Young Houston Rockets: The Sabrina Carpenter of the NBA!!!

welcome to the new beginning, to the new way and maybe even to the new vibe. Welcome to frontrunner podcast collective, the show where we break down the nba biggest stories with film study, elite analytics and just the right amount of chaos and buffoonery that you are looking forward to. I am your humble host, vince, and today we have everything. We have front office disasters, we have historic performances, unexpected dominance and cj mccullum shooting like he's legally blind. Heed the call. You know what that means. My prime time players out there making the nba what it is, which is, the best athletes in the world doing incredible, incredible things and a bunch of cool shit on a nightly basis. So here's the one other thing that I want to say we're gonna salute and celebrate these players, but let's not get it twisted. We got some wolf tickets to especially bad decision making, poor performances, but at the end of the day, it's all love for this great game of basketball, so we need to go ahead and get on into it. But here it goes. First and foremost, right off the bat, we need to talk about the Dallas Mavericks, and this is what we call our front runner, front running theory. The Mavericks front office is a disaster. The Dallas Mavericks didn't just lose Luka Doncic. Basically they gave him away. Thank you. Thank you, nico. We appreciate him, we love him. Dude, even when he doesn't shoot well, he still produces points, rebounds, assists. Yeah, sometimes the antics are what they are, but we still like Luka. So thank you again. But not only have they lost Luka, they lost their entire identity. This team has gone from the Western Conference contenders because here's the thing, here's the small whiskers that people talk about, you know, in like real close quarters or whatever. When Luka got back with the team they had before the trade, we were very respectful of what the Dallas Mavericks were going to be. Once Luka got back, with Kyrie, the two bigs, pj Washington and we were really interested to see the Derrick Jones Jr, klay Thompson situation and how that was going to work. Najee Marshall of it all, I was very excited for the Dallas Mavericks and then Nico Harrison decided to trade Luka.

We're done talking about that, because there's new stuff that we need to talk about. The first thing that we need to talk about is to give a shout out to our our guy zach harper of the athletic. He, in a article, put some of these numbers together along with his brilliant writing. So again, if you do not read zach harper at the athletic, you're doing your own self a disservice. So here's some numbers from our guy.

Defensive rating over the last two weeks 126.4, 29th in the nba. That is not great, bob. That is not great. Opponent's field goal percentage 50.7%. Worst, worst in March. Absolutely terrible 1-7 over their last 8 games. They're literally getting to a point where they might have to forfeit a game. That's how bad it is.

Because here's the other thing we have lamented over the luka don't just trade, but low-key. Dallas literally gave away quentin grimes, one of their best 3 and D guys, for Caleb Martin, who they don't even use. So my question is what the hell are we doing? They gave up Quentin Grimes for Caleb Martin. Here's the thing he plays 14 minutes a game, 5.1 points a game. Listen, we're not asking Calebin to score a bunch of points. That was not his get down, but 20 minutes a game, some physicality, some ball movement, all the things that we loved for you, loved about you in miami. None of those things are happening, none of them. Meanwhile, quentin grimes out here getting it, getting it in. So since the trade, these are the numbers for quentin grimes 16.8 points a game, 39.8 percent from three.

Dallas defensive space scene is completely broken post trade. This looks like it's an inside job. Here's the thing, just getting those rumors out there about the conspiracy theories. I'll just say this to Patrick Dumont this way Yo Dumont, if you wanted Mavs to suck in year, one of you Having it guess what? Check this out. Congratulations, you got it. You want to drive down expectations? I mean, this team is pretty sorry to look at right now. It's pretty, pretty bad guy. This doesn't make any sense whatsoever. What they did, why they did it, the amount of money they're talking about and not wanting to do it. I will say this Some people want to win, so shout out to the Lakers getting Luka Doncic. So y'all can hate on the Lakers all you want, but the Lakers got him and we're happy to have him. So there it is.

Now we need to move along, because we need to get into a segment that I like to call around the arc, and we're going to talk about mikhail bridges a little bit and the reason why we need to bring him up because jim brunson's hurt. Where is offense going to come from with the new york knicks? Well, I got answers for you. Mikhail bridges was supposed to be the missing piece to the knicks, but now, right now, at this second, is he even playing like a third option that can fully embrace his role? Has this been a coaching issue the whole time? Is this a system problem or is this just what Mikkel Bridges is? We got answers for you.

First and foremost, last couple games he played against the Warriors. The Warriors went in there, beat them 97-94. It was a defensive battle. Carl Anthony Towns did Carl Anthony Towns things. He scored 29 points but then fouled out in the final minutes typical cat shit. Steph curry, who has absolutely blossomed since jimmy butler has gotten to the golden state warriors 28 points, bunch of clutch shooting, putting people to sleep, the whole deal. And then mikhail bridges 5 or 13, shooting 14 points and you go. Well, damn what the hell. What the hell is going on here now.

Mikhail's season has been okay. At best he's averaging 17.5 points again, 3.2 rebounds a game, three and a half assists a game and shooting 49% from the field. But here's the thing that caught my eye. It was the defensive rating. The defensive rating for him is 118.3. That's the worst of mikhail bridges career. That's awful. This is not a lockdown dude. When you see numbers like this, this, this does not scream lockdown. This is a really good defender. This is like on the cusp of bad. This is bad defense right here now. Also and we knew this was going to happen in new york, especially with the next brunson is a on ball offensive facilitator. That is what brunson is. There's no reason to change it because his bag work is immaculate. So did we expect that mikhail bridges usage rate was gonna go up or down when he joined the knicks? Of course it was gonna go down. He was 26 with brooklyn. He's 18 with the, but last night, yes last night.

He had a 25.2 percent usage rate in the last game. He scored 28 points in that game on 71.4 percent shooting. He even outscored the heat by himself in the third quarter. Well, actually he didn't beat him, he tied him 15 to 15. But y'all know, you get the point. Does this prove that he needs more touches? Does this prove that coach Thibodeau needs to diversify the offense? Does this mean that the Mikkel Bridges we saw with the offensive creation in Brooklyn is going to return? Not necessarily, but I still have some breadcrumbs of hope for our Knicks fans out there. So bear with me.

I think Bridges has had a hard time adjusting to his role as the third option because of the fact that when he was in brooklyn, because of just lack of talent and lack of direction of where they were going, mikhail bridges was like the on-ball guy when he first got there, kind of changed. I don't think he really liked it. When Cam Thomas came in and took over and started jacking up a bunch of shots, I think you saw a more like a less energetic Mikael Bridges. Mikhail bridges, I think he was thoroughly enthused by this trade, getting out of brooklyn and going over to the knicks joining his friends, we all know the story about the velenova knicks and all this other stuff, whatever, but there was going to be adjustments in the style of play. Mikhail, mikhail bridges whatever you think of him, he has grown as an offensive player. Now, the one thing that we know about the NBA and if you don't know this about the NBA, hopefully this is some news and some knowledge that you can now go out and tell your friends about what I see a lot in the NBA is this so we talk about a lot of times like the dude that's the 15th dude on the bench, like if he went to, like the ymca, he just cooked everyone. Right, he's got a bag. He can shoot it from three, even though he never shoots a three-point shot in a game in his life. Not necessarily meaning that he doesn't have it. He's just not super confident to use it in a game In his life. Not necessarily Meaning that he doesn't have it. He's just not super confident To use it in a game, right. So, with that being said, mikael Bridges Is figuring out this role, but because Jalen Brunson hurt Because of the injury right now In the time frame, it looks like he's going to be out for a little bit longer.

I think these reps on ball are very significant for the Knicks, and the reason why I say that is because you need to find a way to diversify the offense. You need to find a way to make sure that they're not just going to load up on our guy JB. Okay, we got to have some sort of like release valve and it can't just be Cat. We can't rely on that all the time. So what's going to be the next thing? So Bridges getting on ball reps right now. I think this is good for him. It also shows tibbs what he's capable of and hopefully with that, with him being a little more inspired on the offensive end, this will energize his defense and bring some, bring those numbers back down to the, to the median, because right now that 18, that 118.5, is terrible as far as the defensive rating. The Knicks are at least figuring things out.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers are a full-blown disaster. So let's get into that and let's go on to our next segment, which is the baseline buzz. Paul george is shutting it down for the season and beat is already out. Philly is in tank mode and the only thing that 76ers fans can hold their hat on to is clinton grimes is out here balling, he out here putting up numbers like on a real level. So quick thought on this is that? Uh, first I think I think podcast podcast P needs to make his return. I think it's very selfish of you, paul George, to put your podcast on hiatus to concentrate on championship level basketball, only to turn out and turn over that you having like surgery two weeks later. So stop the noise, give us the podcast, go get guests, say wild shit on your podcast, say stuff that. Say stuff that tells us that you don't have any self-reflection without telling us that you don't have any self-reflection on the podcast. That's the first and foremost thing that it brought up to me. Now we're gonna get to another guy. Uh, josh hart. Everybody know that. Josh hart last night tie walt frazier for the franchise record in triple doubles. This is coming off the heels of a game where josh hart scores zero points.

Then did this? This is josh Hart to a T. Josh Hart wants to facilitate, get physical, get rebounds, play defense, talk trash, shoot a wide open three every once in a while, get a couple steals, get a couple blocks, annoy the hell out of your best offensive player and then be able to bounce and go home. That's a good day for Josh Hart. And you know who loves it New York Knicks fan Boy. They ain't nothing more that they love than a lunch pail type dude, and josh hart is right out of central casting for that role. This dude gives up his body. He's six foot three, maybe six or four. He's getting double digit rebounds frequently. You know I'm saying he is not just a glue guy, he's a glue that holds the knicks together. So say it with me not a glue guy, but the actual connective tissue that holds the knicks together. So shots out to josh hart.

Now we need to talk about what happened in the minnesota timberwolves indiana gang. Did anybody see the overtime period of what the hell happened with Ogie Toppin when he had an outer body experience? It just went absolutely nuclear during the overtime, pushing the Pacers past the Timberwolves 132-130. He is the game winner, winner, game winning, three in overtime, basically spoiling anthony edwards 38 points. That's just wasted done. Also quick aside, rudy gobert got ejected. I don't know if it was justified or not. I'm going to have to go back and look over the tape and find out. But for the Rudy contractors out there, I'm sure they said yep, he totally deserved that. And for the Rudy apologists out there, they're saying what did my guy do? What the hell did he do now? Why are we mad at Rudy Gobert now, right Now? Why are we mad at Rudy Gobert now, right now?

Obi Toppin was incredible. The three point shot was incredible, but here is here's probably the most incredible thing about the shot what he did Throughout the overtime period. Did you catch the comments After the game From Rick Carlisle? To me, this might be the most impressive thing that Obi Toppin has ever done. Rick Carlisle said this. He said the way Obi Toppin ended that game, not just with the three, but just the flurry of points that he ended, the way obi-tachi ended that game, not not just with the three, but just the flurry of points that he ended the game with he said it was the best performance he's ever seen to end a game. This is rick carlisle who coached dirk novinski, had Michael Finley, had Jason Kidd, had Steve Nash Right, he's also coached Tyrese Halliburton and this is the best performance he's ever seen to close out a game.

High praise, oh, we talking. Take that, take, hey, put that on your tombstone when you die. Hey coach said this is the greatest performance he's seen in the game. I want that on my tombstone, y'all. Y'all. Get that squared away from me right now. I'm gonna need that. Take care of, go ahead and take care of all that for me. All of that, all of it, all of it.

Okay, a couple things else that we need to get to the Pistons. First of all, whoa the Pistons. Super great story. We're going to talk about them in a second. But they humiliated the Pelicans last night 127 to 81. It's the worst loss In Pelican history. K was typical K 24 points, 8 assists. He's just a real deal. But our guy, cj McCollum, credit where credit is due. Cj, cj, never quit, cj never quit, he never quit. Boy CJ McCollum went one for 15. He shot 15 times and only made one. So much to say about this.

Three things one, cj, I'm telling you right now these, these jokes, all love, we understand you're gonna have games like this every once in a while. We, everybody's been there, everybody has been there, but we getting these jokes off. One, one of 15, okay, again, the tenacity to continue to shoot when they're not going in. You got to give them that. Two, here's the other thought I came up with Was there like a TV early aughts night and CJ was basically just playing his character.

Everybody hates Chris playing his character. Everybody. Look, everybody hates Chris. Cuz, cj McCollum looks like the dude that plays Chris Rock in. Everybody hates Chris. Now, for my audience out there, this is the time to be interactive with me. Go get a picture of cj mccollum. Go get a picture of the actor that played. Everyone in everybody hates chris. Put them side by side. If I'm right, send it to me. Say, hey, you were right, I put them side by side. I did the pepsi challenge. This is correct, or, vince, you're a complete idiot. This dude don't look nothing like the dude from Everybody hates Chris. Hit me up on Twitter or on Blue Sky At Front Runner PC. Now I'm very excited.

This is a new segment. We call it off the bounce, off the balance is going to be like little quick hitters that we can kind of, you know, talk about real quick and then move off of and give you some, you know some pretty quick information and what have you? So, without further ado, let's get to off the bounce. And where do we start? I want to start with the minnesota timberwolves, because the minnesota timberwolves right now riding until they lost to the indiana Pacers in that dreadful OV Toppin shot. If you are a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, if you are a Pacers fan, that was an incredible shot. You were just like damn. We won and it was OV Toppin who hit the three.

But before that the Timberwolves had an eight game winning streak, best offensive stretch of the season. Julius Randle and Jalen McDaniels have started playing basketball again. It was crazy. Jalen McDaniels was like he struggled the whole first part of the year. He's just rounding into shape. It seems like not into shape, but his game is rounding into shape.

Now. Julius Randall a different story. Julius Randall reminds me of a R&B singer moody, he's singing sad songs. His girl left all this. You know, he kind of a jilted lover because the knicks traded him and it was gonna take him what it was. Gonna take him some time to get through his feelings and then become the bully with the basketball that we know Jalen Randall can be.

So the Minnesota Timberwolves remind me of the. They're basically the NBA succession arc, right. The Timberwolves remind me of Kendall Roy in full takeover mode, mocked for years, but now they're in control, making power moves. The real question is is do they win or is this just going to be a tragic finale? Here's the thing they dug themselves a hole, but I like their pieces. I think they're a very dangerous team and I will say this Anytime you put Anthony Edwards in a competitive situation it is scary time for the other team.

That's just scary time for the other team. That's just scary time for the other squad. That sound is for the houston rockets, and the reason why we play that sound is because the Houston Rockets are on a six game winning streak, second best defense in the NBA. Jalen Green is doing the Jalen Green thing that he did last year. You know whatever. But Alcarin, shingun, fred VanVleet is back, so fourth quarter offense won't look horrendous. They are just. Houston is deep. They got a lot of players. Some of the players that I want to play can't get time. Shouts out to our guy. Reed Shepard and shouts out to our guy Cam Whitmore.

Free Cam Whitmore, free Cam Whitmore, free, cam Whitmore. We want Cam Whitmore, more Cam Whitmore, damn it. But how am I going to complain about the Houston Rockets? They're 43. Actually, yeah, they're 43 and 25. I mean, here's the thing the Houston Rockets are Sabrina Carpenter's glow up. The Rockets are just like Sabrina Carpenter at the Gramys nobody saw them coming, but now they're trending, they're viral and they're making believers out of everyone. Because here's the thing did you have on your bingo card the houston rockets being a home court advantage team? You know, throughout, maybe like the first and second round of the playoffs? I did not have that on my bingo card, so I'm not a well, you know it happens man we make mistakes around here.

That's what makes the game great. We never know what the hell is gonna happen. We never know. But the houston rockets are playing. Eme Adelkis got these guys playing great. We got to get Amin Thompson back on the court. I would love to still to see more Jabari Smith Jr. I don't think that day will ever happen. I just don't think it's going to happen. It is terrible.

Okay, before we close out, did you think I was not gonna talk about march madness? Did you think I was gonna leave out the madness for you? No, you're wrong. I'm definitely not gonna leave out the madness for you. So here's the thing. Let's talk about a couple things. If you are new to the program, if you're new to us completely, I want you to go to frpcpodcastpageio. You will then be on Frontrunner Podcast Collective website. You will go to the blog section. If you, there's at the top right hand corner there's little three lines. You hit that thing, little menu thing comes down, cascades down and then you go to blog. You click on blog. Once you click on blog, there's going to be a bunch of blogs there, because we like to write here at frontrunner podcast collective. Not only do we pod, you can go to the website and have kind of like a second screen experience. Not only that, but I will tell you that right now we have a 45 player very comprehensive uh draft guide and we have the players ranked and what have you?

I gotta change some things around soon. I want to hope in the next two weeks I get to do that after some of the, I want to do it like right around, maybe the sweets, maybe. Um, when we get to the final four, make some changes and what have you? And also go up to 60 players, 60 6-0 we have 45 now.

So go to frpcpodcastpageio. Go to the blog section. At the bottom of the blog section you go all the way down there is a NBA draft prospect evaluation. It's one of the most comprehensive ones on the face of the planet. I put my evaluations up against anybody who got somebody on on the on the web who does the draft. Ours is just as good, if not better. We might not have a cool ass graphics to everybody yet, but we got the good information that you 100% need. So if you like NBA draft stuff, if you are a draft Nick, if you want comprehensive information on the guys that are coming out this year, there's no better place than frpc dot podcast page dot I oh. Then go to the blog section all the way down, get you some NBA draft prospect evaluations and then I will tell you. You, sir, are now fully informed about what the hell is going on in this draft.

But before we leave you a couple players. I do this every year. I pick. I pick a player that's not like the number one dude or whatever the case may be. I pick a player that I consider one of my guys. In previous years, desmond bain has been one of my guys. Okay, the track record is filthy good. Desmond Bain is one of our guys, for sure, but this year I have a guy and the guy that I have is from Duke and is not cooper flag.

Frpc front runner podcast collective is endorsing con canipple. Con canipple out of duke. Six foot seven, 215 pound, shoots it like a demon. 277, 215 pounds shoots it like a demon. He can, by the way, enough wiggle to get to where he wants to go. He can score on all three levels. He has a really filthy floater game. He's also a pretty stout rebounder. I don't think he I don't think he'll ever be above average defender, but I do believe that he will be a net neutral defender. I think that people will look at him and they will try him and then find out he ain't the one to be tried.

Okay, I'm just telling you. These are things I just you know I these are hey, take it from your boy. I'm trying to help y'all out. I'm really trying to help y'all out. The other thing about this is about having the blog, knowing what's going on with. Everything is, again, these dry picks are crazy. There's a lot of them. There's a guy out of saint joe's that I want to talk about real quick. Hold on for one second, let me see if I can find him. I know this is terrible podcasting, but give me a second because I want to read you his thing who is this?

this is a kid out of maryland. That's a good one. Who is this? Okay, yeah, it's showing. No, or I see. Okay, this is about right where we want to be okay, yeah, here's my guy.

Here's another name for you. We're sheer Fleming out of St Joe's. He's a 6'9, 240 pound uh forward. He reminds me a lot of Taylor Hendricks. I know he had the injury, but he was nasty in college. Okay, this guy's got shooting athleticism, he got everything you need.

Rashir fleming is a dynamic two-way forward who combines size, athleticism and skill to make an impact on both ends of the floor. Known for his ability to space the floor with consistent shooting finish, he finishes above the rim and he creates defensive disruption. He has decently long arms and he has really good awareness and anticipation for the steal and the deflection. Fleming has emerged as a legitimate draft prospect. 20 plus threes and dunks early in the season highlight his versatility, while his defensive playmaking metrics 3.5 steals a game, 5.5 blocks per 100 possessions showcase his disruptive potential. Rashear Fleming is if you can catch an early game with him, do so. He is worth the price of admission. Now he has some limitations, some ball handling creation, you know, but if you have him in the short roll and be able to pass out to shooters, he can do that. The the free throw accuracy is not where it needs to be, but he's been working on that all year, uh, and he's had some standout games against, uh, like texas and some other other teams or what have you. So this is not a johnny come lately, nor is this somebody that I am just throwing mud against the wall. This is a real dude. This is somebody you should be particularly interested in. So Rashear Fleming and Conn Knipple are two of FRPC's favorite guys in the draft. So you guys are welcome on that. You guys got draft. You got all kinds of stuff today.

I want to thank my producer. I want to thank you guys for coming in and enjoying this time with us, because we do it for you and we're going to keep on doing it Tuesday and Friday. Tuesday and Friday is the shows. We will be recording those and getting them up for you and doing all those type of things. I want to thank Soraya again. Thank you for all that you do.

I want to thank everybody else behind the scenes. Thank you, thank the audience and his best part. We ain't going to leave you without the thing the best part of you is. You make sure that the people that surround you are supportive. They are encouraging. Make sure that you are acknowledging those people that are exhibiting those behaviors. You appreciate those people for giving you that sort of love and glow up. And then if you are that fully Like, full form human being I am not, I'm still working on it, god, you got me, I'm just mold me. You know what's up? Um, if you are a fully formed human being like that, go out and do some good in this world and we'll see you on this feed on feel good friday. Heed the call, damn it. Basketball is back, la laker, exceptionalism is back and playoff hoops is forthcoming and we out.