My friend, Kanata Edwards, not of the scribe, Ion College Basketball Podcast, as it says on the bio, a pinch hitter at times on the pick six pod. We are three games into the NBA Finals and after every game is another narrative. Last night the narrative was, well, Denver's just better, which we knew. Miami played with no energy, which I don't buy. Sometimes the other team is just better. I thought Miami's problem was they ran bad offense last night. I just, I think we have to, like, I think we have to go back to the Denver's just better thing.
Well, no, that's part of it, right? But I think Miami just didn't help themselves by running lazy offense. I don't think they helped themselves, but at the same point, I'm not sure how many more counter punches Spoe really has.
Like, let's be real here. Tyler Hero, who was rumored to be coming back for what, this entire final series? They basically put the kibosh on that.
So who's coming back to help them? Duncan Robinson is being Duncan Robinson, which is okay. He's going to hit shots, but we're also going to make him defend. There's just, this is where the undrafted guys start looking like undrafted guys and the other team is just better. And on top of that, we're probably seeing the best run from a big man since what shack in 01 or Hakeem in 94.
Like, that's what we have. Like, it's like you said earlier, this, we just got to tip our hat to the better guy right now. We have to tip our hats to the better team right now.
It's that simple. The best player in the series is unquestionably, Nicola Jokic. And I texted you was during game two. Like, what are we watching here? And then of course, Miami came back and won the game. But I wasn't really concerned about that because we were, I was just marveling at what Jokic does.
You can't, there's no answer. Miami, as good a defender as Bam Adebayo is, what has he given up? 40 pounds and high?
40 pounds and three inches, 40 pounds and three inches, which matters. Yeah. Because Jokic can make any shot almost with any hand with balance, not necessary. I'm like, I've never seen, I've never seen this.
I've never seen a player like him. Like, we got to think about it. Like for the last, what, 20 years we've been about our wings have been the feature.
Like if you have a wing that no one else has, then you basically win. We're going back to the old school with this one, Adam. This is, this is completely the, if you don't have a Kareem, you don't have a Shaq, you don't have a Russell, a Wilt, you're not winning. We're going old school with this. And it's fun because it should be like Jokic should be a throwback to everybody that loved those bigs that just dominated the floor. And when you see a team like Miami go zone, and this dude is basically carving them up. Like he's got golden corral. Like that's how good this dude is. Like, that's the thing. Like, he's that good.
It's fun to watch because at certain points, like you're just watching this dude toy with these guys. And then, or you see, like, take the third quarter from last night, like Jokic gets the ball on, on the perimeter. Ball fake, two dribbles.
I'm just going to motor in, flip some left, left hand, like right-handed shot. It plays around on the rim and then goes right in. That's like, that's unstoppable. It is quite literally unstoppable.
You don't have anything for that. You say it's old school, but I think it's new school because the old school shacks and Kareem's they always operated right around the rim, but he doesn't need to. He, he, he's the point guard.
Like it was funny. We, I mentioned this the other day in the final four teams in the NBA playoffs, the Lakers and the nuggets in the West, the Celtics and the heat in the East. Nobody had a point guard. I mean, they have point guards, but none of them facilitate the offense. Boston had Tatum basically running the offense, occasionally Brown. Denver, Jokic is the point guard.
He runs the break in the middle of the floor, which is hysterical to watch. The Lakers use LeBron, which is probably the most traditional point guard in the playoffs. Miami doesn't really have one either. They run everything through Butler. Yeah. Through Butler when he's on the court.
So is that a vanishing breed? Are we, are we completely done with them? I mean, I agree, but the final four teams in the league, nobody had one. I think what we're learning about the final four teams in the league right now is that it's just literally about, cause, cause I think what we're seeing is like the evolution a couple of years ago, it was what you need to get all the three of these spaces that you could and everything else doesn't matter. Now we're talking about just getting as many big talented guys.
I think the big thing is that there is no method to put this together. The idea is grab as much talent as you can get a coach that will, that will basically emphasize the strengths, minimize the weaknesses. And for the most part, that's how you're going to see guys, like that's how you're going to see teams like Miami because Miami has a bunch of weaknesses, but guess who knows how to minimize them. Spolstra might be the best coach in the league and has probably been the best coach in the league years running. Mike Malone was an underrated coach for a long time. His X's and O's have been great.
It's literally just about maximizing the talent that you have. And Oh yeah, that includes Christian Braun who had a big stretch in the fourth. Like I didn't see that coming, but it ended the game. That stretch ended the game, like Duncan Robinson's third quarter, early, early fourth quarter in game two, gave Miami the push they needed to get out in front. That was, that was Christian Brown as well.
So none of the scribe is with us here. What's Miami's path forward here? Because I've been saying for the, going back, you know, to the Lakers series, the Lakers had to make, uh, make it a one man show. They had to, Jokic is going to get his nothing you can do about it. They can't allow Jamal Murray to be all star level Jamal Murray. And he has been, uh, he was last night. I'm not concerned about the triple double.
That's all nice, but he was just a dynamic player. Miami can't allow, I think Miami can still win the series, but they got to make Jokic do it, basically do it on his own. I don't think it's, see, that's where we disagree. I don't think that, I don't think, I think the series is over. I think we're looking at a point of, is this over in five versus over in six? I, I just like Miami's path forward has to involve maybe Jokic and foul trouble. That's the only thing I can think of that that's the way forward.
It's gotta be okay. Get to the rim, get Jokic and foul trouble. But the problem is Jokic is kind of the master defending without fouling or not defending or that too. Sometimes, you know, sometimes it doesn't have to, uh, like I, I still, um, I'm holding out hope Miami can make this a long series.
Um, I thought, I thought Denver played defensively with a lot of energy, but I really thought Miami let them off the hook way too many settled for early in the shot clock threes for, even though that's how they won game two. I don't think that's a recipe for winning the series or let me ask you a couple of other things before we have to say goodbye to my friend, not to describe, um, let me start with, uh, the Chris Paul rumors here. So Chris Paul is probably going to be either released or traded by the sons.
They also just have decided apparently that they're going to move Deandre Ayton. I mean, I don't understand. I mean, I, I understand it. I understand the, I'm not a huge fan of eight and to begin with, and I think Paul's probably done, uh, as an impactful player for any, you know, certainly for an entire season, you know, maybe he's big, you bury him on a bench for a while, and then you take them off at a moth balls, like in March and let him take you across the finish line.
But what are your thoughts there? Does he fit anywhere? I know the Lakers because of the friendship is a, is a rumor, but does, is there a fit for him? You know, um, it was funny because I thought Lakers, I think he can help a lot of young teams, the coordinates included, but you know, the team that makes the most sense that I didn't see until Tom Habistro of, um, Levittard Saturday, Memphis, Memphis makes so much sense for a team like crisp up for, for, for like Chris Paul, because that team needs adults.
It's very clear. They need adults. Yeah, exactly. Let's think about what he did for a guy like Devin Booker, Devin Booker, like say what you want about, like the stat, the impact might be overrated on the court, but the attention to detail, the preparation, that stuff, that stuff matters. And for a team like Memphis, who was probably losing Dylan Brooks and probably all for the better because again, there's a lightning rod for that, for that, a team like that. I think Chris Paul being an adult, teaching people how to prepare. You do not know how long job John Moran is going to be gone. It's anywhere I've heard from anywhere from like 15 games to 45 games.
It does. You don't know how long he's going to be gone. Chris Paul stepping into a role to be an adult, to help all those other kids get ready, prepare for, prepare properly and mind the store until John Moran gets his mind right. I feel like that might be the best way forward for the, for him. But at the same point, does he want to be in Memphis? Does he, there's a whole lot of other questions, but for me, Memphis makes the most sense. If not, not them, then he's going to have to look at a rebuilding team and Monty Williams and Detroit look real, real good right, right about now. I mean, certainly as a mentor, Chris Paul can do that.
All right. Uh, quickly to the Hornets second pick in the draft, nothing wrong with that. Uh, the rumor is Brandon Miller. I guess that really depends on what your thoughts are long-term for LaMelo Ball as opposed to drafting Scoot Henderson. Uh, so what are your thoughts on where the Hornets should go? And again, what do you think of LaMelo Ball's long-term?
I think LaMelo Ball, LaMelo, like first things first, LaMelo Ball's going to be here for at least the next four or five years. He's signing the rookies. He's rookie max. He'd be the first to turn it down.
So let's eliminate that. He's going to be here for the next four or five years. On the draft pick.
I don't envy any, I don't envy them quite honestly. Like I like both of these guys. There are certain things to like and certain things not to like about each Scoot Henderson is the popular fan pick because he's got this eye popping athleticism. But the question I have for everybody is he, what if he ends up being Eric Bledsoe? Like what if he ends like, doesn't really develop the defense of, again, doesn't really develop the jumper, ends up being an upper echelon defender, but that's about it.
Then like, I think we have to start looking at this at what is the floor for these guys? My floor for Brandon Miller might be closer to a Chris Middleton back, like New Orleans, Peja Stojaković. Like still very, very, very good shooter, but can you do much else? And for this team who ranked almost dead last in three-point shooting, Brandon Miller might really fit better and might have the higher ceiling.
The only question you really have, unfortunately, is can he handle the ball? And then more importantly, can he finish better at the rim? Because within five feet of the rim, Brandon Miller shot 25%. That's only going to get worse with better rim protectors, but that's also, can he fix that to the point where he's actually effective at the rim? Did you say that within five feet of the rim, he shot 25%? 25%, yeah.
No, I couldn't. Do you think there is an off-the-court issue at all with Brandon Miller based on what happened in Alabama? I'm not suggesting there is. I'm wondering what your thoughts are. As someone who thought, and we talked about this, I thought he should have been suspended.
Absolutely. For being involved in that. And that was just on the, you shouldn't be anywhere near a murder case kind of suspension.
Like, yo, you may not have been involved heavily, but at the same point, you were dumb enough to be a part of this investigation. So we got to park you for a couple of games. Just say no to somebody who asks you to bring their gun. Yeah. Just say no to that. Exactly. There's a just say no suspension. Absolutely.
Just say no. But from an overall perspective, he's largely, from what we can tell, he's largely worked with the Alabama Tuscaloosa DA. There's a lot of this where this does not look like this is completely on him. His biggest crime is being a 19 or 20-year-old idiot.
And that's the biggest crime and a whole bunch of us are going to be locked up. I've been a 26-year-old idiot before. That was a long time ago. That's Nada the Scribe, Kenada Edwards, CBSSports.com, Ion College Basketball podcast. Best shouts to Leaky Black, Gary Parrish, Matt Norlander, and Camel Fighting. I'll talk to you later. Absolutely. Next time, we'll lament over the Mets. Oh, forget about them. Jake DeGrom got hurt. And not for us.
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Whisper: medium.en / 2023-06-08 20:59:37 / 2023-06-08 21:06:04 / 6
