THE FORCE IS STRONG IN THE PLAYOFFS | Ep. 31

May the 4th be with you Benchwarmers! In this weeks episode, we catch up on the incredible action as we head into the 2nd round of both the NBA and NHL playoffs! But in honor of May the 4th, we throw in some Star Wars themed playoff awards because the games, like Star Wars, have been pure cinema! 

We hope you will join us on the bench this week! Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe! As always, Stay Hydrated! 

Transcript

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Alright, what's up everybody? Welcome to the Water Bros Podcast. As always, we're your hosts. I'm Zach, and this is my little brother Ben. And it is our May the 4th be with you episode, but we're doing it on Revenge of the Fifth. Benny, what do we have for the people coming to the bench today? How you doing, dude? Might be one of your best intros. That was smooth. Hey, thanks, brother. I be with you. I appreciate it, man. But we're doing on the revenge of the fifth. I love that. No, I'm good, man. I'm good. Gotta love Star Wars. Yeah, that's uh I mean that's one of the best. I how are you doing though? Well, we're doing good. I mean, just as an update for the folks, I'm healing up nice, so that's good. We're two weeks post procedure, so I'm feeling pretty pretty normal. Just be a little bit longer before I'm 100%, I think, but I'm feeling feeling good. I mean, that's a win. That's all you can ask for. And today is uh I mean, this is pretty I was just thinking about this, how it's you know, past nine on a Tuesday night. We I feel exhausted. I'm sure you feel exhausted. You've been healing up, you've been working, you've got the kids. Yeah, I mean it's these the late night recording, it it does get a little tough. Uh yeah, for a for a second I was like, we gotta get the juice flowing here. Yeah, we gotta we gotta get rolling here a little bit. And it like yeah, it feels like it's already been it doesn't feel like a Tuesday. It feels like it should be Thursday or Friday with how the week's gone so far, but hey, that's alright. That just means there's a lot of good week to have still. That's right. There's there's a lot of good days left in the week, which really kicks us off with some fill the jug, right? Well, first, Benny, we gotta just to break down a little bit what the people can expect from the episode. Yeah, what are we even talking about today? So obviously, fill the jug, we'll start off with. We have a high quality H2O light. H2O light edition. Light edition, just a little one-for-one, little action here. I got one, you got one. Nothing too crazy. Mammoth are are out. Um, you know, I guess the Flyers. I don't know if you consider yourself a Flyers fan. Uh no, I will not consider myself a Flyers fan. I know I claim Philadelphia Eagles, but tusks up mammoth all day. Now that we have a home team. And growing up, I was an Aves fan, actually. Yeah, hey, Colorado next door. I refuse to root for any Colorado team. So that won't happen ever. Um But yeah, so we'll touch a little bit on some high quality H2O. Post-spring update for the youths. It is the offseason, but a little college football action, some some little tidbits, things that I've been listening to this week that I want to touch on and talk about. Um, and then we'll dive into a little bit about the current state of the NBA and NHL playoffs. What's going on in hockey, what's going on in basketball, do our second round picks. Yeah, we're gonna pick the second round. Um usually we would have seen how we picked the first round and see how we did. To be honest with you, I don't even remember. Uh, and yeah, I don't think we I think we got okay. I think we did okay. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I mean obviously the mammoth didn't win. We we both picked them. But otherwise, I think we might have been more or less again, and we picked late in the third in the first round, so we had kind of a good idea. I don't think there was any major comebacks for at least the NHL side, NBA side that uh I guess you know the pistons coming in. I do not think I picked the pistons, so that that would definitely be a miss there. But otherwise, I think we did all right. Yeah, the first round's usually a little bit easier, not too much you know, discrepancy in who's probably gonna win and who's not. Um, but then after we pick those second round games, we're gonna wrap everything up with some May the Fourth awards on Revenge of the Fifth. So let's let's dive into it. Now, let's fill the jug. Now let's fill the jug. And uh, Benny, I'm gonna be brief on this fill the jug, and it it is gonna be tied to May the Fourth be with you because we we I mean we're big Star Wars fans growing up. We always watch Star Wars. Mom is a big Star Wars fan, so I mean, we were watching the classics from a young age. I remember going to see Phantom Menace in the theaters, so big Star Wars fans for sure. Um but Christmas and cutting the cover off the movie. Classic, classic story. Hey, when you're eight years old and you get given the clone uh man Star Wars episode two. Why can't I think of the name of that episode? Yeah, so the Phantom Menace and then the re um the Attack of the Clones. Attack of the Clones, thank you. I was thinking Clone Wars because I mean great cartoon. Yeah, true. But I got Attack of the Clones, the DVD, but I also got a Swiss Army knife. So I cut open that brand new DVD case and cut off everything. Discard, that what a good story. I also cut my thumb that day. So hey, if you give an eight-year-old, I think I cut both my thumbs that day. Give an eight-year-old a pocket knife, he's gonna use it, is the moral story there. But the last two nights, Drew and I, after because Gwenny's been feeling a little sick, so Drew has kind of been stuck at home during the day. And uh so the last two nights I've taken him down to the school park that's just down the hill from our house, and we've been playing Star Wars on the playground. I'm Obi-Wan, he's Anakin, and we uh I mean he gets his timelines a little mixed up. Like today, we were Obi-Wan and Anakin, and we stormed Darth Vader's space, but it's all good because it's all fun, and it doesn't matter. And so that that has been fill in the jug. That's been a lot of fun going down and just getting a little one-on-one time with with Drew at the park. That's awesome. Honestly, I could say something very similar from my fill the jug. I feel like I'm feeling similar things where yesterday I got home and I typically dress up a little bit nicer at work. You know, I wear I try and wear more so like whether it's a button-down or a or a collared shirt at the least. Um and so yesterday I get home, first thing I do, we have dinner. Heather had dinner ready, and we have dinner, the you know, the three of us, and Kylo is here actually too. Um, and then I just go outside and play with Rudy, and we just played outside all night. Love it. It was literally like I don't remember the last time we did that for like two hours, where that's all we did. Saturday, I took him to the park, and and every time I take him to the park by myself, Heather is gone with the with our Taus. So she actually always has the stroller in the back of her car. So I do a two-mile walk, and Rudy doesn't want to walk the whole way, so I carry him on my shoulders, and I'm like, by the time I get back, I'm always dead. Um, but I but you talking about Drew and you playing at the park, playing make-believe, like Rudy wears his Spider-Man to the park. Oh, Spidey Love. I love this. And we play make-believe. We're playing T-Rexes in the backyard, and and I'm like our neighbor kids are watching me as I'm acting like a dinosaur, and it's it's awesome. I'm like, I'm gonna I'm gonna miss this where in his brain, like, Spider-Man is possible, and dinosaurs, like, I can be like a dinosaur. So it's it's a lot of fun. That feels the jug. He, you know, he makes he makes life a lot of fun while it's very busy and can be stressful, and you know, kids can be stressful, but he makes the best out of it. Not easy work, but it is fun work. Yes when when you get those moments. That's what we live for. Benny, I love that. That feels the jug for sure. I know, so that's us, you know, us just filling the jug. I did text you, I do have to say, you know, this feels a joke too, but because Gwenny is being potty trained, and Rudy and Gwenny have some sort of rivalry type. They do a little competition relationship. I don't know. I think it's it's more so Rudy sided. He has some weird vendetta against her. Um, as she's the sweetest sweetheart of all time. But since she's learning how to go potty, we called Rudy out, and he literally by himself went poop on the toilet all by himself today. Stepped up to the plate and a dinger, huh? So we went and got ice cream. It was it was awesome. I absolutely love it. Hey, uh, all I gotta say is I just want like a finder's fee or like a you know development fee for Gwen because she helped get the get it over the the finish line there. She really did. It's like all of a sudden the fear went away, you know. It's like, oh Gwenny did it twice. Oh, hell I can do that. I can do that. Yeah. Not on my watch. Oh, my Spidey Mask. As he flushes the toy, he says, bye-bye, suckers. I'm like, all right. Kid's psychotic, dude. I love it. Uh that's the best. Good job, Brudy. I know, he's he's a champ. I love it. Our kids are great. That's the best. And having them the same age get into watch them grow up together is is an absolute blast. Yes, I agree with that completely. Which leads us into, I mean, that's you know, that's our favorite segment. We love fill the jug. That's I would say arguably it's one of the main reasons why we do this. Um, you know, we get to chat about all the things in life and immediately raises my mood. It's amazing how that's 100%. It just puts a smile on your face. So yeah. Which I which I do love. But brings us into some high quality H2O ladies and gentlemen. We're always staying hydrated here, but what are the some of the things that have been happening in the sports world that have been lighting up, you know, making the highlight reels, I guess we should say. I'll say mine first. The Knicks absolutely crushed the Hawksholes. I've never seen a lopsided game like that in my life where at halftime it's 75 to 25, 80 to 30, 83 to 33, whatever it was, it's absurdity. Just brutal. I mean, professionals on both sides of the the court there, right? But to just get demoralized like that is in an elimination game. Yeah, rough look. At home in Atlanta. Yeah, I think I think the only like bigger deficit for a playoff game was like what 58 points on Yes. Yeah, it was uh the Hornets, Chris Paul, and he was on Pat McFeen. Yeah, I saw the little snippet of him. I haven't been able to catch a ton, but I saw them kind of rubbing it in. But like that's that's a tough, tough way to go out. Yeah, honestly, that was the only clip of Pat McPhee I saw this week, so I'm in your same boat. I thought that was hilarious. That they wished him like that. Yeah. But yeah, 50 point just demolition derby. Yeah, just the the Knicks are on a roll. I mean, they did the exact same thing game one of this of this we uh this series to begin round two where they just destroyed the 76ers. So they might be on a fast track to the finals. We'll see. Maybe they might be on a heater. Well, Benny, I'm gonna go along those same lines. It was not a blowout, but it was certainly a high-scoring affair. My high quality H2O is in the NHL playoffs, round two, game one of the Aves versus the Wild. 15 combined points in a freaking hockey game is just insane. Like, I think they had 10 points across two, like, two periods, but they went off, dude. 14 different scores or something like that. I mean, it what a way to start a series. Like the Avalanche pulled out the win, but just incredible offensive hockey. Yeah, I mean, nine to six is absurd. Yeah, it's it's crazy. It is absolutely crazy. Am I right on that number? Mm-hmm. Yeah, you are right. I was doubting myself, but no, I'm yeah, you're right on that on that number. It that's it's an insane game that they were able to score that many. It's crazy, and we'll talk more about it, but like Quinn Hughes as a defenseman, just with some snipes, absolutely incredible pucks to the back of the net. They're just uh he's absurd. Absolutely absurd. Yeah, there's uh I mean there's some really, really fun players to watch in the NHL, like solid people to to want to follow or cheer on their personalities. So I agree with you. That that was an absurd game. That is high quality H2O. Because who doesn't love some offense? Right? Who who doesn't? Offense score offense, an offense that can go out and and do their thing. Exactly. That's something that I'm hoping you're that we can see from our uh youths. Yeah, I was gonna say perfect transition. That was a good transition, good setup there, dude. Look at you. So I am hoping the exact same thing. This is a fun time of year for college football. Now, interesting take I saw this week, Zach. I'm curious your thoughts. We did talk about Brendan Soresby, and yes, very unfortunate. I didn't realize I should have probably realized this when we talked last week that he's probably done. Like Yeah. No, I I should after I heard more of the story, because I saw the headline. But now that I know more of the story behind it, I don't see a world where he's allowed to play in the college game again. Especially if you're on the team and you bet on that team. Yeah. Even though he didn't play, I think I saw that even though he didn't play in those games, but he's still Yeah, it's I just don't see how that pans out for him. Yeah, it's all about the integrity of the game, right? So who's to say that that doesn't happen in the future, though? And you ruin the integrity of the game. So anyway, that was that obviously sucks for you know, him, sucks for Texas Tech that they thought, and now with no po with spring window, they've got to figure out if Will Hammond will get healthy from an ACL tear. Yeah, I mean they're they're SOL. Yeah. Like big time. And if I'm I mean, if I'm some of the team players that like join the team expecting him to be the quarterback, like if I'm a receiver, I'm pissed. Pissed off. I'm so mad. I'd be very upset. And I mean, understandably so, but for Big 12 football, this is a huge wrinkle for Texas Tech. Very much so. I I think the so the two teams right ahead of Utah have had some very serious allegations against big time players on their teams this offseason. Um two very different serious types of allegations. Yeah, very different circumstances, but serious in positions that are high contributors and expected to be big impact players, uh, part of their offensive uh success. Yeah, so what I thought was interesting was post um, you know, post-spring practice, Joel Clatt did a top 25 for post-spring. And he had a couple changes. He had the Utes at 23, which which I think he's hey, showing respect, keeping the that Utah program up there. And there's a lot of unknowns for Utah being under new head coach. So I think to be up there is is good news for us to just be in the conversation there. Yeah, new head coach, new offensive coordinator again, but I think the keeping of the dynamic trio of Dampier, Thicklin, and um Weyshawn Parker is fantastic. You keep three of your we'll see how the offensive line does. That's really the biggest question is trenches all the time. Yeah, can we protect and give the time needed? Yep. That's that's gonna be the biggest thing. I think I've been hearing a lot of optimistic things. I've been reading a lot of optimistic things about the offense. Um but what I thought was interesting was Joel Clatt said that even with the Brendan Soresby news, he's picking Texas Tech to still win the Big 12 championship. Oh, interesting. So not not enough faith lost, huh? But I think BYU's chirping at the at the bit here, chomping at the bit. They're close. Nipping at the heel. Nipping at the heel, yes. And then Houston is ranked pretty high. Up they're ranked at 22 right above Utah, according to Joel Clatt, right? So this is his just made up top 25. How he sees the spread. Right. So interesting. A little interesting. I mean, Houston, Houston was tough this last. I feel like they had a good season. Um they've I feel like they've been on an upward trajectory over the last little bit. So I think that the whole juggernaut aspect of Texas Tech is less now. I think the top tier of teams is much closer. And I don't think it'll be a foregone conclusion like it might have been with the talent pool that they have losing kind of the main QB. We'll see, like you said, if if they can get that position healthy and see how that goes. But yeah, I mean, we saw how Hammond came back and beat the Utes. So Yeah, and that's the thing too. Like they know Hammond can win, he can play, but it's also once you know, I think part of that loss for the Utes was it like you don't know who you don't know, and I think there can be success there when something like that happens. Obviously, a talented guy, uh, but when you have a little more tape, you have a little more preparation, that's who you're preparing for to try to put in bad position. Maybe that doesn't go so well, you know. Right. Yeah. So I would say the the other big thing that's going on that that I love in terms of college football is the recruiting aspect that is gonna be heating up. A lot of official visits start this month going to going into the month of June. Got a lot of recruits, a lot of kids coming to the University of Utah to visit the team. We'll see what shakes out. I'm excited to see how potentially get on the hook. Yeah, let's see how Scaly can build the team in you know his own recruiting classes, his own team for years to come. I'm I'm excited about it. It'll be awesome to see, yeah, what the what the Scaly era is gonna be because this will be his first rodeo as being that the lead of development of that team and what that looks like. And so I am curious your thoughts on um the difference between Kyle Whittingham and Morgan Scally in terms of the BYU rivalry. Because what I saw a post of someone saying that the BYU rivalry was so heated over the past little bit a lot because of Kyle Whittingham and his disdain and things he said about BYU. Um I mean and then we've got Scally who's quote tweeting scriptures on like the daily, literally more low-key kind of guy, absolutely, and I know Wit loves Sataki too, but like first picture or video you see of Scally after he's named head coach, he's with Sataki. Like yeah, like like they're close, so it's like did I don't know if it's possible, but is there any diminished uh you know uh aspect of the rivalry game and the heat that comes to it? You know, I'm gonna say no. I think maybe we'll see what Scally does to stir the pot. I don't know that he's necessarily gonna be doing that so much, but I think Scally is a Utah man through and through. He knows what that rivalry means. He He's lived it as a player. And so I think from a level of rivalry and kind of the energy that's going to be there, I think that's going to be very prevalent still. Regardless of the good camaraderie that they have off the field. I think that that game and what it means for the team and for the state will continue with plenty of gusto and energy under Scally. Yeah. I hope so. And I I agree. I think it's still going to have the juice, and I'm glad his first one as head coach is going to be at Seckles. Yeah, I think that's a a big deal. And I think for Scally too, we might even see a little bit more heat because of that, right? Because, like, hey, I want to own this rivalry. I want I want to put my stamp on it. Yep, put your stamp on it to make your mark. That that might even give it a little more juice. Very good perspective. Yeah. I I love that. I I thought of that as we were talking about this, so I wanted to get your thoughts. But a little a little college football for you in the offseason, a little post-spring practice. Cannot wait. We are four months away. A little less than. Yeah, a little less than, which, yeah, it's crazy. Absolutely crazy. And we're going to be in person for a lot of games. Cannot wait. It's going to be so good. Yeah. It'll be it'll be a good time. I'm pumped about it. Shifting gears into some NBA and NHL talk. There's a couple quick hits that I just want to touch on in the NBA. Yeah, Benny, let's do our our our quick hits with Ben. We don't have a name for this segment, but you're going to give it to us. Yeah, some quick hits. I couldn't help but putting some of these things out there before we pick the second round. I want to make some quick observations in the NBA. I hope I'm pretty sure everybody knows. I am a hockey fan now, but I don't know hockey as well as I know the NBA. So I'm not going to pretend to be like, oh, I know which team is really going to be that much better in the NHL than the others. Right. I it's more gut really now. It's more gut pick. It's more gut pick. It's more going with the the norm, the national I guess, uh, consensus. But first and foremost, Knicks are dominating. This team is tailor-built for the playoffs. You have a big that you can run your offense through. Is Carl Anthony Towns the greatest center? No, but he's a really solid one that can shoot, that can drive the ball, and can pass. Jalen Brunson is a closer. He's clutch. And he can and he can light it up. That's big time. You've got Josh Hart, OG Ananobi, and Mikhail Bridges, who all three of those guys are incredible three and D basketball players. This team, and then they have some more depth on their bench than they've had in recent years. I am very impressed with what they've been doing. They are not letting off the gas. And so I'm I'm very interested to see how far the Knicks can take this. On the other side of the token, I think coming into the second round, and obviously the Lakers' first round game just ended against the Thunder, they're outmatched. The Thunder are good. Yeah. Very, very good. The Thunder are very tough. It's, you know, Shea had like eight, seven or eight turnovers tonight, and he only had to score 18, 20 points. And they win by 18. Like, that team is deep. They are talented. They have that championship edge. The Lakers, I think the Lakers are actually better than a lot of people say. Like they they kept that game interesting at moments. I don't think it was ever really in doubt, though, that the Thunder were gonna win. It's unfortunate because LeBron will pass 300 career playoff games next on in game two. He'll hit number 300. And I think the Lakers will get bounced round two, which is unfortunate. Yeah, I mean that the the sp spread right now for OKC is minus 15. Yeah, it's they're not getting a lot of love to the Lakers by any means. No, with with no Luca chance. Yeah, it's a tough attempt. And LeBron is playing great basketball. I mean, you can see you can see his age now like in moments, which I would expect. And then you see some moments of course you're gonna see that. You see moments where it's like, wait, that guy's 41 and he's jumping out of the gym like he's 25. It's crazy. Yeah, I mean, they're highlighting it right now on uh sports center. They're showing some clips. I mean, he and uh he had a good game. Yeah, they're but the Knicks they're just tough, man. They got Shy or Shay? The the Thunder, yeah. Shay. Did I say Knicks? Yeah, OKC is what I'm gonna do. Okay, they've got Shay and I mean it's just it's tough. But speaking of superstars, I think the best matchup of the entire second round is Timberwolves Spurs. Watching that first game last night was awesome. And I love Wimby. He is way fun. He had 10 10 blocks last night. Great to watch. He's all over the place. He didn't score well at all last night. And I feel like, and granted, maybe it's a little early to say this, but I feel like there's a long time where you didn't know what the next face of the league was gonna be, who it was gonna be. But I feel like Wimby's the dude. Yeah, he's he's the guy. Like Wimby is great, and he seems to have the right demeanor about him, he'd like the right attitude. I mean, you get like the Jokic who couldn't care less about the being the face, even though he's like super talented or whatever. He just wants to go be with his horses, right? Play a little ball and then go with his Kentucky Derby. Yeah, you know, but Wemby's fantastic. What a great addition. Someone who had so much hype and has delivered on that hype. Yeah, has really delivered and exceeded. He's yeah, he's awesome. But on the other side of that series is the guy that they're like, hey, you're gonna be the face of the NBA, and he says, nah, they got Wemby. And that's Anthony Edwards. Yeah, Ant-Man. Someone who doesn't want it again, another kid who could be or a player that could be great as a bigger face for the league. But yeah, he's he is really talented. The fact that he came back after I don't know if you saw the knee injury that he sustained like ten days ago. I didn't see it. I knew he got injured, but I didn't see it. Oh, it was gross. I am amazed that nothing tore. And then he makes it back and plays game one ten days later and they win. Wow. Dude, he's he's awesome. So that's that's a very, very fun series. I I'm actually like, you know, as a jazz guy, seeing Mike Conley drill big shots, seeing Rudy Gobert playing in those games and playing great. Like he's and he didn't get to play a lot at the end because of you know, matchups and like he wasn't the best fit matchup-wise to end that game. But I mean, yeah, is he a little bit like like awkward at times? Like uh what's the what's the word I'm looking for? Like when you're really tall and blanky, yeah, he's just or lurpy. He's lurpy, like he he has those moments. He's a little awkward, but man, he he can get the job done. He's a talented guy, he's great defensively. So I've been w loving the you know the NBA. Those are a couple quick hits, some of my quick thoughts as we go into these picks here. Well, Benny, let's dive right into picking the second round of the NBA then. Now that you have given that synopsis, that helps me because you know way more about the NBA than I do. Um, and I just want to highlight we glazed the Celtics so hard in our last episode about when we talk playoffs. We were on the this we said that the Celtics were gonna roll right through and uh get boiled. Get upset by the 76ers, just insane. I also didn't expect the best player on the Celtics, Jason Tatum, to sit 45 minutes before game seven at home. Yeah, yeah. That's just yeah, I don't love that. But not a great look. But I mean that's that's huge right now for I mean I feel like Philly they've had a they've had a pretty good pretty good sports outing here for between the Flyers and the and the 76ers. It's not a bad time to be in Philly. They got a lot of good sports going on for the town. But yeah, why don't you lead us out? What do you think? Thunder Lakers, I think you led this pick already. Game two or round two. What are you thinking? Yeah, I I think yeah, so okay. Obviously, one tonight, they lead 1-0. Um, I don't anticipate this being a long series, so I don't think Luca will be able to put come back and play.

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Very, very unfortunate. I think if Luca was here and he was fully healthy, he'd, you know, they it would be more of a series, give them more of a run for their money. Um, but yeah, I think Thunder win this one and five. Yeah, I love it. And I think uh I think I'm right there with you. I I don't like you said, Lakers, they're just outgunned. And sometimes that's just the case. So Thunder move on. For staying in the West, you got Minnesota, Timberwolves versus the Spurs. Your favorite matchup. Benny, I'll lead out this pick. I'm gonna go with I would love to see Wimby get into that Western Conference Finals, so I'm gonna go Spurs to even though they're down one after game one. Yeah, honestly, I'm I'm in the same boat. I think that the Spurs, they I think the Timberwolves had a perfect game plan. They played an incredible game, and Wemby was just off on his offensive attack. I feel like the Spurs have enough to win this series. They will come back and win, but I think it's a going six or seven games. This I would say Spurs win in six um and close out the Timberwolves, even though the Timberwolves are looking really, really strong. Yeah, and having Ant-Man back is absolutely huge for them. Absolutely. So him playing makes all the difference in the world. He's he's that good. All world type player. 100%. Okay, hopping uh over to the Eastern Conference. We got Pistons Cavaliers. Obviously, Pistons pull out a an incredible comeback to win in seven against the Magic after being down. What do you think, Ben? Have the Pistons figure it back out. Yeah, they won tonight, so they went up 1-0 on Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 10-point win at home. I think this one is probably the it's the toughest one for me to pick because I think the Timbrals and Spurs are really, really close. This one might be closer because I'm very tempted to pick the Cavs to beat the Pistons. But for whatever reason, they just the Cavaliers they barely could beat the Raptors in a seven-game series. Yeah, also in seven. Good point. So I'm struggling to to give them the nod. I think Donovan Mitchell, he is a perennial get bounce in the second round type player. Just can't get across. No, I I mean you're right. You just can't get across. Yeah. Yeah, it's a first or second round thing. I'm I'm gonna go Pistons and seven. I think Cade Cunningham is the best player in the series. He'll he'll they'll get the nod. And I think what the Pistons have going for them is that they are playing red hot. They have gone on a run, they come back against the magic. All the momentum in the world is in that locker room. They are obviously feeling good. I'm gonna rock with the Pistons as well to keep firing for Detroit. Yeah. Yeah, and they had to, I mean, they had to take a look in the mirror, as Cade said, you know, letting the eight seed take them to seven games. So it's a good, hey, good adversity, good thing to learn, and you keep playing. So not a bad spot for them. And to close it out for round two, Knicks 76ers. Benny, I think I know where you're going with this. I already glazed Boston. Knicks ups takes Boston out, so I gotta go the Knicks to go on a run. Yeah, I I think the Knicks are yeah, are the better team. But I think the 76ers have a chance to steal a game or two with how well Joel Embiid has been playing. He, you know, they didn't have their best game last night, but it was the first game in Madison Square Garden. Um, so I'm gonna go Knicks and six. Nixon six. That sounds good too. Yeah, so I'm those are my picks. I think the one that will finish the quickest is Thunder Lakers, unfortunately, because everyone knows how much I love LeBron. Yeah, they're gonna get no. I mean, you said five. You it'll go five, but I mean they they might get swept, they might get swept. Oh, I hope not, but that'll be pretty sad. Pretty sad for uh the Lakers and LeBron if that happens. So that'll give us a Thunderspurs Pistons Nyx. That's a crazy four teens right there. Like it that's just fun. That's like early 2000s stuff. Like that'll be awesome. With the the you know, the pistons and the spurs. That's really cool. I mean, the spurs are good for a long time, but anyway. Cannot wait to see how that unfolds, Benny. And uh with that, let's hop into the NHL. With like you said, I think on both fronts, we're doing a little more gut picking here just because I mean we haven't been in the trenches watching hockey uh for a long time. It definitely helps to have a team in our hometown to really find the magic of the Stanley Cup. True. Um, but Benny, I think this there's it's a little more clear-cut to me on some of these matchups compared to what we just picked in the NBA. Uh, but let's go. We'll start with Western Conference again. We have the Avalanche, the one seed first, the Minnesota Wild. Again, they had a crazy game one. They just lost again tonight, so Avalanche are now two on the series. Who are you picking? Yeah, going Aves. Pretty easy. They're already halfway there. I will be shocked if the Aves do not go to the championship. Yeah, I agree. They are so tough. Fun fact looking at all the games, every one seed won and every three-seed beat the two seeds. So every lower seeded team won in the 2-3 matchup. Yeah, I mean, there you go. Yeah, because Wilde beat stars, Canadians beat Lightning in a absolutely electric series. Yeah, that was fun. And that Lightning lose losing in again a heartbreaker. That game seven couldn't have been any closer there. Yeah, agreed. Absolutely electric. Love it so much. I mean, Stanley Cup has been so fun to watch. Um, so we both picked the Avs. I think that is a no-brainer. Going to to uh Golden Knights Ducks. Obviously, Golden Knights take out the mammoth, Heartbreaker in six. Uh, Anaheim really takes it to the Oilers. Uh Ben, what do you think? Golden Knights currently up one. Yeah, the Golden Knights are up one. Give me the ducks. Screw the Knights. Let's go, Ducks. Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack. So that is the only reason why I want the ducks to win is because I just love that. Love me some mighty ducks. Love that there's a freaking team in Anaheim based off of the Mighty Ducks. Like that's just fantastic. Uh, but I am gonna go golden knights on this. I do think they found I mean, they just know what to do. I I learned that I think that what I learned that watching them play against the mammoth is they just know how to get it done. And they're freaking goalie in overtime. If you are playing close, their goalie stands on his head. Like unbelievable. He's unbelievable in overtime. Yep. Yeah. So I mean, not a bad pick at all. Golden Knights are really good. I'm just bitter. Nothing uh it feels like I'm picking chalk there, picking one and one for having golden knights, but I do think that's how the West unfolds now that the mammoth are are gone and I can't just pick with my heart. Yeah. Uh hopping over into Eastern Conference, Sabres versus the Canadians. Again, Canadians won it close. Benny, I am picking Buffalo all the way here. Well, I am going with a little bit of a you know heart, heart thing here. Patriots guy. They beat the Bruins. So screw Buffalo. Let's go, Montreal Canadians. So you're telling me that the the hate for Buffalo not only extends to the Bills, but to any Buffalo team. Okay. Hey way to stay true to your colors. I appreciate that. And and they beat the Boston team, so I gotta, you know, yeah. I mean that they took out the Bruins. I mean, you can't I mean you can't knock that. They went against they went against the the town. New England town. That's right. Okay, well, we'll differ on that one. Their game one is uh May 6th, 5 o'clock at on TNT. TNT. Oi. Oi.

unknown 41:33

Oi.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

Oi. Uh game three, we already have two because Hurricanes absolutely took it to the Senators. Hurricanes vs. Flyers. Um Flyers obviously in a thrilling games. I mean Phil Philadelphia went 4-2, but I do feel like those games were always electric. Yeah. Um taking out the Pittsburgh Penguins. I would love to say the Flyers are gonna have a comeback, but I think Hurricanes sweep here as well and and move on. I think so too. Yeah, I I think the Hurricanes, I mean, they might be the team. I know the Avalanche have been talked about a lot, but the Hurricanes are doing the exact same thing. So that it wouldn't surprise me if it was Kane's Avalanche championship about that would not surprise me at all. I hope it's Av's Sabres. That would be my preferred, because again, the Buffalo story is just so good. Yeah. And the culture, the fan culture in Buffalo is fantastic. Like I love seeing them skate to their freaking barn for the games and and doing their whole thing. Um, but yeah, hurricanes are are exactly that. They are a force of nature when they're on that freaking ice. They are crushing. And uh again, already up 2-0 on the Flyers, so it's not I don't see that going any other way. I agree. Yeah, but definitely some heart picks from me in the NHL, but for the Canes, too, if they do the same thing to the Flyers as they did in the first round, they'll have some time to rest. Like their guys are gonna be much more rested than whoever they face coming out of that Sabres Canadians, which just works in their favor too. Yeah, I guess it is a little bit of the age-old question. I don't know if it's the same in the NHL as it is the NBA, but the Spurs had so much time off from their first series, and you know, they hadn't played in like almost a week, and they play last night and just look rusty. So you're a little rusty. Do you want to do that? Yeah, do you want to stop if you're on a roll? Maybe not. No, that's a good point, Benny. That's a good point. So that ends our playoff pick. So we're thinking Aves, Knights, or Ducks. We're kind of in opposition there. Sabres Canadians in opposition opposition there. Probably Sabres. For sure canes. Yes. So we'll see. I like that we have some some disparity there. Yeah, it'll make uh it'll make watching those games a little bit more interesting. Yeah, 100%. Now I'm rooting for the underdogs. But Benny, I think to to end out this glorious playoff May the Fourth episode. We th I we thought it would be fun to do a couple May the Fourth Star Wars Inspired Awards. Yes. And I think we have somebody for everyone between the two of us. Oh, definitely. Yeah. So this is just off the dom, folks. We came up with these award names, and so here they are. We'll start out. The first one is the forces strong.

SPEAKER_01 45:00

With you.

SPEAKER_00 45:04

My best Palpatine. And the what pick I'm gonna go with for this is so good. Wynn Hughes. Dude. He I already said it before, but he is unbelievable. Watching how that dude wields the puck and finds the net. As a defensive player, he is a back line guy. It's incredible. He he does like he is so cool to watch. I love it. So the force is strong with Quinn Hughes. Force is strong with you, Anakin. It's that is like one of the creepiest line deliveries of that entire The Force is strong. So do it. Do it. Do it. It's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 45:56

I'm weak. I'm weak. Unlimited power.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

Anyway. That's pretty good. Palpatine. So good. You can't get us rolling. No, we'll be stuck on that forever. We'll this it'll add 20 minutes to this episode. That's true. Do you have a force is strong? I I like the Quinn Hughes pick. I I've been thinking about it. Um I was telling you this before, so you know, listeners, if you're aware, I probably am gonna be pretty basketball heavy on my awards picks. Um as you should be. But the force is strong. I am electing to go with Wembanyama. Now I love that. The main reason why, yes, he lost last night, but 10 blocks. I mean, can we get out of here? The force that he plays with on the court, he he sees the court, he sees things before they happen. The force is strong with this one. Amen to that, dude. I love that. Wemby is a great pick. Hughes and Wemby leading out the force is strong. That's right. Our next one, we're simply calling it the Empire Strikes Back. Benny, I'm not giving this to one individual. I'm gonna give this one for me to a team. And I think my Empire Strikes Back pick is the Golden Knights. They have been to they have they have held Lord Stanley, they have lifted that cup, they've been there before, and the way that they continued to just strike back against the mammoths in that first round and find wins, it feels like they're on a bit of a revenge tour trying to come back, and they definitely squashed the mammoth rebellion that was trying to get their first little upstart in the playoffs. So that's gonna be my pick for Empire Strikes Bag. I like I like that pick. I was thinking the same vein. Mine is a team as well. And you cannot talk about the Empire without talking about the Empire State. Give me the New York Knicks as they are back at the top of the game right now in the Eastern Conference. I don't care if the Pistons are the one seed, the Knicks look impressive. So they are the Empire from the Empire State striking back. I love that. That's a great pick. Tying in the Empire State building. Absolutely love it. Now we do. Our next pick, and in honor of Mando and Grogu movie coming out, we do have the Bounty Hunter pick. And uh, Ben, I imagine we're probably gonna be in the same lines of Bounty Hunter. They're taking, I mean, they're taking heads. That's what they do. And so I'm actually gonna give this one to a player that won't continue to take heads because they are now out, but I want to give a little love to the mammoth. Kraus is the lead hitter from the mammoth in the playoffs, absolutely taking people out, taking heads. And so my bounty hunter is gonna be Krauss from the Mammoth. Sad to see them out of the game. I I like that one a lot. I think, you know, I I definitely see it the same way. Who's the enforcer type? Um, you know, who's who's making things happen? I may have to I may have to throw this one on the bounty the bounty hunter to um to Brady Kachuk there. Um Yeah, he was he was in there for me as well. Because I feel like I feel like it's just what that guy does, you know. Um so I'm I'm going hockey on this one because I feel like the bounty hunter is could probably be the best nickname for an enforcer in hockey. That'd be sweet. Legit. Um absolutely love it. I love the players in hockey that they're not afraid to. I mean, obviously in the playoffs, you're trying not to get kicked out, you're trying not to really, you know, cost your team key goals and key points and time, but I'm gonna go to cut uh Brady Kachuk. No, I I absolutely love that. And uh Benny, I'm gonna ask you, do you have one for this next award? I don't. Skipping it because the one that I thought I couldn't find and validate, so I'm not gonna do it.

unknown 50:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:30

So we're gonna skip ahead to Vader's Fist. And for those, for those who don't know, a little inside Star Wars baseball here, Vader's Fist refers to his battalion of soldiers, the 501st, the clones and stormtroopers that would go and enforce Vader's will. So Vader's Fist, obviously, they get dubs. That's all they do. They get dubs and they do it in a major way. And so we're gonna have a repeat winner. I'm giving it to the Knicks, dude. Oh they they are winning in incredible ways. Again, we talked about it, but to win by 50, just snatch the soul of your opponent. Yes, very much so. That just embodies what Darth Vader's all about. So we're we're giving we're giving that to the Knicks for sure. I I like that pick. The way I was viewing this as well is okay, Vader's fist, right? So it's okay, who's doing the will of Vader? I'm looking at a coach. What players are doing their will, right? Who's who's been orchestrating and commanding their team the best, in my eyes? And I don't know if there's a team out there that plays better than the Oklahoma City Thunder. I hate to say it. That team, I told I said this earlier, Mark Dagnall, he is the Vader in this scenario, and that team is going out there and doing his will, doing his bidding, even when Shea Gilgis Alexander doesn't even need to score 20 plus, right? Like scores 20, maybe whatever it was. Um and then they don't even have their second best player or third best, however you want to look at their trio. So I'm giving it to the OKC Thunder Mark Dagnall. Hey, I love, I love the coach shout out. That's that's a great take on on Vader. I mean, Vader, he's he's the head. He's he's running, he's throwing the head of the snake, right? Yeah, he's throwing that fist. I love that. Last but not least, we have A New Hope. And uh, Benny, I like the team awards, so I'm gonna keep it as a team award here. A new hope has got to be the Buffalo Sabres. Oh a team that has not tasted this level of success in a long, long time. For them to be looking extremely tough in a position to go at least to the semis, it's gotta be Buffalo with a new hope to win Stanley. I like that. That's that's a super solid pick. Um, this one I am going a little bit team-esque, but also player shout-outs on A New Hope. I love it. I've gotta highlight the Minnesota Timberwolves because in the middle slash towards the end of their first round series, they lose Anthony Edwards to a terrible knee injury. That what it looked like. Then Dante Di Vincenzo tears his Achilles. Then you lose Iodesumu, who was a revelation, ended up destroying the Nuggets in that series. So you lose three of your top players, and then Anthony Edwards somehow, somehow gets healthy enough, and every player walking into game one or walking into the closeout game, excuse me, um, for the Nuggets was wearing Dante DiVincenzo jerseys. There wasn't a doubt in their mind that they had the hope and the camaraderie to go and beat the Nuggets. And now they've it pushed that into round two to beat the Spurs in game one. I'm very impressed that you know they've got they find hope in some of the worst times and worst ways. That's a mark of a good team. That's a new hope for me. Hey, love that. And it with, like you said, Ant-Man coming back, totally revitalized that hope for that squad. So absolutely great pick. Benny, that was fun. I like that. Those like that are May the Fourth be with you awards for the current state of the playoffs. Yeah, let us know what movie series we should do next. Yeah in terms of awards. Right? Like what should we do next? Is it Rocky themed? Is it is it Lord of the Rings themed? Is it um I don't Batman themed?

unknown 55:18

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 55:18

Yeah, superhero Marvel, superhero theme, whatever it is, dude, Marvel DC. I love it. Yeah, we could totally get into there's plenty that we could do there. So yeah. Especially when the season starts, we could get into that. But Benny, we always say we're gonna be short and sweet, but sports are just too fun to talk about. Um if you've listened to this for this long, we appreciate it, we love it. We hope you continue to be a bench warmer with us. Benny, what do we say to the people? Hey, stay hydrated, everyone. Thanks for watching. Stay hydrated, adios. See ya.