After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Visit Carvana.com or download the app and sell your car from your comfy place. Lightning struck twice. Not exactly the same way. But man, if you're the Los Angeles Lakers or if you're Lakers fans, you hate Jamal Murray. You hate the name Jamal. It doesn't even have to be Murray. It can be any Jamal.

Even if it's spelled with two M's instead of one, you hate Jamal Murray. Oh, rising up, hitting a buzzer beater exactly a week ago because I remember I was sitting in the exact same chair I'm sitting in right now. And while it wasn't a buzzer beater in the final minutes and seven seconds, Jamal Murray, in what is a very tightly contested affair with the Lakers in game five in Denver, not only hits the go ahead triple with a minute and six seconds remaining, but then is able to float, run, slit, move, glide to the left elbow and hit another short jumper with a handful of seconds on the clock to put the nuggets ahead by two. And that would be the final, the final score, the final margin. Lakers are done.

The defending champions move on. And while a four one series win for one series victory may not seem that tight or may not seem that competitive. It actually really was the Lakers led the majority of minutes in the series, which was in essence, not exactly the same personnel or rosters, of course, but a rematch of last year's Western conference finals. The Lakers were not only up multiple times in game five, but also they led more minutes in the series than did the nuggets. Remember a week ago, they collapsed and choked away a 20 point lead and Jamal hit the actual buzzer beater. They did win game four. They had leads in game three as well and couldn't hold them.

Double figure leads. And then in this game up a good portion of the first half. Now there were some seesaw, some seesawing.

Can that be a verb? Seesawing. They were seesawing.

It could be. They were going back and forth. It was a bit of a tug of war, but the Lakers had to lead most of the third quarter. And then by the time they got to the fourth, it was really back and forth. The only major difference in this game five, if you look at a stat sheet, the nuggets had a half dozen more triples made.

I think it was 16 for Denver, 10 for LA in this game five. And then Jamal, that's your major difference right there. Jamal Murray. It's funny how psychologically you will have athletes that once they establish a pattern of success against a particular foe, a particular opponent, will continue to dominate that opponent or to have really good performances against another team. Now in baseball, sometimes it comes down to who's pitching, right? You'll have a matchup that favors you. You'll have a matchup that favors the hitter. So if it's the ace or it's the number two guy or whatever pitcher it is that a hitter has had success against, that's one thing because it's one-on-one.

It's mano a mano, not mano e mano, mano a mano. And that's a little, to me, that's a little simpler than one athlete in a team sport who continually will have strong performances against the same foe over and over again. And it's not as though it's always the same defense or he can exploit a particular matchup because rosters change and yet Jamal Murray, he likes the Lakers, not likes them as in will you go out with me circle yes circle no.

Jamal Murray's good with the nuggets and they've got business to attend to but likes to face them and seems to have a little extra something something just for the Lakers. You guys, I'm trying not to talk too fast and be too excited but it is my last show before vacation. Thank you for all your kind words on social. This won't be the last you hear of me on social. Once I'm done with the show, I may post one photo when we land in a paradise that is called Hawaii. So I've heard. I've never seen it with my own eyes but I will.

Once I share the initial photo, hey we made it. We're not lost at sea or something else. Oh, I can't even speak that. I don't know why.

Don't, just strike that from the record. It's a long plane flight over a lot of water. Do you ever wonder how the hell does this plane stay in the air? Do you ever think about that? Don't because it will drive you crazy. But yes, being over the water the Pacific Ocean for that long a period of time, I'm just not going to think about it.

I don't need a sedative. Don't say that. So I'm just excited to go. I'll probably post one photo from when we get to Hawaii and then and actually you know what instead of posting the classic beach photo because we'll be on Waikiki initially, I will maybe post a photo from Pearl Harbor because that to me is the reason that you go all this way to Honolulu. So I'm really looking forward to seeing that on Thursday morning.

Maybe I'll post a photo from the USS Arizona and that will be the one photo that I share. But vacation is coming and I'm really excited and you all are very kind to care about the fact that we're about to go on the honeymoon. So thank you for all your messages today on Twitter, A Law Radio, also on our Facebook page After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

None of those things change. I actually don't know. Maybe producer Jay does by now know who's filling in. It's okay that I don't know. I'm not. I don't need to know.

We're on a need to know basis and that's not something I need to know while I'm on vacation. But I hope that you enjoy whoever will be hosting the shows the next couple weeks. If it's the same person, if it's a variety of people, give, I'm going to assume it's a dude, give that guy or those guys a chance and enjoy the playoffs. Enjoy hoops and hockey and I'll be back before the second round is over probably.

Probably. Our phone number is 855-212-4227. It is the same even though I'm on the campus of Syracuse University. I have a couple fun stories to tell you from my last class. Wrapping up the art of sports talk. They renamed it.

It was essentially the same class but they renamed it. Got a couple of students with me. One who, actually Paul, I may ask you to talk a little bit about the draft. Paul has a really neat end to his grad career. So he's finishing up his grad classes and his grad degree this week. He was at the draft in Detroit and has some fun stories to tell about the sea of people.

The sea of people. So I want to get his perspective a little bit but also Jacob who's been with us before in studio. He was part of last year's class.

He's joined us a couple of times at our network headquarters. They decided they would come hang out because, I don't know, it's the very last night of classes. In fact, I taught the very last class on the schedule at Newhouse here at Syracuse and for some reason these two are not in bed.

I do not know why. I would think you would want to be sleeping, catching up, getting ready for finals or final projects, Jacob. But they're here hanging out which, of course, means they're my favorites. Jacob knew that he was my favorite from last year and Paul has been here three weeks in a row. And once I put it out there on Twitter, Paul, that you were my favorite, I kind of had to to stick with that.

So I've got company here in studio. We'll see how long they hang. Also, you guys, I don't think I'll ever be in the Guinness Book of World Records for anything else but I'm pretty sure I need a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for something that I did on Monday morning. I don't believe it. You're not going to believe it.

I have not yet put the photographic evidence on social. I will. But I had to wait. You'll understand when I explain but I don't want to give away too much. I was just talking to my students about not paying off on teases.

I will pay off on this tease. I might be the only person in America who has ever done this particular feat. Not once but twice. So, so proud even though I'm not exactly sure what I'm proud of.

I don't think it makes me smarter. Clever? A good guesser? I don't know.

We'll see but I swear there is photographic evidence coming and if there's anybody else in America who can claim the same thing, I'm going to need to hear from you. Again, on Twitter, A Law Radio, our Facebook page too. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence from Syracuse University on the Infinity Sports Network. Nuggets and Lakers in Denver. Game five took on a similar quality, a similar tone and tenor as what we'd seen in the series so far. Lakers, Nuggets battling into the late stages of the fourth quarter. Six on the clock. Murray, jumper.

No good. Rebound. Gordon wants to go back up.

Dribbles out of trouble. Murray three. Come on now. Come on. Nuggets up two.

106 to 104. Get a stop here and win the game. Jason Kosmicki. He's intense. He puts his whole self in. It's like the hokey pokey. You put your whole self in. He just never takes his whole self out and that's okay.

I like it. He immerses himself in Denver Nuggets radio. So yes, with just over a minute to go, we've got a fourth quarter that's going back and forth, back and forth. Jamal hits a go ahead three and now the Lakers are down by two. LeBron James, he's aggressive. He takes the ball to the hoop.

He gets fouled even though he misses the shot and with 26 seconds to go, were these the last points that will, I'm being melodramatic here, were these the last points that we'll ever see of LeBron in a Lakers uniform? See, it doesn't have the same resonance, not residents, but resonance with me because he was in Cleveland. Then he went to Miami. Then he went back to Cleveland. Then he decided he wanted to play in LA.

So it doesn't feel that nostalgic. If this is the last we've seen of LeBron in the NBA, now that's something, it would be two free throws against the Nuggets in game five 2024 with 26 seconds to go. Which meant of course there was more than enough time for the Denver Nuggets and Jamal Murray to drive a stake in the hearts of those, shall we call them Lakers fans, but just basketball fans, I think in general, because LeBron is a guy into his 21st season and we don't know if we've seen the last, he declined to answer that question at the end. So a lot of time left on the clock and what do we say? Jamal Murray, the difference maker.

Here we go. Denver can win it. Difference between game and shot clock 2.9 seconds. We were here in game two. Do the Nuggets drive and try and get that whistle?

I severely doubt it. High right side is Jamal Murray. Nine on the shot clock. Denver looking for a game winner. Murray has it on the high right side. High pick from Jokic. Murray, jumper from eight.

Got it again! 3.6 seconds left for the Lakers. LeBron over to Prince. Jumper's no good at the horn and the LA Lakers can take that L on the way out along with that whistle. Denver takes care of LA LA land for the second game in a row. Did he really say LA LA land? He did. He said LA LA land.

Oh dear. This is why Nuggets fans love him because as I say, Jason Kosmicki, he is immersed in the Nuggets perspective and the Nuggets radio network. LA LA land! The perspective of John Ireland, it does afford us a little more space. Now remember, this is what happened in game number two where we had Jamal Murray hit the actual buzzer beater and it went Jamal shoots, buzzer sounds, ball goes through the hoop, crowd goes wild and because Ireland was relatively dejected from the viewpoint of the Lakers and the Lakers radio network of course, we had a little more space to be able to hear what was happening in Denver.

Well, it happened again from John Ireland's perspective. There's a little more space when Jamal hits the jumper. Murray dribbles left toward the basket, pulls up 10-footer good. Lakers have no timeouts. Here's the season. Lebron to Prince.

No good. Season over. Lakers lose the final. Nuggets 108. Lakers 106. Series over. Game over. Nuggets onto the second round and the Lakers who land in every game at halftime lose the series in five games.

That's a big deal. They did lead every game at halftime. Now, they didn't have a huge lead every game at halftime. The most dramatic and the one that gives me pause is game number two. What happens if they don't cough up that 20-point lead?

How different things could be if they didn't cough up that 20-point lead. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. So, producer Jay is sending me audio. I don't think I have those on my sheet, Jay. So, I think you're gonna either have to jump on a mic and tell me what we have or you're just gonna have to play them and we can listen together because I don't think they're on my sheet. You don't have the Jamal Murray's or Mike Malone's? I do not.

Okay. Well, we have Jamal Murray. This says he was a chance that he wasn't even gonna play in this game. I came a little earlier today to see if I was gonna be able to go and I felt like I could and they just didn't want me to risk it. They told me no.

They told me no and I didn't say no. So, I just I didn't want to leave my teammates out there, you know. We've been battling all season. Everybody's hurt at some point.

Everybody's going through something and I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if I wasn't able to play this game. The conversation before the game, without getting into too much detail, I was an emotional one about him playing tonight and as he just told me, he goes, I'm glad I played because I don't know if we win if I don't play tonight. I said, well, that's the understatement of the year. The kid's a warrior, man. I can't say enough good things about Jamal Murray. Jay, do you know what injury he's been nursing?

No. It's a calf muscle except for some reason it's not identified as the soleus. So, I'm assuming it's a different calf muscle than what Giannis is dealing with. So, we have a soleus and then we have just a boring old calf muscle for Jamal Murray who is dealing with probably some pain when he pushes off.

But as you hear from both Mike Malone and Jamal, he wouldn't have been able to stomach missing this game with a chance for them to close out. And then the whole idea that if I don't play in this game, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to play in the next one. And then it kind of builds on itself.

And he's right. Everybody's dealing with a little something, something this time of the year, if not, if not a something. Anthony, Anthony Davis was out there playing hurt as well. And so you've got guys who are battling through as much as they possibly can.

It's a survival of the fittest type of thing. Davis had banged his left shoulder and it seemed like, well into Michael Porter. So there was a bit of a collision. So he kind of banged his shoulder into Michael Porter in the second half and was dealing with that. But he still has a double double. Lebron still ends up with 30 points.

No, they may not be completely 100% at this stretch, this juncture in late April, but it really isn't an excuse because everybody's dealing with the same stuff. And I was listening to Mike Malone after the series was done. And what he talked about was how tough the Timberwolves will be moving forward. So that is one heck of a schedule, one heck of a series on the schedule that will give us a great battle between two of the best teams in the Western Conference, two of the best in the NBA overall. Now coming up, the top seed in the West has advanced. So we will hear about the Oklahoma City Thunder and the new iteration. This is not KD and Russ anymore, but it's the first time in the second round. And since those two roamed the, oh, they roamed Bricktown for those of you who know OKC and where the arena is located. That's a throwback to when I used to live there. But the Thunder sweep the Pelicans.

And so we'll talk about them because they're kind of quietly under the radar. Maybe not as much sex appeal for a 1-8 matchup as what we got from Nuggets and Lakers and the star power. And as much as I can tell you that Lebron did not answer the question of his future. You'll need to hear from him yourself and the athletic is floating this idea out there that Darvin Ham is unlikely to return. Nothing definitive yet, but that after a couple of years it may be the end of the road for the latest Lakers coach. Wasn't that long ago they were saying bye bye to a championship winner in Frank Vogel and they were moving on to Darvin Ham. So what does this mean for the Lakers?

Constant change equals constant losing. But there's a lot of pressure on a franchise like the Lakers to raise another banner even though they had the one in 2020. So we'll get into more of the postgame reaction. Nuggets advance still alive in defense of their title. Lakers are out yet again at the hands of the Nuggets.

Though I suppose there's something to be said for the fact that they did lead the majority of the minutes if only they had Jamal Murray. On Twitter A Law Radio on our Facebook page too it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Worried about letting someone else pick out the perfect avocado for your perfect impress them on the third date guacamole? Well good thing instacart shoppers are as picky as you are. They find ripe avocados like it's their guac on the line. They are milk expiration date detectives.

They bag eggs like the 12 precious pieces of cargo they are. So let instacart shoppers overthink your groceries so that you can overthink what you'll wear on that third date. Download the instacart app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last. Minimum $10 per order additional term supply.

Doors take us to summers away or winter adventures and afternoon getaways. Your dedicated Fidelity advisor can help you open those doors by working with you on a comprehensive plan to help you reach your wealth's full potential because doors were meant to be opened. Visit fidelity.com wealth investment minimum supply Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC member NYSE SIPC. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy celebrity interviews or news you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue and guess what now you can call them on your auto insurance too with the name your price tool from Progressive.

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Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law. Denver looking for a came winner Murray has it on the high right side high pick from Jokic Murray jumper from eight got it again 3.6 seconds left for the Lakers LeBron over to Prince jumpers no good at the horn and the LA Lakers can take that L on the way out along with that whistle Denver takes care of La La Land for the second game in a row. Try to rush it up the floor try to get into striking distance and um you know touring TP try to get a good look felt like whoever that was that walked up under them they're not gonna call that call in that type of situation unless it's completely gross uh but you know we tried to get a look up and just didn't work out.

This is after hours with Amy Lawrence. You say gross? Darvin Ham reacting to the final sequence not calling a timeout for the Lakers they take the ball up court they didn't really get a good look in any way and yeah there was contact there should be more contact in the playoffs. I don't know that it was a foul it wasn't a foul was their contact yes all I ask is that the refs are consistent on both ends the Lakers though cannot in any way point to that moment as the one that lost this series because that's not even remotely accurate the number of opportunities they had and squandered that's really tough so Darvin Ham now has to ruminate in this he will answer a lot of questions about the season itself about what could have gone differently what they could have done to avoid this situation with the Nuggets these are all tough answers maybe he gets a couple days to answer them and then gets his walking papers that we're not sure of though there are these rumblings that he will be done but yeah this is it's tough it's tough to process not just the loss but the fact that you ran into a brick wall and you're done so drastically. It's tough man you know the completion of my second year in this seat um it's a lot you know this this year started last year to us getting to the deadline making the moves we made trying to make a push on the fly which we're able to do fell short to the to the champs same team. That is tough the number of times that the Warriors were frustrating opponents think about the Warriors and well the Thunder actually before KD joined Golden State but also think about the Warriors and the Rockets and the number of times the ways that they ran into Golden State trying to get through them trying to get past them couldn't do it a couple of years in a row the Chris Paul injuries all that jazz which is somewhat ironic it's not just about how you play as a franchise it's about what else is happening in the sport and in your conference at the same time so the Warriors had a dominant run it was the same thing for the Cavaliers in the east over that stretch but if we're going different sport Buffalo Bills fans are still so frustrated by what's taking place here with this Josh Allen window and now they've lost a bunch of veterans because of salary cap casualties is the window still open oh all of these wasted opportunities but you have to consider the fact that not only did the Cincinnati Bengals draft Joe burrow and in year number two he he was so good and the Bengals caught lightning in a bottle but also the Chiefs this is the Chiefs run if they are a dynasty this is the heart of that dynasty and the bills unfortunately for them their rise has coincided with the rise of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and Andy Reid and his coaching staff and the Chiefs so it's never just about what you're doing it's also about what the other teams are doing it at the same time and for the Lakers while they've come close they had a good run last year getting to the west finals and even took out the Golden State Warriors and we know LeBron and AD are still formidable when D'Angelo Russell is locked in he's also terrific and can be another asset another piece for them you hear guys like Austin Reeves take responsibility feeling like when there were opportunities there at the end to make a couple of big shots he missed on those they just didn't didn't have enough to go toe to toe with the Nuggets there's no shame in that but it's frustrating to run into the same team twice now and feel like ah if only the Nuggets weren't around so Darvin Ham what do the Lakers have to do to get over the hump and to make a difference next year stay healthy stay healthy you know you know you take a lot of flack for your your rotations and all of that but rotations comes are secondary the primary is health that is something that I'll choose the Suns the Suns could say the same thing that's a component of every single professional sports season and it's part of the equation when this is your job when this is your business right and so it's not an excuse maybe he thinks it's a reason either way the team hasn't been able to put it all together and it hasn't worked against the the Nuggets so all of that aside for just a moment LeBron James the questions have persisted all season he just finished up your number 21 will we see him in a Lakers uniform again um I'm not gonna answer that appreciate it oh no we appreciate it thank you at least it's one of those questions that I tell my students you know you're not going to get an answer in that moment or it's 99 sure that you're not going to have any breaking news in that moment but you have to ask the question the follow-up then is well what about the rest of your career like what about uh is there more for you to give is there more in the tank after year 21 no I just want to get home to the family honestly um um start looking at the schedule obviously I got uh you know my son one of my boys is just trying to decide if he's gonna you know enter the draft or go back to school I've got another kid that's uh playing au ball right now my daughter's playing volleyball um and my wife is doing so many great things so it's about family right now and then in a couple months I gotta go to Vegas for training camp so you know I gotta rest my body for for usab but um that's kind of the initial thoughts usab I've never heard it put that way before but I like it and here he is in the late stages of his career in late 30s isn't his birthday December 30th why would I remember that I think it's the same as tiger woods if I'm not mistaken I think he and tiger would share the same birthday but don't quote me because it could be one of those random facts that I pull out of my spaghetti plate brain and it's not accurate anyway uh he's accurate it is accurate boom every now and then blind squirrel here's the nut and so uh yeah don't ask me why I know that but it's December 30th so anyway uh Lebron James is late 30s he's played two decades in the league I think it's cool actually that he wants to participate with usab again as he calls it uh so this one's tough it's tough to process especially when they came so close only to be Jamal'd can that be a thing can you be Jamal'd it is now it is now it is for the Lakers they know exactly what we mean when we say you got Jamal'd on Twitter a law radio on our Facebook page too coming up we'll talk about the top seed not the defending champs we'll hear more from them as they advance to the second round past the the Lakers but the top seed is actually the thunder and this is a young thunder squad it's a new and different thunder squad led by top MVP candidate Shay Gildas Alexander what do we need to know about the thunder after a sweep of the pelicans it's after hours with Amy Lawrence from Syracuse University you are listening to the after hours podcast the young engine that could the western conferences top seeded thunder are through the western conference semifinals emphatically completing the four games to none round one sweep of the new orleans pelicans coming up big late in game for 97-89 the final the thunder for the second time in their franchise history has swept the first round foe did it previously in the 2016 playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks who ironically could be their western conference after the end of a good fight you deserve an ice cold reward medella is the mark of a fighter you've earned this rich golden lager with a crisp refreshing taste because you know the bigger the fight the better the reward you put in the hours the energy the tough labor you are a fighter and the della is your reward the della the mark of a fighter trick responsibly beer imported by crown and port chicago illinois that's not just the sound of that first sip of morning joe it's the sound of someone shopping for a car on carvana from the comfort of home that's a good blend it's time to take it easy like answering some easy questions to get pre-qualified for a car in minutes talk about starting the morning right just like customizing your terms so your car fits your budget visit carvana.com or download the app to experience car shopping the way it should be convenient comfortable here's why april chose to vaccinate her child i think actually meeting someone who was not vaccinated and now has a lifelong struggle with a childhood disease really cemented for me that it's super important that we as parents continue to vaccinate our children talk to your pediatrician or visit yvaccines.com brought to you by merc. i'm happy for the players first of all i mean the energy that they exerted focus commitment together and so i thought all that was on display obviously we had never been in this situation as a team and so i think everybody was curious i was curious to see what version of ourselves we'd bring into the series and we were very much in character and so credit to them and then credit to everybody in the organization that's worked hard not only this season but in the last few years during this build you know from really everybody in the organization this is after hours with amy lawrence he's the nba coach of the year mark dagnold as the oklahoma city thunder make history it's pretty cool youngest group collectively ever to capture a playoff series win and they do it with a sweep in new orleans against the eight seed pelicans it's after hours with amy lawrence from syracuse university heading through what is now a second round that's about to take shape so we've got the first round some of these ending in sweeps some ending in a quicker series which actually is a bit surprising i think considering how competitive the west but the oklahoma city thunder may be flying under the radar a bit because of nuggets and lakers we are excited to welcome to the show for the first time rylan styles who is joining us from new orleans has the locked on thunder podcast and covers oklahoma city rylan thank you so much for a couple of minutes how is it that this young group led by shay gilders alexander is able to have such a convincing win in the first round yeah i think that all season long amy this team has has despite their age shown uncommon maturity and when you look at this four-game sweep i think that you'll look back on it as a second sweep in franchise history and think everything was sunshine and rainbows but outside of game number two the thunder had to battle through adversity they did not have their fastball in any of these games but they still were able to come up big in the clutch and that becomes a tool for them they have a variety of scores not only sga who does it night in and night out but second year player jaylen williams is able to go score in a timely fashion in the fourth quarter and they just have a knack for having guys step up tonight was josh skitty as it was in game three who again hit four threes in the bayou where he plays really well this other team is extremely fun and they continue to buck trends where does that maturity come from who sets the tone for them well i think you have to start with the head coach and i think that mark has done a great job of not limiting this team or putting expectations on this team and he's planted the seeds for them to get to this point one anecdote would be that throughout this season the thunder have rigidly not let sga return to the game until about the seven minute mark in the fourth quarter and in that time they've had to figure out and navigate very close games without their mvp on the floor putting a lot of the scoring stress on to jed and williams on to check home run on the trash giddy to prepare them for a moment like tonight where you do bring the mvp in at the 10-minute mark in the fourth quarter but yet those other youngsters are still prepared to handle the pressures that come with needing a bucket down five in the fourth quarter of a closeout game but so even being meticulous meticulous like that throughout the course of the 82 game season it comes from the head coach and stealing belief in not limiting a team that in the toughest competition you've ever seen rallied off 57 wins and looks like they can compete with anybody how much of a conversation is it and i don't mean internally generated but externally how often is this group reminded you're the youngest in the league every single day they are reminded because every single day amy they break another record today they broke the record of being the youngest team in the nba to win a playoff series two weeks ago they were the youngest team in the nba history to get a number one seed and so every night there's a small anecdote like that that is just in a big picture wise historic but and here and now the thunder players are trying to move past that and trying to win despite their inexperience and if there's everything that can do it it certainly seems like these guys who have been able to overachieve back to back seasons of 15 plus win improvements despite not being projected to do so rylan styles is with us from new orleans where the thunder fly under the radar as the top seed but they take out the pelicans and are now awaiting the winner of clippers and mavericks it's after hours with amy lawrence it's interesting that a top seed can get maybe less of the attention i wonder too rylan if it's partly because people are not super familiar with the roster they may know sga and as you point out he may very well end up as the league mvp but how many average basketball fans out there do you think could name the rest of the starting lineup i think it'd be very very few especially if you try to make them spell what's jaylen williams within the starting five for oklahoma city that would get a lot of people even on the national scale i think part of it is that just there's not enough exposure to uh the thunder they've not played on national tv a ton over the last two years their roster has changed of course over the last two years getting chad home run back from injury that kept him out all of last year and so when you look at this team you've got to have crutches to fall on to you and the majority of the crutches nationally has been their inexperience in the rebounding flaws when if you really dig into this team they've been way more composed than way more veteran-laden teams all year long and then with the rebounding issue which is going to be brought up this week and forever more they've been able to counteract it with their ability to get deflections and get out in transition and spark a fast break so i think that as this team climbs in the postseason those narratives will get washed away and eventually this team will be discussed as the contender that they are i wonder if this was potentially the turning point of game number four not that they were on the ropes or anything but the pelicans were up by five and there was the defense that you talk about there was a contested shot even after a ball was uh was stolen away from sga and the thunder don't give up on the play they end up preventing a shot at the other end and so they kind of regain some momentum there they're able to reel in the pelicans how much does defense have to do with their success yeah i think that the defense is the big thing and it has been throughout this series amy i mean they won in four games but what's allowed them to win this series has been their defense they had a great shooting night in game two they could have played any team in the world and won that game too but every other game has been based on them playing defense to buy them time they were struggling offensively in game one in game three for the most part and in game four all night long but because they're so talented defensively and they're able to uh frustrate their opponents and limit their opponents the pelicans were not able to score over 92 points in any of the four games this series they did not get over 92 points and were held under 90 points twice in four games in a marin mba which is unheard of and that defense allows you to stay in the game and if you stay in the game in a star driven league with one of the brightest stars who's going to have back-to-back seasons now as top five mvp finisher sga you're going to win more often than not and that's what's happened over these last couple of games i'm not sure if you know this rylan but earlier in my career i in fact when i was still in local radio i worked in oklahoma it was before they had an nba team i remember how desperate fans in okc were and and not just oklahoma city but the state for a pro team really wanted a basketball team that was actually the early stages of brick town and so they had an arena but they didn't have a team i just remember the joy the excitement when the thunder first landed in town of course coming from seattle so now that they're back in the playoffs they've got this young group what's the passion what's the fan support like with that thunder base well the passion is that right now at 2 a.m there's a group of fans at the airport excited to just high five these players through a gate and that's a testament to this fan base that the thunder have gone through now two iterations where they they were fantastic right out of the gate and you thought this is just what nba basketball is to a large community who had never been exposed to basketball this is a football state through and through and then you go through not only the pandemic where you can't go to games but games that you don't want to watch anyway as they as they suffer the worst defeat in nba history and Memphis and then now you've come to the other side of it and you're still that same rabid fan base who's going to the airport not to welcome you or i home but to welcome the thunder home and rocking packing the house out and it's visible both in the stadium and also on television if you watch other thunders first two games at home and compare it to the rest of the playoff games none of them even make enough noise on television to pop off the screen like okc does and a large part comes from their college roots like there's no other way to fan in oklahoma than to do it the college style and they do it big in okc just for fun i know mavericks and clippers are tied at two they don't play their game five until wednesday because the nba scheduling but could you imagine russell westbrook with the clippers and he's been in on other teams he's had a weird journey since he left okc but how delicious would that be the storylines of a clippers series would be fantastic i think that you know that the russell westbrook will always be beloved in oklahoma but you also know that russell westbrook is no stranger to poking the bear no matter who he's playing against as he's famously said his only friend on the court is spalding so russell westbrook would do something to antagonize thunder fans how would they react to that then you have the paul george aspect of it and the james hardin aspect of it and the returners that come to okc that would be from a storyline standpoint and their standpoint one of the most fun series of the postseason rylan what's the weakness of these oklahoma city thunder i think that the weakness is going to be for this team if they cannot get out and run because a large portion of their success despite the rebounding issues have been yeah you might gain a net 13 in in second chance points as the pelicans did in game one but on the same token the thunder will have a plus 13 in the in the fast break category but as you know from watching NBA basketball for a long time and the playoff basketball especially as you get deeper and deeper in the playoffs the turnovers stop the sloppy play stops becomes a half court style the thunder have boasted a top five half court offense but defensively can you still dig in for at that point 48 second possession if you continue to give up offensive rebounds after offensive rebounds so the key to their success despite the rebounding flaws has been the transition opportunities can they continue to duplicate that despite history maybe suggesting that that doesn't happen a lot in the NBA playoffs such joy the thunder give to oklahoma fans so we appreciate a couple of minutes with rylan on twitter at r-i-l-a-n underscore styles s-t-i-l-e-s rylan styles locked on thunder podcast he's the beat writer for the oklahoma thunder oklahoma city thunder fan nation so we appreciate a couple of minutes rylan i know it's been a long day thank you for joining us from new orleans thank you for having me good stuff for this thunder team and i do think it helps them as a younger group flying under the radar not that they can't handle the attention they've had great staying power but there are more dramatic maybe sexier story lines elsewhere in the west there have been to this point they've managed to survive they're thriving now they're gaining experience as they go this is going to be fun and i'm i'm hoping that it's russell westbrook facing them in the next round that's one hour down it's after hours with amy lawrence this episode is brought to you by progressive insurance whether you love true crime or comedy celebrity interviews or news you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue and guess what now you can call them on your auto insurance too with the name your price tool from 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