Speaker 1: Welcome back, and the NBA Playoffs.
Speaker 2: Have truly been, for lack of a better word, amazing.
Speaker 2: He did heat and the seven seeded Lakers each of
Speaker 2: three and one as of this recording, and just total
Speaker 2: fist fights love best in the other two matchup.
Speaker 3: That's gonna be Those series might be over by the time,
Speaker 3: y'all they're hearing us, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I could be a very happy little chat. But
Speaker 2: we'll get into all.
Speaker 3: Of that, like little pantaloons with like his socks piked
Speaker 3: up to his knees and he's.
Speaker 2: But yeah, we'll have to talk about book and everything
Speaker 2: else with journalists and longtime NBA writer Jared Wade on
Speaker 2: today's podcast.
Speaker 3: I'm Miles Great and I'm Jack O'Brien and this.
Speaker 4: Is Smiles and.
Speaker 2: Dad driving Spinny Curry a three punter.
Speaker 3: Steph Curry from Downtown again. Be honest with the tail
Speaker 3: look out no shirt.
Speaker 4: Time, won't you go honest?
Speaker 2: Welcome back one and all all of our wonderful boost
Speaker 2: these listeners, and welcome guest Jared Wade.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the show Man. It's really good to have you.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 5: Yeah, thank you for having me. Been a fan for
Speaker 5: a while and happy to be on oh.
Speaker 3: For a while. Wow, fan, Miles, we have a fan
Speaker 3: in the house.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 3: But I like how much how professional we are that
Speaker 3: someone mentions their fan and we're like there's like a
Speaker 3: beat of silence. I'm like, all right, tell us, oh man,
Speaker 3: uh LaVar, you burned us, burned us man. So you
Speaker 3: came up a Celtics fan and now you're not a
Speaker 3: Celtics fan.
Speaker 5: What happened was a Pacers fan.
Speaker 6: So I grew up in Maine and like, ok, I'm
Speaker 6: probably maybe saying same age group as y'all probably, but
Speaker 6: you know, back in like late eighties and stuff, you
Speaker 6: really can watch that many games, right, So I definitely
Speaker 6: watched like the late Larry Bird era more than anything.
Speaker 4: Sure that I was a.
Speaker 5: Fan and all that, I don't really had a team
Speaker 5: at that point though.
Speaker 6: I think the Celtics were like too good for me
Speaker 6: to like jump on their fanwagon.
Speaker 2: You know, wait, like when you were younger, the appeal
Speaker 2: of a winning team never caught You're like.
Speaker 5: You know, I don't know, it's so weird.
Speaker 6: Everyone who like loves success and Lebron and even like
Speaker 6: the Jordan era took that over.
Speaker 4: But I don't know.
Speaker 5: I never really liked the.
Speaker 6: Team that was winning, like it was when I was
Speaker 6: growing up, like the Cowboys and the Yankees, like you
Speaker 6: were lame if you were a.
Speaker 5: Fan of them, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, right, so I did.
Speaker 6: And then I remember the Celtics played the Pacers like
Speaker 6: three years in a row in the first round and
Speaker 6: I think it lost in five every year, like they
Speaker 6: were never close. But I started like them, and then
Speaker 6: Reggie came up and I just became a Pacers fan.
Speaker 5: That's like someone that didn't wow the team.
Speaker 3: That's interesting. I don't know too many Pacers fans who
Speaker 3: like chose Pacer fandom. But you mean not being Indiana, Yeah,
Speaker 3: not being from Indiana. Right, that's pretty.
Speaker 5: There's not many of us. I've met like three in
Speaker 5: my life.
Speaker 1: We have a support group. We all get together.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's really fun.
Speaker 6: What part of mean did you grow up in Central
Speaker 6: Maine bangor area?
Speaker 2: Ohor yeah? I used to play I was a very
Speaker 2: competitive ice hockey player as a kid, and so yeah,
Speaker 2: I used to take regular trips to New England to
Speaker 2: play hockey. I don't ask how a black and Theese
Speaker 2: kid was playing hockey in Burbank California and ended up
Speaker 2: in Bangor, Maine.
Speaker 1: But it was happening.
Speaker 6: Well, specifically, I grew up in Orno, which is where
Speaker 6: like Alfond Arena and University was, so that would probably
Speaker 6: where you.
Speaker 3: Would have played.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly, yeah, man, xactly this man, Ye,
Speaker 2: get your hockey hair out. But Jack, you want to
Speaker 2: talk a little bit. I know we were talking off
Speaker 2: Mike a little bit about some some recency bias we're
Speaker 2: seeing analysis.
Speaker 1: Do you want to mean that.
Speaker 3: Sure, we can start off like I just I'm a
Speaker 3: victim of this too, but I'm just seeing a lot
Speaker 3: of I mean, the Lakers series is a great example
Speaker 3: where I consumed so much commentary from like really smart
Speaker 3: basketball analysts. You're I talk about Zach Lowell lot, not
Speaker 3: because I think he's like bad, but because I think
Speaker 3: he's very smart. And I listened to him and you know,
Speaker 3: re read him a lot, and he basically was calling
Speaker 3: it a rap after Game two. He was like, that's
Speaker 3: like the Warriors have figured them out. Like, I don't
Speaker 3: know what the Lakers could possibly do. The Lakers are
Speaker 3: a one way series. They cannot score. Lebron is basically
Speaker 3: cooked at this point and it's just I don't know,
Speaker 3: like that that's fine. It's also weird to see. And
Speaker 3: it's also like underestimating Lebron James, which is never a
Speaker 3: good gamble. But yeah, it just it does seem to
Speaker 3: like undercut what is so exciting about this, which is
Speaker 3: that these are actual people and it's not like a
Speaker 3: math equation where you have one team figures one strategic
Speaker 3: thing out in one game and it's over from that
Speaker 3: point for like or something.
Speaker 1: You're like, whoa, it's over.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the one team I would say that
Speaker 3: can be true for is a Lebron James team because
Speaker 3: he is so shrewd and just like calculating and figures
Speaker 3: things out. But like, for the most part, it's it's
Speaker 3: not over after one team wins by a lot, and
Speaker 3: that's never been the case in the NBA playoffs, So
Speaker 3: I don't know, there were I'm also noticing like different
Speaker 3: people being a little bit frustrated with the cover, Like
Speaker 3: Eric Spolstra. At one point someone was like, what's your
Speaker 3: defensive plan for shutting down? And it's just like what,
Speaker 3: First of all, I'm not going to tell you that,
Speaker 3: But second of all, like even if I articulate that, Yeah,
Speaker 3: how can I articulate it? He's an amazing competitor and
Speaker 3: he's going to And then there was also this like
Speaker 3: Jokic clip where they asked him before game three, like
Speaker 3: do you expect their energy to be up now that
Speaker 3: they're back in their home court? And he was like, no,
Speaker 3: my friend, I expect that they surrender and they give
Speaker 3: us the win. Like just like people, I think they're
Speaker 3: just like a little annoyed with the commentary that assumes like, Okay,
Speaker 3: so we've figured this out and it's it's it's a
Speaker 3: chess match, and uh, you you guys have figured it
Speaker 3: out right, figured them out. I just don't want to
Speaker 3: hear anyone saying they figured anyone out, because uh, that's
Speaker 3: just not that's not happening.
Speaker 1: Jared, Are you guilty of the recency bias thing?
Speaker 2: I mean I certainly was. I was like, oh, Devin
Speaker 2: Book and Kevin Durant have laid down, and I was
Speaker 2: just like after game two, yeah, yeah, yeah, I was.
Speaker 2: I was very not good take. But I mean, how
Speaker 2: are I'm guessing you do this for real? So maybe
Speaker 2: you aren't as sloppy as maybe I am.
Speaker 6: I mean, I really don't do this for real anymore.
Speaker 6: To be honest, I'm mainly a fan on Twitter at
Speaker 6: this point, but like, yeah, I totally by mid second
Speaker 6: quarter of the Game two Denver Phoenix series, like I
Speaker 6: thought that was a wrap And then I said, we
Speaker 6: saw last night, maybe it was right, Like maybe they
Speaker 6: were the better team, and like good teams just get
Speaker 6: blown out sometimes, right, Like I mean, the Warriors and
Speaker 6: Lakers have both gotten blown out. The Warriors got blown
Speaker 6: out against the Kings. It just I think that's what
Speaker 6: the biggest thing is, Like the point margin doesn't really
Speaker 6: matter in any playoff game just because you won by
Speaker 6: twenty or you won by two. It's I mean, it's cliche,
Speaker 6: but like you got to get to four.
Speaker 3: Hey, I said, I said in Game two when the
Speaker 3: Lakers are getting blown out, I was like, this is
Speaker 3: better that it's a blowout for you. You get to
Speaker 3: rest your you get to rest your horses, Like Lebron
Speaker 3: gets to sit back and you know, analyze. And he's
Speaker 3: been as much as he's not the most impressive thing statistically,
Speaker 3: like he is probably the thing I've been. Like, I
Speaker 3: don't know, I'm a I'm a huge Lebron stand so
Speaker 3: people are probably tired of hearing me say this, but
Speaker 3: like that people would.
Speaker 1: Forgive you for being an off Lebron James.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but like what he's doing in these playoffs is
Speaker 3: pretty cool. Yeah, I think Lebron James is pretty cool.
Speaker 3: And that's my take. Thanks folks.
Speaker 6: That's Jack by Sizzler to what you were saying though,
Speaker 6: when people were like Lebron's kind of cooked. He looks
Speaker 6: a little below in some games, like he has a
Speaker 6: bad second quarter and he misses three shots and doesn't
Speaker 6: do much, but ultimately he's still Lebron James, and he
Speaker 6: controls games in ways that like no one else can.
Speaker 6: I mean, yeah, obviously Lonnie Walker won that game for them,
Speaker 6: but like I don't want to discredit Lonnie, but Lebron
Speaker 6: gave him the ball and he saw that happening and
Speaker 6: he just like made it continue to happen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there are some cool things where he like pulled
Speaker 3: him into like pick and roll action or yeah, like
Speaker 3: freed him up, got him. Yeah, it was pretty cool.
Speaker 2: Let's start with that series with the Lakers and Warriors,
Speaker 2: because yeah, I think I mean Jack, we're even talking
Speaker 2: about this off Mike too, about how like we're seeing
Speaker 2: just Lebron. He's he's getting into his like wisdom phase
Speaker 2: now too, where he's like, I don't need to be
Speaker 2: the most dynamic now, but I can use my savvy
Speaker 2: to like bring in players like Austin Reeves or Lonnie
Speaker 2: Walker and like use my outsized influences Lebron James to
Speaker 2: like give them the kind of confidence that it takes
Speaker 2: to show up and like, for like, Lonnie put up
Speaker 2: fifteen points in that fourth quarter, which was a terrible
Speaker 2: sight for Warriors fans but a wonderful thing for Lakers
Speaker 2: fans to see. But yeah, I mean I think it is.
Speaker 2: It is nice to see him, you know, get a
Speaker 2: little bit of rest. Like who I forget what was
Speaker 2: like the shortest he was off the court. It felt
Speaker 2: like thirteen seconds or something. It just came back.
Speaker 3: That was almost comical. They were like, all right, you're back,
Speaker 3: But yeah, I don't know, Ad looks incredible on d
Speaker 3: he They just seem to have figured something out and
Speaker 3: just the mindset of the Lakers team really seems to
Speaker 3: like have things going in a in a pretty great way.
Speaker 3: We'll see if like they've gotten blown out and every
Speaker 3: like the Warriors have figured them out again.
Speaker 2: Right, and it could be a storybook comeback, but we'll
Speaker 2: see about that. Jared, how how are you looking at
Speaker 2: that series and uh where you think it's eventually going
Speaker 2: to go.
Speaker 6: I would never count out the Warriors, We've seen them
Speaker 6: do too much. But that said, they're getting pretty old.
Speaker 6: You know, Clay's looking rustier than ever. Coming back three
Speaker 6: to one is almost impossible for any team, And even
Speaker 6: as up and down as eighty has been, he's gonna
Speaker 6: have like one monster game and he's next three, right,
Speaker 6: even Big Os seven. So I just don't think they
Speaker 6: can beat a lebron team three times in a row,
Speaker 6: especially with Ad playing. I mean, he's still what leading
Speaker 6: the league and block leading the postseason of blocks rebounds.
Speaker 6: I think even those games where he doesn't score, he's
Speaker 6: still a presence.
Speaker 5: In the middle.
Speaker 6: And we haven't really seen anyone changing stepfs like finger
Speaker 6: rolls and floaters as much as Ad has. I mean,
Speaker 6: just like a bunch of bunnies that he always makes,
Speaker 6: and he's just like, I don't putting more arc on
Speaker 6: his floaters or not enough or going too high up
Speaker 6: the glass, and he's just seems adruptive in there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was something that it seems like they figured
Speaker 3: out and Ham has done an amazing job. I guess
Speaker 3: I say that like I'm a basketball expert or something,
Speaker 3: but it seems like he's doing an amazing job. And
Speaker 3: I think during that game too, like one of the
Speaker 3: things that people were pointing to is like they need
Speaker 3: Vanderbilt in there to stop Steph and like that clogs
Speaker 3: up the middle and makes their offense like pretty stagnant.
Speaker 3: And they were just they just put Ad on Steph
Speaker 3: and like that freeze everything up, and that's that's made them.
Speaker 3: I don't know, it's just incredible that you can put
Speaker 3: a center on Steph Curry and he can do as
Speaker 3: good a job as anybody can do on Steph Curry. Yeah.
Speaker 3: But yeah, we were saying before we start, like your
Speaker 3: for you, these Lakers wins, for me, these Sixers wins
Speaker 3: are like far quarters of magnitude better than the days
Speaker 3: that our children were born. Yeah, we're trying to remain
Speaker 3: calm and rational, but like off Mike, off.
Speaker 2: Mike, Yeah, I'm saying some things that are getting me
Speaker 2: in trouble with like my own parents. They're like, I
Speaker 2: can't believe you would you would hold that in higher regard.
Speaker 2: I'm like, it's there was a pandemic in between that's
Speaker 2: been going on. So yeah, my calculus has has changed.
Speaker 3: A little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, let's take a break and we'll come back.
Speaker 1: We'll talk Nugget Sons, and then we'll head on to
Speaker 1: the East Side right after this and we're back Nugget Sons,
Speaker 1: Nuggets leading.
Speaker 3: Three to two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Game six is tonight. I guess when this episode
Speaker 1: comes out in Phoenix. I mean, man, Devin Booker, these
Speaker 1: statistics look really good. Jack, I'm no expert either. Yeah,
Speaker 1: these numbers look good.
Speaker 3: It's just like the wildest again, Like I was saying
Speaker 3: this with Jimmy Butler, like it's weird when you can
Speaker 3: try harder to just like make shots better, just to
Speaker 3: be like I'm gonna make all my shots in the postseason,
Speaker 3: because like that shouldn't be possible. You're the defense is harder,
Speaker 3: it's more tiring, and you're like only missing like three
Speaker 3: shots like a game. Like, it's his ability to lock
Speaker 3: in has been crazy, really really impressive.
Speaker 2: And his partnership with Kde I mean, it's like we've
Speaker 2: seen that really bare fruit like in a way that
Speaker 2: at first I was not quite believing, but yeah, here
Speaker 2: we are.
Speaker 1: I mean, but at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: Is yeah, it's he's some kind of wonderful I think, as.
Speaker 3: We always say, he's incredible. Yeah, I'm glad Mbid got
Speaker 3: his MVP. Now we can all admit Jokic is the
Speaker 3: best player in the league and just be done with it.
Speaker 3: Yeah he I mean, in the two losses he's been
Speaker 3: putting up like fifty points and you know, just having
Speaker 3: crazy games. What do you guys think? Do you think
Speaker 3: it's going seven? I'd love to see it go seven,
Speaker 3: And I'd love to see the Suns be able to
Speaker 3: deal with the altitude for the first time and like
Speaker 3: may make a pretty good game of it, because all
Speaker 3: the games then in Denver have been pretty kind of
Speaker 3: they haven't been really very close.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, as a potentially if the Lakers get
Speaker 2: out of you know, their series, I would love to
Speaker 2: see anybody have to play seven on the other side.
Speaker 2: So for that very cynical reason, I would love to
Speaker 2: see that. But part of me just thinks Jokic is
Speaker 2: just he's just jually so good, and I just it's
Speaker 2: so fun to watch. Like we always talking about all
Speaker 2: the time, Like he really embodies like Uncle in the
Speaker 2: driveway kind of basketball where he's just like just so
Speaker 2: casually like, yeah, I'm bigger and I'm going to make
Speaker 2: this look so easy. Uh and it's been a bit
Speaker 2: of a nightmare.
Speaker 3: No, my friend to expect them to surrender. I also,
Speaker 3: I just I really like that he's got he's got jokes.
Speaker 3: He's a funny dude.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I think for me, like I was gonna say with
Speaker 6: Yoka specifically, like I was trying to hold him accountable
Speaker 6: I think in the last couple of years when he
Speaker 6: didn't do so in the playoffs, but it was like
Speaker 6: no Jamal Murray. But it's like, yeah, but he's still
Speaker 6: supposed to do better than that. And now he's got
Speaker 6: like the horses around him, like with you know, Aaron
Speaker 6: Gordon and Order and just you know, just a good
Speaker 6: supporting cast that's saw And I'm like, oh no, he's real,
Speaker 6: he's legit, Like he he can just take over a series.
Speaker 5: I think I think he's averaging like a triple double
Speaker 5: in the playoffs so far pretty much.
Speaker 3: And that tiny horse that he that doesn't doesn't he
Speaker 3: also do horse racing, Uh, back isn't his.
Speaker 1: His whole off season is just going to Serbia and
Speaker 1: kicking to.
Speaker 3: The horses and kicking with horses and doing like the
Speaker 3: chariot racing. I call it a tiny horse, and now
Speaker 3: I'm realizing it's actually just because I've never seen a
Speaker 3: horse next to a seven foot before.
Speaker 5: It's a Clydesdale.
Speaker 3: But yeah, and I would just say, like in general,
Speaker 3: a thing that I've taken away from the Celtics series
Speaker 3: a little bit and we'll see, but like Jokic's ability
Speaker 3: to just like distribute the ball and be like he's
Speaker 3: just seems like he's so fun to play with and
Speaker 3: like gets everybody involved. And that's the other thing that
Speaker 3: I've really observed about Lebron is like, you know, he
Speaker 3: had those first quarters where he like wasn't even taking
Speaker 3: a shot or was like barely taking shots and just
Speaker 3: really focusing on getting the rest of his team involved.
Speaker 3: And like having that ability on your team, like as
Speaker 3: the as the kind of focal point of your team,
Speaker 3: seems like a good situation to be in, whereas like
Speaker 3: with the Celtics up to this point, it feels like
Speaker 3: they're doing like sort of a one, my two in
Speaker 3: your turn, my turn, your turn type thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean switching focus to that series.
Speaker 2: Our text threads about this have been so up and down,
Speaker 2: whereas every time Jam and our watch are like Jack,
Speaker 2: just give you a little bit of confidence, You're like, nope,
Speaker 2: I can still see it as completely imploding complete.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's And it's also similar to like everything I
Speaker 2: see and hear from other like Celtics fans too, like
Speaker 2: they're also like I don't know, man, I don't know
Speaker 2: about us either, and it's just funny to see like
Speaker 2: both teams kind of like I.
Speaker 3: Don't know, but just like a toxic self loathing fan
Speaker 3: off between the seventy six Ers and Celtics fans, I
Speaker 3: feel like we're seeing but yeah, I've really seen a
Speaker 3: lot of myself and the Celtics fans where they're just
Speaker 3: like after every loss and I'm sick to my stomach.
Speaker 3: It's a gut punch right right there. They're struggling. I
Speaker 3: feel for them because I know exactly how that feels,
Speaker 3: having been a seventy six Ers fan.
Speaker 2: Well, and it's gotta be wild too, because like with
Speaker 2: the Celtics, like they can beat any team and they
Speaker 2: can also lose to any team. So having that like
Speaker 2: duality going into these kinds of series, like, I feel
Speaker 2: the tension around it. But yeah, Jared, what do you
Speaker 2: what do you think is is something amiss? I feel
Speaker 2: like there's a couple of ways people are looking at
Speaker 2: this series. I feel like the one thing that I
Speaker 2: hear a lot is like Boston's given it to Philly.
Speaker 2: They're just giving it away, They're just letting them have it.
Speaker 2: And on the other side, I'm like, well, Philadelphia is
Speaker 2: playing like a better team. So I don't know if
Speaker 2: I don't know if we can take so much away
Speaker 2: from Philadelphia and then other people it's like, well they
Speaker 2: got the personnel issues or Mozilla's not he's not picking
Speaker 2: the right lineups.
Speaker 1: Where do you kind of stand in this series, Jared?
Speaker 1: What do you see going right or wrong for each team?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I mean it's tough, it's kind of puzzling.
Speaker 6: I feel like last year, the Celtics obviously won the
Speaker 6: East and you know, pretty convincingly, and they obviously had
Speaker 6: the Warriors on the ropes and they were kind of
Speaker 6: without Rob and a lot of the Celtics fans would
Speaker 6: have told you last year he was the big piece.
Speaker 6: Without him, we're limited and then he's back, but he's her.
Speaker 6: He wasn't fully himself, So like that's kind of what
Speaker 6: I'm wondering now. I mean, they kind of walked through
Speaker 6: the regular season, they got Rob in there personnel wise
Speaker 6: that there's not much difference, Like is it all just Joe?
Speaker 6: So it just seems like some intangible thing. I mean, again,
Speaker 6: I'm not a X and o's expert. They're probably doing
Speaker 6: different things, but I don't I don't see how they're
Speaker 6: just this inconsistent when this is supposed to be the
Speaker 6: finish the job year. They just come out so flat
Speaker 6: getting ready against James Harden. I think people were underrating
Speaker 6: his ability to still take over. We saw in Game one, right,
Speaker 6: but yeah, like and beats out there with a leg
Speaker 6: brace on. Come on, Like, how are they just getting
Speaker 6: smoked by these guys?
Speaker 3: Yeah, finished the job. They did have a T shirt
Speaker 3: that's finished the job this season, like that was their
Speaker 3: team's motto. Yeah, it is, Like I guess part of
Speaker 3: me was baking into my assumptions about this series, which
Speaker 3: my assumptions were like there's almost no chance the Sixers win.
Speaker 3: I was baking in Embiad's injury and Hardened, having like
Speaker 3: a very spotty track record in the playoffs, and Maxy
Speaker 3: playing badly against the Celtics every time they played the
Speaker 3: Celtics up until this series. So those are our three
Speaker 3: best players on the Sixer side. But yeah, I don't know,
Speaker 3: they've been able to kind of put some things together,
Speaker 3: and the Celtics continue to do a thing, Like I
Speaker 3: think there's part of it is like there's something with
Speaker 3: like the alpha like that. This is the sort of
Speaker 3: stuff that I usually think is kind of silly, but
Speaker 3: like the main person on their team who is not
Speaker 3: their best player, you know, And I guess that's true
Speaker 3: of the Sixers too, Like PJ. Tucker is like the
Speaker 3: alpha like person on the Sixers and he's just like
Speaker 3: in there because personality reasons and toughness reasons. With the Celtics,
Speaker 3: that's like Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown and Marcus Smart, and
Speaker 3: like Marcus Smart ends up taking like the big shots
Speaker 3: a lot of the time, and like that's just not
Speaker 3: his role or it shouldn't be his role for the
Speaker 3: sake of the team. All that said, all of the
Speaker 3: things that ail the Celtics seem really easy to fix.
Speaker 3: So I just I still think like it's probably easier
Speaker 3: for them to come back from three to two in
Speaker 3: the series than most teams that I've ever kind of
Speaker 3: seen down three two before, but I.
Speaker 5: Would have maintained that pessimism.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I was listening to the episode before the series with
Speaker 6: you Jack talking about it and you had no faith
Speaker 6: in them at all, and I was like, Wow, listen
Speaker 6: to this up three too.
Speaker 5: I was like, amazing, still still there. Yeah, the second
Speaker 5: round as usual, like like just.
Speaker 3: The most toxic parent where I'm like, well, let's see
Speaker 3: how you screw it up.
Speaker 1: That's your own kid, man. Yeah, I know, but I've
Speaker 1: seen it one hundred times.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's three to two. They're playing at home.
Speaker 4: You gonna have some faith.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, were a bunch of bums. Really, No, They're doing great.
Speaker 3: There is like I always I keep saying, like it
Speaker 3: does remind me of the year the Red Sox finally
Speaker 3: beat the Yankees, Like there there are just these like
Speaker 3: weird things where it's like, man, it just seems like
Speaker 3: it's our year, like this year for like they're just
Speaker 3: some of the things that have broken the way of
Speaker 3: the Sixers just inexplicably. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like even like wasn't like Embiad's like first shot
Speaker 2: like a step back three that like like bounce, yeah,
Speaker 2: with real goofy into the rim and I'm like, hey,
Speaker 2: you know what take that?
Speaker 4: You take that?
Speaker 2: And I think it's It's really interesting too, because as
Speaker 2: those kinds of shots begin to fall, you could.
Speaker 1: Really see the Celtics just kind of crumble.
Speaker 2: It was really and like the garden turned into a library,
Speaker 2: Like yeah, I wasn't expecting like the enthusiasm to sort
Speaker 2: of like empty out of there so quickly.
Speaker 3: There's maybe an overall sense that, like the Sixers don't
Speaker 3: have anything to lose because everybody, all of their fans
Speaker 3: are like me, They're like, say, they're gonna lose in
Speaker 3: the second round, that's all right, We're We're happy he
Speaker 3: got the MVP, and the Celtics came into the season
Speaker 3: with like losing in the finals was a failure and
Speaker 3: we need the you know, like there's just an expectation
Speaker 3: among their fan base and their players, and there might
Speaker 3: just be like a bit of a tightening that happens
Speaker 3: with a team like that. That' said they were down
Speaker 3: three to two to Milwaukee last year in this same
Speaker 3: round and then came back, so we'll see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, you know, but they don't have an answer
Speaker 1: for that pick and roll at the moment, so long
Speaker 1: may that last?
Speaker 3: Yeah for the Sixers, you.
Speaker 6: Know, and when MB got hurt, I was kind of like,
Speaker 6: oh no, here we go again. The Sixers two and
Speaker 6: the Sixers thing. Yeah, but that, you know as pretty
Speaker 6: much like who are the Celtics gonna play in the finals,
Speaker 6: because you know that other series didn't seem that serious
Speaker 6: compared to these two.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 6: I mean the fact that Embid was able to come
Speaker 6: back and like get through that injury after missing games
Speaker 6: and still look this mobile. I mean, it's one thing
Speaker 6: for him to get buckets and stuff, but he looks
Speaker 6: like he's moving pretty well. So I would actually be
Speaker 6: surprised at this point of Boston put it together. They
Speaker 6: just seem there's just something off of them.
Speaker 3: That is my one hope. I like last week when
Speaker 3: the Sixers were up one, oh, I think when we recorded,
Speaker 3: I didn't have as much hope as I do now
Speaker 3: because it does seem like Embid's getting stronger and we
Speaker 3: still haven't seen the game where he it's his yeah,
Speaker 3: where he really just like takes over which and those
Speaker 3: games they do tend to win. It's not like a
Speaker 3: thing where you know, there's some players who will like
Speaker 3: have fifty and their team like yeah yeah, yeah, So
Speaker 3: it'll be interesting. I will say, though, I'm hearing that
Speaker 3: a lot that like this Celtics Sixers is like the
Speaker 3: series that's going to determine who's in the finals. I
Speaker 3: feel like, speaking of Buckets, Jimmy Buckets might have come
Speaker 3: into this season with an unfinished business shirt, finished the
Speaker 3: job shirt. Yeah, under his wig. Yeah, still the coolest
Speaker 3: thing anybody did this year. I'm waiting to see if
Speaker 3: anybody does anything in the playoffs that's cooler than Jamie
Speaker 3: Butler coming in with a long haired wig for media
Speaker 3: day and just like having keeping a straight face through
Speaker 3: the whole thing.
Speaker 5: It's amazing. Every every every graphic they put up on
Speaker 5: screen media photo.
Speaker 3: Every time, it works every time because.
Speaker 5: I forget he did it every time and then I
Speaker 5: re see it.
Speaker 4: My laugh.
Speaker 3: It's amazing.
Speaker 5: It's amazing.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, you were you were saying, like, Jared,
Speaker 2: how do you think, I mean, without casting any aspersions
Speaker 2: on the the heater Nicks that really the strong the
Speaker 2: stronger sides are coming out of that other series in
Speaker 2: the East. But you see any you know, how are
Speaker 2: you feeling about the I mean the heat do you
Speaker 2: do you see them you know, doing something, putting something together.
Speaker 6: I mean, I will say I would have said said
Speaker 6: they probably had more of a chance than I saw
Speaker 6: Jimmy get hurt, But then like, I guess he's not hurt.
Speaker 5: He's just fine.
Speaker 3: Injury.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you missed the game in the playoffs, and I
Speaker 6: assume it's gonna linger. But for both him and somewhat
Speaker 6: for Embi there they seem to be fine.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 6: But even go back to the hero thing. I mean,
Speaker 6: they seemed like they were possible when they were beating
Speaker 6: the Bucks, and it's like, but I don't know, without
Speaker 6: Tyler hero, like this just feels like someone getting hot
Speaker 6: at a craps table in some way. I mean, I'm watching,
Speaker 6: you know, Gabe, Caleb and Dunky like these How are
Speaker 6: these guys beating anyone they can meet the next anyway?
Speaker 3: They're just out of their mind?
Speaker 4: That is that is that?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 1: Because Jabari was bringing this up, is like, is that
Speaker 1: just heat culture?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Is it?
Speaker 2: That's just the state ready mentality that you can just
Speaker 2: be like, hey, they stay ready.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it is.
Speaker 3: I don't know. Like the thing I keep seeing with
Speaker 3: the Heat is first round, what I saw was an
Speaker 3: individual player imposing his will on a game, unlike I
Speaker 3: had seen like in ages. But everybody else was like
Speaker 3: Milwaukee choked. The Bucks are like though, you know, and
Speaker 3: now we're seeing the same thing where people are like
Speaker 3: the Knicks are just a limited team and like they're
Speaker 3: going to lose to Miami because they're limited. And I'm like,
Speaker 3: maybe the Heat are making everybody look bad because they're
Speaker 3: actually really good and just did what they needed to
Speaker 3: get through the regular season and now they're actually really
Speaker 3: really hard to beat, and so I don't know, it'll
Speaker 3: be It'll be interesting to see, but I don't I
Speaker 3: don't think that the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals
Speaker 3: is going to be easy for either the Celtics or
Speaker 3: the Sixers. Whether or not I will be rooting for
Speaker 3: the Heat is the question. But they they look tough.
Speaker 1: Jared Quick prediction before we go to break, who do
Speaker 1: you see in the finals?
Speaker 6: Nuggets Sixers gonna get the MVP battle.
Speaker 3: Wow?
Speaker 2: I like that that would be pretty I would like
Speaker 2: that personally, but I like the idea of it, you know,
Speaker 2: fandom aside fandom.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go Celtics Slakers.
Speaker 2: Jack, It's Sixers Lakers, the mad Boost actually Heat Lakers.
Speaker 3: I'd love to see.
Speaker 1: I'd love to see the rematch.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, okay, Bubble bubble, bubble two point zero.
Speaker 1: Yeah, bubble double toil in trouble.
Speaker 3: I'm with that.
Speaker 1: I I want to see. Like I said, I'll say
Speaker 1: it again, Jack, we deserve it.
Speaker 3: You've been cultures Lakers.
Speaker 1: All right, let's take a quick break.
Speaker 2: We'll be right back to just wrap this thing out
Speaker 2: with the rapid fire round of questioning right after.
Speaker 4: This, and we're back, and you know what that means.
Speaker 1: It's time for the rapid fire round of questions.
Speaker 4: Jared.
Speaker 1: Now, I know you've listened to the show.
Speaker 2: You are fans, so I don't have to tell you,
Speaker 2: but I will for the first time listeners at home
Speaker 2: because there are many in the thousands, I believe, actually,
Speaker 2: because this show is on a strataspirit meteoric rise. This
Speaker 2: is the fastest question to answer segment in all of
Speaker 2: sports podcasting. What we're gonna do. We're gonna ask you
Speaker 2: a question. Don't think about it. Don't expand too much
Speaker 2: on your answer. Just chest pass it right back. Just
Speaker 2: keep it quick, keep it tight. And if Jack and
Speaker 2: I start rumbling and ranting about other things like how
Speaker 2: much we are more proud of Lonnie Walker the fourth
Speaker 2: than even Miles Junior, then it'll be on you to say, please,
Speaker 2: we have to keep this segment moving, and so that
Speaker 2: is your responsibility.
Speaker 5: Do you accept the challenge? I'm in Okay, good, here
Speaker 5: we go, Brian start the clock.
Speaker 3: So mean to Brian, It's.
Speaker 1: Just the way I started off. You know, I apologize.
Speaker 1: I text him right after I said it.
Speaker 5: I'm so sorry.
Speaker 3: Man. You don't know. You know, I can't control myself
Speaker 3: in rapid fire.
Speaker 1: Jack, you want to go first?
Speaker 3: I go first. What do you wanna do here? Why
Speaker 3: do you go first?
Speaker 4: Wow? Again? Okay, thank you.
Speaker 1: You're a gentleman and a scholar.
Speaker 3: Jared.
Speaker 2: Eleven of the last twelve NBA finals have featured at
Speaker 2: least one of Lebron or Steph. If you were to
Speaker 2: pick two guys to go on such a run moving
Speaker 2: forward to take that man, who.
Speaker 3: Are you rolling? Yo?
Speaker 6: Kic mm hmm, Jason Tatum Boom, I don't really believe that.
Speaker 7: I don't think I've ever boot now, but yeah, I
Speaker 7: just I don't know, does Tatum I feel like I'm
Speaker 7: I feel I feel a statement coming on that I'm
Speaker 7: going to regret.
Speaker 3: Uh, so I won't say it, but uh, there's heat.
Speaker 3: I don't know. Everybody's always throwing up those side by
Speaker 3: side like here's Kobe doing this shot and here's Jason
Speaker 3: Tatum doing this shot, and that feels inappropriate. That comparison
Speaker 3: feels inappropriate to me when it comes to like having
Speaker 3: the sickness that it requires to be like the level
Speaker 3: of competitor where you impose your will on Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2: To quote the great Reddit viral video compared like that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and if my grandmother had wheels, she could be a bicycle.
Speaker 5: It's easy, right, Yeah.
Speaker 3: He just seems like a good person, like Jason Tatum,
Speaker 3: like a nice person, well well balanced person.
Speaker 2: Not the singular focus that you know just puts you
Speaker 2: at odds with everybody. Yeah, all right, but Jared, what
Speaker 2: are we saying?
Speaker 3: Man?
Speaker 1: We got to keep this moving, mad, I really appreciate that.
Speaker 3: Is there a single NBA player you would take right
Speaker 3: now over the chance of taking Victor wembing Yama with
Speaker 3: the first pick this summer outside of giannis Onto. Takoupa
Speaker 3: Yannas has just reached out to us and informed us
Speaker 3: that he wants his name taken out of consideration for
Speaker 3: this question because that has been the answer that everybody's
Speaker 3: given for it up to this point. And he said,
Speaker 3: I'm actually not interested in being traded for Victor Wembingham.
Speaker 6: I would take the guy that I would have said
Speaker 6: for the last answer if he had been in the East,
Speaker 6: and that's.
Speaker 3: Luca Luca over Wembanyama.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I think I don't watch a ton
Speaker 6: of guys who are not in the NBA.
Speaker 5: I've seen the clips obviously.
Speaker 6: Yeah, there's a little injury risk, there's a little everything
Speaker 6: risk with someone who's not in the NBA. And I
Speaker 6: think Luca is the real deal. So and just the
Speaker 6: age thing, right, like the guy like Yo Kichen NB
Speaker 6: and stuff. They're a little a little too old, I
Speaker 6: guess to be like a ten year run.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we like Luker around here, definitely. I almost called
Speaker 2: Jared Luca. I don't know why I got Luker on
Speaker 2: their brain. Jared, what is your favorite NBA city to
Speaker 2: visit and what is your must have meal?
Speaker 6: In that town Miami mm hm and maybe some repeubeha wow,
Speaker 6: good on Cuban food.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, yeah there you go.
Speaker 5: Yeah, all right.
Speaker 3: You can take any former pacer and put them on
Speaker 3: this current group in Indie. Which former great are you
Speaker 3: choosing to make a run in today's NBA?
Speaker 6: I mean, the best player they've ever had for today's
Speaker 6: NBA is probably still Paul George.
Speaker 3: Wow that yeah, over wonder over Roy Hibbert. Wow.
Speaker 5: I was gonna say, I was gonna say, I was
Speaker 5: gonna say Jermaine O'Neil was a monster. Yeah, years before
Speaker 5: he got he was man.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I just want to see Rick Smits
Speaker 2: against Embiid real quick.
Speaker 1: I'm just curious just to see, like Prime Smith's.
Speaker 2: Because you know, he was always I just I mean
Speaker 2: not to say that that's the right answer, but I
Speaker 2: am very because because of how highly shackle I speak
Speaker 2: of him. I would be curious just to see if
Speaker 2: you could simulate that what that looks like or if
Speaker 2: he's just getting absolutely dusted.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but at something.
Speaker 5: I mean, he would get dusted.
Speaker 6: But I mean he's seven to four, you know, like, yeah,
Speaker 6: he's a big boy, so He's one of the few
Speaker 6: people you put up next to EMBIID it would actually
Speaker 6: like look normal.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 1: And finally, Jared the most important question of them all,
Speaker 1: Jack or Miles.
Speaker 5: Gotta go with Jack?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Whoa?
Speaker 6: He was telling Jami that I I know Jack actually
Speaker 6: more from Crack Days from that podcast probably.
Speaker 3: So Yeah, we got a ringer, baby, you got You've
Speaker 3: brought a planting.
Speaker 1: Well, great to have you, Jared. Next week, my mom will.
Speaker 3: Be the guest on the show and kim let me
Speaker 3: get a winning streak. Kim let me get a winning streak.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a full on plant for the next one.
Speaker 2: Oh man, Jared, thank you so much for joining us
Speaker 2: on Miles and Jack got mad boost He's where can.
Speaker 3: People check you out?
Speaker 1: Follow you and all that kind of good stuff?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: On Twitter, Jared underscore Wade. That's probably the best place
Speaker 6: for any basketball takes. And then I'm on Instagram, Wade, Jared,
Speaker 6: there it is photography over there.
Speaker 3: We also asked our Boosty's listeners to vote on the
Speaker 3: best postseason player so far, and the results are in.
Speaker 3: We got forty Jimmy, which is who I would have
Speaker 3: voted for. Jim He Butler jim He yeah, him, He
Speaker 3: Butler yeah, him hit me.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry Himmy Butler yeah.
Speaker 3: Yes, twenty eight percent, Booker fifth, Corn, Jokic fifteen say
Speaker 3: other ad staff, But I think someone's got to come
Speaker 3: take that mantle from Jimmy at some point.
Speaker 5: It's going to be Lonnie.
Speaker 3: Lonnie Yeah. And you know what I gotta say, Lakers
Speaker 3: fans are really good basketball fan Like I was having.
Speaker 3: I was on what was supposed to be like a
Speaker 3: work call with super producer Sophie Lichterman from Cool Zone
Speaker 3: Media Behind the Bastards, and she was talking NonStop for
Speaker 3: twenty minutes about how they need to get Lonnie Walker
Speaker 3: the fourth more involved and like why isn't he in?
Speaker 3: And that night he put up like twenty in the
Speaker 3: fourth quarter. It was really and She's like, I've been
Speaker 3: talking about this for two months, and Lakers fans are
Speaker 3: are really good basketball fan.
Speaker 2: He was, he was producing for us, and I was
Speaker 2: always a big Lonnie fan. And then we kind of
Speaker 2: he kind of went back of mind. But anyway, shout
Speaker 2: out to lawn he Walker.
Speaker 1: The quarter God, that's right, we all know about you.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 2: And we also asked if we might eventually see a
Speaker 2: twenty twenty finals rematch. Forty three percent of you said yeah,
Speaker 2: La would make it, Miami doesn't, thirty percent said yes,
Speaker 2: twenty two percent absolutely not. In five said Miami makes it,
Speaker 2: but La doesn't. And yeah, we'll make sure you follow
Speaker 2: us on Twitter Miami. No, definitely, definitely b w st I. Yes,
Speaker 2: to follow us where you get all kinds of fun
Speaker 2: stuff like that. Yeah, that'll do it for us this week.
Speaker 3: Sie Go Lakers, go, Lakers go.
Speaker 1: Everybody you know.
Speaker 3: Go pay, And we just want everybody to have a
Speaker 3: good time out there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what if we just cut the trophy up into
Speaker 1: eight pieces?
Speaker 3: Right, thank you? That would be nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, very good, very good.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, well we'll see you next week and
Speaker 2: hopefully we'll be very happy little chats after that.
Speaker 3: Hope we shall see good day, a good day you
Speaker 3: Bye bye.