NBA Analysis and Standout Performances From 10/28-11/4

Get your game face on as we bring you courtside to the NBA's pulsating action, revealing key insights and expert analysis! Want to unravel the secret behind Victor Wembanyama stellar performance against the Suns and the Spurs' surprising young talent? Curious about how the Clippers and 76ers trade reshaped the Western Conference scenario? We've got you covered.

We're taking you on a rollercoaster ride through the thrilling world of NBA, decoding the impact of back-to-back games for veteran teams, and how the Lakers' strategy paid off against the Clippers. We scrutinize the Bucks' abysmal defense and its potential repercussions on their playoff journey. From there, we shift focus to Luka Doncic's MVP-worthy performance along with the Mavericks' surprising hot start this season. We end with a heated debate on the Lakers vs. Clippers showdown and how James Harden's trade has sent ripples through the Western Conference. This is an episode bursting with NBA analysis that you don't want to miss!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the ColourShop podcast, your weekly sports recap podcast, where we break down the hottest headlines, dissect the latest injuries and serve up our own hard hitting analysis of the past weekend sports. But that's not all. We're not just here to talk about the past, we're here to predict the future as well. On the ColourShop podcast, we boldly predict the outcomes of the upcoming weeks games.

Speaker 2: 0:22

We're getting straight into the NBA. First thing I want to talk about Drew is the rookie of the year, victor Wimbanyama. Over the past three or four games he had been playing solidly and was putting up similar numbers to Chet Holmgren about 18-7 with about two blocks. And then he plays the Suns and he's like okay, let me just go all in the NBA real quick.

Speaker 2: 0:42

Had the game last night drops 38 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks against KD and Booker, who returned for the Suns and kind of just goes to show not only that Victor Wimbanyama is the real deal, but kind of the concerns that I had for the Suns coming into this, obviously still without Bradley Beale, first game back with Devon Booker. And you know how are they going to stop people? Obviously they're not going to play against a seven, five unicorn every single week. But like I don't understand where the stops are going to come from, yousef Nurkic is basically the only size that they have. He gets in foul trouble a lot and he's not that quick laterally. And then you have you banks coming off the bench, who you know. They don't scare anybody over.

Speaker 2: 1:22

What have your thoughts been over the past week and a half on Victor Wimbanyama and what are your expectations for the Suns off of this kind of, you know, slow start with injuries.

Speaker 1: 1:33

I mean I was telling you this earlier too like I had the under in that game, which had no chance in hell of covering at all.

Speaker 2: 1:42

These birds dropped like 40 plus in the first quarter.

Speaker 1: 1:44

Yeah, yeah, and like they were at like I think like 107 points or something crazy like that in the third and I was like okay, well, this isn't, this is bad.

Speaker 2: 1:54

This is real.

Speaker 1: 1:56

And so I was, like you know, looking at the, looking at the, like what the Suns have done so far. Okay, you know, they limited the Warriors to 104 points, they limited the, the Lakers, to 100 points and then limited the Jazz, who you know aren't that good, but they still limited them to 104 points. Okay, so they limited them to 114 to to the Spurs no plan again.

Speaker 1: 2:21

they'll have that'll be a little bit of a closer game because they, for all intents and purposes, like they, they got lucky that first game, but no, they just decided actually, let's just do better next time. We have Papa bitch, we have this big ass guy seven, five wingspan of, like you know, the twin towers and run it to the moon.

Speaker 1: 2:45

It was like like watching that game. I was like how do you stop that? Because you just basically throw it to the top of the backboard and then he just grabs it and then, just like, guides it into the hoop.

Speaker 2: 2:57

They've been bringing them on slowly. I don't know if he was on the ministry restrictions to start the first few games and stuff. But then you had Devon Vassal go out with a groin injury and then it didn't come in at half time and they're like, okay, we're just going to play through our best player in Victor Wiminyava. And then, crazy, I think, he went on a 10 o run himself to close out the game once the sons were able to make a comeback and tie the game up late in the fourth quarter and then he single handedly beat Devon Booker and KD and I was like yeah oh, my God.

Speaker 1: 3:25

Yeah, I have no idea, like, what to expect from this. This spurs team like going forward if, especially like you, have somebody that's literally impossible to guard, like we. We haven't seen players like I don't want to. You know, I want to overreact to one game.

Speaker 2: 3:42

You know, but like we've seen.

Speaker 1: 3:44

We've seen this kind of unstoppable kind of player before with with Kareem, but now this guy is shooting threes, like he's not just like you know, oh you know shoots a couple threes and he's not very good, not very like he's, he's swapping them.

Speaker 2: 4:01

Like you know, we're not trying to overhype them the media has already done that enough. But I mean like 38, 10 and two. So it was like the only the second third player in NBA history that was a teenager to drop 35, 10 and two with KD and LeBron, and he currently is third in the NBA and clutch time points, so points in the last five minutes of the game, just behind LeBron and Luca and right in front of Steph. So like I don't know and like yeah, you talked about with the spurs, like I don't think I didn't have the spurs even in the plan. I think they had them just outside the plan as like 11th or 12th, but I thought they were going to be a very fun and young and entertaining team getting up and down the court and obviously with Victor and Vinyama Visele I'm not exactly sure the extent of his groin injury, but he's honestly looked very good too. So, and then you have a lot of young people, not a bad shot.

Speaker 2: 4:47

This is true, no, but it's a lot of bad shots. And then you have a few veteran pieces with, with Jones, the point guard, and Zach Collins, real former, you know, trailblazers great. And then you had, you know, Doug McDermott, Dougie buckets, coming off the bench swapping threes, and stuff too. So like they're going to be a very fun and entertaining team.

Speaker 2: 5:07

I don't have, you know, I'm not ready to press the panic button or anything on the suns are still two and three. They still have great offense and you know we still haven't seen it with Bradley Beale. It's just like how often are we going to be able to see them together? And that goes to show it may not be that big of a problem in the regular season, but you know, I think we've seen that chemistry, even when you have these big threes, is very important when you get to the playoffs. And if they're not healthy in the regular season, why are we going to automatically assume that they're going to be healthy in the playoffs? So it's kind of, you know, starting to, starting to, starting to concern me just a little bit.

Speaker 1: 5:38

Yeah, definitely, and it's. It's one of those things too where, like we've talked about this before, like not on the podcast, but just between us a lot of the, a lot of the what ifs are built around all these injuries for the West and and a little bit on the East as well too, but the, the extent of the injuries are kind of what's concerned in terms of, like, the player value is. What's concerning is that they they have players coming back and everything, and then you play against these what are supposed to be bottom to your teams and you're losing to them and not showing up in the caliber or in the fashion that you would expect them to. Again, this is beginning of the season.

Speaker 1: 6:25

Like the focus is still getting this feed underneath them, and you know that's kind of why they they wanted to implement this, this play in tournament or the NCs in tournament, whatever the hell they're calling this thing. That's why they're doing that now, so that way they can incentivize players playing and playing for something, as opposed to just like. I don't really want to try that hard Now. We're good, we'll just play for next, next game or next week or whatever.

Speaker 2: 6:52

So they came out with news this week too. They're obviously they're giving money, cash prizes to like the winners and stuff for the players. They're actually they're giving them to the coaching staff as well. So they're really trying to incentivize playing your star players and things like that. Which kind of leads us into the next thing that I wanted to get into is the James Harden trade. So the 76ers finally ended up trading James Harden to the Clippers and it honestly ended up working very well for the Clippers, who only had to get basically, they get James Harden, the PJ.

Speaker 2: 7:21

Tucker and an extra piece. They give up Marcus Morris, robert Covington, nick Patum, kj Martin. So you know, depth bench pieces. They give up the OKC's first round picks, or two first round picks, one first round pick swap and then some second round picks. So it's basically what some like, I think, what the Celtics got gave up for, like Drew Holiday and things like that. So, like it, you know, I think the Clippers kind of fleeced in this situation. We're obviously have to wait and see what the first round picks and what those come out to be. But what were your overall thoughts on this trade, drew, and how do you feel that this helps the Clippers or doesn't help the Clippers going forward? They had a very, you know, entertaining game against the Lakers, not to just the other day, and you know Lakers got that dub, you know. But what were your thoughts on the trade?

Speaker 1: 8:09

I mean, it was a trade that had to happen essentially, and then also I just absolutely love it for my Tyrese Maxi and most improved player pick as well. But at the same time, like I, the almost of the Eagles wrong for the nothing. The 76ers have been actually looking pretty decent so far this year, taking care of business and everything, maybe the signing of the offseason?

Speaker 1: 8:38

honestly, yeah, I mean minimum. He's finding his flow in the game and he's finding out how to Take all of the crazy ridiculous bad shots that he takes and take a bunch of those shots, but in a more controlled manner because he has another superstar around him, so it doesn't look nearly as bad when he's doing that and so, and he's also open now when he's taking these shots and we're seeing that as a result, he's being able to Help out the offense mightily too. So and then, as far as that goes with the Clippers we kind of talked about this last week too If he was to go there and make some an instant championship contender, he went there, they're probably top three or four for me now yeah like it Like it makes it before.

Speaker 1: 9:32

If they are able to stay healthy this is the if, as always, they were to stay healthy, they, I think, can definitely come out of the West. The only only team that would be able to remotely compete with them would be the Nuggets. I Maybe they'll, maybe the lake Lakers, but hey a man, you know okay. Okay, yeah, without without. Without a lot of their players to a lot of their bench players that they're hot you more as a starter. He's not. He should not be a starter.

Speaker 2: 10:08

Jared Vanderbilt's a starter.

Speaker 1: 10:10

He's not that great of a defender, but I'm getting Vincent's decent gave. Vincent is a body.

Speaker 2: 10:18

Okay, but no.

Speaker 1: 10:25

Once I bought a body.

Speaker 2: 10:27

Shooter.

Speaker 1: 10:28

He is a cone. Okay, that is a fact. There's no denying that it was very surprised to be a George Inc.

Speaker 2: 10:36

Why Leonard played in the back-to-back. That was. That was entertaining. It was a great game.

Speaker 1: 10:40

Yeah, so a lot of people. A lot of people thought that they were gonna, you know, load management, sit out and everything like that, but to our surprise, they were actually able to play in the game. Paul George's end up fouling out, which ended up ultimately Resulting in the Clippers to lose the game. Yeah, you know credit where credit's due. The, the Lakers, ended up Ended up taking down the, the mighty Clippers.

Speaker 2: 11:07

I think they were oh, and I and over to the past, like three seasons against the Clippers or something like that. No yeah. It was bad. It was bad now with past three season.

Speaker 1: 11:15

I was past couple seasons so yeah, yeah. The one of the things I kind of want to like look at going forward is is these older teams coming off of back-to-backs? Because they're the one of the main things that they're trying to avoid is resting on home games, on back-to-backs in prime-time games or just home games in general. That way teams can, or players or players, fans can see the star players play, because ultimately, that's how you see these tickets.

Speaker 1: 11:49

Yeah, and so you might see this in the reverse way, where players are doing load management or not necessarily sitting out, but they're only gonna play, you know, like 20 minutes instead of like the usual 38 minutes, and that's gonna be more so on the road as opposed to at home. So, going forward, that might be something to to look at and check out If you're looking to fade fade certain teams in certain spots, like that.

Speaker 2: 12:16

So yeah, I'm talking about minutes restrictions. The Lakers were supposed to have minutes restrictions on the brahman coming into the season. I think they said they wanted to do 30, 31 and the bronze said f that and he's currently seventh in the NBA minutes. 38 about to be. Was he 38 now or about to be 38? About to be 39?

Speaker 1: 12:35

something like that.

Speaker 2: 12:36

Yeah, but 39 About 39 and he's playing great basketball. As we mentioned, had the win against the Clippers where he dropped 35, 12 and 7. Is actually shooting very well. Has not been shooting good from the three-thorough free throw percentage but you know what's new with LeBron free throws but overall has been very good and it's currently, as we mentioned earlier, number one in the league in clutch time points. So Any surprises or things that you want to get into specifically over the past we can have of NBA season.

Speaker 1: 13:09

One thing that I get maybe it's not that big of a surprise, but something that's kind of concerning is when the, the Bucks, are when it comes to defensive rating. They're not dead last, which is good, but they're second to deadline, so Could be worse. Right, yeah, they're. They're only above the, the Washington Wizards. So that that's not company you want to be in and Looking at. Just like looking at the, the buildup of their team, like obviously you know you go from Dame to Are, from Drew holiday to Dame, like that's obviously they could drop an offense right there too.

Speaker 1: 13:49

But it's also like their interior defense as well. That's getting kind of beat up and bullied. And Brooke Lopez isn't Isn't the same defender, like he's what? 35, 36 now he's getting up there in age, not able to keep up with the old young Bucks as he used to, and so he's not the defensive MVP candidate that he was in years past. So I Think that's gonna be a major problem going going forward, especially in the playoffs, if they can't get stops. Like offensively takes you so far. Defense travels, offense doesn't. So I Think it's definitely one one thing that's kind of concerning. I didn't think it was gonna be this bad. I thought I was. I knew it was gonna be bad, but not this bad for sure.

Speaker 2: 14:41

Yeah, that's what we had talked about earlier in the season, thought that obviously the loss of drew holiday Makes them a worse defensive team, but didn't necessarily think that Damian Lillard would be that much of a liability to create them to be actually a bad defensive team as of right now. They have not been a good defensive team. You know, had the Explosion against the 76ers, really go on this huge run, but then the 76ers walk them down and they nearly lose. So they end up when you buy one point they lose to the Hawks. Barely beat the heat and then you know they're now two and three to start the season as they got whooped by the Raptors.

Speaker 2: 15:12

So it's been kind of weird. I've watched a few of those games and you know they obviously start Janus and Damian Lillard, damian Lillard, but they kind of try to stagger their minutes. So at least one of them is always on the court and there's been times where it looks elite, but there's also been times where it's gotten very stagnant. So then it kind of just turns into, you know, james turn, janus's turn, and it doesn't really seem to really have a flow or system in place offensively. So has been kind of interesting.

Speaker 2: 15:38

They play the Knicks tonight and you know I don't know. This is kind of you know, I still think they're gonna be a great team and elite team in the East. But it's kind of one of the reasons why I did have the Boston Celtics over them as number one in the Eastern Conference Because, even though you know the Boston Celtics have new players too and have lost a lot of their key players, I think that the core of you know Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown is still going to we know what that is. The Bucks are still gonna try to be able to find their groove with Janus and Damian throughout the season, so not too worried but, it's something to know.

Speaker 1: 16:11

Yeah, and I mean to your point too right now, per cleaning the glass. Boston is number one and offense and number one in defense, so like it's not bad.

Speaker 2: 16:30

Yeah, I mean Boston is currently I'll go ahead.

Speaker 1: 16:34

I was gonna say I think that To your point again, like Boston, if they can keep up their, their offensive prowess, then their defense is, has always been, elite. That doesn't have been a problem. But their offense kind of comes and goes and waves.

Speaker 1: 16:52

But they can be more consistent on the offensive end, and I think that this can Definitely play out, and poor Zingas is definitely helping out that team, more so than I. What I thought, yeah, he was going to help out, but and they're also playing a little bit faster than than what I expected as well too. So, yeah, Definitely.

Speaker 2: 17:11

I know it's just gonna boil down to consistently consistency from the offensive in Boston Celtics. We know they're gonna be a great team. So they currently sit four and oh, 76 is right behind them. Three and one without James Harden, and obviously now they're without him for the long run. And then your Hawks are sitting in third currently drew, so that's been a yeah, and Dijonté Murray's booked a lot better With Trey young this season. Obviously it's still early, but you know they've been clicking on all cylinders to start this season and the Bucks currently sit, I believe, seven, six or seven, that two and two.

Speaker 2: 17:42

One surprise out of the East is you know, I think that you are less surprised by it than I am is the Miami Heat. Obviously they are without a lot of their players. They lose gave Vincent, they didn't get Dane, they lose streus, so they are without a lot of their players. Tyler hero has looked very good this season. I think he's averaging like 25, 5 and 6 or something like that. But the Miami Heat haven't been able to pull together Wins overall. They're currently last in the East at one and four. So do you think that they're gonna be able to get things right? They're kind of an older team at this point in time, obviously, with they're starting Kevin Love, they got Jimmy buckets and stuff, bam still you know, sort of in his prime but, and Tyler here was still young. But it's been kind of weird the way that they've been losing games, and I'm not exactly sure it's something that you can necessarily Fix that easily.

Speaker 1: 18:30

I, for one, am just glad that they are losing these games. Personally, yeah. I Always enjoy it, like I always respect the heat, like they have a really good franchise and everything. They always do everything the right way. But I'm I'm happy because Well, because I had the Hawks man, and so it's nice to be right about everything once in a while, you know, I mean.

Speaker 2: 18:56

Jews gonna take his victory lat five games into the season, you know, because this is ever gonna be.

Speaker 1: 19:02

It's just like. It's just like the Packers to when they can. They started out hot. And then now they're like oh Jesus, look away, yeah, so. So I'll take my victory that while I still can, and then you know, fast forward. The Hawks are gonna be like you know, like I know, five and thirty six, and then the heat are gonna be, you know, in the top of the division as well, and yeah but, For now I will take my victory lap as the, as, at the current point in time, the heat are currently ranked 17th on On defense when it comes to offensive rating.

Speaker 1: 19:42

And when it comes to offensive rating, they are rated Hmm, got a stroll quite far down here. 26 in offensive yeah, so they typically they're, they're able to If they're not scoring on offense was they never were really like a high caliber offense in the first place. I think they finished around like 24th.

Speaker 1: 20:04

Yeah, they finished like in the mid 20s or so last year. Good shooting, yeah. But you know, this year their defense is also letting them down and that's really what's been their demise. So if they're able to somehow turn that around Maybe not playing Tyler hero so much, because he is, but yeah. So I mean, yeah, emo Jimmy out there. Just I feel bad for him. You know he's sad, a little depressed, and his team's not winning. So yeah, it's, it's not a good look right now for them, but I do think They'll definitely turn around, like this is the heat teams have. They've never really been just terrible. They're always either middle of the pack or or better than average. Definitely you can always count on them going forward in the playoffs as well too.

Speaker 2: 20:56

So Talking about bottom of the conference, we also have the Memphis Grizzlies who are at the bottom of the Western Conference and are currently have the worst record in the NBA Sitting that oh one five. Obviously they're without jaw to start the first 25 games of the season. At this rate he's gonna have a lot to work to do or to do when he gets back. I thought that. I still think I think they're gonna be fine, but this oh and five is pretty bad. To start, um, market smart, desmond Bain, you know it hasn't clicked necessary on all cylinders and you know they haven't been as good defensively as I expected them to be.

Speaker 2: 21:28

At least to start the season, I thought they were gonna be able to be a very good defensive team with Marcus smart starting with Desmond Bain. He's still have Jared Jackson as well as versatile wings in length. To start the season, I expect it Steven Adams to come back, but he had his knee surgery and now he's out for the season, so that loses a lot of the kind of size and grit that we were expecting to have them when they when he did come back, as he missed a lot of the of last season to and the playoffs, as well as Brandon Clark, who's still out for them as well. So what are your thoughts on the Grizzlies so far? Do you think they're gonna turn things around or do you think that they are gonna potentially you know Be that bad?

Speaker 1: 22:05

Obviously better with John, but you know, until then, yeah, I mean like it's not gonna Then.

Speaker 2: 22:11

I'm gonna go away to like so.

Speaker 1: 22:15

But I mean, I do think that this we kind of saw this last year where two years ago they were actually pretty good without jaw. Last year they weren't actually all that great without jaw, and we're kind of seeing that follow, follow through this year as well, which is one of the reasons why I had thought about having Desmond Bain as the most improved player, because, like, if it's not him, then who else? Because they they have they're not getting offense from anywhere else. They're currently last in the league when it comes to offensive rating and, like they're, they just are super stagnant on the ball. Yeah, exactly, I think like 20 second or something like that.

Speaker 1: 23:04

Yeah, but yeah, it's one of those things where the offense isn't isn't doing anything. They're dribbling the air out of the ball and then they go play defense, which used to be their one of their better assets and, like they're, they're not getting a lot of the. They're allowing a lot of second chance points as well, too. Usually, we've seen them in years past being like one of the more high caliber rebounding teams but I'm scrolling down all the way down to the bottom here and they're 23rd in the league and rebounds, I believe the past two years They've been either first or second in rebounds.

Speaker 1: 23:41

Adam's and Clark exactly, and so, like I believe they were like in the, not even like the 99 percentile, like the hundredth percentile when it came to rebounding efficiency, literally like the as elite as you can get when the other them are on the court him and Jaren Jackson, adams and Jaren Jackson specifically, but you Uh, yeah, I mean without, without Adams, like it's a lot more of a below than people what people actually realize. So, um, that being said, you know he's out for the year, but Jai is coming back in 20 games eventually. I mean, yeah, so, uh, the Calvary is coming, just hold on, um, but uh, it it's definitely, it's definitely not looking good right now.

Speaker 2: 24:33

Um they're?

Speaker 1: 24:35

they're third right now in the league in three point attempts, Um, but they are currently 23rd when it comes to three point percentage.

Speaker 2: 24:42

So that'll add up Chuck and ducking.

Speaker 1: 24:45

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:47

Fair enough. So, yeah, I think they'll eventually get it figured out and, you know, when John comes back, I still think that they will be one of the better teams in the West. It's just matter of, like, what's their record going to be when John does come back. So, and obviously, you know, I'm sure the job is still, you know, practicing and trying to stay in shape, but it's going to take him a little bit to probably get going as well and get reincorporated into the offense, which does look different than last year, um, also so he's an injury prone guy too.

Speaker 2: 25:13

Yeah, yeah so on the opposite end of the spectrum, tied for the Celtics for the best record in the NBA and currently number one in the West, is the Dallas Mavericks. I don't want to say it's like a hundred percent. I'm surprised. Um, they Luca has been elite. You know he's probably the favorite right now for when it comes to MVP, just early on into the season, uh, 35, 10 and 10, basically, is what he's been averaging. Kyrie's been in and out of the lineup. I think he's supposed to play tonight, but you know, I think he's missed three or four of the five games that they've played and it's just basically been all Luca. So, uh, thoughts on the Mavericks so far. Do you think that they are going to be, you know, as good as they've been so far, like I think you have them in your top six already. So, um, probably going to hold them right around there, or what are your thoughts so far in the maves?

Speaker 1: 26:00

Um, yeah, I had him around six, uh in my, uh, my ratings, um. But then to your point, I was pretty out on Luca as MVP, not necessarily that he wouldn't be in the conversation, but more so like he's all. He always does this right, he's always. Yeah, I just didn't think that you wouldn't have games.

Speaker 2: 26:17

Yeah, exactly, he's actually playing when he's basketball. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:22

Right now, he's, he's currently, and, and some in some books, uh, like Fandall he has, he's tied with with Nicole Yolkic for MVP odds, um, and if he's not tied then he's at least second Um, so it's, I mean, if, if he can, if he can keep up this caliber of of play, I mean, then again, you know, yolkic has to not get triple doubles like he always does, uh, and making every play that he does look easy.

Speaker 1: 26:51

But, if, if he can keep up this kind of play, I think that, um, he's, he's going to be. Um, well, my pick looks quite possible, uh, as the the Mavericks at least getting the six seed, um, and then you bring in Kyrie Irving coming back to uh, and if he's as I say, if he, if he actually plays um and, you know, doesn't go out on one of his, his tangents, we'll call them Um. Then it'll be okay.

Speaker 2: 27:20

Um.

Speaker 1: 27:22

I, I am as a well, I'm not an uncle, but I am Drew, and he is uncle Drew, and so, and so I, I hold a lot of space, a lot of space, and grace for my guy.

Speaker 2: 27:38

Um, it wasn't exactly it wasn't.

Speaker 1: 27:40

it wasn't great when I had all this Kyrie Irving gear and he was saying like some suspect things. Um, but you know guilty by a bridge.

Speaker 1: 27:50

Yeah, apparently. But yeah, so I mean going back to the, the Mavericks and everything and their outlook on the season. They currently uh have the third highest rating when it comes to three point percentage, um, and also they're uh top five when it comes to uh uh offensive rating as well. So they like they're, they're definitely, they're definitely playing well. But I do think that it's one of those um like wait and see kind of things, cause again we're about five games in six games. In don't want to overreact anything, um, but they do. They have been pretty uh been playing pretty well so far, yeah.

Speaker 2: 28:32

Another you know. Other than that, you know warriors nuggets are at the top, uh, tied for second, four and one. But also tied for second is going to be the Pelicans, who have looked very good this season. Zion has been healthy and has been playing. He hasn't been going crazy stat wise, but you know they've just been playing winning basketball with him and CJ Brandon Ingram's been out of the lineup and out of the games for a few uh of the five. But the Pelicans have looked good and there's a team that we both really like. Uh, it just all matters and boils down to the fact of them saying healthy. So, um, talk about Zion. Well, zion Williamson and his injury pronus Brandon Ingram has also been very injury prone over the past couple of seasons. So, um, have to see when it comes to that. But what were your thoughts so far on the Pelicans?

Speaker 1: 29:15

So you know, we we were, we liked the Pelicans coming in and everything right. But, then um hate them.

Speaker 2: 29:25

Okay, I don't hate them. They're regression to the mean they're going to have to. Uh, yeah, they suck.

Speaker 1: 29:32

Okay, pretty much. But at the same time we got to remember, you know, like look at the caliber of teams that they're playing and then compare that to the rest of the league. So like, okay, they beat the Grizzlies, all right, everybody's are yeah, exactly, they beat the, the Knicks. The Knicks looked pretty bad, um, and then they got Molly Wopt. Uh, against the Warriors.

Speaker 1: 29:58

Uh because, like, I mean the line in that game I think was like three or four or something like that, and so even Vegas was like oh yeah, this is probably be a pretty close game to high caliber offenses taking a uh, going head to head Zion's finally healthy and everything too.

Speaker 1: 30:12

Uh, no, um, was that 28 points? Yeah, Um, and then they play against the Thunder. They beat the Thunder Okay, the Thunder have been playing pretty well. Then they played against the Pistons. The Pistons are like a 30 win team maybe. So, like I don't want to, I don't want to say like they're not as good as they are, but they're not as good as they are right now.

Speaker 2: 30:35

Seems like for Drew, the pelicans may be the Seahawks of the NBA Like that might be a solid comparison.

Speaker 1: 30:43

Whatever. But I mean one thing too like we're talking about the Grizzlies, like not having any wins or anything. They do take on the my Portland Trailblaze, not my Portland Trailblaze, yeah. But they, you know you know what happened was what's that so far?

Speaker 2: 31:09

Let me check that out.

Speaker 1: 31:10

They took them off the board. They don't have them up there anymore. It's weird, I don't know. Oh, there he is, you don't need to look at that.

Speaker 2: 31:18

Four and two.

Speaker 1: 31:20

Don't look at that.

Speaker 2: 31:21

You know how, like on ESPN stats, like it'll tell you the, like you know, there's stats like points, rebounds, assists and then, but it'll have their rankings for points. That just has 150 plus, Like it stops.

Speaker 1: 31:32

You know. Okay, whatever, anyways, he's hurt too. Yeah. So I mean that's why he's, that's why he hasn't been playing that well, you know just a little nerves, you know being it's not, it's not easy carrying the whole team when you're back. You know what I mean. But, moving on, I do think that that Shaden Sharp has been helping out this roster quite a bit. Oh yeah, definitely Average 20 points right now, and I mean he could be a candidate for being never Booker.

Speaker 1: 32:02

Relax, but I do. I do think that he could be a candidate, potentially, for a most improved player. If he's able to keep up this, this kind of this kind of play and going down the stretch, I think he could very well be an all star as well, I mean I mean hey man this year he plays pretty.

Speaker 1: 32:24

Maybe, Okay, maybe, just wait. I mean, if you're looking back at his game log, looking back at the game log, you know 14, 14, three and six, 24, two and five, 22 and five, 14, three and and five and also two blocks in that game and then also against the. Well, that's today, so are coming up, but last game he had 29 points. He had one steal two blocks, five as well Seven rebounds Like. I'm just saying like he's looking, he's looking really good.

Speaker 1: 33:04

And it's not going to be somebody you know somebody's got to score. But yeah, I mean, I, I think that that that scoot will bounce back. I'm not concerned, I will kind of concerned, but I, I, I, I think that he's going to be a good player. I, I, there's a long season.

Speaker 2: 33:26

That's what I'm saying yeah, yeah, that's true. I don't think that any. You know. Obviously five games in it's not going to change up anything. The only thing that would really change in my rankings would be in the Western conference would just be because of the James Harden trades. Obviously that would bump up the Clippers for me, who I have like right around the playing line, so I'd probably have them third or fourth, like right with the sons Lakers. Yeah, I'm not. I'm not sure how exactly that lineup is going to look. Like you are. You're starting James Harden and Russell Wissbrook, I'm assuming with Harden or with a Kauai and PG, and then obviously you have Zubat. But I'm not exactly sure what they're going to do, if that's going to build well for them or not. But I just wanted to get like how was James Harden been able to take complete control of the NBA? This man's like you know what I don't like it here. No more Fat suit time.

Speaker 1: 34:14

Trade me Like and it's worked three times.

Speaker 2: 34:17

You got out of Houston, you got out of Brooklyn and now you got out of the Philadelphia, so like it's working apparently.

Speaker 1: 34:25

But yeah, I don't know how the Clippers handle it. I think it's one of those things too where, like we're seeing that players have a lot more control over the team than super stars. Then yeah, I mean because you saw with Yonis the other night too, he was yelling at the coach call time out.

Speaker 2: 34:48

By 30 by Raptors and Scotty Barnes. Call a time out.

Speaker 1: 34:51

Yeah, yeah. So like the players have it. I mean, the players have the most power and we've seen that with LeBron and his teams. Whatever LeBron says goes apparently. Whatever James Harden says goes whatever Yonis wants to do? You give me a point guard, okay, we'll get you. Dame, how does that work? Perfect.

Speaker 2: 35:11

Okay.

Speaker 1: 35:15

So, like we're really seeing that in these past few years, especially with the super teams coming up and everything, yeah, yeah, that's what I think.

Speaker 2: 35:27

Got into a little bit. Last thing I want to get into is, you know, lakers appreciation segment. Lakers starting off season at Lakers starting off three and two should have eaten. The Kings had a tough loss against the Nuggets but we played them tough. I think that just kind of goes to show that the Nuggets are kind of still, you know, a tier ahead of people obviously got whooped by the Temple wolves, but they're not going to win every game. They probably played down to their competition in that game. But yeah, the Lakers have looked good.

Speaker 2: 35:52

I do like the lineup. You know we've still battling through entries, as we mentioned, with Vanderbilt still out. Now we have Hatchamore with his eye injury, gabe Vinson, tarian Prince, whatnot. But I like the addition of Christian Wood because it allows AD to play the four, which is what he's most comfortable at, doesn't have to bang against the big bodies and get tired all night. So allows him to play the four. And Christian Wood has actually been a very solid piece for us. And then you have Jackson Hayes coming off the bench. But Cam Reddish, honestly I feel like has been a really nice pickup. He's been a very good on ball defender and actually kind of locked up. Hey, hey, he was getting, he was getting some cookies on PG angle, like you play very big for us and if he's able to hit shots, big shots, then yeah. And then Austin Reed had been very slow start to the season, you know, got his contract, got his bag and I think he forgot how to act and you know it was very inefficient.

Speaker 1: 36:40

Money weighing me down.

Speaker 2: 36:43

So finally, like he had a coming out party, since he got his bag against the Clippers and, even though he had a slow start against the Clippers, kind of went him mode and LeBron said go win this game and kind of took over and over time and once PG was able to get out, kind of just took over for them. So what are your thoughts so far on the? Lakers drew and you. I think we had them around the same spot, around second or third in the in the West.

Speaker 1: 37:04

So yeah, I mean like they. If LeBron keeps on doing what he's doing, like, I don't see why he can't win MVP, because, like this man's is is playing like it's his first year in the league, which is crazy to think about 99% sugar is bionic. Exactly, and speaking of bionic, we were talking about Kawhi Leonard and his laser beam shots.

Speaker 2: 37:31

Legit. But just locking in and some of.

Speaker 1: 37:34

LeBron. Some of LeBron shots have have actually in years past. They do look like lion drives that he's throwing it to the backboard. But I mean, now he's got a nice yeah, he's pulling up. He's like, amen, you know what I'm right. You say you know what I'm about and then like I don't know it's, it's, it's crazy to think that Nick, he's still, this is what year? 2021? Or something like that.

Speaker 1: 38:02

And he's still playing at the highest caliber that he's been known to be playing at and, regardless of competition, he's still going out there and finding different ways to to beat teams and in games where you'd expect him to sit or to rest or be on a minute's restriction, he's like nah, fam, I'm good this is this is over about and I'm glad to see it, because in years past he's always been kind of that guy.

Speaker 1: 38:29

Oh yeah, load management. I mean I'll sit out this game. My pinky toe kind of hurts and stuff, but I mean I think he's kind of realizing I only got a few more of these left in me, so I'm just going to go out there who, as a, as I know I can. My son's coming into the league next year. Maybe I can play with them, maybe I play against them, dunk on his ass or something, and so yeah, great star study game with the Lakers and Clippers.

Speaker 2: 38:55

It was like great for the NBA, great for fans. You know, you had LeBron Nadie, and then you had Kawai, pg and Russ, and then you actually had everybody else coming along for the ride, whether it be, you know, austin Reeves or D Lo, who also dropped 25 plus, and things like that. So it was a great game. So hopefully, the player incentives, the game requirements and you know, the in play in game kind of does have a positive effect and we're able to see a lot more of these kind of star matchups when good teams do play against each other. So so anything else that you wanted to get into or cover within the NBA.

Speaker 1: 39:30

One thing that's kind of interesting too, is that Deandre Aiton, since he's been in Portland, he's currently ranked sixth right now in a value added. So I mean it's not, it's not the worst thing in the world, but I mean we don't gotta look good, it just got to be statistically accurate. One of the interesting things, too, is that, along with scoot, struggling is the pick and roll offense. Is is where a scoot thrives and there is a stretch, I think, against the pistons. That was where they did like three pick and rolls in a row and it was like unstoppable. They scored all three of those times, but then they, they called the timeout, they, they subbed out, I think, scoot, and then they never ran it again. It's like it's like what at Chauncey. So I mean it's, it's not all on scoot and it's not all on on 8on, but when they have them working together in that pick and roll offense, I do think it's, it's, it's something that's gonna be good for them going forward and something to look for For sure.

Speaker 2: 40:57

Yeah, for sure, I'm always gonna poke fun at scoop because of these trailblazers, but I think that he's gonna be fine. You know he's still trying to find his flow within the NBA and, you know, trying to get the shot going. So once he comes back from his injury and is able to, you know, kind of Get a better understanding of how the game works within the NBA and, you know, get more consistent within his shot, I think you'll be fine. I think you'll be fine.

Speaker 1: 41:19

So Anything, I'm gonna cover One. One last thing, too is um, this is ridiculous. This is the perfect example of of Small sample size. I don't even know how to pronounce this guy's name, but Eugene, something on the on the on the Washington Wizards. Since he only plays nine minutes a game, he is second in the league of all qualified players In terms of player efficiency rating, only a half point behind Joel and B. So when you're, when you're, when you hear people recording stats and telling you all these stats about how this player is great and that player is great, think about the sample size that they are talking about, because this is a perfect example. I don't even I've never even heard this guy in my life. Don't forget about.

Speaker 2: 42:14

Eugene, eugene, oh my god yeah. Averagen.

Speaker 1: 42:19

Averagen 8, 3 and no assist On eight minutes. Interesting, that's kind of funny. Efficient 71% field goal percentage.

Speaker 2: 42:32

Well, I think that's gonna wrap it up for today. Thank you everybody for listening. It's been a jam packed episode. Probably have split it up, I think, cuz I think we're over two hours or close to it, but yeah, thank you for listening. Obviously, find us wherever you can find your podcast it would be Spotify or the podcast app or everywhere else, also on YouTube. For those of you watching on YouTube, follow our links in description For our Instagram and our picks. If you like this video, give it a like. If you don't like it, dislike. Like. Whatever helps. Give it a comment and Give us a follow too, so we'll make sure to see you guys next week next week, and drew if you have anything else to say.

Speaker 1: 43:07

Yeah, I mean just one last thing is like I gotta go because I got these. I'm not to get these tacos. I'm at this place out here where I'm at, and so, yeah, really nothing else to add another shout out. Yep, another profitable week, I'm hoping for for us, but other than that, wnba is over, mlb is over and, you know, just looking forward to college basketball as well, because those players actually play hard every game, unlike the NFL.

Speaker 2: 43:40

Or NFL and NBA defense, and I play pretty hard yeah but yeah, that's all I really got so see you all next week Peace.