It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Last night we had Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals get underway and then tonight we have Game 1 of the NBA Finals. We're going to have the Oklahoma City Thunder hosting the Indiana Pacers. People expected the Thunder to be here, not so much the Indiana Pacers. I mean the Thunder are the overwhelming favorites to walk away hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy. To talk to someone who's very versed on not just the NBA Finals. These teams and some of the other wacky and crazy things that have taken place in the NBA this week a la Tom Thibodeau. Joining us right now is someone who writes for CBS Sports and covers all things NBA.
It's James Herbert. James, how are you man? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Awesome.
Thank you for taking the time to join us right out of the gate. Everybody, most people are picking the Oklahoma City Thunder. What do you think gives the Pacers any chance to prove people wrong? I think the Pacers offense in some ways is like, you know, it's nothing like the offenses the Thunder have faced so far. I mean they just operate at such a higher speed and I'm not talking about just the way they push the ball after getting stopped. I'm talking about just the way they move it in the half court.
Like they are a blur. Like if you watch the way that they play, there's not really another team in the NBA like them. They're always trying to create as much confusion as possible by, you know, they have guys slipping screens, setting these ghost screens. Just trying to reverse the ball from side to side and make the defense have to close out multiple times on the same possession. The Pacers oftentimes don't really know what they're going to do on a given possession where they go down the floor.
Which makes them really hard to scout. So you have this historically great defensive team in the Thunder that has feasted on forcing turnovers and making these teams get stagnant. And then they're going up against a team that like does not get stagnant ever. Very rarely turns the ball over and, you know, the Thunder like to load up on guys.
They like to, you know, try to make the paint all crowded. And the Pacers like they love when teams try to do that because they're better than anybody in the league at being able to kind of take advantage of that, move the ball from side to side, get you moving. So, I mean, it's one of those things where it's a really interesting matchup because you have this incredible offense against this incredible defense. And, you know, it might look different from night to night in terms of like which team has the advantage when the Pacers have the ball. And it's not just night to night.
It's really like quarter to quarter play to play. Like it's going to be really interesting to see how that kind of sorts itself out because something has to give. Well, James, when you we know about the depth on the Oklahoma City Thunder and to kind of continue on just thinking about the Pacers because there's so much attention paid to the Thunder. Is there a swing player on this this Pacers team not named Tyrese Halliburton who people need to pay attention to? I mean, are we seeing Neesmith? Does he have to go out there and drop another million threes and a half or quarter?
I mean, that would help. I don't know that that's something the Pacers want to rely on every night, especially, you know, he's coming off of an ankle injury. You saw him dealing with that at the end of the series against New York.
I think one player that I find endlessly fascinating and honestly one of my favorite role players in the NBA will play maybe selling him short because he's an extremely important player for the Pacers. That's Andrew Nembhard. And he's the guy not not not Aaron Neesmith, aside from the first 90 seconds of Game six against the Knicks. Like Nembhard was the guy guarding Jalen Brunson and he was being extremely physical with him. He really frustrated him in Brunson at one point in the game, headbutted him. And, you know, that that was by far Brunson's least efficient game of the series. And then hard made a bunch of timely shots in that game, too. He is not a guy that is necessarily going to score even double digits every night, though certain nights he can contribute that way in the offensive end. Last year in the conference finals, when Halliburton went out, he was putting up these huge, crazy offensive games against a great defensive team in Boston. He doesn't have to do that against the Thunder, but he is the guy I'm guessing from the opening tip will be defending Shea Gilges Alexander.
Those two guys, a couple of Canadians, have known each other since they were kids. He's going to have watched all the tape. He's already extremely familiar with Shea's game. That doesn't necessarily mean you'll actually be able to get stops on him very frequently because Shea is the MVP and he's that good. But I want to see how that matchup works and just if he can at least make things tough on Shea, the way that he did against Jalen Brunson, the last time we saw in them right on the basketball court.
James Herbert is joining us here on the JR Sport Brief Show, writer for CBSSports.com. Shea Gilges Alexander, as you mentioned, this man walked away with his first MVP, could be the finals MVP for all things considered here. Man, who doesn't get the attention? Shea Gilges is the MVP. And granted, there's so many other players on that squad.
They're so deep. Who don't you think gets the recognition they deserve? I mean, it's a long list because the Thunder are so much more than just their best players. I mean, I think most people look at them and it's, you know, it's Shea, it's Jay Dove and it's Ted Holmgren. Those are the top three guys that they're sort of building around. But I think they have the best supporting cast in the NBA. They have the best defense in the NBA by a wide margin.
And, you know, I could wax poetic about Kason Wallace, if you want. I could go on about Isaiah Hartenstein, who would just fit in extremely well exactly how the Thunder expected this year. I think there's some debate among people over whether Lou Dore or Alex Caruso is their best on ball defender, because, I mean, either one of those you could say is the best perimeter defender in the NBA.
That's how good those guys are. So I think the thing about the Thunder is it is a really collective effort. And, I mean, I don't know, like if you wanted to name a guy and I can go on about him, like Aaron Wiggins came off the bench and had an amazing regular season for them.
His role has fluctuated a little bit in the playoffs, but he's another guy that could totally come in and swing a playoff game. I mean, the thing that is so amazing about the Thunder is that they just keep coming at you in waves. They play a really demanding style of play, a really fast pace. They're incredibly intense defensively. And it's similar to the Pacers in that like the way you can pull that off night after night is by using your depth, using your bench and having fresh legs come in every few minutes.
You talk about fresh legs. Both teams are going to be fresh with Game 1 underway in about two hours from now. Are we going to see a long series or short one? I'm thinking five, six max. I'm going with OKC.
What are you thinking about this, James? I'm hoping it's long just because these are two of my favorite teams to watch play and I think it's a really interesting matchup. But I mean, if the Pacers are able to push it to seven, let alone win the series in any number of games, I think that that would be a massive upset. And that's not because the Pacers are not deserving of being here. I know people didn't pick them, but I think they have improved over the course of the season and they have improved over the course of these playoffs.
And we've seen it. The reason why I say it would be a massive upset is not so much about the Pacers. It's about the Thunder. This is a historically dominated team. They won 68 games in the regular season, like elite offense, elite defense, elite in transition, elite in the half court. They force turnovers better than any team that I've seen in my life. They might honestly be the best defensive team I've ever seen in my life. I mean, they go like seven deep with guys who I think, you know, they weren't all eligible to make all defense just because of minutes and games played in that type of thing. But I think they legitimately have like seven guys who are all defense quality defenders on this team.
And oh, by the way, they have like multiple guys that can go and get you a bucket. Everybody who plays in power to put the ball on the floor. They're just they're just an all time team, assuming that they can, you know, like validate that by by finishing this thing off with the championship. And I mean, by any statistical measure, like this would be a better than average championship team.
So, yeah, I'm inclined to think five or six is like for the Thunder is more likely than a seven game series or a Pacers upset. James Herbert is here with us from CBS Sports Dotcom. We know there was a team that was they thought that, well, they were competing for a championship until Indiana eliminated them. And then they decided to eliminate their head coach.
That's the New York Knicks. There's so many names that are getting thrown around as replacements for Tom Thibodeau. What do you think the most realistic and likeliest option is?
I'm I'm not sure. I don't have inside information on who who they're they're going to hire here. I think Johnny Bryant is the betting favorite right now.
But I mean, we'll have to see. Like there are a decent number of coaches with like NBA head coaching experience that that are on the market right now. Guys like, you know, Michael Malone, Mike Boudin, Hoser. I don't know that either one of those guys strikes me as like a particularly natural fit for this job. If the idea was to get someone, I mean, usually in this situation, when you fire a coach, you go and hire someone that is like totally different.
So I would probably be thinking like they're going to be trying to sell people on. We're going to get a guy who is more like creative offensively. That is really the kind of guy who makes adjustments quickly in the playoffs. We think this is the perfect guy to get us to that next level and and win us championships.
And I think, you know, for all the great positive attributes of the two guys I just mentioned who have both won championships, by the way. But I think they also kind of have a reputation for being a little stubborn in the same way that Tom Thibodeau is. So it would be a little bit weird for me if either one of those guys was hired. But I mean, we're going to have to see this. This is like I don't think this is a situation where the Knicks already knew where they were going with this when they made the decision to get rid of Tom Thibodeau just because they have not made a hire yet.
But yeah, I mean, I'm interested to see how things go. I mean, Jason Kidd is another name that some people have thrown out. And the interesting thing about that is he is under contract with another team. So the Dallas Mavericks would have to be OK with that and would have to be compensated for that if that was going to be a direction that New York wanted to go. Well, we know for sure the New York Knicks have a hole to fill when it comes down to their head coach and then also their bench.
But also, you want to talk about something a little less certain. Do you think Giannis is going to be out of Milwaukee? I feel like Kevin Durant.
We know that's almost a certainty. But what about Giannis? Yeah, it's kind of hard to call it like I think the thing that makes the most sense to me would be that he's out of there. And I say that not just from his perspective as somebody who wants to compete for championships every year and who has to be able to take a step back and look at this roster and look at how the season ended and like understand what it means to not even have Damian Lillard available for this this coming season. I think you are accepting at the very least one sort of, you know, a quote unquote wasted season where we're not really going to be a contender. And then you're trying to hope that the front office can pull off some magic tricks after that to get you back in that spot.
So that's one side of it is from from Giannis's perspective. I also think like from Milwaukee's perspective, like I understand the reluctance of, you know, whether it's front offices, whether it's ownership groups to trade away somebody who means that much to the franchise who has spoken in the past about how like all things equal. I would like to spend the rest of my career in Milwaukee. Like he means a ton to that franchise.
He means a ton to that city. But when you when you take the kind of emotional part out of it and you just look at like what is the most realistic way for the Bucks to become a championship contender? Again, like I don't really see a path for them either. If Giannis is staying there, like in the next couple of years, like some crazy things can happen, but I think they would have to get so, so lucky on a number of fronts to the point where if they can pull off a trade, like maybe if they can pull off a trade where they're able to get some of the draft picks that they've created a way back in the deal. You know, like the Nets did when when they like before they at the same time, really, as they made the bridges trade last summer like that, that I think would make a lot of sense for them.
Now, I don't know how feasible that is. I don't know exactly what kind of packages are out there, but it is so rare that you're that a player of this caliber who is not like aging out of the league already. Like if he is actually available, like you can ask for the farm, like you can ask for all star caliber young players.
You can ask for, you know, packages with five picks and all the swaps you have and all of that. And I think we will at least see the Bucks driving a hard bargain if Giannis does decide like, this is it, I am formally asking for a trade. And I think at that point, like if the offers are coming in, like I do think if you just sort of look at path A, keeping Giannis and like hoping for a miracle or path B, getting a full proper reset and getting a whole bunch of assets to to start over. Like I kind of like Plan B for the Bucks, too.
Well, I think maybe if they do move on from Giannis, maybe they'll get as lucky as the Dallas Mavericks. Hey, James, I hope for their sake, I appreciate the time, appreciate your insight. Tell everybody where they can find you and your work with CBS Sports.
Yeah, I mean, it's all on CBSSports.com, the NBA section or in the CBS Sports app. Thank you so much for having me. No doubt about it. Enjoy the finals, man. Hopefully, like you said, it's a it's a long one.
