Knicks Ceiling? | Lakers Hot Streak | Suns the Nuggets Kryptonite? w/ Jason Timpf

Jason Timpf of Hoops Tonight talks Knicks, Lakers, Suns, and more on Combo's Court!

Knicks' Backcourt Strength: The absence of the Knicks' frontcourt has highlighted the physical prowess of their backcourt players, particularly Dante Devan chenzo and Josh Hart, emphasizing their defensive pressure and offensive contributions.

Lakers' Roller Coaster Season: The Lakers' season has been tumultuous, with questions ranging from playoff contention to championship aspirations. Despite recent improvements, they face matchup challenges and dependency on other teams' injuries or upsets for a successful playoff run.

Suns vs. Nuggets: The Suns showcased strong early-game performance against the Nuggets, but Denver's methodical play led to their victory. Denver consistently obtains better shots, posing a challenge for the Suns, although the latter is seen as a significant threat to the Clippers and potentially the Nuggets.

Jokic's Dominance: Nikola Jokic's exceptional performance raises questions about his potential to reach a level of individual dominance comparable to legends like Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. While comparisons to the greatest of all time (GOAT) are discussed, it's acknowledged that Jokic needs to maintain his dominance for several more years to truly contend.

Basketball Discussions and Predictions: The conversation delves into various basketball topics, including comparisons between current and past players, preferences between different breakfast cereals, debates on shooting abilities, and strategies for hypothetical basketball games. The discussion demonstrates a blend of analytical insight and personal opinions.


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Transcript

Transcript:
(00:00) Jason Tim of Hoops tonight welcome back to the show we talked about how things were before the Pod but how are things they're good they're good man I can't complain uh but B's feeling good the show's doing well um obviously like getting ready to gear up for our busy season as you know but like you know it's funny the the NBA playoffs are an absolute grind but they're just so much fun that like I've done it twice now with the volume where I've basically gone every single night during the
(00:35) playoffs Live on YouTube and then and then woken up every morning and done film sessions and things like that and and and what's crazy is is like it's kind of just when you're in it you know it's like the first round such a blur right because there's just great games on every night right it's almost like it's almost like the March Madness of the NBA Playoffs exactly yeah because games are almost going on yeah like Saturday Sunday going on all day you know and then right second round is kind
(01:03) of like a more focused version of the same thing what with better teams and then do the NBA Conference Finals and finals like you can't beat that and then also like during that phase we shift to where all the games start at a decent hour too so that's always nice yeah yeah imagine I mean imagine on my side when those West Coast games oh dude I literally can't even imagine how someone could do what I do on the East Coast like I just don't I don't understand how you'd be able to do it because like
(01:31) literally like shout out Paul he's our lead producer at Hoops tonight right now like during that grind it was it was another friend of mine named Ryan for the first two years like they're up to like 2 am every night like like turning the content around it's a lot of work I mean if you're trying to cover a West Coast team on the East Coast that is insane if they're going live but let's let's stay on the East Coast for a second because the last time you were here we talked about the Nick next move
(01:56) and they made a lot of great moves right and they had a great win last night OG back plus 28 for ogn and Obi in full health Jason what is this team's ceiling I think they have a championship ceiling I think they're in that group with the guys that are like the way I've kind of looked at it in the at the top of the league is I look at you know kind of Denver and Boston being on their own tier that second tier of teams that are like like legit Championship contenders but not on the same level as Denver and
(02:27) Boston but not like kind of the long shot guys that to is like the Clippers have been there for a large part this year but they're kind of eeking out of that group the suns are kind of eeking into that group Minnesota to me has kind of just been in that tier all season long but then after that to me there there's like a group of teams that are like they can win it's just a long shot kind of of tier and to me New York falls into that tier they're just so physically overwhelming that's the thing
(02:53) and we haven't even really gotten a chance to see it yet but in the the thing that I think we've seen a lot during the stretch where the front court has been out is it's shined a real light on how physically imposing their back court is yes like like watching Dante Devan chenzo in his physical ball pressure and then obviously him stepping up in his offensive usage too but Josh Hart who's like just literally a like a a Ford F-150 of a two guard you know just like a big body dude who just could
(03:21) cause so many problems and and and and what's crazy is like that to me is what I look at as an exciting potential for this team is kind of layering that physical imposition on the game like we haven't even seen him with Mitchell Robinson in with that with that Core group and like Mitchell Robinson damn near won the Cav series just by bullying the Cavs front line on the offensive glass Julius randle's capable of that but obviously he's gone into every single playoff run coming off an injury and I very much
(03:49) look at Julius as a rhythm player kind of needs to be in a Groove so I'm hoping he can come back sooner than later then ogn and Obi obviously is one of the most physically imposing threes in the league and then we talked about the back court a minute ago and so like I don't see any reason why they especially as the league and you you had mentioned to me last night that we might be talking about this today but especially as the league is kind of shifted to a more physical brand of basketball I think it plays
(04:11) directly into their strengths D chenzo the way I would describe him the way I would describe him is a hustle guy who happens to be skilled as well yeah I like that like Dante like have you it's always funny when you watch the clips I remember that was the thing with Isaiah Thomas when LeBron had that dunk on him where his uh head didn't get above his waist in the in the 2017 conference uh I think it was in the Conference Finals and then Isaiah Thomas like in between game two or three or whatever immediately released a video of
(04:40) him doing a windmill dunk in the uh like in the in the practice Dante demenzo is like a really good athlete and I don't think a lot of people realize that like this was a guy who was doing dunk contest and stuff when he was in high school like a a real athletic player and I didn't I like I thought his he shot the ball pretty well in gold last year but like I thought the biggest thing that stood out last year for golden state is he was one of their best point of attack Defenders and so to see him kind of average add to that a more high
(05:10) level like movement shooter game this year like last year he was kind of a spot up guy with golden state like he's doing a lot of stuff off the move for for the Knicks and yeah I just think talk about like a free agent signing on the margins that ends up like being a massive home run I think he's been a massive home run for them most definitely I mean you've had some injuries not as many as me you know during your playing career and the thing that scares me about the Julius Randall thing is like me personally I could
(05:38) always deal with pain but like instability right and I've dealt with NE instability is like the thing that could really get into your mind so for him I just hope that shoulder stays in place now there's going to be some pain but if that shoulder could stay in place that's what's going to really matter for this niick team because you know I love watching the free flowing basketball that they're playing without him but the Nick stealing is with an all NBA player and Julius Randall yeah they need it
(06:03) like that to me like really the two of them actually compliment each other really well meaning Jaylen Brunson and Randall in the sense that like brunson's your textbook skill guard that like a very very versatile skill guard that can attack in a bunch of different ways but he's a skill guard and to me like pairing a skill guard with a mismatch attacking forward is like the best like pairing that you can have even as you look down at like like joic Murray it's just like a on steroids version of that
(06:29) same concept right like like any sort of size mismatch joic can exploit on the inside any sort of skill mismatch Murray can exploit on the outside and so like obviously Brunson and Randall aren't on that level that's not what I'm trying to say my point is is like their skill sets mesh really well and specifically why I look at a Julius Randall as super important is against switching defenses in particular which you inevitably will run into at some point in the playoffs even amongst teams that run drop they
(06:55) will go through stretches where they switch and having a guy that can like consistently just kind of play bu ball it's so important like I was literally watching Pacers uh um I was watching Pacers Thunder this morning yeah and just like having Pascal sakam every single time he got you know Isaiah Joe or Shake gild Alexander on a switch and he could just walk him down to the block and just bury him under the basket like that's a huge advantage in a playoff series and that's why I agree with you I
(07:20) think randle's so important the one thing I'll say about Randall though is his injury being an upper body thing I agree with you the instability is a little sketchy but I always worry about that like mental element of of planting hard like I don't know about you I'm still dealing with that right now with my achilles but I dealt with it pretty badly when I when I broke my foot in college but like there's like the I'm healthy phase and then there's the I trust this foot or trust this knee phase
(07:46) and so thankfully like for for Julius like I think he trusts his lower body is probably feeling better than it has at this point in the season ever because he's been able to kind of ease his way as he's ramping up so I I'm I'm I'm encouraged I'm more just worried about can he get enough games under his belt to rebuild his rhythm because he's such a rhythm player in terms of his like jump shot like he's a guy who can go s for 24 for like two weeks before before he like gets it figured out you know
(08:10) yeah speaking of fit I mean the OG fit with those two is just impeccable but but I do want to shift to your Lakers because this has been the most Roller Coaster season I've ever seen in my entire life Jason one day it's can the Lakers make the play-ins the next day is are the Lakers legit title contenders will they win it all what have you made of it and what have you made of of the hot streak yeah you know I have a theory this is not based on any sort of uh of reporting at all but the the the Lakers
(08:41) season makes a lot more sense when you split it into thirds like they they come out the gates and they go 15- n uh inconsistent during that stretch a lot of their wins they would like be trailing by eight nine points at the end of the third quarter and then just have this you know crazy fourth as they've been one of the best fourth quarter teams in in clutch teams in the League this year but like they go 15-9 count the inseason tournament win in the inseason tournament you know they beat the Suns then they beat the Pelicans
(09:04) then they beat the Pacers they slow down a Pacers team that the the Celtics couldn't even slow down like a really impressive stretch to the inseason tournament then I think two things happened one immediately at that that point they they hoisted a trophy in the middle of the season so like I think there was like a real relaxation at that point and specifically for a guy like LeBron like a 39-year-old dude like that like I think and I really do think the leader of your team that that kind of attitude bleeds over and everything else
(09:34) and like look at look at what happened immediately after that they lost to a Dallas Mavericks team right after the inseason tournament championship game that was completely devastated by injuries and they lost to him then they turned around and lost to the Spurs and the Spurs had three wins to that point in the season like they they literally immediately relaxed after winning the inseason tournament they go three and 10 over the next 13 games right then there's like a turning point game on January 7th I think it was against the
(10:00) Clippers if I remember correctly everyone is like they're just going to get destroyed by the Clippers and and part of the story leading into that was like during that three and 10 stretch Darin ham started messing with the starting lineup and I really do think there was a push from some of I I have no reporting on this but I really do think there was like some passive regressive like like LeBron and AD and some of the other core guys were just done with Darin and I think they were hoping that they could kind of pout
(10:28) their way into a mid-season coaching change and I think that that that in combination with the relaxation after the inseason tournament kind of led to that 3 and 10 stretch obviously some lineup stuff in there too but once they beat the Clippers they've been really good since then they are 19 and 11 in their last 30 Games they've been sixth in offense over that span they're 12- five in their last 17 games and they're number one or number two in offense over that Span in particular and so like
(10:52) they've been they were good to start the season and then they've been really good here at this late stretch they just have this really bad stretch in the middle that absolutely destroyed their chances in the standings all of that said I still feel exactly the same way I felt about them uh after the Denver Nugget Series last year after the Denver Nugget Series last year I was like this team is good they can beat a lot of teams but in order for the matchup resiliency to win four playoff rounds they got to get a
(11:17) real two-way athlete in the back court like they just have to do it they got to get someone that can that's an Alex cruso Bruce brown type of player that you can put next to their skill guards guard the other team's best player Chase over the top funnel in Anthony Davis all that kind of stuff they didn't do it over the summer and they didn't do it at the deadline and so now I feel exactly the same like certain matchups like I think they're going to beat Oklahoma City if they get him in a series I think
(11:38) they can beat Minnesota just because Minnesota's half court offense is such an issue like I think that but if they run into Denver they're losing if they run into Sacramento with their speed guards they're losing they run into the Clippers with all their switching I'm I'm worried about them too like that's the thing I think they're entirely matchup uh dependent now and so that window of them sneaking through almost requires some injuries to key teams and guy maybe an upset from somebody else
(12:02) around the way so that they don't have to play a specific team and like that's just a lot to ask and so you know I'm a fan of the team obviously I'm rooting for him but I don't really see a a likely path this year if that makes sense so a tough margin for ever for era if you will yeah yeah exactly they're just they're just not to me they need their games to go a very specific way like their skill guards can only score against like drop coverages their skill guards cannot score in in SW in
(12:27) switching coverages they can't beat people off the dribble right so like they they're and then also when they face really fast guards like Austin Reeves can slide his feet and play really fundamentally sound defense and get contests on Shay gild's Alexander but dear and fox he didn't even see Austin like he's just going right around him every single time because he's too fast and so doesn't Fox doesn't Fox present that problem for almost any team though yes but I think there's a I think
(12:55) just like with anything it's about mitigation like how many suns fans have you heard tell you like like oh nurkic is the joic stopper and it's like I mean yeah he can make him work harder than others but I think if they played a seven gamer that joic would put up big numbers against nurkic like to me it's like it's not about can you stop dear and fox it's can you make him work hard and and kind of make the he had what he had 40 something the other night the uh the fox did against the Lakers like he
(13:21) was just killing him man like I don't know yeah you mentioned the Suns and you know a few week a few weeks back I mentioned on another show that I have right here it's an in studio show that I was never high on the Suns but I would say Styles make fights and it could be interesting if the Suns and Nuggets match up because maybe you could go some small ball KD playing the five stretch yic out who knows there's actually like a backstory with nkic and joic right like they were both in Denver joic kind
(13:48) of took his spot U maybe there's some added motivation there is the Suns the Nuggets Kryptonite so here's the thing I I they have some distinct advantages and those are like uh uh Kevin Durant when he's making his pull-up jump shot can get shots off over Aaron Gordon and then nurkic is big and strong enough to at least prevent joic from just burying him under the basket every single time and honestly had some success on the offensive glass in that uh in that matchup the other day as well they also
(14:22) have just like you've talked about just like the the the sheer amount of like speed on the perimeter to put some of these Denver players into space Here's the thing I tend to think that if we really zoom in on what happened in that game the other night the Suns came out guns blazing Grayson Allen makes eight straight threes to start the game right and the Nuggets a little bit lack joic is not being very aggressive it has a bunch of turnovers we're middle third quarter and the and the Nuggets kind of
(14:55) hit the gas and from there they methodically outplayed Phoenix the rest of the game and and and and through that stretch like what happened in that fourth quarter like KD got the same shots that he got in OT but he missed him because here's the thing like when you take tough pullup jump shots sometimes you make two three in a row sometimes you miss two three in a row sometimes you miss five six in a row like that like that that's the nature of that kind of variance right and like and that's the thing like it was one of
(15:22) those weird games where like we we look at it as like oh look at this KD and Bradley Beal they shot the Suns into a win in Denver it's like they also damn near shot them into a loss and dur like the the uh the the Nuggets like they had a 120 run at the end of that game where they got great looks every time down the floor and force the Suns into difficult shots every time down the floor and if KD doesn't make his textbook High hesitation three on the right wing or left wing yeah that that game's over so
(15:48) like my thing is is like I think a sun series with Denver would go exactly like it did last year I think they'd have a game I think they'd have a game or two where both of the guy all three of their guys shoot super super well but the at the end of the day the fundamental problem in that matchup is Denver is going to get great shots every single game and for Phoenix they're going to get tough shots every single game it's just a question of whether or not they can make them now that said like I do
(16:15) when I look at biggest threat the suns are encroaching on the clippers for me in that department I really do think like the suns are one of the best like chances to beat Denver I just am so high on I would make them a substantial favorite against everybody in the conference if that makes sense yeah I mean I think a big part of that is joic is the best player in the world and I think the Gap is the gap is actually widening if you watch like it really is and then the way the roster is constructed around yic I mean that makes
(16:45) it even tougher can I ask you can I ask you a question because I you know every once in a while I get in trouble you were the you're you're always the guy that kind of like has my back a little bit when I get into the burner remember when I had the Jaylen Brunson over John Mor take over the summer yeah which by the way I mean like Jaylen Brunson has been so good this year anyway uh like I I got in trouble the other day like two weeks ago because I said jokic's peak the level he's at right now is higher
(17:11) than the Peaks that KD and Steph reached in their career in terms of dominance of the league and every KD and Step fan was ready to kill me what what was your take on that do you think joic is reaching a level of individual dominance that's higher than what Stephen KD reached I think KD for sure I think Steph's 2017 season when he was the unanimous MVP that was kind of like a ridiculous Peak but who would I rather have on my basketball team joic me personally to clarify really quick though like so for instance Stephen 2015
(17:45) won the title but that was not a dominant playoff run like LeBron probably outplayed him in the that NBA final series Steph was really good he played like a superstar he played like a top tier Superstar but like that wasn't a dominant playoff run it was just he came out on top 2016 obviously not a dominant playoff run 1718 it's just always hard to say because like the two of the top three players in the world were on the same team 2022 was one of those playoff runs where like during the same playoff run we thought y like
(18:13) because Giannis almost single-handedly beat the Celtics without without Chris Middleton remember like there Steph won the title that year and I do believe he deserved to be recognized as the best player in the world after that 2022 season but it wasn't like a dominant like no one's kind of in the same tier kind of thing we left last year's playoff run like oh he just ripped through everyone he's just better than everyone like this is different in my opinion yeah I mean his gap between him and the rest of the league is closer to
(18:42) like Jordan's gap between him him and the rest of the league more than like Stephen ktie I mean Stephen KD were always playing with Bron and you could always say braon was the best player in the league during those years yeah well that that's the way I look at it I remember the the last time I remember feeling this way was LeBron in during that like 2012 201 13 stretch cuz like again even for LeBron from like 2014 remember it was the KD MVP year from 2014 to 2020 I still think LeBron was the best player in the world but I
(19:09) thought KD and Steph had encroached on his territory enough that it was like at least a conversation you know what I mean to where it's like Steph fans legitimately believed he was better you know KD fans legitimately believed he was better you might find the occasional National guy who would who would say one of those guys is better but like I like I think if you pulled if you pulled NBA fans Not 90 plus perc right now would say yic is better than everybody if you pulled uh NBA Personnel I think like 95%
(19:36) or more would say that yic is I think this Rivals that stretch with LeBron where he was like won the title in 2012 led the World Cup team or the uh the the Olympic team then won in 2013 in 2013 he should have won unanimous MVP remember that was the Gary wasburn voted for Carmelo year so like that like that to me is the last time we saw a stretch like this where it's like oh this guy's just better than everybody you know what I mean and so I just wanted to give yic that credit cuz like I do think what
(20:03) he's doing right now is exceptionally rare and and is in like a pretty crazy Stratosphere yeah not to get too crazy but I'd add am marz on the Pod and I talked to him about like is jokic's goat window still open and he believes it is I mean he's a Denver Nuggets guy but I'm I'm saying like if he wins five or six more I mean he's 29 so that's the one tricky thing but like let's say but if he in the let's put it this way if he got a three peat when we haven't seen that since the Kobe
(20:31) Shack Lakers if he got a threp in this era right now we're talking about like because I I don't think he'll he's in a similar situation to LeBron where like he has no chance to get six titles I don't think just because of age related stuff and honestly too like you gotta remember he's on a team with some guys that have some injury histories with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr too that's always something to keep in mind they also have a like they're going to eventually have to do some form of soft
(20:55) rebuild and that's where a guy like Payton Watson could be massively important but like yeah like if he win if he won let's say he won four titles and there's a three Pat in there so like he wins this year and next year then maybe misses two years and then wins a wins a fourth and like he's gonna win his third MVP this year like who's the last guy to have three MVPs like it's been a long it's LeBron right so like bird had three in a row yeah bird had three in a row um and and there's a case
(21:21) yok could should have had four in a row I mean I thought he kind of punted the end of last year so like yeah there were I think it's again I think there's a very like to get the goat I just like with LeBron it's a very slim shot because to me MJ like his resume is just so it's hard to even fathom like what his resume looks like so like I it's a hard territory to encroach on but I would agree that it's open he just needs to he jic needs to continue this dominance over the next four to five
(21:45) years is basically the the the path and you know what helps this case I mean look the chances are he wins four is low but they are developing the young Talent while competing for championships which really helps joic really well too like that that's like so if you look down the roster Murray and mpj provided they stay healthy are more or less on jokic's timeline right but Aaron Gordon and uh although Aaron Gordon how old is Aaron Gordon I think Aaron Gordon might only be uh like 29 too yeah late 20s I
(22:14) believe yeah he's late 20s so Aaron Gordon it's just a question whether or not they can keep paying all these guys but like that if if they end up having to slot Payton Watson in at the four and Christian Brown in at the two over kyp because kyp is the guy that that's kind of on the older end of the spectrum there when you if you can get those two guys through skill development to fill into those spots it can be a real window extender okay we're going to do some rapid fire we don't do this often on
(22:39) compos court all right so here we go we got some questions here let's start with put your GM cap on SGA or Ant-Man who do you have for the rest of their careers I lean towards ant I like I I really do think that ant at his ceiling is going to have that crazy combination of like physical imposition downhill Rim pressure the pullup shooting and then like that I'm sure you saw the defensive possession against PG last night where he ripped him like I think he has the potential to go to do that for like an
(23:15) entire Series where he just snatches another Superstar's soul and I just don't think I don't think Shay quite has that ceiling I do think Shay's a little bit better than him right now but I think I think in the long run an's be better bill in the blank Prime wemi will average blank points per game I actually just W over this yesterday on my show so he's averaging 26 points and 13 rebounds per 36 minutes right now and he's a really inconsistent shooter playing alongside guys that very rarely set him
(23:48) up with easy shots and this is like G to be a guy who kills teams with lwh hanging fruit when he starts playing with good players the the stat line I put down is like a realistic like fiveyear stretch for his prime was 32 points 15 rebounds seven assists and then like around six steals plus blocks per game I think that's realistically on the table for him as like an extended stretch in his prime I think the guy cares about winning a lot but I do think he cares about stats as well I wouldn't be surprised if he averages more than 32
(24:18) at some point yeah that's definitely on the table I more just think like obviously when he's in his prime the Spurs are going to put him on a good team and and like and he'll be sharing touches and stuff it's kind of like Giannis like Giannis as he was Rising we were like oh this dude could average 40 just running and dunking on everybody but it's like inevitably you end up on a good team and now you're sharing touches so yeah I I think I'm with you I absolutely think he could average
(24:42) 35 who's going to win Tyson or Paul oh gosh Mike Tyson I would guess just he just has to get one right like like I don't think Jake's I I don't think he's felt a punch like that before I don't think that's in the same Stratosphere fact or fiction Team USA goes undefeated in Paris I'm going to go fact um a one note though Anthony Davis better better be ready to to play some interior defense against some big European bigs because that's his own personal weakness and now he'll be flanked by some good players
(25:20) that'll help him but man like that is I think that would be a a big challenge for Anthony Davis to go overse but oh here's a quick quick reverse question who would you start started Center and beater Anthony Davis in a lineup with Steph Tatum KD and Lebron Anthony Davis I would too I think so too but but again he's gonna need to be prepared to bang with Anthony Davis just serves better as a role guy when it comes to defense and offense you know 100% agree and I think you I think there's some switchability
(25:47) in that group with Tatum KD Lebron and then you can with Steph you just hedge and recover I think that I think that's what they would end up doing I don't know if you saw this going around on Twitter or X are you done with the 90s H here's what irritates me about that take any basketball game today and it's the best the NBA's ever been take any basketball game today and you'll find a 90 second stretch where they all look like idiots out there look like that and all I see all I see are these
(26:14) these these these examples it's like look at this stretch from 1987 where this guy dribbled it off his foot and looked like an idiot it's like have you watched Jordan pool this week like have you watched any of these guys like like it literally like I'm going to be watching Lakers Kings tonight I bet you there's two or three you know four five possession stretches where everyone you know just collectively pees on their leg and and and it looks terrible like this is I I yes basketball's better now than
(26:37) it was in the 90s but I think that the 90s is getting a little bit of an unfair Shake right now I saw a clip of Mugsy Bogues stripping Michael Jordan and they were like Mugsy Bogues blocks Michael Jordan I'm done with the 90s did you see the Ben Simmons treatment for MJ one the one where no MJ's just dribbling around the three-point line and they're just ignoring him and letting him shoot and everyone's like look they're giving him the Ben Simmons treatment I'm like yeah back in an era where like both teams
(27:09) might take five or six threes in the entire game like that's it's not the same as like Ben Simmons getting ignored in a league where we take 40 threes a game you know it totally different most definitely a few more greatest serial ever um I go I'm on the fence with this one but I'm going to go with frosted flakes too a like you can have it as a snack when there's no milk like you I used to just put some Frosted Flakes in a cup and just like just snack out of it like chips that that was my morning
(27:37) breakfast Sports Center and Frosted Flakes when I was a kid you know that's okay what's your what's your grown adult breakfast oh man it's either a combo Shake which is like a green shake with like you know uh tail spinach yeah all the stuff you like you know or it's like a few a few hard-boiled eggs with avocado it changed a lot it changed a lot I I have the I have a textbook five-part breakfast every single morning I have three over medium eggs I have oatmeal I have a banana I have yogurt
(28:07) and then I have coffee and athletic greens that's what I have every single morning wait all five all every single morning wow are you you're a bulking face well it's more just like dude I have found if I don't have a good big big breakfast like I deal with like energy dips throughout the day so like I'm a big you wait sometime do you wait sometime or it's right in the morning early I can't eat right away so I'll wake up and I'll enjoy my two cups of coffee I have two 8 oz cups of coffee
(28:33) every morning I'm very much a creature of habit and then I'll have my five-part breakfast and then I'll like like afterwards so I really do need to like wake up a little bit before I start eating better shooter Klay Thompson or Ray Allen Klay Thompson but again this kind of goes back to what we were talking about earlier like relative to his peers Ray Allen was you know obviously Transcendent but like the game just gets better and better and like clay I think just had like I I I'll put it one step
(29:02) further I think clay when he was hot was an even better shooter than Steph just when he was hot like he had these insane because of his height and release point he could get on these hot streaks where like you couldn't guard him because he was so tall too you know like obviously Steph's a better shooter than clay but like and he get hot more frequently than clay but do you remember Prime clay when he would get hot it was like you couldn't do anything you couldn't do anything yeah he was more flammable than Steph was
(29:30) like he he had 38 and a quarter one time well he was he's 67 and he's got a lightning quick release and he could shoot on the move and so like again when he was hot like there's a certain element with Steph where it's like if we throw enough attention at him but like I mean like clay clay like look at the shots that he was hitting in that 2016 game six against the Thunder like like 35 Footers off of the off of awkward footwork at the at the top of the key extended like in transition on the move
(29:58) like clay clay yeah to me to me klay's the best definitely a better shooter than Ray Allen ber magic I've always been drawn to the the Larry Bird archetype in that like kind of like back to the basket mismatch attacking well the magic they have a lot more similarities than people think but like I think B bird brought the best combination of playmaking and scoring between the two and a higher Peak I believe yeah I agree best chance to win a TI not named the Nuggets or the Celtics I've been on the fence on this one all season and it's
(30:36) been a bunch of different teams and up until recently it's been the Clippers to me but I'm like I'm like one more week of mediocre Clippers basketball and good Suns basketball from picking the Suns I I don't know if you've been watching the Suns much lately but they've been defending a lot better like just in general and they like for stretches because they can get lazy sometimes when they really lock in defensively they can be good and K is like four straight 35 Plus point games like KD is just killing
(31:02) everybody right now so I I'm going to I'm going to go I'm just going to go out on the limb and say the Suns as my third right now one event you would add to the all-star game I would get rid of the actual game and I'd run two I'd run two elim ending games to 24 my theory is is that 48 minutes is too much to ask for those guys like that's my theory so like put them out put the starters out there let them play to 24 twos and threes put the bench guys out there there let him play to 24 tws and threes and then I'd do
(31:30) king of the Court by position group as the third phase so I'd do all the guards play King of the court against each other so like Steph and Dame and all those guys then all the forwards so like KD Lebron Giannis that kind of thing and then I'd have yic embid ad just play King of the court and I and I've just let like I think that I think that's the best way to get them to actually try yeah oneon-one in the All-Star Game one-on-one the Olympics I I really want to see it all right last one hate to put
(31:54) you on the spot Jason best podcast in the world H overall podcast in the world uh that's a tough one for me because I don't really listen to any non-sports podcasts I'm going to say this so like I I know he's been getting into some trouble lately but the person that I am uh that I most look up to in my specific profession of like NBA League wide analyst JJ reck I think like when I uh there are a bunch of guys that I appreciate in the in the team specific side that are really smart uh Pete Zas
(32:27) who covers Lakers is a guy that has really helped shape my basketball worldview in a bunch of different ways and and someone that I admire a lot but specifically JJ on the national level like when I do I don't listen to a ton of sports podcasts because I try to take a break from Sports whenever I can yeah but like when I when I like during the playoffs like I'll turn on a a JJ pod when I'm like at the gym one day and I'm like this dude's so good at this like he's just he's a excellent Communicator
(32:54) really understands the X's a nose and enjoys breaking it down it brings an impartial perspective but at the same time one of the things I appreciate about JJ is he's not afraid to be honest about how he feels about a player so he'll be like this guy's good at this this guy sucks at that and like so many of the former players are either like this guy sucks all these guys suck or all these guys are amazing and there's nothing in between like they they did kind of take the company line and I I just think JJ I I think JJ's the
(33:19) best in the world at covering the league at a national level real quick how do you balance following your because this kind of ties into some of JJ's recent comments how do you go about following your basketball curiosity and also feeding the algo so there's a fine line to me to me it's a really simple process you need to find some urgency in every episode so like whether that is an instant reaction to a specific game or hitting a major team and then once you do that you can talk about whatever you want on the back
(33:50) half so like we'll do shows with three four segments in it on every single day and like like yeah like I'm going to hit p thunder today and I'm excited about it and we're going to get in the weeds but I'm not leading with Pacers Thunder if I do I understand the the honor in that but it's not smart from a business perspective so you bet I'm going to find something yesterday I don't know if it'll be uh something like the Knicks because they're a bigger fan base or uh like like even the Celtics or something
(34:18) like that but I'm going to find a bigger topic to kind of frame the show around in terms of like getting people's attention and then I'm free to do whatever I want on the the back half and like that to me is the the Fine Line like it I'm a big believer in like like stick true to yourself talk about what you want to talk about but we always have to acknowledge there's a business side to it uh however with JJ I do kind of agree with some of the push back in the sense of like if you don't like
(34:46) doing First Take don't do first take like you don't have to he has a YouTube channel with over a million subscribers like he can talk about whatever he wants in the way that he wants to do it but that said like JJ is a man for on his YouTube channel like talking about the Lakers and talking about the Warriors like you need even though they're playing teams I know but like just do that and then talk about the stuff that's in the weeds after like you gota you gotta play the game man we got bills
(35:11) to pay right most definitely Jason great stuff where could we find you social media everywhere else on Twitter _ jlt uh Hoops tonight is the YouTube channel and the podcast feed we're also going live tonight after Kings Lakers big one for the ad got embarrassed by Deus sabonis they've uh uh multiple times this season they're 0 and3 against the Kings desperately need this win on the road in Sacramento tonight do you think the Lakers bounce back or no no but we'll be going Live on YouTube right after that game maybe I'll be
(35:45) shouting out combo for being right Jason talk soon see you buddy