No, come on, come on, come on.
On this episode of the Heat Check, it finally happened, folks. All the things that I predicted, step one of the domino has come true. Someone has to pay for the sins of those LA Lakers woes. Turns out the first head rogue, Frank Vocal. We get into that as well. We had to get into that. I didn't want to. We had to get into that, and we also break down the playoff seedings and the playing games. The first
two we'll do the rest on Wednesday. Playoffs are here, Brock, so drop that motherfucker beach Sunday bag.
I'm perfect, by god right, my goo.
Shockingly, a move that nobody could have ever seen coming is that Frank Vogel, an NBA champion, the head coach, I mean, the whipping post off the LA Lakers has been quote unquote relieved. This entire thing has been a mess,
a just a goddamn mess. I keep trying to run away from this and not talk about it, but the news keeps coming out like a like water out of a fire hose as fast, and it's furious to try to help a burning building, and there is no burning building in gulfed in flames more than the purple and gold LA Lakers, and so an ocean of water needs to put out that fire, and so more new is
just gonna keep flooding out of that hose. Right at the buzzer, folks, literally and right when you as you hear the buzzer of the LA Lakers beating the Nuggets, who were, for all intents and purposes, we're trying to lose that game so that they could duck out of playing the Dallas Mavericks. I mean literally a eighty second game. Austin Reeves moment, just exciting stuff for him, you know, Frank Vogel finally gets a win, like literally right then, boo sh this is the bomb. This is the sound
of the woch bomb. Here it is, folks. Quote, Frank Vogel has coached his final game for the Lakers, a decision that's expected to be shared with him as soon as Monday. Sources down ESPN Lakers search expected to be lengthy and expansive, with no clear initial front runner, A decision expected to be shared with him as as soon as Monday. How about as soon as right fucking now, excuse me, you just shared that decision with him before his players have even wiped the sweat off of their bodies,
before they could even turn the showers on. Also, then, because of said tweet, Frank then has to answer questions about his inevitable firing about said wojbam and his response was, I haven't been told shit. Let's go to it. Let's find it.
Frank credit. At the end of the game, Adrian Wilsnarowski tweeted that the Lakers are going to be firing you a decision. They'll let you know tomorrow. Have you communicated with the front office at all about your future? And I guess what's your reaction to hearing that?
And I'm gonna enjoy tonight's game, celebrate what these young guys did in terms of scratching, scratching claw and again back in this game again a w and uh, you know we'll deal with tomorrow tomorrow.
Did that get back to you before you walked in this room?
Yes?
Did that affect I'm gonna enjoy tonight's game and what our guys did tonight and the way we finished out this season. I'm proud of our guys tonight.
Any more questions for coach.
So many questions for coach is coming, and then of course the exit meetings that were scheduled for today. Frank Vogel mysteriously was left off that list. Huh huh. Very interesting, very very interesting, even though Rob Polinka later on today said that they hadn't made the decision to fire Frank until just today. So the fact that he was off the the exit interview list, that WOES decided to put out this bomb, all of that is erroneous. This is
just a decision we made right now. Charles Barkley, one of the men the miss the legends of the Game, had this to say about said Wojban. Let's get to it.
Well, Frank Vogels is getting screwed. You sure is he's getting because whoever put these old ass geezers together, they deserve the line's share. They they've scaped goat at Frank obviously.
And that he's talking about Rob Plinker. Charles Berkley doesn't know who Rob Plink is. That's okay, but that's him.
You've scapegoat at Frank obviously and Russ all year. But this team, I told you from day one, I said, the only chance this team got a chance to be in competitive is Anthony Davis, and clearly he's not doing what he's supposed to do. But to blame Frank and Russ for putting this old ass team together, I mean, I told you ain't enough icy Hot, being gay, Azorbine Junior, w D.
Fordy.
My grandmother used to put W. D. Foid to her knees and ankles to loosen them up. They should try that for the old ass Geezers.
Only team in the league with an average age over thirty.
Hey, and they not over third. They're not thirty one either. The thirty six thirty seven, seven over thirty, way over.
That average age over thirty. Of course GM Rob Polinkavin had to speak up about these things today. We all wanted to know what he had to say about, I don't know, leaking information about firing his head coach, humiliating him as the buzzer goes off on Game eighty two, revealing plans he has no need to reveal at this point in time. I don't know, even though he's had Frank Frank's head inside the whole of the guillotine pretty much from Game one through eighty two. This is what
he had to say. Let's get to it.
Today's not going to be a day of like finger pointing or unwinding all the specific reasons. We just felt organizationally, at the highest level, it was time for a new voice, and those decisions are made at the very.
Cause why not today is the best day for that. I'd like to know who I should blame for this cacophony.
At the highest level, it was time for a new voice, and those decisions are made at the very top level in a collaborative way by our basketball operations department and ultimately with Jeanie and Tim and the leaders of our organization. We just felt like it was time for a new voice. And that's not to say anything against the incredible accomplishments that Frank Bogels had. He was a great coach here and he's going to go on to be a great
coach somewhere else. We just felt like it was time for an and that's why we made the decision today that we did.
Anybody else feel like they just need a shower? After listening to that, he also went on to say, quote, I have tremendous respect for Frank. You've leaked out multiple times that you've wanted to fire him all season that man, you have tremendous respect for you have a funny fucking way of showing it. He also said this quote about the WOJ bomb. Of course, we don't respond to unsourced media reports, and in terms of the timing of our decision,
I'm gonna keep that internal quote. Hold on, pause, pause, pause. You are the source. You are the source. You've been on Wog's podcast four times this year. We know, Rob, it was you. We know it was you. I personally know for a fact it was you. He also then goes on to say he is the one responsible for building the Lakers roster, so if it doesn't go well,
we can blame him. Pause, we should blame you. Now, Then the roster decisions ultimately rest on my shoulders, says he will take ultimate accountability for how the roster is both, so that means you are the one that should be fired. Then that means that you are the original sin of this whole thing. Anthony Irwin from Screen and Roll, a Lakers beat podcast network blog Something says this this was the least cool slash calm slash collective Rob has looked
in his position his entire time. Also, he's positioned himself as the person to hold accountable if things don't go well from now on. Congratulations, Rob Polinka, you are the meat shield now, brother snake snake, I can't fucking stand him. If for those who don't remember, this all kind of goes back my hatred and also confusion because he was with Kobe a long time, and I'm like, how did Kobe stand being around this motherfucking guy. He didn't need him,
He's Kobe Bryant. What does he need to snake around him for? Anyway? Magic Johnson the Magic Remember, Magic was in charge pretty much de facto in charge while Rob had the title. Rob was waiting in the ways for Magic to step aside. They were basically the dual headed like people in charge. So Magic steps down. Nobody knows why. Steven A asks him why if you don't remember this interview,
let me refresh your memory. Let's let's just get to that, because it's you're wondering why this narrative continues to persist about him being a snake at.
Start For me to take the job as well, she said, you have the power to make the decisions. So I said, okay, let's go do it. She said, I'm gonna put you with Rob Polinka because I didn't know Rob, so she put us both together. First year in it was tremendous. I wanted the strategies to be, let's get up under the salary cap, because we were way over the salary cap. And I said, let's trade some people, get some draft picks.
So on and on.
D'Angelo, you know, great guard, but had a problem when Shaggy p and the whole nick the whole thing went down, so I knew I had to get him out. We made some moves. That draft pick turned into Kyle Kusma, so we felt good about making that deal. Drafted Linzo ball number two. I know you're still against it, but yes, we can debate that because I think he's outstanding all around point guard. Then Josh Hart, so things got going in the right direction. And then I start hearing, you know, Magic,
you're not working hard enough. Magic's not in the office. So people around the Laker office was telling me Rob was saying things, and Rob Polenka, Rob Polinka, and I didn't like those things being said behind my back, that I wasn't in the office enough, and so on and on. So I started getting calls from my friends outside of basketball saying those things now were said to them outside of basketball now, not just in the Laker office anymore.
Now it's in the media and so on. These are people you trust exactly, and people got to remember something. Being in this business for over forty years, I got allies, I got friends everywhere, right and so, and then I had to monitor the brothers because Joey and Jesse wanted more involvement, wanted more power, the Bus brother the Bus brothers, and so I said, I didn't mind doing that because
they're good guys. But also I sat them down and said, hey, listen, I'm gonna really help you guys mature and get better. And so I took that role as well, because they felt they should have been, you know, in powerful positions, whether that's the general manager or the president, right. And so then when those things start happening too much, stephen A, the straw that broke the camel's back was I wanted to fire Luke Balton, and we had max three meetings.
I showed her the things he did well and the things he didn't do well, and I said, listen, we got to get a better coach. I like him. He's great. Former laker, the whole thing. So the first day, well, let's think about second day. Okay, you can fire him. Then the next day, no, we should try to work it out. So when we went back and forth like that, and then she bought Tim Harrison to the meeting. You know some of the guys and Tim, you know, wanted me.
He wanted to keep him because he was friends with Luke's a great guy, great guy. And so when I looked up and said, wait a minute, I only really answer to Genie Buss. Now, I got Tim involved, and I said it's time for me to go. I got things happening that was being said behind my back. I don't have the power that I thought I had to make the decisions. And I told them when it's not fun for me, when I think that I don't have the decision making power that I no.
Just Rob just the only Rob is the only snake. Good job, snake. It was twenty nineteen. We might have forgotten this. But then you continue, what do they do? What do snakes do? They continue to slither in the grass behind the scenes and then snipe with their venomous, fucking fangs, and then all of a sudden you're poisoned and dead off to the side, dead body warm. That's where Frank Vogel is right now, while Rob Polinka is still wriggling around in the tall grass, pretending to be
innocent amongst all of the fucking drama. I cannot wait until they fire his ass. I cannot wait for more dysfunctional reporting to come out, because you know it will. I mean, by the way, there's another side story. I don't even need to mention it because it's so ridiculous and not relevant to this story, which is like Lakers in the middle of the season. We're texting on the bench in the middle of games in their uniforms. Let
me just back it up, just set the stage. Imagine Lakers in their uniforms during the game, sweats still on their face, waiting to be subbed back in. Are just texting, just fucking on TikTok and Instagram. What delicious Wednesday? Because we're not gonna get into all this now because we have playoffs and everything too, but we will. There's now new surface reports about who is going to take the Lakers job or who's in the running. One is Doc Rivers,
two is Nick Nurse, Three is Quinn Snyder. We will break all of that down Wednesday, because this is just Frank's body is still warm. He literally the reports of who would take his job before he was actually told he was fired. Just fucking disgusting things that you cannot you cannot relish because you just hate to see them. You just hate from the hood. So these dreams not far well from the dope voices the rock side when they can't cause without seeing cause, I guess they want
to all be boss. I know it. And I heard them saying nothing, Kanye, I do, I really do. I missed the graduations, Kanye, I do. A regular season has ended. We finally know who's playing who, sort of, we finally know who's playing who three through six, East and West, number one in Heat and number uh and Sons. Not wait, that doesn't make sense. Number number one Heat and Sons East and West number two Celtics and Grizzlies will have to wait the results of the playing tournament. But let's
get into it and then preview Tuesday's playing game. Number three Bucks versus Bulls. I mean, this could not be the better situation for the Bucks at best, gentleman sweep, just a delicious matchup the bulls have I'm gonna do this whole thing like how the Bulls can win. Don't even listen to it because it's just not even relevant to you. Honestly, if you have time, if you have like a short amount of time to listen to this pocket,
just don't listen to that part. The easiest money that you can make is a sweep at plus three hundred four to oh that's a betting angle plus three hundred three to one for the Bulls to be sweeped. The Bulls have no ability to defend Giannis and if they triple teamy on it's now Brook Lopez is back and he will eat them in the post, eat him in the corner threes. It's going to be a nightmare for
the bulls. Patrick Williams not good enough. And honestly, Voussovich, we already know Lusovich is going to be absolutely burnt barbecue chicken. Drew and are going to be a very fun matchup. But do not think DeRozan is going to be able to go off for forty a game against playoff Drew, Holiday, Middleton on Lavigne, Conaton on Caruso. It is going to be absolutely disgusting. I think it's going
to be a blowout. The Bulls could have competed, I think against Boston without time Lord, because he's he's the real interior threat. That sort of makes things difficult for a team as bad in the paint as the Bulls are. But this is a quick death. This is literally grab you by behind you and slitch your throat like that's it. I would be surprised, very surprised if the Bulls got one game. How do the Bucks win? Just give the ball to Honest a million times. Let him go to
the rim, let him go to the line. Just give it to the ball, give it every time, every single time, and then let Giannis pass out of the double or triple team. There's no answer, no answer. Here's how I think the Bulls can win. They only stand a chance if DeRozan and Levine literally become gods. They both need forty a night. Alex Cruser needs twenty a night. We need Kobe White to be on an absolute heat check off the bench. We need Patrick Williams to be like
Charles Oakley. We need Vouch to be in the locker room. We need I don't know, fam, It's not gonna be easy. Let's just say it, Box and four Bucks and four And I hate to say, because you know I've been an absolute hater of the Bucks, but this is going to be light work, all right, four number four seventy six ers versus the five Raptors. Yes, Yes, thank the Lord, as Charlie Brown would say, Christ the Lord is born. This is it for me, folks, This is it my
favorite matchup of the Eastern Conference first round. I love it just so much. This is a situation where we have an entire team of men that are long, like six seven, with like seven feet wing spans, where they could literally just build a crazy wall and they're just you, and then they could all slash to the rim, Pascal, Gary Trent, Scottie Barnes, all of them. And I wonder who's gonna stop them? How because the number one perimeter
defender isn't vaccinated. So most of the like half of those games, three out of the seven of those games, he's not able to play. He's not able to travel with the team at all. How Like Danny Green. I've seen a lot of footage of Danny Green getting cooked by Scottie Barnes. Cork Mos. I mean, he's gonna be backpedaling and falling on his feet like he's it's bad nang, he's a bias. It's not a good matchup for the Sixers.
This might be the single worst matchup for the Sixers that they could possibly have, even even Boston with time Lord, I think is probably a better matchup because they don't have to worry about Matisse Steibel not being able to play games. This is nightmare fuel the Raptors. Let's go
into it. The Raptors have the seventh best defensive rating of the season, and that was including a time where they were twentieth, so that he's they're top five in the last half of the year defensively, they're number two in the NBA and steals bad news. Raptors have the sixth best defensive efficiency on the road this year. They've played seventy two road games last year, half in Tampa Bay, so they know what's up. They're very comfortable playing in
other people's stadiums. They're very comfortable being booed at home, and then a lot of games this year at home they had no fans. They are built for this. The Raptors three and one against the Sixers this year, Philly's only win was when Scottie Barnes, Fred Van Fleet, Ogi Ananobi and Precious that chew you didn't play and it was a five point game. So here's how the Raptors win this game. One number one. We've said this before. Disrupt Joe Elmbid emotionally, get in his head, make him
play with his mind out of it. Make him play like like turn him into like Danny from Iron Fist, where he literally all he does is react from his emotions, right like Nick Nurse knows how to do that. You needle him, You say mean things to him. Hey, we made you cry last time. Remember that Kawhi shot. You just literally just get into his dome piece. You find out a way to make them frustrated, frustrated early, and then it'll just be a gift that keeps on given
through the course of that series. Make James Harden be athletic, Make James Harden be MVP. James Harden. We'll see, we'll see if you can do it. Make Tobias Harris and Nang and Danny Green and Cork Moss all shoot threes. They're not gonna be able to do it. How who's stepping up who are you gonna get it? Twenty seven from nang on a night tonight basis, No, you are not raptors. Like I've said, bad, bad matchup. Here's how
the Sixers win. You're gonna need to steal a game in Toronto somehow, and Bead's gonna need to score sixty. He's gonna need to do it on his own. Tobias can't dribble the ball at all. He has to shoot every single catch and shoot shot he gets. Like, do not step in like do when you get the ball in the corner of the three point line. Do not take two dribbles and shoot a mid range that you will ultimately miss off the back of the rim, Like, do not do that. Like Danny Green is gonna need
to be vintage Toronto Danny Green. Cork Moss needs to be twenty twenty cork Moss, not twenty twenty two cork Moss. I don't know if it's possible. They need a backup center, and they need another three point shooter like Seth Curry and Andre Drummond. Like, honestly, I think this team is better against Toronto if they didn't trade Ben Simmons and he was still on the roster, and he still had Seth and Andre, Like, I really really do prediction for
two Raptors, which would be a massive, massive upset. All right, Number three Western Conference, we go Warriors versus Nuggets. Man, this is a bad situation for the Warriors. You know, it's bad when a team tanks to play you. The Nuggets lost on purpose to the Lakers so that they could play the Warriors. They booted a game so they could play the Warriors. They are not afraid of you, they are itching to play you. These Warriors are one and three against Denver this year. Draymond did not play
in any of those games. That is meaningful. But also Steph probably won't play in Game one or two in Golden State. So if you drop one or two games against Denver without Steph, which it presumably would be very difficult for them to win without Steph Curry, who is their main scorer, who is their main creator, who is their main who's the He's the hub of the wheel. So obviously it's gonna be tough even if he plays, He's gonna be coming in cold. Game three. Denver is
a sleeper team. I don't know how Draymond guards Jokic. It's gonna be a tough match for him. Andre Iguidala is gonna need to be vintage MVP of the Finals. I don't know how that happens. Jordan Poole is gonna need to be beginning of the season. Jordan Poole and Clay's gonna need to be Game five, Game six, Clay. All seven games, we're gonna need to see just miraculous Gary Payton to the second. We're gonna need to see him come out and ball. Regardless, this is gonna be
a hell of a series. Here's the how the Warriors win, more so, stifling defense. Be who you were the first twenty games, great two man game with Steph and Dre. Whenever you get Steph back, Clay has to be himself. Everything needs to be team game. Nuggets win by copying the Memphis Grizzlies. Whenever you see Steph come back, blitz him, make him play on that ankle, that ankle, make him pass out of that blitz and force Andrew Wiggins to be playoff Andrew Wiggins, which we know who he is.
It is a bad matchup seven game series. I think the Nuggets can win, but I can't really give a prediction prediction because I have no idea what's happening with Steph Mavericks versus the Jazz four versus five, Luca calf Strain, How serious is it? I don't actually know. He is a robot, so I feel like he will be back. It's a seriously different series if he's not, if he's healthy, If this is just a minor tweak, it's night Night sleep mask for the Jazz, Like this is just I
say it once, I'll say it again. If I say it once, I say it a million times. The Jazz are frauds like they are. This is headed for an explosion, a tear down, and a rebirth because Donovan's gone. Donova doesn't even want to pass to Rudy Gobert ever, like Donova doesn't like it in Utah because there's too many racist white people. I mean, does it. Dwayne Wade's not gonna cover that up, like Dwayne Wade ownership and Danny Ainge isn't gonna change a damn thing. Like the fans
of the fans. The city is the city. He wants to go back to New York. They are not built for a seven game series against the Mavericks. The Mavericks now have Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brenson, who they already had. Both those guys are averaging like seventeen points. Luca's averaging thirty. I mean, you've got multiple guys at different positions who can mess you up. Dwight Powell is legit. It's just
it's a gauntlet. It's not good. And on top of that, like I said, Donovan Mitchell, great player, he can disappear for stretches, go ice cold. Mike Conley never know when he's gonna even be healthy or if he's gonna be productive. Rudy Gobert great defender, but this team on the perimeter can't defend a goddamn person. So it's going to be
very difficult for them to stop Reggie Book on the three. Like, They've got a bunch of guys who can knock down shots in the perimeter, and I don't know how they're gonna stop it. This is just just bad, bad matchup for the Jazz and for the MAVs. They're a dangerous team. If Luca stays healthy, I think that they could go maybe another round or two. I don't think there are five. I don't know. It's hard to say. They've won seventy five percent of their games for three straight months. They
play ten players a game. I don't know. I don't know how they beat Memphis, but but I don't know. I don't know. Here's how the Jazz can win, which they will not win. Luca doesn't play, Luca doesn't play, Spider goes off. That's it. Bogdanovich shoots like seven for nine from three. I don't know, don't I don't know. Mike Conley shoots ten threes. Rudy Gobert gets the ball because Donovan Mitchell's not in. I don't know. I honestly
don't think it's possible. Prediction MAVs winning five playing real quick nets versus the Calves. The Calves are extremely hoppled. Evan Mobley was hurt late. Cleveland's won and four. In Mobley's absence, They're three and seven in their last ten, eight and sixteen since February twelfth. Jared Allen's hurt, Evan Mobley's hurt obviously, Rubio's out for the year, Collin Sexton's out for the year. Darius Garland has been in and out of the lineup. Kevin Love is the best thing
that they have right now. Like that's just saying a lot. That is saying a lot. He's like six man of the Year. I think he had thirty five in their last game. Like it's just one of those things. Only one could wonder who this team would be if everyone was healthy. They're probably going to lose this play in game by ten in Brooklyn. Nice story. Hope they get everybody healthy back. Obviously Rubio's gone now, but my lord, this is not gonna be an easy, easy game at all.
I give it to the Nets. Nets end up playing Boston and oh boy, will that be fun. Timberwolves versus the Clippers. That game is tomorrow Tuesday, Timberwolves versus Clippers. Pat Bev revenge game, except for no Pat Bev because Pat Bev was ejected and suspended for a game in a meaningless game against Chicago for doing what Pat Bev things. So I don't know. Clips are finally healthy sort of.
Paul George and Norm Powell will play. All their guys who have been bench players have been playing legit starter minutes for the entire year because Paul George Kawhi and Norm Powell have been out, so that's interesting. Minnesota is more athletic, younger, deeper, but do not count LA out. In fact, I kind of give the edge to LA because of tylu In his ability to coach through adversity. Chris Finch no shade to him at all. But this is a very young team that's never been there before.
Outside of D'Angelo Russell, they've never been to the playoffs. And I guess Pat Beverly, but he's not playing. Prediction Lake Clippers take the seventh seed only to get bounced from the Grizz in the first round unless Kawhi somehow comes back. That is all the time that we have for the heat check. We will back out. There was more previous to come, but we will be back Wednesday to give you those previews. We will preview number one
and number two series seeds. No, we will preview the two and seven's and give you the play ins on Wednesday follow the heat check to find and prepare you more for the playoffs. We also have I believe a special interview coming this week on some draft stuff, So do not forget to tune into that lock in for that, do not forget to download, subscribe, tell your friends, follow us at heat Check and Trista Creek on TikTok. We will see you Wednesday, Sai