The Crossover Show

Jokic Is the Best Player in the World Michigan vs UConn Reaction & NBA Awards Debate

• Anthony Calatayud & Kryon Dooling

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0:00 | 33:08

Jokic continues to prove he’s the best player in the world while the Michigan vs UConn national championship delivers major storylines and reactions. This episode of The Crossover breaks down the biggest moments from college basketball and the NBA, including MVP debates, award predictions, and Jokic’s dominance over the league.

The crew reacts to Michigan vs UConn and what this matchup means moving forward, including coaching impact, roster construction, and tournament performance. They also address the heated moment between Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley during the Final Four and how it reflects on the current state of women’s college basketball.

On the NBA side, the focus shifts to Nikola Jokic vs Victor Wembanyama and why Jokic continues to dominate elite defenders across the league. The conversation expands into full NBA Awards predictions including MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved Player, Coach of the Year, and Sixth Man of the Year, with strong takes on SGA, Wemby, and rising young stars shaping the future of the league.

This episode delivers high-level basketball analysis, strong debates, and real takes on where the game is headed next.

 0:00 Michigan vs UConn Championship Reaction
 2:30 Michigan vs UConn Breakdown & Key Factors
 5:00 Geno Auriemma vs Dawn Staley Moment Reaction
 8:15 Jokic vs Wembanyama Breakdown
 12:00 Jokic Dominating Elite Bigs
 17:00 MVP Debate Jokic vs SGA
 20:30 Defensive Player of the Year Wemby Case
 22:30 Most Improved Player Debate
 24:40 Coach of the Year Picks
 26:40 Sixth Man of the Year Picks
 28:20 Rookie of the Year Debate
 31:30 Final Takeaways 

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SPEAKER_00

Michigan versus Yukon, two-story franchises, two-story programs. We're gonna talk about that. Gino Ariema and Don Staley almost duke it out in the middle of the final four. That was crazy. Plus, we get to Wemby versus Jokic, and me and KD have put together our NBA awards. You're talking coach of the year, talking rookie of the year, most improved, MVP, all that good stuff on the show today. Make sure you're showing us some love on Spotify, on YouTube, on the WDFL app. Go download that. And if you're local, go check it out. Channel 18. Let's start the show. KD national championship game tonight. Yes, sir. We got Michigan and we got Yukon. Yukon's what is it, third trip back to the final four, third trip back to the national championship game in his what four years? Yeah, man. Um, unprecedented stuff by Danny Hurley, unprecedented stuff by Dusty May, who took FAU to a final four. And now they got the Michigan team who I thought's probably been the best team all year outside of Duke. But the difference, and we've talked about it, is when you've got those upperclassmen, you've got those sophomore juniors and seniors that have been bought in, that have been battle tested in the NCAA tournament versus a bunch of guys who were playing at Columbus, you know, not even eight months ago. Right. Like that changes things.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, no, I mean it's it's I think it's one of these situations where the transfer portal has been beneficial to Michigan, right? You know, by getting these guys uh who have been through other programs and getting giving them more confidence, getting them in Dusty's system has been very beneficial for them. But Michigan, they're just playing incredible ball. There's something about Dusty Baker that kind of reminds me of the bigger thing. Dusty May. Dusty Baker been playing for. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01

He's the manager now for Nicaragua.

SPEAKER_04

Exactly. I'm sorry. Dusty May. But anyway. I like that though. I know, my bad. Apologies. But the guys play for him. Yeah. Right? You know, he's got a perfect uh demeanor as far as that balance between being intense and being encouraging. And he's doing a fantastic job with his program. Uh the guys enjoy playing for him. And he's doing like he's doing, I mean, he's gonna win a national championship tonight.

SPEAKER_00

And we and we had them uh going pretty far. And then when you looked at their their game against Arizona, it was like, all right, Arizona's one of the best teams in the champ in the tournament, still left. And they put a whooping on Amazon.

SPEAKER_04

It wasn't it wasn't even close. And one of the big the biggest things that I like about the Michigan vibes right now is that I saw the entire Fab Five there. Right. And, you know, they were disconnected for a while. They kind of came back together. And to see them being able to celebrate that, highlight that it's a lot of history in that program, and they're doing a great job. They won a national championship not too long ago.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely. And and now it's Dusty May's got them back playing incredible basketball. Look at the other side of the bracket. UConn's just kind of been a team of destiny. Yes. With another, another team laden with upperclassmen. Carabin's been great for them. He's put they put his numbers in the rafters. Illinois's been a spunky, tough team all year. Had Pedro Stoyakovich's kid, had the other kid uh Waggler. Waggler, who's been great. Nice. But UConn, again, just just tough, just coached better, just a complete team for what, for, for the talents that they had. They've maximized it. I just think it comes to an end tonight.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I agree. It comes to an end tonight, but that's not a slight at them. They've done a great job all year just playing together, uh, taking on the reflection of their coach and his personality, and they play together as a unit. They're ready for the moment. The moments aren't too big for them. Those guys step up, not just from like making plays, but from an intensity level. Like it, they they are very physical. Um, they had they got guys who can play multiple positions. They play really good together. They run kind of an international basketball style as far as their offense. It's not like a lot of spread offense and things like that. It's refreshing to see like cutting and you know coming off pin downs and you know, coming off the floppy option. Like 100%. Like uh Hurley gets so much credit or so much attention around like his personality. But I think what we really miss is like how great he is as far as X's and O's and motivating his guys and encouraging these guys and also his sense of humor, like right, because just how ferocious he could be sometimes when he goes head to head with the somebody, right? Like you see him in the press conference and making fun of himself and and like laughing with his players and things like that. So um, he's got range in his personality.

SPEAKER_00

I'm excited for the game tonight. Uh 8:49, nine o'clock tip, somewhere around there.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, yeah, the lights on. Yeah, late games, though. Yeah, the lights are on, though. Like, we got to make sure the people on the West Coast watch.

SPEAKER_00

That's true. That's true. I don't know if my daughter's gonna let me watch, but that's another story for another day. Well, you could you you know, you can watch it on your phone, champion. I'm gonna try. I'm gonna try. Uh going to the women's side, UCLA won the uh the women's tournament. I know you had some interesting thoughts on Don Staley and Gino Ariama, who that happened in the final four. That did South Carolina ended up going to the uh to the championship game against UCLA. UCLA won by 20 some odd points, yeah, spanked them. So big win for uh for UCLA. One of their first, I don't know if it's their first or a first in a long time. It's a tournament time.

SPEAKER_04

I know the coach has been there 15 years, and this is her first one. So congratulations.

SPEAKER_00

What'd you think about Gino and uh and Don Saley?

SPEAKER_04

Well, you know, what do I think about it? Um, I think Gino was out of place. Um look, he's been successful, he's been kicking ass for a long time. Pioneer. And yeah, man, I mean, he's pretty much considered the best female coach in the history of women's college basketball. There might be, you know, you can throw Pat Summer in there. There's other people who have had a lot of success. Um, but just in that moment, I thought that was, you know, not the time and the place for that. Um, I know he talked about the traditions in the handshake before the game. So if he missed that and he felt some type of way, he has a right to feel that type of way, but not necessarily to act on that. Um I think he missed the mark with some of the his comments as far as, hey, they ripped the shirt, right? And then the film shows that, like, no, she ripped her own shirt. Um, and then he apologized, but not specifically to Don Staley. Um, but look, it is competition, right? So you can get heated in those moments. Um, but I think it's a growth moment for him. Um he hasn't been on the losing end a whole bunch, and it doesn't feel good when you do, but it took away a little bit from the job that South Carolina did as the underdog, right? Right, you know, um, and it look, I just didn't like, you know, the interaction. Also, and when you're a man in a woman's sport, I think you have to be a lot more delicate, you know, in those kind of situations because that could be coming off as toxic masculinity, right? And so, you know, hopefully he can grow from it. Hopefully he can, you know, be man enough to kind of call Don and say, hey, you know what, I apologize for that particular moment. You know, um, it was in the heat of the battle. I had a chance to reflect, and I apologize for that. I'll see you on the court next year. We'll be back.

SPEAKER_00

Right, right. Yeah, it's it's tough, especially when you're a legend of the game. Like what you say and what you do, your actions hold so much more weight than if it was somebody from some college that, you know, we don't ever think of a Wyoming state college, and somebody's doing something like that. Doesn't hit the national news, like a pioneer of the sport. One of the one of the greatest dynasties ever put together has been through Stores Connecticut and through Gino Ari Emma. And for him to do that in the middle of the game, I thought was yeah, was beneath him. Like that's not who he's better than that.

SPEAKER_04

Right. Yeah, he better be.

SPEAKER_00

He's never been that guy. Yeah, he's and now we see it now.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, well, you know, look, in order to be like a great coach, you have to have that fire for sure. In order to coach that many players, you know, who are elite players, hall of fame players, have that many national championships, have that many wins. Like, you know, you don't get that like just sitting on your hands, right? Um, but just in that moment, man, I just don't think he handled himself well. But he's done enough in the game where, like, you know, he had a moment, right? And he can rebound from it. Now, how he rebounds is totally up to him. I think he should take the approach of humility and apologize because it could impact recruiting, right? Right. You know, girls have more flexibility now to go play for other programs. There are some good programs out there uh that are led by females as well. Um, so I just think he has to be, he has to navigate this situation because it it will be like he will be judged from it how he handles it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's definitely something after the game. You go to the locker room, a coach, you know, what we like to do is X, Y, and Z. I know, you know, for whatever reason, just want you to let you know that I was upset about that. And like that's something you take care of one-on-one. Yeah, not when everybody's watching in the middle of the handshake line at the end of the game when you lose. Yeah, like that's that's the part that was just tough tough to see. Um, some other great basketball for the weekend, Wemby versus Jokic, KD. Let's talk about this. Let's talk about Nuggets with a two-point win over the San Antonio Spurs in OT. This is your king. I feel like like to child, this is your king. Like Wemby gets destroyed by Jokic every time he's on the court.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Jokic, he man, he takes things really personal. Um, I don't I think he gets up for some more people, some people more than others. I think Rudy Gobert is one of those guys because he was so, you know, multiple time winner of defensive player of the year. And uh when I was coaching with the Jazz, man, uh, the first time I saw him play against uh Rudy, like I was like, oh, okay, I'm a bel I'm a believer. Like, like Joker is the best player in the NBA. Or none. He's the best player in the NBA. Um, you can make an argument that he should be MVP every year. Um, if you just go by individual numbers. Uh and I think this year is no different. I think, you know, I look at it a little bit different, like he's kind of leap Wemby in my eyes now, because you talk about Wemby having the edge defensively. There was no edge when you're playing against the Joker, right? And he had blocks and he still played good defense, but it was just better offense. Like the guy has no flaws in his game.

SPEAKER_00

All right, Nicola Jokic career averages versus Wemby, 37 points, 10, 11 rebounds a game, nine assists a game on 55% shooting. Let me read you the last couple of games. 48 and 13 assists, 46, 9, and 10, 41, 18, and 9, 22, 7 and 12, 42, 16, and 6, 31 and 7 on 68 field goals, 39, 11, and 9.

SPEAKER_04

Hey, is is Joker leaping some of the legacy centers as far as top five centers of all time? He's leaping a lot of guys, right? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and that's why we when we had Remy on and we were talking about top 10 players of all time, like Jokic is there for me now. Yeah, he's there for me now because what he's doing on a day in and day out basis in the NBA of this, right? Where we talk about back in the day, oh no, you can't compare arrows because the everything was so different. Well, you're talking about uh one of the greatest defenders we've ever seen with our human eyes in Wemby, another guy who's been an all-time great uh defensive big in Anthony Davis, another all-time great, however you want to say it, because of the numbers, because he's won so many defensive players of the years in Rudy Gobert, he dominates all of them. Yeah, he dominates everybody. I'm gonna get the stats because I had it here while you while you answer this question, but it's like his ability to do everything on the best defenders, like what we saw on Saturday, him doing the turnaround shot over Wemby, who's completely outstretched trying to block that shot straight over his head. Another floater that went 14 feet in the air past the jumping Wemby. What can Wemby do outside of trying to block shots and stay in front of him? He doesn't do it.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. I mean, look, you can't get on the side of him because he'll, you know, he'll bump you. He'll bump you right in his face. He's got pivots, he's got spin moves, he's got counters. Um, he can go through you, he can go around you. Believe it or not, like he's so tricky. Like he gets to his spot. He's got a hell of a floater, too. So much in the lane. And he can catch it in that role, right? In that little short uh pocket pass roll, and he can like be going into his floater and then flip the ball on the money to the corner. Like Joker is one of the best players I've ever seen. Um, you know, I think his resume does have to be buffed up a little bit from the championship category because like that is heightened when you're talking about top five, top ten, you know, greatest centers of all time. Uh, but he's fastly approaching that. I think he might end up getting another MVP this season, depending on how the voters vote, whether they give it like as a team, you know, uh award or if they're making an individual award. But uh, I'm I'm I'm just loving it. I'm I'm loving it. And he goes at uh Wimby every time.

SPEAKER_00

So Jokic, since 25, so we're we're not counting uh years prior to that, since 2025, he's averaging 42, 12, 11 with a block and a steal per game on 52%, 58% true shooting. Against Anthony Davis since 2024, he's averaging 30, 14, and 10 on 65% true shooting. And since uh 25 on Gobert, 40 points a game, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, a steal, and a block on 75% true shooting against Rudy Gobert. You you line up every big that has ever had any sort of defensive metric where people say, Yeah, that's the best defensive big in the league, and Jokic is dominating them. You're talking about 40 points against Wemby, 30 points against Anthony Davis, and 40 points against Rudy Gobert.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Yeah, so I hear you. Yeah, that's fair. That's absolutely fair. Uh, but I'll also push back a little bit. Like, I believe that the centers were better in the generation before them when it was more of a center-dominated game. So defensively, you know, those guys were better. I'm not saying that they would stop Joker, but it was more difficult to score on Ben Wallace in the post and things like that compared to like a Rudy Gobert.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know, man. I think I think Yoke I think Jokic would get Ben Wallace out to the three-point line and and give him hell. I I hear, I hear. It sounds good. It's it sounds good.

SPEAKER_01

You're saying it sounds good? It's it being true is two different things.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, it sounds good because like the rules were different too, right? Because you could use a bent elbow and a bent and uh forearm as well. So uh the rules were different. It was so it was more difficult to score. It's not to take away from like how talented and how easy he makes the game look, but just the rules didn't prevent you to have that type of freedom of movement. Like they had to like Shaq used to have to run up the court and people would like hold him up to like prevent him from getting to the block, yeah. Right? So like you would have to spend so much energy and you would have to guard on the other end, like on the block. Be the defensive anchor, right? Right, right. So um, it's not to take away anything from Joker, it was just more difficult to score back then.

SPEAKER_00

I think the interesting point, too, that I was when I was looking at everything, I was like, wow, not only does Joker dominate against Wemby, but could this be the thorn in the side of the San Antonio Spurs when we talk about this incredible year that they're having? They own Oklahoma City, right? Like the Spurs have beaten what four out of five times this season. Wemby has done whatever he's wanted against Chet Holmgren, like SGA as great as he is, probably gonna be the MVP for a second year in a row, on top of being the best team for the second year in a row. Uh the Spurs own him. And then for somebody to own the Spurs the way that Jokic does, you said the Nuggets own own the Spurs? No, no, the Spurs own OKC and now the Nuggets own the Spurs. Really? So that trans transitive property math is like, all right, can can Jokic, who took OKC to a game seven last year, can Jokic be the guy that can turn you know all these coming out parties with the Spurs and continue dominance with OKC? And Jokic is there like, hold up, y'all gotta go through me real quick.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. I mean, look, he's been there, he's battle tested. He is a champion. He is a multiple multiple-time MVP and he's really competitive. Not only is he competitive, uh in the crowd, his brothers are too, right? They don't play about their little bro. Um, and he's chasing legacy as well. I know he doesn't probably talk about it as much, but he knows that he's got to buff up his championship accolades and he's focused. Um, I think that their Achilles heel is that they just haven't been healthy enough as a team. Yeah. And I don't know, like when you lose Michael Porter Jr., when when when Aaron Gordon has been hurt so much this year, I just don't know in a seven-game series if they can beat those two teams that you mentioned previously.

SPEAKER_00

Right, right. It's gonna be tough. Christian Brown's been hurt in and out of the lineup this year. Pete Watson's been in and out of the lineup this year. Murray has been in and out of the lineup sometimes, but more so than injury has just been his play.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, up and down.

SPEAKER_00

Right. He went for 50 the other night, but then you look at the box score and he's got you know 16, and you're like, wait, what like why'd that happen? Then he hit 10 threes the night after, but then he's back to like 14 and seven boards. He's like, what's what's going on here with this with this guy? So I know that he steps up in the playoffs. Yes, he does, and I'll be very interested to see where Denver finishes in the seeding and who they have to, what side of the bracket they're on, if they're on the OKC side or if they're on the San Antonio Spurs side. Because if they're on the Spurs side, that is a big problem. And I think Wemby's gonna have to come out and prove to people, all right, why am I defensive play of the year? Because I can do this to this guy. The best the best offensive player. You can have the debate between him and SGA, but like what we've seen, you and I, from a guy that can rebound, pass, and score, there's nobody like Jokic.

SPEAKER_04

No, no, I I don't think there's anybody like Jokic in the history of basketball. Facts. Nobody plays the way that he plays. Facts.

SPEAKER_00

So, with all that said, and you made the the beautiful case for me, I want to do Tony's and KD's uh MBA awards for the year. Okay, let's see. So I got for MVP, for all the different reasons that I noted, I got Jokic as my MVP for the season. I know he's not getting a lot of love in sportsbooks. I know that SGA is the favorite. I know Wemby is uh charging towards you know an MVP at some point. I don't think he's gonna be able to be that guy this year. But for me, Jokic has been the best player. And remember, we talk about it MVP, not MVT. It's not about your team, yeah, it's about your individual performance for me at Jokic.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. I mean, look, I'm not gonna push back too hard on that because I agree with you. I think he's the best player, you know, on the planet right now. And I think most people agree with that. Um, but I also think that like, you know, SGA and what what OKC is doing this year, I think he has an opportunity to be back-to-back MVPs. I think he has an uh an opportunity to like have back-to-back championships. Yeah. Um as well. Um that'll be a hell of a two-year run, right? SGA is my pick only because like the team, right? And I think that the voters, some for some reason, uh they limit, I think they're trying to put a cap on Joker because he could literally win the MVP every year. And then at the end of the career, if he had five, six MVPs and one championship, like is it justified when they put so much stock on having championships? Um, so like I said, I just think you got to get some type of formula so that you can know how the voters are voting when it comes to MVP.

SPEAKER_00

And to speak about SGA, like OKC's been one of the most hurt teams all year. Yeah. And they're still at 60 wins, they're still at number one in the West. Yeah. They're still at the best team in the league trying to repeat from being the best the best team last year. And SGA has been the one guy constant, the constant drumbeat of excellence all year, day in, day out. Of course, he missed some games due to injury and stuff, but like he's just been so great. Yeah that you're like, you're looking at an unprecedented run. I don't know, maybe we can look this up, Sean. How many guys have won back-to-back MVPs, back-to-back championships, back-to-back MV uh MBA finals MVPs? Man, he he's got a chance. Because that's that's a very I imagine that's a very small list of people that have ever done that before.

SPEAKER_04

One of the things before we go on, um, with SGA, he's bringing the MIDI back, right? Like the game has shifted so much, and the way that he plays, the game is having to adjust the way to the way that he plays. And I think that's really encouraging for guards who don't want to just be a rim and three guy. Right? He's he can still get his mid-range. Like whatever the defense gives him, whatever the team needs in that moment is what he does. And so he plays basketball. He hoops. Yeah, he's not just playing like the system or the analytics, he's a hooper, and I think that's very encouraging. And I think that's one of the most influential things that he does is that he plays the game and not just the algorithm.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And I think his style of play is so interesting when you talk about a lot of guys are speed downhill. He's very much hold it, hold it. Has he in out, let me oh Eurostep, like his ability to play off schedule and off script, and just like allow the defense to make a move and then he makes a counter move, like a great counterboxer. Yeah, where it's like, oh, you got this, okay, perfect. I got this right here. Oh, you left this open here. Is I would love your shot. Like his ability to in real time read and react is incredible. He's great.

SPEAKER_01

Unbelievable. Defensive player of the year, we're both in the same bucket. I mean, unless he unless he's playing against uh it's Wemby.

SPEAKER_00

His I don't know if you saw they were playing the Clippers the other night, and I saw this clip on uh on Instagram or Twitter or something where Wemby was guarding Darius Garland. He takes him basically from half court, goes with him into the corner when he passes out, goes back to the wing with him, defends him back to the corner, and then is is defending him with Darius Garland in the corner. He makes a move to the inside and tries to take it to the hoop and he smacks that. Yeah, like his ability to to defend not only at the rim, but perimeter-wise, his length, his foot mobility, his agility, his his ability to move laterally with some of these guards in the NBA is insane.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, it's it's insane. And even with that, man, his motor. Like he plays defense with a motor. He plays with a motor on both sides of the court, and that says something about that young man. And he's slight a bill as far as being thin. He's still growing into his body. I don't think he'll ever be like super, super big. No, I know. Um, but he's gotten a lot stronger, right? And like when guys are trying to scroll on him, the first thing they're gonna do is try and get into his body. So he's a lot of time able to absorb the contact and still contest. A lot of people don't even try to shoot on him as well. So, like defensively, he probably could have more blocks, more steals, which is crazy contests, but people don't even challenge him a lot of times unless you're in Denver and you see that big guy coming at you.

SPEAKER_00

And then he's throwing these parabola balls right over Wemby that are shooting him 20 feet in the air that are coming down and swishing. It's like I know, bro. It's funny. What kind of math? What kind of math is he doing in the ball? He's a wizard. All right, we we uh we differ on the most improved player, but we got the same team.

SPEAKER_04

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

So do you want to start with yours?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I'll go with Jalen Johnson. Great pick. And and here's why. Because like with superstar players, like statistics. They don't like have these leaps and bounds as far as like their growth because they're already already good players, but he took another step this year, right? Um, with his body, he's been you know healthier this season. Um, he's gotten better in every statistical category, and he's he was an all-star this year. And so I think he's the best player on that team. And I know it's not a big leap as far as his numbers statistically, but his impact and his value and the way that they're winning now, I think those like it's more valuable. So to me, uh he's my uh most improved.

SPEAKER_00

I like I like the pick. Um before I give mine, I I know MVP guys that are in the MVP race don't usually get love for most improved. I thought Cade had an incredible improvement from last year to this year, where the the Pistons last year were a good, young, kind of like tough team, but they were you know the fifth seed or whatever it was, and they fought the Knicks hard, and it was like, all right, this Pistons team could be interesting. Yeah, and then he gets in this year, and it was like, oh no, the Pistons are the best team in the East when he's healthy. And obviously they've they've been able to win a couple of big games with him out, but I thought his improvement from last year to this year was monumental. So like I would have liked to give it to Cade. I'm not gonna give it to him because I'm gonna go with Nikhil Alexander Walker, okay, who's been one of the best pickups in, you know, obviously completely stacked uh conference in the West, gets out of Minnesota, goes to Atlanta. When they made the move, we were like, okay, like yeah, let's see what happens here. This is very interesting. And he's just been he's just been really, really good for them all year in a year that has seen them be all right, what are we gonna do with Trey Young? He's heard, he's out of the lineup. It's kind of like a bit of a rocky boat here. We know it's Jalen Johnson's team, but Trey Young is still here, he's the franchise player. He gets moved, and then all of a sudden the floodgates open up with Atlanta where they're you know 22 and 4 or whatever over the last like month and a half. And Nikhil Alexander Walker, we talk about how good of a march Luca had. If you look back at his march, you're like, oh wow, like he's been one of their best offensive players, he's played great defense. Yeah, he's a guy that to me, I was super, super impressed with his improvement year over year. So I'm gonna give it to Nikhil Alexander Walker.

SPEAKER_04

You get no pushback from me. That's a great pick.

SPEAKER_03

Uh, coach of the year, who you got?

SPEAKER_04

Uh, you know what? I'm gonna go with um I'm gonna go with JB. I'm gonna go with Bicker Staff. Yeah, I'm gonna go with Bickerstaff. I just think that like being the number one seed in the East uh shouldn't be minimized. I believe he was the number one seed in Cleveland, right? The year that he got fired and didn't get coach of the year. And so, like, how many times do you have to be number one before like you get that recognition? I don't think Detroit has the most talented team in the East, right? And I think he's getting the most out of them. Now, of course, Joe Mazzulu is like amazing, right? Like, like, and what he did with that team this year, like, you know, I I tip my hat to him. Um, but in the th in the same way that we look at the MVPs, I think Joe has been, has has Joe been um coach of the year yet? I don't know. I'm not sure. I just think that like how many times can JB have the number one team in the East and not get coach of the year? Yeah, I think he's gotten the most out of his talent. And I think he deserves it this year.

SPEAKER_00

Especially with your your main you know, guard and your main scorer and your main everything. Yeah. The engine of your offense being out with a you know, with an injury for the basically the last month. Yeah, like that that's a big deal for be the first if he wins it this year. Um, I'm gonna give my my coach of the year to Mitch Johnson. Okay, Spurs coach. I think he's done he's done an incredible job. Obviously, when you have the defensive player of the year on your team who also happens to be a great offensive player and in the running for MVP, um, things are a little bit easier. Obviously, as you could tell with JV Bickerstaff, like when you got the guy who's the guy makes coaching the other guys a lot easier. Um, I just think that the program, we've talked about it all year, the program that the Spurs have, their ability to get the guys at Castle and Vassell and Harper and Fox and you know, you name it, like they've been able to Keldon Johnson, who might be sixth man of the year. Like, there's a lot of guys who, when you look at them, you're like, uh, I don't know how great they are individually, but then they get together in the team aspect and they get coached up, like Mitch Johnson has been doing. I think since the All-Star break, they've lost like three games.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, no, he's like four games since the All-Star. He's done a fantastic job. And man, it's something about those Spurs disciples, man. Like, wherever they go, they bring that Spurs way of doing things. And they win. And they win. Look at the guy down in Charlotte and kind of what he's done. Oh, yeah. He's Charlie. Yeah, he was there. Yeah. So yeah, great pick. Sixth man of the year. Sixth man of the year. I think the six-man position is down, right? Um, and this is uh something that I feel like young players need to like really observe because like guys aren't coming in and getting great numbers coming off the bench as far as scoring, right? They're playing their role, they're adding value to the team. When somebody goes down, they can you can plug them in as a starter. Um, but you don't see like a Jamal Crawford, or you don't see a Lou Will, or you don't see uh Jordan Clarkston when he was in Utah coming off, getting 20 a night. Um, you don't like I don't see a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00

Score six man is done.

SPEAKER_04

Yep, so I'm gonna go with Kelvin Johnson. Uh just because like the Spurs have been playing very well, he's been very consistent on his team. They asked a lot of him uh on the defensive end, and they asked a lot of them for him to be able to come off the bench by being one of their you know cornerstones in the franchise. So I'll go with him this year.

SPEAKER_00

Uh I'm gonna go hometown guy Jaime Hawkes Jr. I ain't mad at him. Who's been great? Had a obviously they played the Wizards but had a great game um against the Wizards. But he's been another guy who's been able to come off the bench in a on a team that let's be honest, he probably could be starting on.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Like, yeah. And he's been able to execute what Spo has asked of him. Yeah, right, which is be the guy who's rim running, be the guy who's slashing, who's striking. Um, he doesn't really shoot a ton, but he's such a creative playmaker on the post. Yeah, his his postgame is nice for a guy who's his size. Like, there's a couple of things where I look at Jaiman and I'm like, man, if he was on another team, would he get more love and more respect? And I feel like he would.

SPEAKER_04

He's gonna get paid. You know, he's gonna get paid by somebody. I don't know if the heat are gonna pay him.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, not necessarily by somebody, but his he's his his value is is is up there. Uh clutch player of the year. SGA. Easily. Yeah, SGA.

SPEAKER_00

Nobody like him.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Like crunch time, his ability to score and to create offense when there is nothing, yeah, is next to next to none. SGA. Rookie of the year. Probably, and I'll say this the most contested, the best rookie of the year race we've seen in the modern era. Is that safe to say?

SPEAKER_04

Is that that's pretty safe to say? I mean, I would have to go back to like Grant Hill and Jason Kidd. But we're talking about what, 95 or 10 years? I know I'm a little older than you. You see the Grays. Don't do me like that, my young boy. Don't do me like that. But this is this is this is great in in a lot of ways. One, because those guys were teammates. They got a lot of love for one another at Duke. Uh, two, it's because like uh, man, they're both having spectacular years in different ways. Yes. Right? Because Cooper is like the primary, you know, source of scoring on his team. So all the teams game plan for him, right? And Jason Kidd put him on the ball early because he wanted to help. He was looking long term. Like when you see Coop now off the bounce and things like that, he's so much better than just being a rim runner, a striker, somebody who can get out in transition, tip balls, get loose balls, hustle plays. Like, no, his game is grown. Um, so I think it's more difficult for him to get his offense, even though he probably plays, you know, he's the number one option. Yeah. But what Kanipple is doing, man, playing in Charlotte, um, he broke the record. He broke Kimber Walker's record uh the other day for the most threes in the franchise season. Uh, he's doing a fantastic job. If there's a year for co-MVP, uh co-rookie of the year, I think this is a great opportunity for it to be a co-rookie of the year. But if I had to give the edge after Cooper's week this week, I'll go with Coop.

SPEAKER_00

96 points in two games, the most uh by a rookie since Will Chamberlain.

SPEAKER_04

And LeBron was on that court.

SPEAKER_00

And LeBron was on the court, and he had a good game, by the way, too.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's another little side story. But I think that Con Knipple is my my vote. I think that he's been such a key cog in the revitalization of a once proud franchise back in the day, right? Like kids today don't know that the Hornets were a good fun team back in the day. For sure. So Larry Johnson, like they had some Gail Curry, they had some players, and that was a team that you were like, damn, all right, we're gonna go play the Hornets tonight, it's gonna be tough. Yeah, because you had some boys that were gonna elbow you. Absolutely. And between the Bobcats and between going back to the Hornets and like kind of the being in the desert for the 40 years that they were, if we were gonna go biblical on them after Easter, um, his his ability to be the adult in the the young adult in a young room. Yeah, because you guys got you got you have guys like Lamelo Ball, Brandon Miller, guys that have come with some baggage outside of basketball. And he's been able to come in and be like, all right, I'm fitting into the program here, I'm fitting into my role. My role is not gonna be the the guard, right? Lamello, you're one of the best point guards in the league in creativity. But what I am gonna do is help you space the floor. Absolutely. I'm gonna help you play without the ball. I'm gonna move without the ball. Like his ability to do all of those things, it's almost like he's been in the league for 10 years. Yeah, he's the way that he moves without the ball, Katie. Which talk to that. Like, how important is a rookie understanding how to play without the ball?

SPEAKER_03

Hey, it's uh KYG, know your game, right?

SPEAKER_04

And man, he's he's bought in and accepted his role in that team and it's really valuable, and that's why they have so many scenes that they can drive. Uh, they like playing with each other, and he's very underrated as a ball handler, right? Right, because if you try and crowd him, like he got it on the screen, right? And his dad does too. I saw his dad on mine the other night uh playing some good ball. So your pick, my pick. I like both of the things. I like the co I like the co and uh co-rookie of the year. I'd like to see a co-rookie of the year. I think that'll be good for basketball um to spread the love.

SPEAKER_00

Basketball's in good hands. It is between what we got on the MVP side, which we talked about last show. Uh basically everybody in the MVP race is sub 32. Like that that's a very good place to be, a healthy place to be when you're in the league. And when you got the tightest rookie race that we've seen in 20 years, 30 years, maybe, depending on you know, on who you like. Like the young guys are there too. And there's so many great young players around the league. But like talking about Kanipple and talking about Cooper Flag, same school at Duke, and have had major impacts on their teams and will have major impacts in the NBA going forward. Like, I I like our list though.

SPEAKER_01

Let's see how many we get right. Yeah, well, hopefully we do better than we did in the tournament, buddy.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, I have Michigan winning at all in the tournament. So I'm so you get you, I'm at least safe there. Yeah. All right, we'll see that game tonight. Yes, sir. Uh, we'll be back on Thursday. Make sure you show us some love on Spotify, on YouTube, wherever it is that you catch us. Uh, he's Keon Dooling. You follow him at Keon Dooling, follow me at 10 Day Tony. And uh make sure you're downloading us. And let's see, we're on Spotify, we're on YouTube. Show us on the ball on WDFL that app South Florida. If you're here locally, go check us out on channel 18. And uh, we'll be back on Thursday to recap the national championship and some more uh NBA stuff. Love you. Peace. Well yeah.