Speaker 1: We're back, and the big men around the league are dominant.
Speaker 1: The Pels and Lakers are in the group. Finally, I
Speaker 1: could say that about the Lakers. And we tapped in
Speaker 1: with the state of the Los Angeles Clippers with the
Speaker 1: Athletics beat writer Law Murray on today's episode. I'm Miles
Speaker 1: Gray and I'm Jack O'Brien, and this is Miles and
Speaker 1: Jack got really taking it to the next level, just
Speaker 1: trying to things, just trying to things, you know. I
Speaker 1: like that voice for you. I also noticed that we
Speaker 1: don't get the big men are dominating intro bump when
Speaker 1: and Beat is having a big week. But when a
Speaker 1: g has a big weak suddenly big men around the
Speaker 1: league are dominating. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. That's what
Speaker 1: we in the industry call a bias. Um. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: we knew I'm out numbered. Let's welcome our guests who
Speaker 1: might actually have your back. As a Philadelphi, your native
Speaker 1: Please welcome Law Murray from the Athletic what's going on
Speaker 1: in Law, Thank you for joining us, Thank you guys
Speaker 1: for having me. It's it's good to be able to
Speaker 1: talk about basketball in a chill December environment, you know,
Speaker 1: with a couple of idiots. Yeah, Like we tell everybody,
Speaker 1: this may be the dumbest NBA podcast out there, but
Speaker 1: it has heart, and I think that's what people cling to,
Speaker 1: you know, dumb and heart, like Rocky speaking. You know
Speaker 1: you're not gonna play smart, at least play hard, right right,
Speaker 1: So law you cover the Clippers, but you're from Philly.
Speaker 1: The first thing I like to always ask, we have
Speaker 1: our journalists on are you so professional that you've transcended fandom?
Speaker 1: And you're like, yeah, of course I have my team,
Speaker 1: but like, let's be real, I look at too much
Speaker 1: basketball to really get too caught up in that. Or
Speaker 1: do you still have got a little bit of fan
Speaker 1: in you? I don't have any fan in me. May uh.
Speaker 1: It was even before the professional light. I was watching.
Speaker 1: Look when when I first got in the basketball NBA
Speaker 1: Jam has Shawn Bradley and Clearance Leatherspoon, and it like
Speaker 1: you expect you to do with that, I was looking
Speaker 1: at everybody else. So like I learned from an early
Speaker 1: age to appreciate everybody, right, Okay, I appreciate that. I can.
Speaker 1: I forgot that Sean Bradley and Clarence Witherspoon, what a
Speaker 1: what a duo and that's you didn't even get a
Speaker 1: third player. Yeah, that's crazy because like the proportions were off,
Speaker 1: like unless you were a muggy bows short, like, you
Speaker 1: couldn't tell the difference, right, especially once you got that
Speaker 1: thing at home, like the Arcade in the nineties at
Speaker 1: least there was a little bit of definition. But you get,
Speaker 1: you get, you get the game on Super an S
Speaker 1: or something, and everybody did all the same damn things. Anyway,
Speaker 1: So Sean Bradley could even be seven six, which I
Speaker 1: think that would have limited his game if in real
Speaker 1: life he wasn't seven ft six, Uh, he wouldn't have
Speaker 1: been nearly as effective I'd say would have been in
Speaker 1: Space Jam. So right, I mean, what the was that
Speaker 1: with the tournament edition like that, it was that you
Speaker 1: had Bradley because it was the original duo from like
Speaker 1: was Hornets second Hersey Hawkins wasn't. Yeah yeah, like in
Speaker 1: the cabinet, I remember that was the team because I
Speaker 1: was always confused because I was, like I thought Jeff Hornets,
Speaker 1: like I remember being kill like I thought he was
Speaker 1: with the Jabs or whatever. But yeah, I mean, and
Speaker 1: look that team wasn't good either, right, Come on, now
Speaker 1: about that. I think when Bradley came into the league,
Speaker 1: they were like, we need to refresh here, because we
Speaker 1: need to get this guy in the action. We he
Speaker 1: the game, NBA jam cries out for Sean Bradley type
Speaker 1: talent because what Barkley wasn't gonna be in the game, right,
Speaker 1: Oh no, this is the year he went to Phoenix.
Speaker 1: That year that's where right right right, right right right.
Speaker 1: That's why that's how Hornet second got in there. And
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, like those were the only two guys. Like,
Speaker 1: those guys were both lottery picks. I mean, Bradley was
Speaker 1: the numbers two pick in his draft, which again we
Speaker 1: can appreciate what a Sean Bradley would do now, but
Speaker 1: in the nineties, jokes were at their highest. The taller
Speaker 1: you were forgetting yam doing obviously not Yeah, like that
Speaker 1: was not going to make you a Philadelphia Seving Sixers
Speaker 1: fan exclusively. So now you're covering the Clippers. The Clippers
Speaker 1: are an exciting team. I mean, they're over five hundred
Speaker 1: despite all the injuries in Kauai and Paul George just
Speaker 1: returned as we're recording this last night, and Kauai Kauai
Speaker 1: looked like physically not fully comfortable out there, Like he
Speaker 1: looked like he had his old man game working, but
Speaker 1: it was it was working. He came up huge down
Speaker 1: he took it over. Yeah, well he needed to. I've
Speaker 1: been telling people that my whole synopsis of the Clippers
Speaker 1: to this point in a year, uh, couldn't be explained
Speaker 1: in that game last the fact that Kawhi Leonard comes
Speaker 1: back from a multi week absence to hit a game
Speaker 1: winner in a game where they were trailing in Charlotte, Like,
Speaker 1: that's pretty much the Clippers season. Like they make the
Speaker 1: hard easy, and they make the easy hard, and it's
Speaker 1: great that they wanted. But like Kauai said last night,
Speaker 1: Kauai is the first guy who's gonna call out the
Speaker 1: fact that they shouldn't have come to that point, um,
Speaker 1: you know, And a lot of it was because of
Speaker 1: Kauai's minutes. Um, the starters were terrible in Charlotte, which
Speaker 1: that hadn't in the case in the few games that
Speaker 1: Quiet played. So it was. It was a very weird,
Speaker 1: interesting game and exciting result in a season that hasn't
Speaker 1: been exciting so much as when the heck are these
Speaker 1: guys are going to consistently string some games together. How
Speaker 1: are you feeling seeing off that performance, you know, like
Speaker 1: especially like you know, Jack saying down the home stretch.
Speaker 1: He you know, he's got he's got a little bit
Speaker 1: of that claw. And I'm still I know if fans
Speaker 1: are obviously like very reserved measured. I've seen Clippers fans
Speaker 1: be like, oh, I don't want to get too excited,
Speaker 1: but they felt very excited about what they saw. How
Speaker 1: we're like, where are you kind of how much time
Speaker 1: are you giving it before you start making an assessment
Speaker 1: on what's happening? Sorry, just before you answer. During your
Speaker 1: last answer, I do, I do. Just want to let
Speaker 1: listeners know Miles was doing the Jack Nicholson gift, the
Speaker 1: big smile with the big evil smile, nodding slowly his head.
Speaker 1: Miles is a Lakers fan that is like, you know,
Speaker 1: really really good guys, every respect, really really a nice person,
Speaker 1: except when he talks about the Clippers. This this disrespect
Speaker 1: comes through that It's yeah, well look it's upsetting to
Speaker 1: me to hear him talk about I said, it's upsetting
Speaker 1: that the Clippers are out here. You know, I don't
Speaker 1: think they should exist as a team. It's It's it's
Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, I mean, like
Speaker 1: I'm I'm objective enough. I can obviously say, yeah, I
Speaker 1: wish the situations were different. But again that's where I'm like,
Speaker 1: I would like to ask journalists. I'm like, do you
Speaker 1: have that irrational part of your brain that refuses to, like,
Speaker 1: you know, reckon reality with what you feel? Like me,
Speaker 1: So I'm the first admit that, Yeah, but yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1: Am I going to therapy for it? No, but I should.
Speaker 1: I'm open about the fact that I'm dead inside. So
Speaker 1: I'm like other other journalists. They act like, you know,
Speaker 1: they're on this high all the damn time. It's like,
Speaker 1: I'm human enough to tell you that, like covering, covering
Speaker 1: certain teams in certain games is just an exercise of
Speaker 1: I refuse to be hurt by any of this. Okay,
Speaker 1: I don't have a like, I don't have a story.
Speaker 1: Like you know how journalists they'll be rooting for the
Speaker 1: great story to come through, just like, oh man, I really,
Speaker 1: you know, want to tell everybody about how he has
Speaker 1: some special cookies before the game. And I can only
Speaker 1: tell that story if the player has a great game
Speaker 1: so people can care. You know, I need a way
Speaker 1: in a hook. I don't give a damn about that.
Speaker 1: But Jack, before he decided to throw me under the
Speaker 1: bus or accurately described my character out loud on a podcast, Bush,
Speaker 1: it was, you know, just to get to my question,
Speaker 1: I mean, how like what what do you look at it? Like?
Speaker 1: What are you still wanting to see developed before you
Speaker 1: can like you know, you you give an assessment on
Speaker 1: what's going on with the team. Well, look, this is
Speaker 1: the thing that stuck with me and has guided me
Speaker 1: for the past six weeks or so. Uh. They had
Speaker 1: their home opener against the Phoenix Suns on a Sunday night,
Speaker 1: and because it's the Clippers, it was the second night
Speaker 1: of a back to back. That's just how it is,
Speaker 1: um and they got smacked, but they got they were
Speaker 1: blown out before Kauai could even get in the game
Speaker 1: because they were doing this experiment to start the year,
Speaker 1: which was kauais suggestion, bring him off the bench to
Speaker 1: maximize his men um. Yeah, that didn't work against the Suns.
Speaker 1: By time Coui got in the game, they're already down
Speaker 1: down there twenty So I talked to Nicholas Tune, the
Speaker 1: oldest guy on the oldest team in the league, and
Speaker 1: you know, we're just having a conversation before we're going
Speaker 1: to talk to Kauai and such, and he just kind
Speaker 1: of says, matter of factly, we're not going to do
Speaker 1: anything crazy until Christmas. And I'm like, Nico, wait, what
Speaker 1: what do you mean by that? Just needed to make
Speaker 1: sure I didn't miss hear him, you know, So I
Speaker 1: was like, so, so what that what what that mean?
Speaker 1: Nico's like, Oh, you know, we'll be okay, but this
Speaker 1: is gonna take a while. I mean, we're not going
Speaker 1: to do you know, Christmas. They that's when, in Nico's mine,
Speaker 1: they were going to take off. They were going to
Speaker 1: look like the team that everyone was talking about them
Speaker 1: looking like for the better part of the off season, right,
Speaker 1: Because it's not like this team has a bunch of
Speaker 1: new faces. They just have new bodies in the form
Speaker 1: of guys who didn't play a bunch of last year. Right.
Speaker 1: But the only guy who's new is John Wall, who
Speaker 1: happens to be another one of those guys who didn't
Speaker 1: play at all last year. But Ko's point was that
Speaker 1: because all these guys are coming back, and it's not
Speaker 1: just guys you know who are just you know they're
Speaker 1: coming back. They're coming back. No, it's your ball handlers
Speaker 1: and playmakers. You know, they're your cooks in the kitchen.
Speaker 1: The guys who you're building the entire schemes around those
Speaker 1: are the guys coming back from long layoffs. And so
Speaker 1: when you hear that and it's like, oh, yeah, I
Speaker 1: get it now. Um, the basketball might be messy for
Speaker 1: two months and then they're going to figure it out
Speaker 1: and they're gonna like string together, you know, contendership basketball.
Speaker 1: Except that literally Kawai's felt stiffness two days later and
Speaker 1: knocked him out for twenty five days. So that sets
Speaker 1: your clock back. So how much time do I give
Speaker 1: the Clippers Grammy Trip in the januaries when it starts
Speaker 1: and it wraps up right before the trade deadline. The
Speaker 1: Clippers need to get the intel to understand what they
Speaker 1: need to do, if anything. And let's be real, the
Speaker 1: Clippers they make a move with a veteran every year. Right,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you which veteran it might be, but they
Speaker 1: make a move every year. I would say the Clippers
Speaker 1: need to figure out what team they're going to be
Speaker 1: come uh that Grammy Trip mid January late January. So
Speaker 1: that gives. I mean, that's just the reality. Acquise missed
Speaker 1: so much time. They got to string some consistency together
Speaker 1: and they have no reason to think they're and blow
Speaker 1: it up territory. Everyone gets along. Everyone understands the situation.
Speaker 1: They haven't been together given a month or about a
Speaker 1: month and a half, and that's where they need to be.
Speaker 1: It's called the Grammy Trip because they have to basically
Speaker 1: leave l A because the Grammys takeover like Staples that yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right, that's right. Uh, the the arena formally known
Speaker 1: as Staples and maybe be future, it'll be back. I
Speaker 1: was calling that already. I remember when it's switched over
Speaker 1: to that name. I was like, trust me, and about
Speaker 1: a year, we'll be going. We'll be gone to Stables again.
Speaker 1: In two years, the Clippers will be playing all of
Speaker 1: their road games there instead of you know, being just
Speaker 1: a thing that people say because the Sacramento Kings fans
Speaker 1: infiltrated the building at the end of a blowout. Oh
Speaker 1: oh yeah. Um. What's your biggest surprises? Man? What would
Speaker 1: your biggest surprise or highlights of the season be so
Speaker 1: far Clippers or otherwise? Well for for the Clippers, Uh,
Speaker 1: I would just say, And it's not as much a
Speaker 1: surprise if you pay attention to the Clippers, but that's
Speaker 1: a team that they're resourceful as hell. Um, we talked
Speaker 1: about who's not playing all the time and the focus
Speaker 1: should be on who is. And it was mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: like in terms of the big men, the Zoobots had
Speaker 1: a thirty one rebound game. You know, Kawai and Paul
Speaker 1: out you know, uh, Norman Palell like he had a
Speaker 1: really rough start to the year, like so rough that
Speaker 1: they wanted him to start, and then they were like
Speaker 1: this ain't working. Um, and Norma's hit his stride, like
Speaker 1: he's hurt right now because Clippers, you know, of course,
Speaker 1: but before it had like he had scored thirty points
Speaker 1: off the bench in a span of like a week
Speaker 1: and a half or something like that. So, um, this
Speaker 1: team just finds different players. And when we say different players,
Speaker 1: I mean like take the stars out guys like three
Speaker 1: through twelve. They find different guys to contribute to winning basketball.
Speaker 1: And again it shouldn't be a surprise, but the fact
Speaker 1: that they they keep doing it, I think it's notable. Um.
Speaker 1: Across the league. We started this year talking about the
Speaker 1: tank for Victor Women, Yama and the teams that were
Speaker 1: supposed to be taking are the ones that are playing
Speaker 1: competent basketball, and maybe that's leveling off a little bit.
Speaker 1: But then you look up and the Jazz they get
Speaker 1: some big wins, scoring a hundred twenty plus points. Um,
Speaker 1: the Indiana Pacers. If it's a Monday night in California
Speaker 1: and you nem hard is breaking your heart. So that's
Speaker 1: been surprising to me. We're in December, so um, it's
Speaker 1: been a quarter of the season now and and I
Speaker 1: mean the Rockets just beat the Sixers, like I don't
Speaker 1: think you need to worry tank. And that's been a
Speaker 1: pleasant surprise because I don't think people want to talk
Speaker 1: about tanking. Like players don't want to talk about it,
Speaker 1: coaches don't want to talk about it. That's their jobs
Speaker 1: on the line front offices. They don't talk at all
Speaker 1: at this time of the year, so they they're not
Speaker 1: even being accountable right now. But I like the fact
Speaker 1: that these teams, uh, they've they've acted like they're trying
Speaker 1: to compete to start the year. Yeah, and the Kings,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean don't think anyone was saying they
Speaker 1: were going to tank, but they look like they're legit.
Speaker 1: The Pacers like look legit, legit, Like babe, they might
Speaker 1: do something. They're fun group. That's the other thing you
Speaker 1: think about the Pacers. You think they're just a throwaway team.
Speaker 1: Like I was working at ESPN, I was always getting
Speaker 1: made fun of for bringing up the Pacers as part
Speaker 1: of our coverage plan. It's like, that's the bottom five
Speaker 1: coverage team. But like that team is not just winning,
Speaker 1: but they're playing an exciting brand of basketball with some
Speaker 1: guys that you don't that that we're getting to know,
Speaker 1: like Ben Dick Mathin. We're getting to know him. He's
Speaker 1: a rookie, he's the first round pick. He's a lottery pick.
Speaker 1: But he might mess around, and you know he's he's
Speaker 1: a contender for two awards rookie here and six man
Speaker 1: a year. That's exciting because we're gonna talk about that
Speaker 1: every year. All right? Should we do our underrated Performers
Speaker 1: of the Week and come back and talk some A
Speaker 1: D and some other kind of dominant performances we've been appreciated.
Speaker 1: Who's been underrated? I mean, let's go Austin Reeves underwent
Speaker 1: two five to go with Lebrons eight seven, and eight
Speaker 1: and a blowout over the Blazers. But his best performance
Speaker 1: was his miked up. I love a good mike du
Speaker 1: look like I said, uh, Austin Reeves, go back to
Speaker 1: the prediction episode. You know what kind of what kind
Speaker 1: of visions I have for that young man. But this
Speaker 1: miked up it was I think very endearing, especially for
Speaker 1: people who have only seen Austin Reeves just play and
Speaker 1: they're like, what's he like? And his personality is I
Speaker 1: don't know, He's just like that, like like labrador on
Speaker 1: the team who's just always wagging his tail and very
Speaker 1: happy to be there. Let's check out him. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: got that dog in him and it's a Golden Retriever Retriever,
Speaker 1: very friendly, lovable. They told me you were like though,
Speaker 1: So he's talking to the ref of hers make a
Speaker 1: lay off. He's talking to a heavy living creak a
Speaker 1: talk addition to Lebron. He's like getting Lebron a patronizing truth,
Speaker 1: come on off to throw it down, throw up down
Speaker 1: with a little force. That's my favorite. What do Scott
Speaker 1: Andrewsons like? I didn't know you had that. He's like,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, a little down. You didn't hear about that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's good. That's an underrated performance. Ty Jones get and
Speaker 1: I'm playing well. Put up assists five rebounds, lad the
Speaker 1: Grizzlies to a win over the Heat. With jaw and
Speaker 1: triple Ja sitting um Brogden continued to fill it up.
Speaker 1: Jordan's pool came back with the thirty points off the
Speaker 1: bench nas Reid and bowl Ball continues to be one
Speaker 1: of my favorite people to watch this season. A little
Speaker 1: wem Bang Yama preview. Uh he he had a coast
Speaker 1: to coast that was pretty sick. He can just like
Speaker 1: weave through traffic despite the fact that he's seven ft
Speaker 1: two seven ft three and then just flushes it makes
Speaker 1: it look easy. Uh th Orlando is in the Wemby
Speaker 1: Yama sweep steaks, but they're super fun to work. Both
Speaker 1: of them got bowl Ball because we all know the
Speaker 1: magic need you got another one of these tall, lanky
Speaker 1: big men, right if they get the number of pick,
Speaker 1: obviously they would take him. They need to take him,
Speaker 1: um and they would need to just find someone to trade.
Speaker 1: But like, let's just say this, like, uh, I hope
Speaker 1: Orlando is not the team that wins that lottery. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean they picked up Bow Bowl is like off
Speaker 1: the scrap heap. Like he his career high was like
Speaker 1: eleven points prior to this season, so I mean they
Speaker 1: could they could obviously move him if they if they
Speaker 1: needed to, but yeah, that that would also be fun.
Speaker 1: They're they're gonna be I like the teams that are
Speaker 1: kind of consolidating around the bottom, like as possibilities for
Speaker 1: that have really young, exciting corps, which that would be
Speaker 1: fun if if they just all got to grow up together.
Speaker 1: Just watch these group of kids grow up together out
Speaker 1: in Detroit. Huh. Yeah, it's a good kid. Twenty kid,
Speaker 1: good kid, good kids. All right, let's take a break
Speaker 1: and we'll come back and we'll talk about Anthony Dave.
Speaker 1: Know it's fun, it's excited. All right, let's take and
Speaker 1: we're back. And as we were saying in the preseason predictions, uh,
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, actually don't, Miles said listen to the preseason predictions.
Speaker 1: We're going to revisit them, so you actually don't have
Speaker 1: to go back and listen to them here. Um, we're
Speaker 1: going to revisit them. We're not going to change our
Speaker 1: predictions and make us make ourselves sound like we got
Speaker 1: everything right, Like that that would be beneath us, and
Speaker 1: we pride ourselves on journalism more than okay, in sincerity obviously,
Speaker 1: But anyway, that's that's for a future episode. I mean,
Speaker 1: something we have been sending on the show is that
Speaker 1: like they should be treating a D more like Janice
Speaker 1: is just like, get him the ball every time down
Speaker 1: the court, and his last ten games have been thirty.
Speaker 1: He's putting up thirty five a game field goal percentage,
Speaker 1: fifteen boards, three blocks, one point two steals. This has
Speaker 1: to be exactly what you were looking for coming into
Speaker 1: this season if you're a Lakers fan, right, yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing was like, when are we
Speaker 1: going to get the a D that looks a little
Speaker 1: Who's like basically when we're gonna get a D back?
Speaker 1: And you know, he looks like he's definitely gained some
Speaker 1: wisdom and confidence, you know, coming out of the street
Speaker 1: closed era. And I mean, just like one thing, just
Speaker 1: seeing how mindful he is of his landings. Now I'm like, okay, yes, good.
Speaker 1: He feels like he's like, in his own mind, feels
Speaker 1: like he's fragile, so he's playing a little more aggressive,
Speaker 1: Like everything is adding up in a way that helps
Speaker 1: me feel good about the Lakers despite what I see
Speaker 1: in the standings. But I think at the five games
Speaker 1: from number one, I mean granted the West as a jumble,
Speaker 1: but I mean five games from first and playing extremely well,
Speaker 1: like on the point differential, you're only like point three
Speaker 1: points below. And now I'm becoming a reasonable Laker fan.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, well, Jack, let's let's wait. You know,
Speaker 1: normally be like, yeah, exactly, just hang up number eighteen already. No,
Speaker 1: I can't go there. I've had my heart broken so
Speaker 1: many times. But I mean, yeah, it's just uh, it's
Speaker 1: it's heartening. And that's again I think I've adjusted my
Speaker 1: expectations from you know, in the Ham era of just
Speaker 1: being like, let's just see some different let's just see
Speaker 1: something build, and yeah, our offense looks you know, he
Speaker 1: only I think in that fifty five point game, only
Speaker 1: like four of his points came from like isolation place.
Speaker 1: So it's a lot more, a lot more, a lot
Speaker 1: more motion in the ocean. M hm. Yeah, forty four
Speaker 1: and fifty five points in consecutive games, like yeahs keeps
Speaker 1: it out data school stakes. The three goes like it's exciting.
Speaker 1: I I do. I do enjoy the NBA more when
Speaker 1: the Lakers are good, when a Lebron team is good,
Speaker 1: and yeah, you know, and I think that's the biggest
Speaker 1: thing too, is I think it's like being able to
Speaker 1: embrace that role and that must be what's going on.
Speaker 1: You know, it's him really feeling like, nah, you know what,
Speaker 1: I can, I can do a lot for this team
Speaker 1: and maybe it's uh, the onus really is on him now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but the two things need to happen for Anthony Davis. Uh. One,
Speaker 1: I think his back needed to get better. It was
Speaker 1: clear that that was an issue um in the preseason.
Speaker 1: He winded missing a game in the regular season and
Speaker 1: the second halfs like he just wasn't himself. Like when
Speaker 1: you're a big man with a back issue, that thing
Speaker 1: tends to wear on you as the game goes on.
Speaker 1: So that couple of playing with center, like, I think
Speaker 1: he needed to adjust to that. I think physically he's healthier.
Speaker 1: But then two, that buzzer beater that were them hard
Speaker 1: beats them when they were up what seventeen. I actually
Speaker 1: think that that that took a d to another level
Speaker 1: because that was the last draw. I feel like for Lebron,
Speaker 1: especially to stop dominating the ball late in games, because yeah,
Speaker 1: you can put it on eighties back. But the Lakers,
Speaker 1: they start this year doing a terrible job of keeping
Speaker 1: their best player involved in the office. And for Darvin Ham,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure he was flabbergast, but like, at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, if he's your best player,
Speaker 1: doesn't matter if he's not pick and roll ball him,
Speaker 1: like get him the ball. When they lost that game, well,
Speaker 1: I don't think they've lost since, and I think a
Speaker 1: big focus has just been four quarters. Don't forget about
Speaker 1: him and he's Uh, Anthony's rewarded them with that level consistency.
Speaker 1: For me, it's never about Anthony Davis is always about
Speaker 1: the other factors around him, including himself. And he's right
Speaker 1: now um peaking, but there's trying to lead it perfectly
Speaker 1: on the back to the run Son on the upper floor.
Speaker 1: Tell yourself, he got that part tonight, He got that
Speaker 1: part tonight, Yeah, because he wasn't. They didn't really get
Speaker 1: him the ball that much at the end of that game.
Speaker 1: Like that was I think everybody's frustration. It felt, yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's felt It's felt that way for a lot
Speaker 1: of his tenure with the Lakers. So yeah, I think
Speaker 1: you're right. Maybe that crystallized things for for everyone a
Speaker 1: little bit. Um Lebron just stay back and make dead jokes.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah exactly. Zion is kind of running the offense again.
Speaker 1: He's looking so good. He's zioning it up. I mean,
Speaker 1: when he's going downhill, it's just like, get out the way.
Speaker 1: Just please clear the children from the building because we
Speaker 1: don't have three points four steels. Two blocks. The other night,
Speaker 1: which is just fun, one of my favorite shop blockers
Speaker 1: to watch get hard guarded by Curry five to shoot.
Speaker 1: He was thinking about he will shoot it the best
Speaker 1: player in the building with thirty one and oh, I
Speaker 1: do want to say the bench and the Pelicans is
Speaker 1: also looking really good, and I'm like, no more, I
Speaker 1: see that. I'm like, man, this it's saying with like
Speaker 1: the like the King's too. I'm like, man, i gotta
Speaker 1: got a bench over there. It's really looking nice, and
Speaker 1: I gotta say it like I'm not the biggest was
Speaker 1: not the biggest Jose Alvarado fan, but he's beginning to
Speaker 1: work on me a little bit. I'm starting to I'm
Speaker 1: starting to appreciate him more. And more because I part
Speaker 1: of me was just a little being a little too
Speaker 1: much of a Jose hater in the beginning. That Pelicans
Speaker 1: team is to this year with the Grizzlies words of
Speaker 1: last year, a team that came out of the playing tournament,
Speaker 1: got those two playing wins and got some playoff experience,
Speaker 1: and they're building off of that by getting healthier and
Speaker 1: exercising the depth that you guys talked about. I mean, um,
Speaker 1: it's crazy. Who's not playing for them? Like Jackson Hayes
Speaker 1: was a recent lottery pick, He's not playing for him.
Speaker 1: Car Lewis, I know he towards the c O, a
Speaker 1: lottery pick on a rookie contract. He's not playing. Billy
Speaker 1: right on going has dominated euro Beast kids with everybody
Speaker 1: playing a euro basket, He's not playing that team. Is
Speaker 1: that to the guys who are in warm ups from
Speaker 1: tip off the garbage time? Right? Yeah? And it's like
Speaker 1: I was saying in our preseason predictions, I figured that
Speaker 1: Jose Alvarado was probably gonna put up a thirty eight
Speaker 1: point game at some point this season, and oh yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I said, Trey Murphy the third he might be better
Speaker 1: than Herb Jones I remember saying, I said, watch out,
Speaker 1: he might give herb Jones a run for his money.
Speaker 1: Check the episode. Check it, don't don't go back and
Speaker 1: listen to the one that we're going to release in
Speaker 1: a little bit. That one I don't know who knows
Speaker 1: where they uploaded in that old episode. Listened to the
Speaker 1: first one where we're absolutely correct on everything. And then
Speaker 1: Andrew Nemhard with thirteen eight rebounds as laws you kind
Speaker 1: of mentioned, just putting it together. And this is somebody
Speaker 1: who was drafted I think thirty feet this this season,
Speaker 1: rookie first pick of the second round. Yeah, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is one of my favorite things to talk about,
Speaker 1: is nobody knows anything in the n b A and yeah,
Speaker 1: just immediately showing people that they don't know anything and
Speaker 1: also immediately showing people like we we talked about this
Speaker 1: when we started started seeing the summer league games with
Speaker 1: what's the number two picks name the Big seven two? Yeah,
Speaker 1: Chad Home when chat was like balling out in the
Speaker 1: Summer League, I was like, what were they were they
Speaker 1: telling him not to play good in like for Gonzaga
Speaker 1: and n C Double A tournament because like this is
Speaker 1: this is not the same player and them hard too.
Speaker 1: I mean he was good, but they had a lot
Speaker 1: of talent turns out on that team last season. Right. Oh,
Speaker 1: you want to hear lyric Rick Carlisle on it. I've
Speaker 1: been saying. I've been saying that, you know, down the line,
Speaker 1: you know when who's like does their redraft of them
Speaker 1: as the twenty two red draft, he'd be a Toxics
Speaker 1: team pick come elevating that, you know, top ten. I
Speaker 1: mean he's he really is a special player. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know are our basketball people Kevin Pritchard and Jeffy
Speaker 1: Cannon and Kelly and Ted. I mean they just hit
Speaker 1: it out of the park with him. I mean, guys
Speaker 1: got amazing poise. He's strong, he's old school but new school.
Speaker 1: You know, he's special. Yeah, you heard it from I Like,
Speaker 1: he's looking for that hoops type redraft too. He knows that.
Speaker 1: He's like, you know when that's coming. I think it
Speaker 1: usually comes around uh December to January. You know, they
Speaker 1: do a couple but like the redraft three point oh
Speaker 1: is really when they lock it in and I think
Speaker 1: they're you're going to see him in the top eight
Speaker 1: maybe even um. I like when a coach reveals he's
Speaker 1: a fan. He's just like out there googling just like us. Yeah. Yeah, Hey.
Speaker 1: This is the same coach that told everybody before the
Speaker 1: news even broke that Tristan Thompson was going to the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bulls all right, just for like a week or two.
Speaker 1: And he's like, so, just so you guys know, we're
Speaker 1: letting Tristan go to Chicago, like specifically Chicago. Yeah, Woad
Speaker 1: just like man Carlisle won't stop hitting me up. Man.
Speaker 1: He said he wants to do car bombs. I was like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, that doesn't sound good, but yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean we've talked before Anthony Simons, even though they're struggling
Speaker 1: a little bit, but uh yeah, Shay Gil just Alexander
Speaker 1: is taking it to the next level. I mean super
Speaker 1: producer Jabari was asking if he's like in the most
Speaker 1: Improved Player conversation. That conversation is kind of loaded, yes,
Speaker 1: season with Haliburton market in Simons and a Nobi Bowl
Speaker 1: bull but it also Austome reeves of court Um and
Speaker 1: it's also sort of a like it's a narrative driven award,
Speaker 1: you know, because it's just like whoever gets the narrative
Speaker 1: momentum behind them, but he's probably the leader just because
Speaker 1: it does usually go to like the best player who
Speaker 1: is part of the conversation for like jobs was last season, right,
Speaker 1: so maybe it'll be him? Are we is he? Is
Speaker 1: it safe to say he is, like fully just one
Speaker 1: of the top guards right now? Absolutely we can just
Speaker 1: lockout ourselves on the back, okay. And then with that,
Speaker 1: my question is after we I didn't realize how close
Speaker 1: him and Chris Paul were like over them one season
Speaker 1: they overlapped, and part of me, like, we always talked
Speaker 1: about building your game on other players games, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm wondering how much of that, like, you know, what
Speaker 1: we're seeing in his form right now is also informed
Speaker 1: by like, you know, having enough like as people described
Speaker 1: an apprenticeship with one of the top guards in the NBA,
Speaker 1: like in history. Is there something there to that or
Speaker 1: just kind of like he's it just took some time
Speaker 1: and the situation became what it is now for him
Speaker 1: to excel that. Dude is fresh though, like Shay hasn't
Speaker 1: gotten to complete the previous two seasons um and he's
Speaker 1: he was already so young. He was a one in
Speaker 1: on in Kentucky like the year with the with the Clippers,
Speaker 1: Like he got to be around a bunch of guys
Speaker 1: a different who had a lot of different skill sets.
Speaker 1: I mean, on one hand, you got your Patrick Beverley
Speaker 1: that you're playing with growing up on a playoff team.
Speaker 1: But on the other hand, you got Lou Williams, who
Speaker 1: when you look at Shad's game, he's one of the
Speaker 1: most complete scores in the league. People talk about three
Speaker 1: level scores and not talking about she is a four
Speaker 1: level score because the free throw line is a big
Speaker 1: part of Shay's output. Like this, dude s gils just
Speaker 1: Alexander outscores entire teams by himself from the free throw
Speaker 1: line and Lou Williams has a small guard. You know,
Speaker 1: how do Lou Williams get to be a three times
Speaker 1: six man a year? Like he was getting to the
Speaker 1: line right, And so you had that, you had Chris Paul,
Speaker 1: you had everybody else that's been with the Thunder for
Speaker 1: those half years or whatever. Before Sam Presci tells him
Speaker 1: we got some draft business to do, right, Curious to
Speaker 1: see if that happens this year. But that's another conversation
Speaker 1: with Ja. They wouldn't do with him, would that Hey, look,
Speaker 1: I've seen some things and Sam Presty has been aggressive. Man,
Speaker 1: So like they're playing well now, but if it's all
Speaker 1: Star break, they're gonna be like shave you've done? You think, man,
Speaker 1: I promise you just the last year this. But yeah,
Speaker 1: sha is four level score at the rim Ramp game.
Speaker 1: When he wants to shoot at three, he'll shoot three.
Speaker 1: But he gets in the line better than anyone. And
Speaker 1: no one talks about free throws because free throws can
Speaker 1: be annoying and not great for TV or the highlights
Speaker 1: of a show like this. But he's killing teams from
Speaker 1: the free throw line. Actually, we are planning to do
Speaker 1: an all free throw episode where we just kind of
Speaker 1: narrate some of our favorite free throw shooters in the league.
Speaker 1: And just like and from the end of taking a
Speaker 1: warm up dribble, another warm up dribble, take a deep breath.
Speaker 1: I'm also talk you talking about college programs that are
Speaker 1: good at hiding talent. But um Also, Shakil's Alexander's voice
Speaker 1: is not what I was expecting. I don't know if
Speaker 1: I just hadn't like, yeah, man, he has the voice of, like,
Speaker 1: you know, someone who's a seven footer, which is which
Speaker 1: is cool. I like it. He has the voice of
Speaker 1: somebody who looks like designer. Right, Um, all right, let's
Speaker 1: take a quick break and we'll we'll come back. We
Speaker 1: obviously have to do the fastest segment, so we'll be
Speaker 1: right back and we're back, be back. We kept the
Speaker 1: designer thing. Sorry, we had to. We had to just
Speaker 1: go in through you know when. This show is also
Speaker 1: obviously acknowledges the importance of hip hop, so we're not
Speaker 1: going to waste our time there. But that double XL
Speaker 1: freshman class nothing to play with. But it's time now
Speaker 1: to get into the real meat of the show. It's
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter and it's time for the rapid fire
Speaker 1: round of questioning. Now, Oh law, I hope you're ready
Speaker 1: because this is the fastest segment in sports podcasting. We're
Speaker 1: going to ask you some questions. What are we going
Speaker 1: to do with truly testing the rule of law today?
Speaker 1: We're gonna hit you with a question. Just respond, don't think,
Speaker 1: don't you know, have an overly long answer, because it's
Speaker 1: all about keeping the pace up. And if Jack or
Speaker 1: I begin to trail off, it is really on you
Speaker 1: to keep this segment moving and we will get a
Speaker 1: ready to slow it down? Okay, good good, Law, I know,
Speaker 1: I know you're quick with it. I will get furious,
Speaker 1: so uh a little bit. Here we go. Time for
Speaker 1: the rapid fire the questions Victor, when Victor, Okay, we're ready?
Speaker 1: Should I go first? You go first? I'd like to
Speaker 1: take this one Miles if you don't mind. Would you
Speaker 1: rather have your favorite team or the team you're covering
Speaker 1: win a championship this year or have Victor weimbang Yama
Speaker 1: for the next ten years championship because I ain't going.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure I'll be running ten years championship, all right,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to win now. Yeah, and I guess we
Speaker 1: can just watch wembang Yama wherever he is and yeah
Speaker 1: right exactly, Like do you have your Mets jersey from
Speaker 1: the French League? Get I would rather keep running it
Speaker 1: back and half the Sixers just bottom out and then
Speaker 1: get wembang Yama. Personally, you want Sixers tank for Wemby,
Speaker 1: tank for Wemby. Let's do it, blow it up, blow
Speaker 1: it up. Hey, you know me, baby, Let's blow it
Speaker 1: up to blow it up to electric. Okay, next question, Law,
Speaker 1: you have the chance to win ten thousand dollars to
Speaker 1: make a layup with each hand, or you could win
Speaker 1: twenty five dollars to make five of five free throws,
Speaker 1: or a hundred thousand to make at least four of
Speaker 1: five from deep. Now. I know you said famously in
Speaker 1: your Twitter bio you've gone undrafted for I think now
Speaker 1: fourteen years. But which challenge are you taking? I'm man,
Speaker 1: I'm getting the money, getting the money. I'm not worrying
Speaker 1: about the basketball spinning off my hand. Wrong. You know,
Speaker 1: I'll make these left handed layouts. Okay. And is the
Speaker 1: answer the same if you're doing it in an empty
Speaker 1: gym or in a packed Staples Center or crypto whatever,
Speaker 1: it's the same. The people don't affect that game. Wow, wow,
Speaker 1: ice water in his veins. It has been confirmed here.
Speaker 1: But lah, man, I gotta tell you, mane, we really
Speaker 1: gotta keep this going. So you know that's kind of
Speaker 1: keep it up there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, up, all right, now,
Speaker 1: that's that's right, that's true. Miles. Did you answer that question?
Speaker 1: Did you say which one you would do? No? I
Speaker 1: haven't answered that one. In an arena. The layoups, man,
Speaker 1: the layups for me are nerve racking in an arena,
Speaker 1: you know, then the oh yeah, because then they're gonna
Speaker 1: be like, you know, if you miss a layoup, at
Speaker 1: least you miss one and you're you're out. You know,
Speaker 1: would you rather air ball the free throw an arena? Up? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I guess I did laps. I'm baby, Um, what is
Speaker 1: a new rule law that you'd like to see implemented
Speaker 1: or altered effective immediately? When you joined us here in studio,
Speaker 1: you did declare I am the law. Let's judge Dredd.
Speaker 1: So this is your chance to write a new rule
Speaker 1: you'd like to see implemented or altered effective immediately. It
Speaker 1: can be dumb, it can be fun. We've had people
Speaker 1: say the bucket from Rock and Jack um, and then
Speaker 1: we've also had people do something about defensive three seconds. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Lastly was no goaltending like FIBA. Oh yeah, which is fun.
Speaker 1: So I'm not a huge hand of this. But if
Speaker 1: we're gonna go with a new role the big three
Speaker 1: four point spot from what or whatever it is, I
Speaker 1: put that down. Oh. I don't think the court needs
Speaker 1: to be Jim geometrically changed or anything like that. Some
Speaker 1: some cool writers have suggested that I'm not really cool
Speaker 1: with that, but like, put that four point spot down
Speaker 1: and I think you gets some more interest. That being said,
Speaker 1: I'm cool with no rule changes sports. Fine. Wow, Like
Speaker 1: you're like, don't So you're saying, like the spot where
Speaker 1: it's like a four point bucket. Yes, So if you
Speaker 1: like a four point spot in three different spots, so
Speaker 1: like top and and then each part like a four
Speaker 1: point spot basically a logo shot. Yes, but I think
Speaker 1: that home team gets to determine where the spots are,
Speaker 1: so that that that's that's that's your rule change, not mine. Okay,
Speaker 1: all right, I was just trying to would be fun too.
Speaker 1: It randomly appears at times. Oh okay, the four point
Speaker 1: spot just showed up. Okay, now if they could probably
Speaker 1: get back in the game, you know what I mean? Like,
Speaker 1: I just like I want to see more frantic chaos.
Speaker 1: But Miles, that was not laws answer though, So that's true.
Speaker 1: I don't know why you're trying to pull words in
Speaker 1: his mouth. Wow, man, we gotta get to the next question,
Speaker 1: you know. So that's That's what I'm gonna say up
Speaker 1: top man. So let me ask you this next one.
Speaker 1: You can create your ultimate Big three, Okay, using players
Speaker 1: from any era. Okay, who do you pick for your
Speaker 1: ultimate all time big three? Uh? Definitely Andre three thousand,
Speaker 1: Big Boy and somebody from the Goody Mob. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, players ball, But it's only royal family
Speaker 1: I've ever Yeah, the Dungeon family family. Okay, I'll take that.
Speaker 1: That is the correct answer. Uh. As we do every week,
Speaker 1: we have to ask you. Jacker Miles, uh, Jack of Miles,
Speaker 1: I don't really drink at all. So um okay, Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's a that's a neutral. That's that's that's that's
Speaker 1: that's a neutral. You'll take the ore. Okay, Okay, good
Speaker 1: to know. Man like y'all gotta come as a as
Speaker 1: a as as a package. I'll take that too. Wow,
Speaker 1: Jack can gotta judges ruling on that. Does that count
Speaker 1: for a win? I see that I haven't won win yet.
Speaker 1: That's a win for men, that's a win for you.
Speaker 1: That's a win for you. Okay. Yeah, maybe that's all
Speaker 1: Jabari is demanding. You gotta pick. We need says, we
Speaker 1: need toxicity in this. Uh so you gotta pick. No,
Speaker 1: don't force him. Law knows, Law makes his decisions. Remember,
Speaker 1: we couldn't even bully him into doing nonsensical rule chains.
Speaker 1: We were telling you, guys, what I will pick the
Speaker 1: next time I do I do this show. Okay, hey,
Speaker 1: guess what you're it's the next time you've done the show.
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Law. Great to happen the next episode call
Speaker 1: me dr drink. This is the next episode episode. Hold up, wait, okay,
Speaker 1: never mind, Law, Thank you so much for joining us. Yeah,
Speaker 1: awesome to have you. Fantastic having you. Where can people
Speaker 1: find you and read you and and and all that
Speaker 1: and keep up with you? Yeah, I mean I say
Speaker 1: this U. Shout out to the Athletic Uh. They put
Speaker 1: me on and and they've supported me and everybody else,
Speaker 1: so um at right there. Uh, shout out to everybody
Speaker 1: who subs I'm on the social media's law Murray the
Speaker 1: new that's l A W MU R R A y
Speaker 1: h E. And you bring these networks united. So that's
Speaker 1: what we try and do over here. And that's about it.
Speaker 1: That's yeah. And also don't forget to follow us on
Speaker 1: Twitter at mad boost these b double O S T
Speaker 1: I E s uh. And also shout out to the listeners.
Speaker 1: This week we definitely asked for you know, people's early
Speaker 1: m v P favorites. Uh And this week at Samurai
Speaker 1: the Seventh said, all caps Anthony Davis. Okay, I feel that.
Speaker 1: At Jake b Ball, Elevin said Luca uh and then
Speaker 1: Low Underscore Jeff said, never been an Anthony Davis believer,
Speaker 1: but if he continues playing like this and the Lakers
Speaker 1: keep winning, there would be an m VPR, which I
Speaker 1: think answers the superducer Jabari pick, We're Anthony Davis. Its crazy.
Speaker 1: Just sounds like just sounds like that's what the people
Speaker 1: are feeling. Man. You know, I don't get in the
Speaker 1: way that people are spoken. Thank you, thank you. You
Speaker 1: can find me on Twitter at Jack Underscore, O'Brian, oh wow,
Speaker 1: you can find me at Miles of Gray if you
Speaker 1: feel so inclined. Well that is going to do it
Speaker 1: for us. On this week's edition of Miles and Jack
Speaker 1: Gott mad Man, We'll see you next week and we'll
Speaker 1: be talking even more basketball. Se then bye bye, m
Speaker 1: MHM