Are We Live? Episode 45

- Alonso IN Pep OUT

- Salah vs Slot

- Second round closing thoughts

- Spurs v OKC game 1

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Or we lie. No, no, no, yes. Yes, yes, yes. We lied. Yes. Okay, so I ain't gonna curse you.

unknown 0:06

But these punk.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Yo, we back. Tuesday pod. Lots to talk about. Um, I gotta wrap up the Premier League. A lot of news, a lot of talking points, this and that. And then of course the playoffs we gotta get into. Then it'd be gritty there. Gotta re gotta you know, finalize some thoughts on the second round, and then of course talk about game one, OKC, and uh the Spurs last night. But um let's start in the Premier League. We got news, games, stuff to get into. But like I want to start with the Liverpool Villa match, and you know, transition that into other stuff. But like the game itself, I mean, it ended up being a quite uh comfortable for two win at home for Aston Villa. Um they secure Champions League football for next season. Um they still need a point to guarantee that they are fourth instead of fifth. Um but regardless, Champions League football for next season secured. Um and even though they had some like down periods this season, especially like second half of the season, I would say, um this season in terms of results has been amazing for Aston Villa. I mean after I mean last season they've pretty frankly they they bottled Champions League last season in terms of securing um, I think it was fifth, um, with them losing to United in the last game of the season, despite Newcastle losing. Uh I believe it was to Everton, I can't remember who it was, but they bounced back this year. They are gonna finish at least fifth, and they're in the Europa League final, um, which I'm I'm gonna assume they're gonna be the favorite for that match. Um so yeah, top season for Aston Villa, all things considered. Um and uh from a liberal perspective, I mean this the saddest part of this game, you know, I'm watching the game, and it's not even like Aston Villa just play them off the park, like you know. Um like I'm trying to think of an example, but you know, like when a top team does like like Man City, what Man City can do the teams at at their best, they can just play a team off the park 4-0. Um another team is just helpless. Like Villa just had to turn up, do some basics, do the basics correctly, and they batter them on the day. Like, I mean, the good the amount of spaces that Liverpool are leaving in behind the fullbacks in the midfield area everywhere was just like amateur-ish, really. And the worst part is I mean, Liverpool as a team had minimal creative spark at all. Like realistically, their most threatening player was a 17-year-old on Rio Mgamoha, and that has been the case for a few weeks now. That when he gets whenever he's on the pitch, he's by far the most threatening player when he's out there. And really, their both their goals came from Van Dyke's set pieces. Like, I'm I mean I know that Arsenal has become the butt of jokes when it comes to relying on set pieces to score goals, but if you look at the in actuality, I mean Liverpool have been just as bad in that regard. Um, I'm saying bad in quotes, because it's you know scoring goals can never be considered bad, but like just as culpable in that regard of relying on set pieces to score goals. Um and yeah, it's just brutal to watch. Like in that first half, especially, like Liverpool had a good amount of possession for like a long spell, but they're not creating anything. Aston Villa gets the ball to Morgan Rogers in a somewhat dangerous area, bang, goal, uh 1-0. And from there, it was just kind of like Aston Villa were kind of just comfortable throughout the rest of the match. Um, so yeah, that quality in the final third, especially, is just lacking. And that and that not then that's continued when uh Verts and Sala came on the pitch in the second half. Um, and really when you look at the Liverpool team, like the lack of depth is just glaring. Like they're starting a front three of Ryo Ngamoha, who was a quality young player, no doubt about it, but still a 17-year-old starting at Liverpool. Um Cody Gakpo as a striker, who's not really a striker, who in fact is not really good at all, even. Um, and then I believe it was like Curtis Jones as a makeshift right wing. Like, I mean, it wasn't really even a right wing, it was just like a bunch of Mishro, it was just a bunch of guys out there. Um and yeah, they've had some injuries, you know, Ekitk, Isak, um Sala and Verts, you know, less severe but recently. Um but even at full strength, there's been like glaring holes in the squad that needed to be addressed in the summer, and instead they went for the more vanity signings, you know, and they ended up spending over like what 250 million on like verts and isak roughly. I mean, that could have been like well, four or five players, then you would I mean you could have that could have been a left winger, um, a midfielder, you know, a more traditional or you know, yeah, traditional type defensive midfielder. Um, you could have bought a better right back, you could have bought another center back to rotate for Konate and Van Dyke, you could have had a backup option to Most Salah, or you know, competition for Mosala. Like, there are so many things they could have done with that money. And to buy Isak when you already have like a TK and Florian Verts when you already have, you know, four, I would say, you know, good enough midfielders, you know. Like, do they could they have upgraded on their midfield from last season? Yeah, and someone like McAllister has regressed a ton, even Graven Burch to some degree, I would say, has regressed, but not, I mean, McAllister has fallen off a cliff in terms of his um on-pitch performance. So, yeah, you could say that they needed averts, but yeah, first of all, I don't think as a player he's worth anywhere near that. But secondly, they had they could they were better off filling in the holes from last season, in my opinion. Um, and the most the most ridiculous thing they did last season was thinking that uh Jeremy Fringpong was a suitable replacement for Trent Alexander Arnold. I mean, I don't understand how like some things in football that happen, like in terms of transfers and whatnot, like how does that happen at the highest level? I think I've I've I've probably said this on the pod five times this year, but like I'm still baffled at how that can happen. That like the profile of Trent Alexander Arnold is being replaced with Jeremy Fring Pong, who is not a right back, he's not a right winger, he's really a wing back, a specialist wing back that needs to play, you know, in a team that has a back three or back five, however you're gonna classify it, to bring him in to play in a back four and to try and think he could replace Trent. And I'm not even talking about like skill set because obviously Trent's skill set is damn near one of one in the world. So to try to try and find like a replica of him is impossible, but like just in the in the amount of quality you had to go about it that way is just insane. Um and really the the Liverpool hierarchy, I mean, is looking you know it's looking kind of suspect at this point, like and the thing is like they could be really dropping the ball if they continue with Arnestlot next season. Like, I mean the comparisons to Eric Ten Hager are easy to make. I mean, a guy that won the FA Cup and kept his job for sentimental reasons, and I would argue that keeping him the next season set that United back at least one or two more years. Now, I know that Slot won the league and that can't be just brushed aside, and even his down season is gonna almost definitely secure Champions League football for Liverpool, but I think the context is that he inherited a core that had already been champions, that had already been, you know, at the highest of level. Like you're inheriting a Ali Sun, Van Dyke, Trent, uh Salah, um, core of a team. Like, that's as good as it gets. You know, Ericton Hogg didn't get none of that at United. He got, you know, Brew Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. Like, respectfully, it's not the same thing, you know what I mean? So, yeah, I think they should have I think they should have sacked slot months ago. I think not sacking him this summer would be a massive mistake. Um and I mean based on the reporting, his job is his job is safe, right? Um now I do think if they were to somehow bottle this Chimban Zig spot, like if they were to lose the last game of the season to um Brentford and Bournemouth were to win these last two games and they finish sixth, I think that could change things at Liverpool in terms of his job security. Um and one thing it's like I mean it's kind of like attached to this is I mean most of his his tweet or post, however you want to call it, like you know, lamenting the standard of where Liverpool is at right now. I mean, that to me is as damning as it gets. Like to me, that was a clear shot that like the people behind the scenes or even you know in on front stage, like you know, on the slot, you could say, are not upholding the standard that Liverpool set, you know, under Jürgen Klopp and those core players that were there. Um and I and I think and I'm pretty sure this is the second time Salah mentioned in like in the last few days, in the last few weeks about the standards of Liverpool falling, you know, as opposed to what it was, you know, in the past. And I think he's trying to make it clear to the fans that this guy is not it, and we need this guy as in slot is not it, and the club needs to start acting like a big club um going forward because I mean what he said was right, like Champions League qualification is the bare minimum, and that to me, as I as I think about it now, that specific line that chairman's dee qualification is the bare minimum, uh, not something we celebrate, that to me is a clear shot at slot and the Liverpool hierarchy. Like he's saying, like, look, just because we're gonna finish fifth does not mean everything is you know rosy and everything needs to like we don't need we need drastic changes, is what he's trying to say basically. Um and I just think it's you know this is you know when Salah first had that interview where he came out against slot, uh talked about how the the whole rhetoric of a player not being better bigger than the club is totally ridiculous. But it's like if you're a Liverpool fan that has witnessed what Mo Salah has given to you over the last I don't know, is it 10 years at this point? And if you decide to stick beside Arnold Slot and guys like John Henry and whatnot over Mo Salah, I think you're just a lunatic to be honest with you. Like, this is a guy, Mo Salah that clearly deeply cares about Liverpool being at the top of the footballing, you know, pyramid and whatnot. And to go to like be annoyed that he's being so like you know public with his critique of the club, like you should be thankful. Like him doing that is just gonna is just improving your chances of you know being good in the future, like applying pressure to these clubs is always a good thing, you know, because sometimes it takes you know public embarrassment for them to actually act up as ridiculous as that sounds. Um yeah, and for Liverpool, like you know, kind of tradition into the Chelsea conversation. If Alonso goes to Chelsea and ends up being success, you know, he takes them to within, you know, competing for titles and major trophies, playing good football, all that stuff. If he goes to Chelsea and does that, and sloth stays and continues his awful form to start next season, they are gonna look like the biggest laughing stop stock in football. Like, seriously, like there's gonna be massive egg on their face, and the fans are gonna be irate that you know Alonso has been unemployed for months. RNA slot it has looked been evidently clear to anyone watching with unbiased eyes that he's not it for months. I mean, it was right there for the like the most obvious outcome for them was right there, and they didn't seriously pursue it, and that's gonna and their fans are gonna be fuming, and rightfully so, if if you know it ends up like that going forward. Um, yeah, so I mean, speaking of Alonzo, let's get into that for the Chelsea side. Um, of course, they lost the cup final to City, but um, it was shortly announced right after that Alonzo has agreed to become the Chelsea manager um next season. And if you're a Chelsea fan, I think you have to be excited. There's no other way, there's no other emotion that this should you know inspire to me. Because now look, I'm not gonna say that Xabi Alonso is a guaranteed next Pep Guardiola or next whoever, right? But if you look at the coaching market right now and what's out there, I think realistically speaking, because I don't think like a Luis Enrique was attainable, um, I don't think a Pep is gonna be attainable, I don't think a Klopp is attainable. If you look at the coaching market, I think purely based on name brand, I would say Alonso is the biggest fish out there, you know, in terms of managers. Now, the reason that that actually matters to me is I mean there are a few reasons, but one the Chelsea as a club are aiming to acquire the best of the best, you know, in terms of the talent. I mean, that's what Chelsea has always been in this in the uh 21st century in terms of success. They've always just been who's the best, we go get them, whether that be coaches or players or executives, whatever it was, right? And um, secondly, I mean, their current players that they care about building around, like a Reese James, a Cole Palmer, a Kaiseido, a Zhao Pedro, whoever you want to, you know, include in that core, they're gonna be like, okay, maybe we're serious now. Because if they made the wrong manager appointment, or if they even, God forbid, uh kept or senior on till next season, uh, and Cucarella was one as well. I would not be surprised if some of these players were looking to dip, you know. No European football, no ambition shown from the club, you know, the etc. etc. Like, I would not be surprised if some of them look to dip. And I think like we've already seen like Enzo very much making it clear that Real Madrid would be something he's interested in. I mean, there's been some rumors about Barca looking at Jao Pedro. Um we'll see if that if he still entertains that, but I do think like if you're trying to keep him, I do think making a a big name sign and big name hiring in Alonso Um would help, you know, keep players like that. Because I mean Chelsea under this uh regime have just been chasing the they've been chasing that next hipster coach to make it big, you know. They try with Potter, they try with uh Moresca, they try with Now River Senior. Like they're just like basically taking a punt and hoping one of these guys is you know what Pochettino was at Southampton when Tottenham poached him, when he became you know one of the better coaches in the in Europe, you know, from a mid-table club. They've been chasing that for the longest time. And frankly, the senior hiring was pretty embarrassing to just hire a guy with legitimately zero experience or pedigree, um, a guy that was, I think they were like seventh in League on with uh Strasbourg, who just started his coaching career with no credentials, nothing, to just bring him in at Chelsea, like I mean, who like who knows what he's gonna be in the future as a coach, right? But in terms of process, that was just totally ridiculous. Um, and to be fair, you could say Xabi Alonso is not too dissimilar from that type of appointment, but I think his name carries a lot more weight in the footballing world, you know, uh as a manager and uh as a former great player as well. Like, I just think hiring him does kind of like raise eyebrows around the world, and that and that matters, like reputation does matter in the grand scheme of things. Um, and for Chelsea now, they have to prove that they're a serious team in the transfer market, they have to buy players ready to you know contribute now. Because, I mean, first of all, they gave uh one thing that was important, they gave Alonzo the title of manager, and they made it they made it like known that they're doing that, that they're not making him a head coach, that he's a manager, so he's gonna have some level of control, you would think, in the squad. Um, the players they sign, the players that go out, you know, and of course that was the issue from Moresca. He complained about not having a center back and whatnot. Um, so it feels like the Chelsea hierarchy are like starting to like, okay, we need to change our our ways um going forward. So, like I said, um if you're a Chelsea fan, you have to be excited, I would say. Um and really, if you have a good summer, I believe this for I believe this is true for a lot of teams. If you have a good summer, next season you can compete for the league. I truly believe that. Like, no disrespect to Arsenal, who it looks like they're the favorite to close out this this league title right today. But none of us can act like this is some you know future dynasty in the making. Now, to be fair, they could make a few signings themselves and make them catapult themselves to a whole nother level. Like if they bought a top number nine, a top left winger, could they go to a whole new level? Yeah, that's possible. But as of right now, I mean with Pep leaving next season, um Yeah, you have to look at the prem as being open to win, you know? I mean, simple as simple as that. When a guy who's won the league every year, but was it like three or three or four of his years in the league in the league? And he joined like what 2015, like you have to think of it as open at that point. You just realistically do. Um, and transitioning that into the news of uh Pep Goriola leaving at the end of the summer, it came from Ornstein, so I'm assuming it's it's real. Um I'm assuming they announced it because they want it out there before the last home game um at the weekend against Villa, so the fans can you know give them a proper send-off and all that. Um and be and like I said, like I've mentioned how Pep leaving makes the Premier League more open, and but even then, that might be giving City too much credit because last season they weren't even second, and this season, despite taking Arsenal down to the wire, they have not been overly impressive as a team. Like, this is uh well below the standard that Pep has set at Man City, and this is like a two-year path, two-year um sample of that, of that taking place. And and real, and really, like, if you think about it, them going out that in that fashion to Real Madrid is kind of embarrassing when you think about it. Because Real Madrid have been the biggest circus in uh European football this this year. So for them to go out like that in the Chambers League to them kind of shows that like this city team it's not what it used to be. Um it's kind of hilarious, despite that. Like they've won two domestic trophies, FA Cup care about, and they the the the Premier League they can still win, like it's not completely over. Um, but yeah, okay, transitioning into city now. Like, I mean, this really feels like the end of the era. Like, we've got KDB who left last year, you've got Bernardo and Stones were set to leave this summer. Um, maybe Rodri leaves in the summer for Real Madrid, who knows? Um, maybe does Holland look to leave? You know, who knows? Um, and like it's been announced that Moresca is gonna be the guy to come in for Pep. Um, and I think Moresca like showed good stuff at Chelsea at times, but realistically, the drop off from Moresca, I mean from Pep to Moresca is massive. Let's keep it real. Like, this is a top minimum top two coach in the history of football, I would say. And him being replaced with a guy that you know did well at Leicester and caught top. For Chelsea, I mean that is a massive drop off in terms of on-the-pitch product, what he's he can give you as a coach, and in terms of reputation. Like, is this gonna affect their transfer window? I would think so. And is this gonna affect how players of the club decide they want to stay or leave? I would think so as well. So this is I mean, this is massive. Like when the city's uh project first started, you know, around like what was it, like 2010-ish, 2011-ish, um, they had a massive advantage when it comes to spending money, at least at that time. You know, only one in the Prem, the only other team that was spending like that was uh Chelsea. I mean, in that period, United had a really poor chance for windows. Um, Chelsea were still spending, but in the prem of that time, Man City was spending boatloads, and since then, I mean, all these prem teams have loads of money, and I mean all of them, like Newcastle, Villa, Bournemouth, like all these teams, Brighton, all these teams buy loads of players every year. So their their advantage in that regard has kind of like deteriorated, and now they're losing Pep. Like, what does the city project look like going forward? Are they gonna get hit with these charges too? Like, are they gonna be playing Premier League football at all next season? Like, I would um assume Maraska would only take this job if he knew they were gonna be in the Premier League next season, but who knows, right? Um, so yeah, I mean this is massive news that Pep is leaving. Um every team in that, every top half team should be feeling like if we have the right summer, we can win the league next year. And Arsenal really, they should be like, if we had the right summer, we can run off two, three titles in these next couple years. Because I mean, United, Liverpool, Chelsea, this, I mean, Tottenham, uh, whoever you want to include in that, they still have to prove that they're you know operating a high level. Um, and they're all and Arsenal have been clear of all these teams this season. So if they're in their eyes, they have to be looking their lips like, bro, we can run off a couple titles going forward with this news. Um yep, so that's the all things Premier League. Now let's get into the NBA playoffs. Let's first start with you know, wrapping up the second round. We had Wolves Spurs and Cavs Pistons. Um both series wrapped up. Um let's start with the Wolves and the Spurs. Um, I'm not gonna mention too much about the Spurs in this, more mostly about the uh 10 wolves, about their struggles and what they gotta do going forward. But like I mean, in terms of what happened in this series, there's not much to say, you know, after last week's pod. Like Wemby came back from his ejection, and the wolves were not on the same level basically. Um, and after the fact that he came back, they cruised in game uh five, game six was a blowout. And really, it's not alright just to say that if Wemby didn't get ejected in game in uh game three, was it game three? No, game four, this would have been over in five games. Um yeah, and for the Wolves, it feels like deja vu. Like, this is the third season in a row that they've been eliminated in a blowout. Um, of course, they got destroyed by Dallas at home in game five in 2024. Last year in game five, they got demolished by OKC um on the road. This year at home in game six, they got absolutely demolished by the Spurs. Um, and I think the biggest issue for the Wolves in totality in these last three years has been that the roster outside of Anthony Edwards is not really matchup proof. And when it's the right matchup, they look amazing, right? Versus the Nuggets, they looked amazing versus the Lakers, they looked amazing versus the Suns, they looked amazing. Like, when it's the right matchup and they have you know the physical advantage in terms of size, athleticism, uh rim protection, all that, I mean they look like a juggernaut, right? But then when they play these like top, top, top-tier defenses, you know, the Mavs in 2024, the uh OKC and the Spurs, their team looks a little a lot worse. You know, they just look like overmatched. Um and like in this series, especially, like Jane McDaniel's lack of three-point shooting was exposed, Rodrigo Bears just total lack of offensive game was exposed. Um Julius Randle, I mean, he wasn't exposed, he just played like garbage. Like, I mean, he's just a peculiar player because how does the player that really you know dominated Draymond Green head to head in a matchup, so much so that Draymond Green said it himself, how does that player go from that to what he served up in these playoffs? Um, especially in this second-round matchup where he was just I mean, he was basically unplayable. Um and uh offensively he was terrible, and defensively you could argue he was just even worse. Um yeah, um and for the wolves, I mean I mentioned it last week that DiVincenzo was a huge miss for uh Anthony Edwards. I mean for the Wolves in general, but for whenever Anthony Edwards got doubled, I mean no one on the wolves looked confident shooting the ball, nobody looked confident playing out the doubles, and I feel like Dante has been that release valve for the wolves whenever Ant got doubled. And and uh Ant even mentioned himself in the game six pressure that whenever he got doubled, he would look to DiVincenzo and him not being there was a huge loss um for their um offense. Um and of course, ant was nowhere near 100%, like yeah, he was moving okay, like in terms of laterally and back you know in a straight line, but his lift at the rim was basically non-existent. Um and going forward for the Wolves now, like I think you know they've been rumored to be in for Giannis. Um and if they can get Giannis because with whatever they have outside Ant, then yeah, I would do that obviously. But if that's not really on the table for whatever reason, I think the smartest thing they can do is start to you know reset the roster around Anthony Edwards because this current core of players, you know, Randall, Gobert, McDaniels, uh Mike Conley is kind of cooked anyway, but like, you know, those core players, that core with around Ant, I don't see a championship ceiling in that at all. And you know, Gobert is only gonna get older and worse. Um, even Randall is into his 30s now. McDaniels, I mean, I know he had the great first round series, but like realistically, he's still a very limited player offensively. Um I guess you could keep McDaniels because you know he's on a fair contract, he could still get better. Um, he's a kind of a two-way player. I would say he's like a 1.5-way player. But yeah, I would look to reset the roster around Ant. And you know, they're obviously asset poor after the uh Gobert trade and the Rob Dillingham trade, which really was the killer for this team. Because if Rob Dillingham became what he was supposed to be or what they thought he was gonna be, the scene for this team would be much different. Um I think they need to entertain trades for Rudy Gobert. Um they need to entertain trades for Randall, obviously. And I would not be trying to make like the all-in moves like a Kawhi Leonard or a KD or anything like that. I would be like, let's try and get younger around Ant so that in a year or maybe two when he's like peeking at his like apex, we have a team good enough to win a championship. Um I think possibly taking a step back next year because you know if you trade Rudy Gobert, like, yeah, that'll help you in the long run, maybe, but going like next year in the short term, that's gonna be a huge loss. Like, he's still a very important like regular season type player for the for the Wolves. Um, yeah, and I think the Wolves priority has to be to make sure Anthony Edwards has a window to seriously contend for a championship. And I would say 2024 was the year that they could their team was was probably good enough to win it all, but at that point, Ant was like, what, 21, 22? Like realistically, your best player at that age is not ready to win a championship, you know? Just meant in terms of like their development of their game, it still needs it still needs to be done. So like, yeah, I think they need to make they need to start building a little bit more patiently than to go all in moves, in my opinion. Um, and Anthony Edwards himself, I mean, his development It's kind of like is disappointing in some ways, but I mean you have to be ecstatic in other ways. Um, and the good far outweighs the bad in that regard. I mean, his shot making development to become you know up there with basically anyone in the league when it comes to shot making, you know, mid-range, three-pointers, um, at the rim, he's pretty good now. Gains the rim. I mean, he's able to get to damn near any spot on the floor he wants to get to. I mean, that development has been incredible. Like, in terms of just scoring, he's literally he's might be up there with anyone in the league, legit. Um, but I think the thing he needs to two things he needs to really, you know, work at to get to that, you know, that top top level would be his playmaking, um, and his defensive effort. Now, the defensive effort stuff, I'm not really concerned about that because I know he can defend at a super high level. It's just about him doing it more consistently, and um, especially in the regular season, he'd be taking off. In the regular season, his defensive effort this year was really bad, especially off the ball. It was not good. Um, and I think he's too talented and too young for that to be the case. So I would I would like to see him dedicate himself more defensively in the regular season, and you know, playing our double teams, some of that isn't his fault. Like I said, I think the Wolves as a team could do a lot better at showing for the ball when he gets doubled. The roster, like I said, without DiVincenzo, was lacking of real shooters when he got doubled. But I do also think his playmaking is something that does need to um elevate to you know help get this team over the line in the future series. Um, yeah, that's it on that series. I'll get into some Spurs stuff when I talk about uh Western conference finals, but now getting into Cavs Pistons, the Cavs pull it out in game seven. You know, it's hilarious after game five after game four. I talked about how both these teams could only win at home, and then immediately after that, the road team won every game of the series. Um, you know what, Donovan Mitchell? Fair enough. Like, after a terrible game six, after incredibly frustrating playoffs from for the most part in most of these games, in game seven, he played a damn near perfect game. Like, from the jump, too. Like, he set the tone, not with his scoring, not with his aggression, with playing the right way. And people look at the box scroll and see his points and all that, and but no, but like, this is the way he's gotta play. You know, I've been complaining on Twitter on the pod about like every shot Donovan Mitchell takes, or every possession where the ball ends up in Donovan Mitchell's hands, is either a step back three, a tough floater from from pretty far out, or a turnover. And in this game seven, it was the complete opposite. He didn't turn the ball over once, he got deep in the paint constantly. He got deep in the paint to score for himself or create for Mobley and Allen. Like the first position in the game, they uh the Cavs call the post-up for Mobley. He gets stuffed, he doesn't get anywhere, he throws the ball out to Mitchell. Mitchell, quick first step to the basket. I think he threw a log to Mobley, dunk. He came back down, dump off past Jared Allen dunk. And I mean that he had more assists in the first like three minutes than he'd been averaging all playoffs. Like he'd been averaging under three assists a game in the playoffs, and he had that in like the first three minutes. Um, and I've been saying that, like, you know, people get on Jared Allen and Evan Mobley for looking, you know, out of place trying to score baskets, but like, yeah, most bigs aren't you know Wemby or Jokic or MB or Giannis where they can just create baskets for themselves. They're gonna look a little stiff trying to create a seven-footer, like if everybody could do it, everybody would be Wemby. But like, some guys need some help, and Donovan Mitchell, as the best player on the team, he has to help his teammates get easier shots. And he did that in game seven. And look what Mobley and Jared Allen looked like, they looked like monsters in the paint. Um so yeah, I mean, in terms of if Mitchell plays like that, in terms of the process, getting in the paint, creating from his bigs, creating for his shooters, um, getting the free throw line, getting to the basket for easy layups. If he plays like that from a process standpoint, the Cavs can beat the Knicks. I really believe so. Um, because you know, that just makes everyone's life easier. And you saw like the Cavs' offense was a machine in game seven. Like game seven on the road, you put up 125. Like, that's not easily against a good top-tier defense. That is just no small feat. Um the last thing I want to mention for the Cavs, like, shout out to Sam Merrill, man. He was playing like his life was on the line, like the offensive rebound, of course. He made jumpers and shots, but like he was just crashing the glass for rebounds, getting loose balls, all that stuff. I mean, that was a true scrappy, gritty game seven performance. Um, yeah, and for the for the Pistons, I mean, it's kind of tricky to talk about because coming into the season, if you're a Pistons fan, if you told them this season would play out exactly like this, you know, Cade would be likely first team all NBA. We gotta see the votes, but this looks like he's be first team all the NBA, top five MVP, Debbie Vickerstaff would be top two in coach of the year, Jalen Duran would be um all-star and looks like he's gonna be all NBA. Uh Astar Thompson would be top three, I think, in Depoy, Depot Y. Um they would get contributions from Tobias Harris in the playoffs. They would um win a first-round series and take the Cavs to seven. I mean, I think their entire fan base and organization, everyone would be thrilled. But then watching it play out, like, you know, the Cavs were worse than expected coming into the year. Even the Knicks, I mean, despite them looking great now, I think regular season-wise, they were worse than expected, I would say. Um, and as a fan base, they probably had like, yeah, we can win the East, why not? And to force at home game seven and they get blown out like that, I mean, that's just that's disheartening to be honest. And I know everyone's talking point after that. Game seven is like they need more offense, they need more offense, and uh, that's obviously true, but like the real issue is in game seven their defense got annihilated from start to finish. Um and their offense, they could have they could have a more creation on the offense, they would have still lost that game with how they played defense. Um, and the biggest indictment to me was how they came out in that third quarter. Now, it's a game seven, you're down, I think like 20 around 20 at halftime. You would think that coming out of halftime, they're gonna come out on fire to get back in the game, and it was the complete opposite. They basically, you know, I hate to use the quit word, but they uh functionally quit out there in a game seven in that third quarter. I think the fourth quarter was basically um preseason stuff, but um, you know, K can obviously be better. I think his turnovers are just maddening to watch because you know, I think some people talk about his lack of spacing on the court, and that is true, of course, when it comes to him scoring the ball, but these turnovers are just careless, bro. Like that turnover where he threw the ball into Jarrett Allen's hands when he's laying on the floor. Like, what's going on? In fact, it happened. Um so Kate can obviously get better. He kind of knows showed in game seven. Um, and this Durin dilemma, I mean, this is just This is a really tough dilemma for all parties involved. And the parties I'm talking about are the Pistons, Jalen Duren himself, and whoever could possibly want Jalen Duren in the open, not open market, but in the free agency. Um, because if you're the Pistons, I mean Jalen Duren had a great regular season, legitimately great, like advanced metrics, eye test, um, was all great. He made the all-star game, deservedly so. He played great in games where K didn't play, and they actually were able to win games at a really high level when K didn't play. And the playoffs came and he was just a total I mean, he was damn near a nothing for them. Like he had one good game in game six against the Cavs, but like outside that he was legitimately giving them nothing. And Paul Reed was just by far their best center option in these playoffs, you know. Um, and part of that is Paul Reed playing at a really high level, and part of that is Jalen Duren just being awful in his own right. So, yeah, what do they do? Because you can't just leave that, you can't if you're the Pistons, you can't let him leave. If you're Jalen Duren, you're hurting respect to free agency, and that's really hard, you know, for a player to negotiate properly. And if you're a team that wants Jalen Duran, what offer do you make that the Pistons won't match? You know what I mean? Like it's just a tricky situation for all parties involved. Like, I would not be shocked if going to next season Jalen Duran plays on the qualifying offer. Um, you know, a one-year minimal deal, which is basically I think it's like five million, something like that. But um, yeah, that's gonna be a huge, a huge dilemma for them going forward. And I know the easy thing is for people to say just don't pay him, but it's it's not that simple. Like uh, this is a guy that was your second best player on team that won 60 games, you know, and a lot of it what goes into this optics, like it's easy for us to be armchair GMs and say just let him walk or sign trade, but like the owner of the team is gonna he's not gonna be happy with letting a high profile. I'm saying high profile in quotes player just leave like that, you know? So we'll see. Um alright, moving on. OKC Spurs game one, an absolutely epic game, no exaggeration, one of the best playoff games I've ever seen. Like, I don't think it's exaggeration whatsoever, like to say that. And the biggest takeaway for me in this game is we saw the Spurs regular season formula, which led to four wins against OKC for the fifth time, and it and it for the most part, you know, actually, as I'm as I'm thinking, is a lot of things that the that the Spurs tried to take away, that they tried to give OKC in terms of open threes, OKC actually did pretty well, and they still lost. So that to me is kind of disheartening because the worrying thing for OKC is like, yep, SGA played well below his level, and he can obviously play better, and he probably will play better. But a lot of other things went how OKC would like them to go. Like, um, J Dub looked pretty good as a secondary option, I would say. Caruso made the Spurs pay for leaving him wide open. I think he made eight threes. Um, and as a team, they shot the ball pretty well from three. OKC. It was like 38% on 45 attempts. That's a good number. Um, De'Aaron Fox didn't play. Now I've been killing De'Aaron Fox for his for his play in these playoffs, but there were moments in his game where you're like, alright, another another creator is needed on the court for the Spurs right now. Um OKC was able to create their turnovers that they rely upon for like you know getting easy transition buckets. All those things happened, and the Spurs still won a game one. And the Spurs themselves did not shoot like great from three. Um, yeah, that's kind of that's a little disheartening. Like that all those things happened. I know, like I said, SGA can and probably will play better in the rest of the series. And watching him in this game, it just felt like you know, they were doubling and trapping him so much that whenever he was actually open, he just felt out of rhythm and just couldn't make anything. Like normally when you're watching SGA, it feels like like he's in a drill, like he's in a summer drill, just playing against trainers. In this game, it felt way more like he just felt uncomfortable. You know, and then even when he was open, he just didn't make his shots. Um, and I think for OKC, I think they actually had some success going at Wemby on the perimeter. Like there were some possessions where he like he got out there and the guys got to the rim. Um, there was a case in Wallace Drive where Chet screened Wemby and he they couldn't communicate it and he got to the rim. SGA got past Wemby on the perimeter for and one. Um Caruso got past him for a couple times for a layup. They actually had a little bit of success going at Wemby on the perimeter, but I mean part of that could just be Wemby's fit like being fatigued because he had to do so much. Um But yeah, whenever Wemby was at the rim, there's no baskets for OKZ basically. Um and a lot of people have been critical of Chet and Mark Dagonall for putting Crusoe and uh other smaller players on Wemby as the you know as a primary matchup on defense. And I kind of understand where Mark Dagonal is coming from, because if you put Chet on Wemby, he has to guard Wemby super tight, like he can't leave his body because if he leaves his body, it's gonna be a lob or it's gonna be a three on the pick and pop, right? And if you guard him that tightly, that's gonna open the driving lanes for Stefan Castle, for Dylan Harper, for you know, whenever DeAndre Frost comes back for him, and that's gonna lead to even better shots for the Spurs, right? And an example of that to me is um I can't think this is an overtime when Stefan Castle dunked on um STA on that play, Wemby screens for Castle, but Caruso does not leave Wemby's body even in like he's just hugging him basically and lets Stefan Castle get into the paint, and it's an easy dunk. If that if Chet isn't able to be like a help defender because he's scared of leaving Wemby's body, that could lead to a lot of easy baskets for the Spurs, you know, the Spurs guards, especially. Um and actually, I think Crusoe guarded Wemby in the post-ups pretty well. Now, the issue for the OKC is if you put a small on Wemby, he's gonna crash the glass, you know, on the misses. And I think he had like nine offensive rebounds in this game, and he has some huge ones in uh late in the game to keep the Spurs up. Um, so that the offensive rebounds is the issue, and another issue for uh Caruso is if Wemby gets any separation or he falls asleep for any second, it's an automatic dunk. Like that play in uh to basically steal the game and the second overtime where he just slips Caruso a little bit, the ball's thrown up high, dunk. Like that's the real issue with putting a small guy on Wemby. Because guarding him in the post with Caruso isn't actually a problem. Now, guarding him in the post with J Dub, I felt like Wemby was really comfortable going at J Dub on the post-ups. I think he scored like an easy heat like every time. Um so yeah. I mean, it's just it's just really incredible to watch the impact Wemby has on the game on both ends of the floor. Like, truly, he could dominate a game without scoring a single point, you know? In a way, it kind of like I obviously I'm not old enough to actually watch Bill Russell, but like it kind of reminds me of that kind of impact on the game. Like, um, if you watch Anthony Davis in college, he kind of had a similar impact too, where he's like in the national championship, he didn't score like at all. He still dominated the game because of the defensive impact, his lob threat, the rebounding, all that stuff. And on top of that, Wemby can shoot the three too. Um, and oh yeah, one thing I want to mention the reason they put you know Caruso and small guys on him is to take away the pick and pop three. Like he only had two three-point attempts in this game, and one of them was in transition for the game tire. Um, I think in OT. So, yeah, and it's like the reason I've been so high on the Spurs of late is just like, bro, when Wemby is on the floor, nobody can score on the Spurs with any level of consistency. Like, the fact that OKC hit, you know, had a good three-point game, I would say 38% on 45 attempts. Like I said, Caruso made eight threes being dared to shoot, and they still had a 98 offensive rating when Wemby was on the floor. Like, that's kind of scary for Oklahoma City in terms of your offense in this series. Like, they only shot 42% on twos. Um, so that's that I mean that's the real crux of the issue of playing the Spurs. You can't score when Wemby's on the court. Um, so yeah, I mean I think I'm not writing off the Thunder at all. Like, I definitely think they can win this series, and even this game, like a couple players here and there, they would have won this game, right? So I'm not writing them off in the slightest, but this is gonna be a war. Like this is feels like a six-seven game series. Like, this is not gonna be a OKC and five type type thing. Um and I would say both teams have a fairly high chance of you know uh not high, but have an equal chance of winning this series at this point. Um yeah, that's about it for this week. Um I'm recording this at 1 45 p.m. on Tuesday. In about an hour or so, Bournemouth could make Arsenal champions. So, yeah, see y'all next week.