The Disco Hicks Show
A podcast devoted to classic music, movies, television, and culture. The slogan for this podcast is "be you, share your gift, and keep those classics current” and that's the spirit of the podcast. Hosted by Sean Disco Hicks, a former DJ, music lover, and historian.
The Disco Hicks Show
From Music Headlines To Pistons Playoff Lessons
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
I bounce from breaking music culture news to a full-hearted Pistons season review, with Shaun P keeping it real about fandom, legacy, and what we choose to support. Detroit’s 60-win jump sparks a deep player-by-player grading session and a clear look at what the roster needs next.
• Chili tour backlash and how fans respond with their wallets
• New Edition winning the fan vote and still missing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame cut
• Maxwell birthday shoutout and the Michael Jackson movie resurgence
• Mya “Retrospective” and Chris Brown album reactions
• Food safety worries and simple fruit washing habits
• Pistons' turnaround from 14 wins to 60 wins and what it means for younger fans
• Cade Cunningham’s leadership and how injuries shape playoff outcomes
• Trajan Langdon’s plan including a secondary ball handler and Ausar Thompson development
• Player grades and rotation debates from bench energy to playoff readiness
• Jaden Ivey questions including injuries professionalism and locker room fit
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New Name And New Format
SPEAKER_00Ladies and gentlemen, the golden age of corona today. This is a disco XFL, custody by true music lover, historian, and quality today, bringing you more than just a soundtrack of our lives. We're talking culture, stories, memories, and everything in the way from classic music to movies and television to the conversations with the classic clip on. So step back, start off, and let the vibe take you there. Because here we believe in one thing. Always be you, share your gift, and keep those classics current. This is the Disco Hicks Show.
SPEAKER_03Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Disco Hicks Show, formerly the Music Book Podcast. I'm the same host, just adopting the typical multiple topic format. But I'm also keeping music and nostalgia. But uh hey, I'm just happy to announce that I'm doing this today, finally, uh, under my name. I mean, even though music book was still a podcast, but putting your name on it gives it just a different flair, and then it allows me just to be myself like all the time. But and uh as I go further, we're gonna the main topic today and is gonna be about sports, mainly Detroit Pistons. So um it's gonna be home centric, which is the Michigan, Detroit, Michigan Inkster. Uh, I'm uh I want to announce my guest. You heard his name before, Sean P, brother of the show. What's up, my man?
SPEAKER_01What's up, my brother? Thank you for having me back for another one, man.
SPEAKER_03Bro, I man, we have been waiting to do this. We got a couple of them on deck, but I wanted to I wanted to move one of them, push it back, and then push this one forward since our since our boys lost, and I just like to review the season because uh man, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, heartbreaking, heartbreaking.
SPEAKER_03But before we even get to that, I do want to talk some music news.
Chili Controversy And Fan Reactions
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03Uh hey, I I wasn't gonna talk about this, but I'm just gonna touch on it. Uh just for a hot second. How do you feel about Chili? You know what's going on with Chili and that uh tour that she's on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I vaguely uh, because I man, I'm I'm one of those, I'm abreast, but I'm not abreast of what's going on with her exactly. Um fill me in a a little bit.
SPEAKER_03Well, you know, she they about to start a tour, I believe, this fall or this late summer. Uh TLC, salt and pepper, and there's another act that can't think of right now. But uh it came out that Chile was a MAGA. So she supported Trump. So well, you know what?
SPEAKER_01Well, uh well, I'll say this before you get into it. Um, we do live in America, you know, and everybody does have the right to vote for and like who they like. I mean, it's the land of the free, supposedly. Um I'm I'm a I'm a little biased on that. I'm a huge TLC fan, man. I was I had a huge crush on T-Boz uh in high school. Um, I remember going to Atlanta back in like the early 2000s after Lisa had passed away and I met her sister and her brother, great experience. Uh, but to answer that, I'm I'm I'm a little disappointed. Um, even though she has the right to feel how she feels, uh, I'm a little disappointed because I think that now if you are leaning that way, I think people are starting to see that uh he really doesn't care about uh I don't want to well, he doesn't care about people of color, in my opinion. That's just my opinion. So it kind of saddles me a little bit that she is leaning towards that way.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the other act on there is in vogue. So uh once once that stuff came out, uh that she had uh she donated. It wasn't like a significant amount, it's like $900 to his camp campaign. But it wasn't that it wasn't that she donated and she supported it, it was also the fact that she tried to deny it once it came out. Like, you know, stand 10 toes down if you're gonna do that, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01You gotta stand on it, you know.
SPEAKER_03Uh 50 does, and there's a lot of people that you know support Trump and they stay on, they stand on it. But she tried to say, oh no, and but what was really egregious with the whole thing that she shared a video, or either she shared or reposted a video of that video of Michelle Obama as a monkey, uh the Obama's as monkey, so yeah, that really hit the community hard. Uh, what I'm gonna push back on is the people that's telling the people that they they don't have a right to not uh support her anymore. Whatever reason you choose to support these people, but you have the prerogative to stop supporting them, regardless of what it is, and you know, and she knows that she I'm pretty sure that she knows that the black community would not be uh approved or be approved would approve of her, you know, uh supporting Trump and his campaign. So, I mean, that's the risk that she took. She took it and and here it is. Uh, but having said all that, initially people were yeah, I was seeing online, I'm not going, I'll cancel my tickets and this and that. And they man, them tickets selling like hot cakes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because you know, so some people really don't care about politics at all, so I'm quite sure. But I think when you really get down to it, um, for the most, for the most part, just from my point of view, people are very, very misinformed on the facts. Absolutely. For her to uh support that and then one approach with it, now it's like, nah, I mean, if you felt that way, you you probably shouldn't have made that choice to do that in the first place. So but yeah, I wish them um, I wish them all the best. Uh music wise.
SPEAKER_03So I've seen I've seen In Vogue before. Uh I don't think I've seen TLC before. Nope, I haven't seen TLC.
SPEAKER_01Man, I've seen TLC. My grandfather took me and my cousin. Uh MC Hammer was the the headliner there. I believe it was Pine Knob. I believe it was Pine Nob a long time ago, though.
SPEAKER_03The hammer gives a show for sure, man. I've seen him uh I saw him at college. I was in college, Gram Estate. He came uh homecoming. Okay, tore it down, tore it down.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man. He did a great job.
SPEAKER_03Uh so yeah, the next thing I want to talk about, bro.
New Edition Fan Vote Snub
SPEAKER_03The new edition snub. Oh, this really affected me so much. I mean, I was angry, angry, because I I vote, I usually vote, you know, when they had a van vote, uh, fan voting for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I usually get involved, but I don't do it on a daily basis, so I knew it was a deadline, and you can vote as much as you can up to the deadline. And so I was voting, and my main objective was to get new edition in, of course, but also Sade. So uh once I saw New Edition was doing their thing as far as fan voting. My I was concentrating on Sade. I gotta get Sade in there. I want to get it.
SPEAKER_01Hold on away. You mean to tell me two of the greatest, well, one of the greatest groups ever, and one of the greatest solo artists ever. They're not she's not in the rock and roll hall of fame.
SPEAKER_03She made it. I'm gonna go ahead and tell you so um New Edition won the 2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fan vote. Over a million votes, bro. Over a million votes, leading a top five that included Phil Collins, Pink, Shakira, and Luther Van Dross. There was a it was 9.4 million uh votes casted, and New Edition got uh a million of those, right? Wow, and despite winning the fan vote, New Edition was not selected for the final induction.
SPEAKER_02And uh, it is.
SPEAKER_03I mean, who came to second first fan vote? Phil Collins with 900,000.
SPEAKER_01He's a legend, he's a legend, and he should have been there, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, he was in he was in the league for a long time, and then new edition eclipsed them and just kept going and just was just tearing the fan voting up. The the any lifers which Zion won, I was on him. Boom, boom. But once I saw New Edition was secure, I stopped, so I was focusing, I was focusing on Sade. But um, yeah, Luther Van Dross, Sade Wu Tang, uh Billy Idol, and Mariah Carey. And so despite all of that, uh, let's see, Phil Kong's Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Joy, uh, Joy and New Order. No, Joy Division, New Order, Oasis, Shade, Wu Tang, and Luther Van Dross, they made it.
SPEAKER_01Uh now, man, I'm a huge Wu Tang fan, brother. To this day, I still bang ODB. They don't deserve to get in there over New Edition. So it's no knock on them. But yeah, I'm I'm mad with you, man. Those guys should have been in there. Uh, it might take a movie similar to like how Michael is to maybe throw their catalog back in front of the new listening ears, the younger generation, because they deserved they have some timeless uh classics, bro.
SPEAKER_03I believe the fact that they had that million votes, uh that they touched it. I mean, I don't know if you remember back in 2017, they they had all these tours. You know, every time they tour, they just sell out every venue they go to. Then they had the movie, you know, they had the new edition miniseries, and then they and then they followed with the Bobby Brown, and they were on the high. And uh, so this is I think this still they still riding that wave a little bit, and also, you know, right now they got that. Well, I think it's stopped though, but that tour has ended. But that tour with Boys and Men and Tony Braxton did crazy numbers. I mean, okay, and so they was there, it's just the gatekeepers, you know what I'm saying? I'm looking at the gatekeepers and come to find out the people that that have the authority to put these acts in aren't even musicians, man. Not even musicians. Like, what are you doing? What are we doing here? And I, you know what? I just I stopped my support of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, just like I've done the Grammys, American Music Awards. I stopped watching all that crap. Once I've seen the uh deserving acts get snubbed over something that man, I'm like, it's gatekeepers, people got people gonna vote for who they vote for, and whoever it is on these panels is gonna just put in who they want to put in.
SPEAKER_01So I just man, that sounds funny. That sounds like child support court. Yeah, sound like somebody without kids telling you when and when you can or cannot see your kids.
SPEAKER_03Man, tell me about it, dude.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's bad, man. I don't like that for them because those guys, uh, I mean, can you stand the rain and boys to men alone? Those two songs alone in their catalog are timeless classics. Uh and hopefully, hopefully soon, hopefully before uh because so the voting is every year. So hopefully, um, yeah, hopefully before the Olympics, man, 2028, they'll be able to celebrate.
SPEAKER_03Um, I I believe so. I I mean I I think there's people some pushback and some um, you know some letters written and all that type of stuff. Uh yeah, because uh yeah, that that was egregious. I'm looking like oh, because I was understanding that the top the top seven out of the votes, the the fan voting, the top seven was was almost an automatic get in. I thought. Uh, but nope, I was wrong, man. It was wrong. Uh so I'd like to move on.
Birthdays Movies And New Albums
SPEAKER_03Happy birthday to Maxwell, bro. Today's his birthday. Born May, May 23rd, 1973. Uh, his first two albums, first two albums was just fire, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. Classics too. Yeah, another birthday uh shout out. Uh Beast Stew's birthday is today as well.
SPEAKER_03Okay, oh Beast Stew, what up? Mm-hmm. Uh, yeah, we and I talked offline. You said you hadn't seen the Michael Jackson pick yet.
SPEAKER_01No, not yet. Going tomorrow. Going tomorrow.
SPEAKER_03So, hey man, right now, as I check, the movie worldwide has grossed over 710 million. Uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01And when did it come out? When did it when did it come out?
SPEAKER_03Uh I think April 24th, I believe. Something like that. Around that time.
SPEAKER_01I always say that if a month into a movie, if people are still talking about it, that means that it's really, really good.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely, man. Because it would, it's they took it off the IMAX screens, right? Okay. And then they put it back. And once they put them, uh Michael Jackson will be back on IMAX screens, it went back to number one.
SPEAKER_01Wow, okay.
SPEAKER_03The devil, whereas Prada was went back to number two and all that other stuff. So it's okay, it's crazy. The global, the global total, I could say over 710. Domestic 285, international 424, Canada, 285. It just might just he just killing it. And also, uh, his music made a resurgence on the uh global charts. Billy Jean is number one song of the global global 200, man. Made it's it made number one on the Billboard Global 200 chart, man.
SPEAKER_01I I mean, I could be wrong, but I I think those videos, the Billy Jean, especially thriller. I don't think there have been music videos to even come close to those uh any of any of his. I mean, he's been gone a long time and he's still doing his thing from the grave, man. God bless the Jacksons.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. I went and saw it twice. I saw it as a I saw it at what my um historian hat on, and then I and then the second time I took moms and she was she enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_01So okay, okay.
SPEAKER_03Uh, but yeah, yesterday I hit you up.
SPEAKER_01Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we had two two classic uh acts that drop albums. Uh one was Maya.
SPEAKER_01Did you get a chance to listen to some of it? I did not get I listened to I think now is Damage one of the songs off of her.
SPEAKER_03Uh no, no, okay.
SPEAKER_01That's an older song. Okay, so no, I didn't get a chance, but I did get to listen to that Chris Breezy. Oh, you did? Oh man, that is a damn good album, man. The production is great. Um, I made it through 27 songs.
SPEAKER_03Ooh, this man, dude, why does he put so many songs out on these and on these projects?
SPEAKER_01Now I'll say this. I'll say this. Because when you when you told me that, I was thinking, like, man, that's just too much work at one time. But bruh, I I it was a it was a no-skipper for me. Like, and every song was very, very good. So I'm as an artist myself, I was very shocked to be able to listen to that amount of work that was all quality. Um very good man. I that I really like that album, man. So I'm looking forward to finishing up that even if the late, even if the last 10 songs are bad, them first 27, dope. Super dope.
SPEAKER_03That's crazy that you said 27 in the last 10. And uh his name, that album is called Brown. Yeah, so that's cool. And he got he does a homage to the thriller with uh with the side paws on on the elbow. He's doing that on the album cover, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and the name conservative. I like that for him, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Man, yeah, I like that for him. Yeah, he's maturing, man. Um Maya, my Maya's album is called Retrospective, came out of May 15th. I absolutely loved it, and I would tell you this. Um, I can tell that the first couple of songs was inspired by Prince. It just sounded like a Vanity Six Prince type. It's like, I don't know, they I don't know whoever produced those songs. I wonder that they use the Lindrum that Prince used to use, but it sounded like it big time. Uh, the album is well done. I'm just I'm I'm in the garage because I was doing yard work. Okay. And so um this album is gonna be for me right now. What I listened to is gonna be in my album in summer. It was uh it's well done. It's it's like a a complete RB revival. I haven't heard an album so RB in a long time. Okay, and um I think she raised the bar, man. If you out there and all these other all these other acts, you listen to this album. Um I mean, I it was almost flawless. I mean, it was like it was jam after jam with noticeable with no noticeable flaws, bro. And it was I I would compare it to Beyonce's Renaissance album, but in my opinion, it was more funier and more so polished than that. But it's oh man, I was like the name of it is what now retrospective.
SPEAKER_01Retrospective. I'll put that in my notes.
SPEAKER_03And of course, she got she got some hip hop, you know. She got some um, I mean, let me let me go there real quick, tell you who's on this on this album real quick. Uh D nice stars off. D nice is on there, Snoop Dogg, too short, uh 21 Savage is on there, okay. Uh Dizzy Wright. Um, yeah. Yeah, okay. All right, Mike. Yeah. Man, she is absolutely gorgeous, and she vegan too, so but
Food Safety And Washing Fruit
SPEAKER_03uh big ups to the vegan community, man.
SPEAKER_08I wonder if she'd be glowing.
SPEAKER_03Oh, on the sad note, uh, we gotta um gotta say rest in peace to uh Rob Bass, man.
SPEAKER_01Man, rest in peace, big fella. Rest in peace.
SPEAKER_03Man, he was 59, died yesterday, uh surrounded by a family with the private battle. Cancer, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Cancer is uh it's been kicking butt for a long time.
SPEAKER_03And it's gonna continue until we get till we get that food out the grocery store. Uh I mean, yeah, I'll talk about that in another episode.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely, bro. Definitely. At least at least ban the cancer-causing chemicals in in the foods that are being sold.
SPEAKER_03You saw Drisco, uh, the fruit company. Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I saw that on your post this morning.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, dog. I was like, oh my gosh. But I I I like with berries, anything, any fruit with thin skin, I you I I get organic. I don't mess around, especially strawberries with those all those seeds and those dimples. Yeah, if you spray that, it's it's penetrating, it's going right to the flesh.
SPEAKER_01But you know, you know what I do? I I had saw a trick. Well, I don't know if it's a trick, I considered it a trick, but I do like vinegar and what is it, baking soda?
SPEAKER_03Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_01Uh, I do that with all my fruits. Uh I just have to reinforce that with my kids because they are quick to just grab something and eat it. And man, when you go you go to these grocery stores, especially these fruit markets, and people are touching all over stuff on top of the pesticides. So you do need to make sure that you're cleaning these things properly. But I will say this the biggest thing that I do over everything that I eat is I just pray over it.
SPEAKER_03Oh, you have to, you know, you have to buy the castle out anything that goes against my body, you gotta do that, bro. Yes, yes. So, all right, man.
Pistons Leap From 14 To 60
SPEAKER_03We're here.
SPEAKER_01Yes, we are.
SPEAKER_03Pissings, man.
SPEAKER_01Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_03Great year, great year. Before we go, I want to get a shout out to my guy, Kookahill, who's a host of the locked on pissing podcast. I've been listening to this brother for four years, and then he has another podcast what he what he does with um with Lindsay Hunter and um that host of the show. It's called the Squad Show with Jake Reetma. Uh good, good podcast, positive. It's it's it's critical at times, but uh it's not it's not going against the team. It's it's this podcast is for the true Pistons fan. And I am one, and uh, I want to give them a shout out because uh they send me in the right direction as far as what I need to know, as far as the team. And Cool, he's a credential media person. Also, he has an he's an insider. He he okay, he has a relationship with like K's brother and trainer and all that. So he has he has knowledge, and sometimes he comes across knowledge and he he he can't say anything so but like this year, he knew some things that was going on with the team, but he wait he waited to the end of the season and then he just started talking about it. And okay, and we got we could we could touch on those things, man.
SPEAKER_01I did listen, I did listen, uh, you know, um, because you turned me on to him. I I'm two episodes in. Yeah, and you're right. I love that type of uh podcasting, especially with the Pistons. I don't like the over the top guys, yeah, uh not. Trying to throw anybody under the bus, but like some of the radio station programs we have here in Detroit. But yeah, definitely I'm tuned in. I'm locked in with those guys now for sure.
SPEAKER_03Bet. So um the Pistons, man, went from 14 wins to 44 wins to 60 wins.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Yes. And I, you know, before we dive off into it, I will say this, especially for like the younger generation. I had noticed a couple years ago, up until the last two years, that my children had always seen the Pistons as losers because we've had 18 years of just dismal basketball. And so a lot of these younger fans, it seems that they may not understand the process of what it takes to win a championship. And we are headed in the right direction. Like you said, just two years ago, 28, uh, 27, 28 loss to set a record. Um we went several years being like in last place, and we got messed around with our draft picks.
SPEAKER_08Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01But to go from 14 wins to getting into the playoffs without actually doing the play-in, winning two away games, and then coming back the following season, getting our first home victory in 18 years, and then going to the second round. I think, regardless of how people feel about how we lost that last game, great incredible basketball season for the Detroit Pistons.
SPEAKER_03It was if you're a Pistons fan, hold your hold your head up, put your chest out. I mean, it's nothing to be disappointed in. You know, I I know it's been a long time, and we're very impatient. And I'm very impatient. And you know, at the trade deadline, I was I was upset with my man Trajan Langdon. But he has a plan, and he has a plan before he became the GM. So he's going through the steps. So what we found out is that you know this season was supposed to be a developmental season, especially for Thompson.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_03Uh, they wanted to see what he can do, and also other players, but they wanted to see what he could do, and he ended up getting hurt, right? And the Pitts can't continue to start winning games. So then it's like, what do we do? Do we do we still stay on course and try to develop uh the young players, especially Asar, or do we just ray ride this wave and just win games? Because we haven't won games like this in a long time. And it's like, and then JB was like, I I can I can win some games, you know. Yes, I didn't come into the season. I don't know about you, I didn't expect them to do win those 60 games. I didn't I saw them maybe fourth in the in the East, man. I didn't see them number one, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Me either. I that was a surprise uh to me all season long, and to maintain being they stayed number one all season long.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, from November just kept going. I mean, 60 wins is not easy to do.
SPEAKER_01No, man, it's the third time in our you know, our basketball history uh of us doing that. And piggybacking off what you said about Langdon having a plan, man, I I can remember how our uh money used to be so messed up where we would play certain players. Like right now, the league uh salary cap is 165, we have 134. So we're like, man, we got 27 million dollars to work with, um, you know, despite the contracts that we got uh coming up that we need to renew. So yeah, he does have a plan. Uh if if one thing I've always and I hate being a hater, I've always kind of been a hater of Duke. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_03Go ahead. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_01But those Duke guys, man, um especially in management, man, them them brothers doing their thing. So shout out to Trajan for rerouting the ship, man. Uh incredible job.
SPEAKER_03And it was also revealed that you know, we we all we all knew that excuse me, that Kay was uh he came back from a collapsed lung. Yes, usually when you have a collapsed lung, ribs are involved, right? Yes, didn't even think about it. He had a flag jacket on, whatever, you know, a protective vest on. He had a broken rib. And in that game seven, in the second, in the in the semis, you could tell he had lost. He just he ran out of gas.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he did.
SPEAKER_03And and as a person, that's you know, hindsight is 2020, but when you think about it and found out that he was dealing with a broken rib, that was amazing what he did, man. I mean, absolutely two seven-game series, and and when he had to, I think we were uh we think we played what four elimination games?
SPEAKER_02Yes, four elimination games.
SPEAKER_03And he brought and he was a sp and he was the spearhead of that, the uh to keep us from being eliminated.
SPEAKER_01Come on, yeah. He he led, I think up until yesterday or up until the third round, he led the playoffs in scoring. So I think he was at 28.1, and right now uh SGA is at 28.5.
SPEAKER_00SGA, man.
SPEAKER_01And you know what another thing, too, that we had a hard time as far as our three-point shooting wasn't as as good. But I believe he's either I think he's second in the most three-pointers made in the playoffs so far.
SPEAKER_03Big up to deuce, man. Big up to deuce.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I just don't want going forward next year, uh, as we retool for next year. I do uh hope that we um I don't want to make any major changes despite everybody being upset with the young fella with Durham. Um not right, you know, not uh being his regular season self. But I do want to be able to take some of the low off of K because I don't want to run the young fella into the ground. Um that's one thing that if history has shown that we will run a star into the ground. Uh so I'm I'm hoping that we get him some help without. I don't want to see any like Blake Griffin-like trades to where we trade away the whole team just to try to uh you know, so-called win it all now. I don't want to do that. I like the
Offseason Plan And Needed Pieces
SPEAKER_01core. I like everything we do. I don't really think we need to make any real major changes, but we do need to add a few technical pieces, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, in the exit conference, uh Trajan talked about uh obtaining a ball handler. So definitely need that.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_03He seemed to be talking about that more than anything. Developing, um developing the Tsar, uh developing the Tsar and re-signing and signing Jalen Duran. The Tsar seem to be the main thing, the focal point of what they're going through in this offseason, and finding a secondary ball handler. And then I'm sure there's gonna be some shooting involved, but it doesn't seem like he's gonna, he's not swinging for no big fish. He's not doing that. Okay, I think he's trying to kind of model what they do. I mean, it's two models. You got the Golden State model, trying to have like young talent and and then keep a nice little veteran team that still can compete. And also modeling a lot of like what the OKC is doing. It seemed like that's what they're trying to do because uh it was a question asked about Ron Holland. And because you know, Ron Holland didn't he didn't play a lot in the playoffs, but he played a lot in the uh in the uh regular season. And Trajan talked about that Ron Holland, I mean, even though he was undeveloped and he's a young player, that he he was a major contributor during the uh regular season. Right. And but uh he's gonna be put back. He's he's putting it back because he's uh he's a project, so they want to get him ready for the future. And it don't seem like they want to trade him, because I know the first thing I was I was hearing or even thinking that Ron Holland and Beef Stewart trade baits. So I don't know. I hope not.
SPEAKER_01Right, right.
SPEAKER_03But um he's he said he's trying to get some uh uh secondary ball handler. So I hope so because I what you think about Danis. What the job that Danis did? Because I mean, even though he did a good job, we shouldn't be depending on him to do what he was doing.
SPEAKER_01He has an incredible story. Um I like Dennis Jenkins, but there were there were two things that I was disappointed in going into the playoffs. I was highly disappointed that Ron Holland wasn't a part of the rotation. Uh he's an energy guy, he and he feeds off of energy. So I think that him not being involved, I kind of blame the coaching staff for kind of dropping the ball in that area. Uh far as Dennis Jenkins goes, I think that JB showed him a lot of favor. Uh he but he gave him a lot of leeway. I believe that a lot of that should have gone to Sasser, Marcus Sasser. And I uh and I really do like Jenkins. He he played exceptionally well, so he kind of had an anomaly season. Um, but I would have given those minutes to Sasser because I think Sasser was was more seasoned. Definitely a lot of heart, man. Uh, and the playoffs is just a it's a different, it's a different world. I'm glad everybody got the experience. I'm upset, or should I say, disappointed, that Holland didn't get a chance to get that experience because you can't you can't replace uh playoff experience. You just you just can't. I mean, there are guys that are really, really good through the regular season, and the first time they get to the playoffs, they don't do so well because it's a different atmosphere. Uh, but Jenkins, he did, he did what I he actually exceeded expectations for a guy to come out of the G League uh and go from not having a kind or two-way contract to a contract to actually starting. Um, but again, I would have liked to see Sasser get uh more of that particular role. I think it would have benefited us more.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, let's grade these players, man. Let's let's grade
Old Pistons Teams And Costly Trades
SPEAKER_03this team. I want to show some love to Jalen Duran, man. That's my guy. Yeah, he's 22 years old. 22. He when he came out, he was the youngest player in the league.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_03And he has so much so much room to grow. Uh, do you remember, man? Let's let's let's before I go to that, let's travel back in time, bro. I'm sure you remember this. Uh, back in that that 2000 was that 2001-2002 team.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Um SCM look the that team made it to the playoffs. They won 50, they won 50 games that year, man. This was uh that team that uh we had uh Victor Alexander, do you remember him? Shaqie Atkins was on the team, Dana Barrows, Jab Barry, bro. Uh Brian Cardinal. Uh Brian Cardinal, Michael Curry, man. He was captain.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, uh another guy that he kind of had like a Dennis Jenkins type of story, not G League, but he traveled a lot, a lot of different places and kind of worked his way into the offense.
SPEAKER_03We had Damon Jones, uh Mikey Moore, Mikey Moore, uh uh Rabracha, uh Zelko, Rabracha.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Rabracha.
SPEAKER_03Man, we had some dudes on that. We had some big dudes on the team. Uh Uncle Cliffy, Cliff Robinson.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, rest in peace.
SPEAKER_03Yes, Jerry Stackhouse.
SPEAKER_01Uh Mimidal Core.
SPEAKER_03No, he wasn't on this one.
SPEAKER_01He wasn't on that team.
SPEAKER_03No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER_03Theme I came the next year. Ben Wallace, Rodney White, and Corless Williamson.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. Rodney, the infamous Rodney White. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03This team, this team, this was uh, they won, they uh won the series against Toronto in the first in the first round. That's when it was five games. And I remember they were on the road in Toronto and John Barry hit that hit that shot to put them in the league, and he was like, Yeah, I remember them celebrating. And uh, so they went to the second round, and I believe they played Boston. Okay. And uh Jerry Stackhouse had a terrible series, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man. Yeah, yeah. I think that was um that kind of closed the door on them. I I remember that. I and I always tease, I always laugh with my partner. He was literally looking for Michael Curry to pass the ball to.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01We had a very bad uh playoff series that time.
SPEAKER_03And I and what I'm what I reason I brought this up because I was kind of feeling what how I felt about Jalen Duran, I was feeling that way about Stackhouse, because he got us to the he got us to the playoffs, yeah, and we and we won the first round. And so he had a second bad round, he had a bad second round, and I was like, man, he he can improve. And I thought he was, and which he did when he got traded, uh Stackhouse became a good playoff performer after that, but he was traded, and we ended up getting rip and and Chauncey and all that, which changed the trajectory of the team. Yeah, but at initially I didn't want Stackhouse to go. I wanted I wanted him to have a second chance because I was and then I was like, I was like, rip Hamilton over Stack House, like I wasn't feeling that, man, like me, yeah. But you know, they made the right decision at the time.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna tell you why I I I uh because again, uh the regular season is different than the playoffs, and I had seen that consistent Stackhouse in the playoffs to where he just was and Stackhouse is a dog, but he um he kind of shrunk. I mean, if you notice with a lot of players, man, um some guys they they shrink under that pressure, and I mean it's it's a lot for me to say that not being in those guys' shoes, but you know, just uh uh from observation back then I was like, he's not going to be able to get us uh over the hump. And you're right, trading for Richard Hamilton was different, but I also like the fact that Richard Hamilton came from a great college system in Connecticut, and he was a mid-range shooter, uh, which was something that we really had needed uh during that time. Because remember, um Alan Houston had left, uh, and we hadn't had a shooter in our offense in a minute. So I was okay, and as you see, it turned out well for us.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, yeah. It just reminded me of that time, and but we had some players that we got rid of too soon. We talked about Ron Holland, Chris Middleton, man. We got rid of him too soon.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_03Um uh what's the old boy that went to Denver and won the championship?
SPEAKER_01Uh what year was that?
SPEAKER_03Um he's on the team now. Uh, I can't think of his name. I know we got rid of Bruce Brown, yeah, him, him, him, hey, and KCP both left the team and uh won championships, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I was I was talking to a friend the other day that was saying how when before we traded for Blake Griffin, I felt like that team was heading in the right direction.
SPEAKER_03Oh, bro. You're talking about the man in 2016 when they played against Cleveland, even though Cleveland swept us, every game was close.
SPEAKER_01Every game was close. Yep. Yep. That team was good enough to stick with what we had and to can and build off of that. Um we were dealing with uh forget the lefties name that we had that came from Atlanta. Uh we had signed him to a long contract. We still had owed him a lot of money. Uh, what was his name? The Dunker.
SPEAKER_03Smith, Josh Smith.
SPEAKER_01Smith, Josh Smith, yeah. So there was a lot of uh money issues that we were dealing with with that squad. But yeah, I was not a fan, even though I was a fan of Blake Griffin, uh, I was not a fan of that particular trainer. That set us back big time.
SPEAKER_03And I knew it. And I and that I was having conversation with people like, oh man, if he stays healthy, that's if. That's a big if. If yeah, and um, and then I don't like when when GMs or coaches or GM slash coaches make decisions based on their job security, and that's all that that's all that was about. Stan was trying to keep his job. Yes, he made a desperate move and it set us back. So now we're here, and I'm I'm sure Langdon's not gonna do anything like that.
SPEAKER_01No, no. I like those jobs being separate. I want my coach to concentrate on the X's and O's, and I want my GM to concentrate on the roster and what makes what moves to make for the team.
Player Grades Begin And Coaching Trust
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. All right, man. Let's get these players' uh grades, man. Javante Green, what you what grade did you give Javante?
SPEAKER_01Man, I'm gonna give Javante a B uh because he came in ready to play every time. Uh I he must have been hurt because he didn't play the last two, three games. Um, but I I I love his energy, man. Uh I was happy when we signed him. I hope they re-sign him. I think he's a good locker room guy. And he's he's dependable, so I give him a B.
SPEAKER_03I do too. I agree with you. Ron Holland. What did you get Ron Holland?
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna give Ron Holland a B minus. Uh, and the reason why I give him a B minus is because he had a great season. Um, something happened with that coach and staff, they didn't trust him enough to put him out there uh in the playoffs in a crucius crucial situation, so that's why I kind of got to give him the B minus. But it gives him it's a great idea to make him say, okay, I'm gonna work on trying to become an A student. But I I gave him the B uh also because he stayed positive. He didn't pout. So I'll give him a B minus.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm with you with that. Uh what it period happened was he was missing defensive uh assignments, and JB was yelling at him. Uh yeah, it was a few different times, a few different situations where you saw that happening, and so he lost JB's trust. Um, but I was hoping that he would gain it because I like the tag team between Asar and Ron Holland. So you take Asar out and then you put Ron Holland, the other team just can't rest. I mean, you got these dudes gonna pick you up 94 feet. Yeah, like what you doing? And then and and then I was saying that you know, I don't know. I I started to come around like you starting to leave some of these pissing groups, these Facebook groups, they're terrible. Yes, they got infiltrated by some Cleveland fans, man. And they was trolling, and they were definitely talking about JB. Uh-huh, that's what y'all get. Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? You see why we got we let him go, and like, yeah. Uh hopefully a different set of players will have make him uh think differently. Hopefully, we'll see. But yeah, he's starting to he's starting to look weird, man, on a few different occasions. But overall, he did a good job.
SPEAKER_01Okay, he did a good job, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Duncan Robinson, man. What do you give him?
SPEAKER_01Ooh, that's a hard one. Um because he was inconsistent. He was inconsistent. Uh, but when he was consistent, he he was he's hot and cold, but he's he's more hot than he is cold. I I'm gonna I'm gonna give uh I'm gonna give Duncan a B because I I think he he did what we expected him to do. I I there weren't many games. There were games that he was off, but that kind of comes with being a shooter in the NBA, especially in the playoffs. You're gonna be hot and cold. That's just how it goes in the playoffs, especially when you're playing one team and they hunker down on you. Uh they know what you're gonna do and what you're not gonna do. So I I will give I'm gonna give him a B.
SPEAKER_03All right, I'm gonna give him a B minus. Uh, because of his defense. And oh my gosh. In the playoffs, yeah, they were on him, bro. And it got to the point where he had he was unplayable at times. They had to take him off the off the court, yeah. Especially for Orlando, yeah, and that's why I'm like, play Javante.
SPEAKER_01Why and anyway, but yeah, so I agree with you on that. I agree with the B minus on that one.
SPEAKER_03Uh we come to Asar Thompson. My guy, that's dude. I man, I like that archetype, the Ben Wallace, the Asar Thompson, the uh Jerome Williams, you know what I'm saying? Like the junk guard, that's that feisty defensive guy. Yeah, because he he moves the needle. You put him on the court, yes. Uh, like Kenny Atkinson, man. His his adjustment in game seven in the second round, he said, who swing the ball, whoever a star is on, swing the ball from him. They'll treat him like Darrell Reeves, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_08Yeah, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_03Yes, don't don't throw the ball to him. That's
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_03Oh, man.
SPEAKER_01So my grade for him would be an A minus. Man. And I say A minus because he is so tenacious on defense. Led the league and the playoffs and steals. Up there with block shots as well. Defensively, he is just a monster. Everything you describe. But it's, you know, the Pistons player developed developmental squad, the coaches and everything. Hopefully, man, they can help get that kid to being able to, you know, have some more confidence in his offensive game. But excellent season for him. The only area he needs to work on is getting confidence in scoring. Whether it's a short jump shot or taking jump shot. But I need him. I love him the way he is, but I would love to see him be able to add a little bit more offense to his game.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. And that's what they talked about on a locked on Pistons podcast. Cool talked about that, you know, the front office and management had, you know, they had two different visions of what was going on this this season. And the main top, the main thing they wanted to do is Assar uh develop a SAR. They want to hit get him the whole on-ball reps through the whole season. But uh once he got hurt and then the team started winning, they just like we're gonna veer from this and we just come back. So they broke his jumper down. They broke his jumper down, and as you can see, in increments in each if during out the year you can see that his his jumper was looking different. So they tore it all the way down to the build it back up. So this is the summer where he's supposed to do the thousand jump shots a day, you know. They mentioned on the podcast that he didn't even, he's not even taking a break, he's going right back into the gym. So yeah, big ups to that guy.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, yeah, I can see that.
SPEAKER_03And so uh they banking, they put a lot of eggs in the Sar Thompson um basket. We'll see how this is gonna work out. But he is my guy, bro.
SPEAKER_01Great cornerstone player for us, man. He's a guy I'm not I'm not letting go.
SPEAKER_03Uh oh, he's untouchable. I I if you ask me two untouchables, it would be Cade and him. Untouchable. I agree. Okay, and I'll I'd say I would give him a high A-thenis, Danis Jenkins. Would you get Danis?
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna give Danis a B plus. Give him a B plus. Um because he once he finally arrived and he took that step um and he earned himself a contract. He did rest a little bit or he kind of took his foot off the gas. Uh, and he had several games where he didn't play well. He so he was kind of up and down a little bit after the the contract situation. Uh, but uh I will say in the Orlando series, he struggled a lot in the Orlando series. That's why I wanted to see Sasser um more. Um but again, a great a great story. Um, and you couldn't have asked for a guy coming out of the G League to go from what he went to to starting in the playoffs. I just think that's a tremendous leap. It kind of described the Pistons last two years from crap to very, very good. So um, yeah, I'm gonna give him a B plus. Give him a B plus.
SPEAKER_03Okay. I'm gonna give him a B. Okay. All right, uh Jalen Darren. What'd you get at, brother?
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna give it uh I'm gonna say I gave him a C plus, but I'm gonna upgrade it to a B minus. Um because I think that young player, he has developed, he's his game has gotten better every year since he's been in the league. Um he was a force to be reckoned with in the regular season. I think this time around, it was so many factors for a young fellow like him to have to deal with, dealing with the angel Reese situation. We don't know exactly. It affected him. Umbody say that affected him. I don't know if he still got feelings for the young lady or uh, you know, what that situation was, but it did affect him. Uh but Draymond Green said something that I thought was uh very good on his podcast. He said that in the regular season, a guy like Doran may get four or five lobs a game. He said, but in the playoffs, what happens is teams make the adjustments and they don't commit, they just stay put. So that way, instead of having four or five lobes a game, now he's only getting one lob a game, which was very imperative when you look at uh Cleveland and Orlando, how they played him. So I just think that he has to make the adjustments himself. I would love to see the brother develop uh Kevin Garnett just maybe a five to eight foot. He ain't gotta go ten feet, five to eight foot jump shot. Right, and that'll open his game all the way up.
SPEAKER_03Do you think he needs to lean a little bit? Yeah, you know, get lean because he's muscled, and I don't know if that bulk is like that a bulk. I know at times the bulk served him during the season, but it seemed like it was an impediment during the playoffs, man. It seemed like it'd be more swift.
SPEAKER_01I don't know, man. I could see that. Yeah, you know what? I I could see maybe losing maybe about 10 or 15 pounds, swimming down a little bit. He still would be strong as an ox. Oh, for sure. Um, but it probably would make him a lot quicker. So yeah, I I'm with it. Because he's what, he's about 260, 265. Yeah, I believe. Yeah, if he could get down to about I'll say about 250, 245, yeah, he'll still be a force to be reckoned with.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they they man, they list him at 250. He's bigger than that. It's no way he's 250. Come on, man.
SPEAKER_01Stop it. Yeah, so it will it let's just say if he is 250, um, 10 pounds, 240, 237, somewhere around there. Yeah, I think it would add a little bit more speed to his game.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I like I would give him maybe an A, maybe A minus.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Uh he would have he would have gotten a higher grade if he had performed in the playoffs. But what he did when K went down and he was able to be the primary scorer, and also the hub, he was he was passing the ball, he was bringing it up at times. He, I mean, he led the team. I think for 20 games, he was able to like he was the guy for 20 games, and everybody can't do that, and well, especially when the teams can load up and you're at a focal point of the offense, uh, you know, the the opposing team could just load up their defense against you, but he was able to find creases and still get to the rim and make moves. He was man, he was looking exceptional.
SPEAKER_01So I'll I'll I'll say this, not to cut you off. I'll say this. Yeah, I'll upgrade him to a B, and the reason why B because he he didn't do so well in the playoffs. But I was thinking, is it I wonder, is it because when I think when I look at our assistant coaches, we're we heavily guard-oriented with the exception of uh Luke. Um and I I wondered those guys really, I don't think the coaching staff did a good job of giving him the ball best where he does best. You know, giving him the ball at the top of the key and expecting him to, you know, work something out. I I didn't like that type of um, I didn't like those type of plays for him. I I wanted to get him the ball where he was comfortable and give him some space to go to work because again, that that that body nobody in the first round, well, I would say Orlando, they were more equipped to deal with him with Bancaro and Carter Jr.
SPEAKER_03Oh man, Carter was a problem, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he was a problem. But opposed to the thin build of Mobley and uh the other brother, um Allen. Yeah, yeah, he should have this really should have been his series every game.
SPEAKER_03He should
Cade’s Playoff Run And Leadership
SPEAKER_03have been eating him up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But I blame that on the coaching staff. I don't think they did a good job of giving him the ball where he was best at.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I agree with you. So yeah, uh, next is I got uh I got B-ball Paul.
SPEAKER_01I'm giving B Ball Paul. He's A plus, man. I mean, all season long, uh any, and you know what? Some guys, and me being a former player myself in high school, I play after high school. I just didn't play, you know, collegiate ball, but I would continue to play afterwards. Um sometimes, man, it takes guy like a Ron Holland. A guy like him, you gotta come in, you gotta get warm, you gotta, you know, it some guys it takes a lot to you know to be their best. That guy, when you put him in, he makes a difference every time he comes in. And I think that when we first got him to where he is now, he has blossomed into a great player to the point where I'm not sure how you're gonna feel about this, but um, one of the three guys might be expendable to go get somebody else. Stuart. Yeah, it might be expendable to go, and you could give that time to be ball paul, man, because he he is he's done, he did a great job all season long and even in the playoffs. So for me, a plus for him, man.
SPEAKER_03I agree with you. He uh he's a fan favorite. They was chanting his names at that uh Little Season Arena, uh, and JB couldn't do nothing, but I mean it was it was it was a one it was I can't remember the game, but it was they he was putting him in that garbage time, and they and the crowd was saying Paul, I think it was the either B-ball paw or P Reed, I don't know, but they was chanting that he was smiling and JB was smiling. I'm like, bro, the people love this guy, yeah. You know, Detroit loved that type of player, like I mentioned Jerome Williams earlier. That type of player that comes off the bench and and just do the dirty work and and and is productive, yes, man. That's why I was just like, we didn't understand. Like, why is he not getting why does the team have to be in trouble to put beatball paul in? Put him in, he should be a part of the rotation, just throw him in there, you know.
SPEAKER_01He did that in game seven. He he didn't bring him in right away like he should have. I think he ended up bringing in Stewart ahead of him, and that change right, man. They just took off and they never looked back. I was kind of disappointed at that rotation as well.
SPEAKER_03Man, it was terrible. I this Jay, you know, we know that JB is real, he's he stayed real with his players. He should have said, Look, man, the fools over there fired me, man. I'm trying to, I'm trying to beat them. I don't care. So be with me. Uh, I'm so I might my uh lineup might change this way, and my rotation might change this way. My objective is to beat these dudes, yeah. And so he get like there are some players that got a short leash, you know. Assar has a short leash. Yes, why why couldn't Dern and Stuart get a short leash?
SPEAKER_01You know, yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_03And but uh yeah, it just sucked, man. But I gave my man a I gave him an A plus too. And um, we had K kind of Deuce, man. I mean, I'm gonna give him an A plus, man.
SPEAKER_01A plus. A plus. Just a kid that came in, dealt with so much adversity. Um, you never, you know, you never hear him complaining. Great leader. Uh, he leads this team. Um, he's got he got better because I remember when he first came in, it was two things that bothered me so bad about him when he first came in, which is an adjustment for every guard that comes into the NBA, is he was getting his his layups just batted like volleyball every time he would go to the hole. And his jump shot was terrible um when he first came in. So he's worked on those two things. He he's an incredible basketball player. Uh, only thing now that he needs to work on, and what will help him is getting another guard so that he doesn't have to handle the ball so much, uh the turnovers, but yeah, a plus for that brother. A plus.
SPEAKER_03He was he turned the ball over in college as well, so I think that's just who he is. Um the games that we did, he has low turnovers, we like blowing the teams out.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I remember when we first because you you and I, we you had hit me up and you inboxed me when we uh drafted K. You was like, How do you feel about that? I'm like, Man, I'm happy as heck. I ain't gonna lie, my eyes, my eyes welled up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was extremely happy about that. I I know people there were so many people uh that wanted Jalen Green because they probably they saw the uh they saw Kobe in the kid, and I said, no man, like great teams. You got to have that that point guard, that leader, that guy that could just lead your team. And I I felt that he had done that well in Oklahoma State. So I was I was overjoyed when we got him.
SPEAKER_03Just yeah, I mean, think about that. You got uh Evan Mobley, Scotty Barnes, yeah, Jalen Green. And I go back to that draft. I am so happy that we chose Cade.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and you know how we are. I mean, I was afraid, I hate saying that word, but I was afraid we were gonna fumble the bag like we did with the duck, because we were known, we were known for not making the right picks. So we we we hit a home run, we hit a grand slam with that one.
SPEAKER_03You're right, because I was the same way, because we we missed out on Donovan Mitchell and D book. We could have we could have had either one of those, man, or both. Never know.
SPEAKER_01All Stan Van Gundy.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, even in, I mean, and we and our and our records were still bad. We still could have liked the the 2022 and 2023, we still had enough losses to have the number one spot because I thought we was gonna get victory. I just I was hoping really we were, but the league, man. I I you know I am kind of skeptical and very cynical with the league. It seemed like because I know the league was like, we wanted to send them to San Antonio because at that time our management was horrible. We probably would have ruined that dude, man. We he came here, we probably would have ruined him, man. You ain't
Flopping Talk And Who We Root For
SPEAKER_03lying, you know what I'm saying? You ain't lying. So, but you know, big up to Victor. Uh, I don't like watching him play because he's just so dominant, man.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, he's so dominant. Yeah, I was surprised they lost last night. I mean, man, I looked up the score like 15 to nothing. I was like, it's over. They're about to blow them out the water. And OKC got it together and came back and won that game convincingly last night.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. And they got, you know, they got the big dudes. And I didn't realize that so many people dislike OKC the way they do.
SPEAKER_01You know, I'm I'm gonna defend uh because I I heard some I heard Reggie and uh Crawford, Jamal Crawford last night, they kind of took a lightweight shot at uh Jay Will. Uh, because Jay Will had uh said on the uh one of his on the show he was on on the SPN, I think it was first take.
SPEAKER_03Tim O'Dukes, Jay Will?
SPEAKER_01Yep, yeah. He was saying that he doesn't like all of the flopping and flailing that SGA does. And I I I agree with him. Like even with I I really like Bronson, but I don't like the flopping a lot of times. Like a lot of times I get it, those guys try to draw files and different things like that. I like to see them guys play without strong, like all of the time, like with James Harding, it's the same hard and it's the same thing. He's big uh OKC. They you know, they're a different bunch. It's an odd bunch to me. They are be winning the way that they're winning. Um but I I I don't like all the flopping and flailing. That that does bother me. Um, I'd rather just see you just play straight up. But I mean, it is what it is. So and and they're winning with doing it. So salute to them.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. Like I said, I didn't know, man. Outside of uh Oklahoma, everybody like like want them to want them to lose big time. I didn't I for me they're indifferent. I don't I right now out of the four teams that's left, I'm rooting for the Knicks.
SPEAKER_01I like man, listen, man. Uh I was waiting for you to say who you I'm rooting for the Knicks too. Uh I look at the I look at New York like like almost like our big brothers or whatnot. Um I got a lot in common with New York. Uh, I don't know if I said it before I was there. Uh I was in the World Trade Center the day before it went down. Uh I've been there like four or five times, man. Really love New York. But yeah, I I'm I'm for the East Side, and I I I want them. They haven't won since the year I was born, 1973.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_01Um, so 53 years. And my mom is a huge uh uh Knicks fan. I I became a basketball fan because of my mom, and my mom has always been a Patrick Ewing fan and a New York Knicks fan. So yeah, salute to the Knicks. I hope they do it. I hope they pull it out. I think they can do it, honestly.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they they built for it. I uh yeah, that Knicks team, man. I was I was Bernard King, Bernard King fan. Uh I couldn't stand the Bulls, so I wanted the those Knicks to beat Jordan Bulls. Yes, they couldn't do it, but I I definitely was rooting for him. And I and I'm always I always pull for the underdog, and I know people criticize Kat, but I like Kat. He's very he's skilled. I know I do see that. You can say what you say about him, and dude is skilled. And yeah, I'm glad that Mike Brown made the adjustment to run the offense through him now. And now that you see that they're blowing teams out now, like they're not even messing around with you no more.
SPEAKER_01Man, I want to give Mike Brown a huge shout out. And he's one of the main reasons why I want to see New York win it because you're talking about an African-American coach that has been done so wrong by this league. Uh, I just I would love it for him. Uh, because he's he's one coach that I know that has been fired twice in his first year. He got fired the first year for the Lakers, and he got fired his first year. Well, in the one season with Cleveland when he had came back, got fired by Sacramento after he changed that horrible franchise around.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, so and he was a part of the Golden State Warriors championship team. So you can see you can see his imprint on that team um and the way that they've turned things around. And they they look unstoppable. So game three is gonna say a lot um with them. Um and then, like you said, with Cat Bru, just his character, man. Uh he was one of the first guys when the pandemic hit, he lost his mom um to COVID.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And a lot of of me listening to him and how he overcame that, that helped me in some of the mental things that I was going through with my daughters and them losing their mom. Um, so salute to that brother. Um, uh I again I I hope the Knicks pull it off.
SPEAKER_03Yep, and um, you Knicks fans, be yeah, yeah, y'all be kind to to my boy Um Uh Mikhail Bridges, man. Come on, man. Yeah. Uh Mikhail is cool, man. All right, let's get back
More Grades Trades And Rotation Debates
SPEAKER_03on this list. Tobias Harris, man. What'd you give Tobias Harris?
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna give Unk, man. I I gotta give, I'm gonna give Unk a B plus slash A because for his age, he's still balling. He was consistent all year long. I think he's done everything you can expect from from him. Uh he's been a leader, he's been like that that big brother to those guys to help calm the he's the veteran, the classy, respectable veteran that we needed on this team. Uh, he in the Orlando series, man, he came through. Um I don't, you know, that's the great idea. You can't really say nothing bad about him because again, at his age, I think he's been in the league what 15, 16 years. Yeah, he's been in the league a long time. Yeah, a lot of miles on his body, and uh he's available. He's he's he's been available.
SPEAKER_03So yep. Uh Deuce Deuce seems to love him. Deuce talks about him highly. Uh Coach JB calls him the safety blanket. So yeah, uh, that means a lot. And and he shouldn't, you know, because Durin had his issues in the first round, and Uncle T man stepped up and he was that second primary scorer. And and big ups to Unc. And yeah, I too. I gave him I give him an A, man.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I said B plus slash A, so I'm leaning. I'm gonna curb it. I give him an A2.
SPEAKER_03This guy right here, I got a love-hate relationship with this guy, but in the playoffs, it was a few games he came through. Carol.
SPEAKER_01I'm going to give Carrius. I'm going to give Carrius a B minus. And the reason why I give him a B minus. I mean, with all the guys, I really there's not a great I can give them lower than a B minus. Maybe a C plus at the most. But I'm giving a B minus for one. I can't understand why Carius Laverne is hurt so much. He's been hurt a lot through his. Because he's not always available. But when he's on point, man, he is such a great spark off of the bench. He's good at handling the ball. But yeah, he's a hot and cold guy, too. He's been a lot of cold. And he's a turnover guy, too. Yeah, sometimes he turns the ball over a lot. So that's why I'll go with a B minus with him.
SPEAKER_03Nah, I get to do a C, man. But much love. You know, he was he he was, they signed him to be what they was hoping that Jaden Ivey would be, but it didn't turn out he was having, like you said, he was like, man, he barely played. Why is he not playing? Oh, he hurt. Why is he sitting out? He was constantly hurt. And it seemed like he got up for those games against Cleveland, you know, because I was on the smaller team. He got up. But other than that, I didn't I didn't see anything. I just I would cringe, man. It felt like somebody kicked me in my stomach when he would enter the game.
SPEAKER_01Uh oh, here come this guy.
SPEAKER_03Um and you go into the I go into the pissing group, people like, man, why is he in the game? But I'm not gonna I'm not here to pile on him. Uh that game that he he went off, I think he scored 24 points against uh Cleveland, whatever it was. He had a high score game. Yeah, because we needed that at the time, yeah. Uh better late than never, but yeah, uh, I would say that. But I I get a guy. See, I don't know if he's gonna remain on the team. It's it's like a lot of players, like um let's see uh uh Duncan Robinson's contract is it's to the point to where he can either get traded or they can retain him. I don't know, but it seemed like his spot is up and it seemed like Carris. I don't know what's gonna happen to them, and so I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Real real quick uh trade scenario, uh especially since you brought up uh since we talked about uh Duncan Robinson, uh Kevin Herter and our 21st draft pick could get us Tyler Hero. Um I'm okay with that because I I don't really know. I I'm not sure if the draft this year is is that deep. Um so if we didn't, if we decided not to keep Duncan or LeVert, uh I do believe Tyler Hero would be a great addition. Um because he he can handle the ball, he can shoot, and he's he he's like Duncan, but he can create he can get to the basket. Like he really can handle the ball.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that guy uh his defense. Oh we got a few. Uh Beef Stew. Happy birthday, Beef Stew. Got beef stew. Uh, what would you get beef stew?
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna give Beef Stew a C, man. Um because the big I I love his strength, but uh he has to get his temper under control. Um, and I get it, he's an emotional basketball player, but that emotion costs us a lot, man. Um he didn't he did not play a whole lot during he played less than what I expected him to play in the playoffs. Uh, but the moment was it was almost too big for him. The technical fouls through the season, even though we won 60 games, um, the suspensions, uh, a lot of that, man. You know, uh, you know, maybe it added fire, maybe it didn't. I would love to see him come back and be more mentally controlled. Uh kind of like uh Ron Artest. As crazy as Ron Artes was, he still was able to maintain during, you know, every once in a while he get out of control, but Stewart just gets out of control way too much. Uh, but he's still an intricate part of our off, I mean of our team, offensive defense. Uh, I don't want him to go nowhere unless it's a very good trade to replace him. Uh, but I I give him a C, man, because I just think the attitude brings him down a grave from a B.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I give him a B. Um, if you think I would listen, I listen to these other teams and these other teams that have these stars that get bullied. Uh, we would be we'd be awesome if we had Beef Stew. I hear so many other teams talk about or their fan base, like, man, if we had a person like Beef Stew, that wouldn't happen. Yeah, and it's needed, man. And he he embodies what pissing bad boy is. And like you said, and I I would love for him to be able to control his temper, but I like that he plays with that edge, and I love that other teams love the teams not gonna come crazy at uh Kate or any other player because they know B stew is over there waiting to um put you in check.
SPEAKER_01That's true. He yeah, he will lay it all on the line.
SPEAKER_03Oh man, yeah. He was like, man, what you is it one of the one of his quotes, like, what you what the F you think they brought me here for? He said that. So I give it to him.
SPEAKER_01He he is our enforcer, and you know, and if if that's what what he needs to maintain being who he is, and that that's cool. I I just don't want that to because again, in the playoffs, man, like the playoffs is it's so much mental when it comes to the playoffs, just like we were talking with Jay Lendura. That's it's mental, man. And I think he lacks in that area the the uh the poise to be able to make because man, you when so you when something like when you get to seeing some pushing, immediately everybody and everybody might have like, oh, I hope these two don't go over the top. That's the first thought that most of us are thinking. So I think if he could curb that just a little bit without it taking away from who he is and what he brings to the team, then I'm okay with it.
SPEAKER_03I think also I think the knock on him is he's he's never seemed to be healthy during the playoffs. And it was also said that he was he was dealing with injury this postseason, even though he was he was denying it, you could tell something was off. That's right. He didn't have that spring, he didn't have that bounce, yeah, and he just seemed like he was lagging, he was always a step behind. So uh hopefully, yeah, hopefully he can stay healthy and um play a full season and have he'd be as close as 100% possible to in the playoffs. That would definitely bode well for the team. But yeah, I wouldn't want to lose him. I would love to be able to keep him uh really uh but man, he got to stay healthy, man. Uh these uh after the next one, then the wrestling, I would say it would be incomplete. But after that, Marcus Siser, he I would, I was I'm gonna lead off. I would get him a C plus. I think he could have a higher grade, but he didn't he didn't play that much, man. He knows he uh when Danis the reassert the surges of Danis Jenkins, man, put him put him further down in the death chart. Yeah, and uh but he can shoot, man. He can go and he has he might he's on the shorter side, but he has long arms. His wingspan is kind of long, and he can play some defense, so that helps him. Um, but I would I would give him I would give him a C because he wasn't able to play too much.
SPEAKER_01I I'll give him a C as well. Uh another guy, injury man, he had been dealing with a hip injury all season long because in the beginning of the year he didn't you think he missed like the first 20 games because of the hip.
SPEAKER_03Oh, right, right, right.
SPEAKER_01And I don't know what it is what these guys are doing in their private life. I don't know if it's their diet, I don't know if they drink or they smoke or party or whatever it is. Um, but I'm always wary about guys that don't have a lot of wear and tear, that don't play a much, play that much, like of LeVert, but they're always hurt. So um, but yeah, when he's when he's in there, the guy definitely has the heart of a lion, man. Like he's not afraid. Uh I I love that in my players. Uh, but yeah, definitely see because of the injuries, and you know, again, not not playing and then kind of getting passed up by by Jenkins. Jenkins ate up his time, so I don't know what he has to do. Stay healthy. Um, and and maybe that'll reflect in him being able to get more time, get a better grade.
SPEAKER_03And I would say these last players are uh incomplete because the lack of playing time and whatever. Uh Chazlinair, Kevin Herter, Tolu Smith. What's up, Tolu? Uh and then um Wendell Moore Jr. and Isaac Jones, you know, I get them incompletes.
SPEAKER_01Incompletes. Okay, yep, I'll go with that. Um uh shout out to Tolu, man. Um, brother liked a couple of my um my posts and stuff. Uh, I'm gonna be honest with you. I think the kid is good enough to eventually move up in between a Paul Reed and an Isaiah Stewart. Uh, if we have to get rid of one of the guys or can't sign one of those guys, I think with more time he's gonna get better. Um with uh Wendell uh with the Smith, Wendell Smith Jr. Wendell Moore, um I I I haven't seen him take that leap yet. Um, so I'm not I'm not sure about that kid. Kevin Herter. Um I think if he would have been here in the beginning of the year, because I've seen him get busy. He was getting busy in Atlanta. I've seen him get busy. The kid can play. I think with more time, he probably would be better. But I'm gonna be honest with you, man. Um and God bless this brother. But the trading of Jaden Ivy changed the identity of our team. Um, it changed the trajectory of this team. Even though we did go on to win 60 games, uh, Ivy was their guy that we could have used in the playoffs. Um, Ivy thrived under pressure, Ivy did well. Um the injury thing hurt him and whatever's going on in his life. I don't like to downgrade the brother for his Christian beliefs, but as a Christian, I do think there's a time and a place for everything. Um, you know, you're a professional. There are plenty of professional Christians. Uh uh Kate is one, Tobias is one. Um, I don't think you have to always like just throw what you believe onto people or accuse people if they don't believe what you believe. So I think the Pistons saw that in maybe his demeanor in the locker room or whatever, and they probably felt like it was time to move on from that. But him being traded, I wish I could have seen him in this offense in the playoffs. Um, but unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see that. So yeah, incomplete for those guys at the end of the bench.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I saw he out when he came back, they also, you know, he was on the minutes restriction, but even when that was lifted, he he lost his step. He couldn't
Jaden Ivey Exit And Locker Room Rules
SPEAKER_03get he couldn't get past his defenders, man. Yeah. And um I saw that because I'm rooting for the guy. I'm I'm a I'm a huge Ivy fan. Uh he couldn't get past his defenders, and and so then he then it just uh relegated him just to be a spot up shooter. So he was shooting those three pointers, but we need him to be to break people off the dribble and go to the rim, and he wasn't able to do that. Maybe not now, maybe next year.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say maybe next year. Because I mean, because he still averaged in the amount of time that he had, he still averaged double digits. I think he was about 11 or 12 points a game. So he made uh the adjustments for not being able to explode and get past. Uh, he still was effective, it wasn't like he was ineffective, right?
SPEAKER_03Right. You know, I just think that, yeah, I think just that battle, because it was always like the pink elephant in the room, what we're gonna do with him because yeah, but it seemed like their focus went away from Jaden Ivy and went to Sar Thompson. Like, we're gonna get to where we're gonna get this guy, we're gonna develop this guy, and um, and they was trying to make him the secondary ball handler, and he he did okay, but I think Danis did a better job as the ball handler, yeah.
SPEAKER_01He did. Uh yeah, his ascension his ascension eventually sealed the deal for Ivy.
SPEAKER_03You know, I was looking at him from afar and he went to the Bulls. I think he only played two games, and then after that, they sat him, and then he wasn't even playable. Then all the other stuff came out, uh the locker room stuff, and so then it it sh it shined the light on what was going on in the Pistons locker room, even though he he was grafted here, he has friends, but I think it also like was off-putting to some people, and so oh yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, because again, I mean, those are professional settings, man. Like you, you know, when you when you go and you're a part of an organization, uh, regardless of how you feel about certain things, it's just certain etiquette, it's just certain things you gotta you gotta abide by, whether you like it or not. And these guys are getting paid millions of dollars. Um, and again, it's a time and a place for everything. I love the brother, I love that he believed in God and everything, but at the same time, it's a way that you have to carry yourself in a professional setting, it's just ways to do things, and that just wasn't the way to do them. That's why he is where he is, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, what do you man, that is that's so sad because when that when he went over there and he stopped playing, I was like, what's going on here? You know, yeah, yeah. Did you have you have you heard anything? What was like what was going on?
SPEAKER_01Um, well, of course, the injury he hadn't healed properly was one. Um, but again, I I think it was the the um the speaking out on on Twitter, and it's not just a Christian thing, I don't want people to think it's just that because um the brother uh Kyrie Irving, you look at the flak, he's caught for not even saying anything, but actually retweeting certain things. Yeah. Um so uh again, I think that boiled over. I think that probably because even in the and when he was here in the beginning, you know, sometimes sitting with him through um through his interviews, it's like going to church, it's like being in a sermon sometimes. Um which, you know, I I'm okay with, but again, in certain settings, you gotta carry yourself a certain way. Uh the Chicago the of course the Pistons didn't see that as being something that they wanted to deal with.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And they shipped him on and and it ended uh it ended abruptly in Chicago. So uh that's the only thing I can think of of. And hopefully, man, you know, he'll be able to get another opportunity to play again, but he won't be able to join a team if he has the same, if he walks the same path that led him out of the league, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, all right, my
David Robinson MVP Story And SGA
SPEAKER_03guy. Um, I want to, you know what happened uh 31 years ago, bro. 31 years ago, on May 23rd, 1995, David Robinson was named 94-95 Most Valuable Player, right? And that ceremony was a well, he he uh got that award on May 24th in '95, game two of the Western Conference final against Houston. And do you remember what happened after that?
SPEAKER_01Got destroyed by the one and only Hakeem Elijah one. He should have took that MVP trophy and flushed it down the floor.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_01I was 22 years old, man. I remember that like it was yesterday.
SPEAKER_03Oh man, I mean, the show that uh king put on that footwork, uh dude.
SPEAKER_01He was out there dancing like Michael Jackson when that blessed.
SPEAKER_03Man, I was already a fan of his, but when I saw that, I was like, I love this guy.
SPEAKER_02Yes, man, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_03I just man, I'm seeing the up and uh up and over and all that, just that footwork. Oh man, to this day, players go meet with him in the summertime to learn from this man, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh uh Jalen Dorn needs to be on that list, but yeah, man, I I'll never forget that. I I mean he absolutely embarrassed David Robertson, bro.
SPEAKER_03So uh I listened to Bomy Bomonty Jones, and they were talking about he was talking about this same thing, and he was talking about how uh SGA received his MVP trophy in front of Victor and thought maybe Victor might get um you know get his batteries back to do something, but nah man, SGA is different, bro.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he's different, dude.
SPEAKER_03Oh man, he you talking about that um that uh fall away that that fall away jumper that he got from Kobe that Kobe got from Mike. That's unstoppable if you know how to do it right, you know. It is, yes, it is, you know, uh even uh uh what's my guy? Uh uh The Terminator. What's his name?
SPEAKER_01Uh uh Kawhi.
SPEAKER_03Kawhi, yeah. Kawhi too, bro. It's just that mid-range boom.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, there are scenarios that are being thrown out that he the pistons could possibly try to uh uh sway him to come here for a year or two.
SPEAKER_03I don't want to, man.
SPEAKER_01Um, yeah, it might be a little bit too much to deal with.
SPEAKER_03It's risky, and then the fact that we he had a good season this year, this past past season, and he seemed to be relatively healthy. Yeah, I don't know if you can count on that again another season. I really don't. That's true. I don't want to depend on that, but he's one of my favorite players to watch.
SPEAKER_01I mean, oh yeah, he's a terrible basketball player.
SPEAKER_03My God, the hands and the defense.
SPEAKER_01Matter of fact, the two games, the the uh might be the only team we lost to them twice this year, and he put on a show. I think he dropped 50 or close to 51 of them.
SPEAKER_03He did man, yeah. He went back in time on that, but yeah, it was a good year. But there you go. How you have it. That's my guy right there, Sean P. Man. Tell
Where To Find Sean P And Listener Shoutouts
SPEAKER_03the people, man, where they can find you because you man, you be dropping jewels, you be dropping knowledge for these young people, man. A few days where I opened uh TikTok and you said some things that helped me out for the day, man. Tell people when they can find you, my guy.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, you can find me on Facebook as Sean Whitaker, you can find me on Instagram as uh Sean Picasso, and you can find me on TikTok as uh uh Sean Picasso, man. You know, um, and I appreciate that, brother. I'm at the age now where I've gained a lot of knowledge, been through a lot of things. God, God continues to bless me. So if I can help somebody, man, um, to maybe not make the same mistakes or help curb some bad decisions or anything, that's the inspiration for a lot of my videos. I want to see us all win it, man, especially our culture. I think it's a lot of things we need to, you know, um combat change. And so if I can help, you know, be a part of that, be a positive uh influence, man. I love doing that.
SPEAKER_03So you do a good job of it, man. Yeah, we uh we gotta be, you know, we gotta be channels and not reservoirs. So whatever we have, we gotta pass it on, you know, because that's one of the things I say. Uh and do you know anybody that's that's from Ashburn, Virginia?
SPEAKER_01I do not know. I don't have I don't know any Virginia.
SPEAKER_03I didn't know there was a city called Ashburn, but uh I want to say what up to you five new people that's following the podcast from Ashford, Virginia. Thank you guys, man. That's that's like what where did they come from? You know, maybe somebody moved there. I'm not sure, but uh, but yeah, I want to give a shout out to you people, to you listeners. And uh, you can send me an email or text message through the uh Buzz Sprout. You know, I will always leave the link from here on out. I will leave the link in uh my Facebook and Instagram post Instagram posts, or you can go directly to Buzz Sprout and email or uh text the show. And like I always usually say, man, be you, share your gift, and keep those classes current. Peace. Peace. Ladies and gentlemen, make sure.
Closing Message And Outro
SPEAKER_00Thanks for tuning in to the Disco Hicks Show, where the stories live on. And the music never fades. If you enjoyed today's episode, please like, share, subscribe, comment, and rate me. And keep the conversation going. Remember, always be you, share your gift, and keep those classics current. Until next time, keep the needle dropping and the good vibes rolling. This is your host signing off.
SPEAKER_04I swag up kicking, call me pippin'. There are so many girls on the floor I want to go swimming. It's Saturday, so let's go kick in.
SPEAKER_05So let's go dig in. I'm swagged, you can call me Pibbin. There are so many girls on the floor, I want to go swimming. It's Saturday, so let's go dig in. I'm swagged out, you can call me Pibbin. There are so many girls on the floor, I want to go swimming.
