1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,900 Greetings my peeps and welcome to all things basketball podcast with your boy GD. 2 00:00:10,900 --> 00:00:17,120 In this episode we will finish up the mid-march recap talking about some finds that were 3 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:24,960 levied and suspensions as well as Paul Gasol his jersey being retired in LA. 4 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,680 We will talk about Dane Lillard and his loyalty to Portland. 5 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:30,640 We will discuss that. 6 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:37,000 Talk about JJ Redican the discussion he had with Kendrick Perkins on stat padding and 7 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,080 so forth. 8 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:48,400 Also women's month so there was a broadcast dedicated to that so we will talk about that. 9 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:53,800 The passing of a long time communications director and also March Madness so we will 10 00:00:53,800 --> 00:01:05,560 cover it all so just sit back relax and enjoy the show. 11 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:14,240 Ok guys so we already covered we are doing our kind of 2 week mid-march recap of all 12 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,800 that is going on in the NBA. 13 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:22,400 We covered so far the players of the week for week 20 and 21. 14 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:28,460 We talked about the job and ran situation and all that is surrounding around that. 15 00:01:28,460 --> 00:01:31,940 We talked injury news. 16 00:01:31,940 --> 00:01:39,640 Talked about player signings and some milestone stones that were achieved by different players 17 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,480 and one coach. 18 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:54,080 And then now we are going to talk about the finds Paul Gasol we will talk about Dane Lillard. 19 00:01:54,080 --> 00:02:02,800 Again I want to circle back to that as well as talk little JJ Redick as well. 20 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:10,000 We will also cover all women's broadcast that was done in honor of International Women's 21 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,840 Month and then talk a little NCAA right quick. 22 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,560 Alright guys so let's begin. 23 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:24,160 Let's start with finds that were levied as well as suspension. 24 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:33,240 Fred Van Vliet of the Toronto Raptors find $30,000 for criticizing officials after a 25 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,800 loss to the LA Clippers. 26 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:44,800 I listen to it man I tell you what I have absolutely zero issue with what Fred Van Vliet 27 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:45,800 had to say. 28 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:55,920 The officiating lately in the NBA has really been problematic guys. 29 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:10,160 I saw things as small as Julius Randall getting a tech for simply questioning a ref's call. 30 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:15,760 I seem to get teased up for that. 31 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,960 Thankfully he didn't go any further where he got ejected. 32 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,280 He was able to calm himself down. 33 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:28,560 I saw where Jordan Poole of the Warriors where he tossed the ball back to the ref and got 34 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:30,480 a tech for that. 35 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:34,320 I've just seen it far too often. 36 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:46,680 In this case here Van Vliet levied these offenses against Ben Taylor a ref who's already given 37 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:53,080 him 3 techs for the year so far and in the 4th game where he was part of the officiating 38 00:03:53,080 --> 00:04:01,880 team he got another tech so that's 4 of his 8 techs connected to one ref. 39 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,600 That's not good guys. 40 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:10,840 I think the NBA when season's done needs to really address that issue. 41 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:19,240 That is an issue guys because as Van Vliet said they come to the games to enjoy the players 42 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:20,920 not for the refs. 43 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,960 Nobody comes to the games saying oh I want to hear so and so call a good game. 44 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,680 No they come to see the players on the court. 45 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:35,480 So NBA you're Adam Silver you're going to have to deal with this ref situation because 46 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:43,400 they're really getting tacky tacky with some of these calls especially the technical files. 47 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,320 So that's one fine. 48 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:53,160 Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics the guy who's always in the mix when it comes to all 49 00:04:53,160 --> 00:05:01,480 the occasions and so forth $25,000 and this is for all the occasion with Trey Young in 50 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:09,520 a game that his team actually won over Atlanta but this happened with about a minute 25 left 51 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:17,040 in the game where he and Trey Young went face to face and then ends up rolling on the floor 52 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:18,080 and so forth. 53 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:26,680 So Marcus Smart is a guy who has no back down in him so Trey picked the right one that day 54 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:36,400 but Marcus Smart nonetheless you know given his history he did get ejected in that game 55 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:44,800 but he also catches now a $25,000 fine from the league so that's that. 56 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:50,040 And then we have Dylan Brooks. 57 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:58,720 Dylan Brooks is suspended one game without pay for receiving his 16th technical file 58 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:08,360 and now it's a case where now he's up to 16 with each two additional technical files 59 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:12,480 that he gets called for he'll miss a game. 60 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:20,440 And this happened in a this actually happened in the loss against Denver that came up at 61 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:30,680 Denver the one where you know prompted Chabram to do what he did so so he he ended up missing 62 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:37,400 the game after which was at the LA Clippers so. 63 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:47,080 And then also a week later on March 9th he goes face to face with Dreymon Green and a 64 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:54,120 blowout in their blowout went over the Gold State Warriors so. 65 00:06:54,120 --> 00:07:03,160 So Dylan Brooks man and he has a nerve to say to question Dreymon Green and what he's 66 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:11,920 done in the NBA which Dylan slow your roll because you can't even hold a candle to what 67 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:13,240 Dreymon has accomplished. 68 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:19,800 Dreymon can speak for himself he got his own podcast he can speak for himself but you 69 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:26,280 throw up Dreymon's resume against yours and it doesn't even compare man. 70 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:34,120 Everyone knows that he's the emotional leader of that Golden State Warriors championship 71 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:43,200 ball clubs everyone knows that so for you to even question question the man is out of 72 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:51,080 bounds and Dylan Brooks actually used to be a very good player used to be a guy who can 73 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:57,040 you know you can count on for scoring and so forth he's shooting horribly he's shooting 74 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:06,760 horribly he's now this extracurricular guy whose mouthy now we all know about him going 75 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:15,440 back and forth with Shannon's Shannon Sharpe in fact so so it happened there you call 76 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:22,680 Shannon Sharpe a blogger he by oh by the way he he does not have a blog he's actually 77 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:32,200 a TV personality oh by the way he also called Dreymon Green a blogger no he just happens 78 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:37,600 to have his own podcast so Dylan Brooks I don't know what he's trying to do he's trying 79 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:47,840 to be a low rent Dennis Robin but only differences Dennis Robin had skill he was a winner and 80 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:59,480 um yeah and he'll he's a whole fame player as of now Dylan Brooks I don't think he even 81 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:05,920 come near that so so you know he's just making a name for himself so forth what it leads to 82 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:13,320 who knows but right now they need you to play man because Memphis Grizzly are missing some 83 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:19,800 guys so they need you to step up and stop with all this extracurricular stuff so I'm 84 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:28,520 just saying so so that's the deal with the fines and suspensions and so forth so let's 85 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:38,040 talk Paul Gasol shall we Paul Gasol had his number 16 jersey for the LA Lakers retired 86 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:45,440 on March 5th against the Golden State Warriors the same day that Steph Curry returned back 87 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:55,600 to the lineup so and it was a emotional ceremony of course because he he was honored there without 88 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:06,480 his teammate Kobe Ryan who passed away back in 2020 so bittersweet day but Kobe Bryant 89 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:13,680 actually predicted this day will come he was axed while he was at the Oscars where he 90 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:23,360 got a Oscar for his documentary he was asked about that and he said one day Paul Gasol 91 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:30,680 jersey will hang in the Raptors next to mine and he was so true so Paul Gasol let's look 92 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:41,160 at his career oh by the way he's a 2000 he's a 2023 Naismith Hall of Fame finalist by the 93 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:53,960 way so 18 years he played in the league played in over 1200 games average 17 points per game 94 00:10:53,960 --> 00:11:04,240 9.2 rebounds 3.2 assists 1.6 blocks guys along with shooting 50.7% from the field so he makes 95 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:12,560 half of his shots of from three he was able to be a stretch four and five out there shooting 96 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:23,080 36.8% from three and 75.3% from the free throw line he was drafted in the first round he was 97 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:30,880 the third pick overall he was actually drafted guys this was in 2001 draft he was actually 98 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:39,320 drafted by the Atlanta Hawks but traded on draft day along with Brevin Knight and Lorenz 99 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:48,440 and Tate the late Lorenz and Tate to Memphis for Sharif Abdul Rahim and Jamal Tensley so 100 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:56,160 so so he was immediately dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies we were talking about Memphis Grizzlies 101 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:05,880 a lot here he was traded after seven seasons there in those seven seasons he made one all 102 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:13,320 star game and he was traded to LA in a big package there pack package which included 103 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:24,360 actually his brother Mark going to Memphis where he forged the fine career there so so 104 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:33,520 he he ends up spending seven years with the Lakers this was post Shaq was gone now so 105 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:44,400 Kobe needed that of a guy next to him so he can get a few chips himself which he did so 106 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:53,640 so he spent seven years there three all-star appearances while there then he ends up after 107 00:12:53,640 --> 00:13:01,120 his contract's done signing with the Chicago Bulls for two seasons it is two season they 108 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:09,680 made two all-star games then he moves on to San Antonio for two and a half years and then 109 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:15,640 he goes to Milwaukee where he plays three games there he last signs with the Portland Trail 110 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:21,560 Blazers but he never plays a game for them because of a foot injury has he's eventually 111 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:32,440 waved and he announces his retirement in October 5th of 2021 so but he hadn't played 112 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:44,140 a game his last game was played in actually 2019 so thus making him eligible for the 113 00:13:44,140 --> 00:13:52,160 Paula Fane so and then there's his international resume that's pretty substantial as well his 114 00:13:52,160 --> 00:14:02,200 time playing with the Spain team the Spanish team there so a lot of success there so so 115 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:11,200 in essence six all-star appearances for him four times all NBA a two-time champion and 116 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:18,840 he was a rookie of the year as well so Paul Gasol with excellent credentials thus worthy 117 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:26,800 of Hall of Fame considerations so Paul Gasol we salute you and hopefully actually they'll 118 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:32,440 be announcing it next month who makes the Hall of Fame so hopefully your name will get 119 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:41,180 called so alright so that's what went on with Paul Gasol let's talk speaking of Portland 120 00:14:41,180 --> 00:14:52,720 let's talk about Dame Lillard I talked about this previous episode in my February recap 121 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:59,360 but I had to circle around to it again because of two things a recent article that Sean 122 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:07,120 Powell wrote that actually points to the issue that Dame Lillard makes when he appears on 123 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:14,400 the old man in the three podcast that's the podcast with JJ Redick so he talks about how 124 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:21,480 the league has changed it's more ring driven now a lot of that is media motivated also 125 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:35,280 social media motivated as well yeah so and then also even on top of that you got these 126 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:44,200 clowns on social media wanna downplay and poo poo guys who didn't get a ring and so forth 127 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:53,200 so and the media doesn't you know help matters either and then that permeates into players 128 00:15:53,200 --> 00:16:01,140 minds so you got a guy like for instance Kevin Durant he leaves the situation in Oklahoma 129 00:16:01,140 --> 00:16:08,280 City to join up with Golden State so he could get a few rings there but now they wanna discredit 130 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:16,120 those rings because he joined a fortified team over there and now everybody says now 131 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:23,480 you gotta get your own ring and so forth so and actually Dame kind of alluded to that 132 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:36,760 in this in this podcast episode with JJ Redick so again I I applaud the man for you know 133 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:44,760 his loyalty to one organization I give him credit for that but it but the article that 134 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:49,200 Sean Powell writes flies in the face of it it's basically saying that the pressures on 135 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:55,360 him to you know get a ring I don't put the pressure on him to be honest with you I put 136 00:16:55,360 --> 00:17:04,880 the onus more on the Portland front office it's upon it's upon them to build a winner 137 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:17,800 around Dame Lillard if they don't like that then you know that's the way it has to be 138 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,280 and I don't believe they want to trade them of course they don't want to trade them they 139 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:29,120 just paid the man they just gave me an extension so I just think it's a situation where it 140 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:39,400 is what it is and for us not saying us and what you'll never hear on this podcast you'll 141 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:46,520 never hear any goat talk from me because I'm not here to declare who's the goat who's 142 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:54,360 the goat you won't hear that on this podcast no you won't hear it now there players within 143 00:17:54,360 --> 00:18:01,400 a certain time period I'll say was the best in that time period but overall go I can't 144 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:08,920 do it because situations has changed over the years you went from a 18 league now to 145 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:16,480 a 16 team league now you got a 30 team league so those situations there change also you 146 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:28,680 have the event of you know better weight training so forth you have a lot of different circumstances 147 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:35,400 you now in the age of social media so that plays a part part and parcel in a players 148 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:42,000 mindset it shouldn't but it does so so I'm not here to declare a goat so you won't hear 149 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:49,960 that on here and you won't hear me with a top 10 or 25 list of players who have having 150 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:56,080 one rings you won't hear that here because if you're a great player you're a great player 151 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:09,360 the eye tests will tell the tale so Dominique Wilkins great player great player Vince Carter 152 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:17,000 great player Charles Barkley when he played absolutely great player John Stockton great 153 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:25,960 player Patrick Ewing great player Carmelone great player did they any of them get rings 154 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:33,280 no that doesn't take away from what they did on that court that's for sure so yeah so I'm 155 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:40,320 not here to cast any type of Spurgeon's oh and Allen Iverson of course great player as 156 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:53,160 well but I'm not here to cast any sort of I'm not counting them short because of what 157 00:19:53,160 --> 00:20:00,120 what they didn't do I just count what they did and they were fantastic players so with 158 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:11,480 that said and then also him Dame Lillard has an ally in Bill Walton ally Bill Walton absolutely 159 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:20,440 loved Dame Lillard he plaudts him remember Bill Walton himself is the last player to 160 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:31,560 win a championship in the city of Portland so so he empathizes with Dean and he is one 161 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:38,680 of his biggest fans that's for sure and he had a lot of great things to say about Dean 162 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:45,360 so so he definitely has a lot of Bill Walton everybody knows Bill Walton as this quirky 163 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:59,000 sort of analyst now who has this alternate broadcast on the NBA dot com but Bill Walton 164 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:05,560 in his day when he was healthy he was as transcended a center as you see in the NBA and you see 165 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:16,920 if what you see Nikolai Yoke doing Bill Russell not Bill Russell Bill Walton kind of set 166 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:26,200 the standard for the passing center that's for sure so yeah but Bill Walton definitely 167 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:34,280 a fan of Dame Lillard and I'm a fan as well the man is tremendous I mean what he's able 168 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:44,240 to do on the basketball court is awe inspiring so again I totally get what he's saying 169 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:51,640 it's about the journey it should be about the journey in terms of basketball not how 170 00:21:51,640 --> 00:22:01,040 not the ring counting that we do and so forth so yeah so Dame Lillard much respect to you 171 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:11,720 that's for sure so so again I wanted to address that once again now let's circle this since 172 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:20,680 he was on this man's podcast let's talk about him JJ Rattick JJ Rattick you know he's now 173 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:32,680 on TV he's appears on first take he's also does broadcasts also on ESPN he does it with 174 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:43,880 Ryan Ruko and so forth so so JJ goes at it with Kendrick Perkins on first take about 175 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:55,320 Nikolai Yoke and this whole notion of stat padding as well as his MVP aspirations and 176 00:22:55,320 --> 00:23:08,760 pretty much accused cried racism as far as you know folks who doesn't see Nikolai Yoke 177 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:17,640 for who he is so and thinks that the MVP voting will reflect that first of all the man has 178 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:25,920 won it twice already so I don't see how you can even launch that but I will agree with 179 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:32,680 him on the Nikolai Yoke and this whole ridiculous notion of stat padding that Kendrick Perkins 180 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:44,040 brought up think about this guys he has a 28 game win streak in games in which he has 181 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:52,280 the triple double 24 and 0 this season thus far and if you count the previous season 182 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:58,000 he had four games towards the end where he had triple doubles in the team one so we're 183 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:10,000 talking the 28 game win streak guys and for his career he has a 82% win percentage in 184 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:20,040 fact he's right at a hundred games of triple doubles where he's at 82 and 18 so the only 185 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:31,720 two players with averages above his is Dreymon Green who's 30 and 1 and then Giannis Antutokunpo 186 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:40,280 I think he's somewhere at 87% but yes I think fewer than 30 I think he has about 33 games 187 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:49,120 in which I think he's won 28 of the 20 of the 33 so those only two guys with higher 188 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:57,560 percentages than Nikolai Yoke so and this MVP race is going to be a tight one it's 189 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:03,800 going to be a tight one I think Joel and B really has an opportunity here I understand 190 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:11,280 I get what Yoke is doing especially with the top team in the West but a lot of people will 191 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:18,560 poo poo that and say they'll point to the job moran situation why they're not up there 192 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:26,880 they'll point to the Lakers not being what they are they'll talk about the kind of confusion 193 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:32,480 that's going on with the Clippers and just say you know they just took advantage of 194 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:42,640 a weak West so I think the MVP race will be very interesting between him and Joel and 195 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:48,960 me and let us not forget Giannis Antutokunpo he needs to be in that discussion as well 196 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:59,920 so yeah but JJ record quite a presence on ESPN between him calling those games him being 197 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:08,760 on first take and then also when the he went against old head Chris Russo of course a Mike 198 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:21,640 and a mad dog where he actually downplay Larry Bird as a three point shooter and let's let's 199 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:29,240 get this out the way when Larry Bird first came in the league they had just introduced 200 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:39,560 a three point shot by the way so it was early in its infancy so the onus back then is not 201 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:47,440 what it is today in terms of three point shooting so with that said if Larry Bird was playing 202 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:54,200 in today's NBA it would be no it'd be a no brainer he'd be one of best in three point 203 00:26:54,200 --> 00:27:05,040 shooters ever to play the game no question about it so yeah so JJ nah I can't flow with 204 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:14,320 you on that one so yeah so so that's that and also on the case of stat padding Giannis 205 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:22,120 actually had a rebound taken away from him in a game where he he was close to a triple 206 00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:29,720 double he must have knew it he missed the shot on purpose against Washington and the 207 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:35,560 league rescinded the rebound so he was just short of a triple double so now that's that 208 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:44,760 padding guys so just a little brief example of that so nonetheless so that's the thing 209 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:56,320 with JJ Redick I wanted to address now next bit of news on March 8th in the Dallas game 210 00:27:56,320 --> 00:28:06,200 versus the New Orleans Pelicans in which they the Pelicans won 113 to 106 ESPN had an all 211 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:14,880 female broadcast team Beth Moans who we know from college basketball she calls a lot of 212 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:21,480 the women's games there tremendous talent so she was on play by play along with Darius 213 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:27,680 Burke we all know Darius Burke and the work she's done the color commentary she's done 214 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:35,160 for the NBA for quite a few years now so both of them was in the booth and Cassidy Hubbard 215 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:42,280 she was the sideline reporter for that game as well Cassidy Hubbard she does sideline 216 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:48,640 reporting very well and then they had a pregame panel with of course Malika Andrews being 217 00:28:48,640 --> 00:29:05,080 the studio host and she was joined by Chennai I always get this name a woman a woman K 218 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:14,680 okay Chennai a woman K she was on the panel as well as Ramona Shelburne Monica of McNutt 219 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:21,760 who's a rising star as well she does Nick brought she's in studio for Nick's pre and 220 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:27,240 post game there as well as she's called some games on she's done analyst work on radio 221 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:36,440 for the Knicks again a rising star and Becky Hammond who was just hired by ESPN to do analyst 222 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:44,360 work she was amongst that panel as well for that game so yeah and then not to mention 223 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:53,360 the women behind the scenes so kudos to ESPN for having such a day with such talent as 224 00:29:53,360 --> 00:30:04,880 that so so that's that bit of news then we have sad news David Benner long time Indiana 225 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:14,280 Pacers communications director he was there for 28 years he passed away on March 1st and 226 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:27,360 he passed away at the age of 67 David Benner who ready Miller was actually they they they 227 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:35,640 were so very close in fact part of his pregame stuff he would get in the face of David Benner 228 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:45,120 and say all these crazy things so yeah so David Benner he was there he's been there 229 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:53,960 PR person for the past 28 years in those years he's had to do PR for their six Eastern Conference 230 00:30:53,960 --> 00:31:01,680 finals appearances a finals appearance as well and as individual players he's had to 231 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:07,880 do PR work for defensive player of the year most improved player of the year coach of 232 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:16,280 the year and executive of the year so before he joined the Indiana Pacer organization he 233 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:25,920 previously worked as a sports commentator for the Indianapolis star and he retired in two 234 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:37,960 after the 2021-22 season so and then a week later after David's passing he was awarded 235 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:50,880 the Brian McIntyre trophy and this is the Slave McHugh tribute to excellence award this is 236 00:31:50,880 --> 00:32:01,400 given by the NBA public relations directors association and this award is giving to most 237 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:14,280 outstanding you know PR person so he so he was given this award and Mark Paver he was 238 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:22,120 a PR director for the Washington Bullets for a number of years and then Howie McHugh was 239 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:32,520 a long time Boston Celtics PR director there as well so so the award is named in there 240 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:44,840 on us so and David Benner Benner gets this award although and after he has passed so 241 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:53,360 so David Benner we salute you and all that you've done in the NBA for those 28 years 242 00:32:53,360 --> 00:33:03,920 with the Pacers and we say that you rest in peace so alright and then the last bit of 243 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:16,760 news Mark Madness guys it's start it starts Thursday March 16th and your top seeds are 244 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:25,840 the Houston Cougars Alabama Crimson Tide Purdue Ballermakers and the defending champs the 245 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:33,160 Kansas J Hawks so those are your top seeds there but you also got other teams that's 246 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:45,080 willing to make their statements Arizona Wildcats UCLA Bruins the Yukon Huskies Texas Longhorns 247 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:53,000 Marquette they'll have something to say about it and of course Duke you always cannot count 248 00:33:53,000 --> 00:34:03,120 out Duke especially in the post Mike Shishevsky era so a number of players with NBA aspirations 249 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:12,800 will be in these tournaments here Brandon Miller the freshman out of Alabama he's a 250 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:22,680 swing man in a bit of trouble there as well as they have kind of linked him with a capital 251 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:29,520 murder of Darius Miles that's still a situation in flux so we'll see what happens there so 252 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:36,920 much so yes to carry extra security with him unfortunately so and then you have Jarra 253 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:47,120 Jarrace Walker of the Houston Cougars there he's a freshman as well power forward for 254 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:56,480 that team Grady Dick for the freshman for the Kansas J Hawks who's an outstanding shooter 255 00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:05,680 swing man there so you keep an eye out for a kid like him also you have Chris Murray 256 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:14,320 the brother of Keegan Murray who's in the NBA playing for the Sacramento Kings he is 257 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:23,280 a forward junior in fact so we'll see if he declares you got the backcourt in Arkansas 258 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:31,600 of Nick Smith Junior and Anthony Black that's a backcourt to keep an eye on in these tournaments 259 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:44,240 here case in Wallace a freshman as well a freshman point guard kind of in the likes of a shy 260 00:35:44,240 --> 00:35:55,120 Gilkis Alexander Devin Booker Tyler hero Tyrese Maxey manual quickly those guys coming 261 00:35:55,120 --> 00:36:01,640 out of that program he's kind of in that vein maybe not the shooter that a few of them are 262 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:08,640 but definitely kind of like a point guard but probably a combo guard we'll see what happens 263 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:20,600 with that freshman there and then a big man to keep an eye out on Zach Edie and he's from 264 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:35,560 the poor the Purdue baller makers juniors he's a center at six at six at seven foot four 265 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:43,760 so quite tall nonetheless and able to you know do damage inside so definitely keep an 266 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:50,760 eye out for that junior as well so so the tournament getting underway guys I'm sure everybody 267 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:57,760 and unfilled out there Brackens and so forth and see we'll see what happens there so should 268 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:05,920 be exciting tournament so we'll see how things transpire and so forth so should be interesting 269 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:14,640 alright guys so that is going to do it for this episode here again might have to take 270 00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:23,320 a little bit more time off still dealing with some issues here myself personally so a few 271 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:32,080 health and otherwise so just trying to get things under wraps in in good shape in that 272 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:40,600 regard so alright guys so that's going to do it for now again I remind you to write reviews 273 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:48,560 please visit my website all things basketball with GD.com you can write reviews there also 274 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:55,760 Apple podcast I'm on there I'm on you know the major podcast platforms but Apple you 275 00:37:55,760 --> 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