The Thunder and Pacers are teaching basketball lessons to the coasts.

It's Friday. You know what time it is. Frontrunner Podcast Collective is back on the air. I am your humble host, vince, and on today's podcast we got game twos all over the place. Right, there was a game two tonight that we are going to get to yes, because we are doing late night style. Get to yes, because we are doing late night style. And also we need to get into the oakley c minnesota game two, what it means, how it means. And also, did you think for one second? I promised you draft stuff. I promised you that and I'm going to deliver.

We got wings up in here. What kind of wings? Big wings, small wings, medium-sized wings, wings that can shoot, wings that can defend. We're going to go to a wing stop and get some garlic parmesan wings. We might get some lemon pepper wings. We might get some barbecue wings I don't know, but there's gonna be a lot of wings on this podcast. I'm just letting you know right now.

So, without further ado, let's get to the socials real quick. First and foremost, I would like to tell you you want to jump on x, you want to put in at frontrunnerpc. That is me. That gets you the podcast right. That gets you all of what goes on in my head, which is a lot of basketball, some wrestling, a little pop culture, some history, but a lot of basketball. I'm just gonna be honest with you. Then you also go into the search engine and you put in at rare underscore, fudge, fr pc. That gets you serea, our producer. She likes tacos. Uh, we have also unearthed that she has some french, canadian, uh origins, which makes her some sort of she's familiar to the win by yama situation. I don't know how that works. We're gonna figure that one out, tell you you need to get us because of the fact that we're growing. We love you guys. We thank you for all of the downloads that we've been receiving over the last three or four weeks. It's been amazing. Uh.

We talked about how global we've been. Uh, germ Germany continues to just surprise us, and also, for some reason, we also got Florence, italy Of all things. So I don't know how to say it in Italian, but I will say this Props to my Italian people, you know what I'm saying and to my people of France when are you? I thought you were a basketball crazed nation. We expect more From our French, you know people Over in France. So Paris, versailles, let's go, let's get it. Got my eye on you.

Our South American contingency Continues to grow. I would like to saya to my people in Brazil what's up, love y'all. Our people in Chile, which is funny because Stephanie Vaquer, the WWE NXT Women's World Champion champion, is from Chile. So I wonder if there's some sort of correlation between WWE fans, basketball fans, stephanie vacuor fans, and we all have kind of had this Venn diagram that meets somewhere in the middle. I don't know, but, but thank you, appreciate it. And now, with that being said, we got to get to these games.

There's been a lot that's going on, and the first thing that I want to start with Is this Coastal elitism Is over. The heartland of America Is winning, and they are winning by a big margin. In a league built for stars, the Oklahoma City Thunder are redefining power, not with highlights, with hierarchy, not with fire, with flow. Game 2 wasn't an upset. Upset, it was a confirmation. The youngest team left might be most prepared team that is left out of the four. Let's get into the game two. Situation that broke down in oklahoma city just last night. So I was one of the people that was skeptical on OKC in their youth. Are they ready for the playoff crucible. This was something of my own doing in my head. Even though I looked at the historical net rating, even though I know their defensive abilities is off the charts, I was wondering would theher ever get to them? And so far that answer is absolutely no. The thunder didn't just win game two, they installed a new standard win team that just destroyed minnesota, destroyed them. Okay, oklahoma city scored 35 points in third quarter because the run was going to come. You knew it was coming.

Shea gilgis alexander picked up his MVP award, shouts out to the NBA's MVP. And what did he do on the night that he hoisted up the MVP trophy? Just a cool 38 points, a no big deal. Eight assists, also, something that my wife will be extremely proud of. He was 13 of 15 from the free throw line, because the thing that she loves the most is she says free throws are free. And why don't you hit them? It's a good question. I have no answer for that. I told I told her that scholars have been looking at this for a millennia and we still have not figured this out. But here's the best part of this he's not chasing the game, shea Gilchrist Alexander, he's bending it, and what I mean by that is that his fluidity, his movement, just does something to the defense, to the point that it just activates everybody else. And we'll get into the breakdowns of how that happened.

But a little quick note on this is that how about Jalen Williams answering all the questions? So he had a really terrible game six, right, a terrible game six against the Denver Nuggets. We asked the question at that point will he be able to bounce? Will he be able to bounce back? Will he be able to show up and show out Game 7, he did that and he followed it up on this Game 2 performance 26 points and 10 rebounds. He moved like a power wing, finished like a point guard. And then there was Chet Holmgren. He's the 7-footer making Rudy Gobert look optional.

This wasn't chaos, it was control from the start. And here's what made it interesting. Here is what made it interesting when the wave came. When the wave came, okc only turned the ball over eight times. Okay, c only turned the ball over eight times. Minnesota gave it away 14.

Now here's the here's the problem with that. It wasn't the amount of turnovers that minnesota had, it was when they had them and what okc was able to do with them, because okc is the best team in the league that has the ability to transfer turnovers into points. They are the best at it and they crush you with it. They emotionally crush you. They just debilitate you. They just squeeze and squeeze and squeeze until you have no life left. And then, as soon as your will is broken, the dam breaks. Sga brings out go bear on a switch. Okay, he delays the attack, draws the helper, kicks to Jalen Williams. What happens? Boom, reverse layup. This is not improvising. They're reading the script. You didn't write fast enough.

And then here's the other problem when is the help for Anthony Edwards from the Minnesota Timberwolves? Julius Randle, 2 of 11. Four shots, no flow, and he was sat in the fourth quarter. He didn't even get any playing time in the fourth quarter whatsoever. Mike conley jr, one of six, couldn't shift the defense once.

Now anthony edwards did his thing. He scored 32 points, but those 32 points were hard earned points. He got no help, he got no spacing, he got no rest. Every touch is a battle, every shot was laborious, and the moment the system needed a second option, it had nothing. Mcdaniels had 22 points and he was effective, but he's never been featured and he never was featured in that game. His points came off like garbage points in the sense, not in the sense of garbage time. It was, you know off like, okay, the ball comes off, he gets it, puts it up, right, but it wasn't effective. How does the best two-way player not touch the ball in the final six possessions?

This wasn't about effort. This was about structure collapsing under pressure and then the breaking point mid-fourth, mcdaniels can commit a flagrant foul. We all saw it. They talked about it on ESPN a lot today and they talked about Shea Gilders, alexander foul baiting or his artistic level of flopping.

However you want to put it, the bottom line is that the league needs to look at this adam silver and his whoever his dean of discipline is, or whatever case may be, the competition committee. They need to look at this because if shea is going to be able to do get away with some of the things that he's getting away with and I don't blame him so okay, c fans, if you're gonna come at me, why don't you listen to the whole thing first before you come at me? He's just getting away with what is allowed in the nba. So if you're telling me, this is what is going on and he's just basically bending the rule. That is there. I don't have a problem with it, not at all. Some people will be. Some people be mad about that, like the minnesota timberwolves fans. They might be mad about this because they're, like they're trying to figure out why everybody on their team is in foul trouble.

Well, shea Gilgis Alexander is all of what we thought he was. He's the finest player left in these playoffs. I understand, I love, I understand that I love anthony edwards and I believe that anthony edwards is going to be an absolute star. But shea gilchrist alexander is already that. He's calm, he's calculated and he's cruel. Anthony edwards brilliant, but every shot again is a war and every bucket feels borrowed. That he makes okc is using is weaponizing defense almost like an offensive play. Call their attack style their.

I think ryan rossillo said it best if you hesitate for one second, if you just pause for one second, you're gonna have two guys on you immediately, hands flailing, trying to get the ball from you. This is who they've been the whole season the okc thunder. This is not a surprise. We talked about the historic net rating ad nauseum. This is again confirmation of how the best team in the NBA got down all season long.

And why and why, my dumb self? Why did I think anything different was going to happen during the playoffs? I was like, well, they're young, fair enough, point right. Jalen williams is 23, chet hungren is 22. They can barely drive, they can barely drink. Do they understand the pressure of nba playoff basketball? Well, apparently they do. Apparently they understand the crucible that is playoff basketball and, just like the wwe street profits, they are up and they want the smoke. Okay, they are not backing down from anyone. They looked at anthony edwards and said dude, we are not scared of you because you are one dude and we are a collective. We march around as a team, we do interviews as a team, we're doing commercials as a team. Y'all seen the AT&T commercial several million times during these Western Conference finals. But they do everything together and that's why Mark Dagnall and the OKC Thunder are up 2-0, going to Minnesota, and Minnesota has no answers for what is going on now.

Meanwhile, in Gotham in New York City, supposedly the mecca of basketball, after tonight, we are now also in a 2-0 hole. New York City has Is got to be In shock. The boys from Indiana Are up 2-0. Now we're going to. We got a lot of breakdown on game one. We also have some breakdown on game two. That just finished. Just finished, we got notes and everything. We're ready to go. We are locked in. That's why we're doing late night, friday night feel good fridays, late night style because game two happened, so they're losing the first game. We got to get to the first game first because it was just as ridiculous as the second game, game one.

Madison square garden. I mean, it is electric in this place. It's loud, there are stars everywhere. Ben stiller's there, right, we got. Uh, who else we have? Spike lee. I think ann hathaway was at, but she was in her blue and orange. I actually think that Anne Hathaway had some Timberlands on.

During the game. There were stars everywhere. Did it matter? Yeah, it did. It mattered in the first half, when they were down by 17,. Indiana, new York, was putting it on them. Brunson was all of what Brunson should be 43 total points and it was all saucy. Indiana pulled off in the garden Something better than what Reggie Miller did. They walked them down. It was clinical, it was cold and it was almost assassin-like.

So this was supposed to be the Brunson coronation night. He scores 43 points, surgical from the mid-range, unbothered by all the indiana pacer coverages, msg was ready to crown him as their new point. God remember, this is the team, this is the franchise or the fan base that's been holding on to clive frazier forever as the greatest point guard in New York Knicks history. Clive Frazier played basketball when I was born. Okay, let's keep it a buck. Clive Frazier was playing basketball when your boy in the early 70s was born. When your boy in the early 70s was born. That's kind of sad, but tonight, or that night, in game one, the crowd was ready. They were ready to give all the love, all the adoration to Jalen Brunson and he did not disappoint whatsoever, scoring the 43 points.

And what have you now? Now the third quarter, the middle of the third quarter, starts to happen, and it's still 17 points. And it keeps staying around 17 points even into the fourth quarter. And then aaron neesmith of the Indiana Pacers decided the hell with this. Hey, go get my .45,. Put my silencer on it, because it's time to go on a spree, on a shooting spree. Aaron Neesmith scored 30 points. He was 8 of nine from three. He hit six threes in the fourth quarter and also in overtime. So he has six of his eight threes in the crucial times of the

game. He wasn't on a heater, he was on a mission. He ran the baseline like a vet, got greenlit in the corners and never hesitated. Why did it all work? Tyrese Halliburton didn't force a single thing. He scored 31 points and had 11 assists, and this will be a theme when we get to game

two. He played with pace. He also played with poise. The game too. He played with pace. He also played with poise. And when the knicks helped too hard, nismith just sat there and said oh, I'll go ahead and take that off your hands real quick and he punished them. They left them open. They were a little late on their switches and they punished them. Uh, carl anthony towns was late three times. There was an og and anovie switch that he was late on and there was a mikhail bridges switch. That was he was late on. Let's be real, nate smith was treated like a role player and indiana treated him like a weapon, and that's the difference. The Knicks got up, they got fat, they felt pretty comfortable and they didn't understand the deluge that were coming. Nimhar also Andrew Nimhar we talked about him as being like a key factor in this

series. A dagger three in overtime and trust me, we will get to the Tyrese, halliburton, reggie Miller of it all in a second. Trust me now, siakam didn't have a great game in the first game but he made up for the second game. Just you wait. Now let's get to the Halliburton of it all. Okay, we are down by three, all right, so I'm sorry we're down by two. We're down, I'll take that

back. We're down by two with well 12 seconds on the clock and Halliburton takes it up to court. He there's a little kind of there's a switch at the not at the top of key is kind of like past the three-point line and what happens from there is Mitchell Robinson is on Tyrese Halliburton and you can see Tyrese start to attack and he says I don't feel comfortable. And he backs up. This is unusual for a guard to do this, especially in the last waning seconds of a basketball game. He backs up and takes a one footed three point shot, or so we thought was a three point shot. This ball hits the back end of the rim, shoots straight up in the air and I want to say it probably shot probably about 12 feet up in the air and this thing fell straight in the bucket and we went into overtime. At that point Tyrese Halliburton does the OG homage to Reggie Miller. He does the choke symbol to the

crowd. But the game wasn't over, so it was a premature celebration by my guy. But don't worry, they went on and put the damn clamps on the knicks because they was up by 17 with less than four minutes to go. Keep that in mind up by 17, less than four minutes to go. According to espn's win probability 96.4 chance of winning. Well, they blew that. It wasn't heroic pacer stuff, it was the next sleep walking you ever see a high school senior in the last week of school. When there's no test, no finals, it's just vibes. That's what it looked like in Madison Square Garden. Yeah, I'm technically here, but I'm just waiting for the bell to ring so we can get on with the rest of the

day. The Knicks coasted while the Pacers kept playing, kept moving, kept moving the ball, getting open shots, hitting threes and again, brunson had 43, but he had zero assists in the in ot and the reason why I bring up the assist listen, he was a absolute shooter when it comes to scoring the basketball, but you can't go it alone at 5 foot 11, I'm sorry, at 5 foot 11, you cannot go it alone. Where is og ananobi? Where is mikhail bridges? Oh, I'll tell you exactly where they were zero of five from the floor in overtime and in the final six, in the final six possessions of regulation iso, iso, miss, turnover, iso, airball. I'll say that again, this is the last six possessions of the regulation for the New York Knicks ISO, miss, iso, miss, miss, just a miss, turnover, iso, airball. No movement, no counters, no trust. That's not playoff basketball, that that's hero

basketball. And the Knicks got cut up in it. Up 17 with four to go. They started playing like the bell had already rung. Brunson was brilliant, but brilliance without structure is just noise. Indiana didn't flinch. They executed, neesmith lit a match, halliburton ran the show. It wasn't an upset, it was a lesson. Did they learn a lesson? I don't know, because let's get to game two, let's find out what the hell happened. You tried to croak coast on class credits and you flunked the final shots out to soria. That's a good line. I like that. You bring bars to the pot. Now game two happened. That was tonight and, by the way, this was the spicy p just exhibition. Pascal siakam went into madison Garden and said let me put on my Kobe Bryant, let me put on my LeBron James, let me put on like my Trey Young. I know the New York Knicks fans love when I say Trey Young. They love it when I say Trey

Young. Pascal Siakam scored 39 points and it wasn't just high volume, it was high versatility. The shot chart split is ridiculous 15-23. 15-23 folks. He missed eight shots in the whole game 3-5 from three-point land, 6-8 from the free throw line. Scoring distribution for this team is nuts. Check this out. So, on transitions, there are plus 5. Post-ups pick and pops, threes he punished OG and Inovi in isolation and switched on to smaller defenders the guards or whatever and drew fouls. Playmaking. He had four steals. He had four assists. His rim protection, his rim pressure, created collapse into kickouts. And you know what was going to happen there. Shepard and Neesmith are standing in the corners and you know what's going to happen there they're going to knock them down. That's what they do they stand in the corner and knock them

down. This version of Siakam is a hybrid hub. It's not heliocentric like Luka, but it's a mismatched exploiter akin to the late 2010s of Kawhi Leonard via Toronto Raptors. See Raptors. Oh, who was on that team? Pascal Siakam. Pascal Siakam was on that 2019 Toronto Raptors squad that won the title and who was leading them? Kawhi Leonard? Indiana weaponized his in inside out gravity, gravity,

brilliantly. And now let's get to our guy, tyrese halliburton. Because here's the thing, tyrese, he was a floor general. Despite 5 of 16 shooting line, he had 11 assists. He just had two

turnovers. One of the things coming out of game one was how comfortable indiana looked in their offensive sets in the second half, and new york knicks wanted to change that. They wanted to make tyrese halliburton get off the ball and allow other people to make decisions. If he has 11 assists, how the hell did you get him off the ball? You didn't. You didn't get him off the ball In the third quarter, kind of lit up, because that's what you do Three or four, two or three from deep plus three in nearly 10 minutes, clutch play, initiation. Assisted or scored on four of Indiana's final seven scoring possessions. I'll say that again assisted or scored on the four of Indiana's final seven scoring

possessions. Indiana shifted him off ball at times, with McConnell, nimar running ghost actions and to get Halliburton clean, catch and shoot looks. They were in their system. They ran their system. It wasn't a one-on-one mano-a-mano Tyrese Halliburton versus Jalen Brunson no, no, no. Again. You got Rick Harlisle, who has won a championship okay. He has had Jason Kidd as a point guard okay. So now you get Tyrese Halliburton, who is kind of akin to what Jason Kidd was. And now here we are Indiana shifted him off ball, and here's the best part about the whole

deal. If you want to talk about strength in numbers, though, the Knicks bench outscored Indy 17-16, mcconnell was a plus 5, ben Shepard was a plus 8, and Tony Bradley was a plus five. Ben Shepard was a plus eight and Tony Bradley was a plus one net positive rotation minutes for them. And I will tell you, mcconnell is what? The seventh guy off the bench, ben Shepard is the eighth guy off the bench and Tony Bradley is the ninth guy off the bench and tony raleigh is the ninth guy off the

bench. When we get to the, when we get to the conference finals we talk about this every single year you play seven, six of the guys, six of the seven you're kind of like okay, and five you really trust, and those are going to be your crunch guys right. Okc and the indiana pacers are out here running nine man rotations in the conference finals. That is absolutely ridiculous. You sit there and say, well, they did this in the regular season. We all know that everybody tightens up their rotations in the playoffs. And for them to continue to run out nine dudes in the playoffs and to know that the New York Knicks and Tom Thibodeau like to play their starters 50 minutes out of 48, understand, that's not mathematically possible. It's a joke. It's a. It's a joke. New York, get yourself together because you're not out of this series. What you damn you are, you damn you are in these bins doesn't win hot headlines. They're just discipline, shepherd being a movement shooter, mcconnell being a connector, and you're looking at a situation where these guys can give a breath to the Neesmiths of the world, the Nemhards of the world, and they're getting production from these guys because they have empowered these guys throughout the entire

season. A little bit different in New York. A little bit different in New York. Bit different in New York. Little bit different in New York. Tight rotations in New York, very limited. Hey, go out there and free flow your offense and whatever. No, no, no. We run this thing through Jalen Brunson. That is what we

do. What went wrong for the Knicks tonight? That is what we do. What went wrong for the Knicks tonight? What went wrong? Let's see Rotational breakdowns, three corner threes surrendered in the last nine minutes, help, side delays, overhelp on Siakam Post, up, oaked up, weak side for slot drives. We saw a lot of Iverson cuts tonight. Lack of fresh legs. Well, the Knicks only played eight, with Payne and McBride offering minimal off-ball disruption. Gotta have it. Gotta have it. This is a risk with lean playoff

rotations. New York's inability to spell their best defenders led to late game execution drop offs, especially costing, costly in-swing playoff games. And this is why you go back to indianapolis down to zip. So is it all doom and gloom? No, no, it's not. Is there adjustments to be made? Yep, yep's not. Is there adjustments to be made? Yep, yep, yep, there are. There are adjustments to be made and we will be talking about those. Right now is louder. This isn't about stars anymore. It's about structure, roles and recovery, and what happens next decides your legacy. I'm talking to you, jalen

brunson. Msg didn't just host losses. It hosted absolute life lessons Tactical fixes for the New York Knicks Ice the weak side, halliburton's skip passes and two man game with Neesmith tore through health coverage in the 4th quarter and in overtime. New York never pre-switched the low man. So the solution to that is trap baseline, force, short side decisions and then disrupt the rhythm. Did they do that in game two? No, but this is something that they have to pick up on. And here's the thing. Miles McBride Deuce McBride, one of my guys, who I absolutely love when he came out of the draft. He needs to be better. He's got to be

better. The same energy that you brought in game one that was basically overshadowed by the absolute just I don't even know what you want to call that. You definitely dropped a bag on that one. You know what I'm saying. You went bag less in game one, but you had such a good defensive energy and a good defensive tenor. I would like to see that in game three. Number two OG Ananobi and Mikael Bridges need

touches. We talked about this in the preview, so go back and listen to the Eastern Conference preview if you've not heard it. We talked about when Brunson got hurt and did they find something in it? Apparently we saw it. The sickos who watch all 82 of these basketball games in a regular season that almost don't end up amounting to hill beans. But one of the things that we saw once Brunson went out was that you got to see Mikael Bridges and OG Ananove be empowered to be on ball and to be able to create for themselves and others and have that opportunity just be given to them. And it worked out and they played well and it kept the Knicks afloat so they can hold on to the three seed In the playoffs One of the reasons why they were hosting these games Against Indiana. That didn't make any difference whatsoever Because you're now down two zip. So all of this On ball initiation that we saw once Brunson Was out with the ankle injury For 18 games, that all dissipates in the playoffs. We're done with

that. Here's a stat for you again. This was in the game one zero combined field goals in the ot. That isn't a fluke, that's a failing on the offense. Go screen short rolls, elbows. Let them be more involved. Let them be more than just spectators. These guys are more talented than just sticking in the corner. Now you might say, hey, knee smith and ben sheffield are are doing that well. Smith and Ben Sheppard are are doing that well. These guys don't have the on ball initiation, that Mikhail bridges and OG and the no behalf. The other thing Nick's posted a minus 16 plus minus in the fourth quarter and in OT miles. Mcbride needs to step up now. Now Mitchell Robinson he's not a great offensive player, but his defensive activity needs to be more. And then here's the other thing these collapses and also just the late game

execution. It was very hard for a 5-11 on-ball initiator to get free in the playoffs because they're on the whiteboard. In indiana's locker room. The first person on the whiteboard is jalen Brunson and there's cues and keys to say okay, if he gets to this spot, this is what we're looking to do. If he wants to go ahead and try to get you in pick and roll and get the big man on him, this is how we're going to kind of squeeze the paint area so he's not able to get into the areas that he wants to get into into the area, get into the areas that he wants to get into. Now it has not affected Jalen Brunson's mid-range, which I think it might be calculated on Indiana's game plan. What they're allowing him to do is to get all of the on-ball initiation independently for him. What they're not allowing him to do is to get purposeful paint touches so then he can kick it out and spray it out to your three-point shooters. That is what is not going on for the knicks. You are not getting indiana in the blender. And if you don't get them in the blender and you are just basically in, you're just in front of them the whole damn time well, they can load the defense because they can see

you. Ball movement is key. I got this observation from a front office person siakam and turner combined for 56 points. This is game two, 20 of 33 shooting. But, more importantly, they play 65 combined minutes without traditional backups. Big contributions, meaningful reps brian only uh, thomas brian only played four minutes and 27 seconds and tony bradley only played eight minutes and six seconds. The impact indiana is effectively operating without a traditional four or five backup and it's still outscoring the knicks in the paint 48 to 44 and holding rebound margins to seven. They're doing this through siakam's defense and rebounding and push head transitions and turners as a floor spacing five who can still anchor and drop

switch. Here's the best part about this Miles Turner doesn't rebound. He's not a rebounder. One of the big Like misnomers about Miles Turner is like he's like this incredible rebound. He's not. So where are they getting the rebounds from? Oh, the guards are rebounding. Oh, the guards are rebounding. Knee smith is rebounding, nimhard is rebounding. When mathurin's on the court, he's rebounding, and obviously siakam is rebounding. They're getting group gang mentality rebounds because they're shooting threes. They're getting long, long caroms off the rim and everybody is initialized and they're activated to go get the ball, go seek ball. If ball is loose, go get

it. Very easy concept to understand. The Knicks are supposed to be the grimy team. They're supposed to be getting out the mud team. They're supposed to be the team that is when we are in a rock fight. They're supposed to win the rock fight. How is it that the Indiana Pacers are out New York Knicking the New York Knicks? This validates Indiana's non-traditional front court architecture. They're maximizing the offense versatility and matchup flexibility without sacrificing much on the glass. Long term they may double down on mobile playmaking four fives and fade from rim protector archetypes unless shot versatility is present. Problem with shot versatility jalen brunson got the damn ball in his hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Because we still haven't seen og and Inovi and we have not seen Mikael Bridges on ball. It's a

problem. Second thing lineup elasticity, trust in multi-guard units. Carlisle is trusting. Nembhard played 36 minutes 47 seconds. Tj McConnell solid 14 minutes and 27 seconds. Halliburton 35 minutes 9 seconds. They coexist across multiple stretches, including closing possessions in three guard configurations, providing two ball handlers in late clock situations. It's just a brilliant thing to have as much diversity on ball you can have. When people are saying, okay, who do we have to worry about getting into the lane? Oh shit, they got two that can get into the lane. Tough, tough situation. Let Indiana run ghost floppy action while keeping spacing. This is what the the three guard situation is

allowing. If you got nim hard out there and you got tyrese halliburton out there, the one thing that they will do is they will screen. Now, tyrese halliburton is not a thick guy, he is not Jalen Brunson whatsoever. He's not your boy because I'm thick. I'm a. I'm a thick, thick guy. But Tyrese Halliburton will set a screen. So that's an inverse pick and roll and we know bigs don't handle inverse pick and rolls very

well. Indiana was plus 11, with halliburton, nimhardt and mcconnell overlapping mostly versus nicks, brunson, bridges and ananobi course. So it's the best of what the nicks have really against the best of what the Pacers have. Nembhard has solidified himself as a long-term playoff rotation lock. His ability to scale up to wing-size matchups on defense while being a functional secondary initiator gives them rare flexibility in closing groups, because nimhart is out here guarding og and anobi and people will sit here and go well, that's not, you know, that's, that's not uncommon. Og and anobi is six foot eight, 235 pounds. Andrew Nembhard is 6'2" at best and about 188 pounds. How is he guarding OG Ananove? How is that

possible? New York played eight guys, none of whom, besides Brunson, had a real shot of creation juice in the second half. Achua Shammett Wright didn't see the floor. They didn't get a lot from Deuce McGrath. Like we said, bridges and Ananobi and Hart logged 12, 9, and 5 minutes in the fourth quarter respectively, and Hart logged 12, 9, and 5 minutes in the fourth quarter respectively. The defense slipped and Indiana got quality looks on 8 of their final 10 possessions. This is by

synergy. The Knicks can generate stops without exhausting their wings. If they're cornered, do they extend their bench and risk offensive spacing issues with the chula and robertson, or do they trust bridges and og and anew to continue to play 42 plus minutes a game and again, we talked about this in the Eastern Conference preview the difference between the Pacers and the Celtics and other teams that the Knicks had faced. Indiana was always going to move the ball around. They are not a ISO developed team. Jason Tatum and Jalen Brunson did the Knicks a favor because of the fact they like to iso a lot. The problem is that when the defense is loaded, that's pretty easy to stop. This is not what the Indiana Pacers it's ball movement, cuts, movement, cuts, movement. Keep on moving, cut, cut, cut. We're looking for the best shot, not the first shot. We're looking for the best shot, not the first shot. We're looking for the best shot. There is a difference Leon Rose and the

Knicks. For an office to confront this summer, you need three two-way wings who can scale up defensively without killing your spacing. That's going to be hard to get. That's going to be hard to get. That's going to be hard to get. Now let's go west. What can a Minnesota Timberwolves do To stop this freight train that's coming down the road Because OKC is putting it on? They ass, ok, okc is smacking Minnesota. I hate to say it. No, I'm not going to do that. Nope, nope, won't do it, won't do it, won't do it. All right, but they are smacking them. They are smacking them really

good. Here's the thing that we got to get to 2-4-4-11 from the field. Ok, and you're going to ask me who is this person. I'll tell you in a second. You cannot run offense Through this dude anymore. Alright, we cannot run offense through Julius Randle. Okay, 2-11 from the field. Minimal, lift, bad angles Limited. Get him in pick and pop actions, minimize, reload. Julius Randle needs to make quick decisions with the

ball. This is the Oklahoma City Thunder. This is one of the best defensive teams we've seen in quite some time. They utilize their defense to make runs happen. Where other teams will use their offense to make runs happen, okc uses their defense to make runs happen. They are trying to get into, get you to turn the ball over or to take a quick shot, get the ball and get it up court. They are trying to be in transition. The more they're in transition, the more the ball is in Shea Gilchrist Alexander's hand or Jalen Williams hand or God forbid Kaysen Wallace hands, the better it is for okc. Less thinking. We're just moving, moving the ball. The ball is finding energy, finding people to find shots and stuff like that. But here's the best part when they get into the half court offense, they have a creator that is just unstoppable, and that's Shea Gilchrist

Alexander. Now for Ant. They need to help him breathe a little bit. He's creating everything from scratch. Add some pin down sets, some double stagger, uh away screens. Give him some chances to catch the ball in motion and not just isolate so the defense can load up on him. Find another creator. If Julius Randle is not going to be that guy, can we give it to either Dante DiVincenzo or Jalen McDaniels or Jaden McDaniels or someone Now? Jaden McDaniels had 22 points. He was elite on switches, nearly erased Jalen Williams in two second half stints, but offensively he was ghosted after quarter two. Make him a second side initiator off cuts curls and ghost screen slips, and you might be able to survive this onslaught that is the okc

thunder. Now you also have to clean up your defensive switching, because okc ran nine cutter actions in the third quarter alone and scored on six of them. Gobert and Mike Conley got targeted off movement, and I would do that too. Gobert is not good in space and, let's face it, mike Conley is a little long in the tooth. So therefore, that's where that comes into play. Minnesota has to pre-call switches and ice corner threats or die by split cuts. It's a choice. Make the

call. Okc isn't guessing they what the Timberwolves are doing? And then they're just executing what they've been repping since September. You just don't adjust with panic, you adjust with clarity. This isn't a question of youth anymore, it's a question of structure. Okc didn't just click. They installed the system. Minnesota, they're still troubleshooting the basics. And that's the difference between these two teams right now. The Thunder Know their five man roles. The Wolves Still think talent Is the system. Well, they have Anthony Edwards. I understand why that is and this might be the reason why they get sent home. So the difference between the two teams that are up 2-0 and the teams that are down 2-0 is this System versus solos, structures versus

flashes. The playoffs don't test who you want to be. It reveals who you already are and time's up. You need to figure out what you want to be in minnesota. You need to figure out is julius randle able to be that second side initiator and can he be aggressive, going downhill and then kick out to the shooters? And he has to kick out to the shooters. Even if they don't hit them, he has to kick out to them, because then, if the ball comes off the rim and Rudy Gobert is in the game, you're going to have a better chance of remounting than the oklahoma city thunder. You're just bigger than now, but you're not playing like it right now. Not in the least bit, and this is why you're down 2-0. So ridiculous. Let's be clear. Let's be clear the series are not

over. But if you look at the analytics and you look at just history, usually when we get here we can start going ahead and saying two things the heartland of america is going to win. Okay, I told you, coastal elitism is over. New york is going to get bounced. Basically, I mean, that's what the numbers say. History has told us. If you get down to, oh, the chances of you coming back very slim and minnesota is finding out that you just can't roll out of bed with maybe some sort of Avenger style team that you just put together on the fly and not understand the cohesion and just the mechanicalness of what OKC is. They're a system On top of execution and you Are a shooting star that has a ton Of brilliance, but shooting stars fade From the sky, systems and execution. They stick around for A long period of time. So that is our analysis of the

playoffs. You know, I'm saying I hope you guys love that part and you would say, well, vince, that's a lot. We got more for you, my guy. I told you we got draft, I told you we had it. And how we're gonna do this is we going to look at the wings of the 2025 prospects. So we're going to look at the class of the wings that's coming out this year. We're going to talk about them, we're going to break them down a little bit and then also, we're going to give you a little bit of inside information on a couple of these cats. You know, we're going to tool them around a little bit. We're going to find out a couple of things here and there and I thought we should bring those to

you. And, without further ado, let us get to the wings of the 2025 NBA draft. And if you are talking about wings, if you're talking about the number one wing, where the wings stop, and that's where Cooper Flagg comes into play the number one wing, the projected number one overall pick, cooper Flagg is where we're going to start off our coverage today. And Cooper Flagg isn't just going number one because of his potential. He's going number one because he's already the best defender in this draft. He's the most complete floor mapper and one of the guys who shifts your identity before he plays a minute in the nba. Think about what we think of dallas right this second. All those people that were giving up their season tickets because luca is not there anymore, I bet you they are calling

back. We have a white, we have one of the great white hopes. He's only 18 years of age and he's one of the cleanest prospects I have seen in a very, very long time. This kid is 6'9". Elite, help side coverage, nba level timing, rim rotation instincts, real screen navigation. Offensively, he's a connector, a playmaker with developing mid-range game garnett leadership skills, andre korolinko switchability and draymond green's floor iq. And that's cooper flag. Is it hyperbole? No, I don't think so. I speak very confidently about what cooper flag is and what he is going to be. If you give this kid spacing, vertical log, threats and a strong side star flag, becomes a surgeon. He cuts, swings, he cuts, he swings. He erases mistakes before they even

exist. Now, obviously, kairi is going to be out for most of the year. But a healthy Kyrie, you know, theoretically, a Derek Lively Jr and a Cooper Flagg sound very, very nice to build around. That sounds very, very nice in American Airlines arena. Also, him being in Dallas with AD if AD stays or whatever you're talking about like zero to little pressure on this cat because it's not going. He's not going to be asked to score 30 right off the, right off the bank. You know, I'm saying he's just going to be coming in there like all right, ad's over here he can score. This dude over here he can score a little bit. I'll come in and get my little 22 and do do my thing, and then he's gonna give you a hell of a lot on defense. Kublai is the truth. He was killing fools in the uh olympic workouts. This is our best and brightest that we sent over there to france and he was doing very well in those workouts. Everybody continues to rave about those workouts and there's a lot to rave about now. We have done a lot on cooper flag as we've gone

along. The guy that I want to talk about next is vj edgecum. You will say, hey, is he a wing? Well, at six foot five you would think, nah, he ain't no wing. But if your vertical is 47 inches, you're a wing cat, you're a wing dude. You know, I'm saying you, you just a wing. This dude is six foot five, six foot ten wingspan. This is the thing that I want to get people on board with right now. You're gonna hear a word around vJ Edgecombe Not in the draft situation, it's when he gets After he gets drafted and when he starts playing. I want you to Memorize this word Stocks and Vince. You say

Vince. Why are we talking about financial futures right now? We are not. We are not talking about financial futures. Even we are not. We are not talking about financial futures, even though Vijay Edgecombe's financial future is looking very, very promising. What we're talking about is steals plus blocks, stocks. Vijay Edgecombe is going to be one of those guys who is going to surprise us with the level of steals and blocks he is going to be able to get. This is a true jump shot. Block uh, he can block jump shots. I have seen it 2.7 steals per

40. Physical on ball Point of attack defender, elite lateral agility and he can jump out the building. So he's a wing. Now here's the thing If his on ball get real cold, if he becomes a super duper arm ball type of guy, he goes to another level. That's that Anthony Edwards level. Okay, he kind of a little step below Anthony Edwards Just because of the arm ball creation. But as far as athlete is concerned, this is Amon Thompson athlete. This is Ant Edwards athlete. This is a Seward Thompson athlete. Bj Edgecombe is a one of one athlete, so that's why he's a wing and not a guard to me. So that's why he's a wing and not a guard to

me. Explosive slasher, high contact finisher, meaning like he can absorb contact, take it and then still dunk on you. His shot is improving, the form is repeatable and the arc is live. So he has a really nice arc on his shot. It didn't go in early but as the season progressed in college at Baylor, he started to knock down the three. If he's gonna knock down the three and if he can get on ball reps, we might see a little bit different player than the one that we saw in

college. Now his best fits, I guess Charlotte. He'd be a nice piece for Charlotte. They need just talent upgrade and for player development I would say let him play early, let him make all the mistakes. He's going to become your young wing stopper, your lead cutter, your pace lifter, and by year two, he'll be the most important non star on your roster, or he might actually be your number two by year two. End edge comb isn't here to fit in, he is here to tighten the screws, meaning like he is about to bring some defensive versatility to your team. And let me tell you something as soon as he gets out into the open court, as soon as there is a fast break and that dude leaks out, get your cameras ready, turn your ig, live on, turn your little tiktoks on, and he's going to end up in the sports center top 10, no doubt, no doubt several, several times next

year. Now we get to the wing that everybody wants to talk about. This is probably the most controversial wing in the draft, and that is none other than Rutgers, ace Bailey, who's projected to go three overall to the Philadelphia 76ers. Okay, let's talk about a little bit. I watched this kid, I watched a lot of the reps at Rutgers, a lot of them, and I must say Two things there is a lot to like, but there is a lot to go. Hmm, I wonder, I wonder how this is going to work

out. Ace Bailey to me Is kind of like he is a boomer bust dude. He's not 6'10", he's around 6'8" and a half. He is real Off dribble creation. Okay, his shot mechanics Are advanced for his size. But here is the problem. He is an inconsistent decision maker maker but he's always attacking. He's looking for his shot, he's not looking for you. He is not an on-ball initiator for others, he's an on-ball initiator for

him. This is, he passes the ball like out of necessity, like okay, they got three coming on me, I'm okay, I'm gonna get off the ball because there's nothing I can do with that. But if he got one and then the defense is loading up on him, he's still taking it. He's still taking it to the hole or he's still shooting it. He's gonna get into his mid-range bag, he's gonna get to the hole. He is going to take the outside, the three-point shot. He is going to take the shot. He is thinking shot first and then he is thinking shot second, and then he is thinking shot third and maybe the fourth time. He's thinking about dinner reservations at the local steakhouse and then he's also thinking about his shot and then the fifth time he might be thinking about passing the ball to somebody else Right Now. Does that work in Philadelphia? Does it work? Absolutely freaking not. Does it work? Absolutely freaking

not. You got Tyrese Maxey, who legitimately is a High 20's Point per game dude In the NBA. Oh, you still got that dude who's 7 foot 2., who can't stay in shape and also can't stay off the injured list Joel Embiidb. And then you got paul george and you can say whatever it is that you want about paul george. The one thing paul george is not going to do is take a back seat to an 18 year old kid who just came out of rutgers. He's gonna tell that dude to go get him some coffee and yo Go get whatever periodical that Paul George wants to read and give him a stack of cash and be like you're my rook, but you ain't getting this ball. You are third or fourth On the total poll, my guy, and I'm going to tell you right now that is not going to set well With one ace bailey just letting you know. So I don't know how this is going to

work. Now here's the other thing I will say, and people will. They might disagree, you might agree, but I will say this ace Ace Bailey to me is not the Daryl Morey type of player. Daryl Morey usually looks for big time traits, big time translatable NBA traits. The one trait that Ace Bailey has is this he can create for himself, he is a offensive ecosystem onto himself. That is it, because the defense is theoretical, the on ball creation for others is theoretical. His defensive feel is theoretical. I'm seeing it, I'm seeing it in all of the

tape. Now, the physical gifts are nasty. Can he jump? Yes. Can he move laterally? Yes. Could he be some sort of like weak side rim protector? Absolutely, he got. He got ups to do all those type of things. We've not seen any of it. We've not seen any of it, 0.0 of this. So his developmental arc is this don't rush him. Let him cook behind a vet, eat up second unit reps and grow into your third closer. Here's a problem. That dude goes to the school of Talladega Knights and Ricky Bobby, if you ain't first, you last. This dude wants the ball, he needs the ball, he craves the ball. Look at the tape at Rutgers, when he didn't have the ball, what was he doing? Nothing. So that's a buyer. Beware on that

dude. I'm just just trying to say now let's get into like the second unit dudes. You know I'm saying this is where. This is where the money's made right, this is where you make your money. If you are, if you are scout, it's easy to pick the top five. It's easy to pick in the top five. It's hard to miss those People do, but it's hard to miss in there. Where you make your money Is 8 through 15. 8 through 20. That's where the real money is made. The Giannis Antetokounmpo's who were drafted 13th overall Ah, yeah, yeah, exactly Right. The Giannis Antetokounmpo's who were drafted 13th overall ah, yeah, yeah, exactly right. One of the guys who fits this mold and we're gonna figure out where he ends up, because I've seen draft boards where he's seventh and I've seen draft boards where he's like 11th, 12th, 13th, and that is duke's con canuple. I am a con canuple guy. I certified this dude I'm. This is one of my dudes in the draft. I'm letting you know right now I got another dude that we're going to talk about a little bit later, even though I got some bad news about him through a scout and a talent evaluator. But con canipple is one of my

guys. He isn't the fastest wing in the class, but he's one of the smartest. What he lacks in bursts, he makes up in balance, in decision and in tempo. And here's the best part he's 6'6. He's an elite shooter, elite shooter. He is a marksman at the highest level 41 from deep off movement, by the way, or set he can do. He do the pull-up deal, he can shoot off movement and he can step right into a three. If you pass it to him, he do both. It's great, it's fantastic. Cooper flag loved

it. Now he reads help defense like a point guard again, limited foot speed, but I saw him stay in front of people. And also he uses his physicality to create the angles and his, in his height, to create the angle where he can get to a person, touch him and then be able to bounce back to the player that he was supposed to be. Uh, guarding the effort on defense will be there. The also knowing where to be will be there. He will not miss rotations. He will not be one of those people that is confused all the time. Yeah, he'll make a mistake here and there, but he knows how to clean up a mistake pretty easily. I'm not talking about on the same situation, I'm talking about the next

time. He's not a guy that you have to tell 13, 14 times to a man. Are you gonna let him slip this screen every single damn time or not? It's kind of like what I went through with d'angelo russell every game when he was a laker. Are you gonna let him slip that screen and get behind you every single time, because that can be super annoying? Con canipa was a

winner. Uh, he is a type of guy where you can start him right away because he's going to make good decisions. He can be in a hybrid role where he can be a two guard or a three wing. You can let him be a shooter or initiator from the weak side. He doesn't need to be on ball, he doesn't need to have the ball all the time, but as a second side creator he will be fine there. You can let him live in floppy sets or in horn actions. He'll never need the ball to make the ball move because he cuts. He moves without the ball. And here's the other thing he doesn doesn't speed you up, but he calms you down. So you can get out there and get in your little defensive stand. All you want. This is 6'6", 220 pounds. Okay, this is not like 6'6", 180 where you can move him around. You know judiciously, like you want to. No, no, no, because as soon as he sticks that shoulder into you, you gonna know that that's a real man that you're dealing with. Con canipple is definitely going to play big minutes. He should play big minutes early, depending on the team that he goes to, and if he does, I think he will be a just a rousing success in the

NBA. He is one of my guys, conn Knipple from Duke. Now we get to Carter Bryant, and Carter Bryant, to me out of Arizona, is one of the guys that I'm kind of like I've been Early on. I'm going to tell you I was like I don't know, I do not know. The more tape I watch, the more I saw him at arizona, the more I saw just some of the little things that he does. This is what I gotta say. Carter bryant is a pro's, pro. Strong, unbothered, quietly

effective. This is a san antonio spur if I ever seen one. San antonio loves cerebral ring wings and brian fits that mold. He is six foot eight, physical wing. He can defend across the two to the three to the four. Good instincts in rotations, excellent cutter from the weak side, needs to level up off the bounce scoring but finishes through contact because yo man, dumb shoulders, he can handle some

stuff. Here's the developmental arc and here's the thing about him and this is my question about san antonio too, because they have the second overall pick and I think they have a really interesting dynamic about to happen, as we have reported in the last couple weeks that greg pakovich, because of the stroke that he had in november, he's no longer going to be able to coach because he had another um medical incident and you know he had to retire. But he's going to be the you know president, player personnel dude pop's not going anywhere. He's still gonna be around, but the the energy level that it takes to coach, he just wasn't gonna have it. So mitch johnson, who was the interim coach, is now the uh, is now this coach of the san antonio spurs. And they have a really interesting dilemma on their hands now with wimby going out with the blood clot issue, the deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder, all reports is that everything is good. So supposedly we don't have anything to worry about long term with victor win by yama whatsoever. But they made a deal before they knew he was hurt and they traded for deere and fox, which meant to me they were about to speed up victor win by yama's development. They were like he, he has arrived, it's time to put the foot on the gas pedal and we need to floor this bad boy. Dukes of hazard style now, if you don't know dukes of hazard and stuff like that. We can go fast and furious, we can go, baby driver, we can go a lot of places with this, but the time is now for the San Antonio Spurs. But I have a

question. You got the second overall pick because Victor Wimbanyama was hurt and then you got some lottery luck, got the second overall pick, dylan Harper, the son of Ron Harper, former Laker, former Bull, former Clipper, former Cleveland Cavalier, ron Harper, decorated champion in this league. His offspring is about to hit the NBA and let me tell you something that's a cold son of a bitch can't wait to talk about him later. That's going be next week. We're gonna talk about the guards next week. Be here on Friday next week when we break down all the guards in the NBA draft. Mark your calendars

now. Now, that being said, again, if you get Dylan Harper with the second overall pick and you him with all the good stuff that you got going on. You got Victor winning by Yama. You got Jeremy saw him. You got devil of a sale who's still young. You're gonna have Dylan Harper, whatever you get back back from darren fox, if that's the choice that you end up going. Or do you trade the 19th overall pick and get something now to help darren fox victor and whoever you have with the number two overall pick? These are dilemmas that are something that we're going to have to talk about later on as we get closer and closer to the draft process. The other thing keep in mind the 25th of june is the day of reckoning. That is the draft, and we cannot be more excited about it. So I don't know what you want to do. San Antonio, let us know. Hit us up on Twitter At FrontRunnerPC or at Raya underscore, fudge, frpc, let us know. Let us know what y'all want. Or you can also send us an email. You can go to FrontRunpc at gmailcom. We're more than happy to. And here's the thing if it's great, if it's really good, we'll read it on the air, because that's what kind of people we are you help us out and we'll help you

out. The third wing on this group is a wing that has really just caught fire throughout the draft prospect and he really lit it up in chicago. Combine workouts and that's cedric coward. Cedric coward is the sleeper. His tape is full of subtle wins. He's always helping, always closing out, always competing. He's 6'6, he's got long arms, true switch defender across three positions. He doesn't hunt shots, he just cuts screens, crashes and rotates. He's developing as a spot-up shooter from the corners and this is the perfect fit for the Denver Nuggets. You know why? Because the Denver Nuggets need defense and they need shooting, and they need shooting that wants to shoot. They need shooting that wants to

shoot. And what does that mean? What that means is that michael carter jr makes 43 million dollars and that dude sometimes. I want to. We don't have the milk carton anymore, where we used to put the kids on them that were missing. We have these like these amber alerts now, and whatever people are missing, we need to put out an amber alert on our guy, michael quarter jr sometimes because he can go like a quarter. Well, we don't know where he's at. I mean, he's on the court. There's a lot of cardio being involved, but there's not a lot of shots going up. So I hope mr coward would be one of those dudes that would be able to do

that. Now, coward gives you a bruce ground effort with more size. He's a second unit glue guy, one of the things that denver did not have this year. They did not have a bench. So any bench help will help Jokic. And can we help our Serbian best player in the world? Can we help that

guy? I would love to help out Nikola Jokic. I would love for the guy who doesn't want any fanfare whatsoever, wants to drop nasty dimes to cutting guards and cutting wings, I just want to help him. So somebody like cedric howard would be great for the nuggets. He's a bench connector. He can swing games with tempo and by defending plus players without fouling. That's the most important thing. Sometimes the game's best rotation is the guy who doesn't want the spotlight and that is cedric howard. I just want to get it

done. I want to talk about a wing who is not getting a lot of bust. I want to talk about a wing that was he was miscasted this year in the role that he played, and that is Liam McNeely from UConn. Now he is scheduled to be kind of like right outside the lottery and I think liam mcneely's game is all signal, no noise. He moves with purpose, he shoots with trust and he competes without being flashy. He is legitimately six foot seven. He is a high iq shooter and cutter. He's a strong decision maker if he is on, if he's the second side initiator. The problem with uconn is they had him on ball. He was their basically primary on-ball initiator this year because they had an injury and he became their basically de facto point guard and that is not the role for him. These are the things that he is strong doing. He's a strong decision

maker. You say, well, doesn't that mean on ball initiation? No, he relocates and screens like a vet. This is why I'm talking about second side initiation, because if he comes in and sets the screen and now your guard gets to go downhill, he's going to kick out to the three-point line. Now if the ball gets kicked to him, he can fake the shot and then go downhill himself. And now you're in the blender and everybody knows that once you get the defense moving side to side, you've won. Even though he's not explosive, he's a, he's steady. Under pressure he does not get, he doesn't get bothered with like on-ball pressure at all. He'll just, you know, turn to the side. I'll dribble, don't worry, I can see over you. It's no big deal

whatsoever. Now where should Liam McNeely go? How about the Miami Heat? Could you imagine like a better version of Duncan Robinson, with like on-ball initiation skills and maybe a halfway decent defender? The one thing with Liam McNeely is this he's not going to be some point of attack defender, but he'll know where to be. You plug him in next to Bam and next to Tyler Hero and you got a full starter Next to Bam and next to Tyler Hero and you got a full starter who won't blink and when asked To guard a switch or knock down a corner, three In a game. Six Guess what he will be able to do. That Early role player, late game trust builder Will earn A spot with Spolstra for sure. He's not going to be trendy, he's just going to stick to the NBA like glue. He will be there for a long period of

time. The last guy that I want to get to is one of the guys that I had a feeling on for a long period of time, and then I got to talk to a talent evaluator and I'm a little crushed. But rashir fleming is somebody who I've been really excited about uh through the draft process and I was trying to figure out why people weren't like up on him and man did my bubble burst today. Rashear Fleming is 6'9", he has a rugged demeanor, he has a motor and he's elite at help positioning. He takes charges, he vertically contests shots, he switches with purpose Offensively. He's a little limited but he's smart. He's smart in the dunker spot and on the glass he is a rebounder. This dude gets rebounds and if you can rebound in college, you're going to be able to rebound in the pros. It is just a scientific fact. If you can rebound in college, you will rebound in in the pros. Think of a smaller al horford. And that is the problem. Because here's the thing I thought of this guy is like this is gonna be a sleeper. And then I got wised up by someone who works in a front office and they said his explosivity metrics aren't good enough to make him a really viable starter unless he has something that is in his toolbox that is also great. So I was like, damn, you're telling me that he's not gonna be like a third guy on a really good team. And I was told, unfortunately not, but he's gonna be an awesome six man or awesome fifth guy on a starting unit or just like six, seven. He's gonna be either five, six or seven in your rotation and he's gonna play for a long time and he probably not gonna make a lot of dumb ass mistakes and you're gonna be super happy that you picked him either a late in the first round or b if you scoop him up in the second round, you're gonna be gonna feel real good about yourself. I'm a big fan of rashir fleming still. It's just that the level that he will be able to get to in the league is not the level I thought maybe he was going to be able to get to, you know, until today. So there is

that. And then, uh, one other guy I want to bring up is noah penda, and a lot of people have not talked about him. I know he's gotten a lot of buzz lately. Well, he's in europe, so we don't know a lot about him. Right, he's raw tools 100. He's six foot eight, defensive frame, elite wingspan. Rotates fast, finishes, plays through length. He doesn't have a jump shot and you know that's my, you know that's my pet peeve. Doesn't have a jumper. Yet he's a fierce cutter and he's a transition asset. People think that he is a perfect Eurostache. Let him grow and grow his handle and let him take shots and then bring him back over when the game slows down for him. I would agree with that. He is not a project, he is an investment. That is also

true. Another guy who fits this bill is also hugo gonzalez. Hugo gonzalez is six foot seven. He is a slasher. He's also kind of like an offensive creator. He's kind of like a, a more defensive minded. Um, what was the kid's name he just retired too? Ricky rubio, maybe not. Maybe not as on-ball creation as Ricky Rubio, but the defense, the size, the connectivity he has, all those things close out wild but effective. He slashes into gas precious weak side and he competes his ass off. I love this kid. I think he can make it in the pros. But the problem is is that he didn't play a lot this year because he got injured. So I wonder another year of seasoning would that help him? Will he adhere to what the the scouts tell him and maybe go back and work on some things and then come back into the draft next year? I don't know, but we shall see what if hugo gonzalez goes in this

draft. I would be really excited if somebody like in the late 40s would take him and then just kind of, hey, man, we're gonna put you in the g league, we're gonna let you do your thing, we're gonna show you what, what we want you to run, and I would say, year two, you might have yourself a player now. With that being said, feel good, friday is over. I like to thank saraya for all her help. I like to thank everybody behind the scenes uh, vance got some new guys who are uh, vance got some new guys who are helping out now. Uh, which is so cool. And who. Who would have thought? Who would have thought, that we would find people who would want to grow with us? Well, we have. So we are blessed for

that. And with that being said and the whole being blessed situation, I want to leave you with this the best part of you is you, those who Exhibit Ideas of support towards you, who lift you up when you're down, who give you a shoulder to cry on, who are there for you when you need them. If they're exhibiting those behaviors towards you, celebrate those who are doing that for you. Don't wait. Don't wait till it's too late. Give the flowers early and often give the flowers early, and often right, because we are not promised tomorrow, that's for damn sure. But make sure that you alert those people who are actually really supporting you. Hey, man, I appreciate it. You know, give them a phone call, text, a facetime, a hug. You know I'm saying let them know. If you're doing all that, you got that kind of like support system, you providing that sort of support, then we got a place for you here at frpc, at front runner podcast collective, because when you are getting genuine love, it just hits different when it comes from like genuine support. And I'm gonna tell you right now if you got that, you're a lucky person and I hope that you guys have a great weekend, enjoy the rest of the games this weekend. We will be back on this feed tuesday and, for everybody who doesn't know, be a friend, tell a friend about the podcast, be a friend and tell a friend about the

blog. Go to frpcpodcastpageio. Then you go to the right hand side. There's three little bars. You hit that little bar. There's a drop down menu. In that drop down menu there's a blog section. In the blog section you click on that. It will bring you to a bunch of blogs. You'll go well, vince. Why do I care about that? Because we give you a second screen experience. What we're talking about right now is going to end up on a block, and we will have that for you as

well. As a company piece to the podcast is something that I think is very important. So you can see the numbers, you can lock numbers into your head, you can see what we're talking about and then you can go on with it. I think it's a perfect piece, accompanying piece to the podcast, and I want everybody to jump on that. So it's frpcpodcastpageio. And then again, hit the little three buttons Bam, drop down menu, blog boom. The first blog that's up there will be the blog that's probably tied to this podcast. It's like magic and it just happens organically. And, with that being said, we out of here, deuces to you good weekend. We'll see you on Tuesday. And can the Knicks, can the Minnesota Timberwolves, make this a series? Will we be talking about finals or will we be talking about these playoff series got tough and we're going to have a real long Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals. Y'all let me know. Y'all know the email and y'all let me know. Y'all know the email and y'all know the Twitter. Y'all be cool and we'll see you on Tuesday Deuce.