Are We Live? Episode 43

- United v Liverpool

- What went wrong for the Celtics?

- How did Cavs Raps go to 7?

-Round 1 recap

Song: Podcast By Snail Music (Loop)
Author: ‪@SnailMusicES‬

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Are we lying? No, no, no, no, no, yes. Yes, yes, yes. We lie. Yes. Okay, so I ain't gonna cover it with this pump. Yo, we back. Back with the regular pods every week. Um I'm gonna spend most of this pod on the first round of the playoffs so far. Maybe some second round thoughts in between, but uh mostly on the first round, recapping as much as you know, recapping all my first round thoughts basically. Um, but I gotta start with the Liverpool United game. Um I'm not gonna get too in-depth with the game itself because like at this point with United and Liverpool, and this point in the season, we've I mean they've these teams have been analyzed to death, really. Like at this point, we know the strengths and weaknesses, we know how these games are gonna go for the most part. Um, and really this game, outside a couple blunders from United, went about you know how I expected. Like, coming into the game, Liverpool had a very much short-handed attack with Salah out and KTK out, obviously, and then Esac was ruled out as well. Um, so that left Liverpool with the Verts, Gagpo, and Frame Pong front three, which is just uh you've got number 10 on the left, you've got a left winger, edge striker, and you've got frame pong or right wing, which is um, I don't know what to describe him as other than a horrible footballer at this point. Um and really, I I just I think slots lack of use for Ryo and Gamuha is just horrible. Like you're just shoehorning players for the for the hell of it. Like, I mean, when Florian Versus starting a left wing, do you think Dallo, the right back, has any type of fear of of that happening, you know? And to be honest, it was more of a false nine roll than it was like a traditional winger, like they were more in a 4-4-2 type shape than like a 4-2-3, but still, like, um I'll get into Rio's impact later in the game, but I just thought it was bizarre from slot to not give him a better or more time in the game. Um, getting into the game, I mean, the first United first 15 minutes, United are very much on top. They come away with two goals. Um, the first goal was a little fortunate with the Cunha shot being deflected in the corner. Second goal, I mean, people have been saying that it's a handball, and on the replay, it does. If I had to like say, is it a handball or not? I would probably say yeah, hit his hand and went in. I can understand why the VAER didn't overturn it though, because it's not like you know, clear, like 100% certainty that it hit his hand. So I at that point, you don't want to, you know, overanalyze those decisions. And well, two things. One, Cisco did not gain any advantage from using his hand there. Like, I'm pretty sure the ball was going in, regardless. And I think there needs to be some sort of rule change when it comes to handballs for the attackers, because the ball just hitting your hand and it immediately being ruled out for a goal feels kind of harsh to me. But uh, secondly, most importantly, is that in the build to the goal, I'm pretty certain Curtis Jones fouled Cesco, which would have been a penalty, and probably would have been a red card because he did not make an attempt on the ball, and he was last man, of course. So I think that would have been a red card. So, in a way, Liverpool are a little bit fortunate with how it actually ended up. Um so it's 2-0. Um, United are just finding easily, it's easy for United to exploit space in behind Liverpool's midfield. Uh, Bruno was incredible in the first half, you know, finding playing over passes to Mbumo. Uh he was combining with the midfielder, he was just everywhere. And um yeah, and then at that point, United kind of back off into their you know mid-block, which we've kind of come to accustom to with Carrick in these, you know, bigger top six type games where he's not sitting all the way back, but he wants the team in that 4-4-2 type shape where they're you know not giving up spaces all over the place and you know playing on the break for the most part. Um and it felt like that was gonna be comfortable for United because I mean, despite having a good amount of possession throughout the game, I would say, uh, Liverpool did not, I don't think Liverpool created any real chances in this game, like a couple shots in the edge of the box, but that's about it. And I mean their two goals to get back in the game came from United. I think just ridiculous mistakes. The first one from Ahmad. Uh to be fair, so Buzzler did really well to you know make that into a goal, but still, um, when he gave the ball away, there was like two men back, and Maguire in space in that situation is not ideal to say the least. And the second goal was just a complete mess up from Lemens and basically set up a free goal for uh for Liverpool. And the fact that they're they got their free goal, the second goal, I think it was a Gakpo, which is basically an open net from the C star box, from the six star um line. The fact they got that goal, and I think their XG was still like about one, that just shows that they didn't create nothing in this game really. Um and then at 2-2, Kobe Manu came with the uh the dagger, you know. And as United fan, I was kind of like annoyed that this wasn't like a 4-0 or something like that, but at the same time, you know, a highlight for Kobe Manu, the winner in a Liverpool game, it might be worth it to be honest with you. Um I thought in general his performance was really good again, you know, winning the ball, dribbling on the ball, combining with players, progressing the ball up the pitch. Um, since that injury uh with the leads game where you sat out and Ugarte played for him, he's been he's been he's leveled up again. I think you'll see him close to the level that he first was when he first broke through. You'll see more, you know, impetus with his dribbling and whatnot. And um yeah, he's been he's he's amazing he's amazing. We all we all well most of us knew that this guy was amazing, but you know, unfortunately, his the the uh idiot at you know at the helm, the previous manager did not know that. And honestly, anyone who backed how that was taking place, um, just don't ever talk about the game again, to be honest with you. Um, and really, I think an underrated part of this, like, of course, Kobe Mayu signed his contract last week, and the club have been you know parading around you know his contract extension quite a bit. Like it's a new signing and all that, like it's a marquee signing, and I'm like, part of me is like there needs to be some you guys need to have some shame. Like, it should never have come to this where United fans are celebrating keeping a local kid that you know clearly is amazing, like that should just been, you know, yep, that happened, that's what happens. The fact that we're all like relieved and like celebrating this as some you know achievement or whatever is kind of ridiculous. And I know that most of us look to Emerim as the culprit when it comes to his treatment, but based on the reports, I mean the club were somewhat in lockstep with him, so um, yeah. That's pretty embarrassing if you ask me. Um, so yeah, United win 3-2. United officially clinch a Champion League Champions League spot. They are now six points clear of Liverpool in fourth. Um and almost certainly will finish third. Uh Liverpool will I think I don't know the exact numbers, but I'm pretty sure Liverpool will almost certainly secure a Champions League spot within the coming weeks. Um and speaking of United, like in more broader sense, in terms of the future, they need a big summer. Like, I think we the the issue is that we say this damn near every summer, right? Like, this is a make or break summer for United, but like this is it because I mean it looks like Arsenal are gonna win the league, but if you're United, you cannot look at Arsenal and City. This current versions of them are touchable. This is not like Pep Gordiola at its peak, or they're getting 95 points, and they basically don't lose the second half of the season, and it's like unrealistic to even challenge them from your perspective. No, this is very attainable, like this title is gonna be one with like 85-ish points. So, yeah, man, you need to, and and what character has proven is that it's not that hard to win games in the Premier League, like just platform your players with some common sense, and you can win a lot of games in this Premier League. Um, so yeah, United need to have a big summer, like multiple midfielders, multiple a winger, 100% winger, a left back, 100%. Um, they need more athletes in the team. Uh, you look at the team right now, and it's like Luke Shaw, Casemiro, Bruno, Maguire, um, and Brumo, even really, and even Cunha is like not rapid, like, that's just a slow team. Now, obviously, Bruno's not gonna leave, but Casemiro's leaving, of course. Uh, Luke Shaw should be leaving. At the very least, they should buy his replacement. Maguire is obviously staying, but I think they need to be looking for a top-notch center back to become a starter. Uh, and Boumo, if it was up to me, I would be looking to sell. To be honest with you, I'm just very much not impressed with him. Uh but yeah, they need to address the athleticism in the team. Of course, they need to be good technically as well, but um, yeah, big summer. Um, and Boumo and Ahmad, very, very disappointing stretch of the season, especially after Afcon. Um, Ahmad is just very puzzling because if you watch him at Afcon, he was one of the best players in the tournament, like, legitimately, he was amazing, and then he's come back and his confidence is clearly like on the floor for whatever reason. I mean, it's almost like you know, you hate to speculate with stuff like this, but it's almost to the point where you feel like something in his real life is like affecting it or something. I don't know, like I don't even like to say things like that, but it's just his like the thing with Ahmad is you can usually trust he's not gonna give the ball away, stupidly stuff like that. He's gonna make the right decisions um in the first two phases of play, at least, you know, and that's starting to deteriorate as well. And at that point, you're like, okay, and you can tell, like, whenever he's like characters always making a point to like cheer him up, you can always see it. So clearly, for whatever reason, his confidence just rock bottom right now. And you know, I'm not I don't want to sell him necessarily this summer because I do believe there's a really good player in there, but if I'm United, I need to buy a proper two wingers, a left winger and a right winger this summer. Um, if I'm trying to be a serious club next year. Um, and when it comes to Carrick, I mean one thing I'll say is that there's a lot of assumption going around that Carrick is gonna be the guy full-time, and I agree it does look like that, but I think one thing to remember is that when it comes to the manager, Ineos have been really deceptive of what they want to do. Now, if you remember when um Ten Hog was sacked, um Ruben Emeran was a complete like out of the blue type name, like nobody was linking him to us, nothing, and then it came out that he's the guy and they're gonna hire him. Um, and even Carrick when he became the uh interim for like a week or so, it was it looked like Oli was gonna be the interim again, like that was almost a done deal, and then it came out. Nope, it's actually Carrick. Um, so yeah, despite most of the reporting is that it sounds like he's gonna be made the full-time manager, but I'm still looking at like is that gonna actually happen? So we'll see. Um, yeah, that's all for United. I mean, you there's nothing to complain with Carrick. Um, I would like him to display more control in some of these games a little bit more on the front foot, um, especially in that uh the last game against Brentford. I would like us to be able to control the game a bit better. But part of me is like, alright, he's doing a sensible thing to get wins when they need a secure Champions League. The team isn't really, you know, suited to the high pressing win the ball back at all costs type strategy. I mean, like I talked about that there's not enough athletes in the team for that, um, or technicians, to be honest with you. So I can understand him making some sacrifices, but if he's made the full-time manager, I do want a little bit more a good amount more control in some of these games, especially, you know, like I said, the lower sides at home. Um, I want us to be, you know, more comfortable in those type of games. Um, and getting into Liverpool, I mean, a disastrous season, and it's probably being undersold how bad it has been because they're still gonna get Champions League and more than likely to not finish fourth, like you know, and I I have said this often, like Champions League, uh you know, qualifying for Champions League has become a very overrated achievement because the assumption is that there are you know several top-level teams in the Premier League when really on a given season there are about one or two like top-level teams, maybe three, maybe three. Very rarely is it actually three like high-level teams to the point where oh a fourth place finish is somewhat you know admirable, and and really it's not like if you think about it, like this Arsenal team has been stumbling the whole of April. Man City has been not their typical self for the whole season, really. Um, United had to suffer with Emmerin for half the year, and if you're Liverpool, you're finishing behind that United side by you know a healthy amount at this point, right now it's six points. But I mean, I think that to me is like pretty pretty embarrassing, I would say. Just to just win the league, spend 500 million, and finish a below a United team that finished, I believe, 15th last season. That is a disaster, and it cannot be said enough, really. Um I said in the season preview, right? That first of all, I did say the rule would finish third. So I'm I'm gonna pitch relap that a bit. But I also said that this season, despite winning the league last season, we're gonna see what honest lot really is as a coach and what how he molds a team and his image, you know, and basically all we've seen is really bad. Like there are a handful of performances this year that I can literally a handful, man. I mean, like less than five performances I can think of United of Liverpool this season that were actually like up to the standard you would want at a big club. Um, and I think the reporting has been they're gonna keep him. I think that would be a massive mistake, a massive mistake. Like, you know, I I relate to United keeping Tenog when they should have sacked him after the FA Cup final, keeping Amarim after they should have sacked him after the Europa League final, keeping slot when it very much looks like he's not a good coach, or at least not good enough for the highest level. To me, that kind of a mistake can set you back like another two years, and that's how you can fall into a level of mediocrity that United have fallen into, that Chelsea have fallen into. Um, so yeah, I think they need to sack a slot. Um, of course, they've also got a big summer up coming with you know, they need to they have a lot of holes in our in the team, which was very obvious last summer that which that they did not address. Um, and that leads me to Florian Verts, which simply can this this level of performance cannot be considered good enough for what is who is considered a top-level footballer. It simply cannot. In a game where United are for the most part sitting in a mid-block, backing off Liverpool and allowing them to possess the game. You cannot tell me that Florian Verts can be considered a top-level player in that game when Liverpool don't create anything, basically, really, and really the most dangerous player for Liverpool ended up being Rio Ngamuha when he came on as a sub. Like he came on and get went past a couple players here and there. He got a shot off edge of the ball. Like his cameo was the most threatened United Award, like most stretched United Award as a team throughout the match. Um, and just in comparison to his performance to Bruno Fernandez, you know, the two what should be the linchpins of each team's attack, and yeah, the difference was stark. Um, and the thing that needs to be said is like he was bought as like to be the future face or you know, face of Liverpool really, like, you know, following in for Salah, him and Isak were bought to be you know the main guys at the club. Like, if you think about it, like their midfield of McAllister, Gravenbirch, Sabozlay, um, you can even throw in Curtis Jones in there. Like, realistically, that's not a midfield where you're looking at it, like, we need a hundred million pound player to come in and take one of these spots. Like, it's not like it's not the best midfield in the world, but it's not a midfield you're looking at like, oh, we really need some a Neal Mover to like completely flip the whole this whole, you know, this whole midfield. It's not like that. So you bought him to be because you believed he was, you know, the creme de la creme of the of the of the footballing landscape to come in and be a top-level player, and I just don't think he's come anywhere close to that this season. And I think, and we'll see next. I guess he we'll see if he adapts the league, better players around him, all that, you know, excuse making. But like when I really look at his skill set, what really stands out as exceptional? Like, nothing really to me. Like, he's just kind of like kind of good at everything you would want, number 10, which is not a bad thing, but yeah, he can't. I think he's been giving a lot of allowances with his performance level. Like, I think if Arnest Lot was trying to just play the best 11, he would not be in it most of the time. And the fact that he's a hundred million pound player is gonna give him a lot of leeway, especially like he's gonna start games that he probably shouldn't, and he's gonna have to earn that starting next season. Um, yeah, that's all for that game. Now let's get into the NBA playoffs, round one stuff. I have to start, sadly, with what the hell happened with my Celtics blowing the first 3-1 lead in franchise history, the first series loss to the Sixers since 1982, um, and they've matched up several times in that in that time period. As as recently as 2023. Um three home losses in a seven-game series as a two seed. I mean, just simply put, unacceptable from uh top to bottom. And a lot of the focus has gone on Joe Mazzula after another series lost as a massive you know betting favorite at the very least. Um and I think all of that criticism is a hundred percent fair, and I'll get into the mistakes I thought he made um later on. But I want to say that despite that, the biggest issue still for the Celtics was how some of the players they're depending on being like you know, linchpins or you know foundational players, whatever you want to call it, did not show up in this series. And that to me is the biggest thing because yeah, a coach can you know tinker here, adjust me here, play this guy here. But end of the day, if your top-level guys don't play good enough, you don't matter in the NBA plus, you need to rely on your top-level guys, and let me you know dig into that. Um, firstly, with Derek White, who was just a complete no-show in this series offensively, and really defensively, he had some sports here and there, but his impact was not really felt, even though the defense side of the ball is not why they lost this series, but offensively, he provided zero on the ball creation or playmaking or any of that. As a shooter, he was hesitant. I mean, there are numerous occasions of him being wide open and not thinking about it, then shooting and then bricking. There were times where he had space, and Derek White in the past would have shot that confidently, but he hesitated and Just you know, pass the ball to someone else. Um, he was turning the ball over a decent too much considering his role. Um, yeah, just not just not a factor offensively at all in this series. And to me, the play that's gonna stick in my mind the most was there was a play in the third quarter of game seven. Um, it was two plays that actually stick out the most. Because in the first half of game seven, Derek White is actually balling out. I'm like, and I'm kind of frustrated because like if this Derek White just showed up at any point in the series, the series will be over and the supposed to be waiting for the Knicks. But there was a sequence in the third quarter. There's two plays that stick out. One, he gets the ball on the right wing against Embiid uh one-on-one, right? And there's nothing the sixes aren't gonna double Derek White, you know, in ISO. So he's got time and space to do what he wants. And mind you, this is Joel Embiid in 2026, who just had emergency surgery for his uh appendix, who has had numerous knee injuries, foot injuries the whole nine, and can does not move anywhere near like he used to, move or jump at all like he used to. And I'm I'm looking at the screen like go at him, go at him, go at him. He can't move, and he shoots like some bullshit step back three, and it breaks. And I'm just like, bro, look, I like the threes, but it has to make sense. That didn't make sense, and that's just you know the the depiction of the Celtics issues when it comes to creating offense off the dribble. And the second play I was speaking of was also in the third quarter, the ball bounces to him, I believe, off an offensive rebound. He is butt-naked, wide open, top of the key for three, and for whatever reason he doesn't shoot it, he hesitates and then shoots it afterwards, and it's a brick. I'm just like, what happened to you, bro? What happened to you to where you're not confident shooting that three? I mean, if anyone wants to like see the difference, go watch him versus Miami. Uh, I can't believe it's a game three or game four. He had like 39 points, he's shooting the ball like he's Steph Curry, zero hesitation when he's covered all that. And I'm just like, what happened to that player? What happened to Lee to that player? Like, is there like an unknown injury we don't know of where he's like he doesn't feel comfortable shooting the ball? Um is you know the expanded role this season, taxing his body so not his legs to shoot the ball. I don't know what it is, but Derek White as the third best player in the Celtics was not good enough in this series for the Celtics. And I think a lot of it has been made about his season, about how he was larger and efficient and all that, and somewhat true, but despite shooting a down year, shooting the ball for Derek, I mean what we saw in the first round was even way below that. So, yeah, that was a huge issue for the Celtics. Second player, Jalen Brown in games five and six put up just unacceptable performances from a process standpoint. Now, some of that goes to Joe for you know how that he was used, like why are you posting up Kelly Ubre and Paul George so often? And why are you still but that's you know, some of that is on Joe Joe, some of that is on Jalen too, because dude, you're 30 years old, you know better by now. Like you know that shoving someone like that with your forearm is gonna get called, and I understand to some degree, like he's been saying on stream the infamous stream where everybody pushes off, and that just to some degree that is true, but you have to be smart about it. Like some of those push-offs were just too blatant, and it doesn't help that he's like much stronger than everyone who's guarding him, so it looks even worse. And to be fair, like the Sixers clearly knew that okay, Jalen's gonna push off, let's over-exaggerate every single time he pushes off. So the refs have to call it. Um, so yeah, Jaden Brown in those game five and game six specifically was simply not good enough, and that's a big reason they're going home. And wasn't good enough in a way that's kind of like bro, this is what year 10? You these games, these kind of games should not be happening. Like, I I poor shooting, it happens to everybody in a game in a series, right? But like the turnovers, the bad stop selection, the over-dribbling, those kind of things, that those parts of your game should not really be there anymore. And that was kind of disheartening to see. Uh, and the last player I want to talk about specifically was Namias Keda, who was the starting center all year, who was you know pretty good all year, I would say, and the Vance Matrix like him even more than that, and and uh he was just really bad in this series until game seven, where he played really well and looked like the guy he was for most of the season, which is just utterly bizarre. Like, and the worst thing is the biggest issue he had was just committing stupid fouls, like there's no other thing else to say, but the fouls were just like brain dead decisions, like the amount of legal screens he was setting, the amount of you know, unnecessary reaches, like just idiotic fouling that you know it looks so bad. I've been joking about this on Twitter that it looked like he was gambling on the Sixers to win this series. Um yeah, and he was so bad that the that Joe Mozilla in all his wisdom started Luka Garza in a game seven, which I'm gonna get into what Joe's mistakes in a second, but just yeah, really disappointed from Keda. I mean, his game seven performance gives you some optimism for him going forward that he can overcome the mistakes going forward. But yeah, if you're Brad Steven center, is it has to be you know on the list for things you're looking up to upgrade, you know. Doesn't it mean you just panic and trade for like a Nick Claxton or something like that? But if there's an upgrade available, it makes sense. You have to really think about it, you know. Um and so that's it for the players. Um getting into Joe Mazua now, who deserves a lot, probably most uh deserves a lot of blame for now the third embarrassing exit, I would say, in four years, and of course the the fourth year being a championship, that kind of absolves them a lot, but nonetheless, three embarrassing exits to three rivals, three massive underdogs. Um, and to be honest, the Miami series, I cut him some slack a little bit because I mean what Caleb Martin and Gib Vincent did in that series was just unholy. Like, you know, I've joked about being satanic, but like they have never played that level in their whole NBA life. Um, and on top of that, he that season in general, he got the job like right as training camp started. He didn't have a coaching staff, he just got the job, and I cut him some bail for that, you know. Um he was given a like a ridiculously hard task. But and 2025, the year after the championship, again, I caught him some slack because that version of Porzingis, that version of Jalen Brown with the knee injury, um, even though he obviously should not have played Porzingis when he was like dying on the court basically. Um I cut him some slack because like two of your top four players being that hampered, and even Drew Holiday was you know very much hampered with his hamstring injury, the playoffs, and was hindered most of the year. I was like, okay, I can cut you some slack because you know you got an injured roster. Um that's and a lot of that was the players, again, the players, but this series against the Sixers, there is no slack. Your team is healthy. Of course, Jason Tatum misses game seven, but and beat missed the first three games, so I don't want to hear that. Um and Tatum played great for the first six games or so. Um and the biggest frustration with Joe Mozilla in this series is that everything he needed to do, he displayed like plenty throughout the regular season numerous times. Like, okay, let me get into the issues. Now, I'm gonna start on the defensive side of the ball, even though the defense for the Celtics is not why they lost this series in the slightest. The issue is that they could not score. Um, but the defensive issues, first of all, Derek White, who is gonna almost definitely make all defense in this series. Now, if you're a Celtics fan, you know what I'm about to say is true. At no point this season did the Celtics task Derek White with being the number one like perimeter stopper, you know, to guard the other team's best offensive player. That's not his utilization, the best way to utilize him, and that's not how he's been used all season, really. Um most of the year they started out with um there was a period where Hugo Gonzalez was guarding. I remember he guarded Kate Cunningham and Brunson. Then it became Jordan Walsh, he became the guy to guard stars for a while, then it became Baylor Shireman as the guy. I remember he guarded Luka Doncic. Um, then it became when Tatum came back, uh, Baylor went to the bench, then it became Sam Hauser as the primary like stopper guy, which is sounds insane, I know, but it did happen. If you're watching the games, you saw that. At no point was Derek White the guy we put on like perimeter star players, he excelled defensively off the ball as a help guy, like and he was legitimately insanely good at that all season. Like, if you look at the rim protection stats, like you'll see like a bunch of centers up there, and then Derek White. Like, he was legitimately that good as a help defender all year. Um doesn't mean he can't can he guard a maxi? Yeah, he can in ISO definitely, but in the pick and roll, uh getting over screens, like can he do that? Yes, he can do that. Do I believe Jordan Walsh can at least Jordan Walsh, uh Hugo Gonzalez, uh Ron Harper Jr. Jalen Brown, even I think they can do it just as credibly as he can. And on top of that, if he was not on Maxi, you would get the added bonus of him as a help defender, which we actually finally saw in game seven when he actually started making plays off the ball as a you know help defender and whatnot. So that was the first thing that I'm just like, bro, why are you doing this? For what? The second thing, you know, there's a lot of people complaining about drop coverage, and I think the issue with drop coverage is when it works, nobody cares. When it doesn't work, everybody calls it the worst strategy ever because you know the the optics of a player hitting open pull-up jump shots, you know, as a fan, people are just gonna see that and be like, Oh, what are you doing? You can't do that. But the coin flip of that is you're taking away the paint, and all year the Cells have been the best team in the league at taking away the paint from the opponent, and generally speaking, if the team can't score in the paint and they have to live on just shooting jumpers, jumper, jumper, jumper, jumper, they're typically not gonna win. Now, having said that, and and I do agree with that philosophy that Joe has taken apart, taken on this season, um, because this team finished, I believe, fourth in defense, and with their roster, that's that's an amazing achievement. Like, no, no bullshit. That's so the proof is in the pudding for job coverage being a useful strategy, um, generally speaking. But I thought one thing that you need to take in, I mean, you listen to NBA players talk about and coaches, you know, mixing them coverages because you know NBA stars are too good to just see the same coverage over and over again. And I do think that Mazzula needs to need to do that because you know what's what's even more frustrating is it took till game seven to see him be more creative with defenses, you know, mix in a zone, mix in um putting a wing on the center and putting Namias Kane as a help defender, you know, roaming off, you know, bad shooters, you know, something that Settlers have done for years um under Missoula, like things like this, you didn't mix it in a series just to give a different look. Because, yeah, all stars are gonna figure out you know one scheme in a seven-game series, especially ones that are like that good offensively. Um, and we've seen that as a Celtic fan. You've seen Jason Tatum, he starts a series and he's struggling to score. By the end of the series, he's a flamethrower. Like the biggest example of that would be the Bucks series in 2022, where he started off kind of struggling, he got going, got going, and then game six, he's just like supernova, right? So I think he needed to be more flexible with the defense, and it's maddening that it took to a game seven to see any of that. Game seven where Tatum was out, so you're already hampered, the chances of you winning is already diminished. Um, yeah, and like the fact that Jordan Walsh, and I know what people are gonna say that about Jordan, the detractors will say Jordan Walsh isn't playing because he's not good enough offensively, and I understand that totally. But one of the things that Jordan Walsh does, first of all, he's clearly our best option guarding Tyrese Maxie on the ball. I would bet a lot of money that Tyrese Maxie was thankful that Jordan Walsh was not out there playing. But yes, offensively, he's not you know a great shooter, he's not super efficient, all that yada yada. But he does get extra possessions, you know, with offensive rebounding, and that was the identity this year was the possession battle, you know, not turning it over, getting loads of offensive rebounds, and three-point volume, right? And Jordan Walsh helps you immensely at getting extra possessions. So does Baylor Syrman, you know, and he can shoot better, so does Hugo Gonzalez, so does Warren Harper. Like, these are all guys that made a difference all year, and to not utilize them at all in place of a Sam Hauser is just ludicrous. Like, and generally speaking, I if people want to say Sam Hauser is the better player amongst those you know, backup wings that I named, I don't necessarily disagree, but also this isn't like like a star player who's playing, you know, who's having a down series, and you gotta trust him. Like, for example, Derek White struggled mightily in the series, right? But Derek White is someone you have to kind of give blind faith to because you're not winning in the long run without Derek White figuring out, so you have to play him. That is not Sam Hauser. The subdues can absolutely live with Sam Hauser being abandoned and ditched, you know, in the playoffs. It's not like that, like it's totally fine to ditch him and go to someone else. Um, yeah. So, I mean, yeah, I mean there should have been, or it should have just been more Payton Pritchard, really. I mean, I'm recording this on Tuesday, and on Monday, the Sixers got absolutely blasted by the Knicks. Um, and they got especially destroyed in pick and roll uh with NB at guardian because like I said, he cannot move. Um, and the fact that Peyton Pritchard in game four and beat's return game absolutely destroyed the Sixers and then in game five only played 26 minutes, like that's just that's indefendable. That's undefendable. Like, how do I how do I explain that? Like, and I haven't even gone into the the fact that he started a game seven with Baylor Shireman, Ron Harper, and Luca Garza starting in game seven. Now, Baylor, I can understand, even Ron, I can understand, although for whatever reason he played him four minutes and then didn't play him the rest of the game. Like, what I don't understand what that at all. But I can understand actually starting Ron Harper, to be honest with you. I'm a big fan of him as a player, but um, you still didn't put Ron Harper to guard Maxi, which is just horrible. Um, but starting Luca Garza in a game seven against the team starting Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxie, you know, a lightning fast point guard in the pigment role. Joel Embiid, one of the best, you know, face-up post-ups scoring centers of all time. Luka Garza, who is like 6'9, can't jump, has been a DMP on the Timberwolves for the last what four years, you know, he's has zero real NBA career before this season. Um, the fact you would start him in a game seven and DMP Nikola Vucevic is one of the most baffling decisions I've ever seen. Now, mind you, through the seven game series, despite being the most hated Celtic I've seen in a while, Nikola Vucevic was clearly the Celtic's best center through the seven games. That's not to say he was amazing or anything like that. Like, yeah, I know people with the visual of him getting cooked by Embiid in game five over and over again, is like, oh, you gotta bench him, you gotta bench him. Bro, he is still our he was still the best center for them through six games, and still, if you're gonna bench Keda because he's not playing well, clearly should have been the starting center for game seven. And of course, you know, the minutes that Garza played, it was like a minus 15. They end up losing, barely losing. That's the difference in the game. Um, so yeah, just a horrible series from Joe Mozilla. A coach I've defended immensely over the last what is it, four years now? No, is it four? Yeah, four years. His regular season resume is legitimately the best in NBA history. Like, you know, just if you look at the if you want to dig deep into it, but in the playoffs, like it's the the list of him underperforming and taking too long to adjust and all that. I mean, it's becoming more and more true, and I can't deny it. And at some point for Brad Stevens, you're gonna be looking at him like now. I and the thing is people are gonna click, you know, are gonna yell for him to get fired, and I can't blame them in the slightest. My only thing is he the issue is that Joe provides such a high floor as a coach because I mean, after this year, I don't expect the subtles to win less than 55 games for the next few years, honestly. Like, I mean, what we've seen this year when it comes to maximizing the roster in the regular season, I can then you can pencil in the subtles for like 55 plus wins going forward, and that's not something you can just hand wave, like oh you fire and bring anyone that can do that. No, that's not that's not true at all. The second thing is if you fire him, hiring a new coach is a lot of risk. Because one, if you want to hire a known commodity like I don't know, Billy Donovan, or you call Mike Malone and tell him to leave UNC or whatever, someone like that, most of those options, I mean, those guys aren't like amongst the best coaches in the league, they're not bad coaches, but like, is it really that much of an upgrade in totality? Like, I don't know, right? But and if you want to hire an unknown commodity, that's a complete, you know, guesswork if he's gonna be any good or not. And you're in a in a situation right now where you have to contend in Jason Tatum's prime, and you can't, and it's hard, it's not like you can't take a risk with an unknown commodity of coach, it's just hard. And I don't expect them to fire Joe this year. I would be completely shocked if that happened. But next summer, next playoffs with Jason Tatum presumably fully healthy, with maybe a retooled roster, who knows what they're gonna do in the summer, his seat has to be a little warm. It does, it can't happen, and you cannot go out like this again, or you have to be gone. You just can't you just can't. Like, if they go to uh the final if they had gone to the finals and lose to someone like the Went the Spurs or the OKC, or if they go to the conference finals and lose to a great team, you know, in seven or whatever, then cool, but you cannot go out like this, you know, as a massive favorite in the first round of a seven seed, like bro. Yeah, so that's it on Missoula. Um, and speaking of the roster too, because in this series the offense just could not function even a little bit without Jason Tatum, and I mean the stats provide it, like the stats show it, like the offensive rating when he was on the court is one nineteen, when he's off, it's a hundred. Like that's a re that's a ridiculous difference for a team that played without Jason Tatum the whole season and put up second best offense in the league to come to the playoffs and for you to not be able to function at all offensively, that is a huge issue. Um And basically the issue is what like when Jason Tatum sat, they could not get shots at the rim at all. So yeah, I mean the fact that Jason Tatum was a plus seven in this series when he's on the court and it went to a game seven and then he eventually loses. That shows you this roster was not ready to compete for a title, seriously. And you know, Brad Stevens right now he took over in 2021 when they lost in the first round. Um, and right now he's kind of like saying he's in a similar situation is kind of like overdoing it because I mean that roster was barren, and like on top of that, Jalen was injured. You had Kemba, who was a non-factor, like the whole roster was just terrible. Like, I don't think we're that we're that bad, but you know, they should kind of look at it like you are that bad. And the worst thing is, I expect the Knicks to kind of handle the Sixers pretty easily in like five or so games. That needs to hit home for Celtics that they lost to the Sixers and they can't compete with the Knicks if that's how it ends up. That needs to really hit home for them. Um and yeah, basically, if I'm looking at the roster going forward, everybody but Jason Tatum is available for the right price, you know, and that needs to be said for the right price. I don't just want to get rid of guys, it has to make sense, it has to make the team better, or there's no point in just trading guys for the hell of it. Um, if it was up to me to plan, I've been thinking about this lately, like what would I do this summer? Like, what trades, whatnot. To me, the if it's possible, you have to go get Giannis. Whatever it takes besides Tatum, they can have free Giannis, to be honest with you. Um, this this franchise has shown they can develop role players in you know in bunches. Um, so yeah, whatever it takes to get Giannis besides Tatum, I'm totally fine. Um and on top of that, I would like to sign CJ McCollum in free agency. Now, I don't know what his market is gonna be. You know, he's coming off like what 27 or so million. Um, I don't think he's gonna be demanding that much here in free agency. Will he sign for like the MLE? I don't know, but if it's possible, I would like us to sign him. Because like I said, we need more creation in the team, clearly, and I think CJ can be a good, he can shoot the ball off the ball, on the ball, he can be a really good asset for this team, in my opinion. So those two moves would be those would be my two moves. Um, obviously, you'd probably like depending on what you trade for Giannis, you would need a backup center to replace Vucevic. I think that could be easily done, honestly. But um, yeah. Nightmare, you know, dark, dark times for the Celtics. Because I'm watching the playoffs right now and I'm like, dude, we're not even in the second round. That's terrible. And I know like part of people want to say, like, you know, they were never supposed to be good this year because of the Tatum Achilles, and they actually overachieved. And to some degree I agree, but when you go out like that, nah. Like, if they had gone out in the second round to the Knicks, who I believe is the best team in the East, then I can understand that. If they went out in the conference finals to the Pistons or the finals or whoever, then I can see that. But you go out in the first round because you can't score on the Sixers. No, you need massive changes, in my opinion. Um, and for the Sixers, I mean, this is a historical C-3 win for them. Um, their first series win against Settle since 1982, like I said, a 3-1 comeback. I believe it was the first 3-1 comeback in Sixers history. I don't um a storybook like comeback for MB to have surgery, to come back, to struggle game four, and to come back from 3-1 and win against a team you've lost to so many times. Um, massive rookie moments for Vijay Edgecombe. Um it's gonna sound like I'm a hater, and partially I am, but I don't think this is any like proof of concept of this Sixers team being a real contender at full strength. Um, I still think they have massive holes on the roster. I still think Embiid is a shell of what he was a couple years ago, which is no duh, you know, with all the injuries he's had. I still think Paul George, you know, in this role he's got right now, he can excel, but I'm still thinking of him on that contract as a negative going forward. Um, and I think the Knicks will show that they're still very much far away when it comes to real contention in this series. Um, yeah, that's all for Knicks Celtics. I mean Knicks Celtics, uh Celtic Sixers. Um, I know I probably spent more time with the Celtics there, but you know, you can't be surprised at that. Um moving on to Cavs and Raps. Cavs and Raptors, I should say rap. Nobody calls it a raps. Um, a very confusing series. Because coming into it, I'm to be honest with you, I was expecting like four or five games to be over with with the uh from the Cavs. Um and if you look at just the home games, the Cavs pretty much handled business at home, you know. The first two games were pretty easy. Game five started slow, but then they pulled away at the end, and then game seven, again, a slow start in the first half, but then a dominant second half, and for whatever reason, the this Cavs core team looks horrible on the road, and I guess you shouldn't count hard on that because he's this is his first year on the team, but like this core, like Mitchell, um Mobley, and uh Jared Allen, and uh and um I guess that's about it, have looked horrible on the road over these last couple years, really. Like you go back to 2024 in the first round versus the Magic, they get pushed to seven by the Magic, a young Magic team. I believe they lost all the road games in that series. You go last year, I believe they won actually game three in Indiana, but they got absolutely destroyed in game um four uh in Indiana. Um then this year they lost all the games in Toronto. Now you can say that that to be fair to them, like a couple bounces go their way and they win one or two of those games, right? But I don't know, for whatever reason, their offense just looked horrible in Toronto compared to in Cleveland. Now I know that role players, you know, shoot better at home and stuff like that, but on paper, I'm still looking at this series like how did this go to seven games? You know, like one team is relying on creation from Scotty Barnes and RJ Barrett primarily, especially with Brennan Ingram getting hurt. Um, and even when Grand Ingram was playing, he was pretty horrible. Um, they're relying on Jakob Porto who can't jump, who can't move. Uh Jamal Shedd as like a primary ball handler and stuff like that. Like a rookie in uh Kalamori Bowles, who's looks, by the way, amazing, but still, like this guy who's you know giving great minutes in the playoffs as a rookie. Um Jacoby Walter, like this, like on paper, that Raptors roster against a team with four former like recent all-stars, four, and Jamal. Uh Donovan Mitchell, who made first team All-NBA last year, is gonna be probably second team all-NBA this year. Like, I just don't understand how the Cavs couldn't handle business in a quicker fashion. And really, two things stuck out to me when I was watching this series. Like, Donovan Mitchell is a much more flawed player that I gave credit for, and that you know the general population has given credit for because his ball-stopping like tendencies, his inability to create for his teammates, um, his turnover issues, his defense, all of these warts were really displayed in this series. And even in game seven, I don't think he played that well until Jared Allen just went insane and took over. Um, he had a little stretch in the third quarter, but he looked pretty good, but other than that, he just he did not look good in this series. Um, and to be fair, the rappers are a top-notch defensive team, but yeah, to me he was uh because realistically Harden did more or less what you would expect from a number two ball handler, uh, even if he wasn't perfect. And personally, I think Harden is capable of playing better. Um, but ultimately he did enough what you would want from him. Uh Evan Mobley and Jerry Allen, I thought were you know pretty good this series. Um especially on the defense side of the ball. But yeah, Mitchell just not did not carry the offense like you would expect a you know supposed top 10 player or whatever would. Um so yeah, so that was the issue, and the Cavs' depth is to me really stuck out in a bad way to me. Like, outside Max Struuss, I don't really love any of these guys on the bench, like Dennis Schroeder, uh Sam Murrell is okay. Uh Dean Wade, I mean, Dean Wade is tough because he does do a lot of good things on the defensive side of the ball, but offensively, he just kind of like a lot of those bricks. I'm just like, ugh. I wish it was a better shooter out there. Like um, and of course, Jalen Tyson is kind of up and down to me. Um, and of course, Keon Ellis has been cut from the rotation because uh newsflash, he's not good. The guy who could not get missed on the second one of the kings is actually not good at basketball. Who knew? Um so yeah, if I'm looking at the Cavs, like in theory, the Pistons will create a lot of the similar issues that the Raptors are able to force on the Cavs. But offensively, no, I know that the Pistons have had their issues offensively, but I still think they have more offensively than the Raptors do. Um, especially if Katie Cunningham is playing like he did to end this the first round series. Um so yeah, I don't know. I thought before the playoffs, I was high on the Cavs to make the ECF and maybe the finals. But I don't know, I think I would lean towards like Pistons and Seven. Um because like like I said, they don't they just don't look good on the road, and now they don't have home quarter advantage. So what does that mean? Like, could they just lose all four road games and go home? Like, yeah, I think that's on the cards, really. Um so yeah. Now going to the Raptors side, um you can this this showing in the first round can only be described as inspiring, you know, the way they played, the way they played defense, the way they gutted out wins. That I think you know, Scotty Barnes looked like a superstar in this series. And I think I think everyone would agree he was the best player in this series. You're just saying something considering who played in this series. Um, and if I'm the Raptors, like he has to maximizing him to see him play at this level more often, that has to be the number one priority. Um and like the fact they went to seven and no quickly, no Ingram, no Ingram might low-key being a good thing, but uh Poto being completely useless, and the fact they were able to like you know compete to that level, I think that's you know, bows well for the future. Like you got stuff from Jamal Shed, who's you know a pit bull defender, and you know the offense needs to come along for him, but like you got good minutes from him, from CMB, like I said. Uh Murray Boas looks amazing. I kind of wonder about his fit next to Scotty in the long run, but at least I think he'll be a really good player nonetheless. Uh Jacoby Walter, you know, really impressed me as like a you know quasi 3nd type player. Um Darko, he created he clearly created this defensive identity, which um to start game seven, and that first half, really, they were playing some amazing defense. Um so yeah, and if I'm the rackers, like you're not necessarily all in when it comes to like you know, picks and all that, but like you've committed massive salary to basically your whole team, you know, you know, quickly RJ Barrett, Ingram, uh Scotty, Poto, which sadly for them is probably the worst contract in basketball going forward. Um, if I'm then I'm just like you know what screw it, let's just get KD or AD. You know what I mean? I mean, AD is probably attainable, to be honest with you. I mean, there are a lot of whispers that he was not happy to get traded to the the Wizards and he wants to win and all that. Um, and he's in a contract year. Um so yeah, I mean, the Wizards didn't trade much to get him in the first place. I don't think he's gonna want to be there in the long run, regardless. I don't think the Wizards really want him to be there more than a year or two anyway, really. Um, so that would make sense to me. Uh, 80s to the Raptors, he could replace Portal as a starting center. Um, and you know, typically I wouldn't want to invest in AD going forward, but when your starting center option is legitimately Yucca Portal, who's just a corpse out there. Um, they're bigger team choosers, you know what I mean. And KD, I mean, if they had KD instead of Brandon Ingram, what does this team look like, right? That's kind of interesting to think about. Now, couldn't they get a trade with the Rockets done? I don't know. I mean, there was a report that the Rockets do in fact want to build with KD, even though there was a lot of you know team chemistry issues, like duh. But um, yeah, just in theory, like what the Rockets want a quickly, I don't know. You know, they need creation and shooting with it. Could that make sense for them? Maybe, but um, yeah. Raptors should definitely mean Scotty is who you need to build around, you know, and really test how good he really is. Um, so yeah, in terms of series, I'm gonna just you know, I'm gonna for the rest of the round one stuff, I'm just gonna go into some more quick errors. So Pistons come back from 3-1. Um, Cade, incredible after going down 3-1. Um Asar Thompson on defense was just incredible in that series. Um, especially after they went down 3-1. Just inhuman help defense plays, you know what I mean? You know, um, they are the Pistons to me were a little fortunate with the Franz Wagner injury on both ends of the court. Like, you know, I've been pretty negative on Franz as a player, but that's because I think he's a tad overrated, not because I think he's bad. Like, offensively, the Magic really missed his slashing and creation and you know, passing and all that. And on defense, he was their best option defending um Cade. And after he got hurt, it became really easy for Kate. Not easy, because it was still a good defense out there. It became easier for Kate to get off his game. Um, and for the Magic, I mean that series was just the clearest depiction of their season and why they're in eighth seed and why they are where they are, because you saw everything. You saw the highs of Paulo, the lows of Paula, you saw the highs of Jalen Suggs, the lows of Jalen Suggs, you saw the highs of Franz Wagner, and then the lows, which is you know mostly injury related, but still the lows. You saw the highs of Desmond Bain and the lows. You saw the highs of Jamal Mosley and the lows. So, like, yeah, I said before the series that they're not a typical A-C'd, um, but they were still an AC for a reason, and you saw that in this series. Um, of course, they fired Jamal Mosley, who Jamal Mosley has to be the first coach to save his job and lose his job within the space of like one day. You know what I mean? Like, he was on the verge of winning that series in six against a one seed, and damn near you could have asked for contract extension at that point to being fired two days later because they lost to game seven. Um, and to be honest, they lost, but he he got fired because of the whole season, not just that game, not just because that series either. And for the Magic, their new coach has to be has to find a way to get Paulo playing consistently well on offense. Because, and I'm not buying this playoff Paulo stuff, I think that's kind of just you know, shooting variants, going in his way a couple times, but he can't be this bad for the whole season again, otherwise, they're just sunk as a team, and their new coach has to find a way to maximize him offensively. Um if they can do that, they're gonna be a tough team because the defensive personnel is there. Um, of course, they could get Franz to being you know consistently more healthy, but um, yeah. Alright. But to one thing I want to, I still think the Franz Polo combo as a duo is an issue, um, until at least one of them becomes a reliable shooter, you know. Um, yeah, that's it on that series. On to the Hawks and Knicks, just briefly, the Knicks handle business after somehow going down um 2-1. And I say somehow because like the Cavs and Raptors, I was looking at a series on paper that I'm like, okay, this should be five games, you know, four if the Knicks don't mess around. Um, and somehow the Hawks were up 2-1. And since they went up 2-1, the Knicks, like, you know that meme of the guy sitting up in the chair properly with the video games? That was the Knicks after they went up 2-1, and they just beat the hell out of the Hawks um after that. Um, and for the Hawks, it's still a great season, I would say. Um, but the playoffs did show limitations for you know what you would consider their core players. I'm saying core in quotes, because who knows who they want to build around, really, right? But um Dyson Daniels, his lack of shooting is an issue. Um, even his if his defense is awesome. Um, Jalen Johnson's creation in the half-court needs a lot of work, a lot of work, a long to go with his defense, you know, improving and defensive effort really. Um But to be fair to be fair, Jalen Johnson, his game has developed quite a bit over the last couple years. So him needing to more steps, that's not the end of the world. And on top of that, I think he could be a great complimentary player to like a high-level guard. Now, the joke about the high-level guard being Trey Young is hilarious, but no, I mean like our actual, like, you know, a good high-level guard, maybe Darren Peterson in the draft. But um, um, yeah, I mean, if they can if that Bucks Pelicans pick they own, the Hawks do, can hit in the top three and then get one of these, you know, franchise guys or whatever you want to call it, I mean they can be set up very nicely going forward. I mean, they have a lot of cap space, they have good young players, they have you know a good coach, I would say, in Quinn Snyder. Um, if you add a top-end rookie to go along with that, I mean, they could be a contender in a couple years. Um, yeah, and on to the Knicks. The Knicks, to me, this series, especially I mean, games four through six and game one versus Sixers, and really the second half of the season mostly, the Knicks are showing why firing Tibbs was the right move because their offense right now is humming way better than it did under Tibbs, and I know people are gonna say, like, oh, the offense under Tibbs was tough fire, whatever. I get that, but a lot of that was just Brunson saved me offense, you know what I mean? And that can get you a lot, but can they get you a championship? I don't know. Can they get you to a finals? I don't know, but um, yeah, their offense currently is just involving everybody, they're playing through cat as a hub, as a passer, and that's just really hard for teams to guard because of the cutting behind it, because of his shooting and passability, and it's great to watch. I hate the Knicks to be honest with you, but watching them of late has been you know really impressive, and they've been defending really well on top of that, and they have depth, you know, with Deuce McBride and Mitchell Robinson, and um uh is there anyone else? Uh kind of not really. I guess you can say like Clarkson and whatnot, but those aren't high-level role players to me. Um But I said before the year that the Knicks were my pick to win the East. I said that for most of the year, really, that I was sticking with that. Um And right now they look like the clear cut, the best team of the East, I would say. Now things can change, the Sixers can make adjustments and come back in the series. But if I had to put money on it, I would pick the Knicks to win the East. Um to be fair, the Pistons gave the Knicks a lot of trouble in the regular season. Um, so we'll see how they match up if that series happens. Um yeah, so that's it for Knicks Hawks. I've already spent some time on the Rockets, young core and Yindoka being extremely underwhelming with how they played in the first round. Um, but I want to talk about how they're really gonna be an intriguing offseason team. I mean, there were some reports about KD being you know a bad fit in the locker room, which is like duh. I mean, we could have seen that coming with the burner account stuff. Um, I just don't get KD's decision making when it comes to picking teams. Like, the thing is, he is on the record multiple times saying that he left OKC for the Warriors because the lack of offensive talent on those OKC teams. You know, they used to play like Andre Roberson and Steven Adams, Annie Bacas, lack of shooting, their best shooter was like Deion Waiters in 2016. Um, yeah, Sam Prestig just did not just not invest enough in offense in that time period, especially after they traded James Harden. Um, so for them to for him to say that for all these years and to pick the Rockets as his next team, it's just kind of just kind of confusing to me. Like, and on top of that, like he's like what 37, 38, where at this point, you would think he wants to play with you know a more veteran team, you know. I I would think that at least, but um, yeah, and then of course the burner account stuff just nuked probably team chemistry. We could be and all Rockets fans don't want to hear that, or KD fans, I just say don't want to hear that, but I don't know how it cannot like you with the stuff he was saying about Jabari Smith, especially like how could he just get over that? Like, let's be let's be real, man. Um, yeah, and like going this summer, they have a lot of picks, a lot of tradable contracts, a lot of desirable young players. I would imagine the teams want, um, and they can go in a lot of directions. Like, do they want to just go all in with Giannis? Maybe. Do they want to trade KD and get younger and you know, go that way? That that could make sense too. Are they just gonna be, are they just gonna be, you know, are they just gonna say, like, look, Fred Van Fleet and Steve Downs coming back? Those are our moves, and we're gonna keep being patient with our picks. Like, you know, those Suns picks could still be valuable going forward. I can see that. Um, but one thing that has to happen for them is Yudoka has to get more out of this team offensively, especially the young players. Like Sengoon has, I think it's fair to say, regressed offensively since Yudoka has come in as coach. If you look at his numbers, he was way more efficient under Silas. And that's not to me to say like Udoka is worse than Silas, but like he has to he has to maximize the offensive talent more going forward. And you know, those clips of KD getting double teamed and the Rockets just being clueless, like that has to be. Some of that is just KD's like warting his game, but like that has to be corrected going forward. Um, so yeah, that's it on the Rockets, that's it on everything really. Um, the round two has started. Um, yeah, I'll recap the first two games next week, too. So see ya.