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What's goodie? We are live. We are live back with Max Vert Pod. Let me um there we go. Back with Max Vert. Uh missed a missed a week or two here. Uh but we're back. We're back. Little update on life right now. Tomorrow will be four weeks away. Four weeks from tomorrow will be my wedding day. So as you can imagine, I I've been really busy with that lately. Getting you know last minute things paid for, last minute uh adjustments, uh last minute what is it, um invitations, reaching out to people to make sure that they're coming, all that good stuff. So been busy with that. Uh career jobs still going pretty well, still you know, hitting my commissions, which is nice. I I do appreciate that. Any extra dollars can help for the wedding and just for life in general, right? You know, money as a tool. So that's been going pretty well, and then uh picked up a side gig, like I said, uh, the last pod. That I am working at the golf course now. So it's five minutes away from my my house. It's the Ohio State uh golf course, very nice golf course. I think it costs about $25,000 to uh join the initiation fee, and it is has about a four or five year wait list. So it actually might be more like seven, I think. Um, somewhere around there. Uh money I don't have, and uh time I'm not really willing to wait for, if I'm being honest, seven years, four years, whatever it may be, twenty-five thousand dollar initiation fee. I don't have that, but uh I started working the golf course, 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. I'm cutting the greens, I'm blowing the fairways, mulching, you know, just doing what I can to help my alma mater, and I'm doing that uh just about two hours a day, not a lot, two hours a day uh before I start my career job Monday through Friday. I have the weekends off currently uh from that job and my my other job, uh, but you never know, I might pick up some uh extra hours here and there. Uh so that's been going pretty well. I've been doing that for about two weeks. I really enjoy cutting the greens. Uh, the extra money on the sides nice, and uh the biggest benefits of it is I can go to the range for free there, get free range balls. I can use the practice green, the chipping green for free, and I can I can play both courses, the gray or scarlet course for free with a cart. So uh big big financial win for me uh doing that and picking that up. Um you know, I kind of calculated it, it's you know, probably a $9,000 value if I were to go off two full rounds per week. Uh so and then I also get a little bit of pay on top of that. So uh very blessed to be doing that. But with all that, um, you know, the podcast has taken a little bit of a back seat. I I haven't given up on the podcast. I enjoy talking about sports, uh, so this is a nice little therapeutic relief for me. But uh there have been weeks that I've missed, and uh I haven't been as consistent as I want to be, just because I have a lot going on in life. Two jobs, getting ready for this wedding. Uh, but no excuses. We're back, we're here. If in the future, I'm gonna try not to, but if I miss a pod or I miss a week or I miss two weeks, just know there's always sports going on, and I will uh be back. And I will be back on the airways uh talking sports. So today we're gonna talk NBA. You know, NBA is full throttle, it's about to be the playoffs. And my Magic played yesterday in the play-in game. There's uh they have two opportunities, they have to win one of two games. They lost last night to the uh Philadelphia 76ers, and so now the Magic play tomorrow, and we'll we'll get uh we'll touch base on that here in a bit. Also, the Golden State Warriors played last night, and they beat uh the Los Angeles Clippers. So the Warriors were the nine or ten seed, I can't remember exactly which one, uh, but they have to win two games to make the playoffs. So they they beat the the Clippers last night, and so now the Clippers are out of it, and the Warriors played the Phoenix Suns tomorrow, and the winner of that will have the final playoff spot in the West. And then, like I said, with the Magic, it's just the reverse. The Magic had to win uh one of the last two. So they uh had they won last night, they wouldn't have played a second game, but they lost, and so they play on Friday, and so looking at the standings, um Detroit won. This is in the east, Detroit won, Boston two, New York Knicks three, Cleveland Cavaliers four, Toronto Raptors five. Excuse me, I had a burp there, um Atlanta Falcons six, 76ers 7, and then the eighth seed comes down between the Magic and the Hornets, where that Orlando vs Charlotte game will be in Orlando uh tomorrow. So that is your East, and then in the West you have Oklahoma City Thunder 1, San Antonio Spurs two, Denver Nuggets 3, Los Angeles Lakers 4, Houston Rockets 5, Minnesota Timberwolves 6, Portland Trailblazers 7, and then that final eighth spot is between the Suns and the Warriors, and we will find that out tomorrow. So playoffs are pretty much set again. One and two seeds have not changed for the four or five pods that I've been doing this. Detroit's one and Boston's two, and then and that's in the east, and then the Oklahoma City Thunder won, Spurs two in the west. So those are your four contenders, in my opinion, and I don't think there's really much of a chance for anyone else, but that's not how things work. And you play the games, you play the series, uh, because anything could happen, right? So uh I'll kind of go we'll start off with a magic and my thoughts. Uh my thoughts on the magic this season. So they won 45 games this year. Um 45 games, lost 37. I think they won 42 last year, so they won three more games, and then two years ago they won. I think they won uh 49. Uh so they they honestly aren't too far off of what they've been doing the last couple years. This year was very injury injury um injury-riddled, a lot of injuries. Franz Wagner, who I think is the best player in the Magic, uh missed, I don't know, 49 of the last like 52 games. So their best player was out. Now, Bain, who the Desmond Bain, who the Magic traded for, played all 82 games, and he's kind of been playing like the the best player for the Magic this year, um, to keep it to keep it honest with you. So I don't think that this team would even have 40 wins if it wasn't for trading for Desmond Bain. And that's kind of a problem because you know, with the nucleus of Franz Wagner and Paolo Benquero and Jalen Suggs, when you add Bain to that, uh your expectations are uh I would say at minimum 50 wins. So they were five wins off of the expectation, right? Expectation for me was top three seed. And and that's probably the three seed. I wouldn't expect Bane to come in and then they'd be the number one or two seed right away. It takes time to gel. But uh all that's to say is uh the team is underperforming a little bit, and um, you know, I'm not one to you know hit the panic button or or quit on guys or anything like that with any of my teams. Any of my teams, I try to look at the bright side and try to support the players more so than the coaches, and I think with the magic, I think they do have a coaching problem. And I do like Jamal Mosley. Like I said, I don't know if I want him to be fired or I want him to stay. And I um after last night and after the past you know three, four years with him, I think I'm kind of leaning 60-40, you know, fire him, move on, get an uh another coach because the ball movement and the three-point shooting has been non-existent the past four years. And Palo Bencaro, he's been in the league four years now, and I haven't seen the jump that I need to see from him, and I think coaching can help him, and I'm not too I'm not ready to move on from Palo yet. Now, if there's a rumor going on, there is a rumor going on that Giannis, you know, the magic might make a trade for Giannis, and I'm seeing low percentage field goal shooting from Palo. I'm seeing 45% from the field, and I need that to be 50. He's been about 45% from the field his entire four-year career, and his three-point percentage, I'm not as worried about, but it's low as well. It's it's for his career low 30s, I think this year 30% from three. Now he is 6'10, like I don't know, every bit of 260. So he's a big guy. You know, I can make some excuses on the three-point shooting, but being that big and shooting 45% from the field is not acceptable. You know, he needs to be upwards of 50% from the field. And uh very talented player, but um I don't know. I don't know if you know, he might be kind of like a Carmelo Anthony, he might be a ha a high volume shooter, and uh percentages aren't high enough to be the main attraction, to be the number one threat. And I've said this, you know, I've criticized others, you know, Carmelo Anthony or who else? Um you know, Donovan Mitchell, I I've criticized him and said his ball usage, he's ball dominant, he has the ball too much and and shoots too much, and you know, his percentages aren't you know spectacular. And so I gotta be the same way with Paolo. And this is year four now, and his percentages aren't going up. So it's either coaching or this is who Paolo is. So if this is who Paolo is, I gotta be welcome to trading him for a lot. You know, trading him for a Giannis or trading him for a bunch of picks, and then just going with Franz Wagner as your your main guy, Bain, and then maybe one other guy. Uh I think I'm completely out on Suggs with the health. Uh he can't stay healthy and he isn't a good enough scorer. He is a very good defender, but if you're not playing, uh you know that's kind of a wash, right? So I uh one thing's for sure, I'm out on Jalen Suggs. Um if he stays, he has my full support. Uh, and I'll back him. But uh, if he was the first to go, I would be completely fine with it. Uh so if they traded Jalen Suggs, that'd be great. I'm cool with it. Uh if they kept him out, you know, it's fine too. He just has to get better. Uh Coach Mosley, I think it's time. I think it's time he goes. It's um, you know, four years of your team being a bottom team, you know, bottom third, you know, bottom of the league three-point shooting team in 2026, that's coaching, that's ball movement. Um, so I I do think another coach could come in here. And the grass isn't always greener. You know, we could be winning 35 games a game, but another coach, put it like this if the Boston Celtics coach had these players on his team, Paolo, Franz, Bain, Suggs, Anthony Black, there's I guarantee this team would be shooting a lot better from three, and this team would be winning a lot more games. Um and there's a few coaches in the NBA that I think you know bring the best out of their players. And Coach Mosley, I think, is uh kind of a little bit of a pushover. So uh I think it's that's probably the direction they're gonna go. You know, as an organization, I can't see you giving up on the number one overall pick with the points, the production, even if his his percentages aren't high, the production, the numbers, the the scoring, the rebound, the assists, the ceiling is there for him. So I think they're gonna get rid of Mosley no matter what, whether they go to the playoffs this year, whether they I mean they would have to go to the NBA Finals, I think, to keep Mosley. So, and I I don't think that's happening. Um But yeah, biggest shocker you'd probably hear from me is I would be okay if they traded Paulo Bancaro. Because what I've seen this year is Um not what we we need out of him, not when he's supposed to be the guy on our team. And I know how much you can get out of a player out of him, so I I wouldn't hate it. Uh run, keep keep Bain, keep Franz. If you can get Giannis for Palo, even even trade, maybe throw in a second rounder or something. I'm I'm all here for it because um yeah, his his percentages aren't high. But I still like Paolo. I still like Paolo, and I can easily take this back. I can easily, you know, if they fire Mosley and bring in another coach, another offensive system, uh, I can easily see Paolo turning it around. But with this coach and his Paolo's last four years of basketball, um, you know, I'm not seeing the trajectory where he's just gonna, you know, be this elite superstar. So that is my opinion on my magic, and I try to keep it real. I try to keep it real. I criticize other players in the NBA that are ball dominant, and uh it's time for Paolo, you know, year four, to get a little bit of criticism as well. But the the person that needs to be criticized criticized the most is uh Jamal Mosley. And I think uh I think he'll be gone. I think all the players will be back, but I think uh Mosley will be gone. And I think the Magic are gonna win tomorrow. They are a completely different team at home. I think the Hornets are playing well, they got a nice, nice little squad, young players that are playing well, but Orlando's gonna find a way to win that game at home. And as a fan, this is a fan saying speaking, why as I was watching that game yesterday, uh the optimism in me was like, well, I would kind of rather lose this game and then, you know, you're playing on fire because if you lose to the Hornets too, you're out. But I'd kind of rather lose this game and not have to pay face the number two seed Celtics in round one and play that Detroit team one seed in round one, uh, one versus eight. I think the Magic might be able to pull off a couple wins and you know, maybe pull out and pull an upset, but there's no chance that they pull an upset against that Celtics team. So uh that's my fan optimist thoughts that were going on, you know, while the game was going on. It was a close game, but while I was like, if we lose, it's not the worst thing. Like I didn't crash out or anything. We'll see tomorrow how I'm feeling if if they lose. Uh there might be a crash out, but I I don't know. You know, they they're an eight seed. So, you know, I can't I can't get too upset, right? So that's that with the magic. Who else um for as far as the other game? I would like to see the Warriors win tomorrow against the Suns. I'm a big fan of Steph Curry. Uh like his game, like what he's done for the game. They're playing in Phoenix. Um you just gotta take, it's kind of like the LeBron, you know, you just gotta take Steph in that situation to win the game. Just with the experience and and you know, playing in big games, playing in big finals games, playing big in the Olympics. Uh I, you know, a player can take over a game in the NBA. So I think the Warriors are gonna win that game and against the Suns, and I think the Magic are gonna beat Charlotte. Charlotte's favored by three and a half, and Phoenix is favored by three and a half. So, considering that, um Let's look at some some matchups for round one, which would start, which will start this weekend. I have I'm gonna do just a quick blow through of who I think is gonna win the series. Not gonna spend too much time on it, but I'll go east and then I'll go west. So Detroit versus Orlando. Um I got Detroit winning that series, unfortunately, in six games. Okay. Boston, number two, versus Philly, number seven. Boston, I got Boston going all the way to the finals. So no surprise there. I got Boston beating the Philadelphia 76ers in four games, a sweep. New York Knicks, three seed uh at the Atlanta Hawks six seed. Alright, this is where the matchups get a little bit more interesting because they're a little bit more even. Atlanta's been playing pretty well lately after trading Trey Young. Uh, but I'm gonna go to New York. Uh, especially New York at home is just it's a it's an atmosphere, and that's uh that's a lot to ask that young Atlanta team to be able to prepare and be able to win games in New York. Um just with the history of Madison Square Garden and the fans are are crazy. So I got New York winning that in six games. I got I got Atlanta winning, winning um a couple, but I got New York winning in six. And then the 4-5 matchup, Cleveland Cavaliers versus the Toronto Raptors. Um this is a this one's a it could go either way. It could go real it really could go either way. Um just kind of looking at this Toronto depth chart again. I think I think Toronto is gonna I think they're gonna push it to seven. I think the Cavs are gonna win in seven, but I think Toronto's gonna push it to seven. I think we're gonna see Mitchell do what Donovan Mitchell does and try to take over games and try to be the guy, and and I think he'll probably will take over a game or two. Uh I could easily see him uh having a couple bad games as well. And James Harden, I just gotta go off of his resume in his playoffs. Wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't show up. You know, wouldn't be surprised if he's passive, if he's got 12, 15 points into the game. James Harden finished with 15 points, and you're like, what the heck? You know, I need more out of James Harden. So because of that, I still think the Cavs have enough talent to win the series, but I do think Toronto is gonna push it to seven. So that's what I have for the East first round. And then let's go to the West first round. Oklahoma City Thunder versus the Golden State Warriors, who I think are gonna win. I don't I don't know. We'll see. They might be playing the the Suns. Um, either way, Oklahoma City is gonna beat the Warriors or the Suns. Okay, San Antonio Spurs, two seed, sixty two and twenty. What a great year. And they'd be playing. The Portland Trailblazers, the seven seed. I got San Antonio on that one. Oh, first of all, uh the Oklahoma City, that's a sweep. Whoever they play, they're gonna sweep. San Antonio, I think they're gonna they're young. I think they're gonna they're gonna drop a game. And then after that, I think they win. So I got San Antonio winning in five. Okay, the 3-6 matchup. The Denver Nuggets versus the Minnesota Timberwolves. I'm the Nuggets are the hottest team in basketball right now. They've won 12 straight games. And they have arguably, I don't know, he might just be the best player in basketball for like five years straight with Jokic. So I'm taking the Nuggets to win in five. They're gonna beat the Timberwolves in five. And I can see some chess pieces being moved around on that Minnesota team after the season, and they're probably gonna want to put some different talent around Anthony Edwards. Because you only have so long. You only have so long of you know you know having a great player and being able to put talent around him to go out and win a championship. So I think Minnesota's gonna make some moves in the offseason because they're gonna have a tough playoff series. And then the 4-5 matchup. I wish this was gonna be a close one. Um, but with the injuries that the Lakers have, LeBron, uh I can see he's a little checked out. Uh and it's understandable. He's 41 years old, but I got the Rockets winning that in five. LeBron's not gonna get swept, but um, I got the Rockets winning in five. So that's my first round. That's my first round. No big upsets. Uh I guess the biggest would be what Rockets over Lakers, five over four. Um, but I do think the Cavs, Toronto, it's not an upset, but I think it's gonna go to seven. So that should be a good series. I love first round of the NBA playoffs. It's I just like that there's like back-to-back-to-back games. So like let's look at this Saturday slate. Yeah, so Saturday we got games from 1 to 8.30. Four straight games. Cleveland starting, Toronto at Cleveland, 1 p.m. Minnesota at Denver, 3.30, Atlanta at New York, 6 o'clock, Houston at LA, 8.30. And then Sunday, you got uh Philly at Boston, 1 p.m. And then 2B determined versus Oklahoma City at 3.30, TBD versus Detroit at 6.30. Hopefully that's the Magic. And uh Portland at San Antonio at 9 p.m. So um I love playoff basketball. Basketball is my favorite sport. You know, the Broncos might be my favorite team, doesn't really make sense, you know, just a favorite sports team like Rue for, but um, you know, basketball on NBA is like that's my love. So I can't wait. Can't wait to to see how see how it goes. If you're a fan of any of these teams, let me know. You know, I might have to, you know, I have some Lakers fans, I might have to get on the pod. Uh I got a Sixers fan. Yeah, I think this next pod, I'm gonna get um I'm gonna get some fans of these playoff teams on the pod. I can think of some Cavs fans. Um maybe I'll get my boy that lives out in Denver, Bevington, uh, maybe I'll get him out uh on the pod and maybe talk about Denver. He's a big Lakers, you know, he's a big LeBron guy, so he probably want to talk about the Lakers more so than uh Denver. But he resides in Denver, so we'll see. He did text me and was um when all the news went went down of the injuries at LA. He says LeBron's final run, his last, you know, last chance, you know, to be like kind of the guy. And so that'll be exciting to watch. Uh, don't know any. I know some Boston fans. Uh know Oklahoma City, Detroit. Yeah, so we got about a good three, four people I can get on the pod. So that is what I think I'm gonna do for the next the next pod. I'm gonna get some more fans on here and chop it up with the boys and uh make some predictions with those guys. So, short, quick pod for you guys. I might, you never know, I might throw a Saturday or Sunday pod uh reaction to to the games. Um so stay tuned for that. Much love. Thanks for tuning in. As always, stay blessed and uh go magic. I need some help. Root for my boys, please. Alright, deuces