixers are continuing to look at the marketplace because Chandler, you look at their asset pool. Three first round draft picks they can trade. They have a bunch of contracts. Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nicholas Batum. So Zach Levine, Ozheon and Ubi, those are two names to keep an eye on. This guy that Philadelphia has a level of interest in. And like Lou said, Joel Embiid has taken control of this team. I think he's definitely, he's dominating, it's clear. And what we saw from him going into the year was he was trying to see what this team would be. He was trying to see how Tyrese Maxey come into the year to buy us hairs. He was really at the beginning of the year, just looking around, letting guys ease into the season. And they had Kelly Ubre start the year off. He was averaging 17 points a game. Then once he got hurt and he missed time, you saw Joel Embiid take his game to another level. He recognized there was a scoring punch that was missing in that starting lineup. And he's taken off. Another thing to keep an eye on is Tobias Harris. He's a guy, the expiring year of his deal, $39 million this season. And he's been the one, two punch at different points. A lot of teams are keeping an eye on him and seeing what exactly happens with him. The Sixers want to keep him around. They know how important he is. Lou, you played with him. I'm curious how you view Tobias Harris. There's different points. He'll be the number two guy. He'll be the number three guy, the number four guy on any given night. Do you see him being in Philly long-term? How do you view his future there and also as a player? Yeah, Tobias is a great player, but he's one of those kind of guys that he goes with the flow sometimes to a fault, right? He's such a team guy that sometimes he can get lost in the mix because he's just, I'm cool with whatever. Let's just figure it out on a fly type of guy when teams need him to be aggressive. They need him to be a clear cut number two or number three guy and be consistent throughout the course of the season. And so that's the problem I have with Tobias. As far as the 76ers going in the trade deadline, listen, if I'm two games out of number one, why shake the tree? You know, we finally figured out a good chemistry, a good mix of guys that's working for us. Why throw somebody else in there? You know, granted, if you have an opportunity to go get a Zach Levine or you have an opportunity to go get one of these high level guys, you have those conversations. But if I'm playing good basketball, why bother with that? See, but how much of an upgrade is Zach Levine, let's say, to two of Tobias' hairs, to a Kelly Uber? Like collectively, I think I'd rather both of those guys instead of a Zach Levine who, like you said, they just got rid of all the drama. They just got rid of an ISO score. They're finally playing through Joel and Bede who's having another MVP type year. Tyrese Maxey's learning how to play off him really well. So it's like, like you said, well, you don't fix what's not broken, right? Like why even shake this up at this point? And that's why I think there'll be a consideration. Yeah, and like Lou said, I think that's exactly why Philly is gonna be patient. The fact that they have these assets, not three-first-hand picks, they could easily roll it over into the summer. And then you'll have a bunch of guys next summer when there's gonna be guys like Kauai Leonard, Paul George, there's gonna be some high level free agents available next summer. That's when you could better utilize those picks. Yeah, also recently, Lou, Joel and Bede per usual likes to throw a little shade. He's recently saying that you can't win playing ISO ball, which is also kind of funny because they're still third. They're still third in ISO ball. Still third in ISO basketball, but all right. Was this just a straight heater at James Harden or is this just him trolling like he usually does? I think this is just him trolling like he usually does. Listen, for a guy that's going on 12 straight games with 30 and 10, if you're still thinking about James Harden, there is an issue there. The Clippers are playing good basketball. 76ers are playing good basketball. James Harden is playing lights out. Joel and Bede is playing lights out. Everybody, let's move on. It's worked out for everybody. No drummer here. Let's not get it started again. Let's mind our business. James Harden is way in the Western Conference. I'm in the Eastern Conference. Let's just leave it alone. In order for us to see each other where it matters, it's going to happen to be in the championship. So if this was a shot at James Harden, I'm going to call him petty on that. But I think he was just talking about basketball. But with Joel, nobody ever knows, man. Yeah, can you imagine if that is the finals? Well, stick it with James Harden and going out west to the hottest team of the NBA. The Clippers moved to 17 and 10. They defeat the Mavs 120, 111 for the ninth straight win. But now Paul George, he was out with an illness. Listen, Lou, Kauai Leonard, he's played in every game this season. He's having his most efficient season. Is this dude after everything he's been through, all his injuries still getting better? No, I don't know if he's getting better, but I know he's healthy. I know he's healthy and I know he's consistent. And it's been a joy to see him out on the floor as much as we have. He's gotten the low management thing off of his name. At one point, they were trying to make him the poster boy or make him the example of what low management looks like. And Kauai decided he wanted to turn the page on that narrative. I'm just going to go out, play as much as basketball as I can. I'm healthy. I'm capable of doing it. And at the same time, I'm going to play at a high level, averaging almost 25 points a game and six assists. I'm impressed with the six assists. He's playing team basketball, taking opportunities that's coming to him and playing in the system of the basketball team. So I don't know if he's getting better, but I'm just glad to see him healthy and consistent. Yeah, next up for the Clippers is the Thunder Young, one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. When does this run end? Does it happen tonight? I don't see it happening tonight. I know they got OKC tonight. Then they got Boston right after that. Listen, if you're a team that's 1-9 in a row, it's hard for me to bet against you. And so I think this streak still continues after tonight. Yeah, this team to me is similar to Philly, right? Where like a Paul George goes out, they have a different guy to step up. They have Tre Man to fill it in. They have Norman Powell. They have a mere coffee last night that gave them great minutes, giving them 12 and 5. So I think when you get to the postseason, we always talk about how the rotations stay short. But there's always illnesses that pop up. There's always injuries. And to have this luxury of being able to go 9, 10, 11 deep is only going to help them. But another unsung guy that we don't really talk about much is your guy, Lou, Zuchiman, Zubats. He's averaging 12 and 9. How critical was that for this team with the star power to have a big role player like that to solid every single night? Right, so Zubats, his success is personal for me. We spend so much time with him trying to turn him into a dynamic pick and roll guy. Make sure he's aggressive on the glass and just being that 5 that you need to anchor your defense, being that 5 that you need to be a lob threat, to be a pick and roll threat, to be somebody that you can really depend on. And he's finally figuring it out. He's finally turning that corner. And it helps that he has a myriad of talent to play around him and to be a sponge and just to create opportunities for himself to be in that situation. So I'm so happy to see that he's meshing well with these guys. Listen, he's eating off of the land. He's getting an opportunity to play with some of the game's best basketball players in the world. And he's being able to have success in the mix of that. So I'm super happy and extremely gracious for the success that he's had and the way that he's been playing. Yeah, Shoms, obviously the Clippers, since the move, they've been so highly criticized. Everyone, you know, right in the mall, it's not working. Why make this big splash for James Harden? It's working now. So what's been the biggest difference for the Clippers during this stretch? I think it's just the seriousness that they went into the season with as far as how important they wanted to take the regular season at Tai Lu, the front office. They had conversations with Kauai Leonard, with Paul George about this regular season. What's at stake? This is there's a lot of futures in play with the Clippers. They decided not to extend it. There was no extension agreement with Kauai Leonard, with Paul George. They wanted to see how this year went. Every side wanted to see how this year went. And so there's a lot at stake here. And those conversations started in the preseason. Those conversations started in the off season. And like we've seen, Kauai Leonard has played every single game. He's healthy. He's in the lineup. And you know, he's too talented. He's too good. He's too refined. His game is too, it's too nice at the end of the day for him to just take a backseat on any given night. And we saw last night with Paul George sick. Kauai Leonard stepped up. I still think he has the ability to be the number one player, number one option on a championship team. This Clippers team is taking this regular season with some seriousness. Also, I hope people are now seeing that Russell Westbrook is not this villain, right? This is a guy who was in the starting line of playing major minutes, you know, having a huge, huge role. And now his role is diminished a little bit, right? He's still getting some time. He's still playing 20 plus minutes. But this is a guy who's sacrificed a lot. He's going down towards the end of his career. Again, he was having an unbelievable year. And then through this trade and everything that happened, he's the one that really had to sacrifice and come off the bench. So it's funny how the media spends and creates these narratives about guys. But, you know, he's really taken a backseat, which to me is a huge, mature move for him to be able to do this, to allow the Clippers to even be shining right now and getting on this winning streak. But on the other side, Mabs, Luca, it's funny. I'm looking at him, you know, Luca had an off night last night. The man had 28, 9, and 10. How absurd is that that that's an off night for Luca? This airpiece is giving me hail today. But, you know, he wasn't efficient. He wasn't efficient. But listen, I'll take that stat line on any given night. You know, granted, they lost the basketball game, ran into a Red Hot Clippers team. But I'm going to take this stat line from Luca. He still was aggressive. You know, even though shots weren't falling, he didn't shy away from it. Still took the shots in the areas that he's comfortable in playing. Still was getting his teammates involved. And, you know, this is a three point game with a minute and a half, two minutes to go. They still had an opportunity to win. Still was in a competitive situation. But he just wasn't efficient. So I'll take this. Yeah, that's the biggest difference for me is when Luca is 2 for 11 from the three point line with five turnovers, especially with Kyrie Irving out, he's got to be flawless, right? He's got to be perfect. He can't be having these possessions where he's hoisting up these bad shots, not getting his team good looks. But Kyrie Irving, Shams, he's been out with this heel contusion. What's the latest on him? Because abs need him. A couple of weekends ago, he has a gruesome looking injury. Dwight Powell falls on his entire leg. He has a heel contusion. He's been in a boot and crutches since. I'm told he is now out of the boot. He's out of the crutches. He has started his rehab process for his return. And like you said, Shams, they need Kyrie Irving. They need Luca Donchis, but not just need them on the court. They need them both to be 100%. That's why coming into the year, make sure Luca Donchis wasn't safe. Making sure Kyrie Irving came into the year 100% healthy after he did a planar fasciitis last season. Them being 100% healthy is gonna give them any chance in the world to get by the first round of the playoffs or make any type of noise come playoff time. And so they're gonna be patient with Kyrie Irving, but the good news for them is now he has started his rehab process. He's out of that boot. He's out of that crutch, which had kept him out of doing any of that for the last week and a half. All right. We gotta go to break, but stay close because coming up, we got the number one team in the Western Conference. Head coach, my guy, Chris Finch. Run it back, y'all. Run it all. Run it back, y'all. I got the energy. I got the will to survive. It's Robson, Minnesota delivery. Got the energy. I know you're feeling my drive. I got the energy. I got energy, energy. Welcome in Chris Finch, the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. How are we doing, coach? I'm good, guys. Appreciate you having me on. A lot of people don't know this, but Chris Finch is actually on the staff of the Houston Rockets that drafted me way back in 2011. We were just talking about a story. Why don't you tell them what happened that day, Finch? Yeah, no, as early as the season, you weren't playing at all. And we had a game that night. I remember we were sitting there having lunch and you were asking me about the G League and I was trying to keep you positive because you were about to be sent down the next day. I said, hey, it'll be good for you. Just go down and play, embrace it. It'll be better to play rather than sit. And then I don't know why, but we threw you in the game that night and you played really well and you never went down to the G League. We never looked back and you were very lucky that you had a head coach who absolutely adored you. Yeah, that had nothing to do with my work, I think, or my talent, right, coach? No, no, I think more of your, your kiss-ass abilities. God, I'm glad. Well, coach, you guys are obviously, you're obviously all up to a hot start. You know, last night you lost a tough game to one of the top teams. What can you learn from a game like that? You know, I think, I didn't like our physicality around Embiid. I thought we just kind of made things too easy around him. He's this phenomenal player and he got into a rhythm and we were in foul trouble anyway. So, you know, if we're gonna be in foul trouble, we might as well dictate physicality and I thought we were on our heels when we were guarding him. But, you know, we still had chances to win that game. I thought we're gonna catch a rhythm here in the fourth and then we couldn't get a timely bucket and then, you know, kind of got away from us. But got a bounce back tonight. We got the Lakers in town. You know, they'll be coming in pretty desperate and you know how it is in the league, Chandler and Lou Will, you know, you guys know the desperate team usually wins in the NBA in a regular season. So we got to find our desperation tonight after the last night's disappointment. Coach, you guys are 20 and six this season. Best team in the West. Did you feel that type of start in you guys? Are you guys even exceeding your own expectations for your team going into the year? Yeah, I mean, I don't think we could have predicted 20 and six. But we did feel that we, you know, had the ability to be a really good team in the West. We put a lot of emphasis on a great preseason and all credit to our guys. Like, even though we have some vets, you know, nobody sat out in the preseason. We had a lot of things to figure out, develop our chemistry. We were never really able to get there last year with a lot of injuries. You know, maturity was something we talked about, focus, creating identity through our defense. That was something we talked a lot about. And we felt if we could pull all this stuff together, we thought after 20 games, we're going to know if it's going to work or not this year. It wasn't going to take a long time. You know, last year we thought it would take us half the season or more. This year we figured if it was going to work, it was going to work early. And, you know, fortunately for us it has done. So now we just got to, you know, maintain it and keep making some tweaks to what we do and learn as we go. So in New Orleans, Denver, Toronto, you were known as an offensive coach and offensive guru in a lot of ways. And now you guys, you're orchestrating one of the top defenses in the league. What has that been like for you going through the transition of first, as an assistant being known as an offensive minded guy, the guy that can coach that, now leading one of the top defense in the league? I think, well, you know, and I think sometimes we get labeled these things in the league, but I got great defensive staff led by Elston Turner. You know, it was one of the most significant hires that I made when we were putting our staff together, just because I needed somebody who had a lot of experience and ET's been around the block and coached in a lot of different types of defenses. And the great thing I like about him is that he's always coached against guys who really like and value offense. So we don't have this like offense versus defense turf battle that some staffs will fall into where, you know, you're trying to protect your defense by not doing certain things offensively and vice versa. So, you know, he's really kind of led the charge in it, but really we got a lot of guys who like to play defense and who can play defense and that's where it all starts. So we figure we have to lean into what we got, what we do best and what can make us special. Coach Anthony Edwards said that by the end of the season, he will be one of the better players in the NBA. I think he's already there. I think he's one of the best two-way players in the NBA as well. You obviously agree with those comments by him? Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's still a young player on the rise, but his, you know, its consistency is what it's all about, Chandler, as you know, like being, you know, when I first got here, he played well, one out of every three games. Then he grew it to two out of three and now he's really at three out of three. I mean, he's playing at a high level every single night. We pretty much know what to expect. He's seeing a ton of different defensive looks. He's learned a lot, you know, defensively off the ball. His awareness has gotten better and better and on the ball when he locks in and takes the match up, he can be special, really can be. And I say all that and he's still learning. You know, he's still learning a ton of stuff about, you know, how to kind of manipulate the defense, how to like read the floor, you know, and how to control the game when the ball is in his hands rather than, you know, just kind of go and get buckets, which he's really good at that. And what I love about him most is he likes the moment. He's not afraid of, not afraid of the big shot. He's an incredible sense of timing on when to step up in games and kind of take control or he knows when his team needs a big play from whether it be offensively or defensively. Excuse me. And also said he wants to be the first NBA player to play in the NFL after he wins his first title. One, do you think he can play in the NFL and are you prepared to share him with the Vikings? Well, Ant thinks he can do anything. You know, I'm sure you know Ant, being from down around Atlanta, you probably run into him. He certainly thinks he can do anything. Doesn't matter if it's NFL or Bowie, but I don't, you know, I'm sure he could if you put his mind to it. He's that type of athlete. He's got the toughness, the skills, but we're not prepared to give him up right now. We don't like contact like that country. We're in the West. I know you don't like contact like that. I don't even like taking charges let alone getting tackled in the NFL. But look, obviously Ant's also, you know, he's going through a lot of stuff right now off the court. Has it been hard for him to ignore all that and just play basketball as such a young star in this league? I mean, I think, you know, as competitors and people who come to work every day fortunate to do what we do, regardless of what's going on in life, it gives us an escape, an opportunity to go out and just kind of focus on what we love to do and be surrounded by people that are gonna, you know, support you in the right way. So, you know, as a young person, as a young player, we all have a lot of maturing to do and we're here to help that in any way we can whether it be on the floor or off. Last year, coach, Kyle Anthony Towns had a bit of an up and down year. Obviously he had that injury, the cavity that sat on him a couple of months. He missed time. Are you seeing something different in him? Seeing him, obviously he's him and Anthony Edwards, their relationship. They really embraced each other. Have you seen a different approach to him, a different start to him this season? Yeah, you know what, Shay, I was like, he's, in many ways, he's kind of been the glue to all of this because it's his willingness to kind of sacrifice just enough with whether it be spacing or touches or taking on defensive assignments that traditionally hasn't been guarding guys in actions or rotations, mostly been guarding and picking role in this whole life and just kind of embracing all these things and kind of learning through it. And then staying patient and aggressive when he has his opportunities. So, Kat's an extremely efficient player. So, you know, he can still do a lot of damage with last shots. But last year I thought he deferred too much at times trying to make the thing work with Rudy. He lost his chemistry with Ant when he was out for those 50 games. We figured that would come back naturally. We told him, just don't worry so much about Rudy. Go be more aggressive for yourself and the Rudy plays will happen in the flow because, you know, trust your skill and your talent. And, you know, he's playing pretty much like a 50-40-90 clip right now, which is incredible. And it just comes down to his patience and his poise and his willingness to kind of let the game happen for him and then take the moments, you know, as they come rather than always trying to force himself into the game. And he's called himself one of the best shooting bigs in the league. Would you, well, actually said ever, would you agree with that? Well, he's one of the best shooters in the league. I mean, you know, he just, with his size and range and, you know, ability to get it off pretty much at any point in time, he can make step backs over people. You know, I want him to shoot more threes. You know, I think at times, like as a team, we struggle to get our three-point volume up just with the way we play. You know, I'd like to see him take even more. But he's just, he's one of the best shooters in the league. And for sure, you know, kind of as the bigs go, you know, we're seeing more and more bigs being able to step out and stretch the floor. It's probably one of the biggest dynamics that is changing in the game right in front of our eyes is these like incredibly skilled bigs. Like you see it last night, we were on the wrong end of it again. But these are the guys that are really changing the game. Yeah, Finch, the trade to acquire Rudy Gobert was highly criticized. In a league that was going small, like you just said, stretch five, stretch fours. You guys went with the double big that we not, not everyone was doing. Is that something that you looked forward to? Is that something that you thought would pan out sooner? What was your take on as the head coach? Were you excited to have these two together? Yeah, I was excited, Chandler. I think a couple of things. One is like, when you already have Carl Anthony Towns on your roster, at the time, you're not gonna go small. Like, you know, you're not taking a guy like him off the floor. Your small ball is not necessarily gonna be better than, let's say, Golden State's small ball. And when you have a chance to add somebody like Rudy Gobert, who plugs a lot of things that, you know, plugs a lot of holes that you had in your team, such as rebounding and defense and rim protection in particular, like you gotta do it. So we were all really, really excited about it. And we thought we could maybe zig in a league that was zagging. And, you know, we thought last year it would take us 40 to 50 games to figure it out. You know, find a rhythm, go through enough learning experiences to see what worked, what didn't work, and pair it all down. We never really got there because of the injury to Carl. So we kind of had to keep reinventing ourselves. We became like a spread pick and roll team around Rudy. And, you know, we ended up having the success in that we were able to salvage a season that looked lost and have a pretty good showing in the playoffs. From all that, we learned, though, when Kat did come back, enough that we'd come into the off season and make it work. And it's been the willingness of our players to make it work. And they really enjoy each other. And then everyone else had to kind of keep developing their chemistry with Rudy. When Mike Connelly joined us, he, you know, was like a breath of fresh air. He kind of told us it took him a year to figure out how to play with Rudy when he was in Utah. And he was able to impart some of those lessons to our guys, but also just, you know, put it all into perspective that said, this is gonna take a little while. I mean, if you think about when LeBron went to Miami, it took them a year, you know, these moves take a while for everybody to kind of find their new role, their new rhythm. And then, you know, you still might be a piece or two away from really making some noise. Yes, I was thinking with Mike Connelly coach, 17 year vet, one of my favorite teammates I've ever had. He's kind of stabilized the team. How much of a breath of fresh air has he been? Yeah, he's been everything really in terms of like his leadership, his leadership is in, you know, Mike, he's a quiet guy. He's talking to the guys all the time individually. He's not a talk in front of the group guys, not a raw, raw guy. He certainly communicates with the coaches. But our young players, you know, look up to him. Our veterans respond to him. He leads by example. He always does the right things. He almost never makes mistakes. And he stays on an even keel. And then he's played so well for us in clutch moments, which is where we really need him. You know, we need him to kind of stabilize the ship, read the defense, get the ball to our best players and play off that and make a place for himself too. So he's really been a big factor in our success. And, you know, I've always been an admirer of every team I've ever played against him. He was just one of those guys who just felt like, you know, you kind of couldn't stop. You know, he was always kind of chipping away at the game. And then he hurt you when you didn't eat, you know, when it hurt the most, really. In the past, you guys had somewhat of a tendency to maybe get rattled down the stretch of games, but now the resiliency that you guys have shown this season. I know you're the reigning coach of the month. Is there any adjustment you've made as a head coach? What have you seen that's really led to a change where now you guys are stable down the stretch of these games? There was a big point of emphasis coming into the season. Shams did not. We knew we'd be in a lot of close games. The West in particular is just so tough that we had to be better at closing out games. Last year, our defense was really strong. It was our offense. It was our decision-making. It was mostly our shot selection. And a lot of that was Anthony. Like we had to, you know, work with him on showing him how to close games, not about just trying to make the big play. You know, he's a home run hitter. He wants to hit a home run every time he steps to the plate. And then this year, he's done an incredible job of finding his teammates at the right moments for them to make shots, too. So that's one. And then also just kind of just changing up, not always playing through Ant. We have Kyle Anderson who's really good with the ball in his hand. Mike, we just talked about. And then of course there's always Cat. But, you know, when you have a big, it's really hard to close games by throwing it to a big in the post because physicality goes up. They allow the wrestling a little bit more. And then of course you can double. So just kind of finding some concepts that, you know, we're a little bit more amenable to closing situations for Cat, too. Benji, you are accredited a lot for the development of Joker. What did you see, you know, early on from him? And did you think he would become, you know, what he is today? Yeah, well, first of all, I'd say this is about any coach player. I mean, these players, as you know, Chandler put so much work in. It's the development is on them. You know, it really is like, well, you know, what we did when I got to Denver and with all with Mike's blessing and we just kind of changed the nature of the offense from more of a heavier play call offense to more of a free flowing one and put him at the top of the floor and played through him early and then kind of just got out of the way, you know, and just allowed the people to move and cut off of him. You know, what I saw in him early was just this guy's gonna be the best passing big man ever to play the game. I mean, it was incredible every single day. Just watching him up close. You know, he's even gone on and exceeded expectations. I mean, it's just, you know, it's just so much fun to watch unless you're playing against them. You feel absolutely helpless. But yeah, it just, it was literally that. And then, you know, he had a good group of guys around him that really kind of fit skill set wise. You know, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, these guys were really good cutters. And, you know, Fareed was working the baseline and Gala was able to play pick and roll with them and just kind of a lot of things that like just kind of developed as we let him, you know, because we just kind of gave him the breathing room to kind of find these things in the game by themselves. And that's where I thought he really shined. And you also coached Zion your last season as an assistant in New Orleans, that being his rookie year. What did you see in Zion? What stood out to him early on to you? Yeah, I mean, this kid's gonna be special. I just thought, I mean, he got hurt at the end of preseason, which was unfortunate. But in the preseason, just, you know, nothing rattled him. He looked like he'd been in the league for a long time. Goes where he goes. They're like a cat. You know, man, he'd jump in the air in practice. He'd take contact. You'd think he was gonna land on his back and he'd somehow always come down on his feet. Just incredible athlete with a great touch. Real Magnanimous personality. His teammates were drawn to him. You know, that was the bubble year. That was kind of a crazy year all the way around. But when he had came back healthy after about 40 games, we were on a run, heading into the second half of the season. I thought for sure we'd be on the playoffs. But yeah, just a super special talent and a really, really enjoyable person. Coach, everyone says that about Zion too. How he's breath of fresh air. Everyone loves him. Why does he have this bad rep now? Or why is this media, you know, give him this image all of a sudden? I mean, I can't speak to what's actually going on there right now. Chandler, it's not for me to say, but you know, I find it hard to believe that he's any different as a person than he's always been. He's a lot like Anthony here. Just comes to work every day, smile on his face. I think, you know, any disappointment stems from, you know, just his availability. And that's, you know, that's kind of what it's always been about. But, you know, I still, when I see him today, I still got the same laugh and smile that he always has. And that was the best part about. Bench, my last question for you. I see here that your mother dance with the Rockettes. Is that how you got your competitive edge and drive? Yeah, that's where all my athleticism comes from. I was just as athletic as you. I love it, Coach. Thank you so much. I miss you, man. Continue to do what you do. I appreciate it, guys. Thanks so much, Coach. Take care. Coming up next, that man has a family. It is time for the Shams scoops. Why you get paid the big bucks, Shams? What's the latest on Mitchell Robinson? This is an absolutely crushing development, guys. He is now projected to miss the rest of the season. He had ankle surgery last year. The Knicks initially said it would only be eight to 10 weeks. But I'm told the Knicks have applied for a disabled player, exception with seven point seven point eight million dollars, which is is that that that means that they're projecting. Mitchell Robinson is done for the year. NBA doctors are now going to conduct a review of his of his ankle, of the injury and and the Knicks are in a tough spot now because Jericho Sims is out for at least one to two weeks. And now Mitchell Robinson could be done for the entire season. I expect they will be active in the in the marketplace, potentially to look at centers. That is a tough, tough blow. Lou, they sit in the five seed kind of right in the middle of the pack. How hard is this for them moving forward? Who's been so critical to the team? Yeah, this is going to be tough. Like Shams just mentioned, not only Mitchell Robinson, but but the backup is also hurt. So size wise, this is going to be a big blow to this basketball team moving forward. And so, you know, like Shams just mentioned, they're going to have to be active in the market and see if they can plug in some of these holes. But size wise, this is going to be an issue for the for the New York Knicks. Shams, Ben Simmons has been out since early November with some nerve irritation. What can you tell us the latest on him and can we expect him back anytime soon? Ben Simmons has resumed some on-court activity, individual work. But the net said yesterday he will be re-evaluated in another two weeks. So he's been out like you said, Chandler, since November 6th. The expectation is he's still well off from a return. This ramp up process is going to take at least a few weeks here for a true return to play. Chandler, you've you've dealt with a lot, you know, like, I think you're you're probably someone that that can speak to the mental fortitude it takes to come back from injury. We're not knocking Ben Simmons with backs are serious. How do you approach it if you're Ben Simmons right now and you've dealt with this for multiple years? I mean, it's tough. There's nothing worse than injuries and it's hard. It's hard to keep, you know, your mental strength, you know, where it needs to be to continue to go every single day and rehab and practice and stay in shape. And you can't emulate playing in a game. You see John Moran the other night as good as explosive. He still was. He was still cast and he still wasn't an NBA game shape. So for Ben Simmons, you know, it's been through a lot. I don't know the exact issue what it's been, whether it's been his back, his nerve, you know, his mental health kind of a combination of everything, but just feels like in this situation when it rains and pours, man, it continues to get worse. But hopefully he's got great people around him. Hopefully he's got the support system. He's working his tail off because the guy was a special player. The guy's six, 10 point guard who had an unbelievable IQ his vision, the way he passed the ball. So it's crazy kind of what's happened to him. But hopefully he can get fully healthy soon, handle whatever going on, you know, with his mental issues and kind of get back on the court. Because he's a heck of a player when he's talented and fully ready to go. And same thing here with Ricky Rubio. He hasn't played this season while taking care, you know, of his own mental health. What can you tell us about him? Yeah, this is a guy you both have played against. And I'm told the Cavaliers believe Ricky Rubio has played his last NBA game. 12 seasons. We wish him nothing but the best as he spends time in Spain from what I'm told, hasn't done anything basketball wise in months. Isn't really preparing to return to action anytime soon as he deals with with with mental health issues. Besides have begun discussions, I'm told, on a potential parting of ways that could be a buyout, that could be a wave, that could be a trade. Is a team that's dealt with a lot of injuries. There's Garland, Evan Mobley, both underwent surgeries. Garland for a fractured jaw, Mobley for his knee. This is a team that needs another body. So we'll see how they free up that roster spot that's now currently being held by Ricky Rubio. Well, now it is time for that man. And we got a lot. We got a lot on top today. But first, I'm going to miss the beginning of an SGA. Absolutely sends. Oh, the defensive player. That's nasty. You didn't even push off. You didn't even push off. That was clean. Tom, I like when you're a part of it. I like when you're a part of it. I want to hear your breakdown on some of these highlights here, Sean. That was clean. Hey, that was a clean, clean crossover. That's the blue type move right there. Actually, I could see Chandler doing that. The spin cycle here. This was my move. I could never really blow by you, so I had to kind of spin and not dunk and kind of finish around the other side. This kid can do it. It's just so smooth. It's the rookie of the year right there. Yeah, I don't understand the move right there. I don't understand who on offense or defense, Tom. Defense, defense. I can see you making that blot. What the fuck do you understand about this? At this point, don't you know someone's coming behind you on the break? How does this continue to happen every single game? I mean, I just don't get over it every time you're out. I hope for a go-to. Yeah, you got to get it on the glass. You got to dunk it. You got to get to the other side. Alperin. Oh, let's see. Second. Nice. Oh, he literally almost broke this kid ankle just now. Oh, my God. Touch the earth. Usually, you can justify it with a push-off or a toe step. This had me in the back. It absolutely had me in the back. Caruso. Oh, another one. OK, now there's Caruso. See, I feel like this one's this one. That's a training camp right there. Yeah, this one. If I'm playing, I'm fully expecting someone always being behind me doing this. This is tough. Caruso can get up now. You can play. That's why teams want him. Oh. How do you guard that? This is what Katie did. How do you guard that? Katie knocked the dust off them young legs. Yeah. I like to see when the OGs go above the rim, right? It makes me happy. Oh, got it. This was absolutely felt me. Another one. Look, Terry Loush out of right now, court real quick. We didn't touch on this game. What a back-back game. You can see Jalen Brown with no Tatum last night. He wanted this moment. He wanted to take over. He wanted to be the one guy. Oh. I was going to say, Chandler, can Jalen Brown be the number one guy? Sure was last night. Oh. Ain't her boy here. Yeah, Fanny Smith. This one was all right. That's the chance, though. We haven't talked about the Brooklyn Nets one time this season. We're talking about the position. All right, here we go. Yeah, Vincent is count. Yeah, that's true. Time now for you buying that. All right, starting with you, Lou. There are rumors that the Jazz are looking for a Donovan Mitchell-type return for Laurie Market. That's a hell of a haul. You buying it? No, I ain't buying. I ain't buying. They got a lot of issues in Utah. That team has already started to go young. Why double back? Continue to rebuild. See what young pieces you got, build around that. So I ain't buying. Chandler, Danny Ainge has how many draft picks? Does he have 30 draft picks? They're going to trade Laurie Market to get to 35 draft picks. I haven't heard anything to this. Do they also want a current player right now on that roster? I feel like he's a growing piece. I feel like I just stick with him. He's young enough. Yeah, I don't see it. I'm not buying it either. Moving on next, Lou DeMarcus-Cousins signing a 10-day contract in Taiwan. Are you buying that boogie should be on an NBA roster right now? Absolutely. I once felt like he should have had an opportunity to continue his career in the NBA. And so fortunately for him, he's found somewhere to hoop. Hopefully this turns into some good energy. He can find his way back home and back in the NBA jersey. But I'm buying. You've got to start somewhere. Sometimes when the phone don't ring, you've got to take what's available in. And this gives him an opportunity to continue on to play basketball. And then hopefully he builds on this and get to another level. And so I'm buying. Good luck, boogie. Lou, Rich Paul has denied that his client Zach Levine is pushing for a trade to LA, saying it's not just one team. Are you buying that the Lakers aren't at the top of his list? I'm buying that Zach Levine isn't pushing for this. But I'm not buying that Rich Paul isn't pushing for it. So I'm sure Zach is allowing him to do his job. But in internal conversations, Rich Paul is going to make sure the big dog client got what he need around him to have championship runs. And so am I buying that Zach Levine has the Lakers at the top of his list? No, I'm not buying that. But Rich Paul for sure. Choms? I think Zach Levine needs to get back on the court and needs to be back on the court so that other teams can look and see how he looks so they can see if they want to trade for him or not. Why you always got to be so politically correct, Choms? Damn it. I'm just giving the information, baby. It's crazy, all-star voting. All-star voting is already here, which is wild to me. I feel like the season just started. Lou, are you buying that the fans should still be able to vote and pick the all-star starters? To an extent. I'm buying to an extent. I like the fan engagement. I like them to have the opportunity to feel like they're involved in it. But sometimes fans, they only know what they know. They're going to vote for the guys that are on the commercials. They're going to vote for the main guys. And sometimes I don't think they're knowledgeable enough about the game in some aspects to take a deep dive into the other guys that deserve those opportunities as well. And so sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they get the obvious ones right. But sometimes they get it really, really wrong. And that's to be expected. They're fans. They're not experts at the same time. And so I'd say continue on. Allow the fans to continue to vote until we figure out a better system for it. Yeah, Choms. Remember like Jeremy Lynn or Zaza Petrucchia? Like they had all these votes? Like... Andrew Wiggins made it a couple of years ago. And a lot of it was fan voting after his first full year with the Warriors. And I think, listen, it's not just all fans. I think it's a mixture of fans, coaches, media. There's several factors that are voting for all, all-star game starters. The reserves are decided just by the coaches. But the starters, it's a pool of people. And yeah, the fans take up, I think, 50% of the balloting. So to me, if you're playing on a high market team and you're playing well and you're got like Andrew Wiggins, you have a chance to get voted in for sure. Love it. Going to break. Run it back. Turns them in. We're going to finish this thing off of the prop party, sticking with the Clippers' Thunder game tonight. I got Josh Giddy, four plus assists. I feel like that's wildly low. Clippers played last night. We don't know if Paul George is playing. We don't know if Kawhi Leonard is playing. I like it also going under 230. Lou, what do you got? I'm all in on the Clippers until somebody beat them, I'm rolling. So I got Clippers' first half and I got Clippers' money line all the way. I love it. Can they get 10 in a row? Have a good weekend, guys. We will see you Monday. Congrats, Shannon. Have a pen to throw.