Next Kobe? Is Jayson Tatum Chasing Ghosts or Glory?

[00:00:01] Welcome to Front Runner Podcast Collective.

[00:00:13] I am your humble host, Vince, and we are here today to talk about what's all going on in

[00:00:20] the second round.

[00:00:21] We got a really good show for you today.

[00:00:24] The first thing that we're going to talk about is we're going to talk about Jason

[00:00:27] Tatum.

[00:00:28] We're going to get into all the series and then we're also going to get into a couple

[00:00:33] of news and notes that we need to go ahead and take care of.

[00:00:39] With all that being said, let's get to the socials first and foremost.

[00:00:44] If you have not followed us on X or Twitter, go ahead and do so.

[00:00:48] We are still, I'm going to tell you right now, as somebody who is really trying to

[00:00:53] get more engaged in it and stuff like that, maybe we can start live tweeting

[00:01:01] some games.

[00:01:02] We're getting better with that.

[00:01:04] The other thing that we can talk about is the YouTube channel.

[00:01:08] Front Runner Podcast Collective has all the things that the podcast, but usually

[00:01:15] we stick a couple of stats or a couple of little news items inside the actual clip

[00:01:22] that is a little bit different than the podcast.

[00:01:25] There's also a little bit of funny and some stats to go along with it.

[00:01:29] I would implore you to go ahead and subscribe to the YouTube channel, like, comment on

[00:01:35] the clips and also you're going to get a response from me.

[00:01:39] Somebody sent me a comment yesterday and I'll probably respond within two hours.

[00:01:45] Right now we're still small enough to do that so I enjoy doing it and you get

[00:01:49] it.

[00:01:50] And remember with Twitter it's at Front Runner PC.

[00:01:56] Now with that being said and you are here with the podcast again, welcome.

[00:02:02] Thank you.

[00:02:03] And just remember to download those podcasts on your favorite podcast platform that you

[00:02:10] like to use.

[00:02:11] The downloads help immensely.

[00:02:14] I can't tell you just the outpouring of love and success that we've had so far.

[00:02:20] We got listeners in Jamaica.

[00:02:22] I can't believe it.

[00:02:23] We have listeners in Nairobi, Kenya.

[00:02:27] It's absolutely mind boggling to me so thank you for your guys' support and let's keep

[00:02:32] it rolling.

[00:02:34] So the first thing that we're going to get to today is we're going to talk about

[00:02:38] Jason Tatum and we're going to talk about him and encapsulate him within this series

[00:02:44] but also over the last couple years and what has gone on.

[00:02:49] So we're going to start with how we always start is just the Front Runner focus and

[00:02:56] Jason Tatum is in that focus.

[00:02:59] So Tatum was drafted in 2017, okay?

[00:03:03] He's a long, graceful, almost balletic type of athlete.

[00:03:08] He's very just malleable and can get into spaces that you just don't normally see

[00:03:14] for somebody who is 6'9", 230 basically.

[00:03:19] When he came out he was 6'8", 210, well 6'9", 230 now.

[00:03:25] The other thing about him is that there's no argument about his talent and his skill

[00:03:30] level at all.

[00:03:31] There's never been an issue with that.

[00:03:34] Jason Tatum is a phenomenal player.

[00:03:36] He has been averaging 25 to 27 points a game in the last three or four years

[00:03:44] so we can't question that and we won't even try to because that is something that we

[00:03:50] don't do here.

[00:03:51] We celebrate players here.

[00:03:54] If you notice there's not a lot of shade.

[00:03:57] We do give criticism but shade is different.

[00:04:02] Shade is you're just salty because you can't do it.

[00:04:05] Now I can't do it but I like Jason Tatum.

[00:04:07] I think he's a phenomenal athlete.

[00:04:10] But there's some things that we need to get to.

[00:04:15] The piece that we're going to go ahead and focus on and the piece that we're curious

[00:04:19] about and that we've been waiting on Jason Tatum is when is he going to turn into

[00:04:27] that elite player?

[00:04:30] When is he going to turn into that killer, that assassin?

[00:04:34] Now mind you Jason Tatum's favorite player is Kobe Bryant.

[00:04:41] He's also been labeled as a Kobe Bryant disciple.

[00:04:47] He's also been, he's talked Kobe up in a lot of his interviews and all of that.

[00:04:53] I think we had a podcast I want to say about three months ago talking about Devin

[00:04:58] Booker, Jason Tatum and how that All-Star game went.

[00:05:04] The reason why we're bringing up Kobe and Jason Tatum today in this focus is this.

[00:05:10] I'm going to read you a quote from Jason Tatum and this is in regards to Kobe Bryant.

[00:05:14] Kobe Bryant was the reason I started playing basketball, always was and always will be

[00:05:21] my favorite player of all time.

[00:05:23] I love the way he could get his shot off and his footwork down in a post.

[00:05:31] It's his determination to be the best player.

[00:05:34] That's a quote from Jason Tatum.

[00:05:36] The reason why I bring that up is because we've been looking for that Jason Tatum

[00:05:42] and we just have not gotten it.

[00:05:43] Now has there been 50-point explosions in a playoffs?

[00:05:47] Yes.

[00:05:48] Has he done incredible things in a playoff series?

[00:05:51] There have been more moments than they have been series defining.

[00:05:56] There hasn't been a signature Jason Tatum series yet.

[00:06:01] And I said yet.

[00:06:02] Keeping in mind he was drafted in 2017, we are now in 2024.

[00:06:08] That makes Jason Tatum about 26 years of age.

[00:06:11] This is the other thing that we need to talk about and that is where we have the

[00:06:17] disconnect with Jason Tatum right now.

[00:06:19] He talks about how he is a Kobe disciple.

[00:06:23] His favorite player is Kobe.

[00:06:25] We still haven't seen that killer instinct that Kobe has been known for.

[00:06:33] And until we see that, until we see that Kobe Bryant's singular focus to be the

[00:06:38] best and take and extract everything out of his essence to be the best basketball

[00:06:46] player and to produce the most he possibly can.

[00:06:50] Until we see that, I wondered out loud honestly and I talked to, I talked to, oh I don't

[00:07:00] know if I talked to you guys about this.

[00:07:02] He is somewhere around but we have a producer on the show.

[00:07:08] He goes by Bunch of Funch.

[00:07:10] Don't ask me why.

[00:07:12] Don't ask me.

[00:07:13] This is what he wants to be known by.

[00:07:15] So Bunch of Funch.

[00:07:17] You my guy.

[00:07:18] Love you.

[00:07:19] We were talking about Jason Tatum and we were talking about is he chasing Kobe Bryant's

[00:07:29] lore or is he crumbling under the pressure of what Kobe has done.

[00:07:37] We have a lot of like Kobe stories right.

[00:07:41] We know about the 81 point game.

[00:07:45] We know about the 60 point game when he retired.

[00:07:50] We know about the Indiana Pacers Lakers series where he played when Shaquille Neal

[00:07:57] got into foul trouble and he shut it down and held it up for the Lakers.

[00:08:03] We have a lot of instances where Kobe put his mark on a series or ended a series

[00:08:12] and punctuated.

[00:08:15] We do not have those same things for Jason Tatum and that is where we are right now.

[00:08:22] I'm going to take you back to the 21-22 season.

[00:08:27] Golden State was playing the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals and Draymond Green was

[00:08:35] on that team.

[00:08:36] Obviously he's on the Golden State Warriors.

[00:08:38] You know what I'm talking about there.

[00:08:41] The Celtics were up 2-1 and then the avalanche happened.

[00:08:49] What I mean by that is that Draymond's death and their will gave them that game four

[00:08:57] in that pivotal game.

[00:09:00] It was never the same.

[00:09:02] Now the media and the clunders believed at the time the Celtics had the better

[00:09:06] roster.

[00:09:07] They thought that the Golden State Warriors were small and they thought they were aging

[00:09:13] but as far as the Warriors are concerned you can never count out their championship

[00:09:18] pedigree and the Warriors win.

[00:09:20] So it's the same old story with the Warriors.

[00:09:25] It's history, staff, threes, put you in the blender, repeat.

[00:09:36] And that's what happened and the series got away from the Boston Celtics.

[00:09:42] Now at that point in time we were like oh Jason Tatum he 24, oh he got plenty of

[00:09:47] chances to get to this.

[00:09:49] He's got all of these things that are wrapped around.

[00:09:53] Now keep in mind Jason Tatum has been a resident in the playoffs pretty much since

[00:09:59] he got into the league.

[00:10:01] You know he was there for the Kyrie situation.

[00:10:06] He was there for the almost kind of before post Kyrie situation when Kyrie I think he

[00:10:14] had some he had impacted wisdom tooth or some sort of nasal surgery or whatever it

[00:10:21] was.

[00:10:22] There were a couple things that happened in Boston with Kyrie but there in steel

[00:10:27] was Jason Tatum and he's been through all of these things with the Celtics and he's

[00:10:37] still so young.

[00:10:40] So we have been waiting impatiently for the light to click on with him.

[00:10:45] When the series ended we needed to give more credence to now in within that series

[00:10:50] the other thing happened that we kind of need to talk about too is that keep in

[00:10:55] mind that Eme Adoka was the head coach of the Boston Celtics at that time.

[00:11:00] Do you guys remember the first half of that 21-22 season?

[00:11:07] Do you remember the struggles that Boston had?

[00:11:10] It wasn't really until the second half of the season that what Eme Adoka wanted

[00:11:17] to put in to or implement into Boston didn't really take fruition until the second half.

[00:11:26] And that's when we saw the best of Tatum and that's when they made that championship

[00:11:30] run.

[00:11:31] Now after the series was over and we get closer to the last season there was the

[00:11:41] incident with Eme Adoka at that time.

[00:11:46] He got dismissed obviously and then Joe Mazzullo takes over.

[00:11:52] Now also part of the brain drain that also happened in Boston is around that time

[00:11:59] Will Hardy who is now the coach at Utah obviously got his job.

[00:12:06] Now that's a lot of intellectual basketball IQ that walked out the building and I think

[00:12:16] at that point in time the Celtics might have made a shift but the one thing that

[00:12:23] I want to talk about before we get there is this.

[00:12:26] Under Eme Adoka, Jason Tatum, his game stepped up and we actually have evidence of this.

[00:12:36] What I want to talk about is that he demanded more from Jason Tatum.

[00:12:40] He demanded more on the defensive end.

[00:12:43] He demanded a sort of aggression on the offensive end and he wanted more leadership

[00:12:49] and play making from Jason Tatum.

[00:12:51] Now prior to the 21-22 season Jason Tatum had never had more than 477 rebounds.

[00:13:05] Now in that 21-22 season Jason Tatum had over 600 rebounds.

[00:13:15] So we're starting to see progress here.

[00:13:17] Now also another thing that leads to aggression or the thought process if you're putting stress

[00:13:25] on the defense is how many free throws you take.

[00:13:30] And the reason why I bring that up is because the key thing to a lot of these

[00:13:35] great players and I talk about it all the time.

[00:13:37] I talk about it with LeBron and what have you is that when you take a bunch of

[00:13:46] free throw attempts, first of all the ball stops.

[00:13:51] You can set your defense, makes it easier.

[00:13:55] What have you?

[00:13:56] The other thing is you're putting fouls on the other guys.

[00:13:58] You're putting unnecessary stress on their team.

[00:14:04] You're doing a lot of things when you go to the basket.

[00:14:07] Now Jason Tatum, his aggression, it did manifest in 21-22.

[00:14:13] He went to the line prior 340 times.

[00:14:22] That was the most attempts he had.

[00:14:24] In the 21-22 season he went to the line 469 times.

[00:14:29] Big difference, big jump.

[00:14:32] Now we say all those things as a backdrop.

[00:14:36] So Adoka leaves.

[00:14:38] So Eme Adoka leaves.

[00:14:40] There's a lot of scandal.

[00:14:41] We don't need to get into it.

[00:14:42] This is not part of that podcast.

[00:14:44] Now I believe at that point in time there was a fundamental philosophy shift in Boston.

[00:14:50] And I think where Eme Adoka challenged Jason Tatum, I think that the brain trust of

[00:14:59] Missoula and Brad Stevens, they wanted to insulate Tatum.

[00:15:04] And we'll get to that.

[00:15:07] Now after the meltdown to Miami, Michael Myers heat, right?

[00:15:22] It's not all on Tatum.

[00:15:24] It really isn't.

[00:15:25] Let's talk about it.

[00:15:27] Remember that series, Jalen Brown?

[00:15:29] We were scoffing at his inability to use his left hand which it seems like Jalen

[00:15:37] Brown has been in the lab because he used his left hand the other day to dunk on somebody

[00:15:42] and it was incredible.

[00:15:45] Loved it.

[00:15:46] But Tatum's inability to meet the moment at that present time when his team was struggling

[00:15:52] and Jalen Brown was struggling, who is his number two?

[00:15:58] It kind of initiated something in the Boston organization.

[00:16:07] Just remember this last offseason, the Celtics added 7'3 Christoph Porzingis.

[00:16:15] They also added Drew Holliday, former champion, right?

[00:16:19] So you get some championship pedigree and probably the most complete role player

[00:16:24] in the NBA.

[00:16:25] And people will say, oh that's a diss to Drew Holliday.

[00:16:28] No it's not.

[00:16:30] He's a star in your role type of guy.

[00:16:32] I'm not saying he's very valuable.

[00:16:36] He's one of the, if you have him on your team you know he's going to make right plays

[00:16:41] all the time.

[00:16:43] So Drew Holliday to me is an absolute stud and a certified G.

[00:16:47] So this is no shade on Drew Holliday whatsoever.

[00:16:53] But what I'm saying to you is that look at what the Celtics did after the debacle

[00:16:59] to Miami.

[00:17:02] So you take Marcus Smart out of the equation.

[00:17:10] You take Robert Williams out of the equation.

[00:17:14] Two big personalities by the way.

[00:17:16] And if you know anything about Jason Tatum, he's soft spoken, he don't have a lot to

[00:17:21] say.

[00:17:22] He's very like middle of the road when it comes to his comments and things of

[00:17:27] that nature.

[00:17:28] It's not real provocative or anything like that.

[00:17:33] But they take those two personalities out.

[00:17:37] And now we have Drew Holliday who is, by all accounts very quiet but one of the

[00:17:46] best leaders in a locker room that you can possibly have.

[00:17:52] And then you add Christoph Porzingis.

[00:17:55] Christoph Porzingis to me was the cheat code.

[00:17:59] He is able at 7'3", post up smaller guys when you get the switch on the pick and roll.

[00:18:07] He can punish them, he can shoot over them from like 17 feet or even 3.

[00:18:13] He is just something that a lot of teams don't have.

[00:18:18] This is a luxury item and it's paying off in spades for the Boston Celtics even

[00:18:25] though in this series he is not available.

[00:18:28] Which brings me to my point.

[00:18:34] So we talked about Drew Holliday coming in, we talked about Christoph Porzingis coming

[00:18:39] in.

[00:18:40] Facts over feelings on this pot.

[00:18:42] They insulated that myth because they knew that he is not one of the elite players

[00:18:48] in this league.

[00:18:49] And what I mean by that, elite is different.

[00:18:52] You can talk about great, you can talk about how good he is, you can talk about

[00:18:56] how skilled he is.

[00:18:57] You can talk about how intricate he is to winning.

[00:19:01] But when you call him that guy, there's still questions right?

[00:19:07] It's not, it doesn't feel good when it comes off the tongue when you say oh Jason

[00:19:13] Tatum is him.

[00:19:15] There's no problem with that.

[00:19:17] Let me give you some numbers, let me kind of just run this past you and then

[00:19:20] you kind of make your own decision on what Jason Tatum is or what Jason Tatum

[00:19:23] isn't.

[00:19:25] You know here on the Frontrunner Podcast Collective we are big on box

[00:19:30] plus minus.

[00:19:31] We think box plus minus is really indicative to who's doing what, who's really doing

[00:19:38] what and how it kind of manifests itself in the league.

[00:19:45] So Jason Tatum's box plus minus for the last three seasons.

[00:19:50] In 2021-22 it was an even five.

[00:19:55] In 2022-23 it was a plus 5.1.

[00:19:59] Actually no, it was plus 5.5 in the 2022-2023 season.

[00:20:10] In this season he is a plus 5.1.

[00:20:16] Now what do these numbers mean to you?

[00:20:21] Now to my analytics people out there I know this means everything to you.

[00:20:26] I know VORP means a lot to you.

[00:20:29] I know that offensive box plus minus and defensive box plus minus and

[00:20:36] offensive rating and things of that nature mean a lot to you.

[00:20:39] So for the people who just want to see hoops, dunks, you want to see step backs, you want

[00:20:48] to see people getting their back, box plus minus is for the nerds.

[00:20:55] So basically in a real kind of, how can I put this, truncated way I'm going to

[00:21:04] give you kind of like the criteria's of the box plus minus and how they kind

[00:21:07] of score it. A plus 10 box plus minus is all-time season.

[00:21:14] So that's basically what the season that Yoke-age is having right now.

[00:21:19] So if you have a plus 10 box plus minus, that's Yoke-age.

[00:21:26] A plus 8 box plus minus is an MVP season.

[00:21:33] So that's your Joker, Luka, Giannis, SGA they're all 9 or better.

[00:21:40] So 8 plus is MVP level.

[00:21:43] Keep in mind what I said about Jason Tatum earlier.

[00:21:46] 6 plus 6 is an all-NBA consideration.

[00:21:52] Those are your Halliburton's, your LeBron's, your Sabonises, people in that range.

[00:21:57] Your plus 4 is a all-star.

[00:22:02] Jason Tatum, do you know that Kristoff Parzingas has a better box plus minus than Jason Tatum?

[00:22:09] Just food for thought.

[00:22:10] Who else?

[00:22:11] Anthony Davis is in this range so you kind of get the feel.

[00:22:15] Now a plus 2 box plus minus is what they call a good starter.

[00:22:20] That's Kat Bam and Drew Holliday.

[00:22:23] Those are guys in that range.

[00:22:26] Now a zero box plus minus, meaning that you're a decent player, meaning that you add value,

[00:22:33] you're not really hurting the team, you're kind of keeping everything above board.

[00:22:37] You're just keeping it kind of steady.

[00:22:40] Your MPJs of the world, your Nikolaj Vucovic of the world who played for Chicago, the

[00:22:47] Josh Hartz of the world.

[00:22:49] So if you kind of wanted a scale of what box plus minus really is, there it is.

[00:22:56] And now with Tatum being 5.1 this year and knowing that Jokic and Luka and SGA were

[00:23:05] really way above that, it kind of gives you some numbers to formulate your own opinion.

[00:23:13] This is mine.

[00:23:15] Now how clutch is Jason Tatum?

[00:23:19] He got numbers for that as well.

[00:23:21] I wanted to read you a quote by Kobe Bryant.

[00:23:25] He's so beloved here, you know that.

[00:23:27] You know that Kobe is loved in LA, especially here in LA.

[00:23:31] We lost our man too soon.

[00:23:34] But what Kobe brought to LA and what we love about Kobe is Kobe had no fear.

[00:23:40] We always go back to the Utah playoff series when he was real young and he

[00:23:45] He missed three, the air ball, three three-pointers.

[00:23:52] But that started the legend of Kobe.

[00:23:54] Kobe was never embarrassed by failing.

[00:23:58] I'll say that again.

[00:24:01] Kobe was never embarrassed by failing.

[00:24:04] And let me give you this quote.

[00:24:06] Once you know what failure feels like, determination chases success.

[00:24:16] Rest in peace, Kobe being Bryant.

[00:24:19] And thank you for the lessons that you continue to provide for us even in death.

[00:24:25] We love you, Kobe.

[00:24:27] We will always love you.

[00:24:30] You are God.

[00:24:33] So with that being said, and we talked about what clutch is and whatever case

[00:24:40] it can be.

[00:24:42] I have some numbers to back this up as well.

[00:24:47] This is not a smear campaign towards Jason Tatum.

[00:24:50] There's an actual point, but I want to get to this and then we can move on

[00:24:55] and I can make my point.

[00:24:57] Jason Tatum is ranked 25th when it comes to clutch numbers at this present

[00:25:02] time.

[00:25:04] Now, people detractors of this actual stat will tell me that, hell, you

[00:25:10] don't know anything about basketball, Vince, because the Celtics didn't play

[00:25:15] in a bunch of clutch games.

[00:25:17] You're right.

[00:25:18] They didn't play in a lot of competitive games because they blew people

[00:25:22] out, right?

[00:25:23] They have one of the most historic net ratings in the history of

[00:25:26] basketball.

[00:25:27] So obviously, his clutch performances were going to be truncated a little

[00:25:36] bit, but I do still have numbers.

[00:25:38] We can still use this as an actual tool.

[00:25:42] And what I'm going to use is the actual numbers that he did have.

[00:25:46] OK, so what they said that Jason Tatum played approximately 110 clutch

[00:25:54] minutes.

[00:25:56] Now, let's use SGA because he played 107 clutch minutes.

[00:26:01] So we got two basically same guys even, right?

[00:26:04] In a sense, we got one who aspires to be.

[00:26:08] MVP candidate and one who was a actual top three MVP candidate in SGA.

[00:26:15] So the minutes are close.

[00:26:17] So 110 to 107, we got it.

[00:26:19] OK, Shay ranked seventh in clutch performance.

[00:26:25] So he played three less minutes than SGA, then Jason Tatum, and he ranked

[00:26:30] seventh on this list of clutch performers.

[00:26:34] Now, the field goal percentage in clutch time is the stat that we need

[00:26:39] to talk about, and this is where I'm going to make my point.

[00:26:42] Shay shot 58.1% in clutch moments.

[00:26:46] Jason Tatum shot 36.1% in clutch time moments.

[00:26:56] Well, you say Vince again, he wasn't in a lot of them.

[00:27:01] He wasn't in a lot of them.

[00:27:02] And Shay is an MVP candidate and Jason Tatum is not.

[00:27:08] OK, so you want somebody who is not an MVP candidate to go up against

[00:27:13] Jason Tatum and see where the stats lie.

[00:27:15] OK, I got one for you.

[00:27:19] Did you know that Victor Wimbaayama played basically the same amount of

[00:27:23] clutch minutes and he had a better field goal percentage than Jason Tatum?

[00:27:28] So here's a team that has no one.

[00:27:33] No, Vasell is OK.

[00:27:36] Kelden Johnson is OK, but we understand that team is a lottery team.

[00:27:41] They didn't have a lot of talent on it and Victor shot better his

[00:27:45] rookie year than Jason Tatum who's been in the league seven years.

[00:27:50] OK, you'll say, well, beginners luck.

[00:27:52] How about Tyrese Halliburton?

[00:27:54] Is that good enough?

[00:27:57] He also shot 10 percentage points better than Jason Tatum in clutch situations.

[00:28:03] And that leads me to today.

[00:28:06] That leads me to these playoffs today that we're talking about.

[00:28:12] Jason Tatum talked about to the media how.

[00:28:17] His team doesn't get respected because everybody considers it a super team.

[00:28:22] No one considers it a super team,

[00:28:25] because for it to be a super team, it has to have a bunch of light.

[00:28:32] Top 25 guys on it.

[00:28:35] And usually a super team will have.

[00:28:39] One guy who is in that mix when you talk about

[00:28:45] difference makers in the league.

[00:28:49] Usually a super team will have that one guy who's a Durant,

[00:28:53] Giannis Jokic, Luca SGA.

[00:28:57] You know, if you want to go back in the day, MJ, Kobe, LeBron, whatever case may be.

[00:29:05] So he says all this and he says, that's why we can't get our coach coach of the year.

[00:29:09] This is why we can't get MVP's and we can have three all stars on the team.

[00:29:14] These are quotes from Jason Tatum.

[00:29:17] I think Brad Stevens, the executive of the Celtics, probably

[00:29:23] said it without saying it.

[00:29:26] And if you want some sort of interpretation or whatever, I think Anthony Edwards and

[00:29:32] Jaylen Brunson, you know, like if they were speaking for Brad Stevens,

[00:29:41] I guess what I'm getting at is that Jason Tatum, you don't have the Kobe Jean.

[00:29:46] You are not a Kobe disciple.

[00:29:50] And that playoff performance that you guys put up the other night in the

[00:29:55] Boston Garden against a team that is definitely not equipped to deal with

[00:30:01] all of what you have, even with Kristoff Hurt.

[00:30:05] Even with Kristoff Hurt, you got drummed.

[00:30:11] 120 to 95 in your home, on your home court.

[00:30:14] It makes me think of the Kendrick's song.

[00:30:18] Jason Tatum, not like us, not built different.

[00:30:23] Sorry.

[00:30:24] So shout out to our guy Kendrick, uh, shout out to man.

[00:30:30] It's a heavy rotation, not like us.

[00:30:32] It's a heavy rotation in the, in the Carter house.

[00:30:34] Oh, right now, just because of the sweet chin music and the OV ho come on dog.

[00:30:40] You know, I had, I can't, I can't deal with that.

[00:30:43] Man, the line about you run to Atlanta, you needn't check balance.

[00:30:52] That's cold line.

[00:30:54] Love that.

[00:30:54] All right.

[00:30:55] Shout out to Kendrick.

[00:30:56] So again, I'm just saying Jason Tatum is just not that guy.

[00:31:03] He's, he's a good player.

[00:31:06] He can help a team win a championship.

[00:31:09] But if you're saying he's the head cut off the head of the snake, I don't know

[00:31:14] if that's the guy you have to worry about.

[00:31:17] And I think this is the conundrum that Boston's in, but they told you

[00:31:22] everything they needed to tell you with their off season moves prior to the

[00:31:26] season, he's not going to be able to carry the mail for us.

[00:31:33] So we're going to need.

[00:31:35] There we are.

[00:31:37] There we are.

[00:31:38] All right.

[00:31:39] So again, thank you.

[00:31:42] If you guys don't agree or whatever the case may be, I understand.

[00:31:47] You can hit me up on Twitter at front runner PC.

[00:31:52] You know, if you disagree, I'm here for it.

[00:31:56] I'm here for the smoke.

[00:31:57] You don't have to find me on Twitter.

[00:31:59] I'm here for the smoke.

[00:32:00] I'm here for the smoke.

[00:32:01] I'm here for the smoke.

[00:32:03] I'm here for the smoke.

[00:32:04] You don't have to find, you know, you can find me anywhere.

[00:32:08] So we're good to go.

[00:32:10] All right.

[00:32:10] Let's get to the Nuggets real quick.

[00:32:13] The Nuggets two games in a row, they lost at Denver, both games.

[00:32:17] They went to Minnesota and what we saw with the Nuggets was something

[00:32:23] what you don't see a lot of really good teams do.

[00:32:27] They ran their complete actions and sets.

[00:32:33] And what I mean by that is this is that

[00:32:37] Jokic obviously is at a athletic disadvantage to Kat and Gobert and Nasri.

[00:32:46] Jamal Murray is compromised because of knee injury.

[00:32:50] So he's not going to be athletically close to Ant, even healthy, but without health,

[00:33:01] not not going to be able to do that.

[00:33:03] So then you have, you know, the rest of the guys, you got the Michael Porter,

[00:33:10] juniors of the world, KCP and Aaron Gordon.

[00:33:14] And Aaron Gordon.

[00:33:16] And what they did in this last game is that they ran their actions.

[00:33:23] What I mean by that is that they shared the sugar, you know what I'm saying?

[00:33:29] How do you beat length and athleticism?

[00:33:33] You share the sugar.

[00:33:36] If you share the ball, you pass the ball around, the ball moves faster than a person,

[00:33:43] moves faster than a player, even an NBA player.

[00:33:47] And what we saw all game last night was pick and roll action to free Murray to get downhill,

[00:33:57] to put pressure on the paint.

[00:34:01] It collapses the defense, right?

[00:34:03] So Minnesota collapsed obviously as soon as they saw Jamal up in there.

[00:34:08] Jamal sprays it out to the corner,

[00:34:10] which then puts you in the spin cycle, swing, swing.

[00:34:13] Oh, look, Michael Porter, Jr. standing all by his lonesome at 610 to shoot a three.

[00:34:23] I mean, and it was splash.

[00:34:27] It was splash.

[00:34:29] So Joker score for 24 points, 14 rebounds, they had nine assists, typical Joker game.

[00:34:37] Joker game.

[00:34:38] MPJ kicked in with 21 points.

[00:34:41] He was also four or five from three point land.

[00:34:44] So keep that in mind.

[00:34:46] Jamal Murray also scored 24 points and they blew out Minnesota.

[00:34:53] The game got away real quick from Minnesota.

[00:34:56] The series is now 2-1, game four, pivotal, and that is in Minnesota.

[00:35:02] So now Minnesota needs to make adjustments, right?

[00:35:07] They need to go ahead and get, first of all, the offense has to play better.

[00:35:13] Cat didn't show up really.

[00:35:16] Now also this game got away.

[00:35:17] So some of these stats are not indicative of what they would have done if they played a full game.

[00:35:23] But yeah, they got to come out with better intensity,

[00:35:27] better focus in game four because you do not want to go back to Denver to two shots out

[00:35:36] to Chuck Willery and the love connection.

[00:35:39] And if you don't know about that game show, Google Chuck Willery and the love connection.

[00:35:45] He will always hit us with the big back end two and two.

[00:35:50] So Minnesota doesn't want to be Chuck Willery.

[00:35:57] Trust me.

[00:35:58] Okay.

[00:36:00] And has something great to say.

[00:36:01] I love this, Jim, that he said.

[00:36:03] He said, hey, it's series now.

[00:36:05] It's a series.

[00:36:06] I like that they fought back.

[00:36:10] Critical to what game four is going to be because I think we're going to see a different

[00:36:13] and Edwards.

[00:36:15] I picked Denver in this series because I thought the continuity and the pedigree would show up.

[00:36:21] But this, this version of aunt, I did not know.

[00:36:26] Like we saw it coming in Phoenix and you know, as the Phoenix series continued and we got to

[00:36:33] the inevitability that Phoenix was going to get swept.

[00:36:39] Aunt is just a different animal.

[00:36:41] And I do expect Minnesota to win this series now, even though I picked against them.

[00:36:46] But I really am interested to see the level of aggression that aunt comes out with in

[00:36:52] game four.

[00:36:53] And now it tells us all we need to know about where this team is headed in the

[00:36:59] next couple of games.

[00:37:01] All right.

[00:37:01] We should be able to move on to who else?

[00:37:05] Who else do we need to talk about?

[00:37:07] But let's turn our attention to Tom Thibodeau for a second.

[00:37:12] Tom Thibodeau was the head coach of the New York Knicks.

[00:37:15] And I'm going to ask a real serious question.

[00:37:17] I know people probably think I'm trolling, but I'm not.

[00:37:22] Is this dude a double agent for the rest of the NBA?

[00:37:28] Can somebody medically check on Josh Hart to see if his heart is okay?

[00:37:35] Can his heart take the stress of the minutes, the minute load that he's playing right now?

[00:37:43] They say, well, Vince, come on now.

[00:37:47] Josh Hart got a respite last game.

[00:37:50] He only played 43 minutes.

[00:37:53] Up until that point, Josh Hart had been averaging 46.8 minutes a game.

[00:38:02] That is damn near the whole game.

[00:38:07] Now, this Tom Thibodeau theory that he is working off of that we are only playing like five players.

[00:38:16] Like, I don't know if Coach Timbs is used to, I mean, this is something he's done his whole career.

[00:38:23] Go back and look in Chicago.

[00:38:25] He did this to Jimmy Butler and he did that to a coach.

[00:38:28] Joaquin Noah, for God's sakes, probably will need a walker at 50 because of the mileage that

[00:38:38] Tom Thibodeau put on him in Chicago.

[00:38:41] And the injuries are piling up.

[00:38:43] We know Randall's out.

[00:38:44] He's been out since January.

[00:38:47] Mitchell Robinson is now out.

[00:38:50] And Boyan Bogdanovich is having season-ending surgery for foot and wrist.

[00:38:58] You know?

[00:38:59] And then you have OG Ananovi and he has a hamstring injury.

[00:39:02] Now, he traveled with the team to Indiana.

[00:39:06] I'm going to tell you right now, I do not believe that you will see OG Ananovi in this series.

[00:39:14] I don't care if this series goes seven.

[00:39:16] I think the hamstring was, it looked worse than the Zion hamstring injury to me.

[00:39:24] At least Zion could get off the court, you know, pretty much under his own power.

[00:39:30] You cannot say the same for OG Ananovi.

[00:39:33] So I am a little pessimistic that we will see OG Ananovi for the rest of this series.

[00:39:42] So then it falls on the Villanova three.

[00:39:46] Bronson, DiVincenzo and Hart.

[00:39:50] So what you're going to see is DiVincenzo shoot a bunch of volume threes.

[00:39:56] You're going to see Jalen Bronson do his dance and get his shot

[00:40:03] and score a lot of points and put up buckets.

[00:40:06] And Josh Hart, if he doesn't fall dead, will grab double digit rebounds.

[00:40:13] So we know what the philosophy is in New York.

[00:40:22] You play until you die.

[00:40:24] So that's what we're doing.

[00:40:27] Now, excuse me.

[00:40:31] I picked the Knicks.

[00:40:32] I picked the Knicks, you know, before the series.

[00:40:36] I'm not changing.

[00:40:39] I'm still sticking with my pick.

[00:40:41] I went 8-0 in the first round so I can be a man and take a couple of lumps in the second round.

[00:40:47] But what I will say is that if for some reason there's a miraculous recovery for OG Ananovi,

[00:40:55] that's the only way they're going to beat the Pacers because I just think they're

[00:41:00] going to run out of bodies at this point personally.

[00:41:03] Personally, this goes to now game four and how critical it is.

[00:41:14] It's very critical because with the bodies dropping like flies for New York,

[00:41:22] your rotation is gone.

[00:41:24] He wasn't you.

[00:41:25] He was using a tight rotation anyway.

[00:41:27] I think they were using like seven dudes if I have to be real specific about it.

[00:41:33] And also the other thing that has happened is Tyrese Halliburton has looked healthy.

[00:41:39] He's looked healthy the last couple games.

[00:41:43] In game three, he scored 35 points.

[00:41:46] He had four rebounds and seven assists.

[00:41:48] In game two, I believe he had 30, 36 points, no 34 points, six rebounds and nine assists

[00:41:56] in game two.

[00:41:58] So it looks like we're getting a healthy Halliburton.

[00:42:02] We just literally haven't seen Halliburton be healthy since mid-January.

[00:42:08] And if this is what they're going to get and as this series continues to progress,

[00:42:18] I just think that they're going to take them to the deep water and drown them.

[00:42:25] And that's sad.

[00:42:27] It's sad to see because the New York story is so sad.

[00:42:31] It's sad to see because the New York story, the Knicks story has been so great.

[00:42:36] Bronson's been a revelation even more than what he's been prior to this.

[00:42:45] It's just going to feel good story in the city of New York and this game four

[00:42:51] is so pivotal.

[00:42:52] Can they steal this game?

[00:42:54] Because if they steal this game, they have a shot.

[00:42:59] But it will all come down to game four.

[00:43:02] And I just don't know if you got the bodies to do it.

[00:43:06] So unless you're going to tell me that Spike Lee or Chris Rock or who's another famous

[00:43:15] MSG guy or whatever.

[00:43:18] Oh, Ben Stiller.

[00:43:20] Ben Stiller can play, right?

[00:43:24] That might be the only way they can get this going.

[00:43:28] But prox to a healthy Halliburton.

[00:43:31] We just haven't seen it, especially since January and I'm glad to see it now.

[00:43:35] And aren't the Pacers just the lucky bunch of dudes?

[00:43:40] All right.

[00:43:42] So we go pivot.

[00:43:45] We're going to talk about the OKC Dallas series real quick.

[00:43:48] And that game, that last game was incredible.

[00:43:53] There's a game going on now.

[00:43:57] With the Dallas Mavericks and the OKC Thunder.

[00:44:00] Let's see what the score is because I honestly.

[00:44:04] I'm going to watch the game after because I can't be in the middle of it today.

[00:44:12] Okay, so now we got something to talk about.

[00:44:17] I'm going to have to go back and really watch this game.

[00:44:20] But oh, well, we can talk about this because this leads right into what I want

[00:44:25] to talk about anyway with the Dallas Mavericks.

[00:44:28] So the Dallas Mavericks are now ahead in this series two games to one.

[00:44:33] I think OKC obviously I'm not going to be afraid of it, but the series is now different.

[00:44:42] And I'll tell you exactly how this works.

[00:44:46] PJ Washington stepped up in game two.

[00:44:51] Tim Hardaway Jr. stepped up in game two.

[00:44:54] Josh Green stepped up in game two and they needed all those guys to do it.

[00:44:58] PJ had 29 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists.

[00:45:02] Tim Hardaway Jr. has 17 points and Josh Green chipped in with 11.

[00:45:08] Three of five from three point land.

[00:45:10] So they needed it.

[00:45:11] They got it and they won that game.

[00:45:14] They tied the series and now.

[00:45:18] Went home to Dallas and beat OKC again 105 to 103.

[00:45:24] This game was a little bit more.

[00:45:27] Of what you would normally see, and what I mean by that is that Kyrie struggled in game two.

[00:45:34] He had foul trouble could get going now he play mate his ass off and kept them in the

[00:45:41] game and spread the ball off to shooters and what have you.

[00:45:44] So he was completely engaged.

[00:45:46] He just didn't have the actual point production that he normally has.

[00:45:50] But in game three Kyrie another big game from PJ Washington looks like 27 points.

[00:45:58] He had 27 points so in the last two games PJ Washington has 56 points and they beat

[00:46:07] the OKC Thunder 105 to 101 and now they take a 2-1 series lead.

[00:46:15] Now.

[00:46:16] Um.

[00:46:18] Before I even comment on this game, I'm gonna get back to game two because we have

[00:46:23] actual empirical data and seeing game three not to go back and watch it.

[00:46:28] But the data basically tells us is that the mouse shot 49% from three point land

[00:46:34] in game two and OKC shot 33%.

[00:46:38] Yeah, so 18 or 37 for the Dallas Mavericks in game two.

[00:46:43] OKC shot 33% 10 of 30.

[00:46:48] That's the difference in the game because Dallas won by nine.

[00:46:52] There's a difference right there.

[00:46:55] So my belief is that even though OKC is down to one I still have OKC.

[00:47:03] I know this looks great and we always wondered if the size difference would make a

[00:47:09] difference with Dallas and it comes to it comes to fruition now.

[00:47:18] I am.

[00:47:20] I'm still very confident that that OKC can get this done.

[00:47:27] Even with the 2-1 deficit that they play, I need to see this third game before I want

[00:47:32] to make comments on what what I see now so we'll watch that and then we'll get

[00:47:38] back to you on Monday right?

[00:47:39] I couple more news and notes and then we'll get up out of here.

[00:47:42] First and foremost, Mike Boutenhoeser is now the new coach of the Phoenix Suns.

[00:47:49] And the reason why I bring this up is that there's anybody noticed that Kevin Durant

[00:47:55] has had nine coaches over his illustrious career?

[00:48:01] Nine.

[00:48:02] Nine coaches.

[00:48:05] Now you say well, Vince, Durant's been in league 16-17 years, dude.

[00:48:10] You know things happen, whatever.

[00:48:12] You might go through a bad stretch or whatever case it may be.

[00:48:15] OK.

[00:48:16] OK.

[00:48:18] Did you also know that Devin Booker with now Mike Boutenhoeser being his coach?

[00:48:25] This is his seventh head coach.

[00:48:29] Seven.

[00:48:30] Make decisions on what I'm giving you.

[00:48:33] I'm here just to give you the information.

[00:48:36] You can make a decision on what that means.

[00:48:39] I personally think there is complete disruption in that organization.

[00:48:44] I'll go ahead and say it now.

[00:48:46] I think Matt Ishqia is two hands on.

[00:48:49] I believe that he is very competitive.

[00:48:53] He wants to win.

[00:48:54] I don't think this is a what's the word I'm looking for?

[00:48:57] Let's devalue the franchise and sell it.

[00:49:00] That's not him.

[00:49:02] I think he really wants to win.

[00:49:04] I just think he needs to let his guys do the job.

[00:49:09] And that brings me to my next point.

[00:49:12] So James Jones, who is the general manager of the Phoenix Suns,

[00:49:17] just found out that there is going to be somebody above him

[00:49:22] and the hiring for that person is happening now.

[00:49:26] Now we have it on great authority that Isaiah Thomas,

[00:49:29] the long time Detroit Piston to Hall of Famer,

[00:49:32] is very close with Matt Ishqia.

[00:49:35] They have ties because Matt Ishqia went to Michigan State.

[00:49:41] Isaiah Thomas played in the league.

[00:49:44] He played for the Detroit Pistons.

[00:49:45] So obviously there's some symmetry there.

[00:49:49] Obviously Isaiah has had a long story career,

[00:49:53] not just as a player but as a front office person and what have you.

[00:49:57] There have been some questionable decisions

[00:50:00] and some questionable allegations surrounding our Hall of Fame point guard.

[00:50:10] And I thought it was funny that Isaiah, last year,

[00:50:17] name was brought up as somebody who might be joining the organization.

[00:50:24] And now we're starting to hear his name resurface

[00:50:29] as this president of Glasswell Operations over James Jones.

[00:50:34] I'm going to say this right now.

[00:50:36] The Durant trade was not James Jones' fault.

[00:50:39] The Bradleyville trade wasn't James Jones' fault.

[00:50:44] Matt Ishqia has decided to run roughshod over his general manager.

[00:50:49] And to tell you the truth, personally,

[00:50:50] I think that James Jones should want to leave.

[00:50:54] Now maybe the money too good can't do that,

[00:50:58] whatever case it may be, I don't know.

[00:51:00] But all of what's going on with Phoenix right now

[00:51:04] and we're going to get into their offseason.

[00:51:08] Excuse me.

[00:51:09] We're going to get into their offseason later in the summer or later in spring.

[00:51:15] But it does not look good.

[00:51:18] I mean, I don't think I'm saying anything out of school right here.

[00:51:21] You got no draft picks.

[00:51:24] You're on that second apron.

[00:51:26] Like you're living on that.

[00:51:29] And the only way to get out of jail on this one

[00:51:32] is to trade one of the pieces that you gave up all of your resources for anyway.

[00:51:38] So where does this take this team?

[00:51:42] Well, Budenhozer will provide offensive structure that Vogel was not able to provide.

[00:51:48] That was the problem with Vogel here in Los Angeles.

[00:51:52] The offense got stagnant, but he was a great defensive coach.

[00:51:57] And it's the same thing that happened in Phoenix.

[00:51:59] They just didn't have a real in the fourth quarter with those three guys.

[00:52:03] You just expected better results than you got.

[00:52:06] And they were terrible in the fourth quarter all season long.

[00:52:11] All season long.

[00:52:13] Like this is not new that Minnesota would just catch them and then pass them and win these games.

[00:52:21] This wasn't just something happening for the playoffs.

[00:52:23] No, this was all year.

[00:52:26] Whether it was philosophy, coaching strategy, not having a point guard,

[00:52:33] not having actual other wings, not having quality depth to sustain some of these injuries

[00:52:40] and what have you.

[00:52:41] I don't know, but I will say this.

[00:52:47] I wonder what Budenhozer's honestly, I wonder what Budenhozer's pitch to Matt Ishvia

[00:52:54] and James Jones was to help get this team back to where it needs to be.

[00:53:01] I'm fascinated to find out on that and we'll talk about it on Monday

[00:53:06] if we get that information.

[00:53:08] The other thing that we need to talk about is this.

[00:53:11] Charles Lee signed a four-year deal with the Hornets to be their new head coach.

[00:53:17] Charles Lee was on the bench in Boston this season.

[00:53:24] He is a great mind.

[00:53:26] He's been in the coaching cycles for the last three years.

[00:53:33] I've heard nothing but great things about him.

[00:53:36] He was one of the, if I'm not mistaken, he was one of the guys that was a finalist

[00:53:41] for the Laker job a couple years ago.

[00:53:43] I actually think Charles Lee was also one of the finalists for the Phoenix job

[00:53:48] before Vogo got it with Kevin Young, who now Kevin Young is now the head coach

[00:53:56] at the University of Brigham Young.

[00:54:01] With that being said, I'm excited to see what Charles Lee does

[00:54:04] in Charlotte.

[00:54:06] I think this is the best way to go for them.

[00:54:09] Young coach, innovative ideas.

[00:54:15] You got almost a 30-point percane guy in LaMelo.

[00:54:18] You got a budding superstar in Brandon Miller and then whatever you get from this draft.

[00:54:23] So I'm really excited about where Charlotte is and where they're going.

[00:54:29] So shout out to Charles Lee.

[00:54:31] I know you've been grinding my brother for a long, long time.

[00:54:36] Again, sterling, sterling things said about Charles Lee as trying to get a grasp of what

[00:54:42] he likes to do or what his philosophies are.

[00:54:45] He's going to bring accountability to that team.

[00:54:48] So LaMelo, I know you like to drive fast.

[00:54:52] I know you like to party.

[00:54:54] I know you like to have a good time.

[00:54:57] But my man, I'm going to tell you right now, you're going to play a discipline style of

[00:55:04] basketball next year.

[00:55:05] So get ready for that as well.

[00:55:09] The last piece of news still going with the coaching search is the Lakers.

[00:55:14] And Budenhozer is off the market.

[00:55:20] Charles Lee we just talked about, obviously.

[00:55:23] Ty Lue who they've been fascinated with since

[00:55:29] Dartmouth Ham.

[00:55:30] Actually, even before Dartmouth Ham, they thought about getting him

[00:55:34] when the Vogel thing was going on and they couldn't get him.

[00:55:39] So we got JJ Reddick and then I think the son of what was it?

[00:55:47] What's our guy?

[00:55:48] Adelman.

[00:55:49] And I like the guy Norrie from Minnesota.

[00:55:54] So those are the candidates so far.

[00:55:56] Now, the other shoe to drop is if Chauncey Billups gets fired in Portland.

[00:56:03] That puts another name on the list for the Lakers to look at.

[00:56:08] But I must say, it's never good to be lumped in with the Brooklyn Nets and the

[00:56:15] Washington Wizards.

[00:56:17] But yet here we are.

[00:56:21] The Lakers are sitting in the same, currently sitting in the same situation as the

[00:56:28] Washington Wizards and the Brooklyn Nets.

[00:56:32] Without a coach and these and the high level coaches have come off the board.

[00:56:37] So now you guys start thinking outside the box now.

[00:56:42] I just wonder who the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers will be.

[00:56:49] And I get a sneaky suspicion that LeBron is doing a podcast with the dude that's going

[00:56:56] to be the damn head coach.

[00:57:00] So, alright so happy Saturday to everybody.

[00:57:04] Again, we want to thank everybody who listens to us and downloads the podcast.

[00:57:11] Remember to download the podcast.

[00:57:14] It's great if you listen but following and downloading the podcast is critical.

[00:57:20] So for us to get our numbers up and to provide this awesome basketball experience

[00:57:26] for you, please be a friend and tell a friend.

[00:57:30] Right?

[00:57:31] And then the other thing that we need to discuss is with anything that I said

[00:57:37] today, if you have any alternate opinions, if you have any thoughts on what I said,

[00:57:44] hit us up on Twitter at FrontRunnerPC.

[00:57:49] The last thing I want to tell you guys is keep in mind we'll be back on this

[00:57:54] feed Monday and I just want to tell you guys again, thanks for supporting the

[00:58:00] podcast, thanks for downloading it, thanks for supporting the YouTube channel, thanks

[00:58:05] for subscribing to it, thank you for liking the videos.

[00:58:10] We put a lot of work into it.

[00:58:12] Go out, live your life, have a great rest of your weekend and we'll see you back

[00:58:16] on this feed on Monday.

[00:58:18] Deuces, we out.