Welcome everybody to another episode of the ride home rants podcast . This is , as always , your host , mike Bono . I have a great episode for us and a annual episode . We will be breaking down the NBA season . As the season is quickly approaching us , I have a panel of guests for us here .
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I have the usual suspects here for our round tables , but we're going to go ahead and we're going to start with everybody's favorite manager of the podcast . I need your name and to answer was Mike Allstott . We're going to go ahead and we're going to start with everybody's favorite manager of the podcast .
I need your name and to answer was Mike Allstott , an underrated or overrated NFL player and are most people truly happy Fitty , let's start with you .
Everybody knows me I'm Fitty . I think I should just legally change my name to Fitty it's been so long with me going by that . But I would say mike allstock was an underrated nfl player . I think he belongs in the hall of fame , uh for sure , with what he did at his size .
And I would say most people , if they were truly , truly honest , would say they are not happy with what is going on in their life . So I would say most people are truly not happy . Probably 60% out of 100% are not happy .
All right , mike , let's go to you .
Yes , mike Worrell , I'm from Ohio , my wife's from Ohio , currently in Illinois , although I was in West Virginia for about five years . Recently . To answer Spitty's two questions , mike Allstat was probably not underrated . To his team and teammates and coaches I enjoyed watching him play . He was an old school player competitor , I'm sure .
To the media and the general public I would say he probably is overrated . Are most people happy ? I would say no , I'm miserable . 75% of the time I would say when I was coaching it was probably 90% , so it's come down a little . So there's my answer on that .
As long as it's coming down , mike as for , but next on the list we got JJ .
JJ , austintown , ohio . Mike's All-Star overrated , overrated . Like everybody praises Mike All-Star , I just feel like he's just a little overrated , not a Like everybody praises Mike Alstott , I just feel like he's just a little overrated . Not a whole lot a little . And are most people happy ? I'm going to say 70% of people are not happy .
All right , and we're going to talk about that . Mike Alstott answer here in a minute . Jj , but I got to get Tony in here .
Hey guys , my name's Tony . I'm from Shaker Heights , ohio . I will say that Mike Allstott is underrated because you don't see fullbacks a lot anymore . I don't have really the best memory of watching him play , but he definitely served well in his position . And are people happy , judging by the brown season ?
no , I'm gonna say that these early people are not happy uh , I'll say you know , 100 of people in cleveland aren't happy , uh , with the browns at all times . Uh , mike , allst 100% underrated as a fullback .
JJ , don't make that face at me .
I'm not saying that because I'm a Bucs fan . He was like Mike said . He was at old school . Put it in your face , pounded it down the middle and he was fast . You don't see a fullback that can move like that and catch out of the backfield . I think he should be a Hall of Famer . I think , yeah , Bring him to Canton , Bring him to Ohio .
He'll make people so much happier having Mike Alstead at Ohio , at Canton .
He's a fullback . He does what fullbacks are supposed to do . He's doing his job . Yeah , how is that overrated ? I just feel like , don't get me wrong , he was one heck of a football player Very physical , run through people , but he was . That's what fullbacks do .
And he had speed for a fullback .
He had decent speed .
Oh , give me a decent speed . He was outrunning people after he ran people over .
But that was back in the day when linebackers were like not that athletic .
Oh , so you say in today's NFL he would make it .
Listen in today's NFL , he would be a tight end . Maybe that's if he could learn how to catch the ball . He caught it on the back foot all the time .
Man Lou . You gotta remember , you gotta remember , you gotta remember . He played against guys like Brian . You got to remember , you got to remember . He played against guys like Brian Urlacher and he played against guys like Ray Lewis and dominated those guys at the point of contact . And there ain't linebackers like that in the NFL , no more .
You're not allowed to hit like linebackers hit back then .
True , that's very true . But I mean in today's NFL he would be getting flagged for lowering his head .
You're right about that .
He lowered his head a lot .
Yeah , we're getting off topic here , though , because that question though , but we're going to start and talk about all things . Nba . Mike , I want to start with you on this one who is the best team in the NBA ? Start the season .
That's a hard question and I was wrong . Last year I think I took Phoenix and Milwaukee to get to the finals . It just didn't work out for those two teams . As I'm watching the Cavs-Pistons preseason game here , I'm worried about my Cavs . They're playing everybody tonight . The Pistons have like 62 points the first half and are leading them .
I will say the top two teams as of today . It could change like four or five times during this long season . I'm going to say Oklahoma City in the west and Boston in the east .
Okay , all right , tony . What about you ?
I'm going to have to say that the best team obviously you got to go with the defending champs Boston . Boston's going to be the best team out in the East and I'm going to say Minnesota out of the West . All right , JJ .
The best team in the NBA is definitely the champs Boston . They're the champs until somebody beats them . So it's definitely Boston number one . And they're coming out the east and then in the west . Matt's tough . I'm going to go with the LA Lakers . Oh , la Lakers .
All right , oh , alright just , oh JJ , we're going to have words after this .
Oh yeah you already know where this is heading . I do . I already know where you're going with this .
Biddy , see if you can save us here .
I would say probably the best overall team in the NBA right now . Not saying they're going to win it , but based off talent . They have the most talented player and a great supporting cast . It's the Philadelphia 76ers . Paul George and Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid are pretty talented , pretty talented .
I'm not saying they're going to be the number one seed or anything , but just saying they're probably the most talented . And if I have to pick a runner up , I'm probably going to say the Thunder , because they're pretty young and they're pretty athletic .
Okay , I was not expecting the Sixers as a pick from anybody on this panel , but I'm not necessarily mad at it . They made a lot of moves in the off season , so we'll see what happens with that . That's , that's .
I don't know man , paul George just folds in the playoff every every year .
We're just talking to start the season .
Okay , regular season .
Yeah , to start the season . They'll be world leaders .
Oh , they're going to be good in the regular season , for sure . They're probably going to be two , three in the East . They'll kill the regular season , no doubt .
FYI Paul George is already hurt . I'm not sure how long he's out . Yeah , yeah , yeah .
If we're just talking talent , I gotta go . I gotta go with the 76 or six .
Right , well , betty , um , on that note , which team has the most approved ?
I think the team that has the most most to prove is probably the Lakers , and here's why you have two guys there in LeBron James and Anthony Davis , whose careers really have not excelled there at all .
You have a first-time head coach who has no experience coaching at any level , and JJ Redick and you're under pressure of the LA Lights , so I think they're the one that have the most to prove , because you have LeBron James in the twilight of his career , no longer a top-ten player in the NBA .
You have Anthony Davis arguably , who could be a top 10 player depending on your rankings , and a first-time head coach there in LeBron playing with his son . So I do think they have the most to prove .
All right , JJ . What about you ?
I'm going to say the Philadelphia 76ers , just because Paul George has never really gotten the job done anywhere he's been . And then Embiid and his well . He's been injured most of the time for the playoffs , but he hasn't been able to get over to hump either . And now they're teaming up .
So I mean this is their shot to prove that they can actually get it done and not have any excuses .
All right , tony , what about you ?
Well , James took my answer . I was going to go with Philly . I'm going to have to say the LA Clippers , because they've only made one Western Conference Final appearance in their franchise history and the Clippers have always been . They're always a perennial playoff team , but they can never seem to make it past the second round , no matter what .
And if Kawhi stays healthy , maybe the Clippers can make a deep run . And they've got that new arena , the Intuit Dome . Maybe that'll spark some sort of momentum for them . So I'm just going to go with the LA Clippers .
All right , mike , we're on the south here , okay .
I'm going to go with Fiddy's team . I don't know how long it's been his team . I know the last couple of years , the New York Knicks they have the Ogre Thibodeau head coach . They've made a lot of moves and I think he's made a lot of moves . I think he's triggered a lot of those moves and they've made some huge trades the last two years .
Now they've got rid of Julius Randle , dee Vincenzo , brought in Carl Anthony Towns and I think this is it for the ogre Thibodeau . Like this is it ? Petty pity they can't make many more trades to finally get over the hump .
I agree with you on that , mike .
I agree with you that's a perfect answer , mike , because you know . My next question here is you know how do you see the Knicks going and doing this year ? How far do you see the Knicks going and doing this year ? How far do you see them going ?
Is this for Mike or me ? Is this for ?
me Bono .
Yeah , yeah .
You know I don't know how they're going to mesh with Carl Anthony Towns . You know they lost a warrior , d Vincenzo . He's a winner , but I still see them at least being able to stay in the top four in the East and after that , you know , injuries and lots of things come into factor .
I still think they could get a first-round home advantage series and be in the top four Ds .
Okay , tony , what about you ?
I think that the Knicks had their best shot at making the conference finals , but on the other hand , it saved us from New York-Boston , which I probably would not have watched the New York-Boston Eastern Conference final . I'm not going to lie , but I think that the Knicks do have the talent to finish in the top four in the East .
But you're dealing with Orlando Cleveland . Their arch rival , indiana Milwaukee , miami isn't going to stay down for long . I see the Knicks probably getting a first round exit .
Okay , all right , jj . What about you ? How far do you see the Knicks going this year ?
you , how far do you see the Knicks going this year ? Um , they'll probably end up being fifth or sixth seed and they probably make it to the second round before they get bounced . I just I don't feel like Carl Anthony Towns are going to fit them very well . I honestly I think they were . They were better before the trade , but that still remains to be seen .
But I feel like fifth , sixth seed probably bouncing second round .
All right , vinny , talk about your team . How far do you see them going ?
I think their ceiling is the second seed and I think , depending on how the seeding goes , they could make the finals . The thing is , last year when they ended up losing in the second round , it was the depth that got to them .
So if you do the pieces that they had and you don't take in Carl Anthony Towns and you leave the other guys like Dee , vincenzo and Hart coming off the bench and Miles McBride and Precious and probably the rookie Tyler Kolek or a couple of the other guys that they got , that bench is probably better than half of the starting fives in the NBA .
Now you lose that , you know , and that bench and that depth . So you know that's what hurt him last year , pound for pound , starting , you know , with uh , with cat and mckell bridges and uh , brunson and um , you know all those guys you know could it , they'll be talented .
I just don't know if they can get over the hump and win a championship , but I like the team that they had , because the other um key to was you know if you would have had a healthy Mitchell Robinson . Probably this trade doesn't happen as well .
So I think they'll finish second because they'll play balls to the wall in the regular season all 82 games They'll probably be a 50 , 55 win team . It'll just depend on how it gets shaken out in the playoffs with the seating , because , as we've seen last year , the seating really did matter for the East .
Pity , if I might say I also forgot to mention they lost another glue guy that your backup center has gone .
Yeah , hartenstein , yeah , that's a key loss to me . Yeah , for sure , I agree with you on that . Yeah , I don't you on that .
Yeah , I don't know why . I'd like to see the Knicks relevant again . It kind of brings back the old 90s . You know , Bulls , Knicks , kind of that rough and tough teams that were always seem to be there in the playoffs and everything like that . I'd like to see them go far . I don't think they will , but you know , it ain't what it is .
So , Finney , let's go to you right here on this one . But who's the best player in the NBA right now ?
I would say because we all seen it . I watched it in the first round beta Knicks fan uh , semi-healthy Joel , and Joel Embiid is a top three player . A healthy Joel Embiid is the most unstoppable offensive force in the NBA and I think we've seen that in that series . So right now I would say a healthy Joel Embiid is the best player in the NBA .
If he's not healthy , then I'm going to go with the Joker , Okay .
Okay , jj , I see you rubbing that chin . I have a feeling I know where you're going to go with this . Please don't disappoint me right now .
I'm not going to go there because I know he's not the best player in the league anymore . So I'm debating between two people and you know what . I'm going to go with Anthony Edwards . I'm going to shake it up . I really like his game . He plays both sides of the ball , energetic athletic jump shot .
Take it to the hole , shut down your best player and he's only going to get better .
So I'm going with anthony edwards okay , not a bad pick uh , tony , what about you ?
I'm gonna have to say I like the joker for sure . He did help serbia to a bronze medal when they honestly could have won gold in Paris . But USA said uh-uh . And speaking of that USA team , I'm going to say Steph Curry , because Steph Curry can shoot threes .
He may not dunk the ball , but he's a good leader , he's a good shooter and , honestly , he's just a good player .
Don't think he's lost a step yet .
I honestly , maybe he he slowed down a bit , but he's still good enough to where , if the Olympics , when the Olympics are back in LA , I could see Curry making a positive impact for Team USA .
Okay .
And the .
Warriors too . All right , Mike , what about you ?
I had it down to two guys , anthony Edwards and Shea Gilgis Alexander , for Oklahoma City . But I don't know how Edwards is going to mesh playing with Julius Randle . I just don't know how that's going to go . That will change his game any , so I put Shea Gilgis Alexander , oklahoma City .
All right , not a bad pick . I kind of got to agree with Biddy on this one . If Embiid stays healthy , I think he's unstoppable From what I've seen , especially over in Paris and everything like that . If he can stay healthy , yeah , watch out , that's a big . If that's a big . If it's a big .
If , yeah , he hasn't been healthy his entire career , but if he can find a way to stay healthy , then yeah .
I think he said he's not playing any back-to-backs this year .
Yeah , that probably makes sense . I think that's typically when he starts to fade is when they have a bunch of back-to-backs . He can't handle the back-to-backs .
Well , and that's the reason too . Going back to the Knicks , that's why they'll get probably a second seed , because guys will rest and the Ogres guys , as me and Mike like to call them , the Ogre . The Ogres guys play balls to the wall all 82 games with no break .
So that's why they'll rack up 50-55 wins , because that starting five will just crush people , because they'll play consistently and they won't take any days off . That's just how Tibbs goes with his guys in games .
Bono , can I give you my underrated best player ?
You 100% can .
Okay , I just want to throw that out there If the Ogre doesn't run him into the ground . The next Jalen Brunson I want to throw . He is close to being up there in my opinion .
Okay yeah , we'll see how that plays out . Yeah , I'm not sure . But with that there , mike , I think I know the answer for this next question for you , and is it if you are starting an expansion NBA team , what's the one player you are taking to start the team right now ?
Are you ?
asking me . Are you asking me ? Are you asking me ? Yeah , Mike , I'm going to say Brunson for the Knicks I would want . There's several I would love to have In a close second .
Jalen Brown from the Celtics . Okay , All right , Tony . What about you Starting the expansion team ? Who are you building that team around ?
I got to say the Joker , nikola Jokic , because he can rebound , he can shoot , he can defend . And the second player , this is going to be out of left field , but if you really put him around the right people , this guy can definitely succeed . John .
Okay , all right , jj , what about ?
you Um LeBron James jr ? No , I'm joking .
It's like you want to fight tonight , jj .
Um , I'm going to go with Wemby Today . If I had to start one day , I'd probably take him , Just build a team around .
Okay , all right , solid pick Biddy , I'm going to go with one of Mike Worrell's warriors here and I'm going to go with because , because he can do everything and he's relentless , relentless .
I'm gonna pick josh hart because the guy can start and the guy can come off the bench and if you have that type of energy infused into your team , it elevates everyone around you that you can play , you know , 48 minutes , 45 minutes non nonstop as a six foot four power forward . A guy like that elevates everybody else around him .
So I'm going to go with Josh Hart , one of my world's warriors . That's a tongue twister right there too .
Yeah , I'm surprised you got through that one . Honestly , I wouldn't have been able to do it , but I got to go . Luca for me , I think , just his talent alone and his sheer size and just being able to , just how he carries himself yeah , I'd started around around . Luca would be my go-to there . Biddy , let's stay with you . Who's the best coach in the NBA ?
I got to say it's Eric's bolster Um , and here's my reason why . He has coached through the good , the bad and the ugly with the heat and he coached in a really good times and he went to four championships with LeBron and one , two . But he also went to two championships without LeBron James and ain't .
But he also went to two championships without LeBron James and too many people usually surviving LeBron James as their , as their coach . So you know , he came through and he persevered on that , you know , and he was under , you know , undermanned , in those couple of finals against the Lakers and LeBron during the fake championship with COVID .
Oh my goodness , it was a fake championship . They were all fake that year . It went sick oh my goodness , it was a fake championship .
They were all fake that year . It went sick , it went sick , it was fake .
It was a fake championship .
Not . Covid wasn't fake , the championship was fake .
Somehow did the rules change when they were playing that championship game . I don't know .
It was all fake . They didn't have to play the whole season . People didn't have to come back and play games , whatever . It was all fake , All the sports the championships have an asterisk that year .
No , no asterisk .
They have an asterisk but in all seriousness , eric Spolsch was's coached a bunch of undrafted free agents , guys from division three basketball , a bunch of guys that were cast off , and he has flourished with those guys . So I gotta say eric spolstra okay , jj .
What about you ?
um , um , let me see here I'm probably going to go . Hey , that's a hard one to follow .
Because you want to say Eric Spolster too . I know I can see it in his face .
I'm just going to say Eric Spolster , because I'm going to piggyback on what you said . I mean he was there , he I mean he was a video guy worked his way up .
Uh , coach LeBron survived that and um still got back to the championship with a different team and they're still good now , like they're probably gonna if Jimmy Butler stays healthy last year , they probably make a run to the Eastern Crofton finals .
So yeah , yeah all Tony , what about you ? We're going to piggyback off of what those other two guys said . I believe it's Eric Spolstra , but I'm going to go a little bit deeper into it . He's only missed the playoffs twice in his coaching career and by no more than two games .
There was one year Miami was 11 and 30 at the halfway point of the season and they finished 30-11 and only lost out in the playoffs on a tiebreaker . And he helped lead an eight-seeded Miami to the finals , where they lost to Denver and that Miami team was three minutes from losing to Chicago .
I think if DeMar DeRozan's daughter was there in the audience screaming at every Heat player , they might have lost that game . But that's another story for another day . He's just one . He just does a lot with a little and the Heat culture .
You could tell they have a really great culture because even if they don't have the best season , they're always playing hard and they always just . You can never count them out , no matter okay , mike .
Uh , why is uh eric spostro the best coach in the nba's ? Because that seems to be everybody's answer you .
You should know my philosophy on that by now , bono . Um , if you have good players , stay healthy , you're probably a pretty good coach that year . If you don't have good players , get a lot of injuries , what have you things go then . You weren't a good coach that year .
So , like right now , Jason Kidd and the Celtics coach are the two best coaches in the Celtics because they won it all . I think the best coaches this year will be the two coaches that get to the NBA finals . They'll be deemed as the top two hot item coaches and the media will go nuts how great they are that year . That's how I stand on it .
Well , mike , let me say this though , mike , let me say this right the thing though with Spolstra , he's he's coached a bunch of nobodies , though Like people don't even say Popovich anymore , because he had some of the best players in NBA history on his team , with David Robinson and Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker , and without them guys , he's basically
a bum Like he can't he can't coach nothing . Eric's bolster is taken D three players in the NBA D three players and made them very , very good players in a bunch of undrafted free agents . So I know we always talk about this . Mike , you know the heat culture is a real thing .
Like Tony said , you know you think greatness and somebody like Eric Spolstra elevates players . Where , where Popovich was elevated because of his players , he didn't elevate those players to greatness , those great players elevated him to greatness . Spolstra elevates his players .
That's a hard thing to find in coaching , as we all know , and , Mike , you know that because you're a longtime coach .
Yeah , I knew Mike was going to give a a a PC answer there and can I ?
I assume you're talking Duncan Robinson , who played one year in Division III . Yeah , then he transferred and was a three-year starter at Michigan . That's three-player Right . I do know they had two All-Stars last year Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Buckets . I like Spolcher , bam Adebayo and Jimmy Buckets . I like Spolter . When he wins big , he has some good players .
I'm not disagreeing with anything you say , fetty , I'm not . I'm not . Jimmy Buckets and him are on the outs this year .
I don't know if they'll make the top eight in the East . That's tough and , mike , I might hold you to an answer on this one , so we're going to go to you on this one here . So who's your NBA finals preview ?
Oklahoma City Thunder . They were the top seed in the West last year . They might have got knocked out in the second round . I think that you know a lot of young guys . They got Shea Gilgis Alexander and they picked up Hartenstein from the Knicks . It's going to be a great backup center for them .
They also got this Alex Caruso , who was a key guy , you know , when the Lakers won it that year . They just picked him up from the Bulls . Those will be two really good , hard-nosed role players for them , I guess , if Boston stays healthy .
They made it look easy last year in the playoffs and they got a lot of breaks with other teams in the East being injured , and all when they played them . I see injuries not a factor . Oklahoma city and Boston .
Okay , tony , what about you ?
I would have to say , as far as the finals goes , I'm going to just go on a complete whim and say Philadelphia finally gets to the finals and I take philly against man . This is gonna be tough . I say philly against minnesota , two teams that haven't really had a lot of deep playoff success .
I say the finals will be philly minnesota , because the west is stacked in , the east is honestly kind of stacked okay , fanny , what about you ?
I'm going to say I'm going to go with the nuggets because I still think their championship window is there and I I'm gonna I mean I'm gonna say kind of as a fan , but I do like what they're doing I'm gonna say the Knicks I think the ogre finally gets to the finals , you know , and and he shows that he is a good coach because he is a , he is a
brilliant basketball mind and guys will play through pain and injuries and everything else for him , and Brunson will , I think will take them and Josh Hart . So I'm gonna go the Knicks and the Nuggets okay , jj .
What about you ?
I'm going to go , coming out the east , I'm gonna go with Philly and then coming out the west , I'm going to go the LA Lakers and , in shocking fashion , lebron James leads them to another championship , and then a rookie head coach wins the championship . Look at that picture . I can see it right now .
If the .
Lakers win a championship . I'm retiring as the manager of Ride Home . Rants and JJ , you can take over Ride Home .
Rants . I'll shut the show down . I'll shut it down right now .
I think if the Lakers win , lebron James retires Like . Lebron James announces his retirement right then and there .
Oh , yeah , yeah . After he wins it this year , he's going to announce his retirement For sure You're probably not wrong .
And JJ , you kind of answered the next question , because my next question was who's going to be the NBA champion ? I mean , you already said it's the , it's the Lakers , it's the unfortunate Lakers , it's the .
Lakers .
With King James .
Oh man , I'm not the biggest Lakers fan , but come on , man .
It's not even a hate for the Lakers thing . It's just I'm tired of hearing about LeBron James . That's really what it amounts to .
I mean when you've been in your prime for your whole career . I mean I guess everybody gets tired of him . I understand Nobody's ever done it at this level at his age . There's waiting for him to fall off a cliff and it ain't happening . It's not happening , like with Tom Brady , with football .
I mean , yeah , 25 years . Kevin Harvick raced in NASCAR for almost 25 years .
I mean , there's kind of this one guy you know that did it way better than him , and you know that did it way better than him , and you know it's Michael Jordan and if you fight , you fight me , fight me , go ahead , fight me on this .
Listen , listen , I'm not my list , Michael Jordan's number one like Michael . Jordan Cause all , and the reason why he's number one is because nobody's ever going to go undefeated in championship . That's it . Thank you that that's got them in number onefeated in championships that's it . Thank you , that's got them in number one spot . That's it .
That's the deciding factor . Lebron James number two , Kobe three and then after that it gets a little tough . I'm an Irishman fan , so it'll be like number four and so on , but that's the only reason I have Michael Jordan above LeBron .
James on my list Shout out a thought . I think that if Jordan , if Phil Jackson doesn't get fired after the 98 season and Jordan comes back , I think the Bulls and Lakers face off in the 99 finals .
And I think here's what , and hear me out the Lakers win the 99 finals and then Jordan retires after the 99 season but doesn't come back for the third time , like a changing of the guard .
Jordan wasn't giving up nothing . He wasn't handing nothing over . He probably was not . He wasn't having it .
He's still not there was a question that somebody asked him that if his bulls team could beat and I think it was when LeBron was with the heat and asked if they could beat them . And Jordan goes yeah , it'd probably be by three or four points . And they go why such a close game ? And Jordan says cause , we're all in our sixties right now .
He said he could still beat that at his age , mike , I think that was the dream team versus the LeBron .
Olympic team . You're right , vinny , but still and Jordan is a NASCAR owner too .
His team is for a racing championship with 23XI .
They got a couple people there too as well . I know Tony , me and you are probably the only two on this panel that know about that and what's going on there . That's a show for another day , tony . Finny who's your VHF ? I'm a huge race guy . Oh , you are , Mike . I forgot about that . All right , Finny , you and JJ , you guys are out of this .
We're off the island Bono more sprint cars . I'm a World of Outlaw sprint car guy but I follow NASCAR because one of my guys , dave Blady , from up by Youngstown his son Ryan Blady , so I follow him .
Former champion , defending champion , racing for another championship in the round of eight coming up this Sunday . Anyways , Spitty , who's your NBA champion ?
wow , we got way off track there even though I love the Knicks , I'm going to say it's going to be the Nuggets . I think the Joker gets potentially another MVP . He goes in the great you know the realm of the greatness of you know another NBA championship , another regular season MVP . I think he's right there .
Then you're talking with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan as one of the greatest players if he gets another MVP . So I think it's going to be the Nuggets . If they play the Knicks , I think they beat the Knicks 4-1 in the finals .
Okay , tony , what about you ?
I say that Philly is going to . I say Philly , Minnesota will go to six games . I see Minnesota winning their first title in franchise history .
Okay , mike .
I guess I got to . I picked Oklahoma City and Boston . I don't like to say this , but I'll take the Celtics to repeat Fetty Joker has a beard , by the way . Did you know that ?
No , I did not know that .
If you'd watch a preseason game like I do , you'd know that Not a big beard . I am not watching NBA preseason .
It's like watching a JV basketball game on a Saturday at noon .
Okay , I'm watching the Cavs-Pistons right now . Jv Becker staff is coaching for the Pistons . Cavs are playing everybody . They're getting after like a regular season game . Sorry , mondo , I'll get off that .
No , you're fine . I love to hear you two bicker . Honestly , it's like an old married couple to watch you two . It's fantastic to me . But Mike , mike , you already gave your answer on who's your , who's your NBA champion . I'm so lost after you two .
Just had a little interaction . Celtics repeat .
Okay , yeah .
Although I would like to see the Ogre win it . Okay , the next games of Madison Square might be the most electric home court you know crowd in any sport . And the organ music . How can you not like watching Knicks games ? That organ music playing the whole game ? Gotcha yeah .
We , I don't okay . I just want to like break down the series of events that just kind of happened there . Like JJ gave his answer and somehow we got onto NASCAR and the on the NBA show and , yeah , like we went from LeBron James to JJ's NBA champion , to NASCAR , back to I don't know how .
That was the most ADD thing I think we've had on the show so far .
That's why we're the Ride Home Rams podcast . We rant about anything .
Absolutely , mike . Uh , this one's for you . Uh , should lebron james retire ? And why is the answer yes ?
I have no idea , bono . I , I just I , just in the back of my mind . I was hoping that somehow he'd finish his last couple years , come back to Cleveland , but I don't see that happening now . It looks like there's no end in sight for him . He's still in great shape . Apparently , I'm the only one on the call here to watch preseason . I watched him .
He looks like he's 25 years old out there playing . So I don't know . I guess it's up to him . Whenever he feels like doing it , he'll do it .
All right , tony , what about you ?
I think that LeBron will go as long as he remains in his prime . Like there is an outside shot , we could see him in the 20 Olympics in LA for all we know . I think he'll go as far as his body takes him all right biddy .
What about you ?
I think this will be it . I think he's playing with his son , you know , you don't know how the season's gonna turn out with with reddick as the coach . I mean , it could go down in flames or it could , you know , it could be decent form , I think . I think it's gonna depend on what happens with them if they go get rolled in the playoffs again .
You know , I think and he's played with his son I just think it's time to go , because no one wants you . You know , in reality , because you're 41 years old , you're gonna be 41 years old . Everybody has these young players . You're no longer a top 10 player in the league , maybe not even top 15 , probably top 20 .
You know , and and you you are in all seriousness , though you are someone who has gotten every coach you were at except Miami fired or multiple coaches fired . You know that's a hard thing to to to take to as your coach . Do you really want that , you know , on your team ? So I would to to take to as your coach .
Do you really want that , you know , on your team ? So I would think , in his best interest , it probably is to retire , because I don't think there's a pathway .
I know we all joke about it and jj says it as a fan , but I don't know if there's really a clear path for him to ever win a championship again , and that window might be completely slammed shut because there's so many other good players and great teams right now yeah , absolutely , uh , jj , uh .
President of the lebron james fan club . Uh , why do you want to see him like die on the court at 100 years old ?
because he listen . He's earned the right to go out on his own terms . He's probably gonna be playing to his other sons in the league and then after that he's probably going to be partial owner of the Lakers . After that , he's never going away . He's going to be on your TV screen for as long as you guys are watching basketball .
He's going to be front and center , so let's get used to it .
I agree with that 100% . I mean he'll definitely be part owner of a team . I mean he'll definitely be part owner of a team . I don't think it's going to be the Lakers . I think Cleveland kind of accepts him back . He'll go there , but you know it might not be . Tom Brady shocked everybody and is now a partial owner of the Raiders , so you know it might .
Who knows where that will happen ? But yeah , he'll be . Yeah , he's never leaving the NBA in any way , shape or form . Unfortunately it's going to rot in the back of my cerebellum for every week . Jj , last question here .
Which coach is the most underrated in the NBA ? I am going to go with JJ Redick . Everybody thinks he's going to fail . It's going to be a big circus , it's going to go down in flames and I think he's going to surprise a lot of people . He has no experience . I understand no high school , no college , no , nothing .
But we all know LeBron James is really coaching that team , so that's why they're going to succeed and JJ Redick is going to look good in the profit .
All right , I mean I'm not mad at the answer with JJ Redick , I think . I mean JJ Redick , I mean he was a decent player , I'll give him that . I mean he was up there and I think players like that make better coaches than they did .
I think he knows the game real well . I mean , in the NBA he was a role player , but at Duke he was a guy I'm he . I mean in the NBA he was a role player , but at Duke he was a guy he . I'm sure he learned a lot from coach K , so I think I think he's going to be in good shape , like these first couple of years is going to be .
It's going to be tough , but I think , with him having LeBron as a player coach , it's just going to help him out a whole lot .
I got you Biddy . What about you ?
I would say I do think the Ogre is a very underrated coach , but I'm going to say I think it's Rick Carlyle from the Pacers , because wherever Rick Carlyle's been , he's won and he took a not very good Pacers team , you know , and got them to the Eastern conference finals .
So I would say he's probably the most underrated because he did win that championship with with the Mavs back in the day . So I'm going to say I'm definitely going to go with Rick Carlisle , okay .
Tony . What about you ? I'm going to say Mike Brown , the Sacramento Kings , because Mike came from the Greg College coaching tree . He coached the Lakers . He got an unfair shake when getting fired five games into one of his seasons . He led the Cavs to the playoffs , even though they should have maybe won a championship .
He did help when the Cavs got back to relevance . He did coach , was an assistant with the Pacers and with the Warriors , so he's got the winning pedigree .
All right , Mike . What about you Round us out here for the end of the show ?
Well , I want to mention Fetty , bringing up Rick Carlisle . Nobody's talked about the Pacers . I just want to throw out there one of my dark horse teams this year . But the coaching aspect , I'm not going to say one guy . I think most of the NBA coaches are underrated . Perception is that NBA coaches don't do anything .
They just roll out the ball , they just let them play . I disagree . Most of the NBA coaches know what they're doing . They run good stuff and a lot of the game , a high percentage of the game , they do let those guys play . They're great players . But if you watch it , really study it , they'll run some good quick hitting sets . They do some things .
They throw in zone . Now Some zone became legal , really studied it . They'll run some good quick hitting sets . They do some things . They throw in zone . Now some zone became legal , legal , I think , I think . But if you ask the normal guy off the street , it's like all those nba guys . They don't do anything , they don't coach . But I disagree , I think .
I think to a certain degree they're all underratedrated . The perception is the college guys are the real coaches . The NBA guys don't do anything . But I totally disagree with that . Now , this JJ Redick thing he's never coached right . No , I'm just wondering . Maybe somebody on this panel can help me . We've all tried to get jobs . We , all of us on this .
We get a resume , we send it in . We have somebody call for a recommendation . How does it work that , the highest level of basketball in the world , a guy can get a premier job with no experience and I like the guy . I just wonder how that all goes down , like , how does that happen ? How does that ?
happen . It's not what you know , it's who you know , I think LeBron picked him , lebron picked him . That's right .
Mike , let me throw this at you , mike . Mike , do you think the ogre is a good coach , like , do you think that he actually knows what he's doing ? Or is he a guy that just rolls out the basketball ? Or is he the guy grinding through tape 28 hours a day at the facility ?
Yes , no and yes . I think he knows what he's doing . Obviously he doesn't just roll the balls out . He's in that category of NBA coach . A lot I put in that same category . They know what they're doing . They do a good job . Basically , it comes down to do they have the players out here and stay healthy to win a lot of games .
He's a good coach . I just feel like he wears his players out . I think he needs to save some of them . I know he likes to play tough and balls to the wall , but I mean , it's a long season and you want to have fresh legs when the playoffs start . Yep .
If the Ogre coached in the 80s and 90s as a head coach he might have won like nine championships with the rules back then and how those guys just beat the living hell out of each other .
He's coaching in the wrong era . He's trying to bring 90s basketball back and it's just not going to work . As much as everybody would love to see that style of basketball again , it's not going to happen . But that is actually all the time we have for the NBA preview show .
So that is going to do it for this week's episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast and our NBA preview show . I want to thank all of my guests Fitty , mike , jj and Tony for coming on . It was a lot of fun , especially all the banter back and forth and everything like that that we get to have on this show , and I love that part of the show .
But , as always , if you enjoyed the show , be a friend , tell a friend . If you didn't tell them anyways , they might like it just because you did , that's .