These NBA series have been… meh

We've got conference finals that seem to be non-competitive.

I can't believe I'm saying that considering the two teams that are trailing. But can we start with the guy who announced his retirement from the NBA after not playing this year, Carmelo Anthony. There are people who think that Carmelo Anthony is almost a sideshow because he spent his best years in Denver almost in anonymity. And then he came to the Knicks and it just didn't go well.

That could have something to do with Phil Jackson. Your thoughts on Melo and his history and where he is headed next. Probably the greatest Olympic basketball player of all time.

I'm one of those that remember 37 points in 14 minutes. Like one of the greatest scorers of my lifetime, my generation. Probably a top, I would say at least a top seven Nick, right? You would have to think he's at least a top seven Nick. I mean, it's like at least four of the starters from the championship era.

I know it's going to probably make for halfway decent radio, I hope, but let's work it out. I mean, you got Clyde, you have the Busher Monroe, Monroe, Frazier, Ewing. And then after that, John Starks, I would put, I was kidding. Yes. Melo's definitely over John Starks. There's no question about that. I loved Melo.

I did. I think the only sad part about this is that the league kind of retired him before he wasn't ready to go. And I just wonder he's going to be in that. What if category of what if he adapted his game to be better or to what if he just subjugated the ego just a little bit? And then what happens if he does that and how much longer does he play and does he play with the Lakers this year? I do wonder this about Melo. I wonder if he would have and I think this is what you were getting at. Had he accepted that his best role in a championship team was as a bench scorer, a just to go back to the old Pistons, a Vinnie Johnson come off the bench.

Here's 16 points in seven minutes. If he had if he had accepted that earlier in his career, then yeah, he would have been as sought after a player each year as there was in the entire league because he was instant offense. And I just want to go back to the the stuff you said about Melo, because at initial thought, I didn't process this, but Melo valued his gold medals. He was proud of them.

And he he called those his championships, even though it was a foregone conclusion that those teams were going to win gold medals even after the run that USA. Well, after the run USA basketball had where where there was indifference, you know, Mike Krzyzewski got these guys to care and Melo cared. And so he values them.

But that team that collection of talent was never going to lose if they cared. And Melo cared about those. So he counts them. No, he absolutely counts them. Because remember, he started with that Larry Brown disaster.

Yes. Remember, it was Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan. Yeah, LeBron James was on that team. So is Dwayne Wade, I believe.

Yes, I was Dwayne Wade. There was a lot of like, remember, that team was so disastrous. Yeah, Tim Duncan never wanted to play Olympic basketball again. That's how bad it got. And we're talking about one of the 50 gradient greatest players ever.

He was done after that US Olympics run. So there's a reason there's a really good reason why he values them. Because he remembers what it was like on the other side. And I completely understand that. And I completely get why he did that. All right, speaking of how bad it was.

Can't decide which series I want to start with. Let's start with the Lakers because the Lakers are the fascination of everybody. And I understand Mike Malone's frustration with how this is being covered. Because the Lakers are down Oh, three, the Nuggets are not up three nothing in the series. It's the Lakers down Oh, three. What have the what have the Lakers not been able to do other than stop Jamal Murray?

They've been able to slightly contain but a lot of this is just roster issues. Like did we think D'Angelo Russell was somehow going to start focusing on defense for the first time in his career? Like there's that right. I mean, Dennis Schroeder only has so many tricks in the bag. There's and more importantly, LeBron James's foot is not getting any better if he keeps playing on it.

Right every other day. Like there's a lot of this just comes down to roster composition. And the fact that hey, guys, the team that's up three nothing, use all 82 games the regular season, something that some people say doesn't matter to figure out exactly what the best lineups were going to be what what happy accidents that we're going to find along the way. And oh, yeah, we're gonna find out what this team was really made of kind of like Michael Porter Jr. understanding his limitations and being like, yo, Bruce Brown could be out there.

There's a selflessness to this team. And this team has clearly been the best team in the playoffs. And we talked about it for a couple of weeks now. Like there's this whole thing about this team that I think we didn't discuss like, at first beating Minnesota was not going to be that big of a deal because let's be honest is Minnesota.

They have issues. Yes, we knew that the Phoenix stuff should have been the turning point for a lot of us and it wasn't. And that's what bugs me about this the most is that we should have had this conversation of hey, these guys are the best.

They're not they're not going to be like they're going to be a buzzsaw. And again, mean you had this conversation when the series started, I thought it was gonna be nice and six. I'm kind of mad I underestimated the nuggets right now because this ends in five at best.

Like, I think it I think it ends tonight. I can game three the way they took their heart the way they took their heart. And from a LeBron James team. Yeah, I think we have to kind of take a look at that because we've never seen that happen to a LeBron James team. They've never been he's never been swept, right? I don't think he's been. I haven't seen we haven't seen this kind of woodshedding since what 2014 and the Spurs. Yeah, this is how long this has been.

This is a thorough this is a thorough beating. They haven't haven't had any answer for Jamal Murray. The the Lakers allowing game two to get away from them when they had every opportunity to stretch that lead out in the second quarter early in the third quarter and Denver did just enough to keep that game within reach and then Jamal Murray goes for twenty four in the fourth and that's it. Murray is averaging thirty four points a game thirty five points a game in the series and there's no way the Lakers can win this series if Jamal Murray is averaging those kind of numbers. I also thought before the series that if for we're talking with not to describe here CBS sports dot com in order for the Lakers to win the series they had to get to a point where LeBron James and Adrian Adrian Anthony Davis were defenders first where they didn't necessarily need their offense. Austin Reeves has done his part.

Nobody else has. So they've needed LeBron and Anthony Davis to provide a bunch of offense. If their offense were gravy, I think this series would be different. But Russell hasn't been good.

Jared Vanderbilt hasn't really provided anything. But I mean that's where we are. Those guys have had to do both and they I don't think they can both do it right now. Now I don't think like the thing is just that we got to talk about the defense because Jokic is kind of barbecued like low key. Yeah.

Well I think it's I think it's related. I think the reason I said it because if if LeBron and AD just have to be if if if they are defense first I think their team defense would be better but they can't stop Denver because I think those guys have had to play too much on the offensive end. No they haven't and I do. There's a part of me that does wonder what this team looks like next year because you keep hearing the rumblings of Kyrie Irving and that fixes absolutely nothing. But this team like at some point you needed to get something out of your midseason acquisitions like like you said Reeves has done his part and he's starting to wear down. AD is starting to cry uncle on the defensive end against Jokic because dealing with a dancing grizzly bear for for three and a half games at this point is just nuts.

Like there's a lot of this to where you can't you can only defend so much when the pieces don't work when you can't play a Malik Beasley when Rui Hachimura has been probably your number two at that like at the worst your number two offensive option most reliable offensive option. You have all of this going on like the stew that has put this all together does not make it conducive for them to even win two games much less this series. So I feel bad but it's one of those things like LeBron is old but that roster despite the fact that has gotten as far as it has isn't that good and it would have gotten barbecued by the Miami Heat the next round anyway. Wow let's let's quickly shift to that couple more minutes left with Kanata Edwards at not of the scribe on Twitter CBS Sports dot com. All right let's I asked the question this way and Jimmy Butler only by the way only had to score 16 points in the win yesterday and frankly I thought it was Boston's most embarrassing performance even more embarrassing than the two home losses I asked the question of the roundtable on Friday and I this is all respect to Miami because Miami is obviously a tough tough team. Is this Boston team tough enough to win a title? No they've shown it now they had they had their chance last year let go of the rope against Golden State yeah they have done a no-show they do not have the right coach for that team I didn't think that I'm a Udoka was that great apparently I was very very very wrong about that um I there's a lot of this to where I don't understand like they're gonna have to make significant changes to this roster and that may be one of those changes may be breaking up the J's yeah that's where we're coming to like this team disappointed Magic Johnson on Twitter oh no that's how that's disappointed dad disappointed dad that's how bad it got oh my gosh we are with this team right now they again when you disappoint Magic Johnson to where he has to criticize and say changes need to be made and I've never seen the Boston Celtics quit ever and this is a Laker saying this yeah this is a guy that has died in the wool Los Angeles Laker hates the Boston Celtics is secretly reveling in this but at the same point very very sick about this whole thing the fact that we are here with the Boston Celtics means changes need to be made it's just incredible um and I do want to spend our last minute here talking about the heat from this standpoint you and I have discussed Eric Spolstra he's if not the best coach in the league there's I mean only Greg Popovich might be ahead of them to be perfectly honest in terms of being able to coach a team but the makeup of that team is hysterical to me yes I there do they have a lottery pick on that team anywhere is it I don't believe this do you want do you want to know who the highest drafted player on that team is right is it on a bio or is it Kyle Lowry nope Cody Zeller oh geez with the masked man himself yes that's a terrible mask by the way it's a terrible mask and I love Cody Zeller right exactly that's that's the thing like they took Kate Vinson at 29 like this Caleb Martin was a cast-off for Kelly Oubre year and he's out here being mr. glue guy himself there was something in the water in that practice and we need to have it investigated I'm convinced like Pat like Pat Riley is yeah like Spolstra is great that entire thing is set from Pat Riley on down there is a mentality there that's why you Donna's Haslam has been a bench ornament for the better part of five years there is a mentality that is set from the top down and heat culture is a like we always like scoff at these things like make fun of these heat culture is a real thing yeah it is you can't make fun of it no because clearly they come back year after year they're like baby's kids they don't die they multiply not of the scrub Kanata Edwards my friend I appreciate your time man hey we're our guys are back over 500 where we've won five in a row and that isn't that nice hit they brought up a bunch of kids they kids start hitting home runs look at that see what happens when little kids start hitting home runs you know it's amazing what happens when you bring the talent that's actually in your farm system and they actually start performing it's amazing how that works why didn't we do this sooner why good question it's a good question man I appreciate your time Donna we'll talk to you again talk to you soon man.