Reigning MVP Embiid Returns... Jokic Ceases MVP Race, Wemby Eyes MVP in Future!

[00:00:00] It's Wednesday, you know what time it is Front Runner Podcast Collective is back on the air

[00:00:16] I am your hongle holds dense and we're just happy to be back. We're trying to get back

[00:00:22] on regular schedule. So today's Wednesday pod happening at 4.49 Pacific Standard Time. So the first

[00:00:31] and foremost things that we're going to talk about is we're going to get the social media out of the way.

[00:00:37] So follow me on x at Front Runner PC also you can get us on YouTube Front Runner Podcast Collective.

[00:00:47] Usually clips go up there from the podcast. People say well why would I do that because it's like doubling down.

[00:00:56] Usually I put in like some interesting stats or something that I heard through the great mind and

[00:01:02] there's some blurbs in there with it as well so it's a good time it's worth your

[00:01:11] your ship. So also subscribe while you're there to the channel that would be great I would appreciate

[00:01:19] it myself. Also like if you enjoy what you saw and also if you can turn on that notification so

[00:01:27] when new videos go up, you know you're going to get them. We're efforting to get videos up

[00:01:35] along with the podcast. Usually the video goes up probably a couple hours after the podcast.

[00:01:42] That's what we're trying to work towards. Usually it has come like the day after and that gives you

[00:01:49] more time to like get the stats and get everything that I need in there. Also it's funny, you know I

[00:01:55] I love comedy. I love busting on myself. I love busting on other people. So I hope you find the

[00:02:03] comedy in the clips as well and also I did make mention last podcast that there's a certain NBA start

[00:02:13] that is showing up in all the clips of late and no one has hit me to let me know which NBA

[00:02:22] star it is so far. So I'm looking forward to the first person that hits me up and lets me know

[00:02:28] through my spirit animal is and if you have been with the podcast long enough, you know who that

[00:02:36] is. So my day once the FRPC Army thank you so much to the others. I mean there's some clues in

[00:02:46] the videos just letting you know clues in the videos. Also on April 21st we will have a

[00:02:54] kind of a scouting report on a lot of your top NBA draft choices when it comes to that.

[00:03:04] Efforting now to put something together to assemble something for you guys and it's a lot of work

[00:03:11] but we're having a lot of fun doing it so that's really great as well. So we have hit everything. I

[00:03:18] think we shield everything so we can get on with the podcast and we should do that right.

[00:03:24] An audience we shall. All right so first off the bat, Philly got their big name back which

[00:03:32] you know we had been talking about this extensively on previous pods. Joil and Beeg made his return

[00:03:39] to hook in on Tuesday night against the OKC Thunder and the joel that we saw on Tuesday night

[00:03:47] isn't the let's go knock off the bugs or nor the Celtics. First off I want to give all flowers to

[00:03:54] joel for coming back it's a difficult situation putting your seven foot to 300 pound plus body

[00:04:07] and go through the rigors of getting yourself back especially when you're talking about a knee

[00:04:12] injury. Manuscus tear for a big man of joel stature but he's a true leader of this franchise and

[00:04:21] this is why he's got he feels he feels there's an obligation he feels that there's unfinished

[00:04:28] business and he feels that 80% joel in B is better than nothing. So let me give you my thoughts on

[00:04:40] what I saw in B looks low now I will remind you it is the first game and NBA's basketball like

[00:04:51] real basketball is different than you know individual workouts and and scrimmages in practice

[00:04:58] facilities. So I do understand that number two his ability to recover on the defensive end

[00:05:08] and seeing slow like his his reaction time because joel stature guy who can get out to the shooter

[00:05:18] and then kind of push himself back to the big to get in rebound position it seemed like you know

[00:05:27] he's coming back. So again to me personally you know you got two things going on there the line up

[00:05:36] wasn't complete Max he wasn't in it and I don't know if this is what the lineup is going to be when

[00:05:41] they start the playoffs or the plan and you know he's just coming back off the injury we can't

[00:05:49] expect like a ton of stuff but it's gonna get to my other point. He did look tentative out there

[00:05:56] but this is eight weeks off and here's what I'm gonna say there's a lot of stuff that you can sit

[00:06:02] there and go okay this is great this is great for the franchise we got a warrior we got all those

[00:06:08] type of things but you can come away from this with like looking at this two ways you can come away

[00:06:13] looking at this like we get in beat and maxi back together and let's see what it looks like

[00:06:20] or the other thing is is that um you know I know it's gonna while I know Philly fans 76

[00:06:29] fans is you know more than any other in that city just wants a title I get it I mean I

[00:06:37] understand that you guys want to hoist the Larry OB I get it but here's my I guess if you want

[00:06:44] to put it my my blowback to that or my pushback to the whole situation to me the proof knew what

[00:06:52] it meant to allow NB to rehab through the season into the R season allowing the ramp up with

[00:07:01] team USA and the Olympics read the benefits of being in that atmosphere in B would

[00:07:09] would roll right into training camp you know spy you know he would have had knocked off all the

[00:07:16] rust with the Olympic team and also would have benefited him playing with those Calibre players

[00:07:23] he could also say okay my mindset has to be different usually when you go to the Olympics there's

[00:07:29] some sort of Olympic boost that goes with your play and I think NB would benefit from that now

[00:07:38] the other thing that he would go right into training camp he would be engaged he'd be healthy

[00:07:43] and you know if the rumors are true about what your off season is going to look like

[00:07:48] it's a good chance that you're going to be one of the favorites what am I trying to say

[00:07:52] you're going to be one of the favorites to hold the Larry OB at the end of the year anyway

[00:07:57] so I understand the the thought process and also kind of like hey we don't we want to take every shot

[00:08:05] we can at this at this title and the heat ran through the east why couldn't we run through the east

[00:08:13] and get in be healthy I don't know if that's how it works in the playoffs personally is rugged

[00:08:21] your your you know your clothes out to quicker everything is a microcosm and it's just the

[00:08:32] the intensity level is ratcheted up to just such an extensive high and also date every team can key on

[00:08:39] your specific strengths and things of that nature so you are under a microscope every last second

[00:08:48] and here's the other thing honestly Philly fans that I don't want to hear if this inevitably ends up bad

[00:08:58] you know bring it in feedback now gives the implication or the illusion that you're competing this season

[00:09:08] I think that's completely unfair to Joel and be and his legacy because the one thing that we've

[00:09:13] always talked about is oh every time he gets to the playoffs there's an injury there's always

[00:09:20] something there's always something I really hope that that is not the narrative coming out of

[00:09:26] of Philadelphia if when this seat when the season ends because it's a miracle that you got on back

[00:09:35] to begin with at all one and two you know you're you're we're in the A slot I can understand

[00:09:44] if the team was holding it down and you were like in the four slot and then bringing Joel and be

[00:09:51] back to that to that powerhouse of team definitely you could have made a run but when you're

[00:09:56] talking about you're coming from the A slot and you're looking at the situation where you're

[00:10:00] going to have a playing game most likely against the Miami Heat if not the Miami Heat you're going

[00:10:08] to be playing a revamped Indiana Pacer team and guess what they can play five out

[00:10:15] Joel and be we can we can sit here and say all this all these things we can say he's a warrior

[00:10:25] we can say he is a you know his what we thought of Joel and be in the past and what we think

[00:10:31] of him now he takes basketball very seriously we have committed him on training better really

[00:10:39] he anything that we criticize Joel and be it on Joel has fixed so for me he doesn't really

[00:10:50] have a lot else to prove personally and I just think that I hope this is not really attached

[00:10:57] to his legacy because he sacrificed so much to come back so I hope that if this run is not as

[00:11:05] robust as it could be I really hope that Joel does not feel any pressure or any grant of frustration

[00:11:14] from Philadelphia 76ers fans in a in a short playoff run so there that is all right now the other

[00:11:26] thing that we want to get to it's a big man podcast I'm just going to let you know now we just

[00:11:32] talked about we celebrated Joel and be return to the basketball court and now we're going to

[00:11:39] turn our attention to the game that happened between the San Antonio Spurs in the Divernuggeds last

[00:11:45] night now both those teams played a spirit again last night as NBA fans Hoot Junkies we were treated

[00:11:55] to the reigning king of the NBA Nicole a Yokech and the young Fina which is Victor Wynn Banyama

[00:12:04] now as somebody who has watched basketball for a long period of time you know I don't consider

[00:12:10] myself an historian but I do know a lot about the game because I've seen a lot of it I've seen

[00:12:16] the evolution and what have you but I can tell you right now I'm going to make this statement right

[00:12:23] now this might be the best big man not you know versus one another in a very long time and I'm

[00:12:37] going to make my case right now as you know I was born in the 70s so I saw Karine play I didn't see

[00:12:48] him playing Milwaukee I'm not going to tell you that lie but I saw Karine with a fro in LA you know so

[00:12:57] that's how old I am right um but as an NBA fan we got robbed of Karine and Bill Walton that was

[00:13:06] supposed to be the match up because Bill came in in 76 Karine was still like in his like late 20

[00:13:15] so you know he was hitting the peak of his powers and what have you so we got cheated out of that

[00:13:20] because Bill got injured and kind of fell off the map and then resurfaced with the Boston Celtics

[00:13:27] and uh you know helped them win a title now we move on and then a chemo larger one comes into the league

[00:13:35] in 1984 awesome right great okay who's going to who's going to help who's going to be the big man that

[00:13:43] challenges a team of large one we thought it was going to be Patrick doing injuries never being

[00:13:52] able to get to the finals poor uh team um building all sorts of things play Patrick doing so we just

[00:14:01] didn't get it there um there are a couple other centers in the league at that time obviously as

[00:14:07] Karine started to wind down you know which starting to see the the come on of a chemo larger one as

[00:14:15] we know it takes four it takes like six years to really kind of establish yourself in the NBA and

[00:14:22] things that nature so you know David Robinson kind of stood there the admiral kind of stood

[00:14:29] there for a second and that was kind of uh you know you know a little mini feud as you will but

[00:14:38] there was really no real challenger to a chemo larger one and then people say well what what

[00:14:46] while Shaq well by the time Shaq came around and got to his peak of his powers this was like year

[00:14:53] 1314 for a large one and remember we were in a rugged NBA you know the physicality took a toll on

[00:15:02] you it's not like it is now um and then so Shaq really kind of just dominated now we had little

[00:15:12] y'all mean things but the problem with the y'all mean situation said he was sad because of the

[00:15:18] foot injuries and whatnot so when you look at the history of the big man now you know people say well

[00:15:25] you forgot about the lawn zone morning and you know you forgot about this dude now do here's the thing

[00:15:32] I love lawn zone morning he was one of the most intense competitors that I've ever seen

[00:15:37] and I'm gonna tell you one thing go watch the footage of Georgetown a lawn zone morning

[00:15:44] you might think the guy you saw in in Charlotte and also in uh Miami was great the dude in Georgetown

[00:15:58] if you think that Jare and Jackson junior blocks a lot of shots or whatever it goes after a lot of

[00:16:03] shots go watch a lawn zone morning at Georgetown check that out on YouTube that's little you know

[00:16:11] little tip from your uncle Vince all right so what I was saying is that I wasn't trying to be

[00:16:16] hyperbolic but if you look at this with Yokeh in limba yama in the league at this present moment

[00:16:24] and Yokeh being basically at the peak of his powers and he's what 29 at this point

[00:16:32] it's safe to say that probably about three four more years of peak of Yokeh and then even the

[00:16:38] come down might be even slower because it's not like we're we're coming from a place of a ton

[00:16:47] of super duper athletic like jump out the gym type stuff but his motor skills and his mind

[00:16:56] might just get better as time goes on because if somebody's passes and knowing where your

[00:17:02] teammates are is even more muscle memory than it is now God knows what he's gonna look like at

[00:17:08] 32 we know clue he just might look clairvoyant on the court he might actually become transparent on

[00:17:16] the court you know like an invisible man and then just reappear underneath the basket for a layup

[00:17:23] dude and they won't even know to call it a travel they won't know what to call it they'll just

[00:17:28] be like this is sorcery I have no idea what Nicole a Yokeh is capable of at this point he's

[00:17:36] an absolute witch on the basketball court he's a complete stud and this dude is just getting

[00:17:45] getting all the buzz for the MVP for this year now I did put out a video from last pod

[00:17:55] putting the case for lucard together I think I put a strong argument so check that on

[00:18:01] out on the youtube page now as we get back to this again I am just blown away by the talent

[00:18:11] by both Yokeh is good doing it for a while now so even though it doesn't surprise me some of

[00:18:18] the stuff they pulls off it's just absolutely incredible and last night was one of those

[00:18:27] just games where you go I am so pumped for this because I just you know it just fascinates me

[00:18:37] so there were ends up winning the game one 10 to 105 like I said it was a spirit to game

[00:18:44] Yokeh ended up playing 38 minutes he scored 42 points so we got engaged Yokeh

[00:18:50] 16 rebounds 6 assists two blocks in a steal so that's what Yokeh put up right again I did say

[00:19:01] there were two so Victor win by Yamma big big he shot the ball 29 times now usually I'm over here

[00:19:14] mr analytics talking about efficiency and why wasn't this guy so efficient and why he wasn't

[00:19:20] this that the other now that's somebody who's been watching the game a long time as somebody who

[00:19:27] can look at a at a game and go okay this team is completely outmatched by this other team

[00:19:33] and you have a guy on your team that you know he just raises all ties right and that's what Victor

[00:19:41] win by Yamma does to me the 29 shot showed me a lot I personally loved it I loved every shot that he took

[00:19:52] and the reason why is that he knew his team and he knew he was the best option and his aggression

[00:19:59] against Yokeh was awesome I mean that's exactly what you want to see out of the number one pick

[00:20:06] he did not shy away from who Yokeh was at all he didn't shy away from the MVP of it all he didn't shy

[00:20:15] away from the tremendous skills of Yokeh he didn't he didn't shy away from the physicality of Yokeh

[00:20:24] and we'll talk about one of the one of the blocks he had and it was just so funny but

[00:20:30] um to me this 100 percent describes winby beyond the shadow of a doubt

[00:20:43] winby does not duck the smoke big Vic is going out is going up the chimney floor the smoke

[00:20:51] shout out to our guys at the WWE the street profits you know I'm saying those are my guys and uh

[00:21:01] I want to give a special salute to my guys Angela Dawkins and Martez Ford thank you for your

[00:21:09] hours and hours and hours of entertainment that you given me but winby is a is an honorary

[00:21:18] street profit because winby is up and he wants all the smoke because he scored 23 points again on 29

[00:21:29] shots love the aggression aggressiveness there 15 regnails 8 assists he had nine blocks

[00:21:38] winby had nine blocks in this game okay nine

[00:21:42] and a steal now he's the other thing winby yama does this thing that I can't really it's hard

[00:21:50] for me to explain but I think a lot of people will get it in effect it here blockers shot

[00:21:56] and he just palms the ball so somebody will go up for a shot he just basically because he's so tall

[00:22:01] he just kind of domes the ball and palms it with its hand and money does that

[00:22:09] it really looks it looks super crazy but what he it gives off um like dad vibes like when he's playing

[00:22:18] with young kids in the backyard or whatever it just like get this out of here just wait huh get

[00:22:24] this out of here so he's done you know many occasions and um I'm gonna just go ahead and

[00:22:35] said that I think I said it on a previous part I'm gonna say it again uh Victor winby yama is the

[00:22:41] defensive player of the year still had nine blocks okay he's have more nine is not the best he's ever

[00:22:49] done okay um the other thing that's so crazy about this is that again I said it too many times

[00:23:00] but I'll I'll re-enterated because I think it's worth saying I think it's worth saying excuse me we might

[00:23:09] cut that out who knows but here's here's a deal I've never seen an NBA player and we all know the

[00:23:18] egos of NBA players oh I can beat that oh I can do that I can you know think of Anthony Edwards

[00:23:24] right he's super competitive or whatever but you saw it in this game and I've seen it again

[00:23:31] games previous they are NBA players they're NBA stars who will go into the vicinity of Victor

[00:23:38] winby yama and completely abort the mission and I think we saw it again against Denver last night

[00:23:48] you know there was a couple times with kcp and and uh Michael Porter Jr was like oh oh whoa big

[00:23:55] vicks over there now I'm cool I'm I'll I'll we'll reset we're running another play away from him

[00:24:05] so I don't get embarrassed so if he's doing that and he's doing at his work a year with like he

[00:24:12] doesn't have all the concepts down for us to really believe that this man is like rude to go

[00:24:17] bear with the beautiful mind looking at defenses they're looking at offenses and try to dissect them

[00:24:24] he doesn't have a down a lot of stuff he actually stumbles in as a mistake and just puts his hands up

[00:24:31] and the ball is just blocked there's been so many times that he started like audio audio to

[00:24:38] and stuff like that just by putting his simple simply putting his hands up it's impressive to watch

[00:24:45] it is incredible to watch I think we're seeing something completely different than we've never seen

[00:24:51] before I know everybody has said that it's been used at nauseam but I think there's no other way

[00:25:01] I think we we don't have the alliteration to give you to say he's just doing stupid stuff and it

[00:25:10] makes no sense but it's really working and it's effective which gets me to do my other point is

[00:25:17] this San Antonio poor Vita family you are officially on the clock and what I mean by this uh your

[00:25:30] brethren in Texas the Dallas Mavericks know all about this they also have a prodigy over there

[00:25:39] he's battling the guy that uh winged by Yomu play last night yokeach for the MVP

[00:25:46] but right now I think with every fiber on my being I want to convey this message to Brian right

[00:25:55] and the front office at the center in San Antonio you cannot slow play the acquiring of talent

[00:26:04] with Victor being this good already you just can't do it it would be criminal if you did

[00:26:14] I'm not saying that you have to block a plan and and just start throwing draft picks out and

[00:26:21] trying to get superstars up in there but I think there's a way for you to get you know reasonable talent

[00:26:28] at reasonable prices without giving up the farm and maybe in some aspect you're getting picks back so

[00:26:36] my thing is is that I hope that the roster looks a lot better next year to compliment

[00:26:45] what Wimby is and what he's going to be because could you imagine with space what Wimby would look

[00:26:54] like like if he had two dead eye shooters on his team so the paint the paint isn't now open for

[00:27:03] Wimby Yomu at 75 all right I mean it's it's scary honestly what he's able to do and again what he's

[00:27:15] able to do without really no inclination of what he knows what I don't even think you know exactly

[00:27:24] what he's doing yet but he's just getting better and better and I think that right now personally

[00:27:32] I think the Senate Tony Osperers would be it would be criminal to not walk into next year

[00:27:40] without a point guard who can shoot and space the floor and most importantly though a competent

[00:27:46] solid entry pass into Victor Wimby Yomu can we get a good entry pass into this man

[00:27:55] he shouldn't be hard to miss well he's the biggest player on the floor he's the biggest player

[00:28:01] on the floor he shouldn't be hard to miss I just don't get it personally but there's not a guard

[00:28:10] trade Jones can do it but trade really can't shoot it well enough to space the floor so we can

[00:28:18] optimize what Victor can do but a point guard who can space the floor would be optimal at least that

[00:28:28] at least give him that now I've heard some of the rumors out there somebody said a trade young

[00:28:36] to San Antonio personally I don't know if I want trade young and San Antonio people will say

[00:28:43] that I have a bias against trade young I think personally you know you know it's Victor's team

[00:28:50] and I think that trade would trade want to be a number two option you know that might be something

[00:28:57] to think about how about the Dejante Murray redo could do that I do have a couple others that I

[00:29:08] want to go out there and I have them in different tiers so if you don't mind I'mma go ahead

[00:29:15] and talk about them so this is what I call take a flyer right so we're we don't

[00:29:25] I will tell you conceptually it will 100% work the only thing about it is is that

[00:29:30] you wouldn't have to give up a lot because of you know history injury history and things

[00:29:36] of that nature but could you imagine Lonzo Ball in San Antonio with Victor Wang Bayama

[00:29:44] now I know that Lonzo has been hurt I know that he's been you know for a year and a half we just

[00:29:51] haven't seen him but if he was able to come back and be like 80% of what he was and if he could

[00:30:01] because the passing in the vision doesn't change he's still six six and if the shot can stay

[00:30:08] at the level it was when he left because he was like a 40 plus percent three point shooter when

[00:30:14] he left um I think he would be a real additive piece to a to a team that could use it and I think

[00:30:23] that type of guy would be something I would say if you were kind of I don't want to go all in but I

[00:30:29] want to you know I really want to piece together a real solid team around Victor Alonzo Ball

[00:30:39] you know and I don't think it would take you a bounty of picks to get Lonzo back so that's the first one

[00:30:47] um the second one I call this the Bill Simmons is still screening this in the desert somewhere tree

[00:30:57] okay now as you guys know Bill Simmons talked all summer long well why did not San Antonio offer

[00:31:08] Austin Reeves a bag and you know you know it helped my squad so you know I'm not I'm not complaining

[00:31:18] that people didn't see the vision in Austin but uh here's the trade for you I mean it's I'm not saying

[00:31:26] the trade but I'm just throwing names out there um but we revisit Bill Simmons like Kuyper help

[00:31:34] and is there like a Austin Reeves obviously the money has to work and what have you but is there

[00:31:42] an Austin Reeves devin was sale swap you know I think something like that would be good for Victor

[00:31:50] be good for Austin too um but um that you know and then the Lakers can look at it two ways you can

[00:31:59] look at it like hey you know we're getting defensively better maybe a little more athletic maybe

[00:32:06] maybe now devin can be one of these guys that can chase around the guards and it doesn't have

[00:32:12] to be Jared Vanderbilt who really can't shoot the three ball right that's the problem with Jared

[00:32:18] if Jared could shoot the three at like 38% and he could take like four to five a game

[00:32:26] we would have no problem with Jared Vanderbilt being on the court now he's also injured for the Lakers

[00:32:33] so we don't have to worry about that but at the end of the day devin was sale would kind of fix

[00:32:41] one of the issues that the Lakers have is that Austin is a willing defender he's a good team defender

[00:32:48] but a one-on-one defender he can he understands the concepts he understands what he needs to do

[00:32:55] but he just can't physically stay in front of like the quicker guards and we also know that

[00:33:01] D'Angelo Russell albeit very crafty on the office of end very uh his shooting has been a revelation

[00:33:10] this year but on the defensive end we know that D'Angelo gets lost there are bad plays that happened

[00:33:20] he's also slower afloat but you know i'm not trying to break up Austin I want to keep Austin

[00:33:27] personally you know but if I have to be realistic you know Austin rees with Victor Wing-Guy Yama sounds

[00:33:36] awesome so there was that and then the is there another one oh the Pinin sky one is Cleveland doesn't

[00:33:45] move on from Donovan Mitchell and they let go of Derry's Garland there's that so that's the pie in the

[00:33:55] sky trade thought process for you so again those are three options is out throughout there I've heard

[00:34:03] the Dejante won a lot I've heard the trade young won a lot I just want to throw a couple else people

[00:34:10] out there that maybe people weren't thinking about and I wanted to give you different levels you know

[00:34:15] and depending on where you think San Antonio is as an organization are they are aggressive

[00:34:21] organization you don't think of them as too aggressive you know do we think of them as kind of like

[00:34:30] organization that just wants fans in the building and you know we get to the playoffs great

[00:34:35] and we don't get to the playoffs okay what we you know we're kind of in that plan they don't

[00:34:41] strike me as that type of group either so you know they're more conservative group but I think

[00:34:47] that they never have a talent like this and I think at this point in time that whatever your

[00:34:53] philosophy is you might have to throw you might have to augment that philosophy for him

[00:35:00] victors that special all right so we're gonna move on to our next piece of news here

[00:35:08] sorry about that you know I got notes all right so we're gonna play my favorite game in the

[00:35:14] whole white world it's standing time and what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna give you the top 10

[00:35:24] teams in the east because it's pretty much locked up and then we'll give you a little blurb about

[00:35:30] them and kind of tell you kind of where we are with them and where they are with themselves so

[00:35:37] and we're just gonna do the east today and then on Friday we'll do the west because west is a

[00:35:42] little more jungle and also I think we can after tonight we can firmly start to pull Houston out

[00:35:50] of the mix and then it's just the 10 and then how it all kinds of how you know ramps out from there

[00:35:58] so we'll do the west on Friday and then yeah that's how we'll do it so there we go all right so

[00:36:09] we start with the Boston Celtics and they are 59 and 16 obviously they're just cruising right now

[00:36:17] to the end of the season I mean basically right now it's trying to get their playoff rotations you

[00:36:23] know who's gonna make it who's gonna see minutes off the bench immediately you know who's our first

[00:36:29] couple options off the bench and then who are our guys in a pinch we we might have to go to so

[00:36:37] I think that that's what we're gonna be seeing a lot of with the lost in Celtics as we get closer

[00:36:44] the thing that I continue to worry about is the sparse amount of paint touches that the Celtics have

[00:36:52] I wish they would figure that out and start going to that Derek White for Zingas Pickner role

[00:36:59] which is almost unstoppable now our second team is the Milwaukee Bucks they come in at 47 and 28

[00:37:08] they are well they were firmly but I still think pretty firmly in the second spot I don't think

[00:37:15] they have a lot to worry about here's one thing I will say I don't like the lapses that Milwaukee has

[00:37:24] now I understand that Dane was out but you lost to the wizards you should not lose to the wizards

[00:37:32] at all the wizards are a team that you are supposed to smash what happened there

[00:37:43] so taking bad elves is alarming to me and here's the other thing the bench needs to be consistent

[00:37:54] going through this playoff run if they want to have success so Bobby Portis needs to have a big

[00:38:02] you know playoff run what is it conanton whoever out Crowder whoever's coming off their bench

[00:38:10] needs to be productive so no time for timidness you need to launch if you're wide open hit the shot

[00:38:20] all right we move on to the clueless Cavaliers who are 46 and 30 who are

[00:38:25] the still in striking distance of the Milwaukee Bucks to move up to the second spot okay

[00:38:34] here is my thoughts on Cleveland I think there's an hourglass emoji for Dota Van Mitchell I know

[00:38:42] what I know what Dan Gilbert has said and I know he's going through his own health issues right

[00:38:50] now so we send our prayers and we send our well-efficient to Dan Gilbert and his family and we hope

[00:39:00] that he gets better but I think even with all of the hard well hard warm stuff that's going on

[00:39:09] in Cleveland I still think there's a there's a document a Dota Van Mitchell issue to be dealt with

[00:39:17] and if for some reason Cleveland doesn't see it I do the comments are out there you know he's

[00:39:25] really non-committal when they're talking about extension so if I'm Cleveland I'm still kind of

[00:39:33] keeping my you know my speed dial open who who I have already set up you know do I have

[00:39:41] constructs that deals out there or whatever if the nuclear option does a rear is ugly head

[00:39:49] at the end of this season and then I also have our glass emoji for the toughness check

[00:39:59] with the Cleveland Cavaliers now we all know what happened in the postseason last year

[00:40:04] the physicality was different for Evan Mowgli and Jared Allen and I believe they were

[00:40:10] they were surprised by it and I don't think they'll be surprised this year that's the first thing

[00:40:16] but I do have questions even with the additions and the revelations that are

[00:40:22] Max Struis, George Neang and the revelation which is Sam Morel Sam Morel shooting the lights out

[00:40:28] on the three wall um I think he has a cult following Sam Morel

[00:40:34] but did all of these moves that the cast made to make themselves a little bit more diverse

[00:40:43] doesn't answer the toughness question looking forward to find out in the playoffs

[00:40:51] then we go to the Orlandial Magic at 4 and honestly Orlando Magic fans I seen Twitter

[00:40:58] I've heard people talk um I know you guys are really excited about where you are and listen

[00:41:05] I'm not trying to be a wet blanket or anything what I am trying to say is just just enjoy this

[00:41:12] bask in this you're not supposed to be here you are the glitch in the matrix

[00:41:21] and you'll say Vince that sounds very disrespectful for somebody who had been claiming

[00:41:28] that they have enjoyed magic games all year long I have I have enjoyed magic games all year long

[00:41:36] this is true hashtag magic together okay I'm in I'm in the streets okay I know all right but here's

[00:41:45] the thing it doesn't matter what you do this year um you're not a serious playoff team I know

[00:41:53] I know that sounds bad but you're not here's the deal ban carols in his second year um he's still

[00:42:00] trying to figure out how to carry the load and be the you know the franchise bearer basically um

[00:42:10] you don't have a real point guard and this is and just look at this is ban carols alpha dog training

[00:42:17] in real time you know I'm saying just look at that because here's what I see I see a team that's

[00:42:26] overachieving I also think that your coach needs to be locked up long long long long term um

[00:42:36] I think what you guys are building there is excellent I think the next piece is to get a point guard

[00:42:43] so you're in the same situation as San Antonio but different because when you get a point guard

[00:42:49] now only is it going to take off your offense it's going to take you to a point where maybe we can

[00:42:55] start considering you as a real viable contender for the east but this year is more like playoff

[00:43:02] experience let jalen sugs get his feet wet in the playoffs because the effort and the energy that

[00:43:11] he plays with in the regular season a lot of people play with that same energy in the postseason

[00:43:18] and I wonder if there's another level to his energy level because if there is I want to see it

[00:43:26] that's going to be special and then we're going to know what we have when it comes to postseason

[00:43:31] the other thing is that you know what fron's having a bad shooting year I mean you know we can't

[00:43:38] take you seriously this year but we're excited for you to be here we're excited for you to scare

[00:43:45] a first round team you know and you'll have your shot now we move on to the new york nicks

[00:43:52] here's what i'm going to say um this is not only a true new york like fan like dream team

[00:44:02] because they play with a lot of heart and they play with a lot of grit and they they're tough

[00:44:07] as hell they are just tough as hell um they're savvy you know but this is another type of new york team

[00:44:20] as well this is we're underdog nobody believes it in us we got a chip on our shoulder new york

[00:44:32] person which is like angry new york right and with tips being who he is and on whatever case

[00:44:41] being be he's going to have his guys ready for war we all know this they are 44 and 31 as well so

[00:44:48] they're battling between the magic and them for the four five so this means home field advantage

[00:44:56] if it goes seven so those two teams got some things to work out right there now here is what's going on

[00:45:03] we got some sad news julie's rando it doesn't seem like he's close to coming back i know you've seen

[00:45:09] the reports out there he's doing five on zero workouts it's very very light physicality towards him

[00:45:18] he has to do what's right for the shoulder we talked about it a couple pods ago

[00:45:23] july's rando is a battering round and he uses that shoulder to be part of his battering round composite

[00:45:32] and if he's not able to be as physical as he usually is then his game is completely null and void

[00:45:42] that power game is what makes him so you need that that shoulder be really healthy for him to play

[00:45:51] so i think with the amount of games left and just not being able to

[00:45:58] ratchet up to another level of conditioning and physicality on that shoulder i think we might be

[00:46:07] going into this playoffs without julie's rando and i think i don't think that's a stress statement

[00:46:13] i think that's a reality at this point i could be wrong but hey

[00:46:18] i don't know i was wrong about i will say this me a couple on the in b because i said on monday's

[00:46:26] podcast i thought in b be back on thursday he's back on twos day and then he let off our pod

[00:46:33] because i was wrong so i do say that when i am wrong so you know you're gonna get you're gonna

[00:46:41] get your chance to be like oh yeah he doesn't know what he's talking about and whatever but

[00:46:46] i don't think that julie's rando will see the basketball court in the playoffs so there's that

[00:46:54] now there is some good news it looks like oj and an obi he has some inflammation in that oboe

[00:47:01] but they seem to think that it's not a longstanding issue and they do believe they will have him for

[00:47:06] the playoffs now we don't know if there will be some irritation to that oboe that would cause him to

[00:47:14] miss games as he goes on as we get closer to the playoffs or in the playoffs but the news is right

[00:47:21] now is that oj and an obi should be a go for the playoffs so that is good news you are getting more

[00:47:28] reinforcements back it's just really sad that you're not gonna have your complete roster with you

[00:47:36] going into war it looks like against the orlando magic in the first round but i'm excited to see it

[00:47:43] and if there's any team that was going to be dealing with a young team in the first round it will

[00:47:48] be a coach it would be a coach tears team personal i think that would be great um blah blah blah

[00:47:57] all right we got to move on we talked about the next who is next on our list all right

[00:48:04] okay the pacers are on our list okay the pacers are 43 and 33 think i said the pacers before it

[00:48:11] was Cavaliers i was trying to say so Cavaliers and the nicks are battling for four or five the pacers have

[00:48:18] fallen out and they're like in that six position and they're 43 and 33 now we do have some good news

[00:48:25] there being glimpses of the early season of tyrie's halibut and they have shown up

[00:48:32] and that's a good omen as we get closer closer to the playoffs i will do i do have one question

[00:48:40] now i know that um you know people went injured and you know we've had some time

[00:48:48] um management situations go on with tyrie's halibut in his minutes and stuff like that

[00:48:55] my my question is is because of the madonna injury

[00:49:01] carlie was still trying to find his bench and that worries me going in

[00:49:07] to the playoffs because i saw like what was it nine like ten different dudes play at yesterday

[00:49:14] and i think he's searching for who he thinks can give him some actual viable minutes in the playoffs

[00:49:23] so i think we're going to see a basically a roulette a player and he's going to try to push the

[00:49:32] right buttons and if it doesn't work he'll throw somebody else in i think he has no clue what that

[00:49:38] what that bench is supposed to look like right now now he does have a couple well a week and a half

[00:49:43] to figure it out but i don't know if that's enough time and i don't know if there's enough game

[00:49:48] to games to say okay i feel confident in such-and-such guy to give me 16 minutes off the bench so we'll

[00:49:57] see how it all goes but those are being my thought processes when i'm looking at at them but

[00:50:03] i will say this this might be my surprise team this year too this might be the team that

[00:50:11] either pushes somebody to a game seven in a first round or or knock somebody off

[00:50:18] up but Pascal Ciacum Tyres Halliburton Miles Turner i love Andrew Nymhart and i love what you're

[00:50:29] getting out of uh what's our guy's name Nesmith Aaron Nesmith so i love it i love it i just i wish

[00:50:40] we knew what the bench was we know that tj mccano will give you energy and and and love and joy

[00:50:47] off the bench we do know that but man losing our guy mathering did not help this situation so

[00:50:58] there is that all right let's move on to the to the Miami Heat the Miami Heat are right on the

[00:51:04] heels of the Pacers at 42 and 33 so they're tied in the lost column and here's the thing this is what

[00:51:13] i gotta say about the heat i think the heat have us right where they want us because

[00:51:23] honestly they haven't played very inspired basketball all year Jimmy is being in and out of the line-up

[00:51:31] you know and i know Jimmy Butler in the playoffs different cat whatever i do think i love a lot

[00:51:39] of the pieces that they have Rozier had a good game the other night which was great to see

[00:51:44] because you're gonna need it but there's been just kind of this like laxedesico thing which is weird

[00:51:53] because usually it's always a sense of urgency in Miami which just doesn't seem like this this year

[00:52:01] so i think they've lulled us into a false sense of security and then the zombie heat will be back

[00:52:11] in the playoffs i will never count that team out i will never count them out as much as i have not

[00:52:20] like what i've seen this year uh you know i like hiding high catch junior you know i will always

[00:52:26] keep up on my guy but i just thought it would be better and it just hasn't clicked

[00:52:36] but again spotra sposter as the head coach Jimmy Butler and bam out of bio who play as hard

[00:52:47] as any two players i've ever seen play um bam has literally become like a lanzo morning junior

[00:52:56] really honestly if you look at the way he plays and um the intensity on the defensive level and

[00:53:03] you know and and just just he plays so great i just love them but um

[00:53:12] i wouldn't be surprised that they got somebody i wouldn't be surprised if they got somebody

[00:53:18] all right and then we get to the 76ers again we talked about jojo and be being back they are 41 and 35

[00:53:28] at this moment which puts them firmly eighth and that's exactly where they're gonna be so it looks

[00:53:34] like they will be going on the road to either Indiana or to Miami i'm sure that joelle personally

[00:53:43] would love to go more to my amine that's more his you know vibe and stuff like that but

[00:53:50] it all depends on how this works out between the pacers and the heat but getting uh joelle and be back

[00:53:56] even though i have said you know what my thoughts were on it here's the thing if he's back

[00:54:02] you know we got we got to look at you as a threat right see i have to assume that if he's back

[00:54:11] he's healthy and i know that's not true but i know you guys are you know you know i know what's

[00:54:19] gonna be said i know what's going to be said if this dude gets be either in the plan or in the first

[00:54:26] round it's gonna be a lot of trash talk around this dude and he does not deserve it at all so i'll just

[00:54:33] say that but i will i will i do want to say this the spiciness of the 76ers with joelle and be

[00:54:41] playing a job rivers led Milwaukee bucks team or even the Celtics it does it does make for theater

[00:54:49] and i want to see it because i'm petty no i like petty so all right we're gonna finish up with

[00:54:57] the bulls 36 and 40 now here's the thing that i love about this i've been saying for a long time

[00:55:04] bulls need to blow it up they need to blow it up they need to blow it up right uh kudos to the

[00:55:11] young guards of kobi white i'll disoomal both guards have stepped up and in play extremely well

[00:55:23] through this time um i think that the the chicada bulls have kind of stumbled into good fortune with

[00:55:34] kobi white and with disoomal personally now what they do to augment this in offseason without pigs

[00:55:41] and things of that nature i have no idea um but they do with lawns old ball and what they do with

[00:55:48] Alex kuru so and and and what the future holds for tomorrow to rosin i don't know but i do know that

[00:55:57] the chicada bulls with this particular team you know in a one-game playoff scenario

[00:56:05] wait billy donovan as coach if it's close it's it's gonna be a lot to deal with

[00:56:14] it's gonna be a lot to deal with because kobi white is not scared at all

[00:56:19] you know um i just think he was waiting for his opportunity so we'll see what they're what they're

[00:56:25] gonna be doing there in the nice slide and uh now here's the thing

[00:56:31] here's the one thing the bulls in at nine the hawks are also at 10 but they both have 40 losses

[00:56:40] so as we continue to go and with six games left for the bulls and seven games left for the hawks

[00:56:47] it's it's a battle for home field advantage for the the final plan game so that's gonna

[00:56:54] be interesting and tech to see how this all plays out now the other thing with this is too is that

[00:57:01] you know quince nider is also a good coach and to see those two matched up donovan and quince

[00:57:07] nider in a in a one-game plan scenario it's gonna it's gonna be tight i'm gonna love to watch it

[00:57:14] now at lenefins let me ask you this do you want to see the the continuing of the disjante

[00:57:20] murry uh steadiness or would you like to see flail villain bravado tre young

[00:57:30] that is a choice right because tre young no matter what i say about him that do

[00:57:37] he gets up for the moment but he is not scared of bright lights at all tre young

[00:57:44] he's scared of defense he's trying harder now this year but you know we know that the

[00:57:49] defense is lacking but uh tre if he is able to come back man could you imagine him in a in a

[00:57:56] in a one-game playoffs scenario it's gonna be some crazy theater man we gonna love it this is why

[00:58:02] we love baske ball and baske ball is great so why we love it i'm glad you guys are on this ride with me

[00:58:12] all right couple of the last couple of little things that we want to get to here on the pod

[00:58:19] nian oxen you guys on your way and then we will convene on friday um i want to send out my

[00:58:27] congratulations to vince carter um vince carter raptor vince carter new jersey net

[00:58:39] you know vince carter Dallas maverick Atlanta hawk where was it where was it vince this was everywhere

[00:58:51] this is everywhere he had a long career but we want to uh shout out vince carter and we also want to

[00:58:57] shout out our guy chancy billups mr. big shot himself um both gentlemen are going to be in the

[00:59:06] 2024 hall of fame um it is a great honor um it's uh bestowed on two guys who who really gave to the league

[00:59:19] and provided some um some color when we needed we needed it when uh you know when joy and

[00:59:25] left and stuff like that you know you know kovie was doing his thing but you know guy other guys

[00:59:31] and vince entity in that done contest it's crazy just stupid just stupid and then chancy you know

[00:59:41] what can i say while chancy he uh he absolutely killed the lakers with the Detroit pistons with that

[00:59:47] with uh bin Wallace rachee Wallace Tasha prince uh real Hamilton group they just they they did his dirty

[00:59:59] and um they did the damn thing so i want to definitely send my um you know my well wishes to them

[01:00:08] and continue success in your future endeavors i know chancy is trying to put it together in

[01:00:14] courtland he had a tough season this year chancy it was not your fault my man it wasn't your fault my guy

[01:00:22] um what were you supposed to do with all the injuries and also with all the upheaval what were

[01:00:28] you supposed to do all right and then the last piece of news that i want to get to is this it's

[01:00:34] that uh i want to send out a special congratulations to um you know a guy who has meant a lot to me

[01:00:46] um you know throughout the years because of my laker fandom and you know also um you know he

[01:00:54] you know um he's i mean damn he's the logo do jerry west i want to send out my congratulations to

[01:01:04] mr west on becoming a three time hall of favor so this is going to be the third time

[01:01:14] that jerry west has been inducted into the NBA hall or basketball hall of fang

[01:01:20] um in 1979 he was he was inducted as a player in 2010 he was inducted because of his participation

[01:01:28] with the 1960 Olympics and now he's going in as an executive and it's well worth it

[01:01:38] um you gotta understand this dude has been literally like the fab in in the fabric of my life

[01:01:47] for a long period of time you know this is the guy who who was part of magic and worthy

[01:01:56] and barren scott coming in and keeping kareen there and and and then once that went away and

[01:02:06] we went through our nick venexel phase we got chicil new and we got koby Bryant who was uh

[01:02:16] who jerry flees charlie with lot ad watts got koby Bryant that was excellent um and then we

[01:02:26] got the shoggy we got the koby and shakir right so we went from the kareen magic worthy era

[01:02:33] to the shakkin koby era then pivoted it from that because koby and shakkin didn't get along

[01:02:42] and then we steal to this day do not know what kind of pictures that jerry west has on the miffas

[01:02:51] grizzlies but that proud gassal fleece trade now i understand that mark gassal became awesome and whatever the

[01:02:59] case name beed but at the time at the time nobody understood that trade nobody got it just saying

[01:03:11] and then the other couple things that he was a part of he was also part of miffas you know he was

[01:03:16] also part of uh of you know putting building that team back up and and and and basically you know

[01:03:28] the ground hop the grindhouse you know so your he's just being everywhere and then the last couple

[01:03:37] pieces he was instrumental in clay Thompson and then the recruitment of kevin de rant

[01:03:46] to me is the cherry on top i mean i know he's been a consultant with the clipperist but

[01:03:52] he was a pivotal piece of kevin de rant getting to the ghost day warriors a lot of people want

[01:03:59] to talk about you know de rant and how flighty he is and stuff like that but

[01:04:07] you know jerry put out a compelling pay a compelling case in front of kd and basically what he said

[01:04:15] to him is like you know yeah you could go to your own team and you know and try to do it there

[01:04:22] or whatever with you know what when it when it is fun you know i'm saying like

[01:04:33] you know um competing you know and and and doing it together with these guys and he just sold

[01:04:41] him a vision that was too hard for kd to pass and kd talks about it to kd talks about how

[01:04:50] how instrumental jerry was in in acquiring him in in his rage and see so again i want to um

[01:05:03] he was an incredible basketball player in the league um i still think he should be a leaker

[01:05:12] to this day person um that's just on me and then the other thing is i just think that uh he's just

[01:05:19] getting great foot league he's going to grade in basketball for the league as well so

[01:05:24] congrats to jerry all right so with that being said it's time to go again i want to

[01:05:31] shoot out the socials on x at frontrunner pc at fronter pc go to the youtube channel frontrunner

[01:05:43] podcast collective make sure to like subscribe and turn on those notifications and also be a

[01:05:51] friend telepharant tell somebody about this podcast we talk hoops that's what we do here

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[01:06:04] whatever the case may be but my whole job here is to make sure that you guys are informed

[01:06:10] hopefully entertained and and hopefully you know you guys got some conversations that jump off

[01:06:17] after the pod and you know it sparks another conversation with your friends so that's what we're

[01:06:22] looking for again be a friend telepharant about the pod and then the last thing is the coolest part

[01:06:30] it while you is you don't let anybody take your uniqueness away um you know allow your start of

[01:06:39] shine no matter what and uh we'll get back on this feed on friday you guys stay easy and this band is