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Slash b Ball.
All right, welcome to tonight. You're at the volume eppy Thursday. Everybody, oh ball, If you guys are having a great week. We're going to get into listening a little different today since we had no games on Wednesday night, this kind of weird break here in the middle of the season.
I wanted to do something for fun. So what I did is I kind of went through the NBA standings and through the NBA current statistical leaders, and I wanted to just kind of find some toss ups, a couple of different comparisons between teams or players that I've view pretty closely ranked to each other so that we can just have a little bit of fun here in this little first tent poll, this first one third of the
season that we've got through. But before we get into that, though, we're having the guys from Nerd Sash, Carson, and Logan on today. I want to give you guys a chance to give your initial impressions off of the n Season Tournament Championship game. I personally we're recording this on Wednesday. I have not had a chance to watch it yet. I'm gonna be watching it right after we finished this recording, But I wanted to give you guys a chance to
give me your take on last night's game. So, as I saw from the box score, looks like the Thunder offense shut down. I've had some concerns surrounding the Thunders offense all season as it pertains to their decision making and just their willingness to really like work for.
The best shot.
Let's start with you, Carson, what was your impression of last night's game? Talk a little bit about what Milwaukee did well and what you're concerned about with the Thunder moving forward.
I thought it very much was a two sided deal where I was both very impressed by Milwaukee and it felt like this was sort of the crystallization of everything that they've been doing well for this stretch in which they've turned their season around. They've won thirteen of their last sixteen games now after their two and eight start. And at the same time, it was the worst case scenario for the Thunder offensively, like if you take every concern that you have about them and dial it up
to ten, that's what this game was. So you mentioned the decision making. I did think that that was an issue. I thought that it started with Shay. I thought that he was taking too many pull up threes for me in a game when those shots were not falling, and specifically because.
The Thunder were in a slump.
I would have liked to see him try to work his way to some higher percentage shots.
But Audrey Jackson also did a.
Phenomenal job on him and was consistently cutting off his driving angle. So he was just living on this very very difficult shot diet. He wasn't getting downhill to create for other teammate it's very much as well, So he's not only super inefficient in this game, he only has
two assists. They were basically relying on him to create everything, as they often do, but he just was not creating the shot quality for himself or others that you're accustomed to, and Jadub was just okay, and the spot up shooting around them was horrible. I mean, Okase went five of thirty two from three in this game. So when you're relying on Shay to create everything and he's off and he's living off a shot diet and nobody around him can make a shot, obviously you're going to have a really.
Bad offensive performance.
And that's not what you ever expect to see from OKC because this is a good offense, but you know that that's in there, and this was the extreme version of that. So in terms of like actual concerns, I think this team desperately needs chet Holmgren back because I thought he was playing at such a high level offensively early in the year and was doing more as a driver, was doing more with the ball in his hands, was
more aggressive. If you get back in another super efficient, twenty point per game versatile score like him, I think that helps this offense in a whole lot of ways. I do wonder though, when we hold them up to the standard of a Boston if they do need another actual ball handler with some juice, just because right now it is shay Jada check. When he gets back, everything is on you, and nobody around you is any sort
of advantage creator. Everybody is basically a pure spot up shooter, or some of these guys are high IQ cutters, but they're also very inconsistent spot up shooters. Right Cason Wallace has had a bad shooting season. Lou Dord has had a very good shooting season, but he had a bad shooting game, and I thought that he also forced up some threes that I didn't love. Caruso has had a
horrible shooting season. So you just look around and it's like the job of these guys is to be reliable spot up shooters, and that's not what all of them are. So those are really the problems with Okasee offense. But like I said, I thought that Milwaukee did a great
job defensively. I thought that Andre Jackson was awesome. I thought that Jannis was really good defensively in this game, and he has just been playing at such an unbelievably high level as of late, and I think that's not just because he's better than he's ever been offensively, which he onequivocally is. I think also as Milwaukee's turned around their season defensively, Giannis is playing at a level that we didn't see from him early in the year, we
didn't see really last year. On the defensive end, He's got four straight games with three or more blocks, so holding opposing players ten percent below their typical field goal
percentage at the rim over these last fifteen games. And I just think that they found the right two way players because my concerns with Milwaukee early in the year and last year, we're always just about how do they turn around this perimeter defense which had been an absolute disaster, and Andre Jackson is phenomenal there.
I do worry just a bit about his playability.
As a key piece offensively in the playoffs, because they need him so much for this point of attack defense. Last night was rough for him offensively because he only goes one of six and basically, okay see wasn't guarding him and teams are gonna dare him to make shots.
But he's been so good for their defense.
J Green is a good perimeter defender and is like the most efficient spot up shooter and the most efficient jump shooter in basketball, I think you tweeted out. So he's a weapon. He's a really good two way player and that's just what they haven't had. And then Jannis was just incredible as he has been for this season, but especially this last fifteen game stretch. But there isn't a tougher matchup for ok See defensively than Yannis because this Oka See defense is so incredible. But they're small
and Giannis just goes through them. And especially when you don't have a chet for some additional rim protection. At the very least, you don't have a Jay Will who's a six eight two point fifty.
Body you can throw at.
Jannison is the king of taking charges, right, just another big duty you could put.
In front of him.
They didn't have that, and so they're trying to put Lou on him. They have Hartenstein on him in stretches, who I thought did the best job. There are stretches where Caruso ends up on him and he just goes through him.
Like tissue paper.
I actually thought okay See did a pretty good job of loading up the paint and forcing Giannis to beat them. As a playmaker, and forcing dudes around him to beat okay See with their shooting. But Giannis was great as a playmaker, and the Bucks had a really good three point shooting day and Giannis was still able to get his pretty efficiently. So I think the Bucks are really good, and I think that they've proven that, and I think that this game was a big moment for them because
they did beat such a good opponent so convincingly. I'm probably not as concerned about Okasee as some other people are from just this game. I just thought it was like their nightmare scenario. But it did show you concerns that are real for them, especially when Chet isn't on the floor.
I mean, especially when you think back to how they lost in the playoffs last year, and that was basically the Mavericks formula. Right, they load up on Sga, they throw a ton of double teams at him, force him to be a playmaker, and the thunder ran cold.
From behind the arc.
Right they shoot thirty three point five percent in that series and just can't muster anything up. I agree with a lot of what you said. I don't have a ton to add. I thought Giannis was by far the best player on the court last night on All Fast.
It's rebound bounding, defensively, offensively. And I do think this is a really bad matchup for Oklahoma City too, because it's not only just Yanna specifically in this matchup too, You're dealing with big bodies like Brook Lopez, with like Bobby Portis, where you know, in some matchups those guys may be relatively ineffective because Oklahoma City is so small, it just made everything a little bit harder on the
glass and stuff like that. But I do think people are going to probably run with this a little farther than they need to because this is on a national stage, because it was the only national game that a lot of Ohs were on the NBA Cup. And I do think it shows you Okay sees flaws, but you're gonna see it.
On the broadcast.
They mentioned this, I think a million times, Jason, the fact that Oklahoma City was hanging around in this game despite their shooting flaws, like because they're consistently only down eight to ten in this game and they are hitting nothing from behind the arc. So while everybody may go negative with Oklahoma City's offense, I do think there is
a positive in there in Oklahoma City's defense. They have been person did a video breakdown on them unfortunately yesterday at the Oklahoma City defense, and then they lay a stinker on offense in this game. But they have been historically great, Like I mean historically great. You laid out a bunch of numbers on our show last night, Carson. They're number one in stocks per game all time, mi Ani team. I think there's third and steels per game.
They're so good defensive playmaking wise, and that is just what I want to hammer home about this team when everybody's going negative, is they have elite perimeter personnel, they have an elite defensive system. This team plays so connected on the defensive end, and they've been great without Chet Holmgren, and I think that's really important to contextualize.
About this team.
And that's ultimately why Oklahoma City is great is because of their defense. But when we are holding them up to that championship, you know, contender level, the offense wasn't there at that level last night.
You know, My biggest concerns with OKC through this early chunk of the season centered around two things, and it was one, what if a team just SAgs way off of all their mediocre shooters and they go cold. And the reason why I was concerned about that is I've just seen it on a few occasions this season, and
it's exactly what Dallas did last year. They were like, beat us case on walls, beat us chet Holmegrin, beat us lou door, Like you're not gonna make enough of these wide open, you know, moderately contested catch and shoot threes to beat us. And like the second piece of it, the second piece that I was concerned about, was just your number two behind Shay is like some combination of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, which are just very very
young players. And you know, I've heard a lot of Oklahoma City fans in my mentions or in YouTube comments say things like these are good shooters, and I don't disagree necessarily, Like I think that Oklahoma City has a good skill development program. I think a lot of these guys are capable of knocking down shots at a better
rate than they've shown. The thing is, though, is like there's something to be said about being comfortable and confident, and it's just really hard to be comfortable and confident in big spots when you're in your early twenties and you're going against grown ass men. It's a real thing, and it's a real reason why. Like you know, Logan, you talked a lot about going negative on OKAC, and I tend to agree with you in general about like overreacting to any sort of singular moment in a situation
like this. That said, like the it's not so much to me about whether or not okay See is the favorite to win the Western Conference, or whether or not they're deserving one seed, or whether or not they're a
threat to win the title. To me, it's about like I'm looking at these two teams that have a clear talent advantage over the rest of the league in Boston and Oklahoma City, and Boston just looks like a better basketball team beyond the aggregation of talent, and it stems from just like I think, I think their shock creators are just older and wiser and more experienced. I think that their role players are more comfortable and more experienced.
And I think that in terms of personnel strengths, I think Oklahoma City has a higher defensive ceiling, but I think Boston clearly has a substantially higher offensive ceiling, And so like for me, and again, like I'll get into more details that those of you guys that are watching this, you will have watched my instant reaction already, so like you'll get a more detailed version of what I thought
about the game. But like when I saw that score last night, my first impression was another big game where Oklahoma City's offense kind of like ran out of steam. And it's something that concerns me a little bit. We're gonna get back into that in just a second because I'm going to go right back into Oklahoma City with
their next question. But the one thing I wanted to say on the Bucks front, the aj Green Andre Jackson piece is so huge in this regard because if you actually start to look down the down, the down, the depth chart, so to speak, whatever you want to call it. If you look at the lineup, it's like you trust Brooke us Giannis. Chris I think has been great since
he's come back, even beyond the box court stuff. He just has been such an additional ball handling force to help just kind of grease the wheels for them on offense. You have Dame, It's like this one piece here, this point of attack guy that can knock down a shot is like the number one thing that Milwaukee's been struggling with over the last couple of years. And Andre Jackson and AJ Green just give them two really great options.
And Andre Jackson, like I saw some of the highlights of him guarding Shay last night and his lateral quickness and strength and his ability to be kind of physical without picking up fouls, although he has a tendency to
pick up fowls from time to time. But like his that is a look that they have that is very physically imposing, but they'll inevitably run into issues like for instance, I saw Sam Vessini tweet out that that Dagenal never tried to actually put Hartenstein ont Andre Jackson, to use him more as a helper to kind of put another layer behind the the Yannis attack, And there will be teams that do that and they might have to change their look. But Aj Green obviously not the type of
perimeter defender than Andre Jackson is. He is a credible perimeter defender. I actually have been really impressed by him on that end of the floor this year, and he's a look they can go to that has a certain amount of offensive upside as a guy that can like legitimate, legitimately come flying off of screens and shoot, and on many occasions has been a real release valve for them on the offensive end of the floor this year. And then then you have Gary Trent Junior as an alternative.
Look in that sense as well, they have more good basketball players than I think we realize, in large part because a couple of guys finding roles. That Again, when you find a basketball player that slots into a role that makes sense, it always makes them look better, and if you find them in a role that doesn't make sense, they can look worse from time to time. It's just
like kind of one of those basketball dynamics. But in general, I think, and we're gonna talk about this when we get to the MVP stuff, but like, yeah, I think just instilled this team with the necessary amount of fight that they needed to actually find out what this team is capable of. And like that, at that first stretch
of the season, they just weren't really competing. But when Brooke and Giannis really turned up the defensive intensity there after that ugly start, everyone else kind of fell in line. Then the rotation kind of fell in line. Doc Rivers has done a wonderful job kind of getting guys to buy into their roles. And here we're looking at a serious basketball team that's been on an extended stretch of dominance.
So let's get into our toss up questions. First one, I want to stay on Oklahoma City for a minute. Who would you take to win the Western Conference right now? The Dallas Mavericks or the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Let's start with you.
That's so tough, man.
I like both of these teams, and I think at full strength, I will take Oklahoma City. But it really is what you just said, Jason, it's hard not to feel burnt by Oklahoma City in these big moments with these young basketball players consistently. And you know what, I'll cut Shay Gildess Alexander some slack because I think last year against Dallas, I'd only Guessga got enough credit for how well he dealt with double teams and how well he playmated out of those double teams, and the.
Shot quality that he consistently generated.
Like the reality of that series was Oklahoma City's guys just couldn't hit shots. But it is proven, and I think Dallas matches up with a lot of teams out west. They definitely have two offensive guys that I trust more than Oklahoma City's top two. They're shooting is comparable or better when you factor in like Klay Thompson, and you know that those guys are going to generate a high shot quality around them. I trust Dallas's offense at a different level because they have Kyrie and Luca.
I know that even if one of those guys run.
Runs cold, that Kyrie can go hot in serve buckets for a quarter or two, or Luca can turn it on in the fourth quarter and step on somebody's neck.
And their defense is solid too.
It's really close, and Oklahoma City I thought would have this. We'll see what they fully look like when chet Holmer gets back. I expected that we would see them building real distance between them and the number two team out west, and I don't really feel like there's a huge gap right now.
Again, We'll see what they look like when Check gets back. But I'll lean.
Oklahoma City because I know what I'm getting in this defense, and I do trust Shay, and I think Jalen will look better and all those things will progress to the means. I think their supporting cast is a lot of good shooters. I think they'll shoot better, so I'll go Oklahoma City. But I'm not gonna act like it's not close. I think Dallas is a real threat out West.
Before you go, Carson, I'm gonna put you both on the spot real quick. Do you guys agree with me that Dallas is the clear number two in the West? You first, Logan, No, I don't.
I actually would have Dallas, And it's really close between my top three.
We just had this on our show.
I still had Denver number two, and I'm still holding out hope that we get Superstar Jamal Murray because it really is the final component. It's Denver's just been so damn inconsistent and then nine on Jokic minutes continue to kill them. But the best player in the world factor factors in for me there, and that's why Denver's number two. But it's close between all three of these teams.
I have Dallas number two. I would have Denver number three. I think that that ceiling is absolutely free within Denver. It's just Logan mentioned Superstar Jamal Murray. Man, how about we get to good Jamal Murray because it's been so bad and that is so key to them being the basketball team that I expected them to be that we've seen them be before. And Dallas just has such good depth, they have such quality role players. They're a better defensive team.
I think again, Denver has that ceiling because when Jamal is right, that's starting five is a buzzsaw.
And I think the bench has probably been better than you would have expected.
And they can make a couple moves on the margins too, But right now I would go Dallas.
Yeah, it's I'm I think Dallas's roster is just better. I like to put it simply. I just think they have more good basketball players. Luca too, like is just starting to start playing like Luca, And I think there's a version of this where they rip off a bunch of wins and start to look like one of the top teams. I do think that the like when the debate that the Janis Jokic debate is gonna come up, I'm sure at some point here over the course of the of the next couple of days, and and I
think that that's a debate that's worth having. Although I think I still lean Jokich. We may even do that on this show, but like to me, Luca was like kind of lagging behind that group, and I still believe that, like he's got to demonstrate for a longer period of time that he's at that level. But like to me, the Dallas, when you factor in Luca the upside for him, I think he probably will be a little better in this playoff run. I do think that they are the
clear Number Two. Let's go to Carson about a potential Oklahoma City versus Dallas watching conference finals. Who would you take at this point in time?
I do prefer the Thunder, And I thought that the head to head matchup that we saw between these teams was kind of illuminating and interesting, and I thought it provided a contrast to last year. Because I do think there are several areas in which Okac is better.
I trust them more. Number one, just the fact.
That Okac was able to actually dominate the offensive glass with Isaiah Hartenstein was big. And they've been almost an average rebounding team since iHeart came into the lineup, which doesn't sound super impressive on its face, but eighteenth and rebound rate for the Thunder considering what they've been. They were thirtieth before he debuted this season, that's big because Dallas convincingly won the offensive glass in their series last year. I think okay See is much better equipped to be
on even ground there. Oka See shot the ball really well in that NBA Cup game, and as we just saw against the Bucks, right, they're not going to be consistent there. I had to guess I would think they shoot better than they did against Dallas in the playoffs last year if we were to see a series rematch, because everybody outside of Shaye was thirty percent from deep in that series. Like, we can talk about these guys being questionable shooters, but that's pretty bad. So I don't
think you can consider that a home run improvement. But I probably expect, on average, some improvement from the shooting. And I do think Jada is better and I do think chet is significantly better. And that's where we have to see check back out there on the floor, and we have to see that he's healthy when he comes back from this injury, presuming that he does come back from this injury like that is definitely a big swing
factor in this. But I do think the supporting cast around Shae has improved, and I thought that Shay was excellent in that environment. And I also think we can talk about having questions about Okacs spot up shooting their role players. Dallas's dudes are going to be tested in the same way, man, because we can talk about Dallas roaming off of questionable shooters with their bigs and loading
up the paint and helping hard on Shay's drives. Okay, See, he is just gonna blitz Luke and Kyrie outright, and they're gonna test a PJ. Washington making shots. They're gonna test a Nause Marshall making shots. And either they executed that formula a good bit better in the NBA Cup game than they did last year.
Now, they actually held Dallas to their.
Lowest offensive rating of any Western Conference playoff series that Dallas played, And I think that gets a little bit lost. And that was with PJ. Washington shooting way above his means. That was with Derek Jones Junior shooting above his means. Like they have this ability to just take the ball out of Dallas's best players hands, force other people to make decisions and make shots. And they are the fastest and the most aggressive defense maybe that I've ever seen.
Like some of the rotations.
There were a couple plays where Luca literally made a perfect play. Right they're blitzing him, he's under pressure, he jumps up, fires a skip pass fifty feet cross court. I mean when you consider the diagonal of it on a line right into the show shooter's pocket and lou Dord is just flying in from thirty feet away, and he's there when the shooter catches the ball, and he's either gonna contest it really well or he's gonna run
them off the line. Like they're so fast, they're so aggressive, they're so locked in defensively, like Logan said, that's what makes Okase special. They're number one right now in terms of relative defensive rating. They're defensive rating compared to the league average that we've.
Seen since the nineteen sixties. Celtics.
They're number one this century in steals per game, number one in turnovers force per game. They're number one this year in loose balls recovered per game. They're the best rim defense this year statistically without Chet, because they have so much collective improtection. They're so good in terms of helping like they're number one in field goals made at the rim allowed and field goal percentage at the rim allowed.
So I just think that gives them such a special floor, and I have more faith in their key offensive components, more faith in Jada, more faith in Chet, more faith marginally in this shooting, and I think that's what swings it. And Hartenstein is so good. I don't want to sell short that he does make them more serious on the glass,
just makes them a better basketball team all around. I mean, in the Bucks game, Hartenstein was basically their best source of offense because he was efficient with his push shots and he was really good on the offensive glass. I do think this OKC team is more grown up. I know that this isn't the best time to say it after that Bucks performance, but maybe that is because I'll
get in low on the stock, relatively low. They're twenty to five with the best net rating in basketball without their second best player, and people are acting like the sky is falling. I'm still going to bet on that team in the West. I think they're too immensely talented, too great defensively specifically, So I.
Don't want this to come off as like Oklahoma City pessimism, because it's not. I think that they still have an extremely good chance to win the conference. I think they have a pretty solid chance to win the title. Although I wouldn't pick them over Boston. I do think that a Western Conference Final series between Dallas and Oklahoma City would be very long and very close. I think it would be like a determined and clutch time of Game
six or Game seven, just like last year's. Was that said, I think, and again I've reserved the right to change my mind as we get closer to the postseason and we get more opportunity to see both of these teams in the big picture, but I lean very slightly towards Dallas at this point, and it really just comes down to, like they Dallas got exposed in the Boston series for the exact same kind of problem that Oklahoma City got exposed for in the Western Conference Finals, in the sense
that they I should say, the Western Conference semi finals, just in the sense that like Boston basically started Darren guys to knock down shots, specifically above the break, and there were kind of like two material changes in Dallas's roster this offseason. And I talked about it right after the Boston series. I was like, I was like, I
bet you PJ. Washington just spends the entire summer just working on kind of like pick and pop or movement threes that are above the break, just like kind of quickly getting his feet set and knocking down threes above the break because it was such a big problem the Boston series. He's shooting damn near fifty percent on above the break threes this year. Like he's really really stroking that ball from outside of the corners in a different
way than he was last year. Whereas with the additions of Quinton Grimes and Klay Thompson, they have additional options that they can go to at the point of attack depending on the matchup, where they can get even more quality above the break shooting. So like Dallas's shooting is a lot more resilient this year than it was last year. In fact, as a team, as a team, they're about a one point five percent ish better above the break than they were last year, which is actually fourth in
the entire NBA. They're shooting the ball really, really well from out there. Luca was a little bulky and a little knocked up when he was when he was in the postseason last year. I think that there's a version of this where they get there a little bit healthier. There's a continuity factor. Derek Lively, I think is a better player this year than he was last year. I think Oklahoma City as a unit has gotten better compared to last year for obvious reasons, skill additions, also some
internal improvement. But I also think that the Mavericks have gotten a little bit better. And then, you know, when I just start to think about like potentially a really intense, you know, six seven game series in the conference finals, I do tend to lean a little bit more towards the experience, and so again razor thin margin, but I would I would take Dallas just barely over Oklahoma City at this point, and again I reserved the right to change my mind when we get closer. It's just, dude, like,
I've just seen too many examples of this. This was Boston, this was Boston in twenty twenty two, where it's like all year long, you're like, I'm just not sure they have the offensive process that they need to get this thing done. And then you know, maybe it shines through because, by the way, what was amazing about that twenty twenty two Boston team. How did they beat everybody? Their defense? It was their defense. They killed everybody with their defense.
And then what ended up happening is they got into a big spot and their offense completely crumbled and ended up becoming a problem. Uh and so like again, I just it's just where I'm at at this specific point in time. But let's let's look at some of the the players here for a second. There's two different angles that I want to go at this from, So let's talk.
Let's start.
I think the best Player in the World debate right now is coming down to Jannis and Jokic. I think the MVP debate is more of like a three horse race at this point between Shay, Yannis, and Jokic. Let's start with Let's start with the MVP and go from there. I think Yannis has a clear leg over SGA at this point after what happened last night. That's just too much of a burned memory in everybody's brain, big game, you know, big spot. Yanis just looks better right that.
That's gonna that's gonna sit with everybody for a while. But between that, between Shay, Janis and Jokic, and we'll start with you, Carson, who would you get the MVP two at this point? If the season ended today.
Right now, I would give it to Jokic.
It is incredibly close with the level that Jannis is playing at, and Yokic actually the last couple of games has had two of his worst games of the season, so that makes the margin a little bit more narrow. He's still having, I would say, really beyond a shadow of a doubt, the greatest offensive regular season that we've ever seen. He's giving you thirty one thirteen to ten. He's doing it on unfathomable efficiency, almost sixty five percent
through shooting. He's taken a leap compared to where he was at last year as a jump shooter. And I actually think his overall efficiency, even as his jump shooting regresses to something of a mean very well could go up because his touch around the rim and in the
paint hasn't been as insane as normal. And you just look at the load that he's carrying every night, and you look at the impact because the Denver Nuggets, like all year have been statistically literally the best offense in NBA history when he's on the floor, in the worst offense that we've seen in the modern era this century when he's off the floor, and that completely matches the eye test and that's not just a product of rotations, right.
The Nuggets have actually been more willing to mix in match lineups this year than ever before because things were looking so dire with the bench early in the year, and we've seen Yokic carry these teams to great offensive results without Jamal Murray, without Aaron Gordon, both those guys
who have missed decent portions of this season. I just think he creates such a consistently incredibly high shot quality for this offense in spite of everything that has been going on around him, where he has been down some key guys and Jamal has been really bad for most of this year.
What's tough is.
The Nuggets haven't been a good team defense, and I think that Jokic has responsibility in that.
And you can talk about his physical limitations.
I think also, though he's playing so many minutes, he has such a crazy offensive I don't think that his effort has been their night to night defensively. I don't think the Nuggets team effort has been their night tonight defensively, Whereas Yannis is leading this team that has really turned things around defensively, and he has been so good there as of late. While he's the best he's ever been offensively. While he's forty five plus percent from the mid range,
he's got better touch inside the paint. He's not taking threes, which have always brought his efficiency down. He's getting to the rim for a higher percentage of his shots than we've seen in years and years. He's a better playmaker. His scoring volume is higher. Yannis, to me, is the best he's ever been. I'm going to slightly lean Jokic because I just think that literal goat offense, which is what he's doing. He's having again the best offensive season we've seen, and he's the best offensive.
Player we've seen.
To me, that is still even more valuable than Yannis's incredible two way impact. And I think you see that with how the Nuggets look every second the Yokic isn't on the floor, and just how the Nuggets around Yokic have looked without him. But I would be zero percent mad if anybody had Giannis as their MVP. I think
he has been incredible. I think these are two dudes at all time great peaks, both of whom got better this year, which is incredible because they were already the two best players in the world, and they both clearly have improved.
Well, Carson, you know, the Nuggets intentionally played bad basketball players so they can juice that on off Jokic.
Numbers right, right, that's right.
I forgot about the syop.
I forgot about the government operation headed by Michael Malone.
That's all it's about. It's about so we can get Jokic every MVP award. It's intentionally done.
Have you have you guys heard the Jokic does too much and it's disrupting everybody else's rhythm. That's another one.
That's a phenomenal. Take.
The crazy thing is he's number one in touches and I think he's like thirty something in total time of possession.
Right, like people holding onto the ball never holds onto the ball. They need him to create every advantage.
But like he's still selfless and he makes such quick decisions with the basketball. Like just watch the Nuggets, man. Anybody who says these things about I'm begging you, actually watch what the dudes around him have been doing.
Offensively.
All he does is perpetually set up his offensive players with advantages. Is because they can't make shots. It's Jokic's fault. It makes no, damn.
It's funny when people can make that logical leap, and not the one about Russ and his MVP season.
But but I digress.
I will say, well, they're doing the same thing.
They're doing the same thing exactly.
You didn't give Russ this credit log and for real, man, I will give Russell Westbrook credit. I think Russ has played really, really well off the bench for the Nuggets this year, and he has been a pleasant surprise for Denver and this could be even one of the better Nuggets benches of this you know era, like like they've had nobody and now you know, Peyton Watson's giving you good looks and stuff like that.
I agree with a lot.
Of what you said, Carson.
I do prefer the offensive advantage, but I wouldn't push back a whole lot if you wanted to have Giannis, because I agree with you it's powered by the defense. And while Jannis can't give you this, you know, defensive you know, just consistent persistence every single night, like last night, when Giannis needs to and this turnaround has been powered by the defense. Giannis can lock in and give you
that in an impact that Jokic can't. But both with this thought exercise versus a guy like SGA, and I think all of these teams plummet without those guys, and only the Bucks are remotely competitive without Giannis. I don't think the Nuggets are anywhere close to competition without Jokic, and that's why they're head and shoulders. But the Nuggets are so comically bad without Jokic, and that is where I come down on it, like they are clueless.
They are lost even in minutes.
Like you said, Carson, we will get lineups without Jamal or without MPG, and Jokic can produce with anybody out there. You'll get bench minutes with Jamal Murray and the offense grinds to a standstill where they don't score for three minutes, like it's comical. And uh, I just think he is so by so far, the best offensive player on the planet, and that's why the Nuggets are still a real deal.
Title can tender to me.
So it's close between these two guys, and I understand the defensive gap. It's not outweighed by what Jokic does offensively, but not. I want to hear your take too. If there's a large if there's a huge record, discrepancy. Does that make a meaningful difference to you, guys, Like, if it's by maybe five plus games at the end of this year, does that make a big enough difference or would that need to be larger?
I don't think it makes a lot of sense, Like because this is the same thing that happened in twenty twenty, where it's like where it's like Lebron is clearly just a better basketball player than Yannis and Yah and Giannis and the Bucks are clearly just beating up on inferior competition and juicing up their their advanced metrics and stuff. And it's like everyone who watches the two of them knows Lebron is better. Lebron's clearly better. He clearly demonstrates
he's better when they get to the postseason. But Giannis gets the MVP because he's in the Eastern Conference and they finished what two games better in the standings or whatever. It was, Like the gap between the East and West is so giant at this point that like record between the two conference is like, to me, you got to kind of look at it in a little bit more detail. Again, to your guys' point, I think this is important, Like this is every time I see this in that I
see this in my YouTube comments all the time. But it terms of this like it's like, fuck you, how dare you say that that that you know Giannis is not the better best player in the league or whatever if you clearly don't know what you're watching, And it's like, look, these are two players that are playing at the highest
level they've ever played in their entire lives. Both of them are playing like very very different basketball players that do very very different things, which means it's like purely subjective and to your point, like if someone came up to me and they're like, I think Giannis is better than Jokich, I'd be like, interesting, like let's talk about it, you know, like I don't, I don't disagree with you in that regard, and like to me again, it just
comes down to the simple fact that, like Nicole, Jokich is notching a one twenty three offensive rating this year with not a single teammate who's consistently producing on the offensive end of the four like consistently producing. It is a shmortgish board of guys any given night making plays.
Because of his ability to set people up with advantages, I think Milwaukee's roster is better than Denver's roster right now because of the decline of Jamal Murray and because of several key guys for Milwaukee playing better this year, like the way, like that doesn't doesn't discount what Yiannis
is doing. But to me again, if I'm building a team, Nicole Jokic's ability to just make me completely dominant on the offensive end, regardless of surrounding talent, buys me so much leeway elsewhere on the roster, Like, for instance, like I don't know that you could march out too many of the Christian Braun, Christian Brown, Peyton Watson, you know, Aaron Gordon types next to Gianni's. It would be a
disaster if you tried to do that. Next to Giannis, You've literally tried to go through four bodies every single
time at the rim. Nikole Jokic buys you the lee way to surround him with defensive spects that have very easy offensive roles as cutters and slashers and dudes who occasionally have to knock down a completely wide open shot because of what he does on the offensive end of the floor, Which goes back to like like kind of my basketball kind of like worldview in the sense that it is easier to construct a good team defense around an elite offensive player than it is to construct a
good team a good team offense around an elite defensive player. Now, to your point, Yannis is playing the best offensive basketball of his career this year. Yiannis has been unbelievable in offense, the ability to pretty consistently knock down mid range shots, not just in like face up situations, but he's kind of hitting some turnarounds this year too, which is crazy, and his passing and playmaking, which has been at such
a high level this year. He is dramatically improved. I still think there is a chasm between Jannis and Jokica's offensive players. I still think there's a chasm between the two of them like that, like Nikola Jokic makes it look so damn easy while he just methodically walks down your defense every single possession. Still looks a little clunky and a little difficult with Yiannis at times. So like to me, the right, the rightful point that Jannis's defense
is a huge advantage over Jokic. I still view Jokic's offense as a huge advantage over Jannis, even though the box score production is there for Yiannis. So to me, like I still think Nikola Jokic is the best player in the league, I still think I still think the MVP gets a little bit a little bit more complicated once you start to look at MVP. There is something to be said about Giannis like straight up rescuing this team with the way that he's kind of pulled them
out of the ugly start that they've had. But again, I think you could make the exact same case for Nikola Jokic and what he's done, Like with that team was dead to start the year, with Jamal Murray struggling the way he was struggling, all of a sudden, Aaron Gordon gets hurt, it could have gone very far south
from there as well. So I think at that point, I still look at it from the standpoint of like Nicole Jokic has been playing better basketball and doing more with less this year, which gives me the slight edge for him in MVP. I do think that's Shay is a pretty distant third at this point, And like one of the things with Shaye, because I've seen a lot of Shaye MVP bus he's playing with the most talent, like the second most talented roster in the league, and
I think that that just makes life easier. Like there's a lot of Celtics fans, why isn't Tatum getting MVP? Bus Like Tatum's playing the best basketball of his career. I'm a huge believer in what Tatum is capable of doing. It's easier for him than it is for other people.
It's okay for us to acknowledge that with the way that that team is set up, And so yeah, I lean slightly towards Jokichen both MVP and in best player in the world really quickly, just a quick round robin for you guys, Let's go a Carson first, Like, do you how would you describe the gap between Jokich and Giannis in terms of just in evacuum best player in the world right now?
I don't necessarily think that the gap is that big, but the offensive leap that we've taken from Yannis. But I think that you made a lot of great points, Jason, And if I could just bring up a couple more numbers when we're talking about the MVP conversation, like when you talk about that completely unmatched offensive value, the shot quality Yo Becaus was able to create no matter if it is a Peyton Watson and Christian Brown lineup right, which we've seen starting in russ Right, all of these
dudes who are non shooters and who have obvious offensive limitations, and Jamal, even his number two, has been brutally inefficient, can't create an advantage.
With Jokic on the floor and Aaron.
Gordon off who's missed a lot of the year, they're not going to have a one twenty nine offensive rating. Okay, that would be by far the best offensive all time, and that's been an important piece of this offense. They don't miss a single beat from being the best offense ever.
With Jokic on, Jamal Murray.
Off who's missed an extented strikes, they have a one twenty two offensive rating, So that would still be like the best offense in basketball today. And here's the incredible thing, because you talk about Joannis saving the Bucks season, and he absolutely has, but Jokic has just done that even
more so. If you just look at best raw plus minus this season, here's the top ten number one Shaye Thunder numbers two and three Celtics players four calv five Celtic six ' seven calves nine calve ten thunder eight is Niko Jokic, Like, that's just such an incredibly monumental feat if you've watched the Nuggets this year and seen what's been around him. So when you talk about like the win total logan, is that going to be a
difference maker? It's always really really hard for me, and I just don't think we should hold what happens when a guy isn't on the floor against him, And when the Nuggets with Jokic on the floor are as good as any team in basketball statistically, that tells you that he's.
The most valuable player in basketball.
Yeah, I don't have a ton to add.
I mean, I think Jokic is the best scorer, playmaker, and arguably rebounder in basketball too.
Like when you can do all that.
And just the it doesn't matter who's on the court, Jokic can serve you a bucket from anywhere inside the arc, from outside the arc?
Is he still over fifty percent from from deep two?
Like I think he's just under But I think on actual threes he's over fifty percent because he takes heaves that bring us percentage downs, like on half court threes, I think he's over here.
There's just no holes in his offensive game.
And like you said, Jason, like you're putting defensive specialists around him and he's still trotting out the best offense in basketball.
I mean, come on, man, Like.
He's getting the best out of Russ ever has happened since left Washington. And like I like, and here's the thing, Like Russ shares a ton of the blame for what went and south for him when he went to the Lakers. But there's no doubt that playing alongside the clear cut best player in the league is a little different than playing alongside thirty eight year old Lebron James.
Like there's no doubt that played a role.
And also, I think just the stylistic versatility that you do have from Jokics right where their two man game is actually really good. And I think that he can free up Russ as a dry out of pick and roll because teams are worried about Yokic's float or touch or I mean Russ hits him with the pocket passes
because of how he empowers Russ as a cutter. Like we've always talked about Okay, we can see Russ cutting in this new offense, and like it was only ever marginal differences and now Russ is like actually a really willing cutter and in transition, right, I mean, he's the best outlet pass we've ever seen. And he's totally by the way up to Denver's pace of play this year. Like you can't overstate that enough. We've always thought of
Denver as the methodical half court offense. They went from twenty sixth in pace last year to fifth and pace this year because they're playing Russ, because they're playing Brown more, they're playing Watson more, like more these dudes who are super limited in the half court good athletes in the full court. And so Jokic has adjusted and the results have been incredible.
I'm pulling up his cuts real quick because he's averaging over a cut per game this year. And it was something that stood out to me. It was something that stood out to me when I was watching that Sacramento game. Yeah, his last season in Los Angeles, let's see bulling up
his cuts real quick. But yeah, like that's the thing, Like I think it's always a more complicated conversation than just Okay, So his last season in Los Angeles, he averaged zero point six cuts per game, So he's cutting about twice as frequently as he did when he was in Los Angeles, And it was just something that we were all constantly, just like literally constantly begging for him to do. His entire twenty twenty two season, the first the full season that he played in Los Angeles, he
scored on a cut just thirty nine times all season. Wow, And it just yeah, it's just it's just one of those things where like, like again his Nicole Jokic, he crafts such tiny offensive roles and his ability to attract attention is so consistent and so dramatic that like it's possible to really like game plan the TikTok toe off of it to the point where like Denver just you know, I remember Mike Malone and Jamal Murray and used to talk a lot about this in the Lakers sweep, the
one in the Western Conference Finals, where it's like, we've just seen all this before. Oh you put Ruy on Dijokicz, We've seen this before. And it's like and it's the truth in the sense that like they just have like they kind of have like a systemic way of attacking any specific type of coverage with any specific type of player.
Like think about how Christian Brown has immediately just kind of been better than Kntavious called the Pope, even though he's like a very very different type of player, because of their ability to craft like a very simple like cutting, slashing, spot up type of role with him. Before we move on, I want to just put a very basic qualifier on this. Giannis is amazing. This is not a Yannis problem. Nikolea Jokic is just playing at potentially the highest level we
have problem. I believe the highest level we have ever seen on the offensive end of the four.
Like it is it is it is.
It's like when we're talking about Stephan kd and the Lebron James era. It is not Stephan kty Saw. There are all these people where it's like, well Steph does this and Kad does that, and like, well look they're winning titles together, and it's like it's it's not anything that they're doing wrong or something that they're incapable of. It's just Lebron James is the greatest basketball player to ever pick up a ball, and he's out there doing
his thing. Like, it's just it just it's just it's just different when you're when you're getting into that level of player. I do have one more Milwaukee one before we get at it, before we move on to our next top. We're going to move a little more rapid fire here down the stretch. Who's more likely to win the title this year? Milwaukee or Denver? Let's go with you first, Logan.
I'm conflicted here because Jamal Murray really scares me when we're thinking about the level that he's been at and in terms of a playoff setting. And the thing with Jamal that's concerning to me is it's not just the fact that he's missing tough shots, right, Jamal Murray is a guy who inherently lives off tough shots because he's not one hell of an athlete, right. He struggles to really get downhill and to create advantages by himself even
out of the pick and roll. Right, Like, he's a guy that's easy to recover on when he's driving, So he's gonna live off tough floaters and tough jumpers and
stuff like that. The thing that's been most frustrating to me about watching Jamal Murray as his decision making, like there will be guys wide open in the half court on possessions, or I'm like, Jamal, swing the ball, like there's a wide open look and you're ballhogging right now, Like the Nuggets will create an initial advantage there's an open shooter on the wing, and Jamal will choose to re dribble and dribble the ball right outside the top of the key and reset or even negated everything that
you've ran with that action. And so it is really concerning to me the level that Jamal's at and all the little things that have to go right for den for in the playoffs, because I look back at their run and I do like the Nuggets formula a lot. But it's like what we were just saying about Jokic, with all these guys and defined roles, it works because Jokic is so great and enhances all of these guys, but they're not as multifaceted as some of the other
supporting pieces, and they're just not as good overall players. Right, Like, I just trust Damian Lillard so much more as my number two in a playoff setting, right Like, I know that Dame can create for himself and even when Jannis hasn't been out there. Dame has been capable of getting his own and carrying this offense when Yiannis is out. And then when you look at a guy like Chris Middleton, it's like, this is no shade at Michael Porter Junior, right,
MPJ is in a very defined role. He's gonna play defense, he's gonna rebound, and he's gonna shoot open shots.
Milwaukee just has more offensive.
Creation, and they've also got guys and really defined roles. I would probably say, even though Denver is my second out West, I'd probably say mill Wakee just because of the.
Strength of competition in the Eastern Conference.
Right, Like, there's a defined four, but there's only four in the Eastern Conference. To me, it's Boston, it's Cleveland, it's Milwaukee, and then who am I spacing on Who's four? It's New York in New York's right, So I don't really look at any other team out East and I'm like, oh, yeah, you know, they could maybe give this team a run for their money. I think those four teams are stamped to get to the semifinals and then they'll duke it
out from there. The West is so freaking deep that it's just gonna be hard.
You know.
I feel like this is a bit of a cop out answer because it's not apples to apples, but it's not Denver could run into a really tough matchup in round one. Denver's gonna have to scratch and claw through round one, through round two through round three to just get there, when Milwaukee might be able to coast round
one and maybe round two. Like there's such a discrepancy, like you mentioned earlier, Jason, between talent and in the East and West, it would just be easier, I think for Milwaukee, and they have a top two that I trust more than Denver, right, like Jokic more than Yo, honest, but I certainly like Jannis and Dame more than I like Jokic and Jamal at the level that he's been at.
So I like Denver a lot, But I think it's probably easy for me to envision some things breaking Milwaukee's way and in them figuring out the West is just they're super top heavy right now, and they're pretty deep too.
That's interesting. I think it's very close between these two teams.
I think that right now Milwaukee is the more complete team with the strides that they've taken defensively with the value they have found from some of these role players. When we talk about AJ Green and Andre Jackson, I
still very slightly lean Denver. And the reason I say that is right now, the gap in Milwaukee's favorite between these two teams is defensive, and that's probably not as big as the offensive gap when you get to a playoff environment, and I think that Denver can play better defensively than they have because we've seen them do it before. We've seen them turn out a really good playoff defense in a top ten regular season defense last year.
And when it comes down to.
Beating these teams that are just subjectively more talented, like an OKC, even a Dallas right is clearly more talented right now than Denver, the greatest advantage you can have is an unsolvable problem offensively, and to me, that's what Jokic provides.
So I struggle to.
See how Milwaukee could overcome a team like a Boston right who's just so monumentally talented. And while I also think Denver would be major underdogs in that matchup, they have the unsolvable problem. I don't think that Boston can do anything with Jokic defensively, right, you double he destroys you. You try to deal with him in single coverage, he
destroys you as long as Jamal Murray. And this is a legitimate If plays at a close to star level offensively, well then this is just a machine that is exceedingly difficult to So for that reason, I lean Denver. I think having that punch of hey, we have not just the best player in the world, we have the greatest offensive player of all time, gives you a better chance because you're so specifically great in that one area, on
that one side of the ball. And I think Denver can improve enough defensively, so I.
Not to cut you off real quick.
If Porzingis wasn't healthy, does that make enough of a difference to you between Milwaukee and Boston?
Would you give Milwaukee a chance in that series?
Real long shot? Yeah?
I think it's a long shot, no matter what, for pretty much everybody over Boston.
Carson.
What you're talking about involving like the unsolvable problem is the main thing for me that makes it close.
But I agree.
I agree with what you said at the beginning, which is like, I think Milwaukee's a better team and I think they have an easier path, Like I would like, let's get a little bit deeper here, like who Like I would argue that a team like I would argue that teams like Cleveland in New York, even though they're tough playoff matchups, I think that they fall more in line with like the rest of the Western Conference than they do with some of these Yeah. Yeah, the Cleveland piece.
For me, I think they're being optimized right now. I'm really really excited to watch them at the end of this month. I've seen this road trip they're about to go on. They play like Golden State, Lakers, Denver, Dallas all on the road, like back to back to back to back, and I think maybe I'll change my opinion on Cleveland after that stretch. But like, to me, like
still I steal am concerned about some offensive issues. Their offense has slowed down a little bit up until they just beat the living shit out of Brooklyn the other night. But like, their offense is slowed down a little bit over the last couple of weeks, and they still have these entry points that I'm concerned about in their defense. But like the bottom line is, if you look at the Western Conference, Let's say my comporter Junior goes down for two weeks or Jamal Murray goes down for another
two weeks, they could be in the plan. Not even because not even because of anything Jokic is doing or anything the rest of the team is doing. It's just the West is so damn good that you drop a couple of weeks of bad basketball, you could slip down
to seven, eight nine in the standings. There's a version of this where Denver has to win a play in then go on the road to beat someone like Denver Dallas, Oklahoma City, then have to beat like a Phoenix Minnesota type of team in the Houston and then have to go beat another top seed in the Western Conference finals,
and then have to meet whoever comes out of the East. Whereas, like you feel pretty good about Milwaukee effectively getting a first round by through them eventually working their way up to the top four in the standings and just getting one of those lesser Eastern Conference teams and then like Milwaukee with home court over New York or with home court over any of those teams that just feel like they have like a little bit more of a realistic
path to get to the Conference Finals against Boston, where if they win that series, you like their chances against anybody coming out of the West, right, Whereas with Denver it just seems like the types of hurdles they would have to pass to get to a Western Conference finals, to get to the finals, it just feels more complicated. Again, to your point, Carson, the offensive unsolvability of Jokic is
the big variable there. January seventh, We finally get to watch Denver play Boston this year, and it's like, you just feel like they have a chance to win that game because of the Jokic problem, and it's just a
unique presentation for any of these teams to deal with. Again, Like if you were to ask, and this to me is like if I really had to get into one single case for why I do find Jokic to be better than the honest it's if you were to ask, what single trait from either of those players is the best. Jokic's offense is better than anything that Jannis does. And like that seeing it to your point that one single piece of unsolvability has so many trickle down effects for
all the other elements of the basketball game. So yeah, I lean I would say that I lean Milwaukee slightly more likely to win the title just because of their path coming up through the East, even separate from anything we talked about with Jokic and Yanna. Sorry, so we only have five more minutes, so I want to go really rapid fire through these next two. So each of you guys just give me about like sixty seconds.
Let's go.
Which team is more likely to blow up and trade a superstar, the Lakers or the Heat. We'll start with you, Carson.
I think it's the Heat because I think that Jimmy is going to be probably the easiest to move of any of these dudes who we could talk about now. I still think that Jimmy is kind of a difficult fit and is a difficult proposition to sell some teams on when you consider aging questionable health can be something of a ball stop or like I wouldn't it.
Could be a dick sometimes.
Yeah, that's true as well.
I probably would be backing up to bring Struck, setting a bunch of assets to go and get Jimmy. I just still think it's more likely, and I don't know, like the Lakers can't trade Lebron in my opinion, Like, I just think he would say no, no, thank you. So I think it's the Heat. And I also think the Heat are definitely not where they want to be. They're far away and they should pick a clear timeline. And I think that that involves getting younger and build thing from that.
Yeah, I agree with that logic.
I also just don't think the Lakers could ever trade Lebron. Also, if Lebron got traded, apparently you would have to attach Bronni with him, which is kind of crazy to think.
And that's an asset you just can't lose, which.
I think it makes it all the more reason to back it up yet thirty. But I think the Heat should trade Jimmy, and I think some teams should be interested in Jimmy. I agree it's kind of a hard sale with his availability and consistent effort night to night, along with his contract scenario. Like, I don't think Jimmy is a super easy guy to trade for, especially just making the money work, like you have to match his
fifty mil basically this year. But I would be surprised if by the trade deadline, if Jimmy is still a member of the Miami Heat. I think he'll probably get moved by then.
Yeah, you know, extends beyond the tradeability of Jimmy Butler. I just I think Miami is more self aware and more well run, so like I think they are the ones who are more willing to look in the mirror and be like, hey, it's time, whereas like Genie Buss and Rob Polinka are happy to ring out the sponge for every drop of fame and recognition from having Lebron in a d and the roster, even as they just piss away the end of the greatest basketball player ever's career.
So that like I would, I personally would love to see Lebron in a place like Golden State. I think it'd be a ton of fun. I think that this Lakers team is broken on a deep level. I think they're about to get even worse here in this next stretch where they go on the road to Sacramento and Golden State. I think I think they might lose all three of those games. Like, I think it could get it uglier and uglier and uglier, and I wish that
they would just just accept reality at this point. But I just again think that Miami is more self aware, more willing to to to make that kind of change. All right, quick, last one? Which team is more likely to turn their season around? The Indiana Pacers or the Sacramento Kings.
Monological we used earlier about Denver and Milwaukee. I just the West is so comically deep right now. And I said this on our show a while back, the Kings of the Kings. Man, Like, I don't know what this is. The Kings are definitely not in the cellar the where they were a few years ago. They have risen up to competitive level. Congrats, it's just not good enough, right, Like, I even I put them down, like maybe even down past Houston.
And that's not a.
Dig at Houston, but like Houston's really limited offensively, I only.
And I think Sacramentos.
I think people are going to be pissed that you said that, like it was a revelation Rockets.
I think it's a revelation. I'm just saying that, like I don't have you.
Houston is a real contender, and I think the Kings are below them. And it's the inverse obviously, right, because the Kings can't play defense. But with Indiana, right, Indiana's got two really good rotation guys out right now in aaron Ne Smith and Ben Shephard. You get those guys back. They're really important three in D guys, and again these.
Just isn't as deep.
Indiana went to the Eastern Conference finals last year.
Don't get me wrong, some things had to break their way, but they've got a rock solid identity. Halliburton's played way better over the last ten games. I'm hoping he's turning a really positive corner there. And I just believe in their identity and their formula. And the East sucks so like right like Indiana at their bottom maybe I mean, what like the sixth seed or something like, they're a shoe in to make the playoffs. In my opinion, I
think they figure it out. And I just can't see them missing the playoffs in the East that is so limited and so bad. And I think it's probably more likely that the Kings are at the bottom of the play in or they just do outright miss the playoffs.
Yeah, the thirty seconds where the conference difference is going to be the tiebreaker for me. I think Sacramento was better. The Kings are eleventh th net rating right now, the Pacers are twenty second, and the Pacers to have unsolvable problems defensively, I think they're broken there and their offense has been very average this year, but I think their offense has been average because of some of Halley's early
season struggles. In their wins, he's actually been awesome. He gives them twenty four and ten on sixty three percent through shooting, and.
Their offense looks awesome, so he is trending up.
I think if you get good Halle enough, they just have more of a chance to actually do something because the West is so much deeper, and with the Buckstenver conversation, it wasn't as much of a difference maker to me because I'm like, you have to beat the best teams no matter what these teams were talking about a different standard of getting too the playoffs be competitive in series.
That's a lot easier in the East.
Yeah, And also I just I think Sacramento's issues they don't have any players, or that they don't have many players who play both ends of the floor, so they can construct lineups that can defend and they construct lineups that can score, but they can't really do both. I think Indiana, just based on the Siakam Turner front court, it just has more potential to eventually establish more of a baseline defensive level of competence. But anyway, guys, I
was hoping for this nice little morning show. I was hoping for something that would be really informal and fun as we kill some time here in this slow week.
That is perfect.
Thank you guys for coming on really quickly. Can Carson, can you just shout out what you guys are working on over at nerd sash.
Yeah, we've got tons of NBA stuff, We've got all our full shows, we've got some film breakdowns. Check us out on YouTube, listen to the full show across audio platforms, and if you are an NFL fan too, then you can check that out.
We cover football too.
Make sure you guys get over and follow and subscribe to the nerd ssh YouTube channel. As always be sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us, for supporting the show. I will see you guys on Friday for the mailbag.
The volume