Wembanyama’s Alien Takeover & Knicks’ Playoff Shockwave: 24 Minutes of Pure NBA Chaos

SCP-May24-20206 === 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 also 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. His pod drops new episodes 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 content in 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 or on the NBA. Today, we'll discuss his latest 13 Rules random NBA thoughts article, where he shares his random thoughts as we are this close now to the NBA Finals. Now, before we dive into it, if you're listening to this, we are grateful. Thank you. We want you to know that you're listening to one of the independent fan-driven shows on the Peach Basket Podcast Network of shows. [00:01:00] We're not owned by a big media company, which means what you hear comes straight from real fans who live the game every day, like Steve and I. If you believe voices like this should be heard, the best way to support us is simple. Keep listening, tell a friend comment, share. When this episode ends, head over to the PeachBasketPodcastNetwork.com, head over to thePeachBasket.net, and check out more fan-run podcasts and help this independent network grow the way it started, organically, one hoops fan at a time. We appreciate your support. Thank you. Steve, are you ready? Steve: Ready Jose: Let's get into it. I'm gonna start the timer, and we're off. All right. Now, NBA Final Four is set. We got the Western Conference, we got the Eastern Conference, we got the NBA Final Four. Let's talk about both. Now, we're gonna go game by game, all right? 'Cause as we record this, we-- in the East, things might be kinda settled. In the West, still a little murky, but we wanna go game by game. So let's start with [00:02:00] game one in the West, which was a showcase for the Alien, Victor Wembanyama. You called it a game for the ages for Victor. What was special about that game for Victor and the Spurs? Steve: 40 and... Was it 40 and 24 or 41 and 24? Jose: Special, Steve: And Jose: yeah. Steve: the three he hit with I don't know, 30, 40 seconds left Jose: Right Steve: From, should've been a four-point shot. Just clutch great. And we're only getting a small taste of how great this guy's gonna be. We're just gonna be, in a couple years, everybody in the league is going to be to figure out how can we beat a team with this guy. And if Cassell stays with him, wow. That's not a bad way to start with those two guys. Y- you see it, the team... I thought Oklahoma would win not because they're better as much as they're weathered. They've been through these things and they kinda, where it's a step for San [00:03:00] Antonio. I could be wrong, it's only two to one, that was my feeling on it. But that game, Wembanyama just took the team on his back and, Jose: Yeah Steve: Carried them. The other thing I'm gonna add is, game three he only scored 24 or 26, and people consider that was a bad game. Think about this. He didn't rebound real well, but think about what we're talking about here, Jose: Yeah. Yeah, but that's always been the thing, right? When you're up against one of the greats, right? Michael Cooper always used to say, "Listen, I'm not gonna stop Larry Bird. I just wanna make it hard on him," right? "I wanna make it difficult for him to get his 30." And if Bird had a 30-point game, but he shot, say 30%, that's a win for Michael Cooper. When I look at Victor Wembanyama, he had 20 some odd points, but limited rebounds. He didn't shoot well. That to me is a win for the Thunder, isn't it? Steve: What's ironic to me and I was thinking about it watching the game, and I started looking at something. in the [00:04:00] first game he took 17 shots. In the third game, he took 16 shots. Maybe I'm wrong but what I'm thinking to myself, you're getting away from... That guy should be getting 25 shots a game. And once... Yeah, I understand Harper and they all can play. I got it. But you know what? I don't know anybody that can block one of his shot from anywhere. I don't... He-- and all he has to do is post himself in the elbow area and just take it and turn around and shoot all day. so I got confused on that. And you wanna take your best player and put him in the middle so there's room for him. But it just, to me, like he's gotta get the ball more. He's gotta have the ball. I watched a couple possessions in a row where he didn't touch the ball. A-and Jose: yeah. Steve: Larry Bird ever play like that? No. Would, Ever? No. They'd get the ball. That was something that, [00:05:00] that, I, I think, and I don't wanna-- I don't know enough to say that Mitch Johnson or whatever, but I think somewhere he's gotta move the team along to, "Wait a minute, guys. We got the best player in the league. We gotta give him the ball and get Jose: Yeah Steve: That, that was something else I thought about Jose: Yeah, and it bears up. I'm looking at the numbers right now w- with one caveat, right? We know game one went to double overtime, so more time meant more touches. But, that aside, 25 shots for Victor in game one, which you call the game for the ages, 16 in game two, and 13-- no, pardon me, 15 in game three. So his shots are going down, and obviously his made shots, are going down when we're 14 Steve: And Jose: to eight. Steve: What about the assists? Where are they? Jose: They non-committal really. He had three in game one, six in game two, so his assists went up when his offensive output went Steve: Not enough. That means Jose: down. Not Steve: the ball enough in the offensive end [00:06:00] and Jose: Right Most telling to me though, look at his rebounds. Steve: I know Jose: in game one, 17 in game two, dominant, and then only four. I remember and again, you and I have been watching the game for a long time, but I forget who it was. I think it might've been Moses Malone, who was an incredible rebounder, would just laugh when he... and actually I think it was Wilt Chamberlain. When he saw Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 7'2", with only two or three rebounds in a game. He just, how does he... Th- those just come to you when you're that tall. How does somebody who's 7'4" only have four rebounds in one game that he played 39 minutes in? That's pretty s- Steve: Yeah. Jose: scary. That's weird, isn't it? Steve: One of the things that Oklahoma City does, one of the trends in the NBA right now is to take your big guy and guard the worst scorer on the other team. Oklahoma City puts five guys on the floor that can score. [00:07:00] So therefore, now if you can, you could take Wemby and put him into the corner, opposite corner. He's not all the way out there. Usually he'll go halfway, that's gonna hurt his rebounding. General- You know, like we're gonna talk about the Knicks, but if you look at Josh Hart shooting very well throws everything out the apple cart because now you can't leave one guy and keep your big down to take away all layups. and that's where the game is changing for Wemby. And you see him halfway, let's say, towards the corner. man is in the corner. He doesn't wanna give the three 'cause they can hit it, so he's about to come out when the ball moves there. And it takes him away from the basket, and it opens things up for your team. That's when Hartenshtein is not in the game. When he's in the game, that keeps Wemby down. But that's a difference. The other thing that's appalling to me is he is getting hammered. He's being held, he's being... Jose: Yeah Steve: And and I [00:08:00] understand because if you play basketball and you play against somebody better than you, know you've gotta Jose: That's what you do. Steve: got no chance. Jose: Sure Steve: I understand to try it, because he's bigger and better doesn't mean you don't blow the whistle. And that's what always happens with guys who are bigger and better Jose: Yeah. That was always the calling card for Shaq, right? And other greats, right? You j- y- you pound them, you, you make it physical. You make it hard for them to get to their spot. You make it hard for them to get their shot off, and we're seeing that with Wemby for sure. If... What? Steve: Shaq though, him going to the line, you didn't mind. makes it, Jose: No, Steve: the foul Jose: that's true. Steve: that, that's a big thing. Go ahead, I'm Jose: Good point. No, good point. So if you're coach, right? You're coaching the San Antonio Spurs you basically are gonna say two things. I think it, it all starts with number one, we've gotta get Wemby more shots. Is that where it starts and ends? Steve: Of course. And the thing about the... it's a double-edge. I don't... The NBA, the way it is now, [00:09:00] is more of a read and react league, not, set plays type where you go here and so on. So if you take him and put him in the middle of the court, you're taking away driving lanes for Castles and Harper and so on. So it's a betwixt and between type situation. That's why Jose: Yeah Steve: lot of times he plays up above the three on, on, on not quite the foul line extended, but up there. Y- almost where you should have something where you post him or put him even at the elbow Jose: Yeah Steve: get the ball there. But, maybe not continuously. But even, don't forget, he s- he made eight threes against the Celtics in a game. So he should get the ball on the wings and, up top and be able to take and let it go. 'Cause if he gets rolling, look out. there, there's more to it, Jose: yeah. It's not as simple as getting more shots, right? It's about, how to get him those shots, where to get him those shots. So yeah, if it were that easy, I think we, we'd all be coaching. [00:10:00] But Game 4 is a must-win for San Antonio. Fair? Steve: Yeah, of course. And I would think they're going to. I didn't look at what the lines are, but I would think they would. I still, I think Oklahoma in six would be what I thought going in and I'm still leaning there. San Antonio's good. I don't know if they're tested down the stretch and they haven't done this yet. Jose: Yeah Steve: although they held up well in game one down the stretch. Oklahoma City, they just keep coming at you. And by the way, Caruso is playing out of his mind. Both-- And you get a little tired of Reggie Miller calling him, w- chaos or whatever the hell, heck it is. He- his ability to shoot has really changed the the series, the dynamic of the series. Probably one of the great mistakes the Lakers made is letting him go Jose: No argument from me. Co- Alex Caruso is the type of player we've talked about on this show before several times. He's the type of player every [00:11:00] NBA champion has. Just a scrappy guy you don't have to call plays for, knows what to do, n- rarely makes mistakes. That's Alex Caruso. And I'm happy for his success. But I did... I picked the Spurs. I picked the Spurs, I'm sticking with it, and I do think if they win, when they win game four, we're gonna see a turnaround. 'Cause you called out something I think is important. They're not proven, right? I heard somebody say, and I forget who, doesn't really matter, but at this point in the season there are no rookies, 'cause everybody who's been a rookie has gone through it, right? You're not a rookie anymore. And so we- we're gonna see now if the Spurs learn something in one, game one, game two, and game three. If they can apply that in game four, flip the switch, they're gonna win it all. Steve: Generally, in the NBA there's stages as a team develops. If the Spurs were to go to the finals, they've skipped a couple steps. Jose: Yeah. Steve: in my Jose: Yeah. Steve: I think that's why, There's other things too, and we'll talk about the Knicks, but there's stages for them, [00:12:00] and they've skipped a few things too to get where they are. Jose: Yeah Steve: And that- that's how I look at it, because it-- Jose: I get it Steve: Detroit have to lose to Boston in the playoffs before they beat Boston? Got older, but they still beat Bo- and then they were Jose: Sure. Steve: to be champions. Jose: How many times did the Bulls have to lose to Detroit before Michael Jordan became Michael Jordan and his Bulls became the Bulls? I, I- There's a process. Yeah, sure Steve: I and that's what I don't see Jose: Got it. No, fair enough. Fair enough. But sometimes a blind squirrel gets a nut. Two times- Steve: I'm not arguing. Jose: Got it. Two times every day a broken clock is right Steve: don't forget, not beating an average team, you're beating the Jose: Fair. They're league champs. Yeah. W- which is why this is the NBA Finals all due respect to the East. But let's talk about the East. Steve: go ahead. I'm sorry Jose: All right. No w- here's the pivot, right? That is the pivot. So let's talk about it, the East. Now, we talked about game one. Let's start at game one and kinda work our way up. We had already [00:13:00] talked about where it stands. New York is pretty much, they're buying their tickets already. It's done and done, I think. But game one in the East was interesting because it was as bad for the Cavs as it, as game one f- in the West was good for the Spurs and Wemby. Because you don't... There's losing a game, and then there's losing how they lost. I, I-- Did that... Was that just, was that the beginning and the end for the Cavs, that game one? Steve: there, there's... Yeah. I didn't think... Don't forget, and I think I mentioned this, but for bettors, I said, if a team that has a week off, they always are sluggish." And both times Cleveland would've covered a spread and San Antonio won when Oklahoma was off for a week. Y- you could see that, and the Knicks weren't. But what the Knicks did is they hit gold. What was gold? Making Harden defend Brunson in the fourth quarter. That was the game. That was the whole thing right there. And when that happened... And then the other piece too, if you watched it, [00:14:00] Cleveland couldn't score. But they didn't quite give the ball to their best player. Harden kept trying to break things down and score. You know what? Sometimes you gotta give it to Mitchell and get out of his way because he's such a... He did take a shot or two, but not as many as he should've down the stretch. And that was important because they had the opportunity to, put the Knicks on the defensive, meaning losing the first game, and they blew it. and that was it. The series, pretty much was over after that. And the Knicks have... Last night, every time Cleveland got close, the Knicks just put it away, and they just made a few shots and it wasn't it wasn't... I thought the Knicks were, like, toying with them. The other thing too, are playing out of their mind. playing as good a basketball as you can play. Jose: Yeah Steve: that, I, if it continues, they're a tough out. I think they've got a shot at the whole thing. Good shot. They're just... The guys are shooting the ball as well as they've ever shot it. [00:15:00] It's amazing. This is a team, again, that lost nine out of 12 or so in the middle of the season. So all of a sudden everything is working. Every guy on the team is shooting the ball well, The right time Jose: Yeah. And listen, part of winning the NBA Finals is being lucky. Anybody who tells you different is lying to you, right? You gotta go into it healthy, and if you can go into it on a streak, right? Just getting hot at the right time. Back in the '80s the Lakers would always talk about flipping that switch, right? That playoff switch, which I don't know if that's a real thing. But, if you just get lucky, the flip is the switch is flipped and you're healthy, that's luck. That, there's not, isn't, that's not anything you can really do and it looks like the Knicks are doing it at the right time Steve: They're playing real well. They move the ball, they're very unselfish. The other thing you see when you watch it, and I know they've had some problems getting along or something they are very willing to give the ball up to each other, which tells me you got everybody on the same page. And you don't [00:16:00] know-- And I don't know if Cleveland's on the same page and that's an important piece to it. And they have that. Everything is right. Everything is Jose: Yeah. Yeah Steve: That's, that makes it a dangerous team in finals. Jose: Always. And I wanna re- I wanna clarify 'cause I don't want Knicks fans, getting too mad at me. I'm not saying the Knicks are where they are 'cause they're lucky. The Knicks are where they are 'cause they're very good. But it takes a little bit of luck, is all I'm saying, Steve: Of Jose: to make it to the NBA finals. And luck's rolling their way right now. I'm looking at game one, and I hadn't looked at this before, but the box score, it was very interesting. In the first quarter, the Cavs scored 16 points. That's underperforming for a quarter. In the final quarter, they scored 18 points. Now, in the second and third, they scored 32 and 35. So when you look at the totality of the game, 'cause, we think about that big lead that the Cavs blew, but they only had two good quarters, Shocking to me, right? And then obviously they got dismantled in overtime. Go ahead. Go ahead. Steve: didn't look sharp in, in that game at all until the fourth quarter, and basically they found something and they just Jose: Yeah. Steve: to it.[00:17:00] Jose: And they've continued to It Steve: didn't look sharp, right from the get-go. With the other two games, they've looked sharp and, the ball's moved and they've made open shots, and they're shooting the ball real well. Guys are... Mikal Bridges, I think they gave him up for dead a couple weeks ago, and now he's, unstoppable. So that's where things changed Jose: Yeah. All right. You hinted to this and I wanna dive into it a little bit more. We've talked about Harden. We've talked about his struggles in the playoffs. I think he's a big part of why the Cavs are where they are 'cause he really re-energized that team, I think in the, in, in the regular season. But now he's a bit of a liability, right? A key for the Knicks' success has been, and you wrote about this, that Brunson-Harden matchup. Why does that favor Brunson? Steve: Harden can't defend. simple. Can't Jose: So who's that? Steve: It's gonna be interesting, the money, because he wants an extension on his contract and offensively [00:18:00] he's still a good player. Jose: Yeah Steve: was 10 years ago but defensively he Jose: No worries Steve: And I guess Allen and Mobley are pretty good bigs, not shot blockers, and they don't... mobley's better straight up as a defender. yeah, he's okay, but you need the back line that will, you know, for... And to give the counter to that, if you think of Wembanyama, every guy on his team becomes a better defender because if they Jose: Yeah. Steve: the big guy's there. I don't know, Cleveland, I don't know if they can, get away with that is the point because they're not getting the help they need, and Harden just, he gets chewed up and it hurts him. I I guess Harden will be able to score points till he's 50 but I don't know about the rest of the game Jose: Yeah. Yeah, no no argument from me. You called out the winner in the West. You I think you [00:19:00] said Thunder in six. What's the prediction in the East? Steve: It's over. It's over. It-- Jose: is it a sweep or is it 4-1, 4-2, 4-3? Steve: I was wrong. I thought Detroit would beat Cleveland, so I was totally wrong. But I thought if Cleveland got there, I think we talked about it, I said five. I'll stay with five I don't... I think the Knicks are gonna just beat them. I think, Cleveland has thrown everything they have at them and nothing's worked. So I just... at some point the will isn't there anymore and I think that's where we're heading on that. Jose: Yep. No argument from me. Let's let's stay in the playoffs 'cause we do want-- We have some non-playoff news that we wanna get to, given time. But you wrote about this and I always thought it was interesting 'cause historically rotations are shorter in the playoffs, right? You get teams that are super, super deep, but, y- you're playing maybe five, six... not five. You're playing six, seven, eight players at the most in the playoffs. But you called out that the Thunder are the deeper team and it's benefiting them in the playoffs. Why is that a [00:20:00] benefit when it normally historically hasn't been to have a deep team? Steve: They've got guys on the bench that can go off for 25 on any night. Jose: Isn't that weird? Yeah Steve: who's not playing tonight, A.J. Mitchell's one. McCain just did it. Coming off the bench. He's having a couple big games. These are bench guys. These aren't starters. Jose: Yeah. Yeah Steve: ~uh, what's his name? Uh, God, Cason, uh,~ Cason, ~uh, the,~ the guard that can shoot and defend. ~I can't think of his name.~ Wallace, ~uh, whatever.~ Jose: ~think it's, yeah, I think we're all the same.~ Steve: ~Yeah, yeah.~ Jose: ~Mm-hmm.~ Steve: They just go with players that just keep coming and it's difficult. Don't forget, when Presti built this team, Sam Presti, he had draft picks for everybody. Wh- when he got Shai Gilgeous, they got draft picks. so Jose: Yeah, a lot Steve: That's right, and he's been able to grow a team. And the interesting thing is most of them have come in the league in the last couple years, so they're low paid. The question's gonna be in a coup- in a year or two, How are they... Are they gonna be able to pay, these guys Jose: Yeah Steve: What, what they deserve? [00:21:00] And I don't know if if they can, unless the owner goes for it. But Jose: Yeah Steve: now you just keep coming with bodies that can all play. They're not Jose: Yeah Steve: guys that can defend or... No, they can do a lot of things, and that- that's what makes them just so special. Jose: Yeah. Now, we don't have the time to do a deep dive into this, but maybe in the off-season we can talk about this a little bit, 'cause I contend that every 14th player on the bench can go off for 20. That they're in the NBA for a reason. But you put the 14th player on a, on a, in a game with time to, to do something, and most of them are gonna wilt, right? Under that pressure. Steve: if Jose: Go ahead. Steve: last night, Cleveland used Tyson, and Tyson had a couple times where he had a path to the basket or a shot, and he passed it up and he kicked it to one of the better players. Jose: That's what I'm saying. Yeah Steve: reluctance to, to do that, Jose: Exactly. Steve: to make the play because, and one of the games, what's his name? Keon Ellis, I believe, or Clark. [00:22:00] Whatever his name is. He had the ball and he was i- in a situation where he could score, but he immediately gave it up to somebody else on his team. And it just told me that the moment is big and let the other people, the stars, handle it Jose: Yep. Whi- which is exactly what I was getting at, 'cause y- you're making my point for me. I think the credit's gotta go to the coaching staff. And y- and I've always butchered his name, so I can't pronounce it right. Dane- Daniel Dagenault, thank you. I think credit goes to this guy because he's not only putting his players in, he's giving them the time, but he's giving them the confidence. Take your shot, man. I don't care that you're a 15th player on the bench. That's, that speaks volumes. I- am I wrong to give credit there? Steve: No he deserves a lot of it. And coaching's an interesting thing. If you get the players behind you and have, it's great. if you lose the players, you got a problem. And he has done a good job through the years when they were losing, he has done a good job, and right now it's paying off. The... it's... I [00:23:00] was talking about harmony and teams playing together. I think they've got all of that. They've got the coach, and they've got guys that wanna win and play together. So it's... That's what you need in the playoffs. I'm not saying San Antonio doesn't have that. Think in watching it, as we were talking about Wemba Nyama not getting the ball, I think Mitch Johnson's still trying to find his way. I don't know if he want... 'cause to me you gotta take charge here. And you gotta, "Hey, guys, let's wake up here. We got this. They don't. Let's use it." And I don't know if he's... we'll see tonight, but I don't know if he's taking advantage of it Jose: Yeah and this coach is about to be the, one of the few coaches to win two NBA titles with the same team, so I gotta learn how to pronounce his name. So Steve: I don't Jose: that's on me Steve: I, you know what? Don't go out and buy your T-shirts that says, Jose: Really? Steve: city of champions." I... Look, if you watch basketball, a team that shoots well from three in [00:24:00] a given game, usually they'll have a cold game. I haven't seen the Knicks shoot poorly. Jose: Yeah. Okay Steve: This is not like a one-night thing. You saw Boston, who makes a lot of threes, get beat in Philly in the playoffs. And in the three straight games they lost, they shot about 28% from three. So my point being, I haven't seen teams get on this kind of roll where they just, everything they throw up goes in. Jose: Okay. Okay Steve: That, that was my... I wouldn't say it's over yet, but Jose: Okay. All right. Like I say, I've still got my Spurs hat on. I'm still picking the Spurs, but let's see where it goes. But y- I don't know if you heard it, the buzzer did go off. Our time is up. We did not get a chance to talk about Jason Kidd. We did not get a chance to talk about the oddity that's happening, the oddities maybe, it's a better way of putting it, that's happening in Portland. We'd love to talk about both of those. Maybe again, we got an off-season coming up. Maybe we can talk about those then, but that is it. Our shot clock, it went off. Shot clock violation, another one for us. Our [00:25:00] time is up, but always thank you, as always, thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Make sure to read Steve's entire 13 Rules article to get, so you can get his thoughts right on the Jason Kidd thing, on the Blazers thing, And more. And of course, join us next week for more NBA Random Thoughts as we start to discuss the NBA Finals. Here we go. We'll talk next week. Thanks, Steve. Steve: Take care