Basketball Highs and Football Predictions

Get ready to ride the high tide of sports enthusiasm as we unpack the Denver Nuggets' hot streak, including a standout victory that will send the Milwaukee Bucks reeling. Feel the energy as we chuckle over Nikola Jokić's 'night off,' which, let's face it, he deserves after dishing out triple-doubles like they're going out of style. But it's not all laughs—Joel Embiid's injury has us swapping our jest for genuine concern, crossing our fingers for a rapid recovery to keep the NBA's electric rivalry alive. Plus, you won't want to miss the inside scoop on Peyton Watson from our insightful chat on DNVR, brimming with the kind of details that'll make you feel like an insider.

Then I'll match Football stars to their NBA counterparts. Shift your cleats towards the fantasy realm where Christian McCaffrey's football finesse meets Jokić's fantasy basketball wizardry for a masterclass in sports excellence. And because we love a good game of predictions, hear my take on the Super Bowl face-off that's got everyone biting their nails—will San Francisco snatch victory, or will Kansas City reign supreme? Place your bets, and let's see if McCaffrey can dazzle his way to the MVP title. It's a week of connections and celebrations in the sports world, so lace up for a full-court press of entertainment in this latest episode.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

All right, everybody, welcome back to Phantom from afar. We are going to have a more positive episode this week. If you listened to our last episode, it was a bit of a rant about what is wrong with some superstars attitudes and maybe what the NBA is doing about it, but not today. Today will be more positive. So we're going to talk about the weekend review for the nuggets. They went three and four, or three and one since we last recorded with four games, only losing one.

Speaker 1: 0:39

And Yokic didn't play in that game. Nice little rest for him. So does it even count? No, but they had a nice win against Milwaukee. That was Doc Rivers first game after taking over in the midseason and then two games against Portland who is not good at basketball? So of course we won those, and really nothing crazy to mention with any of those games. I kind of love the fact that they gave Yokic the night off in Oklahoma City, which I know is. It makes me a giant hypocrite, because last week I went on and on about how players miss games all the time, but this was Yokic's second game missed of the entire season, so I think we can give him a break, but it was a little one game road trip, and so they just told the big fella he could stay home and he got a little bit of extra rest.

Speaker 1: 1:31

Now, like I said, there was really nothing exciting or out of the ordinary for the nuggets this year or this week, so just wanted to talk about the Embiid injury, which was the big news of the week and obviously we made fun of them quite a bit, not only last week but in almost every episode of this podcast. And as much as I joke around, I never want to see players get hurt, especially the superstar players. Like I mentioned a few weeks ago, I really wanted everyone to make it healthy to the playoffs because I thought the playoffs had a chance to be just an all-timer this year. So there's still a chance that Embiid can make it back for the playoffs. Who knows kind of what shape he or his knee will be in. But I just wanted to put it out there that, as much as we joke about Embiid, it is fun to have a worthy rival for Yokecitch and hopefully he gets better.

Speaker 1: 2:29

Speaking of Yokecitch, our favorite Yokeism of the week was against Portland when Joker put up this ridiculous line of 27 points, 22 rebounds and 12 assists and if you watch that game. The reason why that's so special? Because Yokecitch will have crazy games like that pretty often, but he was kind of going at half speed and, like I mentioned, portland's not good at basketball but still it is really hard to put up those numbers in an NBA game. And Joker did it without breaking a sweat and so it's just a fun reminder how good he is and how easily the game comes to him. Like we've mentioned before, he is always trying to make the right play and oftentimes that comes with just making a pass to his teammates. But the way Portland was guarding him, the way they were missing a ton of shots, he was just racking up the points and rebounds and, oh yeah, just threw in 12 assists to go along with it. So it was a fun game to watch. It was not, I wouldn't say, his best game, just because he just wasn't even trying. He's that amazing.

Speaker 1: 3:39

What are we looking forward to this week? The NBA trade deadline is coming up on Thursday, which this episode will be released on Thursday. So by the time you listen to this, hopefully a lot of the exciting moves have been made. I don't think it's going to be a very exciting trade deadline for the nuggets. They really don't have any assets or really the need to make any moves. They may make a small move, kind of on the fringes of the roster, but I would not expect anything big. But it'll be fun. I'm excited to see if anyone does change teams and kind of go from one of the lesser teams to a playoff team and that could kind of help shape not only the rest of the season but how the playoffs go. The trade deadline is always fun and hopefully we'll get some fun stuff to talk about next time.

Speaker 1: 4:25

My recommendation for this week is DNVR just had Peyton Watson in their studio and did an awesome interview with him. Peyton's been killing it lately. He's really kind of our young, up and coming potential superstar really. He's been playing so well and the interview was really cool. He was very open and honest about stuff and I just kind of like his attitude. He's very confident. He's very well trained with the media in some of his answers, but he just seems like he's a good guy and he just loves basketball. So I'd love that. He's not happy with the success that he's had so far and he wants to keep it going and hopefully that will lead to him being a superstar. So that's my recommendation this week. If you guys haven't checked it out, check out the DNVR guys interviewing Peyton Watson. It's either a podcast or on YouTube, you can watch it either way.

Speaker 1: 5:22

And now it's time for everybody's favorite section. Oh, there's other teams, where not only am I gonna be talking about other teams, but I'm gonna be talking about other leagues. It is Super Bowl week and I thought I'd kind of mix and match it here and pick out some of the players that I think are gonna have a huge role in the Super Bowl and maybe find their NBA counterpart and explain a little bit why. So let's give this a shot. First guy up is Brock Purdy, the quarterback for the 49ers, and I put his NBA counterpart as Jalen Brunson. The reason for this is they were both late round picks. Brock Purdy, famously, was the very last player picked in his draft and Jalen Brunson in the NBA. A second round pick is a late round pick. So they have that in common. And then they're both leading how should I say once proud franchises, and maybe they have a chance to win a championship for those franchises this year. Obviously, purdy and the Super Bowl is a very good chance, and Jalen Brunson's got the Knicks looking really nice right now. So I think Brock Purdy and Jalen Brunson kind of match up well.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Next one, andy Reed. Now you're probably thinking, oh man, is he gonna match him up with another great coach and talk about X's and O's? No, no, I'm not. His match in NBA is Boban Marianovic. The reason I chose them is because they're both funny and commercials. I know you come here for the hard hitting analysis and you get it, but Andy Reed was really my and my kid's favorite commercial star this year for the football season. He had some pretty funny commercials with Patrick Mahomes and especially the one where he talks about wanting those chicken nuggies. That made us laugh every time. And then Boban, his commercial came out last year and still makes me laugh when he's picturing himself as a NBA play-by-play guy and just says he bounces it, he bounces it, he bounces it. Funny every time. So Andy Reed and Boban are matches.

Speaker 1: 7:42

Next one, fred Werner. Some people watching the Super Bowl may not even know who Fred Werner is. He's actually a 49ers linebacker and he is ridiculously good. I would say he's probably the best linebacker in the game right now. And of course he's a linebacker. So if you're not a quarterback in the NFL, it's hard to become a star. So the reason I matched him up with Rudy Gobert is kind of along those same lines. They are absolutely amazing at what they do, but they'll never be superstars. Werner great in coverage, great linebacker against the run, just kind of an all-around great player. Same with Rudy he plays amazing, amazing defense and it's necessary to win, but it's not the stuff that makes you a superstar. So Fred Werner Rudy Gobert matches Next up Travis Kelsey.

Speaker 1: 8:39

Travis Kelsey tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. I've matched him up with Charles Barkley. Now, the reason I did this is because both Kelsey and Barkley are looked at as two of the greatest to ever play their sport. Travis Kelsey is gonna go down as the best, or at least one of the best, tight ends in the whole history of football. He broke the record for most catches in the postseason and when you break a record held by Jerry Rice, then you're doing something right. So Kelsey, amazing player, amazing career. Barkley kind of the same thing One of the best power forwards ever, mvp, all time great. But the reason I matched them up is because right now they're both probably more famous for something other than their playing careers. Barkley one of the all-time best studio guys breaking down the game. He's just funny. The whole crew there on TNT is just a perfect show. It's really fun, no matter what game they're breaking down. You gotta love watching the TNT guys. And then Kelsey obviously his dating life is the most popular thing right now. So Barkley, kelsey matched Next one Patrick Mahomes.

Speaker 1: 10:03

He is really right now. I don't think there's any argument. He's the best quarterback in the game. He's already won a Super Bowl Actually, I'm sorry, I think he's won two Super Bowls but he's off to pretty much the best start of a career that you could have. And with his talent and being so young, I think it's possible that he'll be right up there with Tom Brady and the other greatest quarterbacks of all time. So, with that being said, who could I match him up with for an NBA comp? Well, christian Brown, of course. Christian Brown was a rookie last year on the Denver Nuggets and they won the championship. So if Christian Brown plays 15 years, he's on pace to win 15 championships. He could go down as the greatest player ever. Something to think about.

Speaker 1: 11:01

And last, our last match is Christian McCaffrey, the running back for the 49ers, and his match was Yokic. You know I couldn't go through. I actually wanted to find a way to match all these people to Yokic and you know I could have done it. But Christian McCaffrey and Yokic, why are they counterparts? Well, this year I think they were the number one options for fantasy.

Speaker 1: 11:29

Yokic, by far and away number one. If you get him in fantasy you're going to win. It's kind of unfair how well he does in fantasy. And then Christian McCaffrey, pretty much for his whole career, has just been a cheat code because he gets so many rushing and receiving yards and then it seems like he scores at least one touchdown every week, not only with the fantasy connection, but also Christian McCaffrey grew up in Denver and Yokic plays in Denver. So I don't know. I think they match pretty perfectly. Which brings me to my Super Bowl prediction for this year San Francisco versus Kansas City. I'm going to go with San Francisco, let's say San Francisco 30, kansas City 28 in what will hopefully be a great game, but I just think Christian McCaffrey is going to pull it out and win MVP. All right, y'all hope. You had a great week and we will catch you next time for some reaction to the trade deadline and hopefully some fun nuggets reviews. Thanks so much.