All right, everybody. Welcome in season two, episode 22 of this wishlist podcast. Before we get into it, please, if you're listening right now, give us a follow, subscribe YouTube right here, we want to hear your takes and what you want us to talk about on these episodes. Now, Roman, let's dive right into it. we already know the finals matchup. it's Boston, it's Dallas. I have been very vocal throughout the playoffs. And I think it's only right that I give you the floor and let you say whatever it is you want to say, whatever you feel like you need to say, whatever I need to hear. Um, it's only right that you get to say it. Moses ran into the best backcourt probably ever assembled. And he was very confident in saying that his team was going to the finals. Uh, he said that from the beginning and it led him to the Western Converse finals. But now his team is down 3 0 to the Mavericks. Uh, just, uh, this is the basketball gods telling Moses that he got a little bit too confident in his team. And, uh, Cat really. Cat really sold it for him. Cat really sold it for him tonight. Cat was one of the worst performances I've ever seen. He might have had double digit points, but it felt like anytime he had the ball, it was hurting his team. Um, they're down 3 0. It's the same thing for the East. We have our finals matchup. We have it. Yeah, at this point, uh, anybody that's listened to this podcast for an extended period of time, they know two things. I love the Minnesota Terroirs. And I hate Luka Doncic. And so to lose to Luka is just, anybody that just loves to see me lose is screaming sweet justice right now because that's what it is if you do not like to hear my takes. Um, it's tough because I think that there was an opportunity for us to really dominate this matchup and the Timberwolves at times just play dumb basketball. I don't know why cat shot that three late in the game to tie it. If you're that bad all game, you should never shoot that shot. And it goes back to something that I said in the Dallas series, when Dallas had us down three, two, I said, it feels like Minnesota is missing an offensive guard. We just need one more offensive player. That's a major hole when the Kiel Alexander Walker is the only guard that's coming off the bench when you're tightening the rotation and he's just not able to get his own shot, you have to rely on Kyle Anderson to get his own shot like that's really, we get exposed against a team like Dallas, um, and we run bad offense, we run really bad offense, um, We don't look like a team that, that, that should be here. And, you know, at times you have these types of teams that make it to conference finals. I'm thinking of, uh, an Atlanta Hawks team has made it to a conference finals in a similar fashion. Um, a lot of these guys, they need this type of learning experience. Uh, we're going to talk a lot about the games in particular, both conferences, but, uh, the series is over. Um, This is not a team capable of coming back from down three. Oh, our best bet is that we can extend the series, put some more wear and tear on Luca and Kyrie's bodies going into the next one because that's all we have. But if you're Minnesota and you're looking at what you're seeing on the floor, what's happening to you, what's happening to your team, the only logical decision that you can make is to trade Carl Anthony Towns. You trade Carl Anthony Towns, you start Nas Reid, and you try and get a higher quality offensive player, maybe somebody that can come off the bench, and a first round pick. And to supplement the picks that we lost, we lost four first round picks when we traded for Rudy Gobert, so you fill one of those first round picks, and you try and get somebody that's not offensively challenged because I can't, you just, as soon as he gets past his guy, there's three people there and we shot less than 33 percent from the three point line in this game. So why wouldn't you just continue to double, triple, quadruple team Anthony Edwards? No, you're not afraid of anybody else. Nobody else is a threat. And this is where it's bad coaching for me. PJ Washington, Roman, tell the people how tall PJ Washington is. 6 8, 6 9. mm-Hmm. uh, how tall is Carl Anthony Towns 6 11 7 foot. How about Nas Reed? Six 10. Six 11. Now, I'm not gonna put the finger at Nas Reed because he has been incredible from just about everywhere on the floor. But Carl Anthony Towns, when you miss the first two threes, get your butt on the freaking block. Post up, clear the floor. Put Anthony Edwards on the backside corner so his guy can't. Go for the double. You can't go for the weak side double. Feed the ball to Carl Anthony Towns. Low post, mid post. And Kat, do your thing. Because you're being defended by a guy that's six foot nine and you're seven feet tall. But he wants to play at the three point line. And then when he drives past PJ, there's two people there because it takes him too long to get from the three point line to the hoop, which is normal because he's seven feet tall. So it's just dumb offense. It's dumb basketball. And it's, it's hard to watch on television because they put forth all this effort defensively and they just look stupid on offense. And then you turn around and it's Luka hitting a three pointer over Jaden McDaniels, like it's just barbecue chicken. Or it's any Maverick hunting the Rudy Gobert matchup and embarrassing him. Embarrassing him. Repeatedly. I mean, Daniel Gafford is smacking the ball off the backboard. Lively, smacking the ball off the backboard. Rudy Gobert, it's like he doesn't know how to block a ball. Rudy Gobert, the best off ball defender. In the NBA, I need you to give me on the ball. It's bad. Help me understand, like, what are you? I, I, I genuinely believe you have a better basketball mind than I do. You are a better player than I am when you're watching these games. Talk to me about what you're seeing happening. What? Where is the gap between Dallas and Minnesota? The individual matchups for Dallas. I think Jason kid is a player coach. Uh, this is, this was a trade that was great for them to get Kyrie because like I, like I said, Jason Kidd is a player coach. He knows how to manipulate a Luka, uh, Kyrie, how to work them through an offense. It seems like if it's not a ISO from the wing for those two, it's coming off a pick and roll and it opens up the wings for them that you see how many lobs they get. Yeah. Yeah. Right. It really is just matchups for them. It's just matchups. I mean, even when Jaden Hart, uh, Jaden Hardy was on the court, Luca was giving him the ball, telling him to attack Rudy, Rudy can't defend the, this, this whole, these first three games to me have just been matchups and matchups coming in clutch time, especially with Luca Donchic and Kyrie Irving. So when clutch time comes up. You give it to Luca. Luca's not working. You give it to Kyrie Irving. All these, these, uh, their role players they have on the side, they've just been standing there playing defense. They're ready for a kick out three. They're, they're not exhausted. They haven't been moving around. They've been standing around on the offensive end waiting for their perfect pass from Kyrie Irving or Luca Doncic. So it's just match ups here. And the the experience from Luca and Kyrie is showing up and I think the to to your point with Jason kid, he did. He he's a master at the small things. For example, he subs out. He calls a timeout subs out a player. And then there's a so there's the TV timeout. They intentionally, like, Let me, let me rephrase it. So Minnesota calls a timeout. They, they play one possession, and then he calls a timeout. Which means that, even though one possession is passed, he subs a star back into the game, that star got to sit on the bench for four minutes. And so it's these small things where in the 24 seconds of gameplay, he gave his player four minutes of rest. And it's those small things that are why Luca and Kyrie can have such a high usage rate because Jason Kidd is so much smarter and intentional about the way that he's subbing in and subbing out his players. Meanwhile, what we see tonight is Luca Doncic and Anthony Edwards are both on the bench who are, they're the best players for their respective teams. And normally you're matching your best players. They're playing about the same times. Luca comes in, Ant's still on the bench, Dallas goes on a 5 0 run, then they try to sub Anthony Edwards in, and Dallas just keeps the pace of play going. They keep it going and going and going, and so Ant is sitting, trying to sub in, can't sub in, meanwhile Luca and Kyrie are both playing. And so it's just these, it's all the small things, like, when you're losing games, and I know they ended up losing this game by what, double digit points, but the first two games they lose the game by three, it's the small things, it's these little things, over 48 minutes, that makes such a huge difference on the outcome, and Dallas just does a better job, to your point. At setting up their best players with the correct matchups and Minnesota, they don't, they really, really don't, um, gosh, it's just rips me apart, man, because and gotten to his, they were, they were talking about it and gotten to his little flow state after that dunk. And the third quarter, the end of the third quarter was beautiful for them. They evened it up, it was back and forth through the fourth, but that was because of the end of the third quarter, because of what they did. But Ant had four points in the fourth quarter, and it's partially his fault, but partially the team's fault for not getting him the ball. Like there's too many possessions where it's Mike Conley coming off a dribble handoff or the pick and roll with Kyle Anderson. Like, why is Ant not hunting for the ball those last few minutes? And again, it might be team oriented. Again, last game he's Off the court for an extra few minutes, getting oxygen because he's so tired. Yeah, but these are the moments, especially with him talking before the game, uh, this game's going to be different. You guys are going to see me take a bunch of shots. They said during the game that, uh, Finch wanted him to take 30 shots. Uh, he ends up with 24 points. It's, it's not that bad, but. It's not that good, but it's not that good. It needs to shine. This is his time. And again, he's young, 22 years old. I should say, what else can we expect? Which kind of hurts to say, but he's young, and his team didn't show up for him. And they're overachieving. They're overachieving based on his age. I just don't think that he knows. So he, when he has the ball and he's dribbling up the floor, he wants to call for a pick and roll in the same way that Luca does, but they bring a double. And he's trying to get him versus Luca and they're just doubling him. But the, the, the, and then he passes the ball away and then fades into no man's land. Like he disappears for the rest of the possession. And then they end up getting this weird shot or a bad shot, or he'll drive and try and like pivot, pivot, double pivot, jump and throw it. Whereas when Luca is in the pick and roll and he sees the double, he keeps the double. Long enough to put the Timberwolves in a bad rotation so that they get a good shot Where Ant, like, Luka can beat the double where they can still get a good look. It doesn't mean it's gonna go in But they can still get a good look Alternatively when Ant sees the double He passes it so quickly. Dallas is still able to rotate. They're still in their defensive rotation. And then he's, yes. And he's just not aggressive enough to go get the ball back. It's hard to watch. Yeah. Those are the perfect times to go back and get the ball. As soon as they're off of the double team, go back and get it. But I mean, exactly what you're talking about. Just sounds like experience being a superstar. And yes, Ant has been the best guy on his team, but we haven't seen double teams like we've seen on him because he hasn't been in the playoffs. And now he's in the playoffs and he's getting those double teams, which give him a few years and he will navigate it beautifully. But it showed up, the experience showed up tonight. He's just not at that level right now. So, Roman, if you are, and, and, man, hopefully Lively is okay. They're calling it a neck strain. A neck strain is probably a best case scenario for what happened to that guy. He could have He, he could have been in a much worse position than he, if that knee hits him in the right spot in his head, he might be, he might have a brain bleed. Like it was hard, a hard shot to the head really hope he's okay. Um, I mean, Dallas is going to the finals if, and, and we're going to talk about Dallas. We're going to talk about Boston and what that matchup looks like. But when we're looking at. The Timberwolves, because I feel like this is the, the only time we're really gonna get to talk about'em by the time we record the next podcast. There's no conversation really around Minnesota. So when you're heading into the off season incredible run that they've had right here. Tell me the two moves that you're making to, to make sure that this roster can get back to a position like this again for the, for Minnesota? Yeah. Um, I like your move off of Carl Anthony Towns. Uh, I think. Going off of him, filling it out with Nas read, he showed that, uh, he can be their power forward. He, he's basically cat, but just performing better in the playoffs. I mean, they wouldn't be here without without him. So I think you move off of him. And in terms of the acquisitions, you fill out your reach a little bit more, obviously, but you go for that. Because we talked about Mike Conley talking about possibly coming to an end. But, uh, I think something like moving off of him for a more dominant guard would help too. Oh, like dominant starter. Yes. Yes. I think they've, they've gotten what they need out of Mike Conley. Uh, he's been a great role model for, for him, for, for Anthony Edwards. But I think he needs a little bit more. And I think getting rid of cat can open up the opportunity for another guard. So I think, a little bit more. You keep your, your Nikhil Alexander Walker, your, uh, I don't, I don't even really know. I've liked their bench them that much. Kyle Anderson's not really a shooter. He's been great on defense for them, but you fill out your bench a little bit more. Um, But I think going for a more dominant guard, it just may be just not a short because Mike Conley get gets attacked. He gets attacked. Yes. Great experience guard. But I think having a more dominant guard to pair with ant is something that would help them to become What looks like the Dallas Mavericks going to the NBA Finals because of the two guards? Yeah, I think that we need a three point shooter off the bench. We just need a sharpshooter. Uh, well, you got Nikhil Alexander Walker launching left handed threes from the corner. He's been, he's been solid defensively other than Kyrie torching him, Luka torching him. Through the playoffs, he's been solid defensively, but he's not consistent at all on offense. Like we need, we, we, I, I don't think Tim Hardaway Jr. has been good But his play style with the all star is the type of player that we need. I don't think we need him, but we need someone with that play style where they're just, they're ready to catch and shoot. When, when we're looking at guards that you're trying to pair with Anthony Edwards, are you thinking like a Dejounte Murray type player? Or are you looking for somebody that is less attack the basket and more outside shooter? Like help me get an idea of the, maybe not like, give me a comp for a player that you'd want to see. Well, I feel like we're looking for, again, more of a facilitator, but not a ball dominant facilitator. Like a Darius Garland? Well, he's still undersized. Undersized, but see, that's where it gets tough. There's no ideal guard for this situation. I mean, Mike Connelly's great, but it's just to name a player. I don't, I really don't think I can name a player right now. Uh, I mean, I have to think about it. Um, I can get back to you on that, but I just feel like Mike Connelly's good for them. Yeah, but he hurts them too. He might be a vet that they need to move to the bench. Yes. Yes. If he's coming off the bench, I think he can stay, but his time as the starter is, is done, is done. Uh, Rudy go bear. I don't know what you do with Rudy. This is just what happens in the playoffs. He gets exploited every year. He can be defensive player of the year, but he just gets exploited. I, I messaged you this. He came in for two possessions and it basically ended the game. He fouled Daniel Gafford on a dunk and it just, it just ended the game. And I don't know what you do with Rudy because. His game converts to wins in the regular season, but you get into a conference finals and it's just attack Rudy. If I've, if I've said it once, I've said it a million times. When you see Rudy Gobert on a random Tuesday night, he, it's, it's difficult to, it's difficult to play against him because you're running the same offense every night, regardless of who you're playing. But in the post season, when you plan. When you intentionally plan to like to a higher degree than at any other point in the regular season, you can expose Rudy Gobert and where it's difficult is he has no offense. He has no offensive moves. None. He doesn't have a single post move. Not one post move. You might catch him Euroing every once in a while. He, he cannot catch the ball and do a drop step. He cannot catch the ball and shoot a hook shot. He cannot catch the ball and use his pivot foot. He on offensive rebounds, lays it up. He doesn't even dunk it. He. There is not a player in my life that I have watched on national television and been more frustrated watching them on both sides of the ball because on offense, he has no bag whatsoever, but then he's defensive player of the year and consistently guards are shooting over him, shooting around him and laying up the ball in front of him. The amount of layups that get by him is really bad. It just seems like he's not coordinated. Like it. How is this guy a defensive player of the year? We saw the tape with Wemby where players will not shoot the ball like they won't, but no one is afraid to shoot the ball against this guy. It's, it's, it's embarrassing. It's almost like the defensive player of the year has become an indictment on him. Uh, I wish I could remember his name. He's an announcer for the new world for the new Orleans pelicans. He played on one of those championship teams in the nineties for the Spurs. Yeah. And, uh, he was saying that the defensive player of the year overvalues rim protection, undervalues perimeter defense, like being able to guard one through five. The defensive player of the year needs to be somebody that can guard one through five. You're not the defensive player of the year if you get exposed the way that Rudy Gobert does, period. Period. It's, yeah, the defensive player of the year is, it's not who's the best interior defender. No. Or the best rim protector. Yeah, who's the best help side defender. It's, it, it, it was. It used to be. Dwight Howard, what he was doing was different than this. Now you could, you could put Dwight Howard in a pick and roll and he would have a difficult time, but he was, he was right there at the hoop. As soon as you would try and shoot it, he was smacking the ball off the backboard. Regal Bear can't do that. He's not coordinated enough. He's not quick enough to do that. And granted, the NBA has shifted since Dwight played. But at the time that would have that that that style of player, it made sense to give them that award. Today, it doesn't. Definitely not. It's it's not. Who's the best help side defender? No, That's what Rudy is for your team. But we've been saying this for a couple of years. Now you get him in a playoff series and he gets exposed. It's how long can you, can you last that exposure? It's starting to show up with some game winners. Rudy Gobert might be the guy that costs us Anthony Edwards prime or costs you Anthony Edwards period. Yeah, no, it's true. It's, it's really true. Cause we're trapped. We're stuck with this guy for a long time. Kate, let's, let's shift gears to Dallas. Uh, you, I don't think anybody anticipated three Oh, and if you're the Mavericks, Everything you could have hoped for from Luka Doncic, he is delivering. He gets put in the most impossible situations at times, and when he shoots the ball, you just know it's going in. Everybody and their dog knows it's going in. Anybody who doesn't watch basketball knows it's going in. There's an inevitability. To the way that the Mavericks are playing. They are not afraid of the moment. They are not afraid of the matchups. They are hunting these players down and they are offing them at every chance. Uh, if you're Mark Cuban, if you're Dirk Nowitzki, if you're Nicola Jokic, you're watching this Dallas Mavericks team, and you are just so happy, um, that. That they're delivering because the aptitude was there and now the play is, is meeting that level. And so my goodness, man, this is, it's an incredible team. They had an incredible trade and they are primed and ready to, to go to the finals. Roman, what, what impresses you most about the Dallas Mavericks? It's the, the fact that Luca and Kyrie is working so well, I think when he got traded from the Nets, it was just kind of like, why would you do that? They're both ball dominant guards. Like, this isn't going to work. But the way they interact with each other. Uh, I think Kyrie's energy just bounces off perfectly with Luca. Luca is very intense, like, uh, offensive guy, like involved with the refs and Kyrie's just taking the role of leadership. Let me elevate everybody's play. I'm the veteran on this team. Uh, let me motivate people. I'll take the big shots when I need to. Yeah, but the difference is Luca has the opportunity to have somebody else who's, who's great on his team. He has another superstar, which is, he's been lacking, uh, he's never had this before when they made the Western commerce files. He didn't have a superstar. So, uh, it showed in this game, Luca's trying to fall bait. Uh, Jaden McDaniels kind of locks him up for a couple possessions in a row, hand the ball off to Luca, Luca go, I trust this guy. I trust this guy, which I wouldn't expect from Luca. I would never expect that from him, but I think the relationship that Kyrie has built with them and their, their connection has got them to this point. And I find it unbelievable that it's working this well. Yeah. Their chemistry is top notch. And I saw a comment on social media and it was why, like, If Kyrie wanted out with LeBron, but it's working so like, why is it working so well with Luka if he couldn't make it work with LeBron? Guys, Kyrie has been in the league for how long? Like he played with with when he played with LeBron, he was still a new player to the NBA. He was still making a name for himself. He made a name for himself while playing with LeBron. Of course it would make sense for him to want to try and do it on his own. Of course it would make sense that he would want to try and team up with other star players. And of course it would make sense that when he finds Luka Doncic, And he realizes that this is the team that's poised to make a run, that he's going to find the role that he excels in, which is This guy's one of the best second options in the history of basketball. When he gets a ball dominant, number one guy, he is one of the most lethal, one of the most clutch, one of the most surefire players that we have ever seen. Play is a second option and he's seen this before and he knows what it takes to win. And so it's so weird for people to be like, Oh, to, to, to, to randomly point a finger at LeBron. And I don't want this to become a LeBron segment genuinely, but we're seeing a Kyrie. That's He's not bringing extra attention to the team. He's locked in on basketball. And I mean, they're going to go to the finals for it. It's a absolutely incredible to watch. Uh, let's let's pivot to the Eastern conference, uh, filled with games that no one wants to watch and teams running football plays instead of basketball plays. We saw a hail Mary, um, in game three, this was, this was what we expected. Uh, there's, there's really no surprise if you're Boston, you now have the benefit of, of not having to force Chris apps porzingis to come back out and play. If it were me and he's playing full contact practices, I would get him 10 minutes. In game four, I'd get him some minutes because to not play for a full series and then to play in the finals is significant. Not that he's going to be the best, the number one option, the number two option, but I'd get him some minutes. Um, Roman, what are we seeing from this Boston, Indiana matchup? We are seeing the more experienced teams show up. My, my pacers are, they're, they're letting me down. Yeah, they're cooked. Like, not completely, but this team could have been up 2 1 on the Celtics right now. Yeah. Game 1, they gave it to them. Game 3, without Tyrese Howland Burton, they gave it to them again. Up 8 with 2 minutes left, and they lose by 3. Um, the turnovers show up. Uh, NemHart was playing beautiful, but Yeah. Again, it's just experience. It's just experience at this point. True Holiday is one of the best perimeter defenders and he showed that. Um, but the Celtics have been here before. That's, that's what it is. Uh, the Pacers haven't, Rick Carlisle has been here before, but I guess just not with this team and they don't know how to close out a game now and it, I mean, it doesn't help that they don't have Tyrese, but, uh, I think this is just, this is good for the Pacers that they were able to make it this far. A team to look out for in the Eastern Conference now against team. Yeah, they made it here off injuries, but, uh, they've got some pieces and so did Boston. So did Boston. Yeah. The entire East has just been full of injuries. The only test for the Celtics is going to be the finals. Um, but yeah, the, the, the whole thing, the Chris stops, it's. It's just tough. Cause it's been a month and a half since the guy last played. Yeah. So it's like, do you even risk putting him back in the lineup? Uh, this guy hasn't been with the Celtics for long. So, yeah, but this is a guy that has to want to beat Dallas, man. I know playing this former team. It's, it's there, but like they're playing good without it. That's not, that's all I got to say. If he comes in, does it mess up the five that they, that they, That they've been playing. Yeah, but they, but they, they find themselves in these compromising situations and have to play their way out of it. You can't play your way out of this against Dallas. You can't go down 15. You can't end up in these late game situations. Luca will make the right play. Halliburton turned it over. Luca is not going to do that. So like you, you, you Boston puts, they, they, they, they do this to themselves. And you just, you're not going to be able to get away with it anymore. The East, the East was, it was, it's a house of cards, man. We got to the end and we, somebody pulled the rug out and it's just, yeah, the East was a crypto scam, dude. Everybody came to watch and it was just bad, bad, bad, bad to worse. Every single team. Every single team had injuries. Yeah. No, it's been strange for getting the one seat. They got the one seat and had the easiest route, which is, yeah. And that's why you get it. Yeah. That's, that's why you get it, man. Um, but the guard matchup though, that's, this is what the Celtics built this team for. You go against Kyrie and Luca, but you have probably the two best perimeter defenders in the NBA. You have the best perimeter defenders, Eric White and your superstars. And your superstars like you have the, this is the, okay. So, so, so let's, let's get into this because I really, I think that's all we have to say about Boston versus the Pacers. The, the, the Achilles heel of the, for the Boston Celtics is the center position. It's Al Horford, and if you don't have Porzingis, because we know what Dallas is going to do. They're going to run pick and roll. They're going to have Gafford and Lively. If you put them in the drop coverage, they're going for lobs, or it's going to be Luka and Kyrie shooting contested twos, threes, and kick out threes. And if you're only center. is Al Horford. The Boston Celtics will struggle. They will struggle significantly. It doesn't matter if you have solid perimeter defense because Jaden McDaniels is a solid perimeter defender and when he gets put in prison, when he's behind Luca, there's nothing he can do. And so that's why Porzingis back. Even if he's not a great offensive player, you need bodies. It's that you can put in that matchup. You have to have people you can play there because when Al Forford is your only option, you can get by against Indiana. But Miles Turner's been feasting. You're not like that. Is it that you can't you can't go into the finals and not have coursing is hitting seven threes a game. It's Roman. Come on. I mean, they have a cornet got hurt last game. So now they got O'Shea Brissett coming off the bench as their backup center. Yeah, it's not doesn't have minutes. So it's the yeah, the only position that's going to hurt them is the center position. And that's the position that thrives for the Mavericks because they run their offense. Through the pick and roll. Yes. The alley oops, how do we play inside out to get to our guards by playing through lively, by, by playing through art, the bigs. So it's. I just, who's going to be there? Who's going to be hurt? Who's not going to be hurt is how long is lively out is porzing is coming back. Is Alan Warford role player Al Horford, or is he, is he Hawks Al Horford and how healthy is Luca going to be going through that finals run, right? This guy is, he's got two hurt knees. I mean, it doesn't look like health matters to him. He looked great. He looked great tonight. Well, he doesn't rely on his athleticism, right? Like, but, but regardless, That's another series of games. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. I it's, it's. They're torching the Timberwolves. They are lighting up the number one defense Boston's. I think I want to say that the number they're the number two defense Okay, so so they're torching the number one defense and they have three bigs Boston could go in with one and a half bigs. It's a tough spot to be weak It's a really tough spot to be weak. You'd be okay. If you were weak at the four, not the five. No. And the matchups like Jalen Brown and, and, uh, Jason Tatum are going to get switched a lot. They're going to have to play defense probably. Oh, they for sure. I'm going to have to take away from their offense. It's, it's not going to be an easy series. No, it's not. And there's a reason both these teams are in the five and the Mavericks have played a young, okay. See team, but the number one seed. Minnesota, a team that maybe shouldn't have been there, but they're aggressive. They still had to shut them down. They still had to shut them down. And the Clippers who had solid, like they had a, they had legitimate teams that they had to go through to get there where Boston. Has had an easy path, a cupcake path to the finals. Like, you, you gotta be careful in these types of situations. In the same way that Boston kind of ran into a buzzsaw with Indiana. And Indiana, they, they, they choked. But, you could come into game one and get hit with a buzzsaw pretty quickly. Well, and that's the thing too, is it's not just which team looks better on paper. This is the playoffs. It's Which team matchups match up, which team matches up better with another team, because nobody predicted the Mavs to be in the Western Conference Finals. I mean, some people did, but that's just Mavs. You wouldn't expect this type of team to be here, but that's the amazing thing about the playoffs. It's, it's purely Who performs better and these are just they're they're people they're not this isn't a simulation. These are real guys This is not NBA. Okay, and players are gonna over perform and It's it's going to show up in the finals. I think it's going to be an absolute battle. It's going to be interesting. So all we can do now is just wait. Well, we're on this side of the pod, which means people are going to be looking for an answer. Unfortunately, we can't just sit here and wait. We need to give the people some type of prediction. And so, so let's start by, by predicting who wins this finals matchup, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks. Who do you have winning Roman? Celtics. I'm going to go Celtics six. I, uh, wow. I'm gonna second that. I'm also gonna go Boston in six. The storylines are fantastic because it's pingus against his former team with Kyrie against his former team. Uh, it, there's not, it's gonna be bad blood. It's going to be bad blood. And this is the series where Kyrie will be tested the most because these fans hate him and he hates them. And so lied to him. He lied to him. Will he still be this calming presence? That he's been up to this point in the postseason. We're going to have to find out. Um, I do believe Dallas though is going to punch him in the mouth early. I wouldn't be surprised if Dallas wins game one and Boston has to bounce back and recover because I just don't think they're going to be ready for the level of intensity that they're going to find in the Mavericks in the first game of this series. Uh, I don't think they're going to have an answer for how to defend Luka Doncic in the first game of this series. And how he attacks the pick and roll, but I do believe that over time, because Boston has so many weapons and they have so many guys that can give them a 30 point performance or a 40 point performance, that's going to overwhelm the Dallas Mavericks that there's an inevitability to Boston in just everywhere you look, 30. And that's just not something that Dallas has. And I think that amount of firepower with, uh, that a team being willing to take the challenge defensively ultimately wins out what's it, what, what do you think about that? What, uh, let me know your thoughts. I agree. Um, also the problem with the Mavericks is they give a lot of opportunities for three pointers for teams. And I've been very successful at getting a lot of shots from teams who haven't been hitting and unfortunately, this is the number 1 3 pointing shooting team in the league. Uh, Derek White has been amazing through the playoffs. Drew Holiday hits his shots. Jaylen Brown is going to give you a couple. Jason Tatum hasn't been good, but, uh, regardless, I mean, Al Horford too, if they have Porzingis, Peyton Pritchard, Sam Houser. They're the best three point shooting team in the league. And I think it's going to show up, but, uh, I would expect in the majority of the games for the Mavericks to be in foul trouble, the way they play defense, would expect PJ Washington or Derek Jones jr. To be in foul trouble early. Uh, and possibly one of the bigs if lively's back. Yeah. But this team boughs and. The Celtics, I wouldn't say they're foul baiters, but they get to the rim. Yes. They are the number one. Yeah, yeah, they get to the rim at a high level. Yeah. And they have star players. Uh, Jalen Brown's a star. Jason Tatum's a star. Drew Holliday has been a star for teams that he's played for. Yes. They're, they're going to get to the line. So I would expect foul trouble from. From these guys, I think we're going to see it in a few of the games. So I would, I would expect a lot of three pointers and a lot of fouls. That's what I'm thinking happens through the, through the finals. Yeah. I, to me, for anybody that doesn't know what foul baiting is, what we're talking about, just go watch Luca play, watch Shea, Gilgis Alexander play the difference, the difference between Boston putting a team in foul trouble and Dallas. It's really this Tatum and Jalen. They get to the rim. They're attacking your bigs, or they're pump fake in the paint. They get you elevated, they go up and under, they score. They're going through you to, to score the ball. Whereas, when you're watching Luka play, his, his mindset going into the possession is, I'm gonna get a foul on this guy. And so he's flailing, he's throwing his arms, he's stopping in the middle of the play and looking at the ref like he's doing these things that it's not within the flow of basketball set within the flow of the game. And it's happening normally outside of the three point line as he's getting closer to the paint. That's where it's happening, right? The mid range to three point extended. That's where the foul baiting is for Boston. They're in the paint, they're attacking you. And it's. As you're trying to contest the over and over and over again, you're going to foul. And so, yes, I don't believe that Boston foul baits. Uh, I, I just believe that they play downhill. They're not yet. They're not focused on trying to, they, they know you're going to foul them. Yeah. Whereas looking for your arms as he's going up to the hoop. Yeah. He's trying to go through your arms and then he's going to laugh at you after when he gets the call. Jalen Brown's he's been. Amazing. He's been using his left hand. He's been good. I know he's been using his left hand. This this playoff run is just an indictment on all of my takes combined. It's brutal. The basketball gods hate you this year. They hate me. Hey, just you just got to wait till next year, I guess. But I guess so. So in that case, that means politic are gonna lose. I did get a Minnesota West Western conference finals appearance, so let's not, like I didn't have, uh, a fantastic run first time since first time in 20 years. I mean, I was seven years old last time they were here, like almost turning eight. That's great. Um, I've had a great, a great run, uh, this postseason as well, so, so at least there's that. But this is, um. Gosh, it's can't miss basketball, dude. It really is. We've talked about this with, uh, one through three seeds or the only teams that really win championships. So if the, if the averages work out, the Mavericks really should not win. They're not going to five seed. The Celtics are a one seed. Um, we took the safe pick. That's, that's what it is right now. We took the team that should win. We, we, yeah, we're, we, we definitely took the easy route. Um, I, Luca has the potential to be an all time great he's, he. He just, he's at that level. And oftentimes players at that level, they run into these situations and there may be a year early, or maybe they're, they're not ready for the moment. Uh, it's, it's happened many times to a lot of great players that the first finals appearance doesn't go well. It happened to Shaquille O'Neal. Who's an all time great, but he ran into a Hakeem Olajuwon. That was just. A better they had a better team. They had a better team and it was just him and penny Uh lebron james when he ran into tim duncan and the spurs And tim said We guard lebron with five guys Like this is not uncommon for A generational player to be put in a situation like this and for it, uh, for, for them to play against a, an all time team. Tatum's been here before he's about to, he's had the moment that Luka Doncic is going to have. Uh, I just believe that, that they're ready for it. Like the core, all of those guys have been here. All of them. Drew's won it. Jalen, Horford, Jason, they've all been there. The coaching staff's all been there. Like everybody's been there. And it just, the stars really have aligned for the Boston Celtics to win it all. And. Here we are, two brothers, this wishlist podcast, telling you right now, you, yes, you listening, the Boston Celtics, they're gonna win it all. If the averages are right, there's no reason this team should lose. If history repeats itself, like you're saying, which we've seen quite a bit, the numbers are overwhelmingly in our favor. The Celtics will win. I have my doubts. The Celtics will win. I have my doubts. This, the Celtics are gonna win the finals. I remember the same guy saying that another team was going to win the finals. Listen, man, here's, here's, here's the reality. I do believe that the majority of the time we come into this podcast and we're very level headed about what we're seeing. Like we, we pull the emotions out of it and we are very objective about what we're seeing on television. Unbiased, if you will. I. started the postseason that way and after i saw what we did to the phoenix suns very quickly swung Uh the complete opposite I operated out of fandom, which is a fallacy and it's something that we shouldn't do on this podcast. And so America, I'd let you down. I do have to all on the former champions. Kind of gives you an excuse. Yeah. I mean, when we wanted to be like, Hey, Moses, chill, but I couldn't do it. We won six straight postseason games, six straight games in the postseason. I mean, we were, we were on top of the world. But the finals, uh, we don't give the championship trophy to the team that wins in April, we give the championship trophy to the team that wins in June. And this year is just not our year to do that. It's not the Timberwolves year to do that. And I was emotional. I was very emotional and, um, that's why I was wrong. But I'm looking at June and it's green, very green, Boston, Celtic green. Does Jason Tatum or Jalen Brown get that MVP though? You, yeah, it's going to be Jason Tatum. Hey, LeBron's been hooping though. It doesn't even matter, dude. I think that Adam Silver is not going to let Tatum not get the award. If you give it to Jalen Brown, it's, it's a, it's a disaster for the NBA. Yeah. Like they're, they're not. They're not gonna let that happen. That's Curry like. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, it has to go. It has to go to Tatum. Um, it has to go to Tatum. Players are going to get paid here in the next few years? Oh yeah. Listen, man, we, in a couple of years, players are going to be making 90 million in a couple of years. Players can make it a hundred million. The only employees that have benefited from inflation are professional athletes. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, I'm telling you, the only, the only employees that benefit from inflation are athletes. Because the contracts just keep going up, man. They keep going up. Okay, here's this, uh, LeBron, free agent, is he signing with the Lakers? Yes or no? Yeah, I think that's more just media bait. So do I. He's a Laker. I think this is, this is what LeBron does. And I think this is also one of the reasons why people don't like LeBron is because he doesn't actually commit to a fan base. He doesn't commit to a team. He he opts out, he waits, he watches. I'm not going to, I'm not going to tell you who I want to be the head coach because I don't want to be wrong. I don't want to tell you what superstars you should get because I don't want to be wrong. I want to force you to make decisions. That will make me come back. LeBron's really toxic. Like that is, that is so toxic. If you are dating someone like this, break up with them immediately. It's like one of those that you talk, it's like a relationship that you talk about after the fact. Like, why did I do that? Like, why did I put myself in that situation? When LeBron retires, there's going to be so many podcasts and things like, I hated playing with LeBron. Like, yeah. There was things that he made us do or things that he said, trying to be a coach, like, I feel like that's the type of situation that's going to happen. And yeah, just also just draw so much attention that you can't relax when it's just this unnecessary pressure that he puts on the team. I'm going to give you a great example of, of like this, this LeBron James free agency thing. I, I dated a girl once in high school. And, uh, we were talking, texting, went on a couple dates, whatever. And she was the type of person that I would text first on Monday, and she would text first on Tuesday. And then I would text first on Wednesday, and she would text first on Thursday. And, um, I remember this is, this gets really serious pretty quick, but our parents ended up getting divorced and I was just going through it. I was trying to figure things out while I was in high school. It was a, it was a lot, it was, it was a lot emotionally to, to navigate. And I just didn't text first on my day. And it was an unwritten rule, right? Nobody said anything. And, and I just didn't, I didn't text. And, uh, I'd never talked to that person again. It, as soon as I realized what had happened, I just waited. I was like, well, I just want to see, like, are they ever going to text me? Ever? They never did. That's the type of pressure that LeBron James puts on a team. Where it's this unwritten rule, this unnecessary pressure. Everything would be so much easier if he just came out and said, Lakers, Lakers fans, I love being in LA. I'm playing for the LA Lakers. I know I'm a free agent. I'm just working out some contract negotiation with the team. I'm committed to you. I'm committed to our future. I'm committed to winning a championship, but LeBron won't do that. And that's one of the reasons why fan bases like the Lakers and NBA fans in general, oftentimes have such a hard time wrapping their arms around the king. Well, yeah. And if he fails, like you said, it's not his fault. If he succeeds, it's all because of him. He had zero help. Uh, they did, they didn't make the pieces that he needed and he still was able to win or get to the finals like he did so many times. So it's. You can't say it's a win win for LeBron because he has so many haters, but it's, uh, it's very easy for him to just stay quiet. Yeah, that's, uh And let his agent say that he's a free agent. Yeah, yeah, he didn't even say it. He had his agent say it. Rich Paul. The most calculated, the most calculated Man in the history of basketball. Uh, that's going to do it for us today for this wishlist podcast, please. If you haven't already click the subscribe button, uh, like share, subscribe. Uh, we really appreciate all of the feedback that we get. The responses from you, the love that we receive on social media. So please, if you know somebody. That doesn't know the game of basketball. Send them this episode. Make sure that they are as informed as possible going into the finals because it's a cold world. But, but once again, we just, we, we appreciate the opportunity to be here. Roman, send us off. It is finals time, baby. Not yet completely, but we're here. We know what it looks like. If you're not subscribing, if you're not liking, if you're not following, it's getting ridiculous. It's really getting ridiculous. We're wrapping up on the season. We need y'all with us. We need y'all interacting with us. We need everybody. Episode 22 Switchless podcast. We are.