Pacers Fight Hard, But Celtics' Defense Dominates for Series Sweep

[00:00:00] It's Monday, you know what time it is. It is time for Front Runner Podcast Collective after dark.

[00:00:20] We're coming to you after the Celtics and Pacers game 4 where the Celtics swept out the Pacers.

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[00:02:00] Let's get to these games because it was...they were entertaining.

[00:02:09] We talked in the last pod about Tyrese Halliburton being out and what kind of effect that would have on the Indiana Pacers.

[00:02:20] And we need to kind of discuss a couple things here.

[00:02:26] In the two games that were in Indianapolis, Nemhart for the Pacers played outstanding in both games.

[00:02:36] He had 32 in one game.

[00:02:38] And then he came back and gained four and dropped 24 points, 10 assists, six rebounds.

[00:02:45] He had three three-quarters made.

[00:02:48] I mean, he was outstanding through this entire series.

[00:02:56] So kudos to him, man.

[00:02:58] And kudos to him.

[00:03:01] Leaving Florida, going to Gonzaga, being part of that program, learning how to work, learning how to get to where you needed to go.

[00:03:15] And he has starred in his role in such a way where you are seeing another piece and here's another inexpensive piece that the Pacers have.

[00:03:29] So I really like what they have done.

[00:03:32] But we do need to get to it.

[00:03:35] In both the games, games three and four, Nemhart's youth showed up in the last three minutes of the game.

[00:03:44] Game four was an absolute killer because they didn't score in the last three minutes.

[00:03:51] It was turnover after turnover after turnover.

[00:03:56] We have to credit Boston's defense.

[00:03:59] It did ratchet up the intensity very much so.

[00:04:06] And they picked their spot as they got closer to the Pacers.

[00:04:10] The Pacers had a lead throughout the fourth quarter and Nemhart was leading that charge.

[00:04:18] Another great game by T.J.

[00:04:21] McConnell, but man, that hit he took by Jaylen Brown was scary because it was I mean it was an open hand palm to the face and it looked like it shoved like his nose up.

[00:04:38] I thought at first he had definitely broke his nose and then the whiplash to the floor was really scary.

[00:04:45] But just in the pure T.J.

[00:04:49] McConnell fashion, that dude didn't miss a second.

[00:04:55] He didn't miss a second of playing time and he just he bought out the whole series and we'll get more to him in a little bit because we're going to kind of backtrack to game three and kind of give him his flowers as far as that's concerned as well.

[00:05:11] Now, again, we talked about the youth.

[00:05:15] We talked about what it seemed like to me in game four is any sort of entry pass towards the post or towards the paint was not getting there.

[00:05:28] Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum, Derek White, Drew Holliday, outstanding on ball defenders.

[00:05:37] Also spatial defense.

[00:05:40] They're very good in space.

[00:05:44] You know, they can go ahead and play center field and then read the defense, read the offense and then go ahead and pick up a pass and get a steal.

[00:05:53] Derek White did a lot in this game.

[00:05:55] He had five steals in this game.

[00:05:57] So kudos to Derek White and then just the true grit of Drew Holliday.

[00:06:05] To me, he is the one of the best role players we've ever had in this league.

[00:06:11] And he's a true star in that role.

[00:06:18] He had nine rebounds in this game.

[00:06:21] Nine rebounds from a six foot three guard.

[00:06:26] All right.

[00:06:27] I mean, when you're talking about winning time, just it's time to win.

[00:06:33] These are the type of these are the type of like character characteristics that you want to show up on your team is that you're you're willing to go into the mud for it.

[00:06:46] And credit to Brad Stevens and the crew over there because they insulated their superstar and they provided dudes who are so over themselves.

[00:07:02] And this includes Derek White, Andrew Holliday.

[00:07:06] And also we can throw Al Horford into this mix as well.

[00:07:10] Al Horford has been tremendous.

[00:07:15] You know, he's he's almost 38 and the energy that he is giving them and he scored what in this game?

[00:07:22] He scored seven points.

[00:07:23] He had eight rebounds provided defense the whole time.

[00:07:29] The whole time.

[00:07:30] So another they just basically outclass Indiana Pacers.

[00:07:37] That's what happened.

[00:07:38] And as the games got close towards the end, you knew that the talent and just the experience overall was going to manifest itself.

[00:07:51] And Drew was going to make an outstanding play like he did in game three.

[00:07:58] And then you saw what Jaylen Brown did with the block towards the end of that game to kind of seal the deal.

[00:08:08] And it's just how it is when you don't have all your horses.

[00:08:14] This is what happens.

[00:08:15] But what we do need to talk about again, let's talk about T.J. McConnell.

[00:08:21] He was an absolute pest this whole series.

[00:08:24] He had an incredible series.

[00:08:26] He had I think he was after like 15 points to the series and he had 15 tonight again, 15 points, five rebounds for a sis.

[00:08:38] He was seven of 16 from the field.

[00:08:41] So not as efficient as normal, but he provided juice where he kept the Pacers competitive.

[00:08:51] And you know, it's not always the flashy get in free agency is this these little deals is these little these little developments in a guy's life.

[00:09:06] In a guy who was on your on your roster for two years and he's made strides in the offseason or whatever.

[00:09:14] It's picking up the right free agents.

[00:09:17] And we talked about dudes that were over themselves.

[00:09:20] And I'm going to stick T.J. McConnell in this T.J.

[00:09:25] McConnell knows exactly who he is.

[00:09:28] He knows he's a backup point guard.

[00:09:31] He knows he's there to provide energy pester the offensive perimeter guy.

[00:09:39] Give him just hell and attack the paint with reckless abandon.

[00:09:47] If he gets a D.H.O., he is screaming off that D.H.O. towards the paint.

[00:09:53] He's coming at such an accelerated speed that neither the big nor his guard can get to him.

[00:10:02] And once he gets into the paint, he's looking to spread out.

[00:10:07] He's not normally normally necessarily looking to shoot and score.

[00:10:12] But he used his M.O. against teams in the playoffs because what he did, he said, OK,

[00:10:22] they expect me to spread out every time.

[00:10:25] So what I'm going to do is I'm going to take a couple more shots than normal.

[00:10:30] And they were never ready for it.

[00:10:32] It was never, you know, I mean, I know that T.J.

[00:10:36] McConnell is a pretty quick guard.

[00:10:39] I understand that he's really feisty and he there's an attention to detail that T.J.

[00:10:45] McConnell has, but he's not the most physically imposing guard.

[00:10:50] Man, that guy relies on his savvy.

[00:10:53] He relies on his guile and he relies on the extra effort plays that he also provides in a series.

[00:11:02] I don't know how many second chance opportunities the Pacers got by him, you know,

[00:11:09] deflecting a ball off in a rebounding situation that the Celtics had.

[00:11:15] I don't know how many times he did that.

[00:11:17] And I think that's the reason why this series was so close in all the games.

[00:11:22] So we wanted to go ahead and make sure that we gave T.J.

[00:11:27] McConnell his flowers for what he provided in this series.

[00:11:31] And we also want to go ahead and talk about Drew Holliday and Derek White and how they provided just not just

[00:11:40] incredible energy, not just incredible leadership, but timely buckets.

[00:11:45] Timely buckets to stop runs and really just provided that extra layer of security for Jalen and Jason Tatum.

[00:12:01] So we said that Jalen Brown was the Eastern Conference Finals MVP.

[00:12:11] He averaged 29.8 points a game, five rebounds, two steals, and he shot over 50 percent from the field in the series, 51.7 to be exact.

[00:12:26] We want to make sure that we give him his credit.

[00:12:30] He really did play well in this series.

[00:12:33] He really stepped up to the challenge, not just on the defensive end, but on the offensive end.

[00:12:40] He was really attacking the basket.

[00:12:43] The things that we were asking Jason Tatum do, which he he definitely showed himself in the last couple games where he was attacking the basket a lot more.

[00:12:53] And that's what I saw in this game is that the settling for twos has stopped or the settling for threes.

[00:13:00] Sorry. The settling for threes had stopped and they were going to the bucket.

[00:13:06] And that's the thing that if the Celtics are really going to unlock that and that's going to be the thing going into a series where it looks like Dallas and we'll get to that series momentarily because I have thoughts on that.

[00:13:24] I don't think Boston was.

[00:13:29] I mean, they were challenged in a way with Indiana because Indiana played hard throughout this series.

[00:13:35] That's the credit to them and we're going to get to their offseason in one second.

[00:13:40] But they weren't challenged in a way where you felt that Indiana put real pressure on them.

[00:13:48] They just didn't have the horses.

[00:13:50] You know, there are a couple of games that did play in the balance.

[00:13:53] And yes, they could have gone either way and there could have been a foul called.

[00:13:57] And there's a lot of things that could have happened, but they didn't.

[00:14:02] We live in a world where it's scoreboard.

[00:14:06] And the Pacers got swept.

[00:14:08] So I think we're going to go to the finals and I think we have some remnants of what the Celtics are.

[00:14:19] I wish I wish we got a really clear picture of what they actually are because, yes, they were challenged.

[00:14:28] Yes, they they I mean, the Pacers were scrappy in every single way that you can possibly think.

[00:14:37] But did you ever feel at any point that Boston was not in control of that series?

[00:14:45] Because I never did.

[00:14:47] I never felt that Boston was in peril at any point in this series.

[00:14:54] Getting to the Pacers offseason.

[00:14:58] Now, this was an incredible run and we're not going to poo poo it.

[00:15:03] We do have proof or concept of the offense and how it runs.

[00:15:10] It's effective in the playoffs and it was effective in the regular season.

[00:15:14] And the great thing about it being effective in a regular season is this.

[00:15:20] If you are willing to play at that speed, your opponent in the regular season will not want to do that.

[00:15:32] They will not want to play at that breakneck speed that the Indiana Pacers do deploy and did deploy throughout the regular season.

[00:15:43] Now, it was most effective when Tyrese Halliburton was completely healthy.

[00:15:48] But we hadn't seen that since basically early January.

[00:15:52] And obviously he was never coming back.

[00:15:56] We told you, you know, went and happened in game two.

[00:15:59] That was probably it.

[00:16:03] Now, here's the question.

[00:16:06] You could, Indiana, and this is the harsh reality.

[00:16:14] Because you should, you should feel good about the accomplishments that you had.

[00:16:19] But you don't want to rest on your loyal laurels.

[00:16:23] You really don't want to do that because you then become Sacramento and people will say shade right now because they'll say, oh, you're talking bad about Sacramento.

[00:16:34] I'm not.

[00:16:36] Here's the thing.

[00:16:37] Sacramento was insignificant.

[00:16:41] They played a hell of a regular season and then they were gone.

[00:16:46] You know, I mean, here's the thing.

[00:16:55] You could look at what you have and yes, you have some pieces that could develop.

[00:17:02] But here's the one thing about development that scouts have told me things that I've experienced through just time of watching basketball.

[00:17:12] Not all development is linear.

[00:17:15] So just because Nim hard had a really incredible breakout year, that means there's also more tape on him.

[00:17:24] So if he doesn't come back with something different or counter to the things that he was doing in this playoffs, that book would get around to other teams and then they will be more effectively able to guard him.

[00:17:39] Now, I know Andrew Nim hard.

[00:17:44] We scouted him when he was coming out.

[00:17:47] We I thought he would have been an incredible Laker.

[00:17:51] I'm always going to be looking and siding with the Lakers when it comes to that.

[00:17:57] I hope that's not too annoying.

[00:17:59] Bill Simmons does it on his podcast, so I should be able to do it online.

[00:18:04] But Nim hard is not the type of guy to rest on his loyal.

[00:18:08] So, you know that development will come with him.

[00:18:12] You know that Benedict Mather and didn't even play in this series.

[00:18:16] You also know that you got a couple other guys who did contribute some time in this series.

[00:18:26] The was a guy or Shepherd.

[00:18:33] Now, still Shepherd, you know, got some burn in this series as well.

[00:18:38] So you got some guys and then we hadn't even talked about Jarrus Walker.

[00:18:43] You know, Jarrus Walker, the 6'8, 6'9 power forward out of Houston who has playmaking skills.

[00:18:51] And if the shot is what it was showing in the G League, this could be an absolute weapon.

[00:18:57] And another piece to a really budding little annoying team in the Eastern Conference.

[00:19:08] And when I say annoying, I mean that in the most sincere way possible and also as a compliment because.

[00:19:15] You guys really did take on TJ McConnell's like pit bull mentality in this series.

[00:19:23] I absolutely enjoyed it.

[00:19:25] The Pacers have nothing to be ashamed of.

[00:19:28] And now, again, we get to the hard questions where now if we're looking at the development route.

[00:19:36] You have multiple pieces that can develop.

[00:19:40] Now, if you feel because of the fact that you made it to the Eastern Conference Finals and this is where the trap is.

[00:19:50] OK, this is where people make mistakes.

[00:19:55] Now, I personally think you should stay on the developmental path.

[00:20:02] Let's see what Benedict Mathern did not play in this playoffs whatsoever.

[00:20:08] You got Nimhar some real legitimate playoff experience.

[00:20:15] He will be better for that.

[00:20:17] Now, Tyrese wasn't whole, but he got some.

[00:20:21] He got to see it and it's always good when your young star player gets some playoff experience and gets some burn.

[00:20:29] And then, like I said, the Jairus Walkers of the world.

[00:20:33] You know, what could Shepherd be?

[00:20:37] Is he a piece on that bench that you can, you know, rely on next year?

[00:20:43] I don't know.

[00:20:45] But I believe that's the route you should go.

[00:20:48] Now, you could because I'm telling you this year, I think we will have either a crazy amount of emergency pause

[00:21:00] because there'll be a trade that we just did not see coming because I think there's going to be a lot of stuff,

[00:21:05] a lot of activity this offseason because the free agent market is so bare,

[00:21:11] even though that and we'll get to it later, the OG Ananobe story and what have you.

[00:21:16] So I am fully in the camp of development for the Indiana Pacers.

[00:21:23] I think you guys rocked this year.

[00:21:26] I think Tyrese Halliburton is a real player.

[00:21:30] I think Pascal Siakam.

[00:21:32] Give Pascal Siakam his flowers in this series.

[00:21:36] He did not have a great game personally in this particular game.

[00:21:42] Nineteen points, ten rebounds still pretty solid, but he carried the Pacers throughout this playoffs.

[00:21:50] He was 20 plus points a game, mid-20s mostly.

[00:21:55] He did exactly what he was supposed to do and even more as a Pacer as he came in.

[00:22:03] And to me, this might be the most significant in season trade for like a pseudo superstar that we've had in quite some time

[00:22:17] because he really impacted the way the Pacers were able to run half-court offense in a manageable way,

[00:22:29] even without Tyrese Halliburton to keep them afloat in this playoff series.

[00:22:35] All those games were completely competitive.

[00:22:38] It did go like down to either the wire or it went down to like the last four minutes of the game.

[00:22:45] And we didn't know who was going to win in any of those contests.

[00:22:50] So I mean, the Pacers to me again have a lot to be excited about.

[00:22:57] But Boston moves on. They are now the Eastern Conference Finals champions.

[00:23:02] They are going to the NBA championship and they will possibly meet the Minnesota Timberwolves.

[00:23:10] No, no, no, no, they won't.

[00:23:12] They will meet the Dallas Mavericks and we need to get to that.

[00:23:18] Late night, you know, the voice kind of cracks a little bit.

[00:23:26] I do apologize about that. I'm going to take a little swig of soda here.

[00:23:30] Give me a second. Swig for the working man.

[00:23:38] All right. So Frontrunner Podcast Collective has been always a podcast that has said that when we are wrong about something,

[00:23:50] we're going to admit it. I had Minnesota winning.

[00:23:54] I didn't think that Dallas could have the weapons to really deal with what Minnesota had to offer on the defensive side of the basketball.

[00:24:05] But I also didn't know that Luca was going to be healthy.

[00:24:09] And I said, even in that pod, I said if Luca was healthy, I probably would take the Mavericks.

[00:24:14] What that is revisionist history and we do not do that on this podcast.

[00:24:21] When we make a selection, we stick to it.

[00:24:25] But we are here to give you the facts and the facts are since vintage clay and Steph Curry,

[00:24:36] since the Splash Brothers of lore of 2016, 2017, probably even through 2018, 2019, to be honest with you.

[00:24:48] But since then, I don't think we've had a more dynamic back court than what we're seeing with Luca Donchich and Kyrie Irving.

[00:25:00] These guys are absolutely incredible.

[00:25:05] The game winning shots, I mean both of them, both.

[00:25:10] Pick your poison. Who you want? Who you want to give you this work?

[00:25:15] Really? Honestly, it didn't matter.

[00:25:19] And by the way, for the haters out there, for the haters out there who say that Go Bear, Rudy Go Bear,

[00:25:28] the center for the Minnesota Timberwolves should not guard in space.

[00:25:33] Let me give you some numbers.

[00:25:36] Now, Go Bear in perimeter isolation possessions this year was the points were 0.73.

[00:25:51] So before we get crazy and start talking about how Rudy Go Bear shouldn't have been out there with Luca Donchich, which he shouldn't have been.

[00:26:01] He shouldn't have been.

[00:26:04] I know I'm really talking out both sides of my mouth, but I'm gonna get to the reason why he shouldn't have been dealing with Luca in a second.

[00:26:15] But yeah, man, it's crazy.

[00:26:22] It is nuts because it hasn't really manifested.

[00:26:32] These games have been pretty standard operating procedure.

[00:26:38] You know, all the stuff that we were worried about with Minnesota that we thought they solved in the Denver series reared his ugly head.

[00:26:47] And I'm gonna get to that once I stop showering praise on Luca and Kyrie.

[00:26:54] Now, the thing that we kind of really need to talk about with Luca and Kyrie Luca and Kyrie is this.

[00:27:03] Luca Donchich is 32.9 points game.

[00:27:07] OK, so down there, 33, 33 points again.

[00:27:11] Kyrie Irving, 27.6 points again.

[00:27:15] So if my math is correct.

[00:27:19] And I think it is that is 60 points, ladies and gentlemen, by your two guys.

[00:27:27] So you're getting 60 points by your two main guys.

[00:27:33] Usually, it's a wrap.

[00:27:36] OK, so the vaunted defense that everybody was showering with praise in the second round, which I was also one of those people for Minnesota.

[00:27:48] It has not bothered Luca nor Kyrie in the least bit.

[00:27:56] Jaden McDaniels, excellent defender, non factor.

[00:28:01] And incredible defender, physical, speedy, really wants it.

[00:28:11] Not a factor.

[00:28:14] Nikhil Alexander Walker.

[00:28:17] Awesome, long, six foot five should be able to kind of bother Kyrie.

[00:28:24] Nobody stops Kyrie, right?

[00:28:27] Not a factor.

[00:28:28] The bigs, Rudy Gobert, Kat, Nasri.

[00:28:38] Anything that Dallas has wanted to get, they've gotten.

[00:28:42] At any place that Lucas wanted to shoot on the floor, he has gotten to.

[00:28:47] Now, have they made it more difficult?

[00:28:49] Yes, they have.

[00:28:51] But Luca is a shot maker of the highest level.

[00:28:57] And Kyrie is also cut from that same cloth.

[00:29:02] So you got two legitimate shot makers who have been in pressure situations in their entire career on the same team.

[00:29:14] And here both of them have superpowers, right?

[00:29:18] And we're going to get to that right now.

[00:29:20] So, Luca's base is so wide.

[00:29:25] And here's the thing with Jaden McDaniels.

[00:29:28] All 6'8, 6'9 dudes aren't made the same.

[00:29:32] He is very long.

[00:29:34] He is very sinewy.

[00:29:36] Luca looks like a freaking bus.

[00:29:41] He looks like one of those, you know those vans that cater food?

[00:29:48] That's what Luca looks like.

[00:29:49] He's wide.

[00:29:50] So if there's a pick and roll, and now Luca is now heading towards the basket, he's heading downhill.

[00:29:59] He has Jaden McDaniels locked on his hip.

[00:30:03] And Jaden McDaniels is now in hell.

[00:30:08] He's in exploitation, that's what LeBron calls it.

[00:30:13] But he's in hell, right?

[00:30:15] Or they call it jail, they call it lockdown, whatever they want to call it.

[00:30:18] But he can't reach around Luca because Luca then will go for a shot, get fouled.

[00:30:27] He has enough creativity and enough English on the ball to get a shot off from a weird angle, get fouled, and then get the and one.

[00:30:38] Or if you think, like okay maybe I'll time it when he goes up for a shot or whatever the case might be.

[00:30:47] Okay, now the passing because he's not going to move at a speed that is to your liking.

[00:30:56] You can't speed him up once he has the ball and he is now in a situation where he has your defense as a disadvantage.

[00:31:05] This is where the bigs come in.

[00:31:07] Shout out to Derrick Lively.

[00:31:09] Shout out to Daniel Gafford.

[00:31:11] They play real roles in this series.

[00:31:15] Derrick Lively is not only well worth the tanking that Dallas did towards the end of last year.

[00:31:25] Remember when that was the story for like a little bit and everybody was so up in arms?

[00:31:31] And even I, I think I said something about Luca's personality.

[00:31:38] This doesn't match and I wonder if this will strain the relationship with the Dallas Mavericks.

[00:31:44] Boy, could I have been more wrong?

[00:31:48] I don't think so.

[00:31:50] I can't be more wrong in that situation, right?

[00:31:56] That's like somebody back in the mid 1980s looking at Apple stock and going, you know what man?

[00:32:05] I don't get it bro.

[00:32:07] I just don't get it.

[00:32:09] What are we doing here?

[00:32:11] I don't know.

[00:32:13] You imagine.

[00:32:15] But the bigs were incredible the whole series.

[00:32:18] Derrick Lively was great.

[00:32:20] He was able to switch off onto smaller guys.

[00:32:24] He allowed his length to play.

[00:32:26] He allowed his physicality of his, his athleticism alone is ridiculous.

[00:32:33] He is an athletic freak not just because he can jump high.

[00:32:38] It's the way he can move and shadow a guard or a wing player.

[00:32:47] It's incredible.

[00:32:48] I love it.

[00:32:50] It was illuminating to see because I didn't deal with none of that at Duke.

[00:32:59] None of this showed at Duke.

[00:33:04] I remember talking to Nico specifically about this.

[00:33:08] I was like, I don't know if he's going to be able to guard out in the NBA because of the fact that he was more in a zone when he was at Duke.

[00:33:19] I thought they were trying to protect his lateral quickness.

[00:33:23] Comes out the dude is super, super nimble.

[00:33:29] He's able to get into spots.

[00:33:32] He's able to chase guards.

[00:33:34] He's able to shadow guards all the way to the paint and disrupt shots.

[00:33:39] Get blocks.

[00:33:41] He's a ferocious rebounder.

[00:33:44] It is impressive what this 20-year-old dude is doing.

[00:33:52] I think they got a real player and the tanking was well worth it.

[00:33:57] Now, let's get to the bat.

[00:33:59] Ant Edwards did show up in game three.

[00:34:03] He did score 26 points.

[00:34:06] The last, the first couple of games he just wasn't aggressive enough.

[00:34:11] There's two things with this.

[00:34:15] One, you cannot skip the process.

[00:34:21] You cannot.

[00:34:23] I know people are going to hate when I say this, but when you are a NBA team and you're younger and you're going through the playoffs, the crucible of the playoffs,

[00:34:38] one of the things that happens in the crucible in the playoffs is that you take your lumps.

[00:34:48] And I was sure once they beat Denver that I was like, maybe this can happen.

[00:34:57] Maybe they can skip a level and just go straight to the finals.

[00:35:01] Nope.

[00:35:03] Minnesota is just like any other up-and-coming NBA team.

[00:35:10] Look at Boston.

[00:35:12] Look at Boston.

[00:35:14] Look at the trials and tribulations that Boston has gone through over the last six years while Tatum has been there.

[00:35:21] Look at the whispers and everything that has gone along with Tatum and even Brown, the scrutiny on those two and why they have not been able to get it done.

[00:35:33] You know, you have to build up scars.

[00:35:37] And Minnesota is finding out that, hey, guess what?

[00:35:42] We are really talented.

[00:35:44] But this last four or five minutes of the fourth quarter, we don't have enough or we don't know enough to get into our right sets or what is effective to run.

[00:36:02] And settle for jump shots in game one and game two.

[00:36:08] He didn't get to the basket.

[00:36:10] I think he had two free throws.

[00:36:12] It was nuts.

[00:36:14] Game three, different story.

[00:36:18] Ant was attacking.

[00:36:20] He was getting to the free throw line.

[00:36:22] He had a ferocious dunk.

[00:36:24] If that, hey, I'll tell you this.

[00:36:26] No matter what, his stock way up, way up in his playoffs.

[00:36:32] Yes, the playoffs are hard.

[00:36:36] Rotations get to you quicker.

[00:36:38] The scrutiny of the things that you like to do are magnified in the playoffs because they have so much time to prepare for you.

[00:36:50] And this is what Ant is finding out in real time, which is good.

[00:36:56] You know, I don't look at this as a bad thing.

[00:36:58] And yes, we talked about it even with Oklahoma City and the other teams that were ousted in the second round.

[00:37:06] It always sucks to lose a series or whatever, but you're outmanned in this one.

[00:37:16] This is not a case of your losing this series because, you know, you're outmanned.

[00:37:26] You know, some injury or whatever case may be.

[00:37:30] No, you're losing this series because you don't have any answer for Luka Doncic and you don't have any answer for Kyrie Irving.

[00:37:38] Now, the answer is still in your building.

[00:37:44] So people will be sitting there like, I'm confused about what you're talking about.

[00:37:48] What I mean by that is that Ant will take all this information that he got in this in this playoff run.

[00:37:54] And not only will he be better for it, he'll be more prepared for it.

[00:38:04] And whatever blind spot is brought to his attention either by his own play or him or self scout when he goes and looks at the video.

[00:38:18] Or even if it's an exit interview and there's a couple things that the organization wants him to work on.

[00:38:26] We know that Ant is going to come back with an absolute vengeance and he's going to be out for scouts.

[00:38:36] We know that for sure.

[00:38:39] Let's get to Carl Anthony Towns.

[00:38:41] All the goodwill you built up in the second round, you just pissed it all away in this Western Conference Finals.

[00:38:58] There's no way that a number two can be getting like 12, 14 points.

[00:39:08] What did this do average?

[00:39:10] Hold on.

[00:39:11] I think I have it.

[00:39:12] Didn't I have it?

[00:39:14] Maybe I had it in a previous pod or whatever.

[00:39:16] Yeah, it's just it's maddening to me.

[00:39:24] This the two for the four for 16 shooting.

[00:39:35] The early shot clock shots.

[00:39:41] That sounds like D-Low.

[00:39:43] Oh, those are best friends by the way.

[00:39:45] Carl Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell.

[00:39:47] The silly fouls.

[00:39:50] The rebounding was incredible this series so far for Carl Anthony Towns.

[00:39:56] There has been growth but oh my goodness there just needs to be more.

[00:40:02] But Chris Finch and that organization has told us all of what we needed to see because in the fourth quarter Carl Anthony Towns is on the bench.

[00:40:12] Nas Reed is out there playing the real minutes.

[00:40:15] So I think we might have our answer already to what the offseason might hold for the Timberwolves.

[00:40:23] And I think I had made a mention to this before and I kept on trying to say hey very gently this cap thing might be Minnesota's get out of jail free card.

[00:40:37] And people were like no they're going to keep it.

[00:40:41] Well Nas Reed showed that he could do cash job and maybe now you can also upgrade the point guard position.

[00:40:53] We talked about this two pods ago.

[00:40:55] So go back into the archive pods and if you're new to the program welcome thank you for showing up.

[00:41:03] That means that we have the be a friend tell a friend situation going on in full effect.

[00:41:10] So thank you guys.

[00:41:12] But we talked about maybe Carl Anthony Towns being in this carousel of stars that we're going to see move throughout the offseason.

[00:41:25] I think this is a huge offseason for the NBA.

[00:41:28] This is an inflection point for some franchises and we're going to see some movement and we're going to be able to kind of get an idea.

[00:41:38] I think when the dust settles what these teams were are ultimately looking at or what they ultimately saw this year and said hey we got to make some changes.

[00:41:50] And I thought that ever since probably January.

[00:41:58] So keep it locked here at Frontrunner Podcast Collective because we will be all over this.

[00:42:04] My god be funch and I this is what we love to do.

[00:42:10] Getting people to you know talk to us about who talked to us about impending situations that might be out there that are in the ether.

[00:42:22] And we're going to bring it all to you.

[00:42:25] So keep it locked here now.

[00:42:28] Can Minnesota get a game for and then possibly go back to Minnesota.

[00:42:38] Absolutely.

[00:42:39] These games have been very very close.

[00:42:42] I don't think we've seen anywhere close to and play his best basketball.

[00:42:49] I also think that Carl Anthony Towns we've been a complete disappointment.

[00:42:53] And I think that we kind of need to see more from our guy Mike Colley Jr.

[00:43:01] And it's not more it's not more points what it is is we need to see more presence.

[00:43:07] We need to see Mike Colley Jr. more on ball orchestrating the offense and getting everybody set up in those late minute possessions.

[00:43:17] I think if those things can get cleaned up they can get a game.

[00:43:24] Push it back to Minnesota and then let's see what happens right.

[00:43:31] I don't think that the Minnesota Timberwolves are like this broken down team and it's never going to happen for them.

[00:43:38] I am contrary to that belief completely.

[00:43:43] What I'm saying is is that there are levels to this and this is an important level and an important lesson.

[00:43:52] That is being learned by a burgeoning superstar in Anthony Edwards.

[00:44:00] And I love the I love this development because it's so awesome to see a guy like the light switch just turn on like that.

[00:44:11] It's been an enjoyable playoffs honestly.

[00:44:14] I love the new blood.

[00:44:16] We're going to get a new champion either way.

[00:44:19] I got goosebumps just thinking about it right now.

[00:44:21] I don't know if you guys can see it on the you know thing but if you can maybe we can get this on the YouTube.

[00:44:27] You know what we try to do.

[00:44:29] But I think all in all we do know that Dallas is going to go to the NBA Finals and face Boston.

[00:44:39] Now we're not we don't have to give predictions until way late down the road because even if Dallas does sweep them.

[00:44:48] We have like 10 days off before the finals.

[00:44:51] The finals start like I think like the 6th of June or something something crazy like that.

[00:44:57] So keep it locked here.

[00:45:00] We'll have a lot of stuff to get to.

[00:45:02] We will be doing a lot of offseason or kind of grades on teams and where they are and what they might be looking at.

[00:45:12] And we'll start burning through franchises next week as we'll have a ton of time to talk about as these these playoffs start to finish up.

[00:45:24] Now we have a couple more things to get to and then we can get you guys out of here.

[00:45:29] News and notes of the day.

[00:45:32] First and foremost we kind of need to talk about the JJ Reddick update with the Lakers.

[00:45:40] This is the update.

[00:45:42] I don't know what they're waiting for.

[00:45:45] JJ Reddick is the new coach of the Lakers.

[00:45:48] He's trying to assemble his staff.

[00:45:52] I've heard names like Jerry Dudley who is on the Maverick staff right now currently.

[00:46:00] I've heard names like Sam Cassell as well.

[00:46:06] That would be an excellent get for JJ if he can get Sam Cassell.

[00:46:12] Now James Borrego is also a guy who is a candidate for the Cleveland job.

[00:46:22] But there's been still rumors that he is still also in the hunt for the Laker job.

[00:46:30] But I believe personally that James Borrego will be the coach somewhere else.

[00:46:40] I don't know where that will end up being because I think also Kenny Atkinson who is the longtime assistant of the Gonsai Warriors.

[00:46:52] He was the head coach of that really fun Brooklyn team that we talked about in the last part.

[00:46:58] That was pre-Kyrie and KD.

[00:47:01] I do have one question about Kenny Atkinson and it's not a bad question.

[00:47:07] I think that he's paid his dues.

[00:47:09] He was going to be the Charlotte coach last year.

[00:47:15] Something fell through and he didn't take that job.

[00:47:20] Now with his tenure with the Gonsai Warriors I do ask this question.

[00:47:26] Is he now more suited for a spider led Cleveland Cavalier team or because he has that experience with that young Brooklyn Nets team is he more suited for Garland led Cleveland Cavaliers team?

[00:47:45] I wonder because we talked about the rumors before.

[00:47:49] There is going to be a split up of that guard duo of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell.

[00:47:57] The front office Kobe Altman are going through their necessary off season projections and seeing what is out there for either one and see which way they want to go.

[00:48:11] It looks like right now and hold your breath Cleveland.

[00:48:18] But it looks like right now Cleveland is looking more towards hanging on to Donovan Mitchell and letting go of Darius Garland.

[00:48:30] Now this is a very dangerous game to play if you are the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[00:48:39] The reason why I say that is because Donovan Mitchell has had eyes on New York City which he's not ever getting there now.

[00:48:49] And maybe he knows that and maybe he said hey you know what I could take this team the Cleveland Cavaliers and make them my team and lead them to a finals and what have you.

[00:49:04] But of all the guys that we are going to say okay we are looking at our two guards we are going to split them up which one should we get rid of.

[00:49:17] It's a really dangerous game to have a guy who has had eyes for other places on multiple occasions to say hey we are going to put it all behind him.

[00:49:33] And he is going to be the leader of the next iteration of the great Cleveland Cavalier teams.

[00:49:42] But that looks like the way that they are going right now and we will see how it all works out.

[00:49:51] But it looks like Kenny Atkinson is going to be the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers that has been talked about by Brian Windhorst has been talked about by Adrian Wojnarowski has been talked about by several other sources.

[00:50:07] So I am not breaking news there but I wanted to kind of break down the question of the tenure situation that Kenny Atkinson has been in Golden State.

[00:50:18] So that means he's been around Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Clay Thompson these are all luminaries of our game.

[00:50:27] You know they have had four titles things of that nature and I wonder if he is more now ready to handle that type of team.

[00:50:37] You know a team that is really like ready to go ahead and contend or is he still that guy that has that tinker in him and want to go ahead and build a young team that's on the rise but get them to that level where they are playing competitive basketball in the NBA playoffs.

[00:50:56] So it will be an interesting build in the off season no doubt for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[00:51:02] I think that's it. So we are good. Thank you guys for joining me this crowd will probably get out for some people on Tuesday.

[00:51:15] I do apologize but thought it would be important for us to lock in and get the last of the Indiana Pacers and I think that we did a good job and I hope to the hashtag boombabyfamily that we did your guys service.

[00:51:30] We didn't trash them or what have you. I hope that you know you guys still feel good about what you guys did in these playoffs because you should.

[00:51:41] It was a really great run. Don't rest on your laurels Philadelphia Milwaukee New York they're all coming and guess what you will not be able to sneak up on not one team anymore.

[00:51:58] So prepare to be the hunted. It's going to be fun. Keep TJ McConnell because you're going to need that real feisty edge player for this next iteration of you and then like always.

[00:52:17] The best part of you is you make sure that you have people that surround you that brighten your light and don't extinguish your light.

[00:52:27] Go out and do good in the world and we'll see you on this feed Wednesday. I'm out of here. You guys enjoy game four of Minnesota and Dallas. We'll see you on Wednesday.