Spurs Secret Weapon Revealed, Knicks Dominating, and Major LeBron Questions Loom

SCP-May31 === Jose: ​[00:00:00] All right, it's time to talk basketball. I'm Jose Salviati, Editor at thePeachBasket.net. He is Steve Purciello, a longtime educator, vice principal, high school basketball coach, athletic director, and the host of Celtic Chalk Talk. Celtic Chalk Talk is a pod dedicated to the latest news and opinions surrounding the Boston Celtics from a lifelong fan, Steve. ~Celtic Chalk... I always have a hard time with that one. I try to go too fast. ~Celtic Chalk Talk pods drop every Monday, but this is the Shot Clock pod, the best 24 minutes of random NBA thoughts online anywhere. This podcast was born out of the contents of Steve's 13 Rules: Random NBA Thoughts articles, which he publishes weekly. Steve and I have exactly 24 minutes to discuss what's on his mind around the NBA. Today, we'll discuss his latest 13 Rules: Random NBA Thoughts article, where he shares his random thoughts now that the NBA finals are set. Now, if you're listening to this, we are grateful, thank you. You are listening to an independent fan-driven show one of many on the Peach Basket Podcast Network. We're not owned by a big media company, which means what you hear [00:01:00] comes straight from real fans who live the game every day, just like Steve and I do. If you believe voices like ours should be heard, the best way to support us is simple. Keep listening, tell a friend subscribe, comment. It all means the world, and we're grateful for all of it. When this episode ends, head over to the PeachBasketPodcastNetwork.com. Head over to thePeachBasket.net and check out more fan-run podcasts. And please help this independent network grow the way it started organically, one hoops fan at a time. All right. Steve, are you ready? Steve: Ready Jose: Let's do it. Oh, wait, come on now. Boom. Clock is ticking. All right. As always, you wrote a lot of interesting things about a variety of different topics. Today, I'm gonna take them in order, 'cause there, there seemed to be a really nice flow to it, right? We're gonna start... Now, a-and I should qualify this. You wrote this, th- the first topic here, before last night's game. So we know the Spurs beat the Thunder. We know it's Spurs versus Knicks in the 2026 [00:02:00] NBA finals. But you, you wrote something interesting, and you and I have chatted about this before, that the Spurs have a magic number when it comes to Wemby's touches, right? And you called out that it's not rocket science. Get the big man the ball. And what did you see there? What are-- wh- what was that magic number? Steve: It was 20, but last night he only got 15 shots. 20 shots was the number. won three games when he shot 20 or more, lost three games when he shot tw- less than 20. Actually 15, 16 and 17. Last night he had 15 shots. I struggle with the fact that they put him way up top. When Boston had Porziņģis, they put him a step, about a foot or so below the foul line, and they posted him. He's so big, he got the ball there, all he had to do was turn and shoot. You could do the same thing with Wemby and they don't do that. And consequently, he's gotta work for everything he does, a very unselfish player. So there was a couple times last night we had an open look, and [00:03:00] instead he kicked the ball and he threw it out to someone else on the other wing. that was interesting to watch, and I just don't think they're getting all the offense out of him. They were very fortunate last night. They shot very well, so that helped them. But, y- there's gonna be nights where you gotta go to him Jose: Yeah. Lots to unpack there. We talked about this a little before the show. When I look at Wemby, y- I, again, mentally I see Kareem because to me, aesthetically, they're just built the same. Steve: Always goes Jose: and Ka- Steve: Lakers. Always Jose: Or the Bucs, depend, or UCLA, depends on your perspective. Steve: Go ahead Jose: But y- Kareem lived at the post and here's a guy who was 7'2", taller than everybody at the time, just like Wemby is today, and he would get the ball at the post and he would, swing one way, lift up his right hand and shoot the other. Very little movement. Greatest shot in the history of NBA the skyhook. Now I'm not saying Wemby has to, develop a skyhook. But you're right, it makes no sense [00:04:00] to me that you put this 7'4" guy who is, a foot taller than everybody, with his hands up in the air, why are you putting him just above the free throw line? A- and I get it, you want him to be that point center, that Jokic kind of player, but then he's gotta work so hard. He's gotta dribble, he's gotta make moves to get down to the post where he wants to be in the first place. It doesn't make sense to me that he's working so hard. I just don't get it. So that's point number one, and then point number two and I'd love your thoughts on both of these. You said it. Wemby would make those moves, he would get down, and all he's gotta do is a little George Gervin finger roll, or a dunk, but instead he kicks it out. And that happened not only for Wemby, but a lot of players on both teams. I s- and this is where I'm starting to sound like a like an older guy myself, I think. But you got people driving to the hoop and they've got a sure two. But instead as the defense converges on them, they kick it out for a three, a corner three, right? So they're figuring that corner three at 40%, give or take, 35, 40%. I'd rather have that extra point than the two I'm [00:05:00] gonna absolutely have. Which to me is, I don't know, it's weird. It's just that it's the new NBA, what are your thoughts? Steve: First of all, when Boston did this with Porziņģis and put him on the post, they did that late in the shot clock. So what I'm saying, that's like a safety valve. the same thing with Wemby. The first 15 seconds, he can play up top, and then as the Jose: Yeah Steve: goes down, he di- takes dives to the post. Not to the post, but to the foul line area. Because that's just common sense. But Jose: Yeah Steve: don't do it and hopefully it doesn't come back and bite them in the next round because they need him to take shots, and they need him to have the ball. But we do th- they shot the ball real well but they've got some good offensive players on that team besides him. This team's only gonna get better. They're good. I don't think they're gonna beat the Knicks, but I've been wrong plenty of times, so who knows? But it, it-- this [00:06:00] is... Get ready to see them in the finals a few more times Jose: Yeah. No I am ready. They were my pick to win it all, and, I'll state my prediction for the end. But okay. Yeah the game's different, but, San Antonio's playing it well. The Knicks are the hottest of the two teams, I think. We'll see if this layoff is gonna hurt them at all. Let's go to the East. Now I, you... I read your comment in... Something clicked inside of me. I'm just gonna read what you said. Kenny Atkinson apparently after Game 3 said, "Analytically, we're two out of three in the expected score. We've won two out of three." Which I didn't hear him say, right? Again, I'm a West Coast guy, so that one kinda slipped by me. But I did watch a TikTok video, and I gotta give a shout-out. This is a, this is an account run by or with the name of Doug Lust on TikTok. And this is an incredibly talented dude who literally writes songs after every Knick [00:07:00] game, win or lose. And so the game after Atkinson said this, he started off his song by saying, by having a guy hold a broom. And he looked into the camera and he said, "Hey Cavs, analytically this is a broom." After Game 4, I should say. And I thought it was hilarious, but I didn't get the context until I read what you wrote. I did not know that Kenny Atkinson had said that. What an absolutely dumb thing to say. It ri- reminds me of the... Hey, we're going old school a lot here today. But I remember Patrick Ewing used to say his Knicks were better than the Bulls, even though he could never beat Michael Jordan and his Bulls. What a dumb mistake, and Kenny Atkinson put his foot in his mouth here Steve: You wonder what a couple things. First of all, he's trying to make his players wanna play and, and he's behind them, and the coach is supposed to be behind them. The other thing too, and now to be the negative person, is he scared about his job? And making a statement like [00:08:00] that "We're so close." Now Jose: Yeah Steve: Yeah ... Cleveland said a day or two later that he will be back, and I thought he would be. But is that part of that quote? Something we're missing, and that, that's what, that's what I took Jose: Yeah. No, it's the kind of thing to me that you say, in the locker room. Not something you say publicly, right? 'Cause yeah, I get the motivation. I get, "Hey, listen guys, we're this close. Just hang in there." But just to say that publicly is a mistake. And I'm gonna make sure that w- embarrassing. There's no other way to put it. I will make sure to link to Doug Lust's video, 'cause if you haven't seen it, you gotta see it, and watch all of them. He's, he is incredible. Steve: It's Jose: All right. Let's... Steve: pleasant thing. Go ahead Jose: Okay, I get it. I... great segue. Let's talk about the Knicks. Now, you called out that the Knicks have done something that in all your years of watching the game, you've never seen. They're just steamrolling the competition, and they ended, I think, third, [00:09:00] right? In their conference. And that's unusual for you. You've not seen that. But you said this about the Knicks: "If they continue to play as well as they're playing, they'll be world champs in a few weeks." How big an if is that? In other words, I'm asking, do you think they can ke- keep this going? Steve: You know what? I thought there's gonna be a night they're not gonna play well. They're gonna shoot poorly and nothing's working. Four times against Cleveland, it worked. Couple times against Atlanta, it worked. You know what I mean? So guess I'm wrong. I, I don't know what else to say. against Philadelphia it worked. They haven't had a bad night. So i- it's an amazing thing because again, if you go back and study the NBA over the years, going back into the '60s and '70s, the teams that won it usually had the best or second-best record, largely. As we got into the '80s, we got more playoff teams. Back in the '60s, there was only three teams. There was only 10 teams or so in the [00:10:00] league, but three teams in each conference got in the playoffs, or four, whatever. So it wasn't a- as deep as the playoffs are now. But as we got into the '80s, you had teams like Houston, the Rockets beating your friends, the Lakers, and all that stuff going on, where they weren't a good team. They were 40 and 42 one year and they got there. But they got hammered by the great wave of Boston. But point being, if you go back and study this, you've not seen a team do this and not come from being in third place and winning, but the way they're winning. They didn't leave any doubt. Every game over 10 points. It, it- to me that there wasn't a game, even the... the game, the overtime game, the first game against Cleveland when they were coming off a rest, I think they won by over 10 in overtime, or it was nine, whatever. But even that, they stormed them. Jose: Yeah Steve: I've not seen that. I've not seen any team do that in my years of watching the game[00:11:00] Jose: Yeah, and we've talked about it before here, for better or worse, oftentimes the NBA champion is the team that's healthiest and hottest at, at the right time. And now the Knicks aren't fully healthy, and I wanna... W- we'll hit... We'll talk about Mitch Robinson in a minute, so I don't wanna jump to that yet, but they're definitely the hottest team in the NBA. I... Again, can they sustain it, right? 'Cause you wrote earlier, not about the Knicks, but about how after a long layoff, that first game, it's a bit of a trap game, isn't it? Steve: Yeah. And I would think it is going to be a trap game. you know what? It was a trap game against Cleveland, and they figured it out at the end. Jose: Yeah. Yeah Steve: I... Yeah, I would think the Knicks will be favored. Maybe not in San Antonio. I just... I guess what I'm saying is throw everything out. This is illogical and just, nothing like this has happened, so how do you make a guess is my Jose: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And are Knick fans seeing, and [00:12:00] I'm putting on my Knicks hat now and just thinking things through are they seeing similarities between the Knicks and the what is it? The 1969 Mets? The Miracle Mets, catching lightning in a bottle Steve: Now, the Knick fans think this is the greatest team that ever played basketball. That's how they look at it. So can't even spend time talking about that. They just, even when they won 20 games, those people still thought they were a playoff team. So you can't even do that. It's good for the city of New York. It's nice to see. It's a galvanizing thing for the city and it's wonderful. And it... You take your hat off to them. They put it together at the right time Jose: All right, now we'll see w- what that means for them. Let's let's switch now to the Cavs. We talked a little bit about them. We talked about, Kenny Atkinson's mistake, but they've got some decisions to make. This is a team that, is in the hunt for possibly at least a discussion around Giannis. Of course, there's a lot of dis- co- conversation about LeBron joining them in [00:13:00] Cleveland for the third time LeBron liking posts about about his move there. So let me just ask you broad brush, right? What do you see? What do you foresee for the Cavs? 'Cause they are close, right? What do they have to do? Run it back, make some changes, blow it up? Steve: They, if they run it back, they're gonna be in the same place. They've gotta decide if... The word was that Antetokoun- Antetokounmpo would come they'd get if they were willing to give up Evan Mob- Mobley with other players. So that's a big decision. If you do get Giannis, and I think for me, that's what I would do, Harden's no spring chicken. Jose: Yeah Steve: So- it's now or never. You made the move by bringing Harden in. It's now or never. Mobley might develop into a star, but when? And it might be too late because of what, what you've done or haven't done. So to [00:14:00] me, and then the other piece to that is, for Cleveland, if they had to throw a bunch of number one picks in, why not? They're gonna be around the top, so you're gonna get the 28th pick in the draft. Who cares? So to me it, it all adds up in, in a sensible way. Your window's only two or three more, maybe two years with this team, and you got two choices. If you go for Giannis, you could take your shot, or you wait for Mobley to develop into the star you think he will be. I know what I Jose: Yeah. Steve: The thing I don't like is knowing that in two, three years it's gonna blow up. Jose: Yeah. Steve: That would be the choices I think you have. The other piece in the back door is what if LeBron wants to come and wants to work cheap? He's not, I wrote, he's not a guy that is your best player, but he can take you over the top. So Jose: Yeah Steve: that, and don't forget the Cleveland thing he's familiar with, but who knows [00:15:00] what he wants. He's gonna, he's not, I don't see him taking 20 million, but I've been wrong before Jose: I'm gonna we're gonna talk about LeBron in a minute, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna... I don't know, I'm gonna say I'm gonna say I'm gonna push back on Evan Mobley, but I'm gonna ask you about Evan Moley Mobley. This is an All-Star. This is a guy who was All-NBA second team. This is a guy who was former Defensive Player of the Year. Doesn't that qualify him as a star? Isn't he there? I know he's not Giannis, but isn't he a star? Steve: Did you watch the game last night? Did you watch the Jose: I watched last night's game, yeah Steve: If I didn't about last night and I said Chet Holmgren, what do you tell me? Jose: Yeah, Steve: Forget Jose: say Ted Homer, that's a, yeah he's a, he's an all-star and he's a great player. He's a star Steve: How'd he come up, how'd he come up in a tough situation? Jose: Not well. Yeah, under the lights, he had two shots, four points, I think Steve: Johnson look for Atlanta [00:16:00] against the Knicks? Jose: I gotcha. So you're saying a star does it when the lights are bright Steve: You got guys in the league who are very talented. I guess they're not alphas. And Jose: Gotcha. Steve: alphas, they might play and you know what? On Tuesday night when they're playing whomever, Detroit or whomever, they might go off Jose: Yeah Steve: and a triple-double and all that nice stuff. But you know what? Last night, Holmgren I watched it and he was turning down shots. If you don't wanna play in that game, y- you're not a star. Jose: Yeah Steve: a good player. You're a real good player and worthy of an all-star, but you're not a star. And Jose: hi Steve: that's the point Jose: Got it. All right. Yeah, so that's where you see Mobley. I get it. And let's explore O- OKC. Again, you didn't write about it because, this came before the game, but we were talking about a multi-year dynasty for the Thunder this time last year, because they were the young [00:17:00] team that won it all, and now they lost to a young team that it-- now we're talking about a, mul- potential multi-year dynasty for these guys. So what went wrong? Now, we know that, Jalen Williams being hurt. There, there's no denying that. There was too much riding on SGA. He did the best he could. The other Jalen Williams stepped up. He was the only one with a plus-minus on the plus side for the Thunder. But you mentioned Chet Holmgren just disappeared. What else went wrong? What did you see? Are the Thunder okay? Are they gonna run it back? Steve: And if they run it back, really have to sit and think about the fact that San Antonio will get better. Those guys, Jose: Yeah. Steve: Harper was making big shots last night and he's a rookie. Jose: Yeah. Steve: Hassell is, what is he? Third year or so? In his second year. these guys can play. And Vassell and all of them they all can play. So you gotta think, like these guys are all in their young 20s. gonna get better. And Wemby's a [00:18:00] kid. I thought he was the MVP this year, but he's a kid. Jose: Yeah Steve: Where's it gonna go? It's only gonna get better. And when they begin to understand and figure out each other, wow. And I didn't expect it to come on this soon with how good they are. And by the way, they defend really well. Not just with Jose: They do. Steve: In the pivot, not with just Wemby because he takes away the dribble drive, but I'm talking about on the wings and all. They made... If you watch the game, they continuously made Oklahoma City's guys use their weak hand. In other words, would always go left. They always forced-- They tried to force them to use their weak hand. And it, it says... and Oklahoma had a little trouble with that. So that was one of the things. And to beat... the only thing I see too is to beat San Antonio, you gotta shoot the three, and you gotta shoot it well, because you're not getting a lot of layups when he's out there Jose: And one other thing before we move on from last [00:19:00] night's game. At the end of the game, you mentioned Vassell, who's I think been with the team, the Spurs, I think of him as a young guy. He's been there five years, one of the longest tenured. Steve: in the bad days, yeah Jose: Which is always cool to see a player kinda have that experience. He took the ball final seconds of the game wide open and he went with, an emphatic dunk. Not needed, not necessary. I thought, oh my gosh, we're gonna have another Nuggets Wolves, blow up, right? Remember Jokic getting mad at Jaden McDaniels. But nobody cared, right? What's your take on those last minute emphatic dunks? Are they okay or not part of the game? Steve: I think that i-i-it's garbage. I think, you won. What more do you want? you got the win, everybody's happy, why incite somebody else? Just play the game, win the game, and move on. The younger generation is very big on not only beating you, but rubbing it in your face. And who needs it? When Oklahoma City goes home and today they wake up, they're saying, [00:20:00] "We got beat." So why do you have to dunk on somebody-- dunk at the end of a game and do that stuff? What's the Jose: Yeah. Yeah. All right. Got it. All right let's go back to the Knicks and talk about Mitchell Robinson. We kinda, we hinted at this before. The Knicks are not fully healthy, although Robinson's saying he, he's gonna be back. He broke his pinky. Not, y- Mitchell Robinson, I don't know, I wanna be kind here. You called out his free throw shooting. He's not really known for his shooting. That's not his game. When I heard he broke his pinky, I thought, "Okay, bummer. That's a bummer. But tape it up and play the game." Maybe I'm being, too hard-nosed here. But i- is that gonna affect Mitchell Robinson? Certainly if it was Jalen Brunson and that was his shooting hand, of course. But is that, is this gonna impact this guy? Steve: He had surgery, first of all. So Jose: I didn't, Steve: yeah. Jose: Oops Steve: it... And I believe it's a bone, the pinky, but it's a bone closer into the hand. it might control the hand. I don't think it will if he can play with [00:21:00] the pain. I think he, he says he's going Jose: That's the key, yeah Steve: handle it, 'cause he's not he, you're not gonna see him shoot many threes. It, Jose: Thank you, Greg Steve: I guess he's gonna try. Usually it's a couple weeks when a guy does that, but he's gonna try within a week, so we'll see. obviously he'll be padded in, in that area. I don't even know if they play hacka- hack-a-Mitch where they foul him. I don't even know if he can try it, how he's gonna shoot the foul shot. It'll be interesting. But yeah, he's he says he's going to, and he's valuable part of the Knicks. He's a good rim protector, the best rim protector they have, and a tremendous offensive rebounder. Jose: Yeah Steve: i- you know, he makes a difference in a game Jose: Yeah. Yeah, no doubt. I think he's needed and y- l- let's talk about Knicks and Thunder now. Steve: Eh Jose: You concluded your y- your article, saying about the Spurs they're young and good means that they'll get better. I think at this point and you said that even today, at this point of the season, you, you-- I don't think you have any rookies [00:22:00] anymore. You, you've got-- They're all grizzled veterans, right? But there is something about the light of a finals, right? It's the only game in town. Everybody's watching you. This is gonna tell, right? So we talked already that the Knicks are the hotter team coming into the finals. The Knicks are also the older team, so they're a little bit more seasoned and probably ready to handle the final spotlight. You, you already said you see the Knicks winning. What do you think the key is to the Knicks winning it all, and in how many games? Steve: I think it's six. And I just I just... It's a good question. I just-- I think they're on a roll. I guess that's the best way to put it. I think they're on a roll. I said to you before they played the Knicks during the regular season, San Antonio in the Garden, San Antonio couldn't make a three, and the Knicks beat them by about eight or 10 or so. And I watched that, and I just... if you're gonna be dependent on the three, you gotta-- They, they did it last night, but you've gotta do it. And I don't know if they, they can [00:23:00] consistently do that to the Knicks. And the Knicks, let's face it, they're shooting well, they're defending well, they're moving the ball well. I don't, I just think, this is one of those things where you'll remember for a long time and talk about a team that came from nowhere. Going Jose: Yeah Steve: playoffs, people were saying Boston would beat them in the second round, and look at what happened. Come on. So it... I just I guess you go with the hot hand Jose: Okay. All right. Steve: You wanna talk Jose: So Steve: wanna talk about LeBron? Jose: We don't have time to talk about LeBron. Steve: okay Jose: We don't have time to talk about LeBron. Steve: it's a Jose: But I do wanna share my thoughts on the finals. Because, like I said, I, I picked the Thunder at the start a- or no, the Thunder. No the Spurs at the start. Yeah and I'm sticking with it. And it's, it starts and ends with Wemby. There's nobody that can stop him. If he can get it in his brain, like you said, to get up at least 20 [00:24:00] shots he's just indefensible. There, there's nothing you can do with the guy. But then you look at the team defense. Their, their defense is outstanding. Their young guards are so good. You had a situation in last night's game where I think St- Cassell got his fifth foul, and then they bring in De'Aaron Fox, right? And what'd you lose? Cassell's great. D- De'Aaron's a different kind of player, but great and, un- in that pressure cooker moment, he's probably your best player. I just don't see a weakness in the Spurs right now. Steve: My question to you is who's Wemby gonna guard? Jose: It doesn't matter. Steve: Yeah, it Jose: not gonna guard anybody. He's gonna guard the paint. You think it matters? Why? Go ahead Steve: technically would he be guarding? Jose: Probably Robinson, whoever plays the five, right? Steve: Towns will kill him. He hit the three all day. Towns is a good three-point shooter Jose: True Steve: So I-- what teams have been doing is guarding Josh Hart with the big man and [00:25:00] leaving Hart alone, but Hart's shooting over, Jose: Okay. Steve: from three. Jose: I got you. I got you Steve: my thing would be if you pull Wemby away from the basket, J-Jalen Brunson scores a lot of his points from about 10, 12 feet out, and it's his footwork in the paint. If Wemby's down there, erase that. That changes everything. If Wemby needs to come out and guard Josh Hart or, and think about this, if the Knicks come with McBride I think Josh Hart is such a energy player, so you need him out there. But if they come to McBride for Josh Hart, all five guys can shoot. Or Shabazz, they're all shooting well. What are you gonna do? And that's one of the many factors in this thing. And if you can pull Wemby out, oh my God, Jalen Brunson, it's Christmas for Jalen Brunson Jose: Yeah. You're presupposing that the Knicks [00:26:00] stay hot, and if they do, yeah, I think all bets are off, right? 'Cause again, the hot team is gonna, i- is probably gonna win it all Steve: I'm talking... God for me to talk about the Knicks is just hard but Hart over 40% this year from three I'm not talking about just pulling this out. I don't know McBride's numbers, nor do I know numbers, but they shot well this year Jose: Yeah Steve: So what do you wanna do as your fifth guy? And then, and if you're gonna leave him open you're spinning the dial. You know what? If they get off, you're done. That, and that's the whole thing Jose: And I think that's what makes this final so exci- exciting and so intriguing. You've got two really good teams that are good defensive teams that, we can call them young. The Knicks are a little older, but there's just two, two good teams. Both teams deserve to be here, right? No- nobody had an easy road to get here. It's gonna be [00:27:00] a great matchup. But you heard the shot clock go off. Oh, go ahead. Final thoughts? Steve: I thought somebody's gotta rein in the... Now, I'm not saying don't shoot, but rein in the guards on San Antonio and get them... How many times did you see them come down the court and Wemby didn't touch the ball? That, that just can't go on. So Jose: it happened, Steve: they do have to rein that in. Go ahead Jose: Agree. No, that's it. A shot clock violation. Another one for us. That's kinda what we do. Our time is up. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Make sure to read Steve's entire 13 Rules of Random NBA Thoughts article. We'll link it wherever you're watching or listening. Steve hinted about some LeBron stuff. It's in there. Make sure to read that, and join us next week for more ran- Random NBA Thoughts as we recap the start of what I think is gonna be an exciting NBA final. We'll talk next week. Thanks, Steve. Steve: Take care.