Greetings my peeps and welcome to the all things basketball podcast with your boy GD.
In this episode I'll be doing my week 7 recap which is pretty much about the end season
tournament all the quarterfinals the semi finals and the finals we'll talk about that
also some injury news guys we'll get you caught up on that as well.
The WNBA lottery took place we'll break that down as well so a lot to talk about so just
sit back relax and enjoy the show.
Okay guys this is your boy GD back with all things basketball with GD podcast and this
week we are going to cover the end season tournament.
So we've had our first inaugural end season tournament and I gotta say it's been a rousing
success but I'll get to that in a minute.
But I do want to start with some injury news before I go into it.
In terms of injury news Zach Levine he's going to be out 3-4 weeks with that foot injury
guys so Zach Levine the nightmare continues for him.
Remember he's been unhappy for a minute now he has this foot injury that seems to be plaguing
him and now it looks like at least 3 weeks we will not see Zach Levine in action so we'll
see what happens with him.
Then Laurie Markinett he missed all of last week with that hamstring injury and we are
now going on 7 games and it's actually going to be 8 because word has it he won't play
in Monday's game so the saga continues for Laurie Markinett and that hammy of his.
Let us move on to Kyrie Irving.
Kyrie Irving injured his foot in a 125-112 win over the Portland Trail Blazers but he
injured his foot it was a freak accident.
His teammate Dwight Powell accidentally stepped on his foot therefore causing the contusion.
The word on the street is he's going to be out indefinitely guys so we don't know the
extent of the injury we are just hearing out indefinitely but we know Kyrie has a history
of injuries he's kind of a slow healer so we'll see what happens which is a shame because
they started out so hot the Mavericks did so we'll definitely keep an eye on Kyrie in
the progress with his foot.
Let's move on to LaMelo Ball his ankle sprain will be reevaluated in a week.
You talk about another guy who kind of heals slowly and remember he missed a lot of time
last season so of course the Charlotte Hornets are going to treat him with kid gloves and
rightfully so this is your franchise player so he will be reevaluated in a week.
Jeremy Grant of the Portland Trail Blazers he missed last week's games with a concussion
so he was out the two games last week and it seems like he won't play Monday in a game
at the LA Clippers.
Jeremy Grant dealing with a concussion how long he'll be out we'll have to wait and
see with that and speaking of Portland Anthony Simons he has returned to action he returned
on December 6 after missing the first 19 games guys remember he had the thumb injury so he
missed the first 19 games now he's back on the court so bit of good news bad news for
the Portland Trail Blazers then Jalen Durant he's going to be out at least two weeks with
an ankle sprain so now you'll get to see the likes of Marvin Bagley probably a James Weisman
as well hopefully we'll see him back on the court very soon.
Bam out of bayou for the Miami Heat he missed the last three games with a hip contusion
and it'll be number fourth when he misses the game tonight so Bam out of bayou dealing
with a hip contusion and also Tyler Hero he remains out with an ankle injury he's been
out the past 14 games guys and tonight will be game number 15 he'll be out the Miami Heat
dealing with a thin roster right now two of your best players down for the count and you
know Jimmy Butler he has his issues in terms of injuries as well so trying times for the
Miami Heat right about now and then this just came in guys bad news for my New York Knicks
Mr. Robinson he's going to be out eight to ten weeks with an ankle injury these ankles
man a lot of them popping up these days which means Isaiah Hartenstein will be the starter
for now you're going to need Jericho Sims to be his backup we'll see how Jericho Sims
has grown in terms of development also you'll probably see a guy like Julius Randall's
slide to the five when you want to go small so it'll have to be a combination of things
but this is a tremendous blow to the New York Knicks here's a guy who was playing defensive
player of the year type numbers he was putting up and to lose a guy like that in the middle
has a crushing blow guys so we'll see how the Knicks respond without their anchor in the
middle Mitchell Robinson so guys that is your injury news let us now talk about the
end season tournament we had the four teams guys four teams in each conference Indiana
and Boston Milwaukee in New York and then in the West we had Sacramento New Orleans Phoenix
and LA Lakers last Monday December 4th of course you had a double header the Indiana
Pacers beat Boston Indiana was actually hosting that game and they won it 122 to 112 and the
game that was pretty competitive guys in fact after the half Boston was leading that game
5548 but the real difference in the game guys number one was turnovers Boston committed
19 Indiana only six and then also from three Indiana made seven more threes then Boston
on nearly the same amount of attempts so you talk about a 21 point swing guys and for the
game Tyrese Holly Burton put on a show 26 points he knocked down five threes in that
game 13 assists zero turnovers guys and oh by the way he added 10 rebounds to get his
first triple double as a professional in the NBA so Tyrese Holly Burton putting in work
and then also yet seven players that scored in double figures Tyrese Holly Burton's father's
goes crazy in the stands which you know you like to see that you'd like to see the parents
enthusiastic about their child and after the game he greets him and people on social media
once say oh him and his father don't have a cool relationship and then Tyrese Holly
Burton goes on Paul George's podcast yeah it was Paul George podcast and he tells him
you know he was kind of embarrassed he said he knows pop he knows he kind of goes overboard
but you know that's who he is so for these morons you know how I feel about social media
guys for these morons to go on social media and say him and his dad aren't cool because
they caught a five second clip of him being kind of I don't want to say standoffish but
like that you kind of embarrassing me you know a moment like that and you taking it to run
and save him and his father ain't cool that's ridiculous but I digress from the subject
so that's what Indiana did in the game for Boston Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown it was
their show guys not much help from others thirty two points for Tatum Jaylen Brown thirty
points for him that is your one game guys then in the nightcap the New Orleans Pelicans
go into Sacramento and they get to win one twenty seven to one seventeen the difference
in that game field goal percentage the pelicans from the field fifty four percent and then
for Sacramento only forty four point seven so that's kind of your disparity there leading
the way for the pelicans Brandon Ingram he had thirty points eight rebounds six assists
Herbert Jones had a nice game twenty three points five rebounds five assists Zion Williamson
ten points for him six rebounds six assists three steals he played twenty seven minutes
guys I'm going to talk about him a little further in a minute and then for the Kings
the Montessabona drops a triple double with twenty six points thirteen rebounds and ten
assists De'Aaron Fox thirty points for him five rebounds four assists but he had six
turnovers guys not good pelicans get the win and they move on to the semis the next day
December 5th Milwaukee Bucks beat the Knicks one forty six to one twenty two so the Knicks
had to go into Milwaukee to face the Bucks and pretty much got shellacked guys the difference
in this game Milwaukee Bucks went crazy from three point range they shot at sixty point
five percent from three that's insane while the Knicks shot at only thirty point four
percent in fact the Milwaukee Bucks hit the same amount of three point goals that the
Knicks attempted with twenty three so that tells you the story in a nutshell guys for
the Bucks Yanisanta Tecumpo thirty five points ten assists eight rebounds three steals for
him Damian Lillard twenty eight points seven assists and three rebounds Julius Randall
coming off a player of the week honors he drops forty one points along with six rebounds
five assists and J. Lynn Brunson twenty four points with six assists RJ Barrett twenty
three points and eight rebounds for him but the Knicks lose bring him with that you know
guys I kind of yeah I guess I'll say it me being a Nick fan I am I kind of don't like
when they're on national television because this opens the door for all this commentary
and analysis so with that said the inside the NBA guys talk about the Knicks you know
what is it they need and these sort of things now bear in mind that the Knicks only recently
have gotten kind of their footing under them in terms of stability in terms of some sort
of success when it comes to playoffs I mean it's a small sample size but they're in the
midst of building something that's sustaining do they need pieces sure they do but I think
the media's overreaction to everything Knicks I think it's for clicks to be honest with
you because they know how rabbit the fan base is but is it's just it even goes too high
or too low it's like never like in the middle so with that said the inside the NBA guys
namely Charles Barkley then Kenny Smith said something utterly ridiculous but Charles Barkley
says he doesn't like teams that are like stuck in the middle there they're not going up they're
not going down and basically said they need to trade for a star and we've heard that lament
all over the place then Kenny Smith goes as far as to say anytime the Knicks play they
have the second or third best player on the court in other words saying that they don't
have the guy to which they say that Tuesday night on first take they echo the sentiment
of course even a being the irrational Nick fan I'm using air quotes here guys because
some days I question his fandom and he pretty much says he's disgusted by the mediocrity
which is hyperbole because it's not exactly mediocrity if you made the playoffs two of
the three years but what do I know and then mad dog Russo's on there and he echoes the
sentiments and then he names all the other guys including Reggie Brown who we don't know
who that is but I think he meant Jalen Brown but that's another story but in any event
this is your media just going nuts over the Knicks and what they done first of all what
Milwaukee did in that game is unheralded to shoot at 60% from three of course obviously
that's the problem where the Knicks aren't guarding the three point line well but I mean
to shoot at 60% is just unseemly and that doesn't happen very often so we have that again I
say the Knicks do need something I was actually talking about this just yesterday with Jennifer
from the Knicks Omni fan group and she kind of agreed with them as well saying that you
probably need a star to guard which I don't disagree with but here's the thing and I
was actually listening to today on the giving go show a caller called up and he named five
players who you would want to start a franchise with shy Gilchrist Alexander Tyrese Holly Burton
who he had a shot at getting also SGA as well Anthony Edwards Apollo Boncaro and the fifth
player escapes me I don't I don't remember who it was but anyhow I named us to say that
all this drafting that the Knicks have done when you draft high you have to hit on guys
other words you're going to be stuck in that middle which we are at so when you have a
chance to get somebody like a Holly Burton who a lot of people saw me as well saw as
a guy who can move the needle who could play either guard position but turns out he settled
as a point guard you have to go after these guys when you swing and miss on a Kevin Knox
and not get a guy like Michael Porter Jr. you can't afford to take these gambles if you
will when you avoid getting a guy like also Mikhail Bridges you can't take these sort
of chances everybody in their mother knew that Mikhail Bridges would be a fine pearl
and you went for Knox instead when you pick in so high you can't make these mistakes because
why they'll come back to haunt you and the Knicks are always easy fodder for the media
especially national media you have to hit on these guys otherwise you're going to get
clowned so do I think the organization as a whole is moving in the right direction I
do think that do I think they probably could have done better with some draft picks of
course but they've hit on some as well and I think I'm alone in this camp when I say
this actually think Emmanuel quickly if he was given a steady diet of play a steady diet
of shots I think he could be if not like a Tyrese Maxley a close facsimile of him that's
why I think I just think the fact that he comes off the bench he has to work his way
in those sort of things that is not exactly easy to do to work yourself into an offense
coming off the bench it's not easy if you were a starter per se I think the opportunities
would be there more sooner than him coming off the bench that's just me I think I'm
alone in that camp but that's a hill I'll I'm willing to stand upon in terms of Emmanuel
quickly and you're going to have to make a decision about him anyway so why not at this
point oh by the way they just decided to bench Quentin Grimes and now they're starting Dante
DeVincenzo actually thought it should be quickly starting but and I thought DeVincenzo probably
works best with Josh Hart coming off the bench but again it's just little me with this podcast
here yeah so that's what they were saying about the Knicks coming out of this game so take
with it what you will all right so let's move on to the nightcap of that evening and that
was the Lakers hosting the Phoenix Suns and beating them just beating them actually 106
to 103 in a game where the turnover battle very much in the Lakers favor Suns with 20
of them Lakers with nine in terms of field goal percentage everything was in Phoenix
favor but in terms of field goals they shot it better than the Lakers from three shot
it better than the Lakers but it was the turnover battle that pretty much did it and then there
was the controversial call where the Lakers called a timeout and the ball was kind of
well they're saying it was pinned to Austin and Reeves when they made the timeout call
and of course the Suns protested it but to no avail and then you know how they have the
two minute rule the next day it came out that they ruled correctly so the Lakers get the
win 106 to 103 in that game LeBron James just beasting guys at age 38 31 points 11 assists
eight rebounds and five steals Anthony Davis 27 points 15 rebounds two blocks and then
for Phoenix Kevin Durant 31 points seven rebounds for sis then Devin Booker 21 points 11 rebounds
six assists and Grayson Allen also had 21 points in that game as well so the Lakers
move on to the semifinals and in the semifinals we have the East semifinals first Indiana
Pacers upsetting the Milwaukee Bucks 128 to 119 in a game where the real difference guys
actually at the half they were winning 63 to 51 and then in the third Milwaukee turns
it around and leaves the third quarter up by three and then in that fourth quarter Indiana
just took control and won the game real difference the assists totals I imagine 34 Indiana just
19 for the Bucks and in that game once again Tauri's Holly Burton the star on the court
27 points 15 assists seven rebounds Miles Turner had a nice game 26 points 10 rebounds
three blocks and then in a losing effort Yonah's onto to come both 37 points 10 rebounds two
blocks Dame Lillard 24 points but on only seven of 20 shooting seven assists seven rebounds
and then with that the Milwaukee Bucks in the locker room it leaked out thanks to Chris
Haynes he reported that inside the locker room Bobby Porter's kind of challenged the
coach Adrian Griffin at the time as well as the team inside that locker room a lot
of people saying stuff like that shouldn't get out so on so forth you know yeah these
things happen in the locker room so whatever happens in the locker room I'm not surprised
I would get too lavered up over it I think it's just the way things are see it that's
anything one way or the other I wouldn't go crazy about it but Milwaukee takes the loss
here with that said let's move on to the evening game the Lakers remember last week Lebron
got his worst loss of 44 point loss to the Sixers and this semi finals he kind of exacts
a little revenge on that bit of history as the Lakers beat the Pelicans 133 to 89 thus
winning by 44 points and in that game at the half they were winning 67 54 and then in that
second half they just blew the doors off scoring 66 to New Orleans 35 points and then from
the field just superior 54.7% to the Pelicans 35.8 and from 348.6% to the Pelicans 22.6%
the Bron James the man is ageless guys 30 points eight assists five rebounds oh by the
way he did it on 22 minutes of action Anthony Davis a nice game across the board 16 points
15 rebounds five assists two blocks and two steals leading the way for the Pelicans trade
Murphy from the bench 14 points Zion Williamson 13 points three assists two rebounds he did
that in 25 minutes guys and then Brandon Ingram and CJ McCullum combined for 18 points together
and they did that on eight of 27 shooting that's pretty horrendous guys one of seven
from three the Lakers get the impressive win and move on to the end season tournament finals
now with that said we turn our attention to the Pelicans in the aftermath now everyone
wants to pile on Zion Williamson inside the NBA and that actually this was the day where
guys like Stephen A Smith and Michael Wilborn came on the set of inside the NBA and kind
of lent their expertise there and they did similar on the NBA today broadcast I believe
Shaq joined them anyhow inside the NBA was talking about Zion Williamson's after game
saying how out of shape he is and it's just come out now that the team wants him to get
himself a dietitian to do something about his weight and that led Charles Barkley to
say Zion Williamson should be the best player on the team right now he's the third best
player on the team that's saying a lot I know the organization is trying to be careful
with him he's only missed the game guys can he be in better shape 100% nope make no mistake
about it and you know what it is you have to have the drive to want to be great the
Zion Williamson have the drive and him to be great that's a huge question he should be
at Virginia 2010 guys he's not doing that he's dropping 22 points he's getting close
to six rebounds again that's not good and that alone tells you about desire rebound
is about desire does he have a desire to be a double figure rebound guy again another
good question and then Steven a he went on first take and then he went on his podcast
to pretty much to say he called him fat will be an understatement he fat shamed the man
he fat shamed him and he says he's doing it from a place of he wants the kid to be great
I get that I understand that but you can't do it in such a shaming way and I think you
went too far with it to be honest Steven a I think you went too far in saying that the
man is not in shape they talked about it actually I had listened to night cat with Shannon sharp
and Chad Ocho Cinco they talked about it as well but it wasn't with the same meanness
as Steven a did on his podcast it was more of a critical I then a sort of shaming I
but I think everybody's in agreement he can be in much better shape I think in his private
moments he knows he needs to do that does he have the will is he willing to do that that's
the huge question and that's one that he and he alone can answer so I guess time will tell
let's just say time will tell alright let's talk about the finals for the n season tournament
again I thought the tournament as a whole arousing success kudos to Adam Silver for
bringing this concept to the forefront of course there's ways you can tweak it and improve
it but I think overall there was a bit of a desire there amongst the fan base so if
that said the Lakers end up taking the inaugural in season tournament championship and they
do it in a 123 to 109 victory and in that game Anthony Davis went absolutely beast mode
guys 41 points 20 rebounds five assists four block shots this is the Anthony Davis everybody
wants to see and he was on display even had a primal yell during the game I am him that's
his frustration with probably you know the way he's being covered and so forth a lot
of people question his motor and things like that so I guess the primal yell came in time
for him and then Austin Reeves off the bench 28 points for him LeBron James who ended up
being the tournament MVP 24 points 11 rebounds four assists with two steals and a game oh
by the way the Lakers out rebounded the Pacers 70 to 43 so you see the disparity there and
they shot it 53.4% from the field as opposed to the Pacers shooting at 36.8 to Reese Holly
Burton nice game 20 points 11 assists and been maffering from the bench 20 points for
him so the Lakers get the win and I think a big winner and this is the Indiana Pacers
for them to go and beat the two top teams in the east to make it to that finals says
a lot about that team and that young man Tyrese Holly Burton who's been the absolute star
in this tournament and you got to take your hat off to Rick Carlisle Rick Carlisle is
a guy who hung his hat on defense you saw him win the championship over there with the Dallas
Mavericks where you had Dirk Nowitzki and you had some key role players guys like Jason
Kidd Tyson Chandler Sean Marion you just had a solid squad there that took the title over
here he's had to make an adjustment and say you know what judging from my team I think
we were gonna have to run guys out of the gym and they're doing that guys they're amongst
the top scorers in the league top scoring team that is you talk about a metamorphosis
for Rick Carlisle and that's what good coaches do guys they adapt to the personnel they have
and they make those adjustments that way right now Rick Carlisle looking very good guys and
I know we're about 20 something games in we'll see how it looks for the next three quarters
of the season your all tournament team of course LeBron James Anthony Davis Tyrese Holly Burton
also rounding out the team you know that's Santa to Kumpo and Kevin Durant and the question is are
they taking that from just the postseason of the end season tournament if you will or are they
doing cumulative numbers for the season as well not really clear on that but we'll get some clarity
one day anyhow so that is your story there and then I heard them talk about this on giving goal as well
should they hang a banner for this end season win and from what I've told why I just read actually
they are gonna hang a banner for it and it's gonna be their next home game which is December 18th
they'll hang a banner up for it but you know something guys a lot of people were clowning LeBron
James for celebrating in the locker room with the goggles with the champagne and so forth
I've even seen it on social media where guys would like oh Michael Jordan wouldn't do that
Kobe Ryan wouldn't do that I'm like really guys really we really want to go there with that
you know what it is I'm not trying to get into LeBron's head but think about the Max Christie's
about the Jackson Hazes about the Jalen Hood Chafinos think about the guys at the end of that bench
who's going to get this $500,000 you know you you need every single one of these guys
guys even if they're at the end of the bench so this whole notion to clown LeBron James at every
turn I'm not gonna say I don't get it but I think it's it's an exercise of futility to me that's
that's all I'm gonna say on that and then of course there's the nick angle to this
end season tournament final of course there's always a nick angle some kind of way it's like
the six degrees of separation of the nicks we have two starters there one for each side that was
a former nick Oby Toppin for the Pacers and Kam Reddish for the Lakers and of course Kam Reddish
he's bounced around a bit he seems to have found a home with LA and there was a point in the season
where LeBron tried to boost up the man's confidence and he did that so much so that he's
contributing now maybe not eye popping on the stat sheet but he's contributing in other ways
and the reason why is because of LeBron James he's instills this kind of confidence in the guys
and then of course you have the Oby side where he gets traded over there and you know
I said too that I thought this was a good situation for Oby Toppin he's got to be careful though
because he got young guys nipping at his heels but this is an opportunity for him to kind of
find his way and kind of flourish and seems comfortable there with the Pacers seems like
Rick Carlisle knows how to utilize him best so does it speak to the coach here in New York
I'll leave that for the nick fanatics of the fan base to uh Obyn about but I thought I'd just
bring it up so that is that so that ties the bow on the end season tournament guys kudos to
Adam Silver and those in the office for creating this and hopefully this is a harbinger of better
things to come with the tournament with that said speaking of LeBron James, Brony James actually
makes his debut a day after his father wins the end season tournament and wins MVP so Brony James
makes his season debut for USC and this is five months after going into cardiac arrest guys
five months later he plays in his first game he plays 17 minutes scores four points grabs three
rebounds to assist two steals in a block and a loss actually to Long Beach State University so
Brony James they're bringing them along slowly just 17 minutes coming off the bench they're
being careful with him and rightfully so especially after that heart episode in the summer it's great
to see him out there on the court he even spoke post game about it he thanked everyone you know
his family his parents of course for supporting him for all those fans following him for the school
itself for the medical team that worked on him so very gracious very full of gratitude you like
seeing that ain't a young man and he can't help but wish the best for this young man going forward
so hopefully this is the first of more to come from Brony James on the basketball court so with
that said one more news item and that's it guys the WNBA had their lottery in the orders now the
Indiana fever getting the first pick two years in a row got it with alia boston last year and remember
two years back they got the second pick in the draft so you're talking two one and then one again
followed by the LA sparks the phoenix mercury the seattle storm then you go down to the
dallas wizards washington mystics then the minnesota links at eight the a lana dream and then
dallas again getting another pick connecticut sun and then rounding out the last two picks are the
liberty and the los vegas aces in a draft where it seems like caitlin clark she's going to end up
declaring and going to the WNBA if that's the case i tell you what iowa isn't too far from indiana so
you'll have the iowa faithful infiltrating that state that's for sure but there'll be a nice combination
little inside out with caitlin clark and alia boston you need to add pieces that's the important
thing seems like the indiana fever are doing that major props to lend done in the organization over
there for the indiana fever the sparks with the second pick it seems like they could go local
and take cameron brink if we were to have a draft today cameron brink it seemed like a natural fit
callie girl going to a callie team just seems right and then probably phoenix pagebeckers we
don't know if she'll declare for the draft or not she can take an extra year if she want
there's something that she will take it because of the injury to aza fud so it's possible she
stays one more year so we'll see what happens with her camilla cardozo she's in the mix to be amongst
the top four players taken then you have other players like alia edwards from uconn rikkiah
jackson from tennessee you have the young lady from australia there angel reese a lot of people
they're saying that angel reese could go if that's the case she would fall to
alana dream so that could be on the radar for her georgia amore elissa pealy from utah who
looked fantastic overnight she dropped 37 points playing against uh south carolina and elizabeth
keatley i think it's like a low-key solid pick for a team for vod tech as well so you have the
w mba lottery and that took place indiana the rich gets a bit richer guys back to back number one
picks for them so with that said that's it guys that's it for this episode as always i thank you
for listening always appreciate it and i guess we'll get back to the business of actual basketball
although there was a couple of games played last week but we get to the full schedule of
mba games again in week eight so with that said thank you for listening guys and we'll talk soon
take care hello my peeps thank you for listening and supporting the all things basketball with gd
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