Episode 4 - on the Road with Special Guest Isaiah Specks

First time ever we have a guest and he is a D1 Coach and One of the best skill developers I know!

New Episode Coming Soon!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Alright, y'all. We back. It's episode four, Truth Behind the Numbers, Real Talk, Real Truth, Real Numbers. I told you guys I had a guest for the first time ever on the show. I told you I had a D1 coach. I told you I was hitting the road. But I sold him short. I had to do some research. You know me, I'm all about the numbers. I had to go figure out who he really is, what he really does, and what he really is about. So let's go down and list these things. I had to pick my half of them. We don't got enough time to be talking about he ain't that special, but you know, we're gonna give him a little time because he is our first guest. He had 900 plus points over there at Trinity. He was a state champ in high school. So not only was he good in high school, he was good in college, and he was good in the well, he didn't go to the league, but you know, he was on he was on pages like LeBron. He could have been LeBron, but he could have been. I could have been. Could have been. But then he goes and he's a D3 coach at Houghton University. Then he goes on from there and is a D1 coach at Indiana University, the Big Ten. Yes, sir, indeed. And then he goes on, D1 coach for Prairie View, representing the HBCUs out here in Houston. And he's also, I mean, I've seen a bunch of. He is one of the best skilled developers you have seen in the U.S. And this is not just me because I know him and he done trained me a little bit. No, this is because the numbers don't lie. You can look at people before and after he was with them in Indiana at the highest level on the women's side before WNBA and see how they've jumped after they've gotten the workouts. I've watched the workouts, I've seen them. I'm like, dang, I couldn't do half of those things them women were doing over there. So all y'all trying to see y'all gonna whoop D1 women, you lost your mind. They're gonna shoot your face off, and y'all don't play real defense. Facts, facts. And I am still humbly, still his best recruit he's ever had. That is the truth. Because the fact that he got me to come all the way from Houston all the way up to Houghton, New York, you know, it was hey, listen, he's different now. He didn't tell me what it was really like before I got there. But I exactly. But he's better than that now as you believe everything he said. We're gonna get started. We're gonna start with for the first time on the show, not because um I didn't want to talk about it, but the season hasn't started yet. I wanted to give it some time to gain some traction to see what people was doing, how people were playing. But the WNBA season has started. And if you want to watch some real basketball, where they're running sets, they're not doing a bunch of flopping, it's not all about dunking and shooting from logo three, which some of them are, but they are running, they're playing real basketball. You can watch College Hoop or you can watch the WNBA. If you're a kid and you're trying to learn how to play real basketball, watch the WNBA or watch some college ball. Don't go watching the NBA right now because none of y'all are Shay, none of y'all are Wimby, and none of y'all is KD or any of them. Okay? Come on down. Watch this basketball right here before you go to the NBA because y'all can't do 17 step backs in your team. Okay? So first thing we got. Who's the best player in the league right now? The WNBA.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

In the WNBA. I feel like it's not a lot of debate about that one. Probably Asia Wilson, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah, I mean, she reminds me, she is like, I know she's not as tall, but I think she is like the Wimby of the W.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

I can see the comparison, but I don't know if that's where I'm going. If anything, I'm comparing Wimby to her, you know?

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Okay, okay. I mean, because she do got multiple, you got three-time champions, got uh MVPs, DPOYs. She's been doing it. She's been doing it, statues, all of that, man. Okay, she's an icon. Hey, listen. One thing about Asia, listen, y'all understand. I met Asia Wilson's dad at a uh a Vegas game. Now listen, I I I can say this now because it's out. And I people I can fact-check me. When I met him at this game, bam out of the uhybody else. I'm telling you right now, listen, I can fact-check this. So, because I'm talking to him, right? And he was like, Yeah, you know, my boyfriend up there, I ain't supposed to say nothing. Y'all keep if y'all say anything, you know, I'm about to come. He told me that, bam. That was like, this was probably about almost two or three years ago. They've been together for that long, and y'all just didn't know. Nabari did. I'm telling you, I did. I talked to her dad. This is this is the truth. I can't who would make up a lot like that? That makes no sense.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

Okay, I feel you.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

So I knew that look, I knew she was getting because that's why Bam games start growing since then. Because she teach BAM. Bam don't teach her. I'll tell you that right now. Okay, now another question we got. Talk to me about Caitlin Clark. So she has a first year, yeah, she was the talk of the town. She everybody's saying she's getting the money, the money's going up, revenue's going, she's doing all this stuff. Then she gets hurt last year, can't play as many games, and now she's come back. The buzz around the W about she's still Caitlin Clark. Don't give me, but the buzz is not the same. Is this the league adjusting to what she was doing, understanding where the weaknesses may be in her game because she does have some like deficiencies with going both ways? Are they figuring out how to sit on her stuff? Is that why she's not as polarizing, or is it maybe just because you have other players like a page and Ainge when all these other players coming up who are taking some of that line light as well? Yeah, nah.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

I think honestly, I would say the season's just starting. Like she's just getting back and being able to play. I think that's one thing, but one thing that is also happening that we haven't really seen is like you're talking about the influx of talent that they have to be able to fill that gap whenever Caitlin isn't, you know, main stage or she's hurt or she's not playing. There's other people that we can focus on because they're just as high as a skill level. But I would say, man, Caitlin is still that one. Okay. Oh no, listen, I don't know. Go right, go left, like the things she can do, how she can involve her teammates at a high level is something that you know a lot of players should watch. I know she has all the stepbacks and all the deep shots and you know the antics, which you know, some people love, some people don't, but she can hoop like at a high level.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Okay, and now I'm glad I brought we brought up Caitlin because next in line is a player I think listen, I I this is the best player I think I've seen in women's college basketball in a long time. And now she's moved on to the WNBA and she has not slowed down. And that's Paige Buckers, Paige Beckers. Listen, yeah. I can watch Paige Beckers play basketball all day. Yeah. Now, the reason I say the differentiator between those two is like Paige just has a little more like get to the rim ability, wiggling her game, get into her little middies. Like, growing up, and this is not even like, you always say, man, like, how good is this girl? Dude, she hooped like a dude. Like, she got the, like, you know, that's what she was saying. Yeah, yeah. Got the hang, you know, you like she got the hang crossed, like she can do all this, like her jump shot. Because you know, a lot of times you'll see like younger women who play have a little shot put type style of shot. Yeah, but she coming up out of the between the legs, he's he pulling like Kevin Durant.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

So where do you see her fitting into the WNBA? A team gotten off to a little rough start. We're gonna talk about what her coach said a little bit later. But got off to a little rough start, but her being able to still flirt around with 25-5, even in the WBA.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

I think once again, like she's a generational talent, just like Caitlin. I think kind of the way I see it, nothing against like all the players that came before them, you know, Tian Thompson, Cheryl Swoop, specifically the Houston comments that I, you know, have come to love, but it goes so much deeper than that. But I would say like we're seeing the the building of the Mount Rushmores of the WNBA and things like that. Like, I think we are seeing some of the people that we'll be debating of like, yo, like, is she up there versus you know somebody that might have been playing, you know, 20, 30 years ago when the league was just starting? Like, those are the type of people that we're gonna be comparing them against. And I think Paige is one of those that we're gonna have to one day put in that conversation, if not already.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

And and it's crazy because due to the how young the WNBA is, I mean it's like 30 years old, right? Versus the NBA, we're able to actually live through that like magic bird, Jordan type time, right? Where you're starting to see these players who are able to see other people ahead of them and take those building blocks and build it up. Because even now, when we start comparing people, we always like, uh, we not counting Bill Russell, Will Chamberlain. That was so long ago. Like it's a different league, like now you're starting to say, like, okay, every team got seven to eight girls who can handle it, shoot it, guard. Like, yeah, the basketball level has risen. Yeah. And which is what should happen over time with evolution. You get more stuff, you should, the game should grow. Um, and so that that's that's good to hear. Because I mean, I think even on the flip side of the NBA, I was talking to somebody the other day and I said, I think right now in the league, you might have three of the top five defenders of all time in the league right now. And Wimby, yeah, who I think is the best. Because like somebody did a, I don't know if it was Curry or somebody, somebody made a move, beat him, did a step back to the three-point line, and Wimby jumped and blocked a three-point shot.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Yeah, I seen something like that.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Or like even watching him, like, when he don't have all the blocks, like, dudes will literally, I have not seen so many people do a Nash dribble since Steve Nash was in the league. Like, dude, he comes up and he's like, oh, not shooting it. No, he affects the game. He affects the game. Right? And then those twins. Yeah. They do stuff that makes no sense for a human to be able to do it. I've seen both of them get beat, like legit beat, and then turn around, take one step pogo, and snatch block your thing on the like when I was talking to like the Detroit game, Detroit versus the Cavs last last series. I'm like, man, I don't think, I don't care if it's Don Ben Mitchell or James Harden. The reason their points are fluctuating is because anytime the twin comes over, they immediately just get off the ball and go to the corner. I'm like Don Ben Mitchell and James Harden would, oh, here you go, yeah, and go over here. And I was like, maybe I'm just seeing things. And then Kenny Axon came out after they won game seven and said, Yeah, you know, to get back in the series, I told our player, we gotta put our ego aside. If he's over there, do not dribble the basketball. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's crazy because I don't think I've ever heard that. I've heard in high school, obviously. You've heard it in, you know, a couple of colleges, getting depending on who you're playing. But in the NBA, when you have a Donovan Mitchell who averages 25, 27, 30 points in the playoffs, and James Hardy, one of the best offensive players of all time, yeah, having to say we're not going to dribble the basketball because he's on the court.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Sometimes you got a game plan for things like that. You know, we can't drive it right here. Like with Wimby, it's probably, hey, man, we're not getting to the rim tonight. So what are the looks that we got to get? I mean, it affects how you practice, like what the type of shots you're gonna shoot in practice, what you emphasizing in film. But I mean, it's the same thing as the goal with the guard. We're not gonna drive into this gap because we know in this play we're gonna have a non-shooter on this side and they're gonna play off of him. You know, that type of vibe, or we know that we're not gonna be able to get downhill because this matchup isn't one that we want he's gonna reach, like whatever it is. So I think that's something that they're probably doing at a very high level to the point where it seems simple, but like we need to move those twins out of the way so we can do whatever it is. Even if it's Garden James Harden, we need to move him out the way for us to have you know the best option to get a good shot.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Okay, and now going on, we know we're talking about coaching. I'm I'm glad we perfect segue into the next thing topic, coaching. So I'm gonna start with this one. So you being the coach at some of the at the highest level in the D1 basketball, highest level in college, coaching at that level. And then even for me, coaching, middle school people, high school people, it's like the Dallas wing coach comes out the second or third game of the season. Like it's brand new, you got new players, paging them are there, you're trying to get all this stuff. You're trying to like understand your new teammates, right? And he comes out with the media at a bad loss, and he goes, you know, they're selfish, you don't want to get off the ball. I told him you're worried about how many minutes or how many shots you're playing, you want the wrong thing, it's not the place for you. Like, what goes through your head as a coach when you determine you may or may not want to go out into the media and put your players on blast?

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Yeah. I would say, so I I haven't had much media training or anything like that. I haven't been a head coach, which most of the time that's a head coach's job, right? That's a part of their responsibilities, is to be the face of the program and to explain, you know, what we see on the court. And I think what people get away from is that our head coaches are, in fact, like humans, right? Like they're gonna go out there and tell you how they feel. A lot of times we want people to be real, but we don't want to hear what is real. So I feel like in that situation, like he's telling the honest truth. Um and I feel like there's a a part of us who don't want to hear that our heroes have flaws or that the people that we look up to aren't doing it the right way all the time. Which maybe we shouldn't point that out. Maybe we should, I don't know, for whatever you know the head coach of that program wants to, you know, uh say or the point that they want to get across. But the thing that I appreciate about it is that we actually do get the opportunity to see the story of it. Like he comes out, he calls himself, they come back and they play a great game against the Mystics, right? With a win against the Mystics at home. So now it's like, okay, you see that his coaching is is working, he's calling out the things that matter, and now you also give the ability to those fans that you're speaking to to see like he got on to them after a loss. Maybe you know, I should do that to my kid, or my kid should be able to realize that, or maybe, you know, the fans will get a correlation between selfishness and bad basketball, and then being able to turn it around and play a different way to be able to get a win, especially now with you know the publicity that the game has. I think there's a lot of storylines that will benefit, even though it may come with uh telling the truth behind that that happens behind closed doors type of art.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Okay. I mean, because I think one thing that they also that is when you are what's the word looking for? When you are a newer coach, it's a new team. I think they don't give like they love it from Pop when he was coaching, right? Because Pop used to get on Tim Duncan, he used to get on all these players in the media, he didn't really care. Like Pop would do it. Phil Jackson was the same, like they after these coaches have won championships, they accept the way that they do things, but then they forget that at one point he wasn't a championship coach. And so it's like now he's a new person. I don't like this. It's like, okay, yeah, but I mean it's been proven that other great coaches have done it. Because even with looking at um, what's the guy? Uh Steve Kerr. When it comes down to Steve Kerr, I've always said, you know, I don't agree with how he did Kaminga. I also don't agree with like how he's always used his younger players. But the dude does have four championships. He has a system, he has things that he likes and he dislikes. And the things he dislikes can be another team's goal. Yeah. I mean, because shoot, look at um, for instance, like Jared McCain, which I don't know why the 76ers traded him to OKC. It's like, yeah, that needs to be vetoed like they did Chris Paul going to the Lakers.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

No, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Like, why are we sending Jared McCain? Like, this dude single-handedly the previous series was averaging like 15 points in the games he played against the Lakers, shooting the lifestyle, hitting five, six threes a game, and you give him to the defending champions, right? So I think that's also the thing is giving coaches enough time to establish who they want to be and how they want to do it, and then see if it leads to wins. Yeah. Okay, now we're going on to the NBA. So I'm gonna break this down and explain it to you. So you have your timeouts. Going into the fourth quarter, you can have no more than four timeouts. If you haven't used all your timeouts, you'll lose the ones up to four. When you go into the last two minutes, you can only have two timeouts in the NBA. If you have more than two, you better use them or you'll lose them. So the talk right now is talking about how Kenny Atkinson managed the game against the Knicks. With seven minutes left to go in the game, they were up 22. Yeah. He had four timeouts, all four. He didn't use one of his timeouts. Again, he loses the he only has two going to the last two minutes. He'll lose two if you don't use them. He didn't use a timeout to like the three minute and like 15 second mark. And that was after, like, I think at that point they were only up by like three or four. And so the talk is like, why don't you use a timeout earlier? Why don't you after the Knicks go on a run? Maybe it was like a seven over one, whatever it was. Now it's like you're only up 15. Call a timeout, drop a play, get your get your best star uh easier buck, and maybe it goes up to 18, you can stop the momentum. But he waited so long.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

And they've also played two back-to-back series that went seven games. So is fatigue setting in at this point after you've traveled to New York and all that?

SPEAKER_01 18:35

No, it could be. I think one thing, it's always tough to judge a head coach's intentions because you don't know what they're trying to accomplish, right? So I know one thing that you have to also do as a coach is you have to manage the game, right? You're not just managing the plays or anything like that. You also have to manage the momentum of a game. That's why sometimes you'll see coaches go out there and get a technical foul at a certain time because of what they're trying to do to the game. So a lot of times, I know like coaches may not want to call that timeout because you don't want to call a timeout on the road, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Yeah, and in NYC, yeah. In the Madison Square Garden.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Yeah, while they're on a run. What happens when I call that timeout? The place goes crazy. Yeah. Right. So he may be waiting on them. Like, I know I know my guys are gonna get a stop, and when they get a stop, I'm gonna I'm gonna have them dribble it up, we're gonna call a timeout, or I'm gonna let us get a bucket, crowd goes quiet, I'm gonna call a timeout on the make. Right. And it changes the momentum of the game. So now he's battling, all right, do I let them keep scoring and you know, we kill that run and I call a timeout and I did the silence in Madison Square Garden, or do I allow them to, you know, or do I call this timeout, let the crowd go crazy, but we still have this lead. So I know that's burned. You were at a game where that burned me. I was coaching against Jameer and his team, we were winning, his team was extending the lead, extending the lead, or his team was fighting back, starts to extend the lead, and I'm waiting on us to get a bucket so I can call a timeout, but we just weren't able to score. And so it looks like I'm just not calling a timeout when in reality I'm waiting for us to get a time like to get a bucket so that I can call it on the offensive. I can set up our defense full court, something like that, right? So you never know what they're trying to do, but I I would assume it had to do something with the momentum of the game, not just necessarily having the timeouts or the score or something like that, but he wanted to call that timeout at a certain you know, trigger, whether it be a maid basket, a stop, jump ball, something was gonna make him call that timeout, and it just didn't happen.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Okay. I mean, that listen, that's this is the thing here that as fans, as people who want to watch the game, and when you don't deep dive and go get the the ins and the outs of everything, right? Because it's like it's almost a it's a lose-lose situation. Because if he calls one and the crowd goes crazy, and now you in Madison Square Garden, and they are not sitting down at this point, and you got like because then you're like, okay, how many players do I have on the calves who's been in something like that? Right? So that goes into play too, and so like that's when I'm like, okay, you you tend to, as a fan, immediately assume the this high-level NBA coach who's getting paid $40 million over four years, is not doing his job, but he should call timeouts because I know we should stop this run. And that's the that's the part that I think has changed in I would say sports media now versus before. I think before you gave people the credibility they deserve based on where they were. Because I don't see random people just becoming NBA coaches. I think there's a reason for that when a coach gets fired, like J. Kidd just did, he's gonna get another job.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

Because there's not that many NBA coaches that's just walking around the street. Like just it's not. And so that's why I think it's crazy that now, like, there's so much opinions and so much thought on social media, on X, on all these things that can push this narrative of Kenny Atkinson has not done his job, where he's won two game sevens, which are the hardest games to win, back to back. And he beat the number one seed in Detroit, who was supposed to win. They were favored to win that series in a game seven in Detroit.

SPEAKER_03 22:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

And so one thing I will say in both those series, the RJ Barrett game, where he had that three that bounced 17 times on the rim, like Kawhi's did, and they beat him, he was able to galvanize his troops and have them push through it. Then you have Detroit come in there and win those two big games back to back and force a game seven. What do you do again? You galvanize your troops and beat Detroit by 40 points in the game seven.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

So if any coach at this point in time in the playoffs has shown, hey man, one loss is not going to define our series, and we can pull up our bootstraps and keep it moving. I'm gonna get them playing again, it's Kenny Atkinson. So we'll give him that. And then now we're gonna talk about how I don't think it's a coincidence, but the best teams right now that are left are using, because there was a tweet you posted about how you build your, how you built your offensive playbook, right? And it was like motion, you have stuff about dribble handoff and different things like that. Yeah. But the best teams in the that's left in the playoffs, the final four, they're not just relying on the strength of their talent. Because everyone has a star player. But what can you do as a coach with running sets to make the job easier for your star players? That's what the triangle offense was. It was I'm gonna make it easier for the Michael Jordan. If I make it easier for somebody who's already better than everybody else, now our buckets are a lot easier. And so we've seen um OKC use Hartenstein and this like Jokish type style, Spain big type thing where he goes into a dribble handoff with a backside action. So now Shea is getting a full head of steam. He's gonna bump that guard. So now you got a big trying to hedge with Shea, with Shay, and as you coming over the top as the guard, if you overplay, he stops, gets to a gets to the free throw line, gets bumped, or he sprints out, does that almost Chris Paul S thing, gets to that midi, over the top with you, knocks it down. We've seen Wimby be the person setting the pin down so he can get all those duck ins. Because if you stay on that inside, all he's gonna do is if y'all switch, boom, I hold, throw it over the top, I'm dunking on you, and now he's catching the ball backwards of his day and throwing it in because he's 7-4. Then you got Kat changing his game, and them getting him more in a big creating stuff for Jalen Brunson to set those away screens to get that switch because they want James Harden, Garden Brunson, because he's the worst defender on the court as of right now, so he can get that space. And if you don't, ISO just Brunson, he had it going, they were going into that sprint uh a screen into a uh pop, a pick and pop with Kat, because Kat's probably the best shooting big in the league. Yeah. So what do you? I mean, I don't think it's a coincidence, and like break down how as a coach you're you look to are you changing your offensive philosophy based on the players you have, or are you setting your offensive philosophy and then going out and trying to find players who fit it?

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Yeah. Well, I think it's different just wherever you are. Um, for me personally, I think it's more versatile to be able to change your offense based on whoever you have, right? There are some people who believe in whatever it is that they do and they go out and they find people that can do it the best. I'm more so like I want to be adaptable, I want to be able to basically anybody that comes into my program can succeed because I have that level of you know well-roundedness about me and hopefully a staff that I'm working with. You know, so for me, it's always gonna be how can I maximize that player? Because anything that you can think of can be put into any type of entry, any type of action, anything like that, right? So if I have somebody that wants to get downhill, is it off a ball screen or is it off of a dribble handoff, right? Which is it going left, is it going right? All right, well, I like them coming off a dribble handoff so they're going right. I know that. So how many different ways can I get them to into that, right? I could just start off the game by straight up dribbling it at them, see how they guard it. Right. And now I know, all right, well, people are gonna sprint under. Right. So people sprint under, they try to meet her because she may not be able to shoot the ball or things like that. Well, what happens if I can uh get her to set a down screen and then come off the like now? She's coming off the zoom. Now how do they do? Oh, well, they switch it or they blow it up. Well, now I got another option, which is she's setting the down screen, the person coming off curls it, and then she's coming off. Right. So there's a lot of different uh ways to get to that. So let's say the Wimby situation you talked about with the pin down. Well, I like Wimby posting up, but everybody in the world knows that Wimby should be catching the ball right there. Yeah. So what do I do instead? Well, I'll pull him out, set a pin down. Now there's a shooter coming off. Is whoever guarding Wimby gonna help? Because if they help, well, who's guarding Wimby by the rim? Right? If they don't help, it's a shooter coming off. If they switch it, then it's a mismatch, right? But I know that I want Wimby right here with the ball, right? I know I like Shay coming off of something, right? So what do I do? Set a misdirection. Shay wants to which way do you want to go, Shay? Oh, I want to go left. All right, cool. Have him come off of Iverson going left. Yep. Right? Or they might come down, have him come off a ball screen going left. Anything. But it all for me starts off with what am I trying to accomplish with the player that I have, whatever their specific, you know, uh makeup is, whatever they like to get to, whether all right, if it's a shooter, how can I get them shots? Right. And then when you really can get into it is like being able to mix the two. So now, like you got Wimby, I want him to post up. Well, now I got Wimby setting a pin down for a shooter who likes to uh shoot the ball on the move. So now it's like you adding things together that make your like it makes it a puzzle, like it makes it all fit together. And I think those are the best offenses, those are the best teams because uh everything makes sense, right? The the read makes sense, the finish makes sense, we all know what's about to happen, we know what hand to throw it to, uh, because it's supposed to happen that way. But but you have to do your due diligence, right? Like you can't just throw people out there, roll the ball out, and that's what you see happen, you know. And I'm definitely not trying to minimize anything that any coaching staff or anything has done because we weren't there, but what it would seem like from the outside back when we had James Harden. Are we killing during the season? Killing, get through the first round, maybe second round now, we going against the Spurs, and he the sidestep not working. He's been sizing people up all year, sidestep for 50. What's going on now? Well, how much due diligence did they put into giving him actions to be able to do that in a different way? Like, so there's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

I think that goes in even to like when um I think it was a it was a clip, and it was it was Kobe, it was, and he said, I don't believe that that style of basketball talking about James Harden, yeah, can win a championship. And everyone's like, Oh, why is Kobe saying this? Yada yada, but he wasn't talking about the skill set of just James Harden, because James Harden has shown that he can adapt to other things.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

And because now he's more of a point guard type thing, he's not really looking to score all the time. But he was saying that isocentric, ball in my hand, everybody staying still, and if I'm having the ash of arm doing a high ball screen, and that's it. He's a he didn't believe that I was gonna win, which it hasn't. Yeah. I mean, because the only time that you've seen guys be isocentric to work and go win was maybe the Cavs. But even for them, they were still running actions because you what you were doing is okay, Kyrie could go into his bag, right? And then Blaine will get in the hit, but Blaine will go to that block. You don't understand, like, when you have a person who can play out of a double team, yeah, that's an offense by itself, just putting him at the block. Yeah, you force the double and then play out of it. Because you can't guard him one-on-one that block. He's too big, too fast, too strong, right? Yeah, so now you gotta double me, and we're gonna have that three-on-two on the backside, a two-one split. Like, we're gonna have all those numbers games. And so now Kyrie's catching that ball in the split stance because Brian had the double, and now he gets to get to all his overs and all this stuff, or you got J.R. Smith, and it was that one that Shump always said. He was like, hey man, if he move, you cut. Yeah. And people understand what he was saying was anytime you got a dude in the post, if that person helps over, the person from the 45 should cut. Because now they have to make a decision. Either they guard the cutter, that backs that person on the three-point man, the corner, he either stops the cutter and tags him. And if you tag that cutter, Brian is 6'9, and Lucas 6'9, and Yoke is just seven foot, all those players are gonna take that ball and rifle it to the corner for a three. If you stay on a three-person, I'm throwing the lob, or you know, you might have even if it's not the 45 cutting, you have your big um Trisha Thompson with front the post a lot and get that lob over the top. And so, like, they were a lot of ISO, but they also had times where in the fourth quarter, what they were doing was they were switch hunting because, like, and it's rare because you don't always do that a lot. You don't have bronze, you don't have uh uh loop. People, when you that big and can move and handle the basketball, you switch hunting to make sure that Curry comes in here. Because again, when Curry is guarding bronze, what do you have to do? You've got to double.

SPEAKER_03 32:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

So like that switch hunting made you your defense get in the scramble. And if we got players who can hit the seams and hit threes, that's a whole offense in it. Now, one question I do have is because I think when the OKC called that timeout, they tied the game up on this play. It was with I think it was to go to the second or time or the first. Whatever one was, it might be in regulation. And Caruso was playing out of his mind. He's hitting all these threes, right? So now you can't help off Caruso. But because they were down by they were down by uh two. So the only thing that hurts you is a three. And now, just real side, that's probably the biggest pet peeve of mine when you play a pickup basketball is when you know that we up one and a two wins the game, and you scream and you say, No help, you buy yourself, no help, and then that dumb player always helps off like that's why you can't play nowhere. Like, yeah, the fact you can't understand time and score, we can't play. Like, you just you ain't gonna make it. And so, like, they knew Wimby couldn't help, so they put Caruso in the deep corner because what you don't want to do is have Wimby come into effect this shot by Shay. And they ran that Iverson, like he was talking about earlier, put they put Caruso over in that corner, made that pass, he's springs to the corner, brings Wimby over, and now he gets it, and now you got Shay on an island. I don't care who it is, he's too good. He already has the advantage because the dude was coming off the uh the screen, and he has the attack, and he gets to the left and gets that little floater to go in. Yeah, and so like that is you putting in a play that not only helps your offensive player, but based on who you're playing, also puts the best defenders away. We're talking about earlier. Yeah, like so like being as good as a coach where you can do both at the same time. Because like I've seen some games, even for Wimby, that play they ran for Wimby to try to get the win. I was like, it was a good play, you got in the middle of the court, but he was in the middle of the court, and you had, I think it was, because he may have ran the play wrong, I think it was Harper. Harper stayed so far above the three-point line, Caruso was able to peel off and go get a hand in there, made him pick it up early, then Harper got a hand, and then Chet came over and blocks it. But it's like that's when you want Harper to, after that ball goes in to Wimby, you got a sprint corner to make that run for Caruso longer, like, okay, do I really want to help on this?

unknown 34:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

And he could pass it off for a three and we lose the game.

SPEAKER_03 34:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

And so I think that's also another level of coaching that some coaches are just at where you can move the best offender out the play and get your star in advantage.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

And sometimes, and I don't know, like, I don't know if it was an ATO, it may have been, right? I don't know. But just, and this is what I love about basketball, bro. Like, just the intricacy intricacies of it. Like, was that in their playbook for the night? Was that in their playbook for the year? Or did they know that Wimby was gonna be, did the Spurs make an adjustment that Wimby was on Caruso? And now I know that I have this play in my arsenal that takes Wimby all the way to the other side of the court while bringing Shay this way, right? Or like all of the small details that would make him call that. That they may have never run that play before, but because of what was happening throughout the game, what the Spurs might have been doing, like all of that different type of stuff would have made them run that play in that way in that time. So that's that's what I love about the game, and that's what like it's so much deeper than what we see, even like the base level of what people see, but like people don't look at it like even further than that, like have they ever run that before? Like, are they running that because it took Wimby away, or like did that just happen? Like, did they switch the matchup because of something that was happening earlier in the game? Like, being able to see all that type of stuff is what six or seven people on that bench are doing.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

Yeah, so and then I think you also go into which it's crazy to think about like in the NBA, people are so good, it's just crazy to me that like when people like, oh man, why isn't Wimby Garden Caruso, he's hitting seven threes. And it's like players are too good for you not to give up something, yeah. Right? And so it's like the Spurs came into that game and was like, if Caruso's gonna beat us, Caruso's gonna beat us. Not no disrespect to Caruso, you just not Shea. And we know Shay can beat us, right? We know that if J Dub gets off, he can beat us.

SPEAKER_03 36:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

And so it's like, what are you willing to give up? Because like I know for teams that we play, like if you do stuff where you're like, okay, we're gonna we gonna live and die with their big taking a contested floater, right? Don't try like when you a big, you small dude, just wall up, right? If he if he makes it over you all day, we're gonna live with those floaters because it's a lower percentage shot. Yeah, we're gonna live with off-the-dribble pull-ups. Don't give up layups, don't give up open threes, get them off the line, right? So you find things within your system that you live with, and then I think what the create the coolest part about it was that's what they were living with the entire game. And then it's the chess match by basketball, right? So you do that, that gets you to where you were in a two-point game at the end of the game, have a chance to win. And then at the end of the game, it's like, okay, we've gotten this close. Now we gotta play straight up. And now we gotta, okay, let's see if Harper can stop Shea. And then we'll get the overtime and we'll go back to our game plan. Like, it's so crazy how you just stop and start your game plan throughout the course of a game based on the time and score.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

Yeah, and I think it's so funny, like you'll see people on Twitter like, well, why isn't this happening? But nobody that's actually in the room is asking that question because everybody in the room already knows what would happen. Oh, why isn't Wimby doing this? Like, if you were to walk into the game plan meeting and say that, they'd be like, Because of this. And it would be understood in the room. Like, you wouldn't, we we would never do that. We would never switch the ball screen. We would never do that because of what's gonna happen next. All the film that we've watched, all of that. So anytime I see that type of stuff on Twitter where it's like this should have happened, it's like, well, man, I can't even say that because who who knows the one time they tried that, what in the regular season would happen.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Well, and then it's like you weigh your battles. It's like, okay, do I want Wimby sitting by the rim? Yeah, or do I want him guarding Caruso on a three-point line?

SPEAKER_03 38:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

Like, and it's like, okay, which one deters that team from because like my thoughts saying is this if Caruso's hitting all those shots, OKC has played away all year. I've never seen the game where Caruso got that many shots, right?

SPEAKER_03 38:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

So what it does also is it puts your team out of rhythm. J-Dub don't know where his shots are coming from. Shea isn't getting the shots he normally gets based on how they guard. It's like it shifts, like Chet only got like, took like five shots at seven points. All because of Wimby sitting in the paint and the open pass, which is the right play, is to go to Caruso. But can Caruso, like, that's what's gonna be cool to watch tonight. Do the Spurs keep the same uh thing with leaving Caruso open? And if they do, can Caruso duplicate hitting seven or eight threes?

SPEAKER_01 39:23

It's a numbers game at that point.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

You know, and that's what you're playing. Because it's like, hey, we won with him hitting seven or eight.

SPEAKER_03 39:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

And that was with no fox. That was with us turning the ball over like crazy because our two young, I mean, this is crazy that you because Dylan, what Dylan Harper did in that game is somewhat unheard of. Because the last rookie I can remember off the top of my head to do something that was like playing in the conference finals and the final do something like that was Magic Johnson. Like this dude's out there guarding the MVP who just got his trophy, and he's up there hitting timely threes, champagne's hitting timely. Like, yeah, they hit a bunch of threes who was like, okay, okay, is he about to do on an OKC run? And it was like, nah, we good.

SPEAKER_03 40:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

Nah, we good.

SPEAKER_03 40:08

Like, it's just at that age, too.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

And it's I saw a thing on the way here. It was showing the Spurs starting lineup and their ages compared to Michigan's starting lineup and their ages. Yeah. And it's like, I think the average age from Michigan and the Spurs was like a difference of like 0.5.

SPEAKER_03 40:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

I'm like, that's just crazy. It is. Like, you got kids literally playing that one of the best games I've seen in a long time.

SPEAKER_03 40:36

It was.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Like, there wasn't a bunch, like, the free throws they were getting was fouls. Like, I'm glad that a lot of those, the stuff they had, they went, they didn't upgrade to like no big flags. So like, I'm glad the referees did a great job. Like, that's one thing that also never happens.

SPEAKER_03 40:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:49

And as somebody who, as somebody who hates to rest a lot because of some of the things that they never come out and say, man, that refs did a good job. We didn't know this they were there.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

Yeah, no, I feel you. I feel you. The refs get a hard time. They get a hard time.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

So from from truth behind numbers, referees that won, I don't know y'all's name. That's a good thing. Because I know your name.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

They would have called y'all out.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

I would call you out. I don't know your name, but y'all did a great job. Kudos to y'all. As long as we don't get like Scott Foster or Tony Brothers later, we'd be those two track. I'm telling you. But that I that's just me. He didn't say that. I said that. I did not say that. He loved Tony. Alright, man. So last thing, man, ask you to pick up a thing and we'll go through some rapid fire questions. So first, who you got winning Cavs Nicks? I got I got the Cavs. Cavs in six. Cavs and six. Okay, okay. So Cavs about to win four out of the next five. Alright, cool. Alright, uh, OKC or the Spurs. Who you got?

SPEAKER_01 41:52

I got the Spurs.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

And seven. Spurs and seven. Winning a game in OKC like they just did. Yeah, I gotta do it. Okay. They gotta do it. Who's your goat?

SPEAKER_01 42:03

My GOAT. Since I can't give an explanation because Barry probably gonna argue with me. My goat is Jordan.

SPEAKER_00 42:11

Okay. That's okay. Hey, listen, I told y'all before. My top ten, I said the numbers were interchangeable. So I had blonde one, Jordan two. I said, if you move them up and down, that's fine, that's cool. Wait for Jordan. We'll let him make it. Y'all may not see him on the podcast again, but that's okay. Who wins the W NBA chip? This year.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

It's a lot of talent, man. It's early in the season. Um just off the strength, man. Phoenix. Mercury. AT, go get it. Go get it done.

SPEAKER_00 42:49

You know what I'm gonna say? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Angel Wilson is about to go get a chip, and then she's gonna go have a and she's gonna go have a baby. Then what you gonna do? She gotta have a lot of kids.

SPEAKER_01 43:01

You got the liberty out there. Hey, listen. They got I saw the Aces.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

I saw the Aces and they got that new girl. She's fast in the mud. What's uh oh many Carter Kennedy Carter who they picked her up? So you talking about nothing. They might get it actually.

SPEAKER_01 43:18

They might actually get it, but I want AT to get her in.

SPEAKER_00 43:22

She H at the wrong time. She came in the times of AJ Wilson. Yeah. And she got it on lock. Okay, so this is a two-part quest. Oh sorry, first one. Greatest NBA era.

SPEAKER_01 43:36

Give me that T Mac, Kobe, Yao Ming era, bro, the two thousands to like the two thousand ten. You know what I'm saying? That's that's my that's my era. LeBron in there, D Wade in there.

SPEAKER_00 43:54

Hey man, my maybe y'all can rewind it. When I asked him who his gold was, he said it was Jordan.

SPEAKER_01 44:11

All the best players in the game.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

Alright, we'll keep moving because you know some people be just saying stuff sometimes. Okay, he cut he caught him on stuff. I didn't do it. He did it to himself. All right. What's the best game you've ever seen in person?

SPEAKER_01 44:23

Best game I've ever seen. It man, I done watched some good basketball in person. Um I gotta go. Go, everybody, if you get the chance, go watch. What year was I Indiana? My first year. It would have been 2023, 2024. I think so, yeah. So 2024. Iowa at Indiana.

unknown 44:44

Right?

SPEAKER_01 44:44

Caitlin Clark. Number five versus like number 12 in the country. Right. That was a game. Right. It was crazy, and I'm biased. IU won, you know, go Hoosiers. Go Hoosiers. Best game I ever seen, man. Mackenzie Holmes in that game going crazy. Like you got she had a crazy block in that game that went viral. Cyrus Gallia hit a crazy jumper. Right.

unknown 45:10

Right.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

She also got a tag for telling the girl she was too small. Like it was just the game was crazy. The fans were crazy. The atmosphere was crazy. Right. So that would that would be my best game I seen in person.

SPEAKER_00 45:23

I will say, for me, in person, the best game I ever saw, it was uh it was D3 basketball. Here we go. Um it was uh it was Hardwick and they were at uh they were at home. They were at hope. And it was a close game. Houghton had won a game all year. They were like, oop, they were like 0-9, something like that.

SPEAKER_03 45:51

Terrible.

SPEAKER_00 45:51

And then they go in this game against Harvick, it's close, and they had some young guns and a little freshmen in there playing, and uh they're about to get a steal, we get a steal, go out. They had this seven foot-four dude named Park. And they passed him off the court to the corner, and this freshman at this point is like, man, look, this is my chance to shine. Takes the three. Park 7'4 dude run at him. Let it rain. Nothing but nylon. They go up by like five. Then they come down again. They swing around the uh horn, he has a three. Park comes again, pump fakes him, goes to the lane, comes for a late, drops it off to the big Billy McCrae for the deuce. Billy, get down to the go up by seven. Game is over. The crowd is chanting. Jabari brought the dude. Oh, yeah, that's about me, y'all. That was the favorite game in person.

SPEAKER_03 46:51

I was not there.

SPEAKER_00 46:52

It was an amazing game.

SPEAKER_01 46:53

I was not there.

SPEAKER_00 46:54

So, what's your favorite game you've seen on TV?

SPEAKER_01 46:58

On TV Villanova versus North Carolina. Chris Jenkins hit the game winner after Marcus Page's that crazy three to tighter game right before it. Best game I ever seen on TV.

SPEAKER_00 47:13

I think I got two. That's tied. And they both involved the GOAT. Uh you got 2016, Game 7, Cavs versus the Warriors, the block by James. Yeah. That was one game, and they were tied at A9. I felt like they were the A9 for two days when you were fan and you were rooting for them. And then the other one is that US team USA this past run versus Serbia. Like, to watch, kids, you just go watch this because everyone loves Curry. They always step back, all that. I love KD, his heavy pulls, Braun doing the fadeaways. If you go watch how their mentality shifted, and they got right back down to the fundamentals. You saw Braun playing on two. You saw Curry, he wasn't leaning anymore on his threes. You call KD coming off of the screens straight up and down. Like they went straight fundamentals, and all the flashy stuff went out the window. Yeah. Like they played legit winning basketball. Like, go watch that because it's like a lot of players now want to start doing the flashy stuff before they learn how to do the fundamentals. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:22

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 48:22

And it's like, before you become uh I heard it before, before you become Kyrie Irving, learn to be John Stockton. That's real. And so that's what that's those are my two that I've found.

SPEAKER_03 48:34

That's a quote.

SPEAKER_00 48:35

Now quit that. Now who? Yeah. This this this this he didn't know these questions right here with the cards. The last two he didn't know those coming.

SPEAKER_01 48:44

Yeah, let me let me hear it.

SPEAKER_00 48:45

Okay. I'm gonna give you a good one first. That's a better setway than we'll end with the best one I have. All right, but let me hear you. All right. Is there anything you would tell to an inspiring college hooper?

SPEAKER_01 48:57

Like they want to play in college. What I would say to anybody that wants to play in college right now is that it's so many opportunities to play in college. I think you you always get caught up in the fact that like, oh, only like a small percent get to go play college basketball, which is true. But if you in a space where you even think about playing college basketball, you probably can be part of that 1% or part of that small percent that goes on to play college, whether that be NAIA, D3, JUCO, D1, D2, any of those. And especially with the way the transfer portal is now, bro, like the opportunity makes a lot of sense. Get in where you fit in and then take the time to develop, and then, you know, take the time to prepare yourself. I think, and then I also think a lot of people get caught up in what offers they get or anything like that. One thing I always try to say, bro, like what God has for you, it won't miss you, right? And I would be praying that things that God don't have for me don't come my way. So don't get caught up in the offers, man. A lot of those places that y'all want to go really ain't what they what they seem to be. And some of those places that you would never think that you want to play at are the places that, you know, most the most life-changing stuff happens. So I would say it's a lot of opportunities. Take the opportunity that comes to you because what God has for you, it don't miss you, and then go there with the intent of getting to the highest level because now it's possible. You don't got to sit out of here. You can go and you can transfer year. Now you might not be able to do as much, but you can go spend two years somewhere developing yourself mentally, spiritually as a basketball player, and then go from there and you know, go somewhere else, get more money, get more exposure, get more experiences, you know. It's it's and it's worth it. That's what I would say. So don't back off, keep going, go get it however it looks.

SPEAKER_00 50:40

Hey man, that is the truth. If anybody would have asked me if I was gonna end up in upstate New York when it's negative two degrees and beautiful place. Eight, eight, I don't know about that. It's beautiful when the snow is not crazy, but beautiful. But if I wouldn't know I was gonna be there, I I wouldn't never guess that.

SPEAKER_01 50:57

We wake up, it'd be deer walking outside, snow, it'd be uh beautiful. You hear gunshots all the time, but give people honey.

SPEAKER_00 51:06

Hey, as you could say, what they say, uh to each their own.

SPEAKER_01 51:10

Yeah, it was it was crazy up there, though.

SPEAKER_00 51:12

But I do have some of the best connections I've ever had, some of the best friends, best like these are brothers I'm gonna talk to forever, that I do have from that school that you can't change.

SPEAKER_01 51:22

We should have fires. We just go out and just build a fire pit wherever we want it.

SPEAKER_00 51:26

That is that is true.

SPEAKER_01 51:28

It's a creek that we're in through campus. Yeah, it was it was a life. We we we did uh remember the team bonding we did on canoes? All right, last question, dog.

SPEAKER_00 51:37

What we're gonna do, last question. We're not at the time note, we're gonna come out here. Uh last question, and this right here is gonna really test the credibility of the man next to me and see what his answer is. Because we're gonna see if he's really a truth teller or not. Or is it gonna be something crazy? Okay. Who would win in a game of 1v1? Me or you.

SPEAKER_01 52:00

Game to seven, game to what?

SPEAKER_00 52:02

Whatever number you want.

SPEAKER_01 52:03

All right, we're gonna Fox Spotch each spot to seven. All right, fast watch, each spot to seven, right? Bobby winning two spots, I'm winning three.

SPEAKER_00 52:10

All right, y'all. It's the two bottom numbers.

SPEAKER_01 52:25

I need Ben 83.

SPEAKER_00 52:27

Hey, hey, I'm telling you, hey, watch episode two. I broke it down for you. Watch episode two. It wasn't that different. It wasn't that different, but it is what it is, man. We want to appreciate it. I guess first ever, won't be the last, might be the best. You never know unless I get LaPon or somebody like that. I might go to uh LA che hang out with Brian and Braun now. Might, bro. Might and Brian is getting on the connect, y'all. But it is what it is, man. This is real, real numbers, real truth, real talk. We want to thank you guys again. We're on the road. We will be back in the studio for episode five. It'll probably come out after the conference finals is done. Episode five, I'll give you who I think is gonna win the finals, and I'm probably gonna break down something that Stephen A has said because he's been saying a lot of wild stuff lately, and we're gonna take him down and skip Bayless trying to claw his way back into the limelight and find new people to hate on because LeBron almost done. Hey man, get those two old dudes out of here. I'm with Jalen Brown. Retire. Peace y'all. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:29

Peace and love.