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I said what I said.
It's the heat Chat Chat Check on this episode of the Heat Check that is t is heading into the semifinals and there are a couple of teams who I think is gonna use this as a launching pad, the Pacers and the Pelicans.
We must talk about them. And by the time you're.
Listening to this, we also know who won the semifinal nine two of the knockout round.
It is also something I need to talk about.
What the fuck are these new NBA coaches doing?
What the fuck are these new NBA coaches up to?
We also got a lot of news around from the lead to get into, so let's get right into it. William I got a migraine drop that motherfucker beat that should be Rihanna.
Let's be honest. I like the end sing in Tournament a lot.
I've been on record, I've been talking about it on Twitter. I just want more games and I love it, but I am fired up about the fucking Really the Indiana Pacers the most. I like the Pelicans too, but these two teams have a chance to really be special, and I think The thing that's very intriguing to me, The thing that we have to discuss is like this new tournament has illuminated what these teams are, what these teams can be when the competitive lights and the juices get
brighter and hotter. I don't know how the juices get hotter, Pauls, but Tyrese Haliburton Volks has turned into an absolute superstar in front.
Of our very eyes.
In front of our very eyes, he was birthed his second nationally televised game ever, his first TNT game ever. The man in an elimination game where very many good players fail, Like a lot of good players that we like, they shrink under that type of pressure, under that type of spotlight.
Against the number one team.
In basket would have been no shame if Tyrese Haliburton had an off night. But no, tyler Rese Halliburton against the Boston Celtics in an elimination game in front of everyone. Because we know that Monday night football game was trash. Well actually it was okay, but we thought it was gonna be trash. Tyler Reeve Halliburton achieved his very first triple double, took those motherfuckers to the woodshed.
By ten fucking points the Celtics. Tatum and Brown must have had a bad game.
No, no, sir, they did not. So that I expedited what we already knew. Tyrese Halliburton probably a top ten player in the NBA. And that says nothing about Daron Fox, who's also top ten player in the NBA. Got a lot of leave leave people off the top ten, I know, I like to say top ten a lot. I don't know if Titum is a top ten player in the NBA's there's like a little hot take there. Without the elimination game, we'd have no idea knowing what Halle was.
You got gms and coaches and evaluators now really able to fully evaluate what somebody is. Tyre's Halliburton is that dude. Tyre's Halliburton is the guy that you build your entire franchise around.
For the rest of his fucking life. He is going to be yellow and blue.
He's going to be in Indiana in the mix for a long ass time. This is why the n season Tournament is important. It helps decision makers understand what they actually have. You put the clay into the fire and what do you get out, do you get pottery back or do you get melted shit? You can get the recap of the game somewhere else, but I do have a couple of points that I do want to make. The n Season tournament is awesome. It's lit. The competitive intensity is exactly the same as a playoff game. All
four teams you could tell they wanted to win. They're screaming, their fist pumping, they're gritting their teeth, they're giving you their Kobe Look, the crowd's going crazy.
There's also, by the way, a Tiffany designed trophy for the championship game, for the MVP, for the All.
Tournament team and the winners medals. Goddamnit, people, they look good. Comparison, the ist trophy makes Hilario O'Brien look like a lava lamp.
It really just does. Is it is so swaggy.
They said we didn't We're gonna like show these motherfuckers was up. Maybe though, it's also the money that we poo pooed, because there's a lot of young players that need it, that are below the average and maybe a little bit more than.
We realize when it got announced. More on that than just a second.
So okay, So the Pacers, it's not really a recap, but it's kind of like the Pacers go back and forth, right and in this game is tight and it's competitive until you look up and the Pacers are up ten.
They shorten their rotation by.
Running only nine guys out instead of playing like thirteen fourteen like they usually do. They use balance scoring to smother the Celtics, who would be fair like played without Christas Porzingis. But also we know Christas Porzingis. That's a feature, not a bug. That's what he is.
He's injury prone. We don't know when he's coming back. Is he gonna be back by the finals?
I don't know. We'll see calf calf strain. Dude, you should be back by now. They had seven guys with twelve or more points. Imagine Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown went off for thirty two to twelve and thirty to nine and they still lost by ten. That is how dangerous this Pacers team is. And when Aaron Nesmith laid down a late windmill, folks, folks, the entire Pacers bench went
fucking wild. As we said before the tournament started, there's a whole lot of players in the league who make under the league average, and half a million to them or even one hundred thousand just for making the Semis is a lot of money. Get to go to Vegas, get one hundred k? What's wrong with that? What can this Pacers team be?
Legitimately?
I think they're an Eastern Conference semifinals team if they're lucky. I think that they've got got enough to compete night tonight with anyone, even if their defense sometimes looks leaky, like my Fawcett pass that sounds really bad.
They're the Kings in the Thunder of the East.
Folks, Watch the fuck out Milwaukee, Watch out Boston, Watch out Miami.
The second team that.
I want to highlight is New Ons Pelicans, who took on the Sacramento Kings in a battle between two teams that I see making the Western Conference Finals that they could. Obviously, the Minnesota Timberwolves are there as well. Predictably, it was a slugfest. Valancunas versus Domanas Sabonis, Dearon Fox versus c J. Zion versus Keegan Murray b I versus Barnes. Woh womh womh woh for Barnes. Barnes did not look good. B I went off for thirty, Barnes went off for four.
Isn't really going off as it? And Boyle boy was he getting roasted after the game too. There may be a Harrison Barnes problem.
I'm not gonna lie to you. After the game, Mike Brown was complaining.
He was lamenting about how the Kings are not running as much as they did last year because now their wings stand around clapping their hands to get the ball instead of just, I don't know, sprending up the floor to get open for a corner.
Three. Who's that? Who do you think he's talking about there? Harrison Barnes is who? Sir Harrison.
I don't think you should be clapping your hands for the ball, and sometimes I don't even think you should be standing.
In the corner either. I don't really know what your role is right now.
The Pelicans used a very hot stretch in the second quarter to take a.
Lead, and they never gave it up. In a game where the Kings held.
Zion to just ten points, you had the hot hand of Trey Murphy back, Jose Alvarado back keeping the Pels in command.
Herb Jones had twenty three, not even a.
Steal sad, very dangerous team and they will make a very very fun final four squad for the IST.
Another very deep, very athletic team that could be a spoiler team at worst and a real threat to some contenders at best.
So watch out for the Pels and the Pacers coming out of the n Season Tournament, because we all know this from college.
Baby teams that learn how to win early, win a.
Holiday tournament, they get dangerous in March, and I think these two teams will springboard off their success in the Ncason Tournament and maybe come out as hard rocks in May.
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