Ep. 71: Embiid Getting Another Surgery, NBA MVP odds, Playoff Thoughts, and More! - 04/03/25

Sean Brace and Sean Barnard talk Joel Embiid undergoing another surgery, #NBA MVP odds, looking ahead to the playoffs, Thursday night's NBA slate, and more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Picks and Roll, handicapping the hardwood with Sixers insider Sean
Bernard and Sean Brace, Picks and.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Roll, all things NBA coming your away here on a Thursday,
April third, Six or seven games we played in the
regular season, the play in tournament fast approaching, and first
round matchups that we have our eyes on. Also, tell
you what is the MVP race heating up? Interesting? We

(00:30):
will talk about all that. And of course the big
man himself, Joelle Embiid, is now due for another surgery,
a little deflating. But we're coming down the home stretch
of the NBA regular season, and I know, Sean, you
cover this league very intensely throughout the course of the season,
so I know you're excited to see what the playoffs
are all about. Same thing right here. One week from today,

(00:53):
my friend, you will be uh, you'll be front and center.
Actually a little bit more than that's because the National
Championships on Monday next week, so Tuesday slash Wednesday, it
will be all eyes on the association. How you been, man, Yeah,
you can't complain.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
It's a little bit of a different vibe this year.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
Head in the playoffs with no Sixers in mind, whatsoever
that you know that ship has long sail and instead
we're focused on campaigning for the Ping Pong balls and
hoping for the.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Best at the lottery there.

Speaker 4 (01:17):
But still pretty excited for these NBA playoffs to be honest,
I think there's a lot of great stories across the
NBA right now, a lot of youthful teams taking that
next step and a little bit like changing guard as
far as the elite in the NBA. And with that
still being said, we still got guys like Lebron James
and Steph Kerry cooking in the Western Conference.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
So I think it's gonna be a really good playoffs
this year.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Question about the ping Pong Balls the Sixers with Oklahoma
City top six, Ye, the Sixers get it? Is there
a because I've known previous years you could say, hey,
I'll push that off until the following season. Like you know,
it's up to the Oklahoma City Thunder if they actually
want to change, like say, if they get like nine, Uh,

(01:56):
is that how it's playing out or is it whatever
happened this year, it automatically has to go through.

Speaker 4 (02:02):
Yeah, So if if the Sixers are to retain their pick,
the Thunder will get next year's draft pick, like it
is something that transferred. This is a protection, So the
pick itself is something that's already been traded by the Sixers.
That this was a part of the Al Horford trade
to get off Horford's contract, send him to Oklahoma City.
And by the way, that season and Oka see extended
his career quite a good bit by basically having a
rest year at like age thirty six form and we

(02:23):
see how he's still planning these days. But that draft
pick was what was sent out and there was a
top six protection on it.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
So essentially this is the Thunder's draft pick at this point.

Speaker 4 (02:31):
But if it does fall through one through six, because
of the protections that came on it, the Sixers will
keep it. So at some point the Thunder will be
having access to this draft pick.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
For the Sixers, that's really.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
The only hope at this point is they're kind of
getting it back if it falls in that first part
of the draft.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Here tell you what if this lands on seven Oklahoma's
Oklahoma City gets to seventh overall pick, Like yep, that's
they're saying.

Speaker 4 (02:54):
I've seen a couple of the conspiracy theory or whatever
deep thinkers as far As MBA. What if the Thunder
just open their bank account full of seemingly unlimited draft
picks and say, we want Cooper Flag for whoever gets
this first pick right there, because that could happen, and frankly,
it's pretty good fit on their team. Play him next
to chet Holmger and all those type of conversations. It's
gonna take some guts from a team to be able

(03:14):
to say no to that offer. But if they're coming
with five six first round picks, as an organization, you
really got to think about this. So Thunder will be
some main players in this draft, and this is the
only pick that we're talking about in regards to what
they have access to this year.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Thinking out loud here, I don't know on passing on
Cooper Flag.

Speaker 4 (03:32):
It's tough. I was thinking from the Sixers perspective. Here,
here's my deep brain thinking, say the Sixers do not
get that one pick. Could Josh Harris trade the New
Jersey Devils for that number one overall pick?

Speaker 2 (03:45):
What do we think Josh Harris's world? Man, Hey, I mean.

Speaker 4 (03:49):
If you're another franchise owner, that's a pretty appealing offer
right there. And at the same time, I might make
the case that Cooper Flag provides enough value to warn
an organization that is worth trading another organization there. So,
Josh Harris, if you're listening, just keep that one tucked away.
Keep that in mind.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
I'll love and respect, but do hockey teams make money?

Speaker 3 (04:08):
I don't think as much as Cooper Flag would be
my argument.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
That, yeah, exactly, there you go. All right, we do
have some odds and ends to get to of quotes.
We'll tackle the card tonight that does feature to seventy
six or six six games on the DraftKings card. Be
sure to follow Sean Bernard over on all things as
socials and you can catch all his great content at
TK network. Hey, before you get out of here too,
definitely want to squeeze in some college hoops talk with you,

(04:32):
because I know you've been doing a great job covering
it for the folks over at DraftKings. With that being said,
let's go ahead and dive into what is taking place
right now in the world of the NBA. Because I
don't want to. I don't want to jump right into
two Duello beat surgery. I just it's just too much
at this point time. Let's go ahead and get into

(04:56):
the MVP discussion, and I only bring it up because
Joker is doing what he's never done before. Like, potentially
this could be the first time in NBA history that
we are going to see a player finish top three
and scoring, rebounds, assists, And there's another category, three point shooting.

(05:18):
I want to say something.

Speaker 4 (05:19):
Like that, like he's not there anymore for three point shooting.
He was for a while, all right, So I just
read the article yesterday. I'll have to dig it back up.
But there's four categories he's competing.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Maybe that was it. Maybe you know, Look, there's still
seven games to be played. It's tough because I know
SGA deserves it. But how close it isn't in your mind?
Due to what Joker has been able to do sixty one,
ten and ten, we've never seen a performance like that.
He's had a couple of those games this year, and

(05:49):
like I said, he's got multiple MVP trophies, yet this
is his best year statistically speaking. So how close do
you think this conversation really is? If at all?

Speaker 4 (06:00):
Yeah, I mean Jokic has absolutely opened the door a
little bit and give Shay a run for his money here.
If you look at the betting odds and kind of
statistically here, I still think this is Shay's ward, and
rightfully so that my personal kind of perspective on it
is I think the gap between NIKOLEA. Jokic and Shay
Gildas Alexander offensively is far smaller than the gap between
Shay Gildas Alexander and Nikola Jokic the defensively there, And

(06:21):
the other point that I would add is the standing
still matter to me. I understand that out everythinks this way,
but you take a look at the West. The Nuggets
are seventeen and a half games back the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This isn't one of those neck and neck kind of
lean in that the Thunder have been by far and
away the best team in the Western Conference all season
and really the best team in the NBA, with the
exception the Cavs being in kind of that same tier there.
But Shay's been excellent, man, Like, I mean, both these

(06:43):
guys are, and I would make the case that Yoki
is playing the best basket ball of his career, but
Shay is also like right in the same category. We're
talking about this dude shooting fifty two percent from the
floor as a guard an effective field goal percentage of
fifty six point nine percent. There's a kind of numbers
you get for a guy who's like a rim running
big man, only shooting around the paint or close to
the basket there, And this dude is a true three
level score pouring it in from beyond the three point

(07:05):
arts at career high rates, getting active in the mid range,
and being a guy that is really responsible for these
historic defensive rates that we're seeing by the Thundered team
one through five. That team defense, and that starts with
Shay Gills Alexander setting the tone for this team there.
So Joki has been terrific. I won't be up in arms,
are completely disgusted if he does take home a fourth
MVP there. But I do think it should be Shades

(07:25):
this year, and I do think we get into a
little bit of these splitting hairs are the best player
versus most valuable conversation in this debate for this year.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
I agree with a lot that you just said there,
and specifically speaking, it opened my eyes to the to
the point that the Thunder sixty four and twelve, the
Rockets fifty and twenty seven at the two spots. So
just think about that for a second. How dominant. We
know how dominant the thunder have been best record in
the NBA cletcalvs currently at sixty one and fifteen. So

(07:52):
that opened my eyes a couple of days ago when
I just saw the drop off from one to two
in that and we know how dominant been. First of
First of all, I did find the article and it
is a Jokers on pace to be the first player
in NBA history to finish top three in scoring, rebounds,
assist in steals. Thrown some defense into the mix. Now,

(08:15):
Shan van IV thrown some defense into the mix. So
for the idiots out there that want to make the
case that JOELMB didn't deserve that MVP that year and
it was a charity award, which was just ridiculous. Everyone's
got an opinion, doesn't mean you're right. Whatever. Are we
going to get into a situation where it's being discussed

(08:37):
if SGA does win this award, he's going to win.
He's minus two thousand to plus nine hundred for Joker.
Is that going to be the same conversation? And putting
the sick offense from the Jokers perspective, those diehards, those
maniacs up there in Denver, because I respect it. It's
their guy. They're going to say whatever. But it really
irked me when you heard people in the NBA world

(08:59):
that you value the opinion, They're like, man, those voters
got tired and they gave it to Himbiid and blah
blah blah. It's like, no, man, Jojo was dominant that
year and if you wanted to give it the joker that,
I have no issues, But you can't say, like you
shouldn't have any issues that Joel Embiid won the MVP
that year. With that being said, do you think that
this could be the case to three, four, or five
years down the road, SG wins this award and people

(09:21):
will still have the same take as far as that
is concerned.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
Yeah, I mean I first off, it's kind of an
opinion based thing, right. You can make a legitimate case
for any of these guys. I will wholeheartedly defend that
Joel Embiid had a better individual season than Nakolea Jokic
that season, and I think that is the case with
se Gildas, Alexander and Jokich this season. Now, a lot
of times I think what happens with the history of
these things is what goes down in the playoffs sort
of what sits on our mind a little bit more

(09:45):
than the award, Like for example, in that specific season
once again that we saw Joel Embiid fail to get
past the second round, and that was an issue, and
then you think, is this dude really the most valuable
if you can't carry a team deep in the playoffs
like that. But you also got to remember, like the
voting goes down before the playoffs, So some some times
the optics of it I don't think look great for
things for reasons like that, if a guy has a
poor playoff performance or does not look like the best

(10:07):
player in the world when the lights are the brightest
like that, and Jokis, to his credit, we've seen him
rise in the playoffs. Now that was something that I
critiqued and a lot of people were skeptical of of
can this guy be a foundational piece of a championship
Rowser And he's obviously proven that to be correct there.
So I think kind of the way things play out
change the way we remember it a little bit. But
the bottom line to me, I wholeheartedly stand on joellem

(10:28):
Mee deserve that MVP. I will whole hardly stand on
shake Gotos. Alexander deserves this MVP. And I understand the
argument for jokicch in both cases here, but I think
the the you know, pity MVPs is a pretty lame
way to look at it. And this isn't unique to
just Jokis or anything like that. We've seen, you know,
Shaquille O'Neill say that about Steve Nash winning the MVP
over him. There's plenty of guys you can go back
down the history books, but all these guys are incredible

(10:49):
basketball players and deserve their flowers in their own right.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
A man, if everybody was like you, sham minard, this
squere will be a better place, you're right. I agree.
And SGA has been bawling and he's proved himself and
it hasn't just been out of nowhere right like it
seems like it just continues to grow and get better.
I mean, for credit loud, how old is.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
SGA twenty six?

Speaker 2 (11:09):
I believe twenty six on the dot twenty seven in July?
Like this dude ain't going anywhere, man, right, So like
he deserves the opportunity or he deserves he's played it.
He deserves the award if it was given out right now.
But I can't lie to you like it is hitting
me a certain type of way to see Joker go
sixty one, ten and ten. Read all these numbers. Know

(11:32):
he's doing better than any year that he's ever won
the award before. And it's like, wait a minute.

Speaker 4 (11:38):
But then, since you're making the Yokic case, I will
put on my anti Jokic hat a little bit right there.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Do you see the result of that sixty one, ten
and ten performance?

Speaker 2 (11:47):
They won that game? Yeah? Oh that was when Russ
screwed up at the end.

Speaker 4 (11:51):
And no doubt Russ has got to wear that like huge.
But you know, results of results here, so we can
have this conversation from any angle there.

Speaker 3 (11:58):
Maybe it does.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
He scored one three thirty nine and lost.

Speaker 4 (12:02):
But they lost and that's part of the problem though,
Like you can throw steel numbers at me, you can
throw defensive rating individual whatever advanced mattricks. Nikole Jukic is
an incredibly poor defender. He is there is no way
around that. Is he leading in steels because steels is
a fake defensive stat You can gamble with Steels all
the time. Watch a guy take him one on one,

(12:24):
Watch like the way teams do target him defensively. And
I've still seen this in this season where we're talking
about all these great things that he's doing that is
a part of opponent's game plan to attack that guy defensively,
to get your big man on him in one on
one settings. That really shouldn't be the case for an
MVP in my mind. And to shift it back to Shay,
you will never see that with Shake Gels, Alexander, so
I hear you. But like there's a lot of different

(12:46):
factors in this, and some of this goes into preference.
I have a lot of care for a guy that
does handle their business of the defense vand and Yukic
has never been that dude.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, I'm not making the case Sga is my MVP,
but it is pretty funny to see what Joker's doing.
That's all having some fun with it here and again
minus two thousand, that tells you all you need to know. No,
it is not worth taking a flyer at plus nine hundred.
Let's stay with the awards stuff. Actually, hang on one second.
Back to that game. Russell Russell Westbrook. Should he have

(13:16):
pulled it out? Yep, he should have.

Speaker 4 (13:20):
I mean, I it looks awful because he missed the shot, right,
I think the highest IQ basketball decision there would be
to pull it out, get foul, shoot the free throw,
soak up clock, do all those kind of things so
win the right way kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (13:33):
I'm never really hard on the guy who has.

Speaker 4 (13:35):
The instinct to go pour in that next one, in
that specific situation, he makes the bucket, they're up three,
and you know, things that are sitting a little prettier
right now. But to that same metric, like you're giving
the team a chance to tie it there, you're not
finishing the game by scoring that basket.

Speaker 3 (13:48):
The right decision absolutely been to pull it out.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Now.

Speaker 4 (13:50):
Granted, he went for it and he missed it, and
it just kind of spiraled and out worse and worse
from there that he did not hustle back right away,
and then he realized he had to get in giddy up,
and then he was out of control going to the
clothes out and the fout a three point shooter to
lose the game. So it is the ultimate Russell Westbrook
example there. In general, I'm pretty sympathetic to us because
he does bring it every night. You can't say that
about a lot of guys in the NBA, and it's

(14:11):
been doing it for decades at this point.

Speaker 3 (14:13):
But it was incredibly stupid basketball decision. It costs him
a game.

Speaker 4 (14:16):
And that's kind of the double edged sword that comes
with Russell Westbrook right there. So not great, not a
great moment in the career of Westbrook whatsoever.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
No, you're right about that, all right? Pause? One second, lie,
all right? Three two, one back, all right. So what

(14:44):
I would say is, yeah, I totally agree as far
as the pulling it out. It was still under ten seconds,
and I just think, like, yeah, the clock is your
number one concern at that point in time, but it
would still just be a tie ball game if he
made both both free throws correct or no, they would
put him up by three correct, So there's still a

(15:05):
chance to tie at that point in time as well.
So I was kind of in between on this one.
I'm definitely leaning towards you. The clock is your number
one opponent, ten seconds left, Where does that cut off
in your mind happen? As far as the clock is
your number one opponent, is it under twenty four seconds,
is it under thirty seconds, under a minute? Like, where
is the line for you when you start, when you

(15:27):
stop worrying about scoring points and it's about clock and
clock only.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (15:31):
Probably my general le for this specifically is when the
shot clock goes off, like in that specific case, there
is nothing forcing you to shoot the ball except kind
of your own doing. There that you either got to
be sped up by the opponent if he wanted to,
and if he had no defensive pressure that he could
have dribbled out the entirety of the clock. When that
is the case, I think you kind of take your
chances and try and make that happen. Now, granted, like
every situation is a little different the context of a

(15:53):
game being built up, And frankly, you could have thrown
wrestle on the line and he bricks one or two
of those, and then we're critiquing why didn't he just
go and score there. So there's always kind of the
other side of things here. But that's sort of probably
my general rule with that. I think the context of
how the game builds, how you're shooting, how all that
kind of things do play into it as well. So
not a one size fits all rule, but I go
with the shot clock pretty linearly there.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yeah, it was a tough spot and then Russ had
a good performance last night bounce back. But all in all,
that was a tough, tough loss and what was a
very very fun game to pay attention to. Also that
happened that evening. Sef Curry hit twelve three pointers twelve
of twenty from downtown. How we feeling about the Warriors

(16:36):
right now? Of course, with Jimmy Butler in the mix
for a couple of weeks now seems like they're pretty comfortable.
Should we be looking at the Warriors in a different manner?

Speaker 3 (16:45):
Yeah, I think we should certainly have our eyes on them.

Speaker 4 (16:47):
And there's honest a pretty likely chance that we're talking
Denver and Golden State as match up there if the
season were to end today. That's how things are set. Obviously,
there's still a couple games to go. The Lakers and
Nuggets tied for that third and four seed, and the
Warriors just half game above the Timberwolves, Clippers, and Grizzlies
for that fifth seed there, So it's definitely some moving
parts not setting that stone. But I don't think the
Warriors are intimidated regardless of who they face. Here, Steph

(17:10):
Curry looks back man like. It feels like he's energized
in a way that I haven't seen from him in
really a couple of years.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
I would probably argue there.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
I still would make the case that when he gets
red hot and takes over a game, there's no one
that does it quite like him. Just pouring in three
pointers and absolutely the momentum that he carries with him
and Jimmy Butler playing his role doing his part there.
Draymond Green, I think has looked energized and is staying
out of trouble for the most part there. So this
Golden State Warriors team, they wouldn't be my favorite, wouldn't
be my pick, But not rolling him.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
Out, all right, Bosh, Daddy didn't care, all right? Back

(18:06):
over to the Warriors eighteen all right, three two one? Yeah. Look,
I think about the Warriors, and you know, they have
that championship mentality, they have the coaching, they've been there,
done that. But I just look at the West and
I know it's not gonna be easy. And one thing
that we have to factor when we start talking about

(18:26):
the playoffs is what it's going to take to get
past series after series, because it's gonna take a lot.
I know he does normally every year, don't get me wrong,
but you look at that West and I just don't
like we're gonna talk about the Houston Rockets. I just
don't know if there's an easy series. I just don't
know if you can go and have a physical series
against the Denver Nuggets or a physical series against the

(18:49):
Lakers and didn't have enough to go up against Oklahoma
City Thunder Again. I know it's like that every year,
but man, the West is pretty loaded. So but the
Warriors do have my attention a lot. Saying with the Warriors, Sean,
let's talk a little bit about the awards here and
Defensive Player of the Year. Our good friend Sam Astri
had a good take on this over at the Score
talking about Draymond Green. Draymond Green is your odds on

(19:12):
favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year at minus
one sixty five in front of Evan Mobley. Let me
ask you this. Mobley was the front runner when Wimby
dropped out when Wimby got hurt. Took a little bit
of a time to get to that stage, but Mobley
was your favorite. What did he do to not become
the favorite anymore? To slide out? And what did Draymond

(19:35):
do to elevate all the way up the charts to
be number one as far as odds on favorite.

Speaker 4 (19:40):
Yeah, the biggest thing that I would answer that is
I don't think it really has much to do with
either of their specific play here that I think it
is a case of two teams sort of trending in
opposite directions. That we're seeing the Warriors surge and Draymond
being a clear part of that. He's playing far better
basketball than he wants at the start of the year.
On the other side of that spectrum, the Cavs have
let their foot off the gas a little bit here.
And I don't mean that necessarily as a critique of them.

(20:01):
I mean they hold a comfortable lead for the top
spot in the Eastern Conference. They're sixty one to fifteen
on the season, Like that's insane stuff right there. So
I think it's a little bit of recently buy that
is playing to the specific numbers there. The other guy
that I want to make sure I brought up was
Lou Dort here. Lou Dort has moved up to plus
eight to fifty to win Defensive Player Year. That was
the guy who's sitting the plus four thousand, plus two thousand,
what was that?

Speaker 2 (20:20):
That's my pick?

Speaker 4 (20:22):
Yeah, yeah, I do think that's a guy who's kind
of winning people over a little more. I have a
hard time with with that Thunder team because I legitimately
think you could make like a strong case for their
one through five here that all of their starters defend
at that high of a level there.

Speaker 3 (20:34):
But Dort's a guy that has my attention.

Speaker 4 (20:36):
I wouldn't rule out Dyson Daniels either, who I see
is fourth at plus two to fifty there. Surprise me,
Jared Jackson Junior was not the guys who were forced
into this conversation or thrown to the forefront, so wouldn't
be exactly the odds I predicted would be the way
right now. But I don't honestly have like a super
strong take for this guy deserves it over this guy.
I won't have a huge problem with Jeremont winning it
if that is the case there, But I don't think
this really cracks one of his best defensive seasons. And

(20:59):
you know, maybe that' says something about of the award
as well.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, is it worth a shot, because it does feel
like Draymond would get some props because of the attention
he brings on the microphone. Everybody knows him. He's not
a fan. Wow, is it his year?

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Then?

Speaker 3 (21:20):
I kind of think so for those reasons.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
There Again, I don't think this is by anywhere close
to Draymond's best defensive season by any means. He's been
much better lately, and we've seen the way like this
team connects, like everything fits together a lot more since
the Butler trade, and he's taken his game up level
Draymond specifically there as well. I think, like a lot
of times, if we want to acknowledge it or not,
there is something with like Draymond Green probably shouldn't go

(21:43):
his entire career without winning Defensive Player of the Year.
So if the stars have aligned for him to get
one this year, I think the NBA will make that happen.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
And that's sort of how I see things trending.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
M not a lot of happy campers when it comes
to that market. I can tell you that right now
Dort has my attention at plus save fifty. He's had it.
I just feel like I know Sga is going to
win the MVP. You know, if he deserves it, he's
the number one damn team, then he should be higher
than plus eight fifty mobile. I thought was probably going

(22:12):
to win it, and then all of a sudden, a
look up last week and Draymond Green was out of
nowhere in my opinion, But again, haven't been paying attention
to it too closely. But this is one of the awards.
It's definitely up for grabs as far as the NBA
Awards season is concerned, all right, keeping it moving. Oh yeah,
Rookie of the Year, anything for you on that one
while we're here. Castle's award to lose, obviously.

Speaker 4 (22:33):
Yeah, I do think it's Castle's award to lose, and
he's climbed to a pretty notable favor. Zachary Resache the
number one pick, and by far like the least buzz
I've about a number one pick probably across like any
sport in recent years. He's given him a little bit
for his money down the stretch here. I've been impressed
and I definitely see the long term vision with him.
So I think it's been a solid rookie season for
resis Sha, who's really flown under the radar there. Same

(22:54):
with Alex sard down in Washington. Been pretty impressed with
the way that he played last week against the Sixers.
I thought he looked pretty phenomenal there, and that's been
kind of a stretch there. But s Foncastle, I do
think is the guy who's awarded is to win. He's
gonna be a significant piece of that long term core
out there in San Antonio. A high level player, a
winning player, a guy like quite a bit. Do you
think he ends up walking home with it this year?
All right?

Speaker 2 (23:15):
Well, awards season rolls on. Of course, we'll be talking
about that over the next week or so, and then
we'll see what happens in that first week where they
officially give out the awards. Don't they give out the
awards to all of them? I know the MVP does.
Do we find out who wins every award over the
next two weeks here?

Speaker 4 (23:34):
I think it'll be during the playoffs that'll be announ
so there'd be the voting and then they'll kind of
a little layoff before we actually you know, who wins
the awards.

Speaker 3 (23:40):
So during the playoffs we'll hear that.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
Yeah, April nineteenth is when the official playoffs start playing
starts on the fifteenth slash through the eighteenth. All right,
Sean Barnard here talking all things NBA, getting caught up.
It's been a little while, but let's go ahead and
slide into some of these other discussions that I have
written down here. Let's talk a little bit about the
Milwaukee Bucks and me and Lillard potentially could be back

(24:02):
a little earlier than what people thought. Of course, he
had the blood clot hey perfect timing too, as well,
the Sixers taking on the Bucks. Perfect timing for this conversation,
not for blood clots. Let's clarify that there's never a
good time for that six or twelve point dogs at home.
Bucks are favored by twelve. No, Damian Lillard. I think
Giannis has scored thirty plus and five straight games, no

(24:24):
surprise there, how great he is. But Dame coming back
into the mix when we originally thought that he could
be missing extended period of time. Some we're even talking
about them for the season. Does that change how you
view the Milwaukee Bucks in the East coming up for
the playoffs?

Speaker 4 (24:39):
Yeah, I mean it gives him a puncher's chance, and
the way that the stars are aligning right now, it
does look like it's gonna be a Bucks first Knicks
first round series.

Speaker 3 (24:46):
I do think that's a winnable first round series from.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
Milwaukee perspective, of course you do.

Speaker 3 (24:51):
I'm bummed out.

Speaker 4 (24:52):
I was really thinking that the Stars were gonna line
for Detroit Pistons versus New York next opening round series.
That would have been incredible basketball to just absolute teams
that fight, and I do think the Pistons would have
won the series there, so that would have been very
entertaining to me. But as far as the Bucks go,
it gives them a puncher's chance. I was buying into
what they were doing before this all happened that I
like the way Dame look this year.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
Yan is still.

Speaker 4 (25:12):
Performing at the level and had made some interesting changes
in his game. Essentially had taken out three point shooting,
which we've known to have been a weakness of his,
and really honed in on attack in the basket, getting
to the mid range where he's more comfortable, and that
mid range shot had become a weapon for him more
so than it has been the case in any other year.
It's gonna be hard at this point to kind of
have all these moving parts come together to be bought

(25:33):
in and playing on the same page. Even beyond just Dame, Lollard,
Bobby portis still dealing with his suspension there. They've had
other guys bounce in and out. Kyle Kuzma hasn't exactly
been as hope. Now that he is settled in with
that Milwaukee Bucks team, he is something to watch offensively
on certain nights. Man, he's just trying things out there.
But the boy being, there's a lot going into this
that I think you got to really quickly kind of

(25:53):
find a way to get all on the same page.
It's gonna be a tough challenge, and I don't think
Doc Rivers is necessarily the guy that I would appoint
as a most built to handle that there. So I
think I'm probably still out on Milwaukee Bucks this year,
but who knows. We'll see what the injury went. With
the timeline is for Dame potentially returning without them, I
don't think they have a chance with him. I think
they have a little bit of a chance, So not
entirely counting that, but we'll see what the timeline is.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yeah, it's been reported that he is hopeful to be
cleared for full contact within the next week. Or week
and a half, as we already went over the dates
as far as the playoffs are concerned, and that is
just a huge deal. It'd be great to get Dame
back into the mix to add a little bit more
spice to the east Man. But we're talking about blood
clots and nobody, nobody's making light of that situation. So

(26:38):
we'll see what happens. Last time Damian Lillard played was
on March the eighteenth. Miwaukee has gone a three and
four since and then, so look, you know, we know
how important he is. Definitely we know what they're capable of,
albeit with the end season tournament, nobody really putting too
much stock into that. But this is the team that

(26:59):
has won at all before or with Giannis, so uh,
I think they are They are a team to keep
an eye on. But Dame's got to be fully one
hundred percent, and I don't know if he's gonna be
able to get there with this little bit of a layoff.
And then, of course you got to enter into the
mix right into the playoffs. But we'll see what happens
there as far as that is concerned. First round matchup
right now, and you said was the Knickson Bucks three

(27:22):
and six, seed forty eight and twenty eight, Knicks Bucks
forty one and thirty four. If the playoffs are just
start today, Sean Minard, who you taking in that series?

Speaker 3 (27:30):
Uh? Without Damian Lillard, I do think the New York
Knicks win it.

Speaker 4 (27:34):
And by the way, the Knick dam was sort of
a similar outlook as Jalen Bronson remains sidelined here. He's
spoken up that he intends to in hopes to return
before at the end of the regular season. That's important
to me, man, Like, I get that these guys have
played a million minutes together, but I think it is
important to have like a little momentum heading into the
postseason there, and it is really difficult to just kind
of pick up where you left off when you've been
out for an extended point.

Speaker 3 (27:54):
So I have my eye on win Bronson will come back.

Speaker 4 (27:56):
I will give a little bit of love to og Ananobi,
who's playing by far the best his career in this
recent stretch. Has really shown me some stuff as an
offensive creator and getting into his shots in a way
that I kind of question if he was capable of
that there. I think both these teams have their flaws,
and neither one of them have like that deep of
playoff aspirations. If there's no Damian Lillard, my answer would
be the New York Next. If Dame is there, my

(28:17):
pick would be the Bucks.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
It's good to hear, good to know, and like I said,
hopefully we get everybody back into the mix as far
as that is concerned with the NBA playoffs. All right,
speaking of the playoffs, let's get on over to the west.
Let's talk about John Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. What
is going on? You and I have not an opportunity
to talk about Taylor Jenkins the firing. First and foremost,

(28:43):
John Morant, like are we you know? I get the
off the field stuff. He's a little bit of a
he is immature. He saw what happened the other night
when he's pointing the guns at the Golden State Warriors,
like dude, you know, and he takes the Twitter, but
like whatever, that's that's the day and age. That's these dudes.
I don't have an issue about that. But John Morant
was a superstar. John Morant was a guy that was

(29:06):
must see television. A needle mover for me. I told
the story of a hundred times already on air that like,
I know that there were multiple times a season that
I would be like, oh my goodness, and it's all
based off of John Moran. So I'm looking at John
Moran and the Memphis Grizzlies right now. What are we
looking at? As far as you know, I guess the
ceiling for the Memphis Grizzlies. Are you concerned about this

(29:29):
upcoming playoff run here?

Speaker 4 (29:31):
Yeah, I don't think they have really any hope whatsoever.
And part of my like pushback or frustration over this
firing is, I don't think it matters who's in charge
that I think the reality is like this current team,
this current core is not built to actually contend in
the playoffs, and that starts and ends with John Morant
in my mind. Man, Like we can have all these
conversations about Taylor Jenkins that yes, there's legitimate gripes about
the lack of pick and roll reps that you put

(29:52):
John Moran in that there was not. They ran screens
at a lower frequency than any team in the NBA.
But there's things that you can critique about this specif offense,
john Moran not having the ball in as enough as
his hands, all these things are fair, but John's also
got to step up and be the guy if we
just want to be directing upfront about this. Joles played
forty six games this season. He played nine games last season.
When he has been on the floor this year, he's

(30:14):
averaging twenty two point seven points per game, which is
the lowest since the twenty twenty twenty twenty one season.
He's got four point two rebounds, lowest since the same time,
seven point four assists the lowest since twenty one twenty two.
His field goal percentage is not He's actually got shot
a little better in recent days. He'll give him a
little bit love there. He's up to thirty percent from three,
which is not still a good metric there. You don't

(30:34):
want to be below thirty percent, particularly as a guard
in the NBA. There, So I kind of think Baran
just hasn't been good for what the franchise needs him to.
They had to do something, and I think they're looking
at this as like a hail Mary spark maybe something
in create. But they haven't really been beating a good
team in several months at this point, and you want
to sort through their wins and losses. Even some of
the good wins that they have. It's like, Okay, you

(30:55):
beat the Knicks, but you know, Jalen Bronson wasn't there
that day, And there's a lot of those that you
can kind of trace through this Grizzlies team. I kind
of think they're just a flawed team that isn't quite
good enough and it's gonna be a pretty disappointing playoff
exit this year.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
They're gonna have some serious questions to address this offseason.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
Yeah, and as again, as we look at the potential
matchups for the upcoming playoffs, as far as the Memphis
Grizzlies are concerned, eight spot right now, forty four and
thirty two, they will be in the play in tournament
if it started today, they'd be taking on the Clippers,
who are also forty four and thirty two. Who do
you have in that one off?

Speaker 3 (31:29):
Clippers? I like this Clippers team. I'm buying in there.
Kawi looks back, What do.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
You mean buying in? Clarify buying in?

Speaker 4 (31:40):
I mean the way the path fully aligned is gonna
dictate the ceiling on a lot of this. But the
Clippers are not a team that I want to mess with.
I from the Western Conference team I think they beat
the Grizzlies. I definitely think they beat the Rockets. I
think they could beat the Lakers. I don't think they
could beat the thunder Probably, I think they could beat
the Nuggets. The Clippers are going to be a tough
out in the playoffs. I'll say that there are four

(32:00):
games left that Kawhi is expected to play. It is
always the injury factor with him, but I've seen flashes
these past couple weeks of him looking like the Kawhi
Leonard that once carried a Raptors team to an NBA
Finals championship.

Speaker 3 (32:11):
There.

Speaker 4 (32:12):
I'm not saying that he's that version of him once again,
but if you get close to that, that team's got
a chance. So I am open minded about the Clippers
from a playoff perspective right.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
Now, eighteen to one to win the West, the Clippers,
I'm trying to find anything as far as that we
can get in on them. Now. Is that a little
bit of a stretch? Am I a little over my
skis on that one to say that they could go
ahead and go on a run from the playing tournament
to knocking off OKC or the Nuggets and Warriors. Whoever
else is in front of them to win the West

(32:41):
and reach an NBA Finals this year.

Speaker 4 (32:44):
I mean, they're also not guaranteed to be in the
playing tournament, like they're currently tied with the Timberwolves for
the sixth years. The t Wolves, Clippers, and Grizzlies are
all twenty games back of first place. There the top
out of that three, it's really gonna come down to
those three will end up getting that six seed avoid
the playing in time, and then you're talking about a
first round matchup with either the Nuggets or Lakers.

Speaker 3 (33:03):
Not obviously like a clear path by any means, but
you got a chance. It's sort of my thing.

Speaker 4 (33:08):
So we'll see how it all shakes out and how
the pathway aligns is going to dictate my takes or
my beliefs on a lot of these teams for this,
but I'm certainly I bought into a little bit of
what the Clippers are selling this.

Speaker 2 (33:17):
Year, all right, I did that. Glad we stumbled into
the Clippers conversation there, all right. Next one up on
the list of topics to get into to get as
caught up as far as the NBA is concerned, and uh,
let's do it. Joellingbee surgery. Let's talk about the seventy
six ers here. Man. It's just tough because you want

(33:42):
to say, like Jojo, you've done enough. Thanks.

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Man.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
It's it's like Colin Cowherd did the one time Lebron
It's okay, Ben's here the same thing. It's like Jojo,
you know. But at the same time, if you could
get out there on the floor and help you and
no matter what capacity, it's it's such a scary conversation

(34:07):
because the realistic side of it is this guy is
never gonna be one hundred percent, and when he does
get back into the mix, I feel like this team,
unless they change their mentality, which I don't think would
happen next year. Unless they've changed their mentality, their approach
that surrounds Joel Embiid where he is the end all
be all, I feel like it's a deterrent man because

(34:29):
it's like, you need them right, he's so important, he's
so dominant, and then when he's not there, it's just
it's always about the well, we gotta get the big
man back. The big man's got to get back, you
know it, And it's just it's natural. I understand it,
but I don't feel like it's it's a benefit. I
don't feel like it's a plus for the Sixers organization.
They have a lot of issues, a lot of holes,

(34:50):
and I wouldn't even characterize this as it should be
at one of the top topics to discuss. But you know,
Jewell and b getting healthy, that is the number one
deal future outlook for the big man though in your
mind where we at.

Speaker 4 (35:06):
Yeah, I don't think anybody fully knows right now, which
is sort of the scariest part of this. This specific
surgery that he's getting is not one of these invasive
surgeries or or you know, like a creative experimental anything
like that. This is a pretty run of the male scope.
But there also is not like a clear sort of
what are we fixing here? This is a clean up
sort of surgery that realistically, just about any NBA athlete

(35:28):
gonna go at any point here that plenty of these
guys have some issues floating around with their knees that
you know, you scope it and you're back out in
the court. We've seen guys get these surgery, this specific
surgery and be back on the floor by the end
of the season plenty of times.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
Here.

Speaker 4 (35:40):
I think probably the conversations are that they there's been
confusion all year of why did not his why did
his body not respond correctly? Why is he still having
pain and swelling that there is not this new injury
he's dealing with. It's just not kind of reacting accordingly
that we saw all season. We'd see you well and
be for two three games, then he's swelling out, swelling
up and out for the next couple.

Speaker 3 (35:59):
So I think they're sort of just trying to redo
that and hope for the best.

Speaker 4 (36:02):
They're gonna kick the can down the line and try
and avoid these experimental basically prayer of surgeries until they
absolutely have to here. But it's not great. We shouldn't
rest on this news as like, Okay, he's fixed. Next year,
everything is going to be back. And I truly do
both do feel that the NBA Draft lottery man, the
results of that are going to sway the direction this
franchise in a pretty significant way based on how that trends.

(36:25):
And the last point that I'll note on the Joel stuff,
it's maddening to me like how just vague the Sixers
and Joel specifically intend on being with all of this
that we got a little bit more information from the
Shan Shrani report to give a little inside baseball and
how the sausage is made.

Speaker 3 (36:39):
Here.

Speaker 4 (36:40):
This is the announcement from seventy six ers PR directly
here for Joel Embid surgery. It says, quote, following consultations
with medical experts, it has been determined that Joel Embiid
will undergo arthroscopic surgery next week to address his left knee.
Further updates will be provided following the procedure.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
That's all we got.

Speaker 4 (36:56):
Like that, there's no information in there as far as
like what is the outlook, what is the timeline all that. Again,
we got a little bit more in this specific case
from Sean Sharania there. But the bottom line is, I
think we're gonna be left in the blind with Joelle's
outlook for basically the entirety of this whole process.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yeah, and I'm gonna ask you to follow up and
it's like, you don't know what. All we all love
and respect, but it's like there's a chance he's not
ready to go next year. Yeah. At the beginning of
the season, Yeah, right, and then I thought I thought
this injury was a hell of a lot more drastic
than just say we're gonna go in and clean some
things up here, you know. And I get it, like

(37:33):
I'm asking you a question that you don't know the
answer to. But it's like, are the Sixers being honest?
I can't even say that out loud without laughing. No,
they're not being honest. Should we be prepared for the
absolute worst?

Speaker 4 (37:49):
I think it should be in the back of our mind.
He's gonna give it another go and probably another two
or three goes like. I don't think Joel Embiid is
throwing in the towel here. And the most important part
to note here is he is under contract until twenty eight,
twenty nine, so there are some concrete reasons for why
he should be trying to get back on the basketball courts.

Speaker 3 (38:06):
And the other part that goes right with this is
every other.

Speaker 4 (38:09):
Team sees the exact same situation, sees the exact same
contract figures, and aren't exactly itching to throw that on
their books. So for the trade you well ANDB Crowd,
I don't really see a legitimate, like a logistic pathway
to that even being a possibility here, And like for
the Sixers specifically, I'll tell you I'll bring it back to.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
The NBA draft lottery.

Speaker 4 (38:26):
If things break exactly right for the Sixers team, what
does that mean, Cooper?

Speaker 2 (38:31):
Mean? Shot, you can't be selling the overall one?

Speaker 3 (38:36):
Can you can you win chance? Ten points?

Speaker 2 (38:39):
Are you going to bad? Believing real thinking for a
second that the Sixers have a realistic shot at winning
the overall one spot.

Speaker 4 (38:48):
I think they have a ten point five percent chance
at winning the number one overall spot. There, they got
a sixty four percent chance at keeping the draft pick.
That is more of my focus, to be honest, they
have to walk away with a guy here. If they
can do that, then all of a sudden, you're talking
about something that you have Max, you have McCain, you
have whether it is Flagg er Ace Bailey or you
know VJ. Edgecom or whoever you want to throw in

(39:09):
for this potential guy that they bring in. Depending on
where the numbers fall there that that can start to
be a little bit of a core. And Paul George
is still kicking around. I'm not expecting that we ever
get fair value or max contract Paul George, but I
do think he'll be better than he was this year.
Looking forward to it next year, then you can kind
of run with that as a core and Joelle doesn't
have to be like the guy all the time. But
then there's also a world where with there being a

(39:29):
sixty four percent chance of the Sixers keeping the pick,
there's also quite linear a pathway to them not.

Speaker 3 (39:34):
Keeping the pick.

Speaker 4 (39:35):
And then you're pretty stuck because what do you do
when you dive into the actual books, the salaries, what
do you have under contract with his team? There's not
a lot that they can do this offseason. That last
offseason was they're all in move that they brought in
Paul George. You signed kay Leb Martin as this long
term piece. You made these moves to kind of build
a core here, and that's sort of what you still
have dug your heels and on. So if they're not

(39:55):
able to keep a player there, it's going to be
a pretty like disgusting offseason of just talking ourselves into
we'd run it back and things will be better next
year because there aren't that many options. So the draft
lottery is going to be a huge day for the
Sixers franchise one way or another.

Speaker 2 (40:09):
I want to get into the draft just a second,
but how does Paul George improve because I don't. I don't.
I don't see that.

Speaker 3 (40:17):
I mean, I'm not arguing that he's going to be
an All Star or Max Conna. Ever again I prove improve. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (40:24):
Well, to start with, like, this entire year, to be
fair to Paul, was pretty tough from an injury standpoint,
Like he had the bone bruise in preseason, came back,
reinjured it in the regular season, both in that left
knee there, that he was dealing with, the thumb issue
or the hand issue that he had trouble with his shooting,
also battled a groin issue, So like there were some
like legitimate things that he battled. And on top of that,
like to be fair to the guy, I know that

(40:44):
like he was dealing with the fire stuff out in
LA that his house burned down there, his family's still
living out there. There's a lot going on this year.
And on top of that, there was all the Joel
Embiid situation, and you know, is he here?

Speaker 3 (40:56):
Is he not? What's his injury status?

Speaker 4 (40:57):
So there's a lot of factors that I think it
played in to it being a really bad season for
Paul George. I'm not talking myself into he's going to
be an All Star next year or back now. But
I think to be fair to the guy that we
should be a little bit open minded that we'll get
a better version of him in here too.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
Hey, I liked the roster coming in this year. I've
never bought into a championship team. And I sure as
hell wasn't Dave mcminnamon on my timeline going these are
you know, I could not believe that he's I missed
that now. It wasn't Dave mcminnamon. It was sorry, it
was another ESPN guy. And the clip was just floating
around in my timeline the other day where he was like,

(41:33):
they are the three best. The six ers have the
three best players in the NBA right now, Like all right, relaxed, dude.
I like what Darryl Moorey was able to put together.
But you know, and if McCain come back, healthy, Maxy
have about Maxy played well at most of the times
this year. But I didn't think Maxy was what I
expected him to be. Whether that's unfair, I think that

(41:55):
kind of goes into your Paul George conversation, your take
there with everything that was happening. So we asked Maxy
to be a bigger player, and like I said, he
had some really good moments this year, good games, but
I think he would even tell you he can perform
better collectively. As far as the draft is concerned, I
like the big man out of Duke Malumette here where

(42:16):
are you at?

Speaker 4 (42:17):
I like him a lot Malawak. That's a guy that
really has opened my eyes there. It all depends on
sort of how the like to lay out the the
odds from a sixers perspective. There, they've got a sixty
four percent chance of keeping pick a ten point five
percent chance at the number one overall, pick a forty
two point one percent chance at it being a top
five pick there, and the way that it kind of
like scales down from there. Basically, it's all gonna be

(42:41):
dependent on where the lottery and where they fall. But
if they can get a guy in that top six,
any of these guys I think can really be real
deal contributors. I'm kind of leading the Ace Balley charge
a little bit here. The Rutgers guys at disappointing. We
did not see him be able to play. And then
Dylan Harper is pretty widely regarded as the better prospect
out of the two of them. I like Ace from
a fit and like impact perspective here, high level rebounder,

(43:02):
guy who competes his butt off. He's kind of a
true power forward center type tweener there, malwak him in
on as well. I think he's more than just kind
of your traditional center. I saw him sort of pinned
as this like screen role dunk lob type guy.

Speaker 3 (43:16):
He's more than that. There's some legitimate touch to him.
He starts shooting three pointers.

Speaker 4 (43:19):
And another guy who it's appealing to me when guys
pick up a basketball late in life, where there's some
untapped potential. And I've used this phrase before, but sometimes
he feels kind of like inquisitive in his approach to
the game. It's like, oh, I can do this if
I move this way, they can't guard me, and those
kind of things. They still figuring things out. So I
think there's a lot of untapped potential there. And of
course Cooper Flag is a franchise changing talent that you

(43:40):
don't think twice about whatsoever if you land that first pick.
So if they can get a guy in the top six,
I do think that that can help this franchise in
a major way.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
So Prayers to the Ping Pong.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Balls, Yes, Prayers to the Ping bomb Balls. Put it
on a T shirt. He's also eighteen years old, just
like Cooper Flag, so sure, you know, and there are
some similarities with that body's type and the young frame
and mentality that you look and it's like that Joe
el embiid over there. But you know, Jojo was definitely
a little bit more offensively inept than than Malatte Maluac. Right,

(44:15):
I'm saying it right, Maluac, come on, Malawak.

Speaker 3 (44:20):
Yeah, come on, Yeah, that's what I've heard. I've messed
it up plenty of times.

Speaker 2 (44:23):
No, I've actually googled pronunciation probably five times when I
was live, just to make I make sure I got
it right, and I didn't do it there, so that
that's what I get. But yes, he is a stud.
We'll see what happens. Prayers to the Ping punk Balls.
That's the title of this episode of Picks and Roll.
Right here, man, We're bad.

Speaker 4 (44:42):
And by the way, for the MB conversation, I don't
know if I would make the case that he was
more offensively app coming out of Kansas than Malawauque is
currently like Joelle the first time he stepped on the
floor for the Sixers was a night and day different
player than the version of his Kansas. He was talented,
he we saw the flashes, There's no doubt. But you
go back and watch his Kansas, that dude was raw. Man,
he was skinny, He did not have a lot of

(45:03):
touch that he kind of showed, and those two years
that he had off at the start of his career,
I think Like is in a large way responsible for
the version of him of actually just learning the intricate
of basketball, some of the skill set stuff. Malwac I've
seen some really encouraging flashes with a lot of that
so and being sort of a top one percentile. As
far as the outcome of what his potential was, I
don't want to throw those expectations to Malwock whatsoever, but

(45:24):
I do think this guy with like legit all star potential,
like foundational of a franchise.

Speaker 3 (45:29):
If he hits his peak, could reach those those heights.

Speaker 2 (45:32):
And on top of the fact that the Sixers have
Maxi and McCain like those Yeah, let's go man, enough
of this bs in Like, you got two good pieces there,
Let's build around these guys. Stop. You know, like, I
get the superstar mentality, you gotta have superstars, but you know,
have we won a damn championship with that approach. No,

(45:54):
so maybe you change it up a little bit, Daryl Morey,
Sure as hell, isn't I know that much? We'll see. Yeah,
all right, let's keep it moving here, Shan Bannar. One
pick for tonight where we looking six games on the card?
Are we taking them puts minus? It's ugly. NBA is
so ugly last night there were so many games that
were double digit spreads. Tonight we actually had three games

(46:15):
that are four and a half, four and a half
of one and a half. The other three are thirteen, fourteen,
and twelve. We are down to home stretch man. I'll
tell you what Silver has, chmis Er. Silver has a
lot to improve on these final couple weeks. As far
as the NBA regular season is concerned, needs to be
at the top of the list because it is brutal.

Speaker 4 (46:34):
Anything for you here, Yeah, my favorite play today would
actually be Washington Wizards plus fourteen over the Orlando Magic.

Speaker 1 (46:40):
Here.

Speaker 4 (46:41):
I know this sounds like a crazy like hoopstick o take,
but I've loved watching this Wizard team lately. The young
talent they got. They're still competitive and for a lot
of the same reasons that you're sort of sick of
the league as a whole, and a lot of people
feeling that way. You won't feel that Washington watching the
Washington Wizards. That Alex sar competes A. J. Johnson, There's
some real stuff there. Jordan Poole fun to watch at
times when things are going right there. So I've been

(47:02):
impressed with the way this Wizards team has competed in
recent weeks here. The fourteen and a half is too
many for my liking in this Magic team, they got
some flaws. Man, that's a team that should be smashing
the panic button for how this season has gone and
is the team I think will be a relatively easy
out from a postseason perspective here, I think the Wizards
keep it close, keep it a game tonight. In the
fourteen way too many for my liking. So I don't
think they win outright, but to keep it a single

(47:24):
digit game. Absolutely love it.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
The best in the business covering the NBA. Sean Bernard
quickly on the way out the door, Sean, who you
got in the final four on Saturday.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
Night, Houston and Florida.

Speaker 1 (47:35):
Baby.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
Wow, See we're going head to head.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
Yeah. Do you want me to make my Houston pitch
real quick?

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Beef made a pretty good one last night. Let's see
if you could top it.

Speaker 3 (47:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (47:47):
My biggest case here is these are grown men that
when you look at Duke as talented as they are,
these are nineteen year old guys, one and done guys.
The Cooper Flag incredible, Common Maloac incredible, conkinent wal incredible.
But when you look at Houston, LJ. Cryer has a
national championship on his back. He is twenty three years old.
These are guys who have competed for several years at
the collegiate level that are bought into what Calvin Sampson

(48:09):
is saying it. I think it's gonna be an electric game,
but I think there has been a bit too much
love for Duke here that Yes, they're good. I think
they probably win that game probably six times out of
ten if it has played against Houston, But the four
times out of ten is pretty important to note here.
I don't think this is going to be kind of
a clean sweep, and I think things can go in
the right direction. So Emmanuel Sharp LJ. Cryer, these are
guys that can take care of you if you give

(48:31):
him an opportunity. It would not shock me whatsoever. Houston
imposes themselves defensively and have enough on the offensive end
able to basically kick Duke out of this tournament.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
Here, all right. Well, as far as the Auburn and
Florida pick, why are you going Florida over Auburn.

Speaker 4 (48:46):
I'm a little nervous about Jani Broome and kind of
his injury status here. Haven't really seen anything of substance
as far as what his outlook. I'm sure he'll be
out there and playing, it's just what level. I was
kind of nervous about him basically not using that arm
whatsoever when you returned into that game there and Florida,
I mean, the guard play I think is just gonna
be a bit too much for Auburn. Walter Clayton is
a killer man that he is ready to take that

(49:08):
game over whenever you get an opportunity. They're deep on
just about all areas. That's a game that I think
could be. I mean, I think these are both gonna
be excellent basketball games. You can make the case for
all four teams to win this, as you pointed out
plenty of times on the station, I think is accurate there.
But I think Walter Clayton, to me is sort of
the selling point that this feels like his tournament, his moment.
He's made every taking every chance and making the most

(49:28):
of it to this point. I think that carries on
and he takes care of business against an Auburn team
that I've sort of been waiting for them to have
that stretch of just making stupid decisions and falling apart
at the wrong time. They've held together to this point,
and it feels due to me.

Speaker 2 (49:42):
All right, great stuff Sean across the board, getting caught
up in all things NBA, and you can find Sean
on socials real easy to find at Sean Underscore but
Nard one. It's been a little while since I've actually
had to say that, but Seawn Underscore but Nard one
and doing a bang up job over at DK network
dot com covering all things from college troops to NBA

(50:03):
and beyond. Sean. Great stuff, We'll catch up later. Good
luck on all of those plays, except for Houston. I'm
definitely on dup there. Keep it locked right, here to
the Gambler, and if you miss anything, once again at
FOXPHL gambler dot com.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
The pix and Roll podcast can be found on FOXPHL
Gambler dot com