Speaker 1: And we're back with the full roster and we're breaking
Speaker 1: down the early season of the I said, depray. What
Speaker 1: I mean to say is the Detroit Pistons, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna keep that in there because we're the Detroit Pistons.
Speaker 1: And we're checking back in with the dub discussing a
Speaker 1: point guard showdown between Jalen Brunson and John Morant, and
Speaker 1: more with who you haven't heard this guy? You haven't
Speaker 1: heard this guy even his own father. I think finally
Speaker 1: heard of this guy anyway, and more with Detroit news
Speaker 1: Beat writer Mike Curtis on today's episode, I'm Miles Gray
Speaker 1: and I'm Jack O'Brien and this is Miles and Jack. Wow.
Speaker 1: We that we didn't even learn. Okay, I like that
Speaker 1: you knew. I knew you were going for the value.
Speaker 1: But I said, you know what, I'm throwing it up.
Speaker 1: Left it for me, let God and let go. Just
Speaker 1: threw it up, left it there, and then I jumped
Speaker 1: up and missed the ball. It up too high because
Speaker 1: none of us came forward and landed landed on the stanchion.
Speaker 1: I've dropped kicked a photographer on the baseline. Turned out.
Speaker 1: Uh wait, Mike, Curtis is here. Hello, what's going on? Man?
Speaker 1: Welcome to the show. Thank you for having me Fellas.
Speaker 1: It's always good to get on here and talk a
Speaker 1: little bit of basketball. Yes, of course, of course, you
Speaker 1: know who are you a big fan of? Coming up?
Speaker 1: I mean, first of all, I'm sure when you say
Speaker 1: who you you were like the biggest fan of, it
Speaker 1: will probably aid you. There's been a few shocking times
Speaker 1: when people have said the teams they're fans of, and
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm I'm so old, but please, Mike,
Speaker 1: who who did you come up on? And you know, like,
Speaker 1: what who are your favorite players? Going up? The Buffalo Braves,
Speaker 1: Bob mcindoo. It's funny. I was raised and sacking on Michigan.
Speaker 1: Okayo care when I was four, and I pretty much
Speaker 1: grew up on the Pistons, So that's kind of all
Speaker 1: I saw. Yum, I grew up a fan of the Pistons,
Speaker 1: and I really enjoy Chauncey billips. Chauncey bill is my
Speaker 1: favorite player. And it wasn't just because he was the
Speaker 1: most flashiest. Um. He wasn't the most athletic. He'd probably
Speaker 1: give you one dunk every year, but the way he
Speaker 1: was able to shoot the way he was able to
Speaker 1: kind of lead that group of guys. Um that really
Speaker 1: stuck out to me. So I would definitely say Chauncey
Speaker 1: Bills is one of my favorites, along with Dwyane Wade
Speaker 1: and Allen Iris. I mean arguably one of the best.
Speaker 1: But like the title team with the least like flashy
Speaker 1: superstar like of the past twenty five years, and like, yeah,
Speaker 1: so I gotta gotta be a lot of credit for
Speaker 1: the for the leadership there, right, Yeah, yeah, Like when
Speaker 1: you have a team with so many personalities, like there
Speaker 1: was Chauncey that was ripped, that was tay Sean, there
Speaker 1: was Rashid Wallace who pretty much got a TECH on
Speaker 1: a nightly basis, and then first she got big ben Um.
Speaker 1: In order for someone has got to like kind of
Speaker 1: corral those guys together, and for Shauncey to do it,
Speaker 1: I think that was pretty big of them. Did you
Speaker 1: see that? That said basically, for someone to get Rashid
Speaker 1: Wallace's TECH record the NBA season would actually have to
Speaker 1: be a hundred and twelve games in order because with
Speaker 1: the new rules to prevent like because he had like
Speaker 1: forty one in his season, they said, for you to
Speaker 1: get to forty one technical fouls in the season, you
Speaker 1: need a hundred and twelve games just to deal with
Speaker 1: the suspensions that come along. I did not say that,
Speaker 1: And and it's so funny because I think they changed
Speaker 1: the rule because of him. How you get suspended after
Speaker 1: your sixteen right, exactly exactly. I don't see how he
Speaker 1: hooped in air force once. I think that's part of
Speaker 1: the mystery of Rashid Wallace, you know, like as someone
Speaker 1: I mean, I grew up usually on the other side.
Speaker 1: Oh man, when he almost became a Lakers coach, I
Speaker 1: was like, this is the closest I've been to sheet.
Speaker 1: I need this because I've been such a fan of his.
Speaker 1: But yeah, his energy and pooping in high like air
Speaker 1: force one highs, that's yeah, that's different. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: I gotta ask you, because I always like to ask
Speaker 1: our our guests, who are you know, do this professionally
Speaker 1: as credible journalists with you know, upstanding character? Has that
Speaker 1: evolved your ability to end like as a fan? Are
Speaker 1: you kind of in the camp of I've now because
Speaker 1: I talk and live and breathe basketball so much and
Speaker 1: cover it that I've transcended to the point of I
Speaker 1: really appreciate it for what it is, and every now
Speaker 1: and then I get in my fan bag, but I've
Speaker 1: grown past it. Are you in that group? Are you
Speaker 1: still You're still kind of in your fan back. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it's funny when when I, um, two thousand and eight,
Speaker 1: when Chauncey got traded to the never Nuggets for alan
Speaker 1: I Everson. Um, that's kind of when I separated my
Speaker 1: fandom from the Pistons as a whole. Um. At that point,
Speaker 1: I still didn't even know that I wanted to be
Speaker 1: a journalist. Honestly, I wanted to be an architect because
Speaker 1: I was a really good artist, and I wanted to
Speaker 1: make money. So, yeah, that's about to go. Yeah literally,
Speaker 1: did I know math and me does not mix whatsoever? Um,
Speaker 1: So I change my major after my freshman year at
Speaker 1: Tennessee State pursue journalism. But yeah, back then, that was
Speaker 1: the last time I was really a fan of the Pistons,
Speaker 1: and I think that allowed me to kind of come
Speaker 1: into this role with an objective point of view. But
Speaker 1: it's I've always been a fan of the game, just yeah,
Speaker 1: fan of individual players, but it's not like you were
Speaker 1: like a lucky pair of shorts underneath your clothing no
Speaker 1: matter what season it is, because that might help the
Speaker 1: team do better. Not at all. I don't even wear
Speaker 1: the jerseys that I have anymore just because wow, that's wow.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm five months into the job, so wear
Speaker 1: them again in the summer. But yeah, yeah, we're not
Speaker 1: during the season. So Detroit is having kind of a
Speaker 1: tough run, you know, going to and eight over the
Speaker 1: last ten games, and Kaide was playing really well, but
Speaker 1: he's been out since I think early November eleven nine.
Speaker 1: I think might have a stress fracture in the shin.
Speaker 1: My thought immediately goes to Wembang Yama. I don't know
Speaker 1: if that's you know, I'm not a big Detroit fan,
Speaker 1: but we were running through the teams that are like
Speaker 1: kind of feeling that gravitational pool to the bottom of
Speaker 1: the standings, and of those teams, like I think Detroit
Speaker 1: would be my favorite, Like just as an NBA fan,
Speaker 1: my favorite that you got Detroit, Orlando, Rockets, Spurs, Charlotte
Speaker 1: are all seems like they're in range and like it
Speaker 1: feels like having all three of those guys being young
Speaker 1: coming up together, like and also having a big man
Speaker 1: with with the two guards that that would be exciting.
Speaker 1: Is that something that is crossing into the collective Pistons
Speaker 1: fan consciousness and Pistons beat writer consciousness or how are
Speaker 1: you guys feeling? Um, let me tell you this. So
Speaker 1: every time I tweet out the injury report, because the
Speaker 1: Pistons have been taking their fair share of lumps and
Speaker 1: they're pretty much having five guys out pretty much every
Speaker 1: night or they're being lists questionable. So every time I
Speaker 1: tweet those out, um, the fans immediately say, oh, we're tanking,
Speaker 1: Oh we're getting ready for women yama. Um. So the
Speaker 1: thought is definitely out there, especially since the Pistons are
Speaker 1: last in the league right now five and seventeen. It's interesting.
Speaker 1: It's interesting when you think about like the trajectory of
Speaker 1: how this team kind of wanted to compete at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season and they were even fans even
Speaker 1: expected them to possibly compete for a playoff spot play
Speaker 1: in spot. But um, that has quickly gone the other
Speaker 1: way just because of all the injury trouble they have.
Speaker 1: So I think I think fans are starting to think
Speaker 1: that this team isn't gonna be able to kind of
Speaker 1: get to that play in spot. So they're definitely kind
Speaker 1: of looking towards the future. But I also think that
Speaker 1: they definitely want to start piling up some wins pretty soon. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because it feels like every moment there's like something to
Speaker 1: feel good about, Like injuries just kind of completely start
Speaker 1: the clock over, or just like there's that's always been
Speaker 1: the big or at least this season from what I've seen,
Speaker 1: you have, you know, like k getting injured or Babe
Speaker 1: like coming. You know, they're just they're right when the
Speaker 1: rebuild or something feels like it's it's coming together a
Speaker 1: little bit, it just kind of sets you back. Now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think for me, I was saying earlier, I was like,
Speaker 1: I don't want to feel like one of these arrogant
Speaker 1: fans who's like real patronizing to like other teams, Like yeah, man,
Speaker 1: you know, I remember when of the Pistons they were
Speaker 1: one of the best teams. It just doesn't feel like
Speaker 1: the NBA without saying the Detroit Pistons are like one
Speaker 1: of the top teams. And I don't mean that to
Speaker 1: be patronizing, but it is something like I do wish
Speaker 1: i'd want to see the Pistons do really well. So however,
Speaker 1: it needs to happen, whether that's through the squad they
Speaker 1: have or through new talent coming in, you know, like Wimby.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean we already have like a repeat
Speaker 1: of the eighties with the Celtics and the Lakers. Well,
Speaker 1: you know that's saying that's what I didn't even say
Speaker 1: that they invite any objective analysis of the Lakers. What
Speaker 1: I could put Philly in there to struggling a little
Speaker 1: flow start, Um, yeah, but I don't know. So, I
Speaker 1: mean we are we are seeing the Warriors kind of
Speaker 1: start putting it together a few of the teams that
Speaker 1: got off to really slow starts. You know, the Warriors
Speaker 1: started the year three and seven. They've gone eight and
Speaker 1: three since the Steph season is pretty bonkers. It's yeah,
Speaker 1: thirty one point four points per game, seven assists, seven
Speaker 1: boards on fifty two percent and split, which is the
Speaker 1: same or better than his unanimous m VP season, So
Speaker 1: the same when you think about it, especially since um
Speaker 1: he's much older in his career now. Um, but you
Speaker 1: got to think about how the team has kind of progressed.
Speaker 1: It It looked it appeared as if Clay was kind
Speaker 1: of regressing a little bit, but now he's showing everyone
Speaker 1: he could still perform at a high level. I think
Speaker 1: it took four games to get his three point percentage
Speaker 1: from like thirty three and now it's at forty, right,
Speaker 1: So that's interesting. Dre miond is still playing at an
Speaker 1: extremely high level despite everything that happened in the beginning
Speaker 1: of the season with um Jordan's pool. So I think
Speaker 1: I think it's interesting they're they're pulling it together at
Speaker 1: the right time. I don't think anybody expected UM them
Speaker 1: to have the slow start, but I think we all
Speaker 1: expect them to kind of get it together and kind
Speaker 1: of get back on track, right. I remember at the beginning,
Speaker 1: I was kind of like, oh, what's happening to all
Speaker 1: these players that we thought we're gonna make good in
Speaker 1: this next season? But it is good now, Like you know,
Speaker 1: Jonathan Comingo seems like he's slowly kind of finding his
Speaker 1: feet there, uh and and and making it all work.
Speaker 1: And you know where we were talking it was only
Speaker 1: three weeks ago, were like, Clay, Hello, are you are
Speaker 1: you there? Um it turns out yeah, he's still there.
Speaker 1: Clay said specifically that he didn't play a lot in
Speaker 1: the off season, because remember, like he was coming back
Speaker 1: last season off of two injuries. You know, there was
Speaker 1: the one that happened in the finals, and then in
Speaker 1: the off season he was, you know, so ssick to
Speaker 1: get back that he played a lot of ball and
Speaker 1: tore his achilles. I think that was the second injury.
Speaker 1: So he like kind of superstitiously or not decided to
Speaker 1: not play a lot of ball in the off season.
Speaker 1: So we're we're seeing him kind of play his way
Speaker 1: into shape, and that might just be what this looks
Speaker 1: like when you're just a little bit older. Can't count
Speaker 1: them out. You can't count them out. One thesis I
Speaker 1: had and like, we you know, I've just done very
Speaker 1: loose research at this point, but you know, talking about
Speaker 1: Steff shooting as well, I guess that's the one that
Speaker 1: he's forty four percent this season. His m v P
Speaker 1: season he was forty percent. But he's still like you know,
Speaker 1: any anything over is pretty incredible. But just across the league,
Speaker 1: the three point shooting like it started really hot, and
Speaker 1: I was like, well, we'll see regression to the meme,
Speaker 1: but we're still seeing, like you tell what Tanabi is
Speaker 1: fifty seven percent, right, now seven percent, and like not
Speaker 1: not on like you know, making one three a game.
Speaker 1: He's he's shooting a lot of three. KCP is next
Speaker 1: at forty nine point four percent. George Niang from my
Speaker 1: seventies sixers is coming in the spot at forty four
Speaker 1: point nine percent. And I only bring that up because
Speaker 1: last year's leader for three point shooting was Luke Kennard
Speaker 1: at forty four point nine percent. So I have, like,
Speaker 1: I'm just wondering, did they figure something out, Like did
Speaker 1: the offenses figure out something to like scheme to get
Speaker 1: better looks? Is it just people building their game on
Speaker 1: top of past games than like past practice regiments and
Speaker 1: protocols and like just figuring out like this is what
Speaker 1: you have to do to shoot well in the league,
Speaker 1: And just everybody's getting better and better as the three
Speaker 1: point shot becomes like a more and more important part
Speaker 1: of offenses because you don't you don't expect it to
Speaker 1: like go up that much. I kind of consider three
Speaker 1: point shooting percentage to be a thing that we're at
Speaker 1: a steady level now, you know. Obviously in the eighties,
Speaker 1: I think I was looking up, like what what the
Speaker 1: percentages were year over year, and they also had a
Speaker 1: decade by decade, and in the eighties it was like
Speaker 1: twenty eight percent. It was like people just threw it
Speaker 1: up at the end of a shot clock basically. But
Speaker 1: it's kind of got to thirty five percent in their
Speaker 1: early two thousands and it's stuck there. But now it's
Speaker 1: it just feels like this season is an outlier for
Speaker 1: some reason. I don't know if that's a sign of
Speaker 1: things to come or like even if you go by
Speaker 1: a team by team, you know, the ninth ranked team
Speaker 1: is shooting thirty seven point four percent. The number one
Speaker 1: team last year shot thirty seven point three So like,
Speaker 1: even at a team wide level, it's much higher. The
Speaker 1: Celtics are leading the league shooting as a team from three. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I mean, what could what could be? Because that's like
Speaker 1: a pretty big jump. That's not like are we missing
Speaker 1: something where someone who's more you know, has an intimate
Speaker 1: knowledge of how this that's where it would be like
Speaker 1: get like you're saying, like is it going to regress
Speaker 1: to the medium or medium or what? But it seems
Speaker 1: pretty pronounced when you're like, yeah, and the eighteenth best
Speaker 1: shooter is shooting as well as the best shooter last season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I think it's really interesting. I don't want
Speaker 1: to make it this simple, but it could Could it
Speaker 1: be that teams just aren't playing a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of defense. I think that that could be an
Speaker 1: aspect of it, because you've got a lot of teams
Speaker 1: now that that are switching almost everything. Um and sometimes
Speaker 1: a big is on the guard, sometimes the guards on
Speaker 1: a big and yeah not nowadays a lot of guys
Speaker 1: only need this much space in order to get their
Speaker 1: shot off, so that could be a contributing factor. But
Speaker 1: I think it is interesting how they're a ton of
Speaker 1: guys just lightening it up from three point range right now? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: the switching that does seem to be a trend, right
Speaker 1: the like change this year, And presumably, like the only
Speaker 1: reason that somebody would pick up on a trend and
Speaker 1: like make it their defenses kind of m O is
Speaker 1: because they think it gives them an advantage. But obviously,
Speaker 1: if if everybody's shooting better from three, then that's that's
Speaker 1: not really the case. But maybe maybe it's leading to
Speaker 1: better inside defense or something. We might have to have
Speaker 1: a stats on what was the guest we had that
Speaker 1: one time, who's like the number cruncher. Oh yeah, was
Speaker 1: it Tim? Yeah? Yeah, yeah yeah. Oh. But I mean look,
Speaker 1: and I think another thing, if if, if they're going
Speaker 1: to be taking you know, new approaches to defending I
Speaker 1: just have to shout out, you know the cornet uh
Speaker 1: corn hop up in your face, spreading baby, because Marcus
Speaker 1: Smart even pulled it. And I just I just these
Speaker 1: these two clips just kind of brought a smile to
Speaker 1: my face because there's something so funny. I don't know
Speaker 1: about why, just like this simple Hey, I'm jump in
Speaker 1: your face and hopefully throw you off. But the first
Speaker 1: one is where is it at? Uh? Here we go?
Speaker 1: This is from what last night or two nights ago.
Speaker 1: I guess that'll be Sunday for those listening. But here
Speaker 1: this is against uh, this is against Washington. I just
Speaker 1: want to play this clip where you won't see it,
Speaker 1: but you will know that Cornett takes the leap and
Speaker 1: Jordan Goodwin is not able to make the shot. Trashic
Speaker 1: Roger on his shot the paint and just contest the
Speaker 1: shot by jumping straight out. And we've seen him do
Speaker 1: this throughout the season. He's like, it's the thing I've
Speaker 1: always done. And the numbers back it up. Well, I
Speaker 1: haven't like done the dive on the numbers, but presumably
Speaker 1: he has. And then later in the same game, I
Speaker 1: think it might be the next possession. No, no, this
Speaker 1: is later. This is later in the game. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you got smart even saying, you know what, let me
Speaker 1: go ahead and try that little that cornet contest again,
Speaker 1: jumping from you know, he's a little bit closer, so
Speaker 1: he hasn't fully but it was so early, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Like, it's so it's when I see that,
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, if you have the defensive player of
Speaker 1: the year being like, let me let me see if
Speaker 1: I want to even tinker with that, that's part of
Speaker 1: my game. I'm like, there's gotta he's he's must be
Speaker 1: seeing Something's like, there's there's something to it. I'm still
Speaker 1: trying to put my finger on it. But yeah, you
Speaker 1: know what that reminds me of, um, I used to
Speaker 1: I used to be a big video game guy, and
Speaker 1: I still am. I played too care from time to time,
Speaker 1: but we used to play NBA Street and you used
Speaker 1: to just sit in the paint and just wait until
Speaker 1: your opponent shot their three pointer because you could jump
Speaker 1: all the way up and just blocks. Yeah, clearly goal
Speaker 1: right right right, we'll see. That's why I need somebody
Speaker 1: to a game breaker in the middle of the game,
Speaker 1: like an NBA street and see if they really can,
Speaker 1: you know, come with the same effects. And I need
Speaker 1: Barbito uh calling the game on the sideline because that
Speaker 1: was one of my favorite parts of that game. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe people are just giving up on defense. They're like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I'll just jump from the paint and
Speaker 1: see if they three. And that's but right, like you're
Speaker 1: only seeing the two times that worked. Meanwhile, across the league,
Speaker 1: it's an epidemic of accurate three pointers. But we do
Speaker 1: talk about how players like build you know, the the league,
Speaker 1: the play is progressive. Players get better by building their
Speaker 1: game on top of other people's games. Like we talked
Speaker 1: a few weeks back about Bones Highland and like how
Speaker 1: he has this like herkey jerky ability to like get
Speaker 1: a foot of space well in the paint as a
Speaker 1: you know, smaller player, and like, I don't know, that
Speaker 1: reminds me of Job. I'm sure he wouldn't be, Like
Speaker 1: I modeled my game after Job, but I'm sure watching
Speaker 1: somebody who can create space like while staying close to
Speaker 1: the ground, is you know something something that at least
Speaker 1: is inspiring to be like, oh, yeah, I do I
Speaker 1: do that move. I know, I just never thought I
Speaker 1: could do it in the NBA or something. So but
Speaker 1: like three points you doing, you don't expect them to
Speaker 1: be like, oh, try and make them interesting. Hold on, Steph,
Speaker 1: So what are you trying to do? So you're trying
Speaker 1: to make them when Okay, Wardo, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1: Get that one. All right. Let's real quick talk about
Speaker 1: our Underrated Performers of the Week, which is the segment
Speaker 1: where we highlight some of the best performances that may
Speaker 1: have flown under the radar of uh, you know, lesser
Speaker 1: NBA fans than us. Obviously didn't under our radar. But
Speaker 1: George Niang scored eighteen off the bench, five for seven
Speaker 1: from deep in twenty three minutes and a win over
Speaker 1: the Magic Um. Not not for nothing, but Philly is
Speaker 1: six and two over their last eight um at the
Speaker 1: time of this recording, with the last three games being
Speaker 1: without Embiid and Harden, and I believe the last one
Speaker 1: was that without Maxie and they won by thirties. So um,
Speaker 1: I don't know. How they're doing it. Christian would put
Speaker 1: up twenty one point seven boards off the bench for us.
Speaker 1: The Bucks, Uh kind of slowly getting the trust of
Speaker 1: Jason Kidd. Seth Curry is coming back to being Seth
Speaker 1: Curry twenty nine points off the bench, seven of ten
Speaker 1: from deep. So I mean with Watson, Abi and Curry
Speaker 1: like just bombing from from deep, that makes them much
Speaker 1: more dangerous. And then Malcolm Brogden seventeen six assists, four
Speaker 1: rebounds and twenty three minutes off the bench. Like that's
Speaker 1: exactly why we we were like, oh, that trade is scary. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was. I was waiting for a name and you
Speaker 1: didn't say, what's the name? Kevin Knox Kevin Knox twenty
Speaker 1: one UM, six of eight from three and they helped
Speaker 1: He helped the Pistons beat the Jazz Um over the weekend. One. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was actually fifth on our list. We just didn't
Speaker 1: include it. But yeah, that obviously did not fly under
Speaker 1: our radar. Yeah, now that was pretty significant just because um,
Speaker 1: he's had kind of a up and down career since
Speaker 1: he's been drafted UM to the Knicks as a lottery pick.
Speaker 1: That kind of didn't pan out. Um he played sparingly
Speaker 1: when he was with the Hawks, and now he's trying
Speaker 1: to get that quote unquote second chance with the Pistons.
Speaker 1: So um, they really enjoyed the intensity and the level
Speaker 1: of play that he's brought over the past week or so.
Speaker 1: There it is, all right, should we take a break,
Speaker 1: come back, talk about Lebron zoo Bach, you know the
Speaker 1: two first names that got pop into your head when
Speaker 1: you're thing, yeah, uh, Lebron and zoo Bach. And then
Speaker 1: we'll we'll be right back together again and we're back.
Speaker 1: We were just talking best masked performances. Rip Hamilton, you
Speaker 1: know who just liked liked it so much he kept
Speaker 1: it throughout his career, the mask Man. And even then
Speaker 1: we couldn't even give him a superlative for for Rip
Speaker 1: Hamilton because shooting guards of the of all time, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's I think that's pretty pretty rarefied air. But you know,
Speaker 1: we were pointing out that Lebron put up how many
Speaker 1: with with a mask on? Put the mask back on Lebron.
Speaker 1: When em Bead plays with a mask, it feels like
Speaker 1: how I would feel like it's the most I ever
Speaker 1: identify with Joe lmbad when he has a mask on
Speaker 1: and he's like I can't see and like it's just
Speaker 1: like I hate the way it feels on my face.
Speaker 1: I'm like, yes, you get that is me after two
Speaker 1: houses of trick or treating when I was a kid kills.
Speaker 1: I just want to get out of it. But Lebron
Speaker 1: stepped into the time machine this week nine, like again
Speaker 1: over the spurs as many people were reminding me, hey,
Speaker 1: did you see that they were they were they were
Speaker 1: really trying and they still got by. But yeah, it's
Speaker 1: he's he continues to impress. Although look, I it's it's
Speaker 1: so I have to watch every game with restrained excitement
Speaker 1: because I just have to say, now my bar is
Speaker 1: that we're we improve That's all I want. I just
Speaker 1: want to see some kind of incremental improvement and then
Speaker 1: I'll probably get to the New Year and then completely
Speaker 1: lose my mind as a fan and then be like,
Speaker 1: how come we're not in the playoff type like playoff
Speaker 1: race right now? But for right now, it is nice
Speaker 1: to see and it is nice see Lebron still, I
Speaker 1: think showing people that he is he's still Lebron because
Speaker 1: I know, like as of this recording, we're gonna be
Speaker 1: playing the Pacers and Matherin if you remember, he was like,
Speaker 1: I don't know if anybody is better than me right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: uh so that has a potential to be a very
Speaker 1: interesting game. But yeah, it's nice to see and Matthew
Speaker 1: is playing extremely well, like he's definitely in a running
Speaker 1: for Rookie of the Year, especially if Paolo can come
Speaker 1: back and kind of get back healthy and j Nivey
Speaker 1: has to come back and get healthy. So but I
Speaker 1: feel like that's three man race right there for Ricky
Speaker 1: of a Year. Yeah, it'll it'll be interesting to see
Speaker 1: if Lebron comes out with a chip on his shoulder
Speaker 1: right because the Ricky has been kind of talking trash
Speaker 1: and start to even played an NBA game, which I like,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of people are like, man, he's
Speaker 1: out of he's all he's lost his mind saying stuff
Speaker 1: like that. But part of me's like, you know, let
Speaker 1: these young guys come in there with their chest thusand
Speaker 1: maybe if Lebron has to remind him of his age
Speaker 1: or whatever, then so be it. And if not, then
Speaker 1: we have a fun moment. But I'm not I'm not
Speaker 1: as mad because I'd rather see people be a little
Speaker 1: more arrogant than humble. Sometimes it helps inspire others. Um.
Speaker 1: This also makes Lebron both the youngest player to ever
Speaker 1: go thirty ten with seven May threes, and the oldest
Speaker 1: to ever do it. Which yeah, they don't go. But
Speaker 1: Lakers started on five, seven and six. Since then, UM,
Speaker 1: seven and six with Russ coming off the bench. Uh,
Speaker 1: shot from beyond the arc through the first five of games,
Speaker 1: and I don't know, Lebron's Lebron's three looked really like
Speaker 1: the best I've ever seen it in that game. You
Speaker 1: guys were saying that that was an anomaly, but just
Speaker 1: like the stroke felt like very smooth and all one motion.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if he could if he could
Speaker 1: put it together, that would be that would be some
Speaker 1: Bron James guy can put it together. Just Lebron got
Speaker 1: here right together. I think there. I think he might
Speaker 1: be making some noise later this season. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: we'll see. Remember there was a point in time where
Speaker 1: we didn't even talk about Lebron in the regular season
Speaker 1: up until a certain point, maybe until March April when
Speaker 1: the playoffs were starting, right kind of get going. But
Speaker 1: since he's been in l a Barn title. UM it's
Speaker 1: always a conversation about our Lakers gonna make the playoffs
Speaker 1: and Lebrian get it together? Does he have enough help?
Speaker 1: M and I feel like we have that conversation every year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and we'll continue to, especially when Lebron is just in
Speaker 1: the papers too. It's like, write this part out, say, um,
Speaker 1: Lakers now believe they are two players away from potentially
Speaker 1: being contenders. Yeah, right, that right? The right? That okay? Think? Yeah,
Speaker 1: super producer Ary just said he's currently at twenty eight
Speaker 1: point seven percent from deep but rising, So that would
Speaker 1: have been good in the eighties. That's right. League average,
Speaker 1: um zoo bach. So, uh, this feels more like the
Speaker 1: season we've been seeing, which is people like the league average,
Speaker 1: the players who I think we're perceived as replacement level
Speaker 1: just coming through and wrecking people Like for a gamer
Speaker 1: two put up a thirty one and twenty nine first
Speaker 1: Indiana thirty one points, twenty nine board three, three blocks,
Speaker 1: first player to do that in an NBA game since
Speaker 1: Kareem in. So that's a compliment to say, like you're
Speaker 1: putting up Kareem in the seventies numbers, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Wow, Yeah, that's okay, okay wow. I definitely
Speaker 1: think it was a mistake for the Lakers to trade
Speaker 1: away zo oh my. I think that was one of
Speaker 1: their biggest mistakes in terms of kind of the Lebron era,
Speaker 1: because you had a solidified center who could score in
Speaker 1: the post, he could rebound black shots. I think they
Speaker 1: definitely missed out by training him aways some clip. Oh,
Speaker 1: I don't know they got good return, right who they they? Oh? No,
Speaker 1: they did. They didn't get which I don't even remember
Speaker 1: who was involved in that trade. I mean, first of all,
Speaker 1: it was against Miles Turner, right exactly. He put up
Speaker 1: those numbers against Miles Turner when the headline previously was
Speaker 1: like maybe clippers. Now. I think there's two theories. One
Speaker 1: is that zoo Box was like, okay, watch this is this?
Speaker 1: Is this your God? Is this your king? Like when
Speaker 1: he comes through and he's like this is who you wanted?
Speaker 1: Or did Miles Turner be like I don't want to
Speaker 1: play over there? Yeah? Yeah, bro, do what you want,
Speaker 1: Do what you want. I don't want. I don't want
Speaker 1: to play for the clip. That's a very Laker brand
Speaker 1: interpretation what he did. He was just trying to put
Speaker 1: him off. Man that's what. But yes, it could be
Speaker 1: and I think, but yeah, it was. That's I mean again,
Speaker 1: it's impressive, and I think it's a moment to where
Speaker 1: it inspires another player to perhaps be like, oh I
Speaker 1: hold on, this person may take my spot. Let I mean,
Speaker 1: there's been there's been a lot of like Job versus
Speaker 1: Brunson was a lot of fun that back and forth.
Speaker 1: Jah ended up having a triple double and ten Bronson
Speaker 1: had thirty nine. Is this five rebounds? Brunson has been
Speaker 1: his last four games as this recording like thirty seven.
Speaker 1: So he's who they thought he was. I guess, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just like I saw this headline that apparently the
Speaker 1: first time ever John Morand's dad, like ever in Jaw's career.
Speaker 1: This is the first time his father asked for his
Speaker 1: jersey from a game. Yeah, And it was just like,
Speaker 1: I guess And because I think he said his dad
Speaker 1: has like he has like a very special feeling about
Speaker 1: Madison Square Garden and the fact that he had a
Speaker 1: triple double there, he was like, Okay, okay, Son, you
Speaker 1: know what, I believe the hype. Now, I guess you
Speaker 1: are good at basketball. My dad once asked for my
Speaker 1: jersey after a game. But it was more the way
Speaker 1: that like a police captain asks for someone's bead and
Speaker 1: they really screw up, Just be like, hey, man, I
Speaker 1: need your jersey on my desk in the morning. Hold on, man,
Speaker 1: how did you put the ball back a defensive rebound
Speaker 1: or in a free throw? And you just put it
Speaker 1: back at what was that? And it was a three? Somehow?
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I gotta tell you, man, that step
Speaker 1: back three was cold. But I need your jersey and
Speaker 1: your sneakers now on my dead So free from three
Speaker 1: on your own basket, but two for three on the
Speaker 1: opponent's basket? How how? Yeah? Oh man? And then Jeremy
Speaker 1: to also porn forty four? Uh, he's And I know
Speaker 1: we're looking back on our predictions in a later episode,
Speaker 1: but I feel like, very early on, I think we
Speaker 1: were saying why look out for Jeremy Grant this season,
Speaker 1: weren't we? Jack? I was saying that. I'm saying he's
Speaker 1: liable to put up thirty and twelve. Sorry I was
Speaker 1: reading the wrong spec He's liable to put up forty
Speaker 1: four points against the nixt in an O T win
Speaker 1: without Damian Lillard exactly. Yeah, he's in a really good
Speaker 1: position now that he's um kind of out in Detroit.
Speaker 1: I think um he was kind of tasked with being
Speaker 1: the guy when he was here, and it kind of
Speaker 1: led to what kind of didn't fit, especially the way
Speaker 1: Detroit wanted to have their roster with k coming in.
Speaker 1: Now Kay gets to kind of shoulder that offensive production
Speaker 1: and Jeremy kind of gets to play. He's I think
Speaker 1: he's the third option behind Damian Lillard and signments, so
Speaker 1: he gets to kind of play free in a way
Speaker 1: that I don't think he had the opportunity to when
Speaker 1: he was in Detroit because so much attention was on him.
Speaker 1: So he's at year and that's when when you add
Speaker 1: a score like that, sometimes it can be you know,
Speaker 1: they need the ball too much. It's like their gravitational
Speaker 1: force and like the the offense kind of collapses around them,
Speaker 1: and it's not it's not as helpful or is not
Speaker 1: as good a fit. But like to add somebody who
Speaker 1: is just like yeah bye, by being the third option,
Speaker 1: it actually helps my game is is pretty Uh you
Speaker 1: know that that worked out nicely for them. Yeah, alright,
Speaker 1: let's take another break and we will come back with
Speaker 1: the fastest segment in podcasting, The Rapid Fire, and we're back. Ah,
Speaker 1: Mike Curtis, you thought you were ready. Well, the great
Speaker 1: state of Michigan can only prepare you so much for
Speaker 1: what you're about to endoor. I know the winters can
Speaker 1: get cold over there, but nothing is colder than this
Speaker 1: segment more unforgiving than this segment called the rapid Fire
Speaker 1: Round of questioning. Now we're gonna ask you a question.
Speaker 1: You just give us your answer, just reflectively, don't think
Speaker 1: about it too much. Just keep keep it moving, okay,
Speaker 1: because we want to keep our title as the fastest
Speaker 1: segment in sports podcasting. Uh with the show that starts
Speaker 1: with a M. And I do just want to clarify
Speaker 1: that the seat, your seat will be hot. The the
Speaker 1: fire is rapid, but but the our responses will be
Speaker 1: called and unforgiving, just so because I know it can
Speaker 1: get confusing sometimes. Oh yeah, yeah, yes, sorry, he's still working.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of working that. I was just gonna say,
Speaker 1: because you know, Mike, you're you're paid to right words,
Speaker 1: How would do you have any notes for that? How
Speaker 1: was that? That was pretty good? Okay? Good, that's what
Speaker 1: I thought, Jack. You see, Mike Curtis said, it was okay,
Speaker 1: So I will no longer believe you when you so
Speaker 1: hate on my name. Well, it sounded like you said
Speaker 1: it was pretty good based on what I heard or
Speaker 1: how I interpreted enthusiastic. Um. Anyway, let's get to this.
Speaker 1: This is the rapid f irenic questioning start the clock
Speaker 1: Jackson's you want you want to go first? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: would love to go first. Thank you for asking. Good,
Speaker 1: go ahead? Oh Joy, I thought you said, oh first, Okay, no,
Speaker 1: but I'm going first, right? Yeah, Mike, you can pick
Speaker 1: any three sharpshooters from history for the ultimate three point
Speaker 1: shooting contest. What's your three play? Thompson, Steph Curry and
Speaker 1: by Allen Ray? Now, what is it about Ray? Allen
Speaker 1: that made you say that? I think it's just because
Speaker 1: his consistency. He releases it the same way every time.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter how it catches, it doesn't matter where
Speaker 1: he is on the floor. I think it's pretty much consistent. Um.
Speaker 1: With Steph, it doesn't matter how it comes off. Pretty much.
Speaker 1: He got has that muscle memory down pretty much. Um,
Speaker 1: always going in. And then with Clay, we've seen him
Speaker 1: as one of the best stand if not the best
Speaker 1: stand sale shooter um in league history. So who wins
Speaker 1: between them? I'm gonna say, Clay, Yeah, on a on
Speaker 1: a hot night, you gotta keep I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: You know Jack, I know what you're about to say.
Speaker 1: On a hot night, this segment has to be going
Speaker 1: faster exactly hot night like this. Please please, man, we
Speaker 1: gotta we gotta keep this. I was ready. Yeah, yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay,
Speaker 1: Mike Curtis, how about this one? Now you have the
Speaker 1: chance to win ten thousand dollars to make a layup
Speaker 1: with each hand, twenty five thou dollars to make at
Speaker 1: least four or five free throws, or a hundred thousand
Speaker 1: dollars to make at least three of five from deep.
Speaker 1: Which challenge are you taking? I'm taking a free throw challenge? Wow? Okay?
Speaker 1: Confidence last week got the same answer four out of five.
Speaker 1: You're feeling real confident. So you're I don't trust my
Speaker 1: left hand um with the left wow? Yeah, and my
Speaker 1: range is kind of limited since I'm five for six,
Speaker 1: so to shoot any three pointers? Yeah? The lay up, man,
Speaker 1: I remember layup lines on the left side. I'm almost
Speaker 1: had a had panic attacks like I would pray I
Speaker 1: would go up with that left I'm like, please let it, yes,
Speaker 1: thank you, I'm still on the team. I would do
Speaker 1: like a reverse layup on the right side, but then
Speaker 1: I'd accidentally run into the rebounder and then you know,
Speaker 1: I'd sho and one but it would never go in.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean this goes back to the pitch
Speaker 1: that we've been sending to the NBA. I guess we
Speaker 1: might as well say it on the thing. Replace the
Speaker 1: three point shooting contest and the dunk contest with free
Speaker 1: throw shooting contests. You know, thank you. That's what people
Speaker 1: want to see. They don't want to see anything else.
Speaker 1: They want to see who's consistent over and over again.
Speaker 1: I would like to say that with the worst free
Speaker 1: gar shooters in the league, yeah, wow, better viewing experience
Speaker 1: and like yeah, and then like people who have no
Speaker 1: business dunking in the dunk contest, like just invert all
Speaker 1: of them, you know what I mean, Like, the worst
Speaker 1: three point shooters in the league are now also going
Speaker 1: to be in the three point contest, so like to
Speaker 1: add some fun to their dunks, they have like choreographed
Speaker 1: dances ahead of each one, and then do you see
Speaker 1: like a little like one handed dunk whatever they gotta do,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, and they get more props.
Speaker 1: I think these are all fantastic ideas. These are great ideas. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I think I'm up. Is that correct? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: think I get to ruling them from the judges. What
Speaker 1: is the new rule, Mike. They like to see implemented
Speaker 1: or altered effective immediately. And this can be as you know,
Speaker 1: serious as outlawing defensive three second or you know, as
Speaker 1: silly as taking the air out of the ball for
Speaker 1: a quarter and every everybody just has to play with
Speaker 1: a floppy basketball. Okay, I'm gonna semi serious and say
Speaker 1: I want the NBA to implement the feeble rule, where
Speaker 1: you can touch the ball when it's on the when
Speaker 1: it's on the rim, pretty much blocking it. So I
Speaker 1: think that would be pretty pretty entertaining, especially when guys
Speaker 1: aren't as used to it and everyone probably thinks his
Speaker 1: golden especially if you haven't watched the international game, right,
Speaker 1: I'll say that one that feels like something that if
Speaker 1: somebody was good enough at it, you could just time
Speaker 1: it so perfectly that like you just get somebody who
Speaker 1: is one of the best volleyball players in the world
Speaker 1: and just come and spike every shot the second it
Speaker 1: gets to the rim. I like that, yeah, and that
Speaker 1: they need to introduce the staff for it. How many
Speaker 1: how many men shot block off right? Or if one
Speaker 1: of the best players in the league already happened to
Speaker 1: be a great volleyball player when they were young, Like
Speaker 1: I don't know, Joe l embiid uh, I like this idea. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he was a volleyball play, a multi hyphen a. This man, Mike,
Speaker 1: I said, man, what do we say? We gotta keep
Speaker 1: this going. I gotta ask you one of the most
Speaker 1: important questions I've ever asked anybody on this podcast, which
Speaker 1: is Mike Curtis, what are your top three throwback jerseys
Speaker 1: of all time? Um? The Royal Blue, Kobe Bryant eight,
Speaker 1: Lebron's Brookie jersey, the white one. H um U, let's
Speaker 1: go with m Red black. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: jersey I always wanted. And I remember the shorts. I
Speaker 1: could not find the shorts anywhere in l A. I
Speaker 1: remember that, like that year that was like the hottest
Speaker 1: whooping item you could own. Where the Black Bulls shorts
Speaker 1: couldn't find them anywhere. They say, to this day, I
Speaker 1: haven't recovered, and that's why I got into podcasting. I
Speaker 1: believe them, all right. And finally, most important question of
Speaker 1: the night. I know Myles like to say that the
Speaker 1: last one is the most important, but this is really
Speaker 1: it on arrogant? Is it Jack Miles or supersound engineer
Speaker 1: Brian Miles? Mhm, yeah, that's right, that's the right answer.
Speaker 1: That's correct, that's correct. With flying colors, I knew you
Speaker 1: were intelligent. I knew you're an upstanding journalist who had
Speaker 1: just the sense of and judgment of character like I knew.
Speaker 1: And also remind me your vemo against I. I can
Speaker 1: send you that on an unrelated, unrelated thing, unrelated thing, Jack,
Speaker 1: completely unrelated. We even gave him the out of Brian
Speaker 1: when he picked Miles. I don't even know what I
Speaker 1: just answered, yeah, but you did answer. Confidently, you did answer,
Speaker 1: and you answered some thought we did. And look, we
Speaker 1: like to have him pick you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: We just and it's totally fair, and that's that would
Speaker 1: be my pick as well. No no offense to engine
Speaker 1: Thank you, Jack, thank you so much. You honor me,
Speaker 1: You honor me. But Mike Curtis, Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for honoring us by appearing on our show. Where can
Speaker 1: people you know find you? A read you follow you,
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff? Yeah, thanks for having me again, guys.
Speaker 1: Um it was really fine. On my Twitter is Mike A.
Speaker 1: Curtis too. Um. You can find me on there, at
Speaker 1: least while Twitter is still active. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's gonna be here tomorrow, but if not, then you
Speaker 1: can find me at the Detroit News. I'm pretty much
Speaker 1: writing stories pretty much every day, so check me out
Speaker 1: there subscribing. Thanks for all to support. And we asked
Speaker 1: a listener which game you would travel back in time
Speaker 1: to experience, and our boostis listener of the Week Aaron
Speaker 1: and mix c, who said, as I heard the intro
Speaker 1: music today, I thought this is Jack's week to finally
Speaker 1: get chosen during Rapid Fire, and then he wasn't even there.
Speaker 1: Won't um in reference to the last episode where I
Speaker 1: was missing because I was, you know, working with my
Speaker 1: therapist about the fact that I'm oh and thirty. I think, look,
Speaker 1: records aren't records. No, It's okay, And you know, my
Speaker 1: therapist was like, just walk walk into it. Prepare for
Speaker 1: the fact that you're never gonna get picked. She was like,
Speaker 1: You're never gonna get picked. And I also like that.
Speaker 1: We're like, which game would you travel back in time?
Speaker 1: And then Aaron's like, man, I can't believe Jack took
Speaker 1: an L and he wasn't even then have some have some?
Speaker 1: Just yeah yeah, And I like to anyway, make sure
Speaker 1: you give us a follow on Twitter at mad boost
Speaker 1: these yeah b O S T I E s. And
Speaker 1: you know, I'll continue to keep improving and getting uh
Speaker 1: you know better. So maybe one day I I get
Speaker 1: a win, but even if not, I'm gonna be happy
Speaker 1: and good with good attitude. That's what I like about you, guys,
Speaker 1: hustle players, you know what I mean, just flying all
Speaker 1: over the court given heart, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: May not have all the talent, you know, but you've
Speaker 1: got the heart and nuts what matters a lot of you.
Speaker 1: Ever invite me back on I'll be sure to take you. Jack, Oh,
Speaker 1: thank you so much that and it sounds like it
Speaker 1: would be genuine and totally earned. And you know what,
Speaker 1: why don't we invite you back right now and do that?
Speaker 1: Like no, no, no, it's okay. This is this is
Speaker 1: what we talked about therapist, talk about you right here
Speaker 1: right Well, shout out Dr Phil, Yeah, yeah, Dr Hey,
Speaker 1: at least you're listening to Tim mcgirl. Thanks shout out
Speaker 1: to you man. Well, thanks so much for listening this week.
Speaker 1: We'll be back next week and tune in for the
Speaker 1: mysteries that surround the league and whether or not our
Speaker 1: guests will make the right choice during the rapid round question.
Speaker 1: Until then, we'll be us and you'll be you. Bye
Speaker 1: bye fo