The volume.
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bet based on amount of initial losing bet. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. See dkang dot com slash promos for deposit wagering and eligibility restrictions, terms and responsible gambling resources. All right, wellcomeon, hoops and not here at the volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody, hope all of you guys are having a great week. Good to be back after getting out of town for a little bit yesterday to do some skiing up in northern Arizona.
We have a very special show today. We have Matt Modai, who does NBA live streams for betting pros. He's gonna come on the show. We're gonna talk about his top three NBA Finals bets as well as his favorite MVP bet. He's also a diehard Sixers fan. Tough time to be a Sixers fan. So we're gonna we're gonna get into the weed on the weeds on the Sixers and let him vet for a little bit. Matt. First of all, let's get started with this. We're gonna do a countdown style. Okay,
we're gonna go from three to one. Who is your third favorite title bet at this point in the season?
Sure, my third favorite title bet? Drum roll please, I'm gonna go with the Los Angeles Clippers obviously they have First of all, I guess I should go with the odds. So right now they're tied with the Nuggets for the second best odds to win the title, which I think is kind of crazy that they're tied with then gets in the first place. But we'll get there at plus
four seventy five odds. So what I like to do with because I always think about something in terms of like the best value bets from a win from a percentage, in terms of what's the win percentage of the bet in terms of the odds, and what's the win percentage of what I actually think of this play and for context, win or the odds a plus four to seventy five has a win percentage of like seventeen eighteen percent, basically telling you, Okay, we think there's like a twenty percent
roughly chance that the Clippers are going to win the finals, which I think I can get there. I mean, like, obviously they have the obvious qualify of the have to stay healthy. That's they're the biggest question mark for them of any other team. But hey, they've been healthy this year. I know Paul George has been out for the past couple games, nothing crazy, and both him or him, Kawhi and James Harden, they're all on pace.
They played the most games they played in years.
They've kind of lost contention to be the one seed, but regular season that stuff happens, and not necessarily scared off from that. And I just love what I've been seeing from Kawhi Leonard. Like he's never been a huge
regular season guy. I mean, he played what like ffty two games when the Raptors won the finals back in twenty nineteen, but he's been phenomenally NBA dot Com and I'm not exactly sure how they come up to these stats but they list him as like the best ISO score in the NBA, and we've all seen him turn into the terminator, absolute just game wrecker in the playoffs. Even the two games you played against the Suns last year,
he was amazing. And I just think that the Clippers have everything they need to win, and I like it from an odds perspective, So tell me where I'm wrong about the Clippers.
I'm super high on the Clippers too. They're going through a little bit of a downstretch right now, which like is a typical thing for a veteran team, but honestly, was kind of crazy that they were as locked in as they were for so long right after the trade, and like they've kind of gone back and forth between wins and losses for a little while. Their defense has gone down a big level as of late, but I
think that's just typical regular season malays. When you kick everyone's ass for a few months, eventually it's just kind of human nature to let up for a little bit. They kind of fall into this category of NBA teams that typically doesn't do super well in the postseason, in the sense that they're very perimeter orient with a bunch of guys that kind of like play both sides of
the ball, but on the perimeters. I think teams like Boston team, teams like Oklahoma City, teams like the New Orleans Pelicans, or they have all these rangy wings that can guard and can score on the other end of the floor. The difference between the Clippers and most of those other teams except for Boston obviously is amazing. But the difference between the Clippers and teams like the Pelicans and the Thunder is they have the real interior physical
imposition element, which I think is super important. Like why is like the one guy who's really a perimeter skill player who seems to go up a massive level when he gets to the postseason because he's so much stronger than everybody and he can get to his spots and then if he can. Zubach just gives you that interior kind of physicality, a guy that can bang bodies with Nikola Jokic, but not only that will give issues to other bigger centers in the league, like he historically has
given Anthony Davis issues on the offensive glass. He's a guy that could bury and give issues to Chet Holmgren, like even like a Rudy Gobert, so like they're they they bring a good combination of like real two way perimeter talent while also having that interior size. I also like that James Harden has slotted into a role where he can have a bad night and it's not the end of the world. I liked what you said about
the seeding. I agree, particularly in the Western Conference. I just don't necessarily think it matters all that much because, like, no matter where you are, you're gonna have a tough go of things. I was looking at it earlier, it's like, if you're the one seed, it's like you're probably gonna face the Lakers or the Warriors. That's not a fun
first round series. It's like, then you're gonna face potentially like Denver Phoenix in the in the second round, and then you're gonna turn around and play in Oklahoma City or the Clippers, and then you're gonna turn around and play a team out of the Eastern Conference. So to me, specifically in the West, seeding doesn't matter as much as long as you have that home court in that in that first round series. I think that's something that matters
quite a bit. But I think I think they're built for a postseason run, and honestly, I do view them as a value bet as well. You're you're not getting a better combination of talent in experience with a top end superstar the way you get with Kawhi. We had Sam Vassini on the show the other day and he said that he would take Kawhi as the second best playoff player when healthy in the league. Right now, I'm not sure if i'd have him quite that high, but
he's in that conversation. And really, like you mentioned the Phoenix, you mentioned the series against Phoenix last year, Like he was a total ass kicker while he was out there, he's amazing. He just heat, his body didn't hold up. And that same health qualifier really applies to every single one of those teams. Is there a specific matchup with the Clippers that scares you, though.
Honestly it's the Nuggets. Part of me is just because, like we all watched the bubble because there's nothing else to watch in the two man game with Jamal Murray and Jokic just put them in a complete blender. I do think they they've come out of that a little bit. Like the following playoff run. They made it to the Western Conference Finals and they won the last two games against Utah and Paul George was incredible. He like the
pandemic p jokes all went away. So like if the Nuggets, and I'm not predicting this, but if they somehow get bounced in the first two rounds, that would be the biggest worry for me for the Clippers would be the Nuggets. I think the Timberwolves. I don't trust their their late game offense, and I think we'll have to see what it's like because this is the best perimeter defense that Rudy Goberts had when he was on the Jazz. He had to do everything. He was like the entire defense.
And then the Thunder. I was listening to that podcast you did with the Sini. They're a little bit too young and a little bit too slight, like the third worst rebounding team in the league. I think that's that's going to come back. And then the Suns. I just don't trust the depth. It's like, is Bradley Beal going to play in the playoffs? And then what do you have outside of them? Like Rayson Allen has been incredible, But if you're telling me that he's their fifth most
important player, like that concerns me. And then Nurk it is the healthiest he's been in years. So really it's the Nuggets. And that's not a hot take because they just won the title last year.
Yeah, I actually I think the Clippers are just a way better version of the Suns. That's why I'm not particularly worried about Phoenix Denver. It's interesting because I agree there would be they would be the team that you would be worried about. And by the way, every team
in the league should be worried about Denver. They're the best specifically, though, there's a couple of different things that I like about that matchup for the Clippers at least to give them a shot, And it's one Zubats just having another big body to throw at Jokic, but also they kind of have the like the Nuggets have defenders that are good in help situations but aren't good on the ball, and so against teams that are more like top heavy with superstars and then like role players down
the roster, they can really load up on stars and have really good help and recover schemes. The Clippers have the unique ability to kind of spread you out and you run out of bodies, like who is gonna guard? Like who is Jamal Murray gonna guard in that matchup? You know what I mean? Like, there's going to be opportunities to find matchups there that they can take advantage of. I give the Clippers a legitimate puncher's chance to beat Denver,
although I would pick Denver. All right, drum roll again. Here for your number two favorite championship bet.
Okay, So this one I cheated a little bit. Technically.
It's not to win the title, but it's to come out of the East, okay. And it's not And it's not the Celtics. I don't know if this coounts, but it's not the Celtics. And before I give you the team, I kind of just want to want to get your thoughts on kind of my logic here. So right now, the Celtics are plus one fifteen to win the East. That's a win percentage of you have to win basically above forty six percent of your bets at plus one fifteen. And I don't know, like, is there a fifty percent
chance that the Celtics are coming out of the East? Probably, And maybe it's just like fatigue because they've been so good for so long that you just start to pick knits where maybe you shouldn't. But my issue has always been with the Celtics is they just don't get to the rim and unless you have elite jump shooting like the Warriors with Stephan Clay or elite mid range with
Kevin Durant and Booker. Not that I'm saying they should be title favorites, but it's just it's hard for me to envision them winning four games in a seven game series, and in East that might not have the top heavy teams like the West, but it's much better than it was a last year. Like the Celtics attempt fewest shots in the restricted area, the second fewest in the paint,
but not in the restricted area. They average the most above the break three pointers, the most pull up three pointers as well, And yeah, they look magnificent when shots are falling, but then you have like the first three games against the Heat where they can't make a shot and everything just looks stagnant and looks just like they don't have a professional like a Mike Conley to run
normal offense. So before I gave you the team, I'm just curious about your thoughts on basically the field versus the Celtics.
Well, really quickly before I go there, has that line moved much with the recent Bucks resurgence? Like, do you remember where that line was a couple of weeks ago.
I don't, so I just checked this yesterday as plus one fifteen. I actually think it's gotten more likely that this. I think the Celtics have become even bigger favorites because they won nine straight at this point, I think is what it is.
You know, I picked we were I can't even remember what exactly I think it was with the Nerd Sash guys talking about whether or not we take the Celtics or the field in the Eastern Conference, and I went for the Celtics, and I honestly, I honestly feel like a little bit better than a fifty percent chance feels like the right number. So if it's plus one fifteen,
that actually feels like pretty solid odds to me. The one thing that really worries me about Milwaukee in a series with Boston is I was literally watching this morning just with Tyres Maxie and Buddy Healed last night, like Derek White and Jalen Brown and Drew Holliday is just
a torture chamber of perimeter defenders. It's crazy, and they can all switch and and they and they're physical, and like what I worry about is kind of like what happened with Dame when they when they kind of ran out of gas against the Pelicans a few years back, where it's like where it's like just a good, strong, physical perimeter defender can wear Dame out and make him inefficient. And he's already kind of having a pretty bad, you know,
efficiency season by his standards. Anyway, now Milwaukee's defending a lot better, and they're starting to figure some stuff out in terms of their spacing and pick and roll. And I do think Milwaukee has a real shot to win, but I would probably give Boston a little better than fifty percent chance that they would win it.
Okay, yeah, I mean that that's fair.
I think again, it's it's one of those things where you get, like I said, you get fatigue. But so my pick to come out of the East is actually the New York Knicks at plus eight point fifty. That's essentially the plus a fifty odds is essentially a win percentage of ten percent, and I went through it like, okay, if I'm not taking the Celtics and let's go through the field. The Calves I think are really good. I
think they're a really solid regular season team. I'm not sure that they can they can win three series in the East, Like I'm maybe I'm too scarred from their series against the Knicks last year, but they just got bodied and I have a tough time seeing them win three straight. As a Sixers fan, I'm contractedly obligated to not think that Duck Rivers can coach a team into the finals. I mean, I'll never get out of my
head that Hawk series. He played Dwight Howard, Bensimons and Bible all the same time in a game seven, must win game.
It's just I can't get there.
And you know, with the Sixers, first of all, I can't be a Homer and come in here and say I think the Sixers. But real reality is like I just have too much uncertainty around and beats knee and even if he comes back late March, which is what Woes reported, Like what in beat are we going to see? Is he gonna be the ass picker that he was at the beginning of the year. So that left me with the Knicks, and I don't I think they have everything they need, Like obviously, the one thing they need
is health. The're missing three fits of their starting lineup.
That's not great.
But I think part of my logic for the Knicks is I think Jalen Brunson is like a legitimate superstar. And I believe that it was Vessini who was making that same point on your show when he came on. But he's awesome, Like his raw stats are good, twenty seven point seven points per game for over forty percent, shooting from deep, about seven assists per game. He's running the second most pick and roll possessions per game pretty efficiently, and you can't go under that screen like.
You used to. Like he'll shoot, he'll shoot from deep.
He's averaging about a four pull up three pointers per game off the pick and roll in and shooting like thirty eight percent. And then outside of Brunston, I just love their roster. I like they they have shooters now, like Og is a good spot up shooter. Boyon can get hot. Devincenzo's he's been chucking you like crazy recently, and then we'll have to see like Og and Randall should be back with enough time to be ramped up
for the playoffs. We'll have to see with Mitchell Robinson, and I think that this year, more than any year, they can withstand Randall if he decides to just not play well in the playoffs. Like that series against the Hawks that Brunson wasn't even on team, Like, that's a different a different time. So I don't know, like for plus a fifty, like, I just think they have everything they need and I think they could beat the Celtics in a seven game series.
But maybe maybe I'm crazy.
Plus eight point fifty to win the East. I love that bet. The Knicks are a team that I'm super high on. I think they're literally constructed for the postseason exactly I am. I am like super super super high on Jalen brunts And I gotten a bunch of trump.
I was actually thinking about this yesterday. I got in a bunch of trouble this summer for saying that I thought Jalen Brunson was better than John Morant right now, like that John Morant would probably eventually pass him, sure, but that he's better than John Murant right now is just like a playoff game manager who can really navigate the half court, slow down, physical environment, and everybody killed me for it. And I'm like, this dude's literally killing everybody this year.
Like he's awesome.
He's unquestionably been better than Dame this year. Yeah, Like that's not even up for debate. Like, like, Jalen Brunson is an incredible Dante. DiVincenzo has actually turned into one of the best three and D guards in the league this season, which is like a crazy value add for the Knicks. And then you have this incredibly physically imposing frontline with Og Andnobi and Julius Randall and Mitchell Robinson
if he can come back. Mitchell Robinson is like a huge matchup problem for teams, especially on the offensive glass and just kind of in general around the rim. He's also having had before he got hurt, one of the better defensive seasons of his career. I also think teams are gonna run out of bodies in a lot of way.
Like you can imagine an environment where you know you're gonna have to throw your biggest, strongest forward on Julius Randall and it's like who's guarding ogn Andob because he's a guy that can play that bully ball kind of back to the basket style and cause some problems in matchup situation. So I'm super high on the Knicks as a matter of fact, like the among those teams in the Eastern Conference, And Sam and I were actually talking about this when we did the show the other day.
If they played the Bucks like tomorrow, I'm not sure that I wouldn't pick the Knicks. Now, we'll see when we get to April, because the Bucks have a lot of time to figure things out, and they are trending
in the right direction in a lot of ways. But it's not impossible to imagine that the Knicks could beat a Bucks team in a second round series and then go to Boston and play a super physical brand of basketball and bait them into their worst tendencies of settling for bad jump shots and not attacking the basket, and all of a sudden they end up coming out of the conference. That is not infeasible. So it's like, like, to me, plus eight fifty is an incredible number to
get the Nicks out. I love that bet. Yeah, go ahead.
No, that's that's exactly my logic.
Like, you know, I wouldn't like that at plus four hundred, I love I love them at plus eight fifty.
What is your favorite title bet for this season?
It's the Denver Nuggets. I tried to be different, but I just think it's a Denver Nuggets. Like they're tied with the Clippers to have the second best odds to win the title, Like I think they should be the second best team behind the Celtics. They're plus four to seventy five. Like, like I said, that's a win percentage between seventeen and eighteen percent. I'll admit that they have a little bit of concerning offensive stats, like they need to be, if not number one, like top two offense in the
NBA to win the title. Right now, they're twelve in net rating. Part of that, like Murray's missed some games, they're thirty and twelve with him in the lineup with an offensive net rating that would be equipment to the fourth best in the NBA. And that's not even talking about when Murray and Yokic share the floor, when they
just break basketball together. And it kind of reminds me last year, like they were the one seed for so long in the regular season and had such a cushion that people kind of forget that post All Star break, the Nuggets didn't look phenomenal. And I looked this up because I wanted to make sure my memory was correct, Like they were after February fifteenth last year, they were thirteen and eleven with the net rating that's would put
them at like seventeenth in the NBA. Then the playoffs started and they lost to combined four games, and like, I do think the West is better, So yeah, they probably won't make it to the finals by only losing three games. But kind of what I got to is, like, okay, how many playoff runs like what I have? The last two healthy playoff runs for Jamal Murray in Nikola Jokic, they won the title and then they beat the Clippers and they made it to the Western Conference finals, and
they had two year break where Murray wasn't healthy. So I just think that they're undervalue because they're not quite having the regular season that they had last year and they're probably not going to be home court, but they proved that they can win on the road in the playoffs, so that part doesn't scare me. And kind of, like we said with the Clippers, like I don't really need
them to be the one seed. So I just think that, like the Nugget, the Nuggets are the best bet to win the finals, especially at plus four seventy five.
I'm actually all season long, I have been confounded at why Denver is so such a long shot in Vegas to win the title, Like it just doesn't make any sense to me, because I understand the optimism surrounding Boston. They have a super talented roster. They're kicking everybody's but in the regular season, but that was pretty much since email Udoka came on board and they made the Derek
White trade, They've kicked everybody's but incessantly since then. That's never that's never not been the case, right, And so I struggle with it from the standpoint of like that Denver is such a textbook championship favorite because we've seen them do it before. They have the best player in the world, everybody on their team is back, and there's
more continuity. And also like as you look around the board, like every team has these like glaring flaws, Like even with Boston, it's like, what are their last four losses? It's like, oh, Denver, Milwaukee, the Clippers, and the Lakers, all games where they settled for a bunch of jump shots and missed a bunch of shots. Now that's not to say Boston can't win. Like to me, Austin should only be slightly behind Denver like like, but to me, they should be behind Denver. And so I one hundred
percent agree with you. I see them as a as a as a real value. Add I'm not as worried. I'm not I'm not as worried about their about their offensive issues during the regular season, for starters like Jamal Murray has missed a healthy chunk of time that has kind of thrown a wrench in some of the data. Also, like there's been extended stretches of the year where they've
defended harder in the regular season than they did last year. Ironically, that stretch last year that you're talking about post All Star Break that kind of got me off their scent because I was like thinking, Okay, this is a team that's a mediocre defense and an elite offense. They're gonna need to be sharp going into the postseason, like the need They're gonna need to be on top of their details.
They're gonna need to be really on a string defensively, at least to get to the level they need to get, and then it ended up not even mattering when it when when we got to the postseason, and like, really it comes down to to just kind of put a bow on it. It comes down to just my core basketball philosophy, which is like playoff basketball is one with a physical interior style of play in a grind out,
slow down half court environment. And there is literally not a team in the league that does that as well as Denver and I to me, I've said this on the show before, and I feel strongly about this. If they are healthy, meaning their core five guys are healthy, I would be surprised if they did not win the title because I don't, like legitimately, like if the Clippers upset them, I'd be like, wow, I did not see that coming. Like legitimately. It is something that I feel
very strongly about. I think that we see the healthiest gap between the best player in the world and the second best player since Lebron around like twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, like he is head and shoulders above the field in my opinion, and getting them at what was the number one.
More time for seventy five to win the title.
Plus four plus forty four to seventy five is insane to me. I think that that's such a great bet. Who's your favorite MVP bet right now? So?
I mean, Jokic is the favorite to win the MVP, and he should be the favorite to win the MVP. There's only one other guy that I wanted to throw at you, and that's SGA. Right now, he's plus two to fifty and he has the second best odds to win plus two to fifty. That translates to win percentage of about twenty eight twenty nine percent. I don't know, is there is there a third of a chance that SGA wins the MVP? Like if the thunder who are hot,
end the season with the one seed. Right now, they're tied with the Timberwolves, and I think they've won like what seven straight at this point something like that. Right now, they're like a half game behind the Timberwolves in terms of record against teams above five hundred. They have the second best net rating in the entire NBA, only behind the Celtics. Like, I don't know, is that crazy? I'm not going to say that I think SGA is gonna win the MVP or that that's even my favorite bet.
It's just if I had to give you someone that's not Jokic.
Honestly, the case for it would be what you were just saying about Jokics, like, what if what if they let their foot off the gas here down the stretch of the season, and if they what if they end up what if Denver ends up winning with like ending up at the war seed, and and what if from their you know, Yokic sits four or five games and you know, just kind of does what he did at the end of last season, which is basically punt the
MVP to Joel Embiid. If he does something like that, If he does something like that, SGA just becomes the winner by default. And I think that's reflected in the odds. I that said, like, man, they look so sharp right now, Denver does coming out of the break so far like that would be that would be the one kind of a bit of reticence that I have. But yeah, I think I think I think that like SGA makes sense as a as like a long shot bet, simply because of the fact that we saw Denver do something very
similar last year. Also, it's just crazy to think about I was like, this was literally what I got into all that trouble for yesterday. But like you could make a case he should have won last year. Yeah, No, I wasn't making that case. I thought Joel deserved it. But like, at a very minimum, he's going to be a three out of four m VP with the with the with the second place finish in a year where he literally punted the award, Like this is a run of dominance that we have not seen since Lebron in
the in the early twenty twelves. And we should all be thankful that Jamal Murray and and then we're out it well, and it wasn't Jamal Murray was out and Michael Porter Junior was out as well, I think in
two thousand, in twenty twenty two, if I remember correctly. Yeah, yeah, so like that, Yeah, like we should all be thankful because it's very possible, especially in that twenty twenty one season, which was kind of wide open, and there were a bunch of like that weird Hawks team made it to the conference finals, and then that weird Clippers team without
Kawhi made it to the conference finals. Like even that Suns team to me, didn't feel like a traditional championship contender, like that feels like a year Denver wins it if they're healthy too, So like, I think it's incredible what we're seeing from Jokic. All Right, so I turn on the game this morning, I'm watching Celtic Sixers and and I'm finding so there's some silver linings there. I've seen some stuff. We'll talk about it here in a second.
But then I look, because I haven't followed the Sixers super closely since Embiid got hurt, just because it doesn't you're not gonna learn anything super interesting about them as a Sixers fan, Where are you at with this team? Man? How you doing? How you holding up?
Yeah? I'm okay. I appreciate you asking.
You know, it's kind of funny because when Embiid was on his run of dominance, I was like, you know, I think this is the best roster the Sixers I've had, specifically to compliment Joelle Embiid, like the Jimmy Butler roster was better last year. The roster was probably better, but they're more able to withstand an injury to embad because they could just you know, let hard and run the show. And then in bi it gets hurt, he misses a month, and I'm like, do they only have one other good
player on that roster? It's like amazing how different their team looks. Like Max, He's awesome. I love Tyrese MAXI you know, is he ready to run the show in the playoffs? Maybe or maybe not. But where I'm at with the Sixers is like if they if they can't get to like if they can't get a top six seat, which right now they're currently the six seed or tied with the Heat in terms of record, but they're only a half game up on both the Magic and the Pacers.
Even if Embiid comes back and at the end of March and he looks good, like I just have a hard time seeing them really making a run because you don't know how his knees gonna hold up, even if he comes back healthy. And man, the East is just so much better this year than it has been like every other you're the Sixers. I've lost in the second round. They've waltzed out of their first round opponent, like they
beat the Heat pre Jimmy Butler. They beat the Raptors post Kawhi a couple of years ago, and last year they beat the Nets team that was wouldn't have been the sixth seed if they didn't have a great first half with Durant and Kyrie. So where I'm at with the Sixers is I wear Eagles hats and I wear Phillies hats, and I don't wear Sixers hats.
Yeah.
Well, the case for the Sixers to win the title is MB goes into the postseason and just kills everybody. Yeah, And it's hard to imagine that happening this season under the circumstances. I mean, he is a rhythm player. Conditioning is a very important part of his success, and it's difficult to imagine him just like stepping back out onto the court in late March and then like being like, Okay, let's start from the eight seed and let's see if we can do this thing. Like it just seems it
just feels like a long shot. There are encouraging things
like I am such a huge Tyrese Maxi fan. I remember when I ran into him in Vegas at Summer League a couple of years ago, and he came out of the locker room just like or he came out of the rec center there at UNLV just like completely drenching sweat after workout, and I'm like, dude, it's July, and like everyone else is here just like relaxing and having a great time, and you're in the gym just like kicking your ass, getting ready, you know, for next season.
And I love his combination of downhill speed and pull up shooting. I thought last night he was cooking everybody on the Celtics. He's cooking Tatum, He's getting like cooking Derek White, He's cooking Drew Holliday. He's getting better at his kickout reads. He's got a two point five assistant turnover ratio. Ever since Joel Embiid went out, He's maintained
his efficiency for the most part. He's been at twenty seven points per game at fifty seven percent through shooting since Embid went out, which is really solid, especially when the entire scheme is devoted towards trying to slow you down. He can turn the corner on the best perimeter defenders in the league. Absolutely loved that guy, and honestly, like, I do think he's good enough to be a good legit number two next to Joel Embiid. I also like, I really like this Ricky Council, the fourth guy.
He's awesome.
Like I was, I've watched like the handful of Sixers games I've watched in the last couple of months. I've been like, I keep like I remember the first time, I was like, who is that? And then like I'm watching him last night, I'm like, here's Ricky Council again. He's got like he plays with a lot of motor. He's a good athlete. He rebounds really well. He can put the ball on the floor and like make plays
off the bounce. I was pulling the stats earlier. His per thirty six numbers this year twenty four points per game in eight rebounds or twenty four points per thirty six eight rebounds per thirty six on sixty two percent true shooting. So he's he's producing like a twenty four and eight guy efficiently in the small spurts that he's out there on the floor. I really like that. I have won grite. I really don't understand why Buddy Healed is starting for them, and here's the case. I understand,
Like Tyres Maxy's competing on defense. He had some really good possesions against Jalleen Brown last night, like Jaymon Brown was trying to pick on him and he was just just holding his ground picked him clean twice. You're an offensive foul. But like he does have some limitations on that, and he's just a little small and he almost like he almost like plays too hard for his own good on defense. Like he sometimes he like overreacts and jumps and gets out of position, which can which can hurt
him sometimes. But like, I really do think you need someone of the d Anthony Melton ilk at the two, a guy that's like a more defensive minded perimeter uh like kind of like guy that you can throw on the other team's best guard. And like Buddy Healed to me as a guy that's like he's your textbook like high volume three point shooter that's pretty efficient and you could run things like ghost screen actions and stuff to
get the defense in rotation. It's a good start. And I like him as a bench weapon and in general I like him as a talent add to the team. But to me, like having another skill guard next to Tyrese Maxi is setting yourself up for failure on the defensive end of the floor. Also, historically, Buddy Heel tends to kind of run into efficiency issues when he gets into really physical defensive environments, which again happened against Boston last night other than the first two shots he hit.
So like, I just wonder, like, how do you feel about the Buddy Heald move? Do you think it like makes sense for them? And do you agree with the way that they're using him so far?
Yeah, I think it makes sense when e beats healthy because they his gravity is going to be so helpful for EMBIID and EMBIID in the PANCA clean up a lot of issues they would have defensively. But yeah, I kind of agree that it would make more sense to start d Anthony Melton, like the fan. Elton also missed a ton of time when the Sixers are losing a bunch of games. He missed I don't know, it's six weeks,
whatever it was. And I loved Anthony Melton, like I think, like as long as I've been a Sixers fan, like, and then in the EMBID era, they haven't had a guy who can both shoot and play defense. It's been either or it's been JJ Reddick, it's been Seth Curry or last year they had PJ.
Tucker.
They can at least do both and it's a it's a revelation to watch. I also think, I mean, I hadn't watched a ton of Buddy Heal, but privately, coming on the sixers, he's got limitless range.
I thought he would have a quicker trigger. I doesn't.
He doesn't quite shoot as as just unconscious as you would hope for. He's a little bit of a better playmaker than I was expecting. Like he's done a pretty
good job with the cyst. But yeah, I mean, I think the problem is he makes a lot more sense with Embeed in the lineup because, like I said, that gravity is just so helpful, and their two man game could end up being pretty good, like probably not as good as him and JJ Reddick because that was really good, and even Seth Curry was really good for the one year they had him and his two man.
Game with Maxie's awesome.
But but yeah, I kind of I kind of agree a Maxi Buddy Heald backcourt without having like with with Beeball Paul as the as the rim protector, it's just not gonna it's just not gonna get it done.
Yeah, I I that that's I totally understand it within the context of the embiid move, I thought the same thing. I'm like, okay, this is jj reddick Seth Curry basically is like essentially going away from the high pick and roll, you know, pocket passes to the foul line for embat and back to some of like just the dribble handoff stuff that he did so much with those guys. And I do really like that. But again, like to me, it's matchup based and it makes a ton of sense.
It's almost like a staggering kind of thing with Maxi as a way to keep running offense. So like you can have Maxi led units because Maxie's demonstrating he can score and run an offense without em beat out there, Like that's how damn good he is, and so you can kind of construct lineups accordingly and make it work. To me, like d Anthony Melton is literally like a
slightly lesser version of Condavious Callwell Pope. Like he's a good big athlete at that position who can guard the difference between him and KCP is KCP is more of like an off the catch off, the dribble handoff kind of guy. D Anthony Melton actually has some off the dribble pop like he can really put the ball on the floor. But to me, like that's the mold is. You look at it in the same way that you can have Murray and KCP, and it works because KCP can guard Steph Curry, ACP can do take on these
higher leverage defensive assignments. You look at it as Tyres Maxine and the Anthony Meltain and then if the matchup makes sense, if they're a team that doesn't attack, like for instance, if you're playing Boston, then yeah, like maybe Buddyheal makes more sense because they're going to be initiating more offense through Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, and it's more on you know, Tobias Harrison, Kelly eu Bray to
guard on the perimeter. You know, Like I like him there, I just don't necessarily agree with the way that they've used him so far. All right, Matt, why don't you tell us about where we can find your work?
Yeah?
Sure, So, as you mentioned, I do MBA betting live streams for betting pros on directly on the YouTube channel every Monday Wednesday Friday at eleven am. Anything else you can find on my Twitter slash x handle. I don't know what we're even calling it these days at Jedi in my last name MODEI j E d I m O d I and to have some sort of Star Wars stuff in there. But yeah, I appreciate having me and that's where you can find me.
Hell yeah, dude. All right, I have one last question for you, mister Star Wars fan. Have you read the Throng books? No?
I haven't.
I have not read any of the books, so maybe I'm a poser, but I've not read any of the book.
I'm disappointed, Matt. I'm disappointed. Hey, Hey, this was a lot of fun. I really appreciate you coming on the show. Everybody go check out Matt and his work on YouTube. As always, we appreciate you guys for supporting us. We'll see you guys later tonight for the live stream after Clippers Lakers.
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