We got a little bit of time, very very quick time to just go through this. But I didn't want to talk about a couple of players who were very impressive. I have to mention John wall Man. He was so out of the league. He was nowhere. Houston was keeping him away from the team like Jay Crowder as well. People were wondering when he was going to play basketball again. He now has openly talked about how that affected his mental health. It had deteriorated to the point where he
had thought about suicide. So the fact that we add some John Wall hoopin vintage John Wall, my lord, he played so well. Charles Barkley openly speculated why one of about a dozen teams didn't find a way to make a deal for just him last year. He looked like the old John Wall except for this time. He plays defense fifteen four and three with the steal.
He was steady.
He was getting such easy buckets, so calm, so under control, coming around screens, getting easy mid ranges, getting very fast out into transition, came back into the game after the Lakers made their huge run. Reggie Jackson was just getting cooked that he was with the B team. He made clutch jumper after clutch jumper, Kawhi gave him the ball.
When does that happen? He played awesome defense.
Laker guards, like I told you guys before, shot four percent from the field for a game.
That wasn't just because.
They're bad shooters, but Wall Kawhi PG looked like a real dominant big three up there.
If they can all increase their their minutes to.
Like the high twenties thirties, this team is gonna be dangerous. Lastly, another player that was super impressed with was Herb Jones.
Love Herb Jones so good. A lot of people are still learning about him.
If you're a casual fan and you need a reminder, six seven, four were who can guard one through five, steadily improving his offense as well. He was drafted number thirty five overall, not this last draft, but two drafts ago, and he is becoming maybe one of the best defensive players in the league.
Like he could easily win Defensive Player of the Year this year. That's how good he is.
His first game in Brooklyn, his stat line, you might not think is very good six four to three with one steal in twenty eight minutes. But let's look at how the Pelicans did. When he was on the floor against Brooklyn's Big three, he was a plus thirty four for the game. The Pelicans outscored the Nets by thirty four points in his twenty eight minutes, by far the
highest plus minus in the game. Because he was locking down every single person that he defended, he helped contribute to Ben Simmons fouling out in the twenty five minutes, and when he was on the court, the Pels net rating was one point eight to two. When he was on the bench, it was minus one point nine to eight. The Pelicans don't need Herb Jones to score. They've got Bi and Zion and Jose Alvarado and CJ McCollum and just player Trey Murphy. So many traits, but he can
be everywhere. On defense, he can get into the paint, stop a man from rolling into the basket.
He rotates over.
Quickly to block the best scorer in the world in the corner, three in two seconds flat.
He's special.
And when he was asked who he models his game after, who do you think maybe?
Why? No?
He says his defense and how he sees the game. He is trying to emulate safeties in the NFL. He said, his two guys that he emulates are Ed Reid and Cam Chancellor.
That was how he.
Covers so much ground. I look at them, They're long, they cover a bunch of ground. So that's what I do on the basketball court. I needed to figure out how they were able to read react to plays, and I felt like if I could take pieces from their mentality, then I could roam around on the basketball court fairly easily. Holy shit, Yes, Herb Jones, he's not. He's not Paul George Stopper. He's not you know, a longer defender of that we've seen in the NBA.
He is the Ed Reid of the NBA.
He is a ballhawking monster, not afraid of contact, who can anticipate your next move before you do. He might be my new favorite player. I've got more to cover, but I have no time. So that's all the time that we have for the Heat Check. We'll be back Monday. I'll give you some of my early impressions from the players I already wrote about. Make sure you check out the feed for past episodes from the offseason and follow the Heat Check as we get you ready for this
new season. Do not forget to download subscribe. Please tell your friends and follow us. Follow us on social at this heat Check and at Trista Criek on TikTok Hit that beat for me again, Nick,