 What's the word, y'all? Every single team has played about 25 games in a season. I think that's a good enough sample size to start talking about contenders versus pretenders. Actually, probably not. The Boston Celtics started off their season as a 500 team around this time last season. They went on a finals run. So maybe 25 games is not a good enough sample size. But we gonna do what we gotta do anyway. And just like last season, this is gonna be a hard year to rank contenders versus pretenders because the parody isn't all the time high. We've made videos about parody. You can go back and watch those if you want to. But this could be a season where a team that you didn't really think had the opportunity to win a championship could potentially do it. Because I think this playoff is going to be very matchup heavy. Cause we've had seasons where like, it didn't really matter the matchup for LeBron James and his Hedals or LeBron James for his Cavaliers. They were gonna make a finals run regardless. Oh, it didn't matter who the goldest they were is matched up against. They were the superior team, where now you might see a team as the better team, but they don't match up well against that four seat in that second round. So because of that, the four seat might advance like parodies and all time high and matchups will matter at the end of the day. But also remember, I'm just a guy with some opinions in a microphone. You might disagree with everything I say. And that is completely okay. We just, we just chatting at the end of the day. It is basketball. And my personal opinion, the heavy favorite to win a championship based on the first 25 ish games of the season is of course the Boston Celtics. We've made videos about how good the Boston Celtics have been the season. I know some people haven't turned off because they went against the Warriors last week and they got smacked around like it was the NBA finals again. I ain't look at that and say, oh, there we go, they're not ready. Because I was a Chicago Bulls fan in the, in the Heedle days, in the pre-Heedle days, the Bulls will go out there and when the regular season series against the Heat every year and they lose, come play off time. So I'm not looking at that one game against the Warriors and say the Boston Celtics are inferior. No, they, they aren't that nice. They are one of those teams where I talk about matchups, right? This could be a year heavy for matchups. They're a team that has so much line of versatility that they can mask as a different, a different team and a different identity depending on their, their opponent and be successful. Now you look at all the five man lineups they ran the season. A great majority of these teams are a very, very good team. Very, very good team. The only one I'm looking at that has a negative point differential that surprised to me is smart Brogdon, Brown, Tatum and Al Horford in 79 possessions. They've been a negative 24.7, which is crazy. Whether it's great Williams at the five, whether it be Lucourt net getting minutes, whether it be Blake Griffin out, they do it and they do it to a high clip. And they have a thing that we're gonna talk about a little bit later with some of these other teams where they have a guy who looks like he might be top five right now. And when you look historically at NBA champions, you usually need a top five to top 10 player to make it happen. Of course we've had years where teams haven't had that but for majority of championships, especially in recent history, you needed a great. And right now Jason Tatum has been a great player in the league and he might be the MVP. So I'm gonna say they are the heavy favorite. The next team that is slightly beneath the bosses Celtics in my opinion is the Milwaukee Bucks. So far they're 19 and seven on a year. Chris Middleton has just come back and then he sprang his ankle against the Houston Rockets who I want to show love to Houston. I'm watching, I see you five and five in your last 10. They've been playing good basketball. I think they're actually five and four since Thanksgiving with some good wins against good teams. Jalen Green has been playing very well and they did this last year. But last year was more productive because I think they went on a nine game win streak. They win some games, they show you some flashes and they take it all away and say we want a top three pick. So but we watch it, we watch it Houston, I see you. But Chris Middleton came back from this injury and then last night he sprang his ankle. Hopefully that's not something that's gonna keep him out for a significant amount of time. But he came back. He wasn't really scoring the way we thought he would but he added another playmaker to the lineup. Giannis has given you 30 a night on great defense. Brooke Lopez has been really, really good. Potentially defensive player of the year. They have a lot of the things that you want in an NBA champion. You saw them when it changed up a couple of years ago. You can argue that they couldn't have won a championship last season. It's if Chris Middleton didn't go down. So they're a team that hasn't been good but they also are given the benefit of the doubt because we see them do some successful stuff. Now the Western Conference legitimately is the Wild Wild West. Right now you have the New Orleans Pelicans with the best record in the West at 18 and eight, nine and one in their last 10, a seven game win streak. We have the Memphis Grizzlies, 17 and nine, five game win streak. The Denver Nuggets are starting to come around. They're 16 and 10. There's a lot of stuff. And I think more than the Easter Conference, this is where the match is gonna really matter because in my personal opinion, when it comes out East it's gonna be Boston or Milwaukee based on what we see right now. There's some other teams that we will have some conversations about but it feels very heavy wanted those two teams. With those two teams gonna see each other in the conference finals, whoever wins that it's probably gonna win a championship, right? But the Western Conference matchups are gonna matter so very deeply. Now I've been on Twitter. I've been here with people talking, you know, the New Orleans Pelicans having a great story right now. Again, seven game win streak. They're doing it without Brandon Ingram. They did it to a good amount without CJ McCullum. And even though CJ McCullum is back, he's having a bad season about his own standards and they're winning basketball games. But on Twitter, on podcasts, people are looking at them and say, I think it's too early for them. Why? Why? Why do we think it's too early? They're the only team in basketball. They have a top five offensive, top five defense. And I know you can look at like a previous son's team and say, hey, Kenny, they did that last year as well. And then we saw what happened to them. This team, in my opinion, are a matchup nightmare not to the extent that the Boston Celtics that we talked about but to an extent that not a lot of teams in the Western Conference can compete with. Remember, last year, they didn't have Z. And they took the Phoenix sons to six and as Phoenix sons were shaking in their boots, Jose Overado had one of the greatest point guards in history, flustered. Brandon Ingram has one playoff series under his belt. And boy, oh boy did he look elite in it. And again, CJ did not have a good playoff series. I mean, well, he didn't have a good shooting series. He was, he was a, Herb Jones was really good in that series. But now they add Z. And now they add year two of Trey Murphy where he looks, looks better than he did last season. And the thing that, that makes me very confident in the Pelicans ability, not saying that I'm picking them to win the Western Conference, but in their ability to win the Western Conference is the Zion Minutes at five have been good. You cannot have said that in the first couple of years of his playing career. Now they haven't played Z at the five a ton this season because Leary Nans Jr. closes out games occasionally. And he's very good at his job. So you can see him as the five come playoff time down the stretch. But in the minutes, they've put Zion at the five. It's not a lot of them. Again, he's played about 7% of his minutes this season at the five position. They are plus 19 in point differential. The offense is ridiculous and the defense is locking down. And you could not have said that in the previous two seasons. We're like, when, when Zion has played five in his career and these previous seasons, the offense has always been good. We're talking about a team that could do so many different things, but you didn't trust Zion at the five defensively. This season has been different. Points allow per possession per 100 is at a 102, which is ridiculously good. That would be one of the best defenses of basketball. And you look at his previous season, it was a 122, which is bad. There are 20 points difference between this season and his last season at the center position. And that makes me feel like they would be a nightmare. Now with that lineup, they do give up a lot of offense of rebounding, which is not good because I do believe you have to close out possessions in order to be like a super elite level defensive team. But I'm saying in the small sample size of Z at the five, it has been elite. I honestly do believe that they could do it. They could win the West. Again, if they went against the Boston Celtics or the Milwaukee Bucks, I don't know if they're gonna win that series. But I believe that this team has enough versatility, have enough depth, they have enough shot, shot diversity to be good enough to win the Western Conference. And the defense holds, which I'm not seeing nothing in the numbers that say that it couldn't hold as being one of the top 10. I don't know if they'll stay top five, but a top 10 defense with the offense being as good as it is, I don't see how they couldn't, how you couldn't have them in that conversation. They're not heavily reliant on one way to score the ball, like some of those other teams we've seen flame out in the playoffs. Like, I'm gonna talk about the Phoenix Suns right now. I don't see them as a contender this season. And I think a lot of Suns fans could agree right now. They just, and I'm not even talking about, it's currently a deal on the four game loser streak. Of course, not candy. But even when they were at the top of the East or the West like a week or so ago, I didn't see what they were doing this season to say, that is something that they can win an NBA championship with. They do have the J crowd of peace. They do have all of their draft capital to potentially increase this roster, make this roster better. But what they've done this season, I don't see them as a contender. And last season, their shot diversity was all mid-range jump shots. They did not get to the basket. They did not shoot threes. So we saw in the playoffs, that's not a good recipe. And while the Pelicans don't shoot a heavy amount of threes, they have three-point shooters, if you know what I'm saying. They have one of the highest Trooper percentages come teams, even though their frequency is low. And I do believe that come playoff time, they will be able to diversify their shot chart. So I am a believer that the Pelicans could do the thing. The next team on my list that I'm saying as a contender out West is gonna be the Golden State Warriors. Oh, Kenny, they're 14 and 13. How can you say that they're a contender? They're two and 11 on the road. The defense ain't came around. All physicists are struck. Bruh, this is another one of those seams that I am given the benefit of the doubt. And I think you will be crazy not to. Again, I still think there's a move to be done because the depth is a major, major issue. But Steph Curry still having one of his best years of his career. Clay Thompson has turned a corner when it comes to his scoring and his efficiency. During my green's defense, it's still really good. And I think they're starting to find good minutes and quality minutes from some of the people on the bench. They're starting to find quality minutes from Dante Camingo, who I can't see a world where he's out of the lineup after what we've seen from him over the last week. Wiggins is playing at an all-star caliber level. Again, I don't know if he'll make it this season, but he took what he did last season and he's doing it better. I think he's shooting like 50% for the field, 40% for three, but 60% for the free throw. Like, I don't understand it. I don't understand how Wiggins can't hit a free throw, but he's still as efficient as ever while being one of the better on-ball defenders in basketball. Again, I do believe they're a piece of weight, but they're another team that's getting the benefit of the doubt because I know come playoff time, they're not a team that anybody wants to see. Going back out East, the Cavaliers are a team that worries me a little bit. I think that they match up pretty solid against the Bucks and potentially the Boston Celtics just because they have a lot of length with Evan Mobley and Jared Allen being their front court, but they have had spurts this season with the offense, this looks god-awful. They take every single second off the shot clock, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it sometimes leads to bad shot quality and selection. And I do believe they're missing a hole there at the three position or just wings in general. He's Kerselvert, let's be honest. Other than the 40 PC gave against the Boston Celtics earlier this season, he hasn't done much. Dean Wade is currently injured, so he can eventually come back and hope that out. But I'm gonna say right now I would be surprised if the Cleveland Cavaliers did it this season based on what I've seen, even though I really do like their roster. They're one of my favorite watchers just because Evan Mobley's one of my favorite players in the league, but I just don't see it happening right now. The Brooklyn Nets are 16 and 12, eight and two in their last 10. They are looking good. But are they looking good enough for me to say that they are contender? Now, they have Kevin Durant who's playing, again, great basketball, one of his better seasons, which is crazy to even say because he's Kevin Durant. They're one of the harder teams for me to put into a category contender versus pretender, for sure. The offense is good. The defense is about league average. It's rough, man. They don't close out possessions, bro. They don't close out possessions. Nicholas Klax is having a good season, but he's not a guy that you look at to go gobble up a bunch of rebounds once you get a stop. I don't, I'm putting a TBD on them. I think there's a world, but unlikely. But would I be super surprised if Kevin Durant did the thing? I don't know. I think that what the Boston Celtics did to him slash the Brooklyn Nets last season was just some embarrassing work. And I just, that they do enough where we feel like we can alleviate some of the Kevin Durant doubles or whatever he was being thrown at. I don't know. I don't know. And nobody else out East, I think I should even have a conversation about the 76ers are still missing something. And it's also because Tyrese Maxie and Ed Benau and then James Harden have been out. He just came back. Joellen Beats playing some of the greatest basketball of his career in his recent stretch. Another 50 piece last night, which is dope. The Atlanta Hawks obviously not Pacers, Knicks, Raptors, Heat Bulls and nothing underneath that. None of those teams I can see as a contender right now. But our West, the Grizzlies, the Nuggets, the Clippers, these are teams that you can talk yourself into being contenders. The Nuggets scare me a little bit. Now they're starting to turn, form a little bit but they still struggle to get stops. And I watched them and I just don't understand it really because they have been a team that has been good enough on defense over the last couple of seasons where it's viable. But right now that the 28th defense in basketball, luckily for them, you have Nicola Yoko which is a women's engine offensively. So you have the number two offense. Aaron Gordon is having an all-star caliber season and Jamal Murray is starting to look better and better every single game, but the defense is still not good. And I mean, you have to play defense to win championships. You just have to. I think this could be a team that could take the next month or two to look better on the defensive side of the ball and then we can have a real conversation. But based on right now, I can't look at their resume as a team and be like, yup, they can do it when the defense has been as awful as it is. But I like their team enough to think that maybe they can turn it around. But again, on the 25-ish games, I can't say yes. But I can't say yes about the Memphis Grizzlies. They haven't played a second with Ja, with Bane, with Jaren this season. Not a second. And they are 17 and nine. And we saw year after year of the last couple that they are a tough outcome playoff time, man. Jamal went down with the injury and they still ended up winning the game somehow. Somehow. They took the golden say words to who won the championship and had them a little bit flustered. And now Desmond Bane has taken another step, get well soon, Desmond Bane. Jaren Jackson-Junis, he's come back from his injuries, look like a DPOLI candidate. Oh, yeah, that looks great. And they just seem like a team that finds a way. They always find a way. Jamal Rhett is still a star in this league. He's doing some great stuff. And even though I don't know if the individual counter stats are gonna say it, he looks like a better passer to me. He looks more engaged offensively to me and since Jaren has come back, they're the number one defense in basketball. Wouldn't be surprised. I again, do want to see Merant Bane and Jaren play some minutes together, but he was averaging 20 plus points per game before his injury. Ja was an MVP candidate before his injuries and Jaren is just gonna play his role so nicely. And I do believe they're another one of those teams. They could be a piece of way. And I don't even mean like they need to go get Paul George, you know what I'm saying? They ain't that big of a piece of way, but just some more depth on that back end. But yeah, I can see it. Kings, I don't see them as a contender. Troubles is no, the Clippers are one of those teams. They're 15 and 13. And a lot of people put their money on the Clippers. Being the team that won the Western Conference, we just haven't seen enough of them being completely healthy for me to even have an opinion. So I'm gonna put a TBD on the Clippers. And any team that I didn't mention, I absolutely don't see them as a contender based on what I've seen in the first 25-ish games. But at the end of the day, this is more of a conversation. So let me know in the comment section what you believe. Of course, I'm always down there reading some stuff and y'all might change my mind about some teams that I wasn't too confident about, or maybe you changed my mind on the team I was confident about. So I'll be down there, appreciate you.