Mavs vs Celtics NBA Finals Preview, Kyrie Returns to Boston, Lakers Coaching Latest

I would have briefly talked about the Dallas Mavericks and their season and their resiliency, their getting the job done. They go up three three nothing, Minnesota gains a little momentum and they find a way to get the job done to move on to the finals. Uh.

guys like the ball in their hands. And at the same time, I've seen Kyrie make a sacrifice with James Harden said hey, no, you're the point guard, you handle it. So he's definitely made that sacrifice. But my other question was, could Luca buy into allowing another superstar be a decision maker in the score that they can be for the good of the team. And he has done that and look at them now listening to some of Luca's interviews,

he felt disappointed that he let Luca. I'm sorry he let Kyrie down because of he felt he needed to play better and I thought that showed growth. And the

one thing that we don't hear often. Yes, some people say it, I'm not saying I'm the only person that says this, but Jason Kidd does not get enough credit for not for them winning and playing well, for his approach immediately while getting Kyrie, sitting Kyrie down to the table, whether it's the two of them or the three of them, meaning Luka, j Kid, and Kyrie laying on the table and have an understanding of how they're going to go

about this. And I think that is what started the trust for Kyrie going through the first year, seeing like, Okay, I understand what you're saying, coach. You think about his interview in the summer talking about next year, like you believe like he's going to come back ready to go. And we still were like, we'll see, we'll see it sounds good, the honeymoon stations. No, they got it done. Luka was able to understand when he needed to allow Kyrie to do his thing, and it seems like they

had like an understanding. Luka kind of gets things started in the first half and Kyrie still plays well. Kyrie gets going in the third. In the early parts of the fourth quarter, we see we will see an aggressive Kyrie and kind of Luca plays off the ball. Huge growth, huge growth for him, and it's paid off and I'm now looking forward to an unbelievable matchup with two duos that we consider some of the best in the game,

with Kyrie and Luca versus Jason Tatum Jalen Brown. But the interesting thing is the matchups that we're gonna see more than anything. Derek White and Drew Holliday are going to guard, gonna guard both of those guys a lot. But then they can give you a different look with Tatum guarding Luca, Jalen Brown guarding Luca, Jaylen Brown with a taller guy on Kyrie because they've seen Kyrie and they know hisy and tendencies and how he plays as well, so from playing with him and seeing him every day.

So it'll be very, very interesting to see the matchups. And I think BA will have that advantage by saying, and I mean that by saying, they can throw different bodies at both of those guys, and I think we'll see some double teams. I think the one thing that Minnesota did to get themselves back in the series is

they frustrated. They tried to frustrate Luca a little bit by double teaming him, knocking them down, knocking them around a little bit, making him get off the ball, denying Kyrie and making Gafford, making Lively, making Jones Junior, making those guys the playmakers and decision makers, which is huge.

Sometimes you got to give tip your hat when Jones Junior hit a three or two and got to the basket, But like, can they sustain that because that's not what they do game in and game out, That's not their role if you would. They tried to change it up, and then the MAVs j Kid, Luka, Kyrie, they adjusted and that's why they're here. So yeah, it's gonna game one, game two, I think, I honestly feel like game two, game three. Maybe the game three's when we'll kind of

see all the adjustments. I mean, obviously there will there

be more and where do you go from here? But game one is going to be a feel out who's going to guard, who how you can guard, because I think Dallas won't be able to crack the code of Boston until Luca and Kyrie has seen the matchups of those four guys that I need, and they'll probably see more, but once they got to see what it looks like when they're going against those four guys individually is when Dallas can really adjust and possibly take off diving into

Dallas and the importance of Jason Kidd. I got the opportunity to play with JA Kid, and I understand how valuable he is as a player. His knowledge of the game. We all knew about the Kid vision. If you know, for you young or you young people, you probably don't know about the Jkid vision. But he could see the game the play before it happened, and he put me in positions to where I was able to shine and succeed, which is probably why my jersey is getting retired now

because of him. I really believe that. Shout out to j Kid, But I think I'm going to start with Luca. I thought his hire for for for the MAVs was essential to Luca's growth, and I talked about could Luca buy into playing off the ball and allowing another superstar player to be to do their thing to make the game easier for him. Check he has done that. I thought he also was great for Kyrie one. Kyrie Respectshim were talking about a Hall of Fame point guard, super

successful at the position. Even j Kidd with me, you know, I talked about being an elite point guard and a great decision maker. It was times where he got off the ball allowed me to be the ball handler, to make plays in situations, and he was a shooting guard. So he's been there, he's seen it all, he's done

it all. He's been in all of these positions. Even playing in the Olympic team with the Kobe d Wade Lebron, he understood how to there I use empower but allowing these guys to be themselves and giving them the ball in their hands and saying, hey, I'll play off the ball. And he did that and teams were successful. And I thought, you know, and I mentioned it earlier and I'll say it again, Jay kidds value of being upfront, being a point guard, being able to navigate through players and understanding

how to coach that individual player. Sitting Kyrie down, having a heart to heart conversation on his growth, their expectations, and what the future could look like if everybody could buy in. And everybody has bought in. And I also think, like a lot of people have said, but when they drafted Lively, I said, oh, that's gonna be a huge pickup for them because of his live and active body before he went down with his injury, getting knee kicked,

beat up, punched in the face, the whole nine. His activity on the screen, to the screen, to the role, to the lib set up everything for him. Not that Gaffert was not doing it, but it was. It was tough for Minnesota to guard. Then you go and get a gaffer. So now maybe Lively is not having the game, Maybe he Lively's in foul trouble. You bring another live body in there that plays the same way, super active on the glass, creates extra possessions for open threes, like wow,

that was another great pickup. Oh and then you go even further and go get PJ. Washington, which a lot of us I played against the young fella and you knew he's a big guy who could shoot shoot the ball, but he kind of got lost in the sauce in in Charlotte. But kudos to Nico Nico Harrison over there. And you know, the GM seeing a gym, a diamond of the rough, a piece that would fit their team, and he's coming to his own and was a great

pickup for him. Toughness, fearless, another score, even though he did not shoot well in the last series, once he got the ball going in, he was a difference maker because he gave them another perimeter score. That's gonna play hard and play tough. So then you have Derrick Jones Junior, who I think j kids said, look, I need you to be athletic. I want you to shoot the ball

when you're open, regardless of makes or not. And you can see that, like we get caught up into numbers, and sometimes yes, you can look at the numbers, but confidence is a mug man. And when you have a coach that says, regardless of your numbers, I don't care what the percentage, I couldn't even tell you Derek Jones percentage. And if I'm on the other team, I'm still gonna

give him that shot. But as a teammate and as a as a player that your coach says, if you're open, shoot the damn ball, I don't care about the result. Shoot it with confidence. We'll deal with the result because he knows that he's gonna get that shot. So by telling him to shoot the ball and to be confident shooting makes a huge difference because I'm if I'm on the other team and I'm saying, okay, we're gonna make Derek Jones Junior the shooter. We're gonna make Lively and

Gafford the decision makers. We're hoping that they're hesitant. Oh man, I'm out of a rhythm or I know, I'm not supposed to really shoot this one. I'm only supposed shotwo or three times and they're getting seven eight shots. After a while, you get you get a little gunshot. But if my coach is telling me to shoot every time, well guess what. I'm gonna shoot every time. But when I see the lane, I'm gonna drive the lane. And you do it within the reason. And that's what has happened.

And everybody understands their role, which makes the game easy for Luca and Kyrie because they play off of each other as well, so they're gonna be a tough out. I think this is gonna be a fantastic series and I cannot cannot wait. And I'm not going to give you a pick yet because i still need to think this through, so don't ask. And then we have some interesting parallels in this game, and I'm gonna start on

the other side. Persingus going back to Dallas after that matchup was after that stint was very very interesting how that ended. He wanted to have more of a a more touches and a bigger role, and it just didn't work out. So I think that's one. Yeah, that's cool, and I started there because the obviously the bigger conversation, or I want to say, that's that's that is an

elephant in the room. Kyrie going back to Boston and what that's gonna look like, sound like, feel like for him is what has intrigued me because I've been in that situation before as a New Jersey net going back to Toronto in the playoffs and he's gonna receive booz And I've documented this for y'all, like whatever bulls like. There's no such thing as oh, this is the lot oft boolls I've ever seen, because that's bs because I

was a part of the lot oft booze ever. But to take you into that process or what that looks like, it feels like excitement because you're playing your own, your old team and trying to gather yourself and not make it about you and you only because this is not a regular season game. This is a playoff game, so try not to get caught up into that. Proving to a fan arena player on the other team more so than doing what you've done to get you there, which

is it's tough to do. But the comforting thing about what Kyrie is going through is there's one guy on that team that has experienced that. That is Jason Kidd. Jason Kidd was my teammate going into Toronto when all that was happening, so he understands that moment. He understands as a player what that's like and what it was like for me, and helping me be in the moment.

But feel confident that your teammates have your back. You're not doing this alone and not allowing me to go off the beaten path and trying to beat Toronto by myself, allowing Kyrie to beat tried to beat Boston by himself, and I think that's a huge advantage for him. Yes, I want you to be aggressive, and if i'm him, meaning Jay Kidd, I don't. I wouldn't even run the first couple of plays for Kyrie. I just let him just play within the offense, make a play if he

has a drive. If anything, your first shot should be a drive, because I can tell you my first shot boy playing against him for the first time, didn't go well, I felt like I shot an easy shot and I wanted to make it so bad I airmailed. I missed the whole darn rim and hit Jerry West on the other side. And that was just a regular season game.

So obviously the anxiety and just the moment of finals in itself, and yes, Kyrie has been in the moment, but this is different when you're playing your old team and you hear what you're gonna hear out there and

stuff like that. So I would allow a couple of couple of possessions, maybe a couple of minutes to where I don't I don't run and play for him and maybe in the first, you know, the first two games, and just allow him just to play in the moment where he can settle down a little bit because he's gonna hear a lot, see a lot, feel like he's gonna his emotions are gonna be so high, Like you can say, he can say what he wants and you can say, oh it is he he said, He's like,

it's just another game. No, no, no, I've been there, and we do that, we as players, we do that for our own good. The approach you wanted to feel like just another game, but the reality is not just another game because it's the Finals. It's not just another game because of how things ended and went in Boston.

So I think he'll be fine, particularly knowing that you have that other guy by the same of Luka Doncas up there who can get things going and get you settled in and you can just ease into the game as opposed to having to carry the load, which I think makes things a little a little different and more difficult for someone in that position. So I'm definitely interested in seeing both dynamics because for for for for Zingis,

it's still the same thing. Maybe it's not going to be as high scale, as high of a scale and draw as much of attention, but it's going to draw some attention because of that's just how it goes. Like

the MAVs. Remember he was there, and I think Boston for Zincas, I think it's easier for him than it is for for Kyrie because he's not the number one, number two in my opinion, he's the number three, and the early early in games, they're gonna play through Jalen and Tatum, but he will benefit by getting some open shots. But I if if they ask my opinion, ever, I

say drive the ball. I don't care how open three you are from three for your first couple of shots, drive the ball, get as close as possible, and work your way out just because of all of the anxiety and feeling that's inside of you. It's gonna come out and you're gonna feel like Hawk Hogan out there when you're shooting, as opposed to just a finesse player, because of the emotion and excitement. So I'm interested to kind

of watch that. I'll be watching that closely just because I've been there and just like to see how they handle that. But j Kid, more than anybody, has been there as a player and understands and has seen it all, so he can kind of direct Kyrie in the right direction towards this. The Eastern Conference right now is on hiatus. Why because the Boston Celtics did what they're supposed to

do and they got the sweep. And yes it was a sweep, and I think a lot of you, even if you're a Boston fan or not, you will agree it was a very entertaining series. The Indiana Pacers were undermanned, they had guys down, and they still stepped up and made it a series. I think, you know, there's a lot of teams and I've said this on a couple of episodes with some of our guests and otherwise that you look at teams like the the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Pacers, Timberwolves.

A lot of these young teams who are getting experience have one games or one series. This is huge experience for their superstars going into next year, and it's gonna make it even more interesting because there's teams like the Memphis Grizzlies who aren't in the playoffs this year, who are trying to get healthy. Uh you know, the Miami Heat who are banged up and injured. Le's see what

happens with them. The Clippers, like, you know, they're gonna have the experienced teams, and then you're gonna have these young teams who now understand what the playoffs are like, understand how you must play to win playoff series round a round and as you move forward. And so I think the Pacers are going to be a very scary

team next year because of this. And you know, shout out to Nie Smith, who was fantastic on both ends of the floor, Nim Hart who I think got an opportunity to elevate his game to the next level, being that Halliburton went out and did not play games three. In games four, and he shined and kept them afloat and almost got them a win in game four, losing three. The young rookie Shepherd, I thought, being that he'd never been there before. All those guys never been there before.

You could see the young mistakes, first time mistakes as you, like I said, as you move into deep into the playoffs, turnovers are magnified to the next level, and I think turnovers hurt the Indiana Pacers three of the four games which they should have won. I think game two they were blown out, but Game one, three and four, I felt the Indiana Pacers had the game in hand. We recall a simple inbounds play, late game turnovers by their

go to guys superstars. I know Siakam had a turnover, a big turnover in each of those games that they should have won. The turnover getting the ball in. I think that was game one, late game execution, so on and so forth. It's just those are the things that they will learn to settle in a little more. You can see the more experienced team in the Boston Celtics, and shout out to the Boston Celtics who for taking

the Pacers' best punch. There were times where Jason Tatum didn't play his best basketball, but the experience that they have. Jalen Brown is a number two guy that lives for that opportunity when their number one guy isn't playing. He's like, I got it, let me handle this, and he's done that. He did that is why he deservingly in my opinion, I know it could have gone either way. You know, won the award for I guess the most valuable Player. I mean, he played like it, he was most consistent,

But the hero in my opinion was Drew Holliday. Drew Holliday by far showed his value to this team for both teams. He shows his value in general, and I think any team that he goes to he will adapt and be just what we saw, a score when you need him. And obviously on defense, he's gonna make the big play just like he did for the Milwaukee Bucks to help them get a championship. And I think the Bucks, regardless of them making the trade and getting a lot

of scoring, they miss him. Tremendously on the defensive end because of just his intangibles and the things that he brings to the table that you do not see on the stat sheet. That still that he got Game three, if I'm not mistaken, falls down, gets back in the defensive states, able to slide, guess correctly, get to steal

without a foul, and seal the game. You say, oh, he's not a great score, he doesn't score much whatever, but guess what he had twenty eight points I think in that game and another big scoring night Game four, close out game. So when he drew Holliday is most valuable. And I heard whispers, don't shoot the messager, but I heard he was one of the first guys called to be on the Olympic team because of his value on

both sides of the ball. He's a point guard that can get guys, put guys in position, and then obviously you know what he can do on the defensive end. I think on the other side, Halliburton and Obi Topping. I didn't mention Obi toppin the growth that he's gotten. We just we could see how comfortable he was. They played through him, Pascal Siakam, Miles Turner, They have so many guys that I think learned a lot and they couldn't get over the hump. But I'll tell you what.

I got to give my shout out to coach Rick Carlisle. I played for him in Dallas, for him to have his particular style and the way he wants to play, and being able to buy into a new style of play, the new generation, and getting those guys to buy into him. They score a lot of points and you would think they played isolate some basketball, which yes they do. But at the same time, that ball moves. That ball moves,

and that's a lot of it. Because of Halliburton and his unselfishness, I think he's gonna learn how to be a scorer and distributor because I think they needed his scoring in the first In the first game or two, it drove me crazy because he would get in there. He's just a setup artist. He's just used to it,

finding guys, finding guys. But it was at a point they needed him to score, needed him to score, and he was kind of not looking at the basket, and once he decided to do so, it made a difference, a huge difference, and in making a push into trying to win. So I looked, I mean, we saw that in against the Knicks. That's another team. I didn't even

mention the Knicks. Look Out for the Knicks next year, and I'll be interested to see what the summer looks like because there will be a lot of moving parts, not only for these young teams, but in teams in general. We're hearing, obviously Jimmy Butler possibly moving. We're hearing PG possibly going somewhere. So many sorrys. That's the two guys that I think right now are valuable pieces to teams that can go and put them over to hump. So

we gotta stay tuned with that. But I would to go back and I think about the Pacers and I said how they were in every game and just did not get over the hump. I think about my first playoffs with the Toronto Raptors against the Knicks, more experienced

team I saw. I saw double teams and some triple teams, and we were in games and mind you, I don't remember the score and I don't know the comparison in point differential, but at the same time, I felt like we were in some game and our lack of experience and them putting pression on me, making other guys beat me. T Mac had an unbelievable series and I had to work extremely hard to get a bucket, make a play, find guys that were open while trying to maneuver in

those situations. And seeing that, we watched Denver do that to end. Edwards put two guys, sometimes three guys on him where he struggled and he had to make plays for everyone else. And you have to kind of trust in your teammates in the simple fact of that they'll make the right you will make the right play, and they'll make a bucket for you, because if you get off the ball and those guys make shots, it opens

the door for him. And that happened for me. Year two, where I was experienced, we got to play the knicks again and I was prepared for it, and I was settled in because I understood stood the dying mix of the playoffs and seeing those doubled and triple teams and not only making the right play, but I made quicker decisions.

And that's what I think will continue to learn, and I just think the young pacers will learned that as well, being a little more decisive in different situations and not settling or holder onto the ball too long, and then I jump into the other side. I dive in to the Celtics. You know, it's easy to say, if you're the Celtics, you want to get this series over with. And we talked about Game three, sorry, game four. That

was what was important. Obviously, trying to get Prozingis back, getting him as healthy as possible in rhythm, which is to me impossible to do because the only way you get in rhythm and get in game shape is to play the game. So I Expectzingis to his minutes to be monitored, probably short stints throughout the finals, but he's gonna play a huge factor in Boston's success and quest to win a championship. And Boston now having nine days

off until they play again. It's kind of a gift in the curse, and I think Boston would always say, yes, we're gonna get our guys healthy, rested and ready to go. And then you have to find that finals energy. You have to find that first game energy, that hit first mentality. I mean, obviously they'll be on their home court, so you'll get the energy of the crowd, but sometimes you get a little too hyped and you wear down. So nine days is I think a week five days would

be enough. And I think now you get antsy and ready to play again. And so what as a coach, what do you do? Simulation? You got to try to simulate these moments, so you want to play pick up a little bit. And as a coach, you're over there crossing your fingers that you don't get anybody injured by any means. So everybody has to be careful on how they go about it because you need guys ready to play more so than trying to prove a point in

practice prepping for the finals. I think back to twenty ten, nine to ten with the Magic, We we did some damage. We swept the first two rounds. I think we swept the Atlanta Hawks, then we went on to sweep the Charlotte Bobcats. At the time, and the first question was after the first week, how would we react and handle ourselves into the second round, which I thought we did a great job because the team prior to me getting there had just left the finals, so they understood the

lack of focus. I'm sorry, they understood the focus and not really getting caught in the moment and every game counted and being prepared for me. I think even if they were a little lack of days ago, here's me getting the opportunity to kind of move on. I was ready to go. So we had different people who could step up and kind of bring our team. But we were locked and focus and got into Game one against the Boston Celtics in the Conference finals and I thought

we got we got ahead of ourselves. I think we had our chance poked out a little bit and Boston hit us in the mouth, and we thought we were invincible going eight in a row, and felt like we knew it was gonna be a challenge. Don't get me wrong, but we felt like we could we could compete with anybody, which we did. We ended up losing in six Boston. Boston moves on to the finals. So for the Celtics

this year, I just think they're focus. I think their focus because of the fact that they've been there before. Al Horford I think told the story to me in his interviews, like I'm ready for this, They're waiting for the They're chomping at the big ready for the moment. You know when you're right around the when it's right around the corner, the opportunity, you're ready to go and you're gonna do what you have to do. They're experiencing. They're not a young team, so I think they'll be

fine and they're gonna be a tough out. Moving on to other topics, let's talk about some coaches that have made some headlines, you know, starting with tylu getting the extension from the Clippers, becoming if I'm if I'm not mistaken, one of the highest paid coaches ever, well deserved, but he was one of the guys that was talked about potentially becoming a Laker, the Lakes head coach and the Clipper, saidnam Man, And it makes sense if you're if you're

moving into a new building, you want to have your coach established, particularly that the fans are very are familiar with already players that they're familiar with hit the ground, hitting the ground running, and they're going to do that. He's a He's one of the best coaches in the

game right now. Very he's proven, and I think they made the right decision on not allowing any thoughts of ty lou leaving, particularly going into that Laker locker room with transition into JJ Reddick being the front runner for the head coaches sounding like he's potentially the guy to get that job. So, uh, it's just interesting to me. You fire a coach to get, you know, with who gained experience, had some success, and then you go and get a guy who is with with who doesn't have

any experience coach. He's a smart guy. He knows this stuff, you know, he knows the game. It's different obviously being the coach. So it's just interesting that that's the avenue they chose. I feel like when you're you have a guy like a Lebron James, uh, and you're trying to take advantage of his window and what's left you go get an experienced coach. But uh, j J is showing that he he's very he's he's a smart guy, and I guess they feel like he's very capable. We don't know,

you know, so it's not knocking. It's like, we just don't know. So I'm just interested to see how that works and if he becomes the head coach of that team, I'm curious to see. And I know we've heard Lebron is out of the process and not in the decision making, but I hope Anthony Davis is in this process because the next year or two, or whenever Lebron chooses to walk away from this game, Anthony Davis is going to

be your guy. And you hope that he and JJ Reddick or whoever the coach is has a good rapport and get along and have a great understanding, because he's the guy now that has to he's the voice. He will be the franchise guy and the guy that you're going to play through. So I'm curious to see what JJ uses as an offense. It goes about it like he's, like I said, he knows the game and I'm sure

he has an idea. And I'm curious to see if JJ gets a job, who he has on his staff, because I feel like that's extremely important because JJ's going to have a lot of responsibility as a new coach, and it's just like being a rookie coming into the league.

Everything's going to go one hundred miles an hour and you're still trying to figure out what works, what does it, what you like, what you don't like, how you go about it as a coach, and feelings and anxiety, the all of this stuff, you know, goes into coaching as well, So you're gonna have he's gonna need a great assistant in staff in general, but first assistant to really help with the process, a calming voice, and a decision maker sometimes where you're not quite sure on what direction you

want to go, because like we can, we can sit here and say in different situations, hey, that's what this is what I would have done, this is what I would do, and then we tend to forget about situations. We don't think about whether it's a like offense defense situation, utilizing your timeouts or to review plays, all of this stuff. Like when you're in the moment, like that's when you're hit with it and you're like, I never really thought

about it. But you have that coach who's been there before who can make those decisions to help help you along. I know Jason Kidd when he first got the job, literally from playing his last game to becoming a head coach. I soluted it because that's tough to do where you

don't have any experience. Obviously, he's very smart, understands the game like JJ does, but he had Lawrence Frank, our former coach, as his first assistant, who's been there, who has who had been to the finals twice who understood every aspect which helped him understand the coaching chair and help him slowly go through it. While having that guy is important. So I'll be interested to see who his first assistant and his coaching staff in general is. So

we have to stay tuned. So, yeah, those are my thoughts on that. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts and what you think about that. I think always the coaching decision for an organization is whether is rather interesting and why did that go in that direction? What they're thinking about? And you know, we can easily say this guy hasn't had experience, you know, and then we draw comparisons to other coaches and who who hasn't had success? And you know, we shall see. But I know I

need some experience before I take a coaching job. But anyway, I appreciate you guys listening once again, continue to tune in week after week, interesting topics. We're going to dive into the playoffs that higher and Kyrie and and persingus what's been going on. So stay tuned, Man the VC show Man, it has been a great we out of here. Let's go