 You have to go there. Now. You may carry on. So, can you be happy? Yeah, sure. You go and say, you can. You know, I'm a little too strong right now. If I can and you can keep going and you can keep getting that in the right place. So. No, no, don't worry about it because you don't have to be too strong to carry on. You can do it and you can do it and you can keep getting that in the right place. Good morning. And welcome to But we do have a lot of basketball to get to. There's so much going on in the world today, but we will concentrate on just that. Do we have to? Yeah, but there's a lot we want to talk about. Celtics at Hawks. This is, I don't know what to do with it. The Hawks were down 30. Comeback and beat Boston. DeAndre Hunter with 24. Gisonte Murray with 19 and 15. Tatum had 37 and eight rebounds. But it's the largest comeback win for the Hawks in team history. The nine game win streak for Boston now snapped. How are you up 30? And lose like this? Yeah, it's tough to do. And if I wouldn't be so concerned if this hadn't happened before in March 5th against the Cavs, the Dean Wade game, they were up 20. Smoked it. There was a game earlier against Milwaukee where they were up 20. They end up still winning the game, but blew the lead. This is becoming a trend where they don't have that killer instinct. They don't step on the gas when they're up. And it's a sign of maturity to me. And that's not a trait that you want or you need to have as a championship team. And we can look on the other side too that they got the number one seed locked up. They're not really playing for anything. They're trying to get healthy. They missed Drew Holiday and Derek White last night. So you could chalk it up, but they still had enough on the court to be up 30, to be spotted 30 points with 30 or so minutes left to play. It's an inexcusable loss. And again, I would love to see Tatum who did have a great game yet 37 and eight. Jalen Brown played great, but this speaks volumes on their depth when they have one or two or three guys missing. They don't have a lot. So if those guys, they're starting five aren't elite and they don't literally carry the team for 48 minutes, things like this happen. This does not bode well for the playoffs that are right around the corner. I mean, Jason Tatum said that they effed the game up. He just read off a list of other times they've done that. Is this the worst loss? I mean, I don't know which one to call the worst loss. Yeah, it's probably gonna sting, you know, especially when you're up 30, like a 15 point lead, a 20 point lead, 30 is a completely different realm of effing the game up. Like Jason Tatum said, I'm sure, you know, they have the number one seed locked up and all of those things, but I don't care what you're ranked. I don't care where you are in a season. Drop a 30 point lead and lose on a roll. This is gonna sting. So they have a lot to talk about today. And by the way, Boston didn't have their two guys but Atlanta didn't have Siddiq Bay, Trey Young, Griffin, Johnson, Akunwood. So they didn't have anybody in there. And no stretch were they supposed to drop this lead. I don't care what was going on. What was the money line like halfway through when they're down 30? I think it got up to plus 5,000 or something. It was crazy, crazy money value. I never picked the right one. Oh, no one, I think, I don't think anybody took that one. Somebody had, I guarantee you one person. Somebody. Somebody did. Some super fan. Old move, like 10 bucks. Exactly, 10 bucks. Bigger stones than me. Well, 10 bucks, I mean, it's worth it. LeBron recently said that Steph Curry single-handedly changed the quote, no lead is safe narrative. It's kind of the opposite of what we've been seeing in college, but you get up that big. Is he right? Like the no lead is safe? I'm disagreeing. Okay. I'm disagreeing with the single-handedly part. Okay. Now, Steph Curry and the Warriors, what they did was, they were innovative. They did change the game. Up until we saw those guys, we didn't see any team playing, you know, using the three-point line, how they used it. They used the three-point line as a threat. You know, they were trading threes for twos. They were stopping them fast breaks, shooting three-pointers, kicking it out, two-for-one's, two-for-a-dollar, constantly shooting three-point shots. And they changed the game. Now, I can't recall a scenario where they were down a bunch of 15 and 20s where they had to use that as a tool. I thought they used that as something to blow teams out. You know, you look at the Hawks last night, they used the three-point line to their advantage. They shot 50% from the three, 18 from 36 from that line, on 30 assists. You know, anytime you get 30 assists, you give yourself an opportunity to put a lot of points on the board. So, as far as Braun saying he single-handedly changed the no lead is safe narrative, I don't agree with that, but you know, they did do some damage. I think it's just like with the pace of play that teams are playing so fast. Like you said, the three-point line that no one plays defense seems to be anymore. So, if you go cold and you don't score for a four to eight-minute stretch, you don't get to the foul line, you get no stops. Yeah, a team can go, and they're gonna take 12, 13, threes, and they make eight of them, they're right back in the game. So, from that aspect, yes, I think the pace of play, the talent, the elite shooting, the amount of three points they're taking, it's easier to come back with that being said. But again, like Lou said, the responsible single-handedly, I don't know about that, but it is true just because there's minimal defense and there's really good off-leads. Well, give the lead credit. Since all star break, scores have been down. Me watching the game, knowing the game, been able to play the game for so long, I'm noticing they're letting a lot of stuff go that in recent history, they wouldn't. You know, the Tic Tac fouls and all of that, it seems like they've corrected some of that in the games have been way more competitive. So, give the lead credit for correcting this. It was late in the fourth quarter and the Hawks announcers had a couple thoughts, specifically about Jason Tatum. Boy, Jason Tatum does a lot of complaining. Who does he think he is, Caitlyn Clark? Who do you think he is, who? What, what, Caitlyn Clark? Oh, what? Thoughts? Oh, and by the way, does he need to stop complaining? When it comes to complaining, Jason Tatum doesn't jump out to me. Oh, not my first. Listen, if you drop a 30-point lead and you're starting to, if you're up 30 and you're seeing that lead dwindle down and you think there are some things going on that has to do with the whistles, I can see him being a complainer last night, but he doesn't have a history of this, so. Yeah, like, Luca complains, Chris Paul complains. There's other guys that I think of more than Jason Tatum, but, again, this announcer is paid by the Hawks. And what does he have against Caitlyn Clark? Well, that's the topic. I'll just catch a screen. Well, because on Saturday, she was complaining in the game and her dad was actually in the stands yelling at her to shut up and play. So it got to the point where, like, Pops was not happy with her and now we're all on it. Okay. Yeah, Caitlyn Clark's, and, by the way, it's a good problem to have. Everyone's talking about it. I will say, it is exhausting and I hate the whole, I hate the players at every play call going, there's gonna be five seconds in the game. Especially when you know you're wrong. It's so stupid. It's theater. It's more theater than everything. It's also sometimes the guy that, like, no one's looking at you for this. Yeah. But you're not gonna get this one. And no one cares, really. No. It's a common file. Shoot your free throws, let's keep playing. This seems like a little bit of hate from this guy, because I don't think of Tatum as a whiny guy. Like, I feel like he's not that guy. Dramon Green, like, there's other guys where, like, I see it, but Tatum, I don't see it. Yeah, that's fair. I mean, I don't know, I guess. Maybe this is a one-off. Maybe it's a personal beef. Looks like it is a one-off. Or, hear me out. He might've just thought he had himself one hell of a funny line and was gonna get it in somewhere. Yeah. And that's probably. Yeah, he rehearsed that. That's probably more of that than anything else. Yeah, he's like, I got one. Throw this cake. One person complains. It didn't hit how he thought it hit, because I had no clue what he was talking about. Did not slap. Did not slap. Well, these two teams play again in Atlanta on Thursday. Weird scheduling. Moving on, Philly. Putting the house on the Celtics in that game, by the way. The house. Wow, which house? That sounds scary to me. That's a fair point. Shabana Sabonis breaks the record. They defeat the Sixers 108-96. He's got his 25th triple double of the season. 54 straight double-double passes. Kevin Love, for most since the Major. Afterwards, Mike Brown said, Sabonis should be in the MVP conversation. There's Caleb congratulating. I mean, look, he's his coach. Conversation, sure. Okay, yeah. How far are we taking this conversation? I don't think the conversation should be about him. It ends now. There's no conversation. He's not winning MVP. That was the whole conversation. Yeah, I don't think the conversation should be about him, but can we put him in there for the stats that he's put up? Sure. But, you know, this is when we start having that conversation about does winning affect this, right? Yeah. He's, he's, is he impacting the game more than Yolkich for his team? Is he impacting the game more than SGA for his team? Jason Tatum is going to be in that conversation. If you take Luke off of the Dallas Mavericks, who knows what shape they'll be in, even having Kyrie. And so, do we put him in the conversation? Sure, but it's going to be a short one. I don't even want to put him in the conversation. And when you impact your team, you win games. He's not won a lot of games. They're in the seventh spot. They're in the play. And we're talking about MVP. Luke is in what? I don't think he's going to win it either. I think it's a runaway. But he's in the conversation. It's Yolkich and SGA. And then maybe Tatum to me, because winning is the most important thing when I think you're voting. So is Luke in the conversation? If, if, no. Is Luke in the conversation? Sure. Do I want to say Luke in this argument? No. No, Luke is in the conversation. I want to say, sure. But what's the conversation? How big is this conversation? That's what I mean. Is he the fourth option? Yeah, I would like to know. How long is this conversation? Five. He's not going to be the runner-up. We were speaking about it off camera. How many guys? And if Joel and B would never get hurt, he would be even lower. So no, I don't think there's any conversation. So we take Luke out of the conversation as well? Yeah, he's not going to win anything. What are you doing? I'm out of here. What's happening right now? Confidence. My point is, I think this is going to, the whole, what do we talk about now? Underrated. We don't talk about, it's a bonus. Now, we're not going to not talk about him again. You know what I mean? So I think this is going to be a blessing and these guys were him where he's now, yeah, it took 25 triple doubles and it took all this crazy run of double doubles for us to talk about him. But he's becoming now someone that we're talking about. He's now getting the flowers he deserves. Everyone knows that he should have made the All-Star team. He didn't. But now, I will say, he's got a chance at All-MBA. He'll make All-MBA, which is more important, which is more money, bigger bonuses, everything for him than making the All-Star game. Clearly, as a fan, I hope he's not in any conversation and the Sacramento Kings go into the postseason, pissed off, and they become very disruptive. The problem is the voting will be done already, so that won't even matter, which is another problem, too. They'll overlook that All-Star. He's not going to be in the MVP conversation. You said All-MBA. He might make that based on the stuff. I think he'll make third team All-MBA. I think he'll make third team All-MBA. That 6-7 scene is good enough to do that. There's a lot of guys that are going to make it over him and the first team and second team. So I think his only shot would be third team. Who's your updated MVP pick right now? It's not up to the same. It's always been. It's Yokeitch. You staying there? That's up there. Staying there. I'm still SGA. I like this for you guys. You're just sitting there. You're just doubling down. You're doubling down. You're on tell. Because you said Luke is not in the MVP conversation and you know good and damn well he is. Sure, we can talk about it, but he's not a real option. You wouldn't put any stock. You wouldn't bet you would pick him the way. I think SGA is the guy. No, you don't. Yes, I do. You don't think he does? I don't think he does. It's like us thinking Chet still is the rookie of the year. It's cute. I know. When you guys say it, I'm like, I want it. I want to be right, but we're probably not. You know, you're not 100% not right. OK, so what was it? It was 54 straight double doubles. It's crazy. The record is will with 227. Dear God, let's give it a percent chance. I'm getting there. Zero, zero. I don't think there's any way. By the way, you know how hard that is to not get rejected or something and not finish with the double double? Like it's not if he plays those games in a row. Yeah, he's going to have an off night, right? Like that. How many? What is it? Would you say 207? Yeah, I can't even give him a point. I'm the guy that wants to challenge all records before 1975. Well, you can. I'm not going to harp on. And why is that? I just feels like, you know, it was it was a time where you kind of had to spice things up to make it interesting. I will say this. This has never like sprained his ankle. It has nothing to do with will personally. So before all the will people come for me, I'm just saying that people, all of these stats are just funny to me. He lived a full life. He's had more sex than double double. And there it is. I was hoping we'd get there and I didn't even have to leave him. He's had more partners. He's had more partners. That's what I'm saying. He was a very active man and still a couple. How do we get here? That's great. Well, we were going to talk about Diddy. He's nearly in shape. All right. Around the league. He never did none of that. By the way, come on. Let's give it a go. He was not on a load management. I'll tell you that. Clippers. Man, what is he doing? 133, 116. They lose to the Pacers. Six in the last nine are now L's. They've lost their last two by an average of 16 points. And they've dropped to five in the West. Pelicans own that tiebreaker. Afterwards, Tyloo said that the team was, quote, ooh, soft. Lou, what do you think about those comments? My first thought is this is where Russell Westbrook's impact is missed. He's the guy that's going to bring that physicality. He's the one that's going to talk the trash. That's going to get him going. He's going to be their energy guy. And I don't know who's going to be the guy that's going to wear that hat for them with him being out. I think this is where his impact is missed the most. So Tyloo coming out and saying that they're soft. They're not playing with a lot of physicality. It's a Russell Westbrook thing for me. Yeah. And this is weird to me because this is an older team, right? This experienced team, this sub-vet team that has extreme depth, too. And Russ came back last night. He played 18, only played 18 minutes. But he had 14. And he played, but again, he's kind of like the motor, right? So when he went out, I think they had a little let down, which is crazy because they still have this big three that can explode and can go give you 30 points. They still have the personnel to be a really good defensive team. Look at Paul George and Kauai Leonard. Those are two of the great two-way players that can still defend and score points. So this is a team that, it's not like a team on the rise. This is a team that's built right now to win a championship. So when they have these skids like this, it's pretty concerning, especially now that they're don't even have home court right now to the Pelicans, who no one's talking about. So it's definitely, again, and this is the time, I think, it's the most important time where after all-star before the playoffs is where teams kind of come together, or they splinter, and they go in different ways. This team right now, the Suns seem like that. They seem to go in the other way than they should be. Isn't the whole point of this Clippers team the depth that we talk about that they have? Yeah. You know, one guy goes out. Something weird happens. And I don't understand that, watching why you would be losing these. A lack of an identity is what Lou talked about as well. Not you, Ty Liu. And I don't know what the identity is. If you were to say the Clippers identity is Blake. I mean, that's an interesting point. Because for me, when you have Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, I would say you're a high-powered offensive team. And on the flip side of that coin, when you have a Kawhi Leonard and you have a Paul George who I play with, and they took pride in defense, I've watched them argue over who's going to get a marquee matchup before games. I don't know what the identity is of this team moving forward. I think it should be defense. I think it should be they should hang their hats on playing defense and stopping teams. And you've got plenty enough guys to score the basketball. So it should be on the defensive end what they focus on. Yeah, I think this is their promise. They don't have an identity. They're 18th in defensive braiding. They should be top five. And offense will be their fourth. So I think they have the capability and they have the team and the personnel to be top five in both. They're pretty much one of the most complete teams when you look at offensive skill set, defensive guys, depth, coaching, they have it all. So it's mind-boggling when you see a team like this with this much talent struggle like this, especially at this point of the season. The Knicks played as well last night. This was, I mean, it wasn't even entertaining at some point. But Dante DiVincenzo had 40, including 11 of 20 from three in the big win. Pistons coach Bonnie Williams criticized him for stat padding. Josh Hart responded by saying, Bonnie should have told his guys to defend better. These are all valid points. Lou, who side are you on? I am snagged dead in the middle. What? That's not a thing. I hate that I disagree with you so much today. How are you not agreeing with an NBA player just making 11-3 as an NBA? You're supposed to feel bad for the Pistons because they suck in camp defense. So again, he shot 23 pointers. So him shooting seven in the fourth quarter isn't a surprise to me. He's going for it. He wants to see how many points he can get. So I can see money's point on it. And I also say, shit, guard me. Yeah, and by the way, watch the tape. A lot of them, he's wide open. So do something about it. I've never heard a coach complain about somebody shooting and making this many threes. It's a little weird. Like what? Like he shot 50 from three. Yeah, he shot better than a 53. And he was wide open on more than half of them. So if you have a problem with it, adapt your defense, change your defensive principles, double team him, which is crazy. I think you're going to double team Dante DiVincenzo. But if he's the one that's pissing you off to where you're that upset that he's making threes, the guy made 11 threes in an NBA game, like buzz off. I mean, he thinks it's probably not just about Dante. It's probably the season. They've lost a lot worse than this. And I never heard comments like this of guys going well. He got a lot of places he can spread his frustration around. What is this, these mercy rule? Like you said, uncle, in this game for Dante DiVincenzo hitting 11 threes, this is whack. By the way, this next team, I just hope they get healthy. It's going to be fun. That's all. They're tough. My two cents. Rockets. Good god, what's going on? They've won their ninth straight beating Portland, 1-10-92. Now the longest win streak in the NBA right now, they are a half game back of the Warriors for the 10 spot. Dear Lord King Green wants to get. They really are. Like they're in trouble. Jalen Green had his 27, but he was 9 to 26 from the field. You know, if we want to narrow it down to one dude on this team, Lou, where are you putting this kind of? Give it to Jalen Green. Since then, Goon has been out. They've played a brand of basketball that works for him. They're playing fast. They're playing up tempo, and he's eating off of it. 9 for 26 and 9 for 27, whatever he was last night, he's going to have those type of games with the shot selection that he has. But he's playing at a high clip, and it's been working for him. So I'm going to give that credit to Jalen Green. Yeah, we kind of touched on this team. They're playing so free. Since then, Goon went out. They didn't have expectations with Goon. So now you put out arguably your best player for the season. You're kind of out of the play-in. These guys are playing loose. They're playing confident. Jalen Green has now find a way to accept last night where he took 26 shots to 27 points. He's been efficient. He's shooting 45 from the 3. 52, I think it was from yesterday from the field. So he's been getting to his spots, but he's been converting. He's been making these shots. He's been great. You know what you're going to get with Van Vleet. You know what you're going to get with Dylan Brooks. So for them to take that next step, we talked about yesterday, they're both up for an extension. Are you going to pay both of these guys? That's your core going forward? They've got to figure it out. Because it's all they kind of got. They've got to figure it out. Obviously, it didn't work together. So I mean, that's the weirdest part. Yeah, but you know, one underrated thing we're not talking about is they have no zero pressure on them. It's so easy to go out and compete at a high level when you don't have the expectations of being great on your side. You know, I was on the Clippers team. We traded Blake Griffin. They thought it was over. I remember I told the guys, listen, play hard as you can, live with the results. And we ended up going on a historic run. The Houston Rockets are on a brink of doing that. Sengoon goes down. It's like, hey, well, we got to lose. Let's just play hard. Let's see what happens. And it's been working for them. Obviously, this is Yudoka. I mean, it's a great coach. He's a great coach. And this is, again, this is a team the Rockets have with zero expectations. And it's a team the Warriors with all the expectations. So it couldn't be two opposite ends of the spectrum here. And again, they're just playing. Did they play again? Do we know? I don't think so. But I don't know. I will say we look at the schedule. The Rockets schedule was extremely light during this stretch. And it's about to get, you know, it's about to get rocky again. They do play. Wait, did I just make that up? You probably do. Yeah, they play Thursday. Oh, yeah, that's right. And their schedule is going to get a lot harder. So we'll see. Listen, they have a chance. They're right there to make the plan. They've got a shot. They've been through with their best player out. Last month, we said they had no shot. We said they could. I mean, zero shot, a month of it. Not even maybe three weeks. By the way, if the Warriors would just win half of their games, this wouldn't even be a conversation. Wait, is that how this works? You've got to win the game. There's a good way to work games with them. Yeah, you literally just got to. That's it. That's it. OK, make sure I understood how this works. That's crazy. When nine-game winning streak from the Houston Tigers and the best player goes down, nobody could predict. We'd not have bet that one. The biggest game of the night, obviously, though, is this next one. Sons. Oh, god, here we go. 104-102. Phoenix loses to San Antonio. There's no Victor Wimba and Yama out there. Katie and Booker combine for 65. Royce O'Neill, the only other Sons player in double digits. Afterwards, Frank Vogel called the loss, quote, unacceptable. That is just rude. How alarming would you say this loss is for this Phoenix team at this point in the season? It sucks when a loss is unacceptable. Like, that sucks. That's not a good look for San Antonio, Michelle. I mean, listen, no, the Sun's fully healthy. They're big three in the lineup. And no Wimba and Yama, and you smoke this game at this point in the season. Again, this is what I'm talking about with the Clipper situation, is this is when you kind of come together. This is when you peek. This is when you get that momentum into the playoffs. And it seems like the Clippers and the Sons have kind of hit a snag where they're going the other way. And they had good, like, I mean, Durant had 29. Devin Booker had 36. But then you have Abil as an off-net, where he's four for 11. Grace Nalan, Urquid. So for them, I think there's still a scary team, just because as a player, you know. OK, but when are they going to start putting fear in somebody? If they're a scary team, when are they going to start putting pressure on these teams? I don't know. Because a loss like this, again, I know it's a long season. You can't be perfect. You know they've lost three of the four, though, this year, to the Spurs. That is. And maybe we can chalk this up to a number. Spurs might have their numbers. Mismatch. But again, like, I don't know. I don't know. I think you fear this team if you draw them in the playoffs, just because of on paper. And you know what they can do. But at this point. But now the film doesn't lie. Like, now if I'm playing, it's like, all right, come on. At this point, I'm not scared at all. Actually, I'm kind of looking forward to this matchup. I'm still scared. I'm still scared just because they're so good. I mean, we should be. Listen, we should be. But what I'm saying is, as a player, you know you go through the progressions of a season. You're like, man, I hate to match up with that team. I hate to match up with that team. As the season go on, you're like, you know what? It doesn't look so bad. Like, Sun's Timberwolves right now, who you got? First shot. You know what I mean? I can't just take the Timberwolves. I mean, that's scary. I can't just take the Timberwolves, but. Which is crazy, they're unbelievable. The 49 and 22 Anthony Edwards. And they still can't take them. Because that team on paper, the Phoenix Suns, is still terrifying. What about, do any of these teams, Clippers, Suns, T-Wolves, do any of them even pose a threat to the Nuggets? At your opinion. All of them do. Yeah, I think all of them do. They all can give them a battle. I think the Nuggets are the best team. I think they're the best starting five, and they have the best player. We're still talking about three teams that have, that's going to finish the season with 50 plus wins. Your eighth place team is 42 and 30. It's just a weird year. It's a crazy year. It's a lot of success. Look at 2-4 right there. The Thunder, the Timberwolves, the Pelicans. Those are both great teams, and the conference is deep. Nobody fears those three teams. Nobody. And they're the second, third, and fourth-ranked team in the Western Conference. I think today is the day we should. I fear the Lakers more than I fear the Timberwolves. Right, and we say that, and then we watched the progressions of the season. And we're like, yo, at this point, we should take these people completely. No, it's crazy because I see the Thunder and the Timberwolves dominate every single night and continue to win. And I keep seeing the Suns go the other way. But again, we feel like that because the teams. I've seen those players do it in the postseason before. We've never seen these Cads do it. I don't think that's a unfair assessment. I'm not disagreeing with you. Yeah, I'm not disagreeing with Chandler. It's just 70 games in. These teams are who they are. It's funny, like if the Timberwolves went on a slide like this, I'd be like, ah, they suck. The Suns do it. I'm like, ah, they're still tied. So right now, that's the matchup, right? Who's number one again? I just missed it. Nuggets. All right, well, Nuggets will beat the Suns. That's what I'm saying. You wouldn't pick the Nuggets over the Suns? Yes, I would. There you go. Yes, I would, though. Yeah, I would pick them over. But none of the other ones. And Austin. No OKC, no Timberwolves, no Clippers. You like the Suns in all those matchups. I just wanted, though, man. It's tough. I don't know. I got to see the health when it gets there. I'm not trying to hear that. The Clippers, I think, pose the biggest threat to beat the Suns. I still think the Suns and against the Thunder and the Timberwolves, I think it would be a dogfight. And I don't know who I'd bet on. I'd bet on the Clippers. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Out of those three teams, I'd take the Clippers the best chance to beat the Suns. You don't like the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Phoenix Suns? Yeah, I know you don't even mention them. I don't trust them. They haven't done it yet. Next year, once they do and they advance, they go to Western Commerce. Fine, I'll be there. And technically, the Phoenix Suns haven't either. I'll buy the stock. The Phoenix Suns haven't either. But I know how capable those guys are. And I know that. Kevin Durant has. Yeah, Kevin Durant has. Yeah. OK. Yeah. Look, he has his reasons. They may be flawed, but he has them. And that's OK. And I think they'll be good. I don't think when those matchup, I don't think it'd be, I think the Suns as a seven or eight seed, I think they'd be favored in a lot of those games. So I think the odds makers and the guys making the spreads also feel this way. I totally agree with you. On paper. On paper. Yeah. In reality, it's just not happening. We hadn't seen it before. By the way, this is awesome. They hadn't had a stretch of games where we like, OK, this is the Phoenix Suns team. I don't remember a playoff year where the one through eight is just as interesting as the four through five. Oh, I agree. This is awesome. No, it's going to be fun. Even a play in a 41 team. Kings, Mavs, Lakers, Warriors. I don't watch every single one of those games. Play in is almost unfair, actually. Like somebody, these guys are going to go home. Those four play in teams would get home court in the Eastern Conference right now outside of the Bucks in the South. Hot takes. You know what I mean? Those teams would finish third or fourth in the Eastern Conference. Well, it's too bad. Besides the Warriors, I don't trust them. Well, I'm glad you mentioned the Eastern Conference because there is a game over there when you talk about Wizards Bulls. Jordan Poole and Alex Caruso. I'm just getting a little snippy here. Caruso did get a flag at one. OK. A flag at one only. I feel like he almost should get tossed for this. You think so? I mean, it's not exactly a basketball play. It feels like it was both ways, though, no? Isn't it crazy if this didn't happen? There's no shot we're talking about this game. No, we're not talking about it. Although the Wizards do have the longest win streak right now in the East at three games. Wow. I got to go to my big case. Go to break. Just roll the commercial. Wait, no comment? I mean, there's a big Caruso Poole rivalry? I think honestly, there's a flag at two. I love Caruso, and I think Jordan Poole I think he almost flopped a little bit in the beginning. It wasn't that physical for Poole to start this, but that wasn't a basketball play. You damn near detackled him. I mean, Lou says, who cares? So I think that is where we take a break. That's where the mark is. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back a little, you buy in that on right back. Run it back, run it back, run it up, run it back, run it up. You buying that? All right, Lou runs. Ow, we're going to start with you. I got caught red-handed. This is a weird one for me. ESPN's Mike Greenie said that UConn could make the play-in tournament in the Eastern conference. And by the way, Greenie's not a clickbait guy. I want to preface that. No, he really isn't. Yes, he is. I work with the dude. But he said it, Lou. What do you think? You buying that? It's full of shit. Damn. So as it stands, Greenie, UConn can beat the Atlanta Hawks tonight. I mean, I'd like to see it. UConn might lose this round in the endgame tournament. Can they compete with the Chicago Bulls right now? Miami Heat are in the play-in. Can they beat the Miami Heat? I mean, that's a tricky one. They might not even win the NCAA championship. I don't have a win. They probably won't. Let alone compete for a play-in spot in the National Basketball Association. This is crazy, Greenie. Why are we all so sensitive when we bring up these guys? Well, this is just because we work very hard at being professional athletes for people to wake up and think students are going to beat them. The best player on UConn wouldn't play on the Detroit Pistons right now. So how the hell would this college basketball team be any of these teams that are in contention to make the NBA playoffs? This is just stupid. This is ignorant. And I don't know that guy. You're saying he's not. I love Greenie. It seems very clickbait. And when I tell you he is not, look, I could give you a list of 20 dudes that are clickbaiting. The Pistons and the Wizards would beat the UConn Pistons by 25 points. But this take is ridiculous. The Wizards and the Pistons would beat them by 25 points, and it wouldn't even be close. They would run them out the gym. I've seen better UConn teams. I wish scientists would work on this simulator thing that I would like done. So we could actually put these arguments to rest. Like, how would this work? No, let's just line it up. Find the starting five for UConn. Come to UCLA in the summer and see if you can. I would love it. Beat some of these teams. You could charge money for that. It would never happen. So guys like this, they could just say it. It's one of the most interesting things. That 35-second shot clock ain't going to cut it. Damn, Greenie pissing off the NBA today and not have that on the open go card. All right, well, I'm glad this next one's coming up. The play-in. They're going to beat Jimmy Butler in the heel shot. Well, you're picking the heat, too. Well, they're in the play-in. He said it, not me. To answer your question, hell, no, we're not buying. The 76ers, they're going to beat the 76ers. Without NBA, maybe. I'm kidding. God, how sensitive. Katavia's Caldwell Pope said a healthy son's team is the Nuggets' biggest threat. Oh, weird, we kind of just talked about that, but it's coming from a Nuggets player this time. Hello, I just said this. They are terrifying, because we know how good they can be. Again, nobody fears the Thunder. Nobody fears the Timberwolves until they show it to us and prove to us. I would love to be coming up here next year and saying, wow, the Thunder, they took that step. I believe in them. I think they're the favorite to win it all this year because of what they did last season. They haven't done that yet, so yes, I think the sons as a team, they have the talent. They have a big, they have shooting, they have defensive capability. They have Kevin Durant, Devon Booker, Bradley Beal. That is hard to beat, no matter what their record is, for four games. That's very, very hard to do. So Casey, players know. Players know. He's gloating. He's like, Casey, please do it. Listen, no, we all, I agree. That's incredible. The Phoenix sons are a scary team on paper. My problem is, when does it translate to the games? And the playoffs, would it be the only right answer? I would hope so. I want to see it. I want them to be one of the more entertaining teams that we can watching the playoffs. I just hadn't seen it up until this point. So I understand KCP's position. Nothing wrong with Lou being a prove it guy? No, it's fine. Like you're into like words and stuff and he's into like prove it. I want the Thunder to prove it. He wants the son. He wants the son. We both, we just wanna see it. I just wanna see it. We just wanna see it. Yeah. I'm buying it though. I can understand it. I mean, I can't, well, how could you disagree that he said it about his own team? It's hard to argue. Lou, Isaiah Thomas says Stefan Marbury should be in the Hall of Fame. Are you buying that? I'm buying it. I think, I think Stefan Marbury had a Hall of Fame career. You know, but this comes down to reputation. They got a little weird at the end. Sure. For Starbury and some of the antics and stuff. And you know how our sports media likes to kind of run with things. You know, lucky for him, he played pre-social media. You know, I think. Oh man. At the end of his run, it got very interesting and that led to him being legendary in China. Having his own statue in China and going over there, changing the game, changing basketball culture and creating something very special with his shoes and everything. I think he's a Hall of Fame guy. So I'm buying. Two-time All-Star, two-time third team NBA. All-MBA. There's a lot of guys that have done that that aren't in the Hall of Fame. There's guys in that's done less than that. There's what? There's guys in the Hall of Fame that have done less than that. Yeah, but there's also a lot of guys that have done that that aren't. So I think it's a fringe. I think it's a conversation, but as I... Is it the conversation? Yeah, it's a conversation. So are you buying? I'm buying Luca for MVP. I just... You have the conversation. Do you like it or not? Yes or no? No. Okay. I know. All right, not buying it. Fair enough. Like I'd rather like Blake Griffin to like, there's a lot of other players I think that have had that kind of resume with less issues than him that deserved. What the issues got to do with it? I think it's all around that. That's what I'm saying. Is it about the issues? Is it about some of the stuff that happened at the end of his best athletes? Two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA third team at Hall of Fame. But those are the stats, but you're a basketball player. You can look out there and see the impact that he had on the game. Yeah, he was great. I loved him. He was great, but it's Hall of Fame. I think it's gotten a little water down for talking about two-time All-Stars in the Hall of Fame. I think a lot of Halls of Fame have gotten a little bit wrong. Two-time All-Star? It's hard. Yeah, it's getting weird. Here you go, Clay Thompson. Said that Jonathan Cumminga might be the best athlete in the NBA, Chandler. Are you buying that? I mean, he's a freak. You see some highlights. He punches on people. He's so athletic. You look at guys like Zion and John, Anthony Edwards. LeBron James. LeBron James. LeBron James. But this kid is a freak, and he's long, and he's tall, and he's athletic. So, yeah. Why not? I'm buying it. Once you had the word best, obviously that opens it up. I'm not buying it. I think this comes from things that they probably see behind the scenes at practice and all of that. But during games, we don't have those a bunch of wow moments when it comes to Jonathan Cumminga. Last season. So when you talk about the best of something, that's a high standard. I'm not rolling. Well, the word best. I've seen LeBron James be the best athlete on the floor for two decades. Yeah, that's still crazy. And he's still an NBA. Until he said this, and when you asked me the most athletic guys, I wouldn't have said his name. There it is. That's what I'm saying. But now that he says his name, I'm like, yeah. Is he in the conversation? He's in the conversation. Okay. He's in the conversation. He's in the conversation. This is about standard today. It's all over the place, man. It's top five. It's top five. It's top five. It changes. Lou, Shaq said that Anthony Edwards reminds him of a young D-Wade and a young Kobe. Are you buying that? I just want to sample. Let me see. Because I like the D-Wade comparison. You do like that. I do like that. The style of play. He has a lot of D-Wade. Kobe is different. Kobe is different. I think that's something that Ant-Man can, he can get himself to. He can get himself to that place. I don't see that one yet. I do see D-Wade how he plays. He's a slasher. The shooter puts a lot of pressure on people at the rim. Uses this strength to his advantage. Kobe was different. Kobe was a stone cold killer. So, a sample size. So maybe D-Wade with a splash. He did say young Kobe. Does that help a little bit? Okay, young is a cute word. Young where he's confident. He's going to take a lot of shots. He believes he's the best player on the earth. Oh, yeah, he's a cute word. I see the similarities. I like where they put young there. I like this. I'm buying this. All right, with that. Thank you, Chandler. I'll take it. I'm buying it. Okay, we're buying it. Woo! We agree on something. Finally. All right, Chandler LeBron said that Steph and I ever send her the two biggest influential guys in the NBA since he started watching. The mic is mine first too. Go. Here's the thing. I think Steph Curry changed the game of basketball. I think every kid in the world wants to shoot from half court and wants to become a three-pointer shooter because of Steph Curry. Allen Iverson changed the game from the dress code, how he dressed, the do-rags, cornrows, his style, the baggy clothes. Yes, that went. The most influential guy in the NBA is probably Michael Jordan, who's the job man, who's the logo, the biggest brand in the world, the arguably the best player of all time. Guy, he was saying, no one wants to be like Michael Jordan. There's literally a saying that says, I want to be like Mike. That everybody wants to be like Michael Jordan. By the way, LeBron's not going to say Mike. Come on, keep going. You know there's no world in which LeBron James is going to say Michael Jordan. See, I think he should. And again, these are both good answers. When I think of the game of basketball and maybe not kids now that are obsessed with Steph Curry. Kids. But I think when people think basketball, when they think NBA, they think influential, they think Michael Jordan. Everyone thinks he's the go besides the new LeBron people. No one thinks Steph Curry and Allen Iverson are as good as they are. So when I'm thinking of influence and production and everything and the brand of Jordan and Jump Man, that's just to me, that's hard to beat. He's the most famous, biggest basketball star ever and he didn't even play in the era with social media and all this stuff now. Can you imagine if you played now at Tech Time? Can I go now? Yes, you can. Your mom probably has a pair of Yeezys. Does that mean she like Kanye West? She'll leave Terry Parsons out of it. Yeah. Terry doesn't have Yeezys. Does that mean that she likes Kanye West? No, the Jordan. No, she has Jordan. She does not have Yeezys. Face time her right now. But 1,000% she has Michael Jordan shoes. Listen, did kids want to be like Mike in the 90s? They absolutely did. Yeah, I did. You did, right? Kids that were born in the 2000s, they have an idea of who Michael Jordan was because of their parents. Absolutely. They just know the shoes because they're black and young. They know the brand. It's not directly related to the person. It's not directly related to basketball, what Michael Jordan did on a basketball floor when it comes to influence. These kids, I'm in these AUGems every weekend. All of them are shooting from half court. All of them are shooting three-pointers, turning around before the shot is up. Everybody in the NBA has tattoos, cornrows, the whole thing, jewelry, all of that comes from Allen Iverson on the basketball side, how the whole game, how the entirety and all these analytics, this is a Steph Curry influence thing. So when we talk about influence, I'm definitely agreeing with this generation, Steph Curry and Allen Iverson, biggest they come. Now, Michael Jordan did have his impact, was the most influential, but it moves on. It grows. I think it's generation there's different. It's generational, it's a generational thing. You don't think there's kids now that want to jump from the free-the-line and stick their tongue out and still want to be like, They don't, where are they? They shoot from half court? By the way, the era of this, Where are they? Can I say this? The argument would be one thing if he just had said stuff, but he brings in Allen Iverson, so the era is representable. By the way, Allen Iverson, he changed the whole, like David Stern had to change the little dress code. 100 percent, yeah. That's influence. That makes sense. And again, I understand what you're saying with basketball-wise, not as many people emulate their games as Michael Jordan. What are we talking about? You're holding your argument on a Jordan brand. Yeah, because it's the biggest brand, and I think he's the most- And that's what we agree. He's Michael Jordan. That's what we agree. He is Michael Jordan, but that brand stands alone. That brand is not a direct correlation of Michael Jordan to this day. If that's the case, kids will be wearing the Jordan 30s or 33s or 38s or whatever else. It's just timeless. Like the Jordan- They're not timeless. When have you bought a pair of Jordans that haven't been retro-ed? I don't know a pair of Steph Currys. These kids, dude. You don't? And I guarantee you, the same kids that have them, they at least have a pair of MJs. Retro-ed. Fine. Not the newest? Not the newest. No, no one wears Team Jordans, but I guarantee the same kids have the 11s or the fours that have all those. That's influence, that's influence. Michael Jordan, the Jumpman logo is more famous than the NBA logo. I agree with you, the Jumpman logo. We're talking about Michael Jordan. But it had to come from somewhere. Maybe they don't know why it's influential, but the influence comes from Michael Jordan. Can you imagine him nowadays? Absolutely. He'd be times more famous than this dude. He would hate it so much. We saying that like Michael Jordan is still Michael Jordan. Yeah, but if he was having to be Michael Jordan, the player right now, ooh. He'd be looking at some possible suspensions. All right, moving on. Lou, Paul Pierce, I love it when it starts with Paul Pierce. He said, James Harden is a bigger superstar than Kawhi Leonard. Are you buying that? I'm buying. Me too. Yeah, I'm buying. So when you talk about superstar, that's everything. Off the court, Kawhi Leonard doesn't care to be a personality. James Harden is a much bigger superstar when it comes to everything that he represents. I'm buying. Yeah, James Harden's a full-blown celebrity. He's like personality. James Harden goes to the fashion weeks. He embraces that role of being a star and hanging out with rappers and doing all that stuff. Kawhi Leonard doesn't care. He lives in Orange County. He takes a chopper to practice for God's sakes. He could care less. I'm not going to see Kawhi Leonard at Craig's tonight. You're going to see James Harden in the trendiest, coolest place. We are? Yeah. Is Craig still in? Kawhi is a helicopter guy. How interesting. Huh? He's a chopper guy. I know. I don't want him. I just said that. I'm saying he doesn't care. He doesn't want to be seen. He's not going to. Are you a helicopter guys? I'm a helicopter guy. I've never been in a helicopter. Dude, you and I, because we don't like to buy. You know how we travel. We're not. Get me a block shot on the set. Still don't play defense. All right, here we go. Victor women, you almost said Rudy Gobert deserves defensive player of the year this season. But after that, it's no longer his turn. You buy that this is Rudy Gobert's last season. This is the coolest thing he's ever said so far. This is awesome. I'm buying it. It's probably true too. Like I believe that he's going to take over this award. I think he could run off five, six, seven in a row of them. He's got that potential. He's got that talent. They know each other obviously from France too. And this is, I think this is friendly banter, but it's true. Rudy Gobert, he's going to win it this year. He deserves to win it. It's a great year, but I think it's, I think it's Wimby's for the take. I think the whole league is Wimby for the taking, let alone defensive player of the year. Lou, yeah, I like it. I like it. I'm buying it. It's going to be a fun ride. Yeah, I like it. Wee! Okay, that's all I have to add to that. All right, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, more run it back. That's all I got. I just like to use your shirt. Run it up, run it back, run it up, run it back, yeah. Phil Belane, time. You know, instead of that, it's actually Phil the Blake. Get it? Okay, the game has been set. Nikola Jokic Chandler is a top player of all time. He's a top 20 player of all time. And it's only going to keep going once he gets his third MVP this season ahead of SGA, Lou. It's hard. Again, there's a lot of guys with great careers that played a really long time. I'm actually kind of looking at the list too, and I'm through the 20 and he's all on here. What? Yeah, he's not on here. Of all time. Again, I have my takes on older players and I respect them and I love what they've done, but I think Jokic now, the stats he puts up to the MVPs, again, I'm getting three MVPs alone. Should put him at the top 15. That's crazy. He's not on top 75 team so far, so. Okay, but they redid it. Yeah, they redid it. They would definitely remove some money. But until then. Really? So you're going off that list? Yeah, why not? You know that list. It's 75 guys that are at least Rick Berry. You're not putting Jokic in the top 75 of all time. Top 75? I'm putting him at top 12. I'm trying to possibly. I'll put him top 50 of all time. Top 50? Yeah, 50. You got Bob Petit over him. Are we going to do all the 49 before him? Let's go. Okay. George Meikin? Yeah, he was good. Well, we're going to poop on the old guys now. You're going to poop on George Meikin. No, I'm just saying like Jokic. Right now, Jokic. I'm just saying top 50. That's just, that's not an educated guess. Top 50? Giannis, there's 10 guys in the NBA right now that are top 50. AD? Listen. AD's on the list, isn't he? Giannis, Kevin Durant, LeBron, Steph Curry, Jokic. MB's probably top 50 for God's sakes. What do you mean? Yeah, we got to redo the list. Yeah, that list changes every year. Problem is they didn't. Lucas top 50. Okay, here we go. Where were you ranked Jokic in centers alone? I think, I love Shaq. I think he's the most dominant. Kareem's career. Hakim Alajuan. That's a good one. And then, by the way, I'm probably going him. Wilt's got a crazy resume, but like. So you're putting him top. Top five center of all time. Top five centers of all time. So if he's a top five center of all time, then he's 100% top 20. I think he's, yeah. Hakim is a top 20. I think he's still a lot of work to do, but I think he finishes top 20 for sure. Okay. Old Chamberlain. I think he finishes top 20 for sure, but it's a lot of work to do. Bill Russell. All right, enough. Lou wants to see more, and that's it. How much more do you want? A fifth, fourth, sixth in the VP? I mean, another team, another team. Two MVPs in one championship. That's pretty good, but Shaq, Shaq is Shaq. He's got three of them. Kim Elijah one is the Kim Elijah one. Okay, but Anthony Davis is on this list. Tim Duncan is a power forward. He's the best power forward of all time. Right, but I'm not just talking about centers no more. So we're talking about all time. Yeah, we're talking about everything. So it's guys off the top of my head. Dirk. That are four and fives. Dirk. Or Yolkage, better career. Give me Dirk. Right now. You want one MVP, one championship? Dirk is done. Over one championship in three MVPs? He doesn't have three. He's got two. He's about to have three. But he doesn't have it. Lou, can you just join us? It's on the way, dude. No, I'm not going. It's on the way, dude. It's on the way. It's totally done. All right, fine, Lou. Which player is the most underrated in the NBA this season? Got to be Sabonis. Not anymore, though. We're gassin' about that. Okay, then we got to go to the Pelicans then, because that's the other team we never talked about. So somebody on that. But most underrated player, got to be Sabonis. That's fair. No All-Star and you lead the league in triple doubles. Nobody's talking about it. Just break a record for double doubles. Nobody's talking about it. Don't make an All-Star team. Probably he's not going to be in an MVP conversation. That ranks as underrated to me. It's Sabonis. Or maybe even Fox. You know who else is killing this year? We're not talking about all his Kyrie Irving. The guys have an unbelievable season. He's so famous, but Kyrie Irving has been unbelievable this year and just hooping and being very, very productive. But it's probably Sabonis. It's probably Sabonis. Chandler, picking from all the current NBA players, who would be the best big two you could put together? Now what does this mean? Is this like a two-on-two game? A duo. No, you just two people, like you could literally pick. Yolkic and Steph Curry, to me, would be nasty. But again, if I wanted to play the two-on-two though, like Giannis and KD, or they would beat them two-on-two, because who's going to guard them? But if I had my duo going forward in their prime or whatever right now, I'm doing Steph and Yolkic. Give me when being KD. I just want to see two seven-footers. They would probably beat Steph and Yolkic two-on-two. Just give me two seven-footers that can do everything. That's a lot of length. That's a lot of length. Easy, cowboy. Yeah, let's settle down. All right, which player, Lou, is under the most pressure for the final? Hold on, you skipped one, because I would think all time, two players, I would go Steph and Shaq. Like, what's about to do? I didn't skip it. Let me host the show. If your computer wasn't a prop, you'd see we moved on already. But you have a computer that's not even turned on in front of you. What's a better duo than Steph and Shaq though? I thought that was interesting. We don't have time for that, because you're yapping over here. Go on. Turn your computer on, for the love of everything. Steph and Shaq's a nasty duo. I like Steph and Shaq, of all time. That's what you wanted to get at? That's what Shaq wanted to carry on. Jesus, parted me. Do you feel better now? I do. I think that's the important information. I was just thinking about that, I'm like Steph and Shaq. Okay, so now we're going to break? Yeah. Now we don't get to answer the other questions. Yeah, we're going to go to break. I don't know what's happening. Let's take a breather. We're going to teach Chandler how to turn his computer on moving forward. Oh, you're going to teach? So that he actually does something. We'll be right back. Run it up, run it back. Run it up, run it back. Run it up, run it back. Little P.F. Get in all the new NBA buzzer beater ankle breakers in Tomahawk Jams with Fandle, America's number one sports book. Right now, new customers get 150 in bonus bets, guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. The app's easy to use. There are so many different ways to bet, like live, same game parlays, and find bets in the new Explore tab. Make a parlay in the Parlay Hub, the best way to find popular parlays and more. Download the app, make your first bet, a layup, Fandle, official partner of the NBA, which is what we're going to do. Props right now. Need a real pro. I know, it's like, I get it. You are really good at that. You can really, really read. I've been reading for a really long time. All right, we got a proud party. Do you remember what you had? I do, because it's right there. I like the King's Money Line. It is at home, both teams played last night, and I'm going with this bonus train here. I think it gets a triple double. I like King's Money Line too, but I think Kyrie is going to have a great night distributing the basketball. I got him over seven assists. I'm going a little different. Or six assists, I'm sorry. I wanted to make something a little splashy, make it fun for everybody. I'm going Luca with the first basket. That's how you get rich. That's not how it works. Okay, and Fox over two now. Plus four, 50 though. But that's how I make my point. Coach has always give a guy, that's not going to get a bunch of shots the first basket. But I think he'll just take it. I do think they win the jump ball. Ooh. So I think they have a good chance of, they're going to get the first attempt. They're going to get the first offensive possession. All right. They're going to win the jump ball. Side bets. All right. Tomorrow we got Kenny Beecham, John Rothstein, perfect timing for college basketball. Kenny Beecham. Enjoy your Tuesday. See y'all tomorrow. Run it back, y'all. Run it off. Run it back, y'all. Run it off. Run it back. Run it off. Run it off. Run it back. Run it off.