On this episode of the Hate Check.
March Madness is here.
So while everyone's focuses on the college game, we're gonna watch the NBA for you, including that epic Mass versus Nuggets game that was right in the middle of other good college games. Good thing for that, multiview TV. Gotta talk today about Jalen Brunson. We got a big question to ask about Jalen Brunson. After another amazing performance for the New York Knicks. We gotta be talking about the Rockets, the hottest team in the league right now, What sneaking up on the Warriors, and we get.
Into some news from around the league.
Anthony, it's a Sunday night, Monday morning for.
Y'all, so let's get into it.
Let's drop that motherfucker beat the should be be honest, best regular season game so far outside of the Nuggets and the Celtics. Somewhat, I don't know, I don't know. It's hard in president of the moment. We got to get into what I'm fired up about. While most hoops fans' attention were squarely on the conference tournament on a Sunday, and then they were looking at the bracketology, they're filling out their bracket. They're paying venmo to fool to folks.
The Intrepid podcast host had one eye firmly on the association as well. So before we get into the meat, there was some potatoes popping on a Sunday. And I'm not talking about BAM's game winning three against Detroit. I'm not talking about Victor weberin Yama thirty three seven fifteen and seven with seven blocks and an OT win against the Nets, or Grady Dick and Anthony Black trading jerseys in an all time photo op where Dick gets Black
and Black gets Dick Black Duck. I'm talking about the MAVs and the Nuggets on National TV, two of the players, best players in the world, Luka and Jokic giving us a show and Jamal Murray cannot forget him in a game that the MAVs had to win, they had to win it.
They're firmly on the ropes. They threw everything out.
The Nuggets almost wasn't enough up ten in the fourth. The Nuggets did that Nuggets thing, decided that they wanted to win the game, and then boom poof goes the Magic Dragon. Lead disappears fast and with forty five seconds.
The Nuggets had.
The clock advantage, two possessions to one and the ball in a tie game.
We just all assume that's that Jamal Murray.
Puts them to bed, Jokic tucks him in, and that's all.
That she wrote.
But somehow, some way, Jamal Murray figured out a way to create some space, was left all alone, and boom, three point lead for the Nuggets came around the screen. Somebody just went, I forget who was maybe Kyrie or Irving went underneath the screen. That is a that is a mistake. But then Lucas said, oh, no, baby, hold my beer. Hit a twenty foot seven twenty seven foot three to tie the game. Then the Nuggets had the
possession with twenty four seconds left. Worst that could happen, right is ot for Denver.
No, baby, that's not true. They took the time down to about seven seconds.
Murray shook loose, got himself an open fourteen footer, missed off the back rim MAVs got the rebound two point eight seconds left to go. They'll probably surely want to go to OT as well. Right. Oh, what happened next just adds to the legend of one of the best offensive players in the NBA, definitely the best skilled player in terms of all around game that we've seen maybe
so far. And Kyrie Irving shakes off his defender, ducks around the screen, gets the ball near the free throw line, goes around Yokic, and then a hybrid baby hook with the left slap splash over Mavericks win and I was like a ridiculous what a game, Very fun game for a Sunday matinee. Huge win for Dallas. They move into a tie with the sixth spot with the Kings. Ooh, it's getting ugly. Luke had thirty seven, nine and three, Kyrie had twenty four on an off night.
Jokic had an off night.
Shooting but still put up sixteen eleven and seven. Probably not a game that the Nuggets sleep loose, sleepover. They're still pushing for the one seed, but they're furly in the driver's seat there. If they had to play the MAVs again in two days, I'm very confident that they would win again. They would win by twelve probably, But it's a reminder that these MAVs are dangerous.
That these MAVs going.
Up against anyone in a playing tournament could somehow, some way find their way into the eighth seed. And if they find their way into the eight seed and they're playing against I don't know, the Oka Seat Thunder. I tell you what, I wouldn't want to play that game if I was the Thunder. The West is a gulf. All right. Moving on, we got to talk about Jalen Brunston after he's bawled out the past two games for the Knicks forty two against the Kings followed by forty
five against the Blazers. Obviously, that puts him an elite company as one of only four Knicks ever to have back to back forty point games, along with Mellow, Patrick Ewing and Bernard King. So it's sort of a similar segment to the MAVs considering that Jalen Brunson is a former mav He's a bucket, He's a Bucky.
He's a bucket.
And the forty point games are actually more impressive when you look at the fact that I don't know, the NBA came out and told us that they have tamped down and changed the rules or changed what the referees are looking at in terms of hunting fouls, and now we are down to scoring in the nineteen eighties level in the last third of the season, and in that time where we're seeing seventy point games seventy five, Jalen
Brunson is putting up forty. He's actually producing more than he was in the scoring heyday where guys are putting up seventy and eighty in a game.
So doesn't that.
Actually feel like along the way, as competition has gotten tougher, the spotlight has gotten brighter and the moment has gotten more important, that Jalen Brunson has elevated his game as well. It does, right, It feels like that to me as well. So I was thinking about Jayalen Brunson this morning, and
I've got like a few thoughts and questions. Number one, like the number one thought and question is like, I think that what Mark Cuban and the MAVs did with Jalen Brunson's contract when they could have had him for four years and fifty six million dollars and they turned it down twice, is maybe the worst fumble the bag moment in the NBA, Like maybe maybe ever, right, like in the last ten years in the NBA for sure, Right.
Is that not the biggest mistake that we've seen a.
Front office make number two, Like, why are we not talking about Jalen Brunson as an MVP. I mean, we talked about Shay, we talked about Luca, but like, let's get into the details on how impactful Jalen Brunson is for his team versus Hey, how impactful you know Luka Doncic is, who is right now the second or the third MVP candidate, or how impactful you know Jalen Brunson is compared to Shake Gold, just Alexander and three. And this is probably the most I don't know, like controversial question.
This is a doozy, like I feel scared even asking it on a podcast, but like, would you rather is there any world where you would rather if you're the MAVs, wish that you had built your team around Jalen Brunson or you would have built your team, knowing what you know now, around Jalen Brunson making twenty six million a year versus building around Luca, who is set to make seventy three point four million dollars according to ESPN, where his super max in twenty twenty five is five years
and three hundred and sixty seven million dollars, because let's let's be honest, these are questions we should be asking number one, like, we'll take them one at a time. We've already talked about Brunston's contract, but a bears repeating like Cuban turning down paying Brunton fifty six million dollars for four years twice and then lying about it is Malfeason's.
It's maybe the reason he was forced to sell the team.
Honestly, can you imagine this team with Luca and this version of Brunson on the Dallas Mavericks at the same time, a guy who can put up forty and a guy who can put up seventy. Now to the second question, why the fuck is no one talking about Jalen Brunson.
As an MVP candidate.
I think he may be more important to his team than any other player than Nicole Jokic, including like maybe even including Nicol Jokic. If you look at his numbers twenty eight, four and six on forty eight percent from the field, forty percent from three, and eighty five percent from the free throw line, that is more points per game than six the last teen MVPs. But to me, where you get down to the nitty gritty is is
the advanced metrics. Brunson has a win share of eight and a half on a usage rate of thirty one point four percent. But the winning, of course, is what matters always. The Knicks are twenty four and six in the last thirty games that Brunston has played, and they are one and four in the games that he has set. So with Brunton in the lineup right now in the last third of the season where things are getting very competitive and every win is meaningful, everyone's humming, even with
the injuries that the Knicks have sustained. That's the most important part. No O g a nanobe for many stretches like the last thirty games, and where the fuck has Julius Randleman, who knows where the fuck has Mitchell Robinson been? So even with this Hodge Podcast roster, this team is damn near unbeatable with Jalen Brunston on the floor, and then win and one in four in games that he has set so unbeatable with Jalen Brunson, and when Jalen bruns is not on the floor, they are damned near.
The Charlotte Hornets legitimately twenty percent winning percentage, So then you factor in how good he's been playing this late in the season when scoring is down by almost twenty five points per game. How is he not being discussed as a legit MVP candidate. Shay's amazing, Shay's consistent. Okay, see the best team in the West and they still have players though without Shay light Chet like Jalen Williams,
that can get them wins. Thence Knicks right now simply do not have those guys, So is he not the most valuable dude on the team. Finally, though, and the part that I've been like tiptoeing around philosophically, would you rather build a team around Brunson at his current contract versus Luca who will be making seventy three in his new contract when he is set to sign it in eighteen months. It is not that crazy, honestly, And I think that this question will be asked sooner than later
by others other than me. I think there will be legitimate media members that you watch on ESPN. They're gonna be like, hey, are we sure that Brunson's not like that much of a drop off from Luca? Like how much of a drop off is he really Brunston's eight and a half win share right, and Luca has a win share of around eleven. So follow me on the per dollar win because that's like how.
Major League Baseball does it.
So Brunton gets one win for his team, he contributes to one win himself for every three million dollars he gets paid. Luca gets one win for his team every roughly seven million dollars get he gets paid six point six eight million, which means for the price, Brunston is more than twice as valuable and impactful.
At winning than Luca is.
MLB has embraced this more than anybody else I know, NBA. It's like a it's a wild way of breaking down data.
But this is a bell Weather question for that.
So how much money per win do you have to pay when you're comprising your roster? From this perspective, Brunton is a much more valuable player to winning than Luca.
Is because you can't. It's not unlimited funds.
You have a little little like larger of money, a little bank account to play with. And when you spend seventy four million dollars on Luca, you know you can't pay anyone fucking else, anyone else, and it's like, oh, we can't surround Luca with the right guys. This team fucking sucks and they do suck, right, they do suck. But let's not act like eighty million to a dude doesn't hamstring a team.
Twenty six million to a dude much more flexible.
And of course that also means that Brunson's contract gives them forty seven million dollars of available money to sign other players on the free agent market or trade for. It's not as preposterous as nice ears you might think, and honestly, honestly, it's not that preposterous if you take
out the money. It's not that preposterous if you even take out the money like he's you're getting forty from Jalen Brunson, and there's no Jalen Brunson barking at the refs and not going down on the other side to play defense where your team is now playing five on four. Brunson torched the Kings for forty two forty and two with four steals, four steals and a block on the heels of a forty five one in four game with
two stocks against the Blazers. In his last five Jalen Brunson is averaging thirty three and five with a fourteen point two plus net rating MVP numbers. This is what coach Mike brent Brown had to say about Brunson after the game. Aside from Steph Curry, I don't know if we've blissed anyone as much as we did Jalen to night. We tried to send two defenders at them all game
and he still scored forty two. We sent the double team at him every single time, and he came off the pick and roll in the second half and probably half the time in.
The first half. He is one hell of a player.
Excuse me, what except for Steph Curry, I don't know, like we don't see guys like Jalen Brunson. And let's be honest, the Kings have played the Mavericks. He was not talking about local that way. This is what Tibbs had to say. He is such a gifted shot maker. You almost come to expect what Jalen has done. It's every night, and it's big play after big play. Every
time we need a blig bucket, he comes up with it. Also, let's be real, like if Jalen Brunson was Lucas Siss, Jalen Brunson would be like the most unstoppable wayer we've ever seen. Jameen Brunst is like six foot even doing this, it's incredible. He's like, we talk about one a's not being able to be like under six feet five in this league.
Jaylen Brunson might be breaking the mold.
He might be like the new Isaiah Thomas in terms of being able to be a one on a championship roster.
Sounds like MVP.
Shit all right, few quick hitters around the league, starting in Agetown. H Town is leading our news segment.
Here we go. Houston suffered a huge setback.
As we know we've been talking about Goon Squad Alprin Shangoon was lost for the season.
Great theory Ankle Sprain.
We pretty much wrote the Rockets out off like seven days ago.
They were an.
Eleven plate, eleventh place, staring straight down at a lottery pick. And then something interesting happened, something that probably Oprin Shanguon Dowters are rubbling in. The Rockets got scorching fucking hot. Even without Shanggon. They have now won five in a row. They have won seven in their last eight. Oh my Golden State, Watch out Lakers. Oh no, they better watch
their fucking backs. Because the Rockets are three and a half games out of the play in right now, and the Lakers are on a two game skid, So.
Why are they winning one? Email?
Udokus is like the man at defense, the man ranked two in the NBA over the winning strength streak. Their offense is top ten. In other words, just this is really good, playing good enough offense to keep them in games and then playing great defense down the stretch. And the second reason, Jabari Smith and Jalen Green, two players I would never say think, I would say we're contributing to winning basketball games. Jabari Smith quietly bawling out fifteen
nine and two two point two stocks per game. Green is averaging twenty one, four and three since the All Star Game on forty three thirty six and eighty seven percent splits. The funny thing, though, the Rockets offer Jalen Green and four firsts.
For Michel Bridges, who's.
Averaging seventeen four and four since the All Star break. Oh boy, Nets, I don't know if that offers out there for you anymore, sir, Oh No, here's how they've come down the stretch. This is what their upcoming games look like. If you're the Warrior fan listening or a Laker fan listening, listen closely to how easy this stretch is. They play the Wizards, Bulls, Jazz Blazers, Thunder Tough One, Jazz, Mavericks, t Wolves, Warriors, Heat, Mavericks, Magic, Jazz Blazers, and Clippers.
That means over half their remaining games are against lottery bottom dwellers. If they take care of business, they just might be looking at a playing game and kickstart to what could be a hell of a year next year, and also break the hearts of a fan base and a team that's thinking about maybe making a deep run as a playing team like the Lakers did last year. So oh no, watch your back Dubs and watch your
backs Lake show. All right, Moving on, it's not Friday, so this doesn't exactly qualify as Chris's crazy as Stata. But we gotta talk about Sam Hauser for a second. He did something last night that only two other players in the history of the NBA have done in.
A blowout, went over the Wizards.
Houser went absolutely bazooka ballistic from three, ten for thirteen from deep, scoring thirty points, making him only the third guy in the history of the NBA to score thirty or more points on only three pointers. Quietly having a nice season, Sam Hauser. He's averaging eight three to one forty two percent from three quietly on twenty one minutes per game. That is outstanding value off the bench for
a team that's not really that deep. He is the kind of player who can turn it on, folks, in a performance like this in the playoffs.
Just when they need it most.
Moving on, So Pistons, you know, we make fun of him a lot, and like for a good reason, they find ways to lose more games and they keep doing it. So here we go, tied one on one, one on one with the heat, the Pistons had the ball with the shot clock turned off. So I mean, there's just a million ways you can win this game, right, like
worst case scenario, go overtime. If you're surprised by what happened, you have not been paying attention to what the Pistons have been doing, what they've been putting together this season, right, whatever this concoction is, they've been cooking it up.
Evan Fournier.
Yes, Evan Fournier came down with the rebound with twenty three seconds left in the tie game. Cad Cunningham got the ball at the top right of the key, paused, looked for some Iso action with about fourteen seconds left. Tween Tween then takes a contested three with nine seconds left, nine seconds left, Cade, No, baby, what you doing?
What the fuck?
So then Miami, of course, like in Miami fashion, gets the rebound six seconds left, pushes it up the court finds bam Adebayo sitting unguarded at the top of the key like his name is Camilla Cardoza, and he goes wet from deep for the last second win. He's made threes and two consecutive games twice in his fucking career. Literally, Camilla Cardoza from South Carolina.
I have no idea what Kate was thinking. What MONI that?
What time out? Many time out? This could only happen to Monny Williams in the circus that we call the Detroit Pistons. And boy, oh boy, do we just find ways more ways to talk about them when really we do not want to.
So let's move on.
So someone posted this on Reddit, a fascinating list taken from the NBA dot Com Advance Statistics. Who do you think the average the slowest average movement speed on defense is in the NBA this year? In other words, who is the slowest footed defender in the league?
Who are these? Who is this list?
Some of it might surprise you and some of it may not. Uh, look at this list. Number one is Luka Donci at three point two three three point two three miles per hour, Lebron James at three point three
three miles per hour. He's forty, Joel Embiid sitting in the paint chilling three point three five miles per hour, Jason Tatum three point three six miles per hour, Chris Paul three point three six miles per hour, James Harden three point three seven miles per hour, Demarta Rozen at three point four two, Nikola Yogic at three point four four, kd at three point four five, and Donovan Mitchell at three point four to seven. So I try to look up the animal equivalent of these speeds.
Told me the site wasn't secure.
I don't know what that means, but what is readily available is the walking speed of an average man, which is three point three miles per hour, and that is actually faster than Luka Dancic plays defense.
Think about that.
Like the guy that you see with the fanny pack and his kids and the camera around his neck and the khaki shorts with the cargo pockets. That guy strolling between the Cut Center and Splash Mountain in one hundred and twelve degree scorching heat. That guy is faster just getting to Splash Mountain than Luca is.
On defense. Lebron gets a pass. He's forty.
He can still light it up, get quick when he needs to. Old heads on the list they also.
Get a pass.
De Rose and Ce'd be three hard on Katie. We're not gonna bag on them. The most shocking on this list, of course, is Jason Tatum. No excuse for him to be playing defense at three point three six miles per hour at twenty five Katie thirty five, Chris Paul thirty eight, creaky knees. They're just like conserving energy to the best of their ability. But Tatum playing defense like a koala bear, like a sloth who on average moves about six hundred feet per day.
It's like me on a Sunday when it's march madness.
That shocks me, folks, that shocks me. Stepping up Tatum or it's not just the lack of a clutch gene that we're gonna be talking about. All right, that's all the time that we have for this episode of the Heat Check. Comeback Tuesday for an all new episode. Check out the feed also for past episodes and many episodes which shop unexpectedly like Big East Bubble teams from the NCAA Tournament, tournament committees, Big Boards, three Big East teams? Are we kidding me? I thought it would be like
six to seven. Do not forget to follow the heat Check.
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