Tournament time. It's here. NBA season is booming. Life is good. I mean, there's nothing like basketball in March right tons of tournament games with high stakes and high drama, all competing to cut down the nets as national champs. And thanks to our partners with DraftKings, it's about to get even better. Right now, all new customers who bet five dollars will get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus
bets instantly. Want to know what you can do with that one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets, Well, stay in the action and use your bonus bets on DraftKings same game parlays for a shot at an even bigger payout. So fill out your brackets, place your bets on who you think will rise to the top. With
DraftKings sports Book. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app, sign up using my code Bullyball, and bet just five dollars on any wager and get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets instantly with the promo code Bullyball only on Draftking Sportsbook. The crown is yours. Let the March Madness begin. The NCAA Tournament officially underway and the games are being played all around the country, So the best way to
track the schedule and tickets is with game Time. I just pull up the app and then I can see the games that are being played here in Los Angeles at the end of the month. And that's what's great about the game Time app. I can see the whole college basketball tournament schedule, all of it, or I can just look when the tournament is coming near my location. Game Time has the best layout, hands down. I'm always
checking the game Time app for upcoming events. It's nice to have this app that's one hundred percent reliable with a money back guarantee, so I know I'm getting the best deal on tickets, and game Time always comes through with the last minute deals. I love that the prices are all in upfront, so you know what the price really is before you get to check out. And I'm going to more concerts this year all because of game Time. I just picked the section I can see the view
from the seats. It's incredible. Game Time picks the seats for the best price. It takes the frustration and the guesswork of buying tickets because you can use game Time download the game Time app, create account. Use my code Bullyball for twenty dollars off your first purchase. That's code Bullyball twenty dollars off your first purchase. Download the game Time app today, Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Welcome
to Bullyball, presented by DraftKings. I'm Rachel Nichols as always, DeMarcus Cousins across the way from me there, and before we get to our other guest today, me and al Hassen, we got to discuss Fuggy. The plant is back.
I'm so happy.
It's growed.
It's making a lot of light and water. It is plastic, but I'll, I.
Mean, this plant is my favorite everything to see every Monday morning. And I don't know does it have a name? Buggy? Have we have we named the plant?
At this point, I'm still figuring it out. I'm still feeling the plan out.
It's got a big energy to it, though, so I'm gonna make sure Ashy, you know, maybe by next week, I don't know.
We also got to hit the fact that the Taiwan beer Lepards announced that you're going back for another stint with them, and really, I know that everybody in that country is excited to see you back. I'm excited to know whether you take the plant with you on the plane. So when we podcast from there, you have a plant. Will it be a different plant? Will it be a Taiwanese plant?
Yeah?
I think I'm gonna try to get something from over there. I don't want to put, you know, too much stress.
On this planet.
I wanted to be you know, the pressures of the plane and the long travel.
Could you know, do bad effects? True?
It's true. I love, I love what a caretaker you are. Book, It's really really very impressive. All right, I mean you do not have a plant. I'm a little disappointed in you, but it is good to see you because you may be the most famous man on the internet this morning. Please explain what happened. I don't even know. Do I need to tell the audience? I'm sure you've all seen it.
There was a viral video of mean warming up at I believe it was an athlete's unlimited event, right, and apparently you did not get warm I mean ever, because the shot was not even can we call it a shot? I don't know, Book, can we even say it's a shot? Or is that in the front of basketball.
Man, he got some explaining to do from this day forward after we covered this topic. Man, you better have only nice things to say about any athlete seeing you.
The measurement book.
Here's the best part.
You know, I got number of love for you. But hey, how dare you a man?
Oh? Dare you? How dare you? Sir?
How dare This is what I've been telling everybody. Not only am I gonna keep going in, I'm going in harder, I'm doubling down because this is my whole thing. Most of the time, athletes complain about like being in a fishbowl and everybody and you go on the internet and everyone's negative and da da da dah, And I'm like that shit, ain't that hard? And here I am. I'm messed up, I'm getting roasted. I'm still here, I'm still talking.
The world hasn't ended, my house hasn't collapsed. Quite the opposite. This is becoming one of the more lucrative things that happened to me in the last couple of years. So you know what, keep sharing that video, keep doing everything, because at the end of the day, this is the truth, and the truth is I know that's not how I shoot. I don't need to.
Evidence would suggest the contrary. Also, how are you making money off of this? I'm sorry, no, no, no.
No, that's not gonna cut it, brother, that you can't compare yourself to an athlete living in a fish bowl, because one an athlete living in a fish bowl, when he makes a mistake, that's when it affects us because we know it was a mistake or that's not really ourselves.
I made a mistake, that's.
Not no no, no, no no.
It's easier to accept negative criticism when you know you suck. Nah.
See, here's the thing, it's a different scenario, brother.
So I'm gonna be I'm gonna be perfectly honest. And this is why I've been like accepting the jokes because it is funny. It looked funny, so I laughed at it. Ninety percent of the jokes that have been made have been funny to me. The thing I go back to is I do them played with so many NBA players, NBA coaches, NBA media people, musicians, actors, comedians. If I shot like that regularly, don't you think that would have
been out by now? Like you think this is a grand secret that some of the biggest shit talking people in the world a decided to keep to themselves.
Here's what I know. Here's what I know is that after the shot, and after someone came up to talk to you about it, in the moment, you had so many excuses. I mean, it was like like the price that was the price is right or no, no family feud. It was like excuse number one, excuse number two, excuse number three, excuse number four. One of my favorite excuses was you were like, look, it's Ramadan. I've been fasting
during the daylight hours this entire month. By the way, I would have possibly given you a little bit of a you know, first, I really respect that you do that, and that like giving you a little bit of a quarter for that, except that the same weekend, Hyrie Irving, who also fasts for Ramadan and had not eaten in anything and was playing in a professional NBA game, not just warming up, had an event, but a professional game that he had already played the better part of what
I remember how many minutes he had, but I imagine it was it was a good chunk that he was at the very end of the game and hit one of the great shots that we have seen. I mean definitely this season and in the past few seasons, and you under the same program could not hit a warm up shot to save your.
Life, hold on a couple of things. Number one, same release though, Oh my god, oh my no. But seriously, speaking like that was the one shot that like, they didn't show any other shots. You know, what's happening to me. The thing that's happened to me, the same thing that's happened to me, is the same thing that happened with all these we've done with the nineties videos, right where they're going to take the worst moment and say, this is how this person always plays, this is how this
person always shoots. And again, I know, just like you know, Isaiah Thomas and Michael Jordan, all the people in those videos know that's not representative of how they play.
That's not how represent how pretend that Michael Jordan or Isaiah Thomas ever once shot at basketball the way you did the other day.
I'm not saying that. I'm saying when when they do the we're done with the nineties videos though, show look at.
You you was gang banging.
Bro's cool.
That's the one thing I don't joke about I'll be traveling too much me. Don't you like that. I just want to make it clear to all to set the consternation if I sit through some up inadvertently, I apologized. I did not mean to do that.
You definitely threw something up.
I say, it's brutal, brutal. All right, We're gonna let you redeem yourself with some basketball talk over this next hour. But I'm telling you you're you're really on the edge here, So let's see you.
Too, edge your glory, edge of glory.
Just something. It's not glory, my friend. All Right, we gotta hit the Clippers because that happened just last night. They have a four and five records since Russell Westbrook got hurt. Here are their notable losses since the All Star Break. This is actually a kind of concerning list. They blew a twenty one fourth quarter lead to the Lakers. They blew a thirteen point fourth quarter lead to the Bucks without Giannis, lost that game. They blew a twenty
two point lead to the Timberwolves. They scored four points in the final four minutes versus the Pelicans, which was a huge game because that's right below them in the standings, and they were down twenty nine points at home last night to the Hawks, who of course do not have Trey Young. So look, I want to read you a couple of quotes from the locker room afterward. Here is
Kawhi Leonard quote, it's between the ears with us. Here is Paul George quote, right now, I don't think we have an identity, So boogie, with fifteen games left to play, clips not how they want to be going into the postseason. What do you think this team needs to do immediately here to right the ship.
I think it's two things with this team.
The first thing is I think they're now starting to really see the importance and how valuable this guy is to their team. And Russell Westbrook know the guy, the voice in the locker room, the quote unquote leader of the locker room. Just that that positive, big energy that he comes with on a nightly basis, it's missing.
And you can.
Tell it's not the same team. It's not the same joy that that that we've seen them play when they were at their best this season or so far this season. It's just not the same team. It's not that that same energy that we saw early on. And I think that's credit to Russell Westbrook and what he brings to a team on a nightly basis. The second thing is I could just see this being a team that's now
kind of getting comfortable, getting a little stagnant. You're not seeing quite the same urgency that they played with early on in the season, And I think I don't think this is you know, severe for this team, but it is something that needs to be corrected with these last fifteen to go, and the foundation going into the playoffs should be because every play matters. One play can change
an entire series. So this isn't the point of the season where you want to be lack of urgency or playing with a lack of effort or any of those things, because you don't want to create bad habits right before you're going to the big stage. This is definitely something that can be corrected. I think T Lou should be, you know, sitting this team down and they should be having a heart to heart. You know, what do you
guys really want out of this season? Are you guys really trying to be a part of NBA history winning a championship? These are real questions that need to be you know, asked and guys.
Need to speak up, you know what I mean.
We've seen this Clippers team, you know, year after year, have an opportunity, and it's always something right towards the end. If it's not injury, it's you know, it's it's a lack of chemistry, it's it's it's all these different things. So you know, they are running out of excuses, as you know, being a championship contender and urgency and effort just can't be your last excuse out the door in
my opinion. So, like I said, it's something that can easily be corrected, but it's time to sit down and really figure out what what does this team want to be at the end of the year.
Yeah, I mean to that point. I mean, this is the quote Tyler had after the game. He said, they think we can turn it on, but these teams are young, they're fast, they're turning it on from the jump ball. So we got to be able to keep up and we got to be able to match that. I mean, that sounds like what Coach Brook you just said, right.
Absolutely absolutely, And you know, first of all, I want to say that the Clippers should be absolutely embarrassed and ashamed of themselves. How dare they step out on the colour and do that, and they should go home and just feel awful about themselves about how they got embarrassed at home by thirty points to that.
Leon feel some kind of way about their viral videos.
Oh I'm sorry, brother, I love that. Let me let me recalibrate. Everything is great. They were awesome at playing basketball and I have no place to say anything, so speaking up. So there's a couple of things going on right. Number one is what Boogie said about Russ.
Russ.
It isn't just about the points and rebounds, assist production with them leadership. This guy's a spark of energy off the bench and part the thing.
That's the thing he offers now, right, that's the main thing.
That's a huge thing, particularly for a team that I know some of these faces are new, but historically this is a team that quote unquote gets bored sometimes, right, that has issues with that focus and that sense of urgency that Boogie's talking about. So he's huge to that. Also not a huge part, but I'll say it because it does matter not having Norm Powell available in that
game because he's usually a guy. Now when Russ comes, Russ isn't out there for him to come in and be a spark off the bench at least with his play. So not having Norm Powell that hurts as well. But the reality is is everything that Boogie talked about is the playoffs for most of the teams other than maybe the Boston Celtics have already started. And these teams, everybody ever team every night, other than the teams outside of
the play in they're all looking for something. The Hawks are looking to move up from where they're at, and so there's a sense of urgency for them. The Bucks, who they lost to a few games ago, are looking to hold onto that number two. The Minnesota Timberwolves, who they lost to a few games ago, are looking to stay at number one or being one to territory as they fight Oklahoma City and Denver. So everybody's coming in here.
Tea Louz talking about teams are young and fast, man, even the VET teams are coming in here saying, hey, we have stakes in this. And so for the Clippers, they don't have the ability or the luxury to take their foot off the gas because if they do, don't look now the Pelicans are coming up. And so now you went from we might be a top seed to we may not even have home court advantage in the first round.
And look, they're a team that it's also been exposed. Even during their big winning streak, they still have some trouble with the teams that have significant size and height inside across the Western Conference, right that they had trouble with the Lakers, trouble with Minnesota, you know a lot of these teams that have length on them. That is
the one weakness for this Clippers team. And so it's not just that like OGE, we're bored because we're all great, you know, scorers with great histories in this league, and once we do turn the switch on, we can, you know, blow the lights out on anyone. It's not like that that hasn't happened even when they are playing hard and
all pulling the rope the same way. So I just kind of feel like it's a little more shocking to me to see this now, just because they've been shown over the last few months that they need to be on all cylinders in the jump just to beat some of these teams they're going to have to go through. I don't know how they beat Denver. They just haven't shown that they have the personnel necessarily to do that if they're playing really well and they haven't been doing that,
I don't know. I mean, we're all Russell Westbrook appreciators here in this in this group, and we all have been saying from the jump like what he has brought to that team. But I do think you're right the book that's probably just the answer, right, that they got to get him back. All right, you mentioned the Bucks. I mean I do want to hit them because Chris Middleton came back a sixteen game apt in absence no Jannis on the night that Chris comes back didn't matter.
He played well, twenty two points, seven assists, Dame played well, Bobby Portis played well. I mean, but you played on this Bucks team. Why is Chris Middleton so important to them making a deep playoff run? Because he misses enough time Sometimes you almost get the idea they could play without him, But then you see last night what he brings when he shows back up well.
One, And I think Chris Middleton is the you know, ultimate professional and the ultimate teammate. So just the positivity, positivity he brings every day is it's contagious.
He's loved in that locker room.
He's loved within that organization, so Kemey and not being at the point in his career that he's at now, you know, being on the older side of things, dealing with the injury you know history he's had so far.
When this whole things started with this, you know, Milwaukee Championship run, k Mid was an obvious you know, second option with his team you know now and then bringing in a piece like Dame, it's kind of lining up perfectly for k Mid with the point he's at in his career, he can now slide to being a third option, being a viable piece to playing off of you know, Joannis and Dan. So I think he's in a perfect
spot right now. It's also giving him a little more cushion to kind of get his feet underneath him, get his rhythm back. And with fifteen games ago, I think that's more than enough time to kind of find this rhythm and his flow with the team. So I think it's kind of lining up perfectly. And you know this, this this Bucks team can definitely be a threat down the stretch, and they're only getting better as the season
goes on. And just to counter all that, you know, the system with Doc is now kind of getting into place for the team. Everybody's really you know, figuring out their role. Bringing in Pat Bev was a huge them. So things are lining up for his Bucks team for them to you know, make a big run in his playoffs.
So we'll see.
Yeah, you know, I would start with Doc because when Doc was hired, everybody had jokes, right, But the reality is this team has been better under him, and not just oh they're winning versus what their winning record was before, but in terms of their style of play, their defense has gotten better, and like Boogie said, guys are now knowing their roles and embracing them as opposed to before, guys we're looking around saying what's my role? They need Chris.
That's beyond the shadow of a doubt. Giannis and Dame are not enough for them to be a championship team, enough to be a contending team, but to be a championship team, they need Chris and they need his contributions. But the other thing that was kind of funny watching him play yesterday was with Dame not excuse me, with Jiannis not out there, Dame looked a lot more comfortable. He looked a lot more comfortable because the offense was
running exclusively through him. He had sixteen assists, He got everybody involved, he was aggressive with his attack and scoring. So that's still kind of one more thing on the to do list for the Bucks. And I know they don't have a lot of practice time a team now in the playoffs, but they have to figure out, Okay, how do we get more out of the combination of Damon Giannis on the floor. At the same time, it's not enough for each one to kind of just be a star in his own role in his own right.
We got to figure out a way to unlock the two of them together, because that's the best version of this team.
Well, Doc's definitely already done that. If you see some of the plays, stuff that felt a little obvious. Right when they first got together. We were like, oh man, that two man game is going to be amazing. Oh man, this is going to be amazing. And Griff just didn't
implement a lot of that stuff. So Doc has gone back and done, you know, in some ways what would feel on the surface to be a basic coaching job of Hey, if you're an NBA coach, you should know to put these guys in these positions, but it wasn't happening. So the fact that he's made it happen is significant. Your point about the roles. Guys have told me that, you know, they he sat down and talked to every single one of them, something that that hadn't really happened
in the same way before. But I'm not sure what, dame, you're going to fight more than a decade of sort of innate muscle memory on what it's like to just be the one guy versus playing with you. Honest, that will eventually come. I mean, he's a really smart, good basketball player, but for this season, I'm not sure in the first season he's going to just completely become a different player who plays a different way. Because this just so used to the other version rights.
As many a coach will say, I don't need to be perfect. I just need you to be better than what you are right now, and so that's it. It doesn't have to be the most unstoppable YOLKID see to me ra chemistry.
You say that stuff, and all I think about is the clip from the weekend.
Hey, I don't need to be and I don't need to be perfect at that. I just need to be better than I was in that one clip, which I was after that one clip.
Well, so your credit, you were perfectly horrible.
So wait, I mean, I mean seriously, from a technical standpoint, where are the biggest areas that you see Chris milderon when he is on the court, what he does to turn them from a really good team with two big stars to a championship contender. What are some of the little moments that only he can step.
In and do I think, given the makeup of their roster, right, and let's just assume Joannist and Dama out there and they're healthy. But right now, it's very it's it feels like a very direct thing. These two do not have a great synergy of chemistry together, so defending them is a little bit easier in terms of like sending help and not having to worry about the consequences. Well, Chris Middleton is is the consequences. So you can load up on us as we run this two man game over here.
But now this guy over here who isn't what he once was but still is good enough for you to have to respect with a defensive attention. He can not only make shots, but at six ' eight, be a play who can see above defenses, so all of those things he brings to the table. Defensively, he's not where he once was, as are a lot of the guys on this roster, and so you're all just everyone just trying to get on and get along in terms of we're all playing within the scheme and hoping that the
team can defend even if the individuals cannot. But offensively, that's what I see. I say he's the consequence to trying to load up on Damon Giannis.
Yeah, well, I'm thrilled that he's back because I would love to see this team operate. It's full potential. You know, a huge Dame Lillers fan, like pretty much everybody in the league, right, and the idea that he could finally get to play for something that has the stakes that being in an NBA finals, say, would give, or even a conference finals that's more competitive than the one that he was in. So I just I think everybody would like to see this succeed in some version, but they
need Chris to do it. To your point, I want to hit the other side though, with another team that has had some similar ins and outs of players and the other guy with the amazing shot, Boogie that wasn't a mean despite fasting Khurramadan this month, same same circumstance, and yet Kyrie irving with the lefty floaters circus shot hook shot from like nearly twenty feet out. I mean, I don't know what to call it. It was so exceptional.
It was so incredible that people I know who are in the building were like, it looked in the building in the moment just as crazy as it looked on TV. And the fact that he can do that, that he can still pull that out of his bag. I always say that he can perform like literal actual magic on the court sometimes, and getting to see that is so cool. So I was psyched. And the Mavericks are now ten and six since that trade deadline moves that you love
so much, Boog. But I got to say, when we come down to did that win yesterday actually mean anything? My answer is no. And I feel like you guys might disagree with me, so go at it.
I actually do agree with you.
I mean, it's hard to sit here and say, you know, it doesn't mean anything. Obviously, the mass want to win as many games as they can, you know, prevent themselves from being in the playing things like that. But as far as their matchup against the Nuggets, like, if these two teams are in the series, I'm putting all my money on the Nuggets and then damn near might be a sweet I mean, the MAVs are very talented team.
They definitely got better at the trade deadline. I do still like the pieces that you know, they brought in to help, you know, improve his team. We do need a little more consistent play from PJ. Washington. He has a talent to do it. That's my you know, that's the little bro from UK, So that a big bias. But with that being said, he has a talent to do it. Just finding that consistency that's part of being
a professional. That's part of you know, playing with a team that's playing with a goal in mind, which is trying to win a championship at the end of the year.
It's a big difference.
It's easy to go out there and be a talent young guy and it's even harder to go out there and be a professional that's consistent on a nightly basis. That's when you take that next step. So I'm throwing a little advice while critiquing at the same time. But that Ben said, this MAS team has improved. It's a big win with them, you know, trying to stay in the standings and be a playoff team. But I'm putting my money on the Nuggets on a ninety basis, So this ship means absolutely nothing.
Damn. Who knew I was gonna be I? Who knew I was gonna be the positive guy today?
Man?
You got.
So so First of all, about the about the shot, Rachel, I'm gonna reject one thing that you said. You called it a circus shot. It ain't a circus shot if you work on it, and that's a shot works on.
Right.
Our circuit shot is like if the shot I put up had gone in, that would have been a circus shot because.
The way my hand, that would have been a goddamn miracle.
Well, I try not to use the name in vain. We'll talk about Americas. But my point is that's just a shot. Specifically, he's worked on a lot. I believe he works on every day if I'm not mistaken. And so that's like for anyone who thinks it's a fluke, it's lucky or whatever, it's not. Also, while we're on the topic. Yeah, he's fast, Ramadan. I'm fast Ramadan. He works out every day. I don't he's.
This is not a good road to go down. I'm just by saying athletic you are.
I haven't played full court backs, agree you we can tell you so, I'm gonna just throw that that. But but the other thing about the Mavericks, this is absolutely a huge win. It's not about can they beat the Nugget. That question isn't can they beat the Nuggets in the playoffs? Everybody and their mama gonna put their money on the Nuggets to win. That's the best team probably in the league, you know, with the exception of maybe the Boston Celtics.
But that's not the bar for them right now. The bar for them is Phoenix, Golden State and the Lakers that are on their ass, and then in front of them, New Orleans and Sacramento. Right that's the bar for them right now. And so every win matters, every win counts. They have to be competitive, they have to get these wins. And for this particular team to hold the Nuggets one hundred and five points, let me tell y'all something I know they said. Scoring has gone down all across the
league since the All Star Break. The one thing that the one team that has not gotten that memo is the Mavericks defense. So for them to not only win this game, but do it holding Denver, one of the best offenses in the league, to one hundred five points, that is absolutely huston. Now can they do it four times and seven times?
That's my point is he's not going to hit he's against anyone. I mean, I agree with you, you can't hold everyone to the Denver standard, but like, he's not going to hit that shot every game, not because he can't, because, first of all, the odds are that's why it's such an incredible shot. The odds are is a low percentage shot, and he's not going to be put in opportunity and giving that chance to have a game winner in that
spot every game. It's just not going to happen. The defense is not going to play that well in every game. And by the way, the seating issue doesn't I mean, to me, it's very hard in the West to know what seating you should be going for because they are one of three teams really fighting it out between that sixth spot and the seventh spot. And that means, quote, staying out of the play in And what a big deal that seems to be to people, is it really?
Though?
If you end up in seventh, you play one extra game, assuming you win it, right, which is the whole point, is that you play one extra game, fine, and then maybe, because of the way things shake out, you end up in that seventh spot facing a Timberwolves team that either doesn't have Cat back yet or is just barely getting back, or maybe if you're in the sixth spot, you end up facing the Nuggets. Like do you It's hard to say if you want to stay out of the plan
right now or not. I just don't think this win told me much in terms of the Mavericks, because it seemed like a lot of things they're not going to be able to replicate on a regular base.
I'm gonna tell you why it's important to stay out of the play a number one one game if you win it. If you don't, now you're getting into deeper into this thing and it gets dangerous. Number two and this is the most important part. The way the schedule works. Now, the season ends, the regular season ends, and then the teams that are in the best position in terms of preparation,
are six and three. They know who they're playing. We got a week of practice, we got a week of film, we got a week of just going through what they do in their tendencies and how we want to attack them and how we want to put them in a place of vulnerability when you're seven, when you're even one or two, which I've always said, this is kind of weird that the top two seeds don't know who they're gonna play until later in the week. It's almost a disadvantage.
So for one thing, from a preparation standpoint, being six is better than being seven. The other thing, looking at how Oklahoma City has played and Denver have played since the break, I'm gonna bet pretty heavily that Minnesota's gonna be the three seed. They will not be the one or the two. So would I rather play Minnesota than at Denver or Oklahoma City? Absolutely, because who knows what shape called Anthony Towns is going to be in. And also, to me, there the lesser of those three teams, So
there's absolutely, don't get it twisted. In the Western Conference, there's an absolute incentive to be the sixth seed.
I'd rather have less preparation and not play Denver. But you're right, I mean, who knows what's going to happen there? Well, we'll see. I don't know. It was impressive. I love the shot. It was amazing, and the fact that everyone compared it to yours was just really the icing on the cake there Chef's kiss. Believe I do? I do? You keep saying that, it doesn't make it true. Just because you keep saying it, it is not.
He did.
He threw up no gang signs at the end of that, so no.
But in the middle, if you pause it, what.
Happened was there? You go? You mentioned the scoring beating down. I do? I do want to hit this real quick, because scoring overall has been It's felt insane this season. Right records are being broken, right and left, seventies, the new fifty, like that kind of thing. There's been fifteen
fifty point games already this season. That's insane. But ESPN did have a report that the League office has now acknowledged that they have increased officiating focus quote unquote on certain defensive players and offensive players getting in defensive players way, the two very specific ones, saying that they've acknowledged an increase in officiating focus on offensive players hunting out fouls and also them veering off pathways to get into the
path of the defender. And because of these points of emphasis, the league has acknowledged that they we have seen scoring go down, and really I think it's the past six weeks basically, and I thought that was interesting first of all. And Boogie, we've been talking all season about how you got to let defenders defend. Do you think that these points of emphasis are a good idea? Do you like that maybe scoring is down in this way because there's a little more defense being allowed to be played.
So I'm confused on what we're you know, we're looking for as a league, as a sport in general, the foundation. I'm just confused because on one hand, we're complaining about it being less scoring with fifteen games down the line, teams ramping up preparing for the playoffs, like you would think that would be a good thing. Like we know teams are now, you know, focused on playing deep, and we also complain earlier in the year about you know,
and not being competitive too much. So I'm just lost in what we're looking for as a league, Like I think this is great, I don't want to see any team score one hundred and fifty points. I don't want to see that as a fan of this game. So I'm totally fine with that. I don't want to see a guy unless he's just on a tear on a tear to where he's averaging you know, it's three seventy point games, and I don't want to see that as
a fan of this game. Like I want to see stars have to overcome struggling in the half of a game and then coming back to second half and putting up thirty, I don't. I don't want to see a guy where he's putting up easy seventy or easy sixty. I don't want to see that as a fan. So I'm really confused on what the league is looking for. Could the scoring be done because it's this time of the season where guys are ramping up, that could be
a part of it. At the same time, I don't understand why the question is how should a ref referee ref a star like you should ref the star the same way you ref the last got on the bench. If it's a file, it's a file. If it's not a foule, it's not a file. It shouldn't be any bias because this guy is a star. That's that's where you're now kind of staging a performance. I don't like that, Like, let the stars be the stars, Let the competitors be
the competitors, and let the sport be the sport. Everything else will handle itself. Like trying to you know, plan or stage or whatever word you want to use to you know, you know, predict the guys perform and so whatever.
That's not good for the sport.
And that's why we're at right now in today's game of trying to figure out, you know, how can we make guys compete? How can we stop the scoring? How can we increase this? That doesn't make sense, Like let the sport be the sport and everything and handle itself.
Well, you hit the word though, compete, right, you ask what do they want? What do we really want here? I mean, I mean Joe Dumars has come out and said he's like, I just want competitive games, right, He's like, what we're trying to do here is at points of emphasis different things to have competitive games. He says, I don't care if it's ninety eight to ninety seven or if it's one hundred and thirty five to one hundred
and thirty six. He just wants the games to be more competitive, and I do think paying more attention to some of these defensive rules that are there to begin with, I think that will give you more competitive games. What do you think?
Yeah? No, So what Boogie said is absolutely right. The whole thing about a seventy point game before this these last couple of years is that it was a treat. When Booker did it in Boston all the mears, it was like, Wow, he really balled out and put up seventy. When it becomes commonplace, it's not a treat anymore, right, It gets the value. Same thing with the fifty point game. Fifty point game used to be like something that would lead all the evening news stories, and now it's like,
y oh, yeah, he had a good night. He had fifty that it takes away the magic and what feels special about those nights, both for the competitors and for the fans specifically.
Though.
The problem I have with all of this is the league said we're not gonna do anything if the game is the game, and then they went out and they did something. I'm not mad that they did something. I think it's good. But no, but they didn't have to come out and lie and say we didn't do anything. We didn't talk about anything with anybody. They try to say that it's because, oh, it's that time of the year and teams are slowing down, but the reality is
they're calling less fouls. That is objectively obvious. The fouls being called. The number of free throw attempts we're getting per game has gone down a lot from earlier in this season, and I would say, as a fan of basketball, that's good because we're getting to watch more basketball and less people just standing at a free throw line and tugging at their shorts and stuff. So I don't think
what's happening is bad. Like Boogie, I like it. But I just have a problem with them pretending like they didn't do anything and then the news comes out, Oh, yeah, we actually did tell the refs to have a change in the point of emphasis.
No, that's true, that's true. I mean they do tweak that stuff throughout the year. But I get it. They should have said what they did. We did it, and I liked it. I think it's good. I mean, we keep talking. We were talking about Clippers. Oh they went down twenty five, they went up thirty, then they went down whatever. I mean, those kinds of swings aren't fun either if you're a basketball fan watching that. So I just I'd rather see a game that's competitive all the
way through. When you're like, oh, my team's up by twenty five, but we all know that doesn't mean anything. I mean, it's no fun. I don't know, here is a fun story, guys. Isaiah Thomas, not Isaiah Thomas, but Isaiah Thomas is coming back to the NBA. He was planning on signing a ten day with the Suns. He was averaging thirty two points in the G League, so obviously that was a fruitful decision for him to go.
Give that a shot. Boogie you and I teammates and Sacramento, what do you think he can bring to Phoenix if he if he does get on the court.
With them one, you know, shout out to it. Uh, you know, you deserve your flowers. You you were a big part of this league, the impact you left on the league, and you know obviously still are with you.
You know, about to get attend day.
But uh, you know, it's it's easy to forget what this guy has done in the league and even bigger at his you know, his size and height. He's an inspiration to many. He's going to continue to be an inspiration. He's committed to this sport, he's committed to his ground, he's committed to his craft, and like I said, he deserves all the credit and all the flowers in the
world for what he's doing. I believe it is thirty five now, So to still be on this grind, after as much success as he's had, you know, throughout his career at high school, collegiate and at the pro level, to still be as committed and still grinding the way he is, like, it's not enough credit in the world. I'm super happy for this guy. He deserves this moment and you know, I hope you ride off in the sunset exactly how you want to, bro. But obviously what
he can bring to this Phoenix team is experience. He can bring scoring to this team, also leadership, another voice in the locker room, me being a team at I T I know for a fact, this guy isn't afraid to you know, hold guy's accountable. He isn't afraid to speak the truth. I think that's something that's needed in that locker room, and obviously he can be a big spark off the bench for this team if he's given the opportunity.
To do so.
I think this was a good move for Phoenix. They've been missing a point guard. Can I say this will fix their problems. I can't say yes absolutely, but but it is a step in the right direction, and you know, I hope this opportunity works out in his favor. So, like said, I'm super happy for your tea and the ground is playing off.
So one thousand percent the Suns try to go, what is that seventy games almost convincing us now we don't need a point guard on the roster.
Like some of the stuff is the team.
I mean, this is a team that used to have eighty point guards on one roster.
Right one year you got twelve point guards. In the championship run, you got none. It makes it h zero sense.
So to me, like it starts with that, like it is not here to save the day. He's not here to If he can be, that's awesome, But the reality is, it's what Boogie said, It's a step, a big step in the right direction, a direction that they decided they didn't want to go in for a long time. So having a guy out there who can bring the ball up, get guys in place, and lead out there on the floor, because the point guard isn't just a guy with nice handles, it's a leader. It's an extension of the coach on
the floor that's gonna help them. The other part about this is shoot the thirty two points is nice. He's not gonna get as many attempts on the NBA level, obviously, but forty five percent from three, I like that. And then five plus assists per game, I like that as well. And I think those are the things that are gonna help the Suns the most. What he brings to the table is the leadership, the passing, and the three point shooting the other stuff. To be honest with you, like
this is what I love about this story. For it it's not like where it was a couple of years ago where he got called up to the Hornets, a team that wasn't very good and he's just going to be a vet presence and help young guys come. This is an opportunity for him, like, oh no, y'all want me for my basketball, not to be a caretaker or a babysitter, and that's got to be the best feeling
for any player, is that they need me. They don't need me to be a good dude around, which is what he is, but they need me for my actual basketball because that's the whole they have. And so that's what I'm most excited to watch.
No.
I mean, if he can be a facilitator and make those stars and shinier and more polished and not be a liability defensively in ways that hurt the team. I mean, I think that he's going to be able to earn a spot there. We'll have to see what happens, but we're all happy for him. Really good guy, so we'll see what he can do. All right. Two truths and a lie. This is quickly becoming my favorite segment because, I mean, Boogie and I have had mixed results the last couple of weeks, and I feel this is the
week We've got it. Boog, this is the week, so we're going to see I have not actually looked at all of this, so we're all three in the dark here, but let's see what we can do. Two of them are truth, one is a lie. Here we go, Clay Thompson's points, rebounds, and assists are all higher this season when he's come off the bench than when he started. That's one stat. Stat Number two this season, just the season, just the season. Uh, stat number two. The Celtics are
seven and oh without Jalen Brown in the lineup. And number three is the Damien Lillard leads the league in free throw percentage. So we're gonna none of us know the answer here. We're gonna do a little round robin. Everyone's gonna stay what they think is a lie, and then producer Nate can chime in, Go ahead, bug your first.
I hate and love this game.
At the same time, I'm.
Gonna go with Klay Thompson, points, rebounds, and assists being higher off the bench this season. I'm gonna say that's true. Celtics are seven and oh with Jalen Brown in the lineup. I'm gonna say that is a lie. And Damian Lillard leads the league in free throw.
That's true?
True?
Okay, all right, I feel like the seven and oh stat with Jaylen Brown is so specific it's gotta be true. I don't know if that's true. I would also Damian Lillard leading the league and free throw percentage feels like a gimme to me. So I'm saying Klay Thompson's a lot, but I don't know, what do you think of me?
All Right?
So I'm gonna start with the one that I know is absolutely true. That's a nice place. So it's Damian Litlar, He's leading the league.
Yeah, that's one that just feels yeah, all three of.
Us, I know it's true. I know it's true. The other two this is where it gets tricky because I know Clay's played better off the bench, but I don't know if that necessarily means his points, rebound, assists are all higher. On the other hand, Celtics, I feel like this is this is why I think the Celtics one is a lie, because I feel like if they were seven and zero without Jalen Brown, we would have heard a lot of about it. It would have been brought
up in Jason Tatum's MVP like campaign. It would have been brought up a couple you know, a week ago or so when it's tend to be trending that Dalen Brown had liked the tweet that said if he was on his own team, they would be a contender. And he averaged thirty plus a game and be an MVP conversation.
So I feel like all of those things would have brought Await a second, there's seven to zero without you, Bro, So I'm saying that one is the lie, and I'm just gonna hope that the Klay Thompson one is a truth.
All right, So you guys are both going with Jaylen Brown. I went with the Klay Thompson's lie. Producer, Nate, what do we got?
No?
It was too specific. That was too specific. That's how you know it's true.
Oh my god, I hate this game. Wait.
How far off was he on the rebounds, Nate, Bro? That's technically if you add.
Them all up.
Oh my god. I love this The plant was with me. The plant knew the right.
Job.
You had one job. Amazing. All right, I now love this game. After hating it the last two weeks, I'm now in love with it.
All right.
We'll see you now. I'll take that bet presented by DraftKings. I, guys, I want to look at the odds to win March Badness. Of course, Election Sunday was yesterday. Yukon is the favorite at plus four hundred Houston plus five hundred Perdue plus six hundred Arizona plus twelve hundred Kentucky of course got to hit that one on the show plus twenty five hundred. So which bet would you take? But what would you put down money for in order to get or risk those odds?
All rock Kentucky, Blue wies Old. I'm gonna put my money on Kentucky. I'm taking everything. I'm taking everything down and putting the house up, the car or let my kids up, my wife, Kentucky shut up, Kentucky wins it all and the player to make a name for himself. Rob already doing his thing, Reed already doing his thing. I think this is gonna be a big step for the wing. Justin Edwards. I think he's gonna come out performed for this Kentucky team. And you know, he had
a lot of hype coming into the year. Hasn't performed, you know, to the level of hype. But I think he's a very, very talented, you know player, and I think the tournament will bring out the best version of him. So I think this is his time to shine and help push this Kentucky team to the championship.
So let's get it. Let's get it. You don't even I have no idea. I haven't watched it. I was talking about this the other day, how many women's college basketball players I could name before I could name a men's college player. I realized, there's like three names on the men's side that I know, and one of them is it's who's Brownie James? Like, just because who he is? That's why I know I know Zach Edie and then the Shepherd kid for I don't put some respect on
his own, no disrespect to any of them. I'm just telling how tapped out I am on college basketball. I just don't know. So, like, if you ask me who I would say on that list on my screen, anybody but Arizona as a proud Arizona state alone, we say the hell with Arizona. Everybody else are cool?
Well, book, I'm shocked at your pick. Shock shocked. I will say, you kind of defend. They look good. But even though Yukon won last year as the four I would I think I looked at it, it was like the last six or seven other than them have all been number one seeds. So it's boring to go with chalk, but just same. All right, let's let's do a little doom scroll before we leave. I mean, this is where we look at social media on the internet, so you don't have to you are social media on the internet
right now. But we've had handled that earlier, so we got to go to this one instead. Uh. Interesting stat came across here. Tickets to the Grizzlies Hornets game sold for as little as two dollars. The other day. However, a price of water for a bottle of water in the arena was five dollars. So when the ticket is cheaper than water, I don't know what that tells you about where a Grizzlies Hornets mashup is these days. But I mean, are you surprised at this turn of events?
It tells you this is a hell of a date night right here? Hey, baby, you want to go to the game? I got great seats. And then he goes like what you want? You want drink water? I got it, I got don't worry, don't move, I'll go get it.
Is expensive five bucks a bottle.
I'm more surprised at the price of the water than y'all.
Need to take a stroll on that concourse. Sometimes I'll be going up there because the media room. Food has pork in it. So I go upstairs to go get some food, and then I see the water bottle prices. I'm like, damn, they're gouging the hell out of you guys. But no, it's not so sadly, it's not surprising because these are two teams in a year where it feels like almost everybody's playing for something. These are two teams that have waved that white flag months ago, and so this is the result.
So instead of bringing in better quality players, they brought in better quality water.
So and there you go. There's another viral moment on the internet with a jersey swap that we're not going to talk about. But y'all can look that up amongst yourselves as you can go look and revisit a means shot if you have not seen it. There you go. Oh. One more piece of news though, before we go. This is podcast news. This is a niche as it gets right. According to The Athletic, JJ Reddick is set to start a basketball podcast with Lebron James called Mind the Game.
Reddick and James are going to look to talk more about x's and o's on the game on the court rather than the storylines that happen off of it. First episode drops Tuesday, will drop weekly. This is pretty interesting. JJ has been around complaining about his fellow podcasters not talking enough X and o's or being an X no breakdown. I always feel like it's good to have those if you want those. There's obviously been success in the other
model as well. But he wants to do this version with Lebron and I don't know, but what do you think about the fact that this is the thing that has flipped Lebron into being a in career podcaster like Draymond and so many other guys now, Paul George.
I think it's dope.
I think being able to, you know, be able to pick Lebron James mind, one of the greatest to ever touch the ball. I think that's a dope thing in any aspect. I am a little thrown off with the company that's gonna talk with Lebron. I mean, JJ was a hell of a player, you know. I just never, you know, realized how important x's and o's were to JJ.
So I'm definitely tuned in. I would love to see this.
So I would argue, I would argue that x's and olds are in Messi's important to JJ because if he tried to play the way he did a duke, he wouldn't he wouldn't have been the player he was in the league. He had to be a guy that understood the sets and understood where his place was in the offense because that was the only way he was going to be as you know, as strong a career as he had. So I like this, you know, Rachel would have reminded me of. I actually talked to JJ a
little bit about it last week. I saw him at Heat Nuggets and we're talking about look the masses want Barbershop, arguing like that the numbers show it. That's why there's so many shows that are like that. But that doesn't mean there isn't a place and an appetite for this kind of stuff. But you know what, it reminded me of, Rachel. Remember when when Kobe came out with detail.
That's gonna say detail, and.
I'm just sitting in a film room and just going through and Kobe detail was was I don't know if y'all remember, it wasn't really like spectacular or highlight places. It was kind of just like what film session really feels like as a former video coordinator and a guy who's been in those rooms, Like that's what it's like, is just watching possession after possession after possession. Stop it. Look at where he's standing right here. Look at his stance.
Look at how the defenses. This guy's creeping over here, this guy isn't, this guy's not paying attention. All right, run it now. Look at how the defense has reacted. One of those things. I think there are a lot of people who don't have access to that kind of content who are going to really enjoy it.
Yeah, and I think these guys are going to be a little bit more charismatic in that role. I mean, Jaj's been a professional podcast host now for a few years now. Lebron, as we know, is an expert in talking to the media and getting his message across. What I love about this is that Lebron actually is so brilliant at Xenosos where everyone should be on the court, you know, really since he got in the league with the passing everything, and he does have an idetic memory.
It's like practically, you know, he can remember practically than anything that's ever happened to him. So he uses that on the court and He's like, Oh, this guy did this once four years ago, and that's how I knew. I want to hear all those stories. So I'm pretty psyged about this. I think some people are going to want it. Some people aren't to your point, but I think it's pretty great. I think it's interesting that a guy who doesn't have to do any of this, that
this is a route that he wants to take. I do not see like Draymond Green, when he's done playing and podcasting, he's going straight to the TNT set and that will be the next phase of his career. I don't see Lebron James being on one of these sets and that being the next phase of his career. I just don't think he's going to do that. So he
doesn't need this to prep for his later life. He's just doing it because he wants to and what JJ has been saying clearly to strike a chord with him, so we will see more content for us to talk about down the road. I love it. You can catch our podcast. All episodes of Bully Ball are available on the DraftKings Network. We're on the All the Smoke Productions
YouTube channel. We are available wherever you get your podcasts and if you want to, when you look up, I mean shooting highlight low light again and again and again, you can just slide your thumb to the left there and then go on the pod. So it's great. You can listen to back episodes, the whole nine. We will catch you next week. Nice work with the plant, my friend, And I mean you need to work on yourself. That's all I'm saying.
This is love, A strong one movie us