Opening Week Thoughts with Chiney Ogwumike
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And now, The Low Post. Welcome to The Low Post podcast very early. Really, really too early on a Friday morning in Los Angeles where every team...

in the NBA has now played at least one game. I've seen, I think, nine of the 16 games all the way through and little snippets of others. I got a lot of thoughts to get out into the air. And we have my friend, my colleague from NBA Today, someone who's mainlining games just like me and surely has some thoughts on what happened in the battle of Los Angeles last night. Streetlights versus spotlights. Clippers-Lakers is back. Kawhi Leonard is back.

Two vintage mid-range jumpers right off the bat was guarding LeBron and AD down the stretch. John Wall is back. Let's not overlook how great John Wall looked. Russell Westbrook.

Okay. Chanae Gloomcray, how are you? Oh man, when you said Russell Westbrook, I have my window open in my place. There were like little crickets, and I was like, no, no. I'm doing great. We had a wonderful week of work. We actually were able to be on the floor at Crypto yesterday ahead of the Battle of LA, and it was really fun as a squad, but I'm glad to be here to nerd out with you. Yeah, you made it corner three, one take.

Jenea made a corner three immediately, and I think that was the best-looking shot that happened at Staples Center, at least from the Lakers' perspective last night. 9 of 45 from 3. This is a count of mine. 10 from 45. Russ was 0 of 11.

Did have five steals and some defensive stances on Kawhi and some mean faces that he made after those defensive stances. You don't get any points for mean faces, but they did look good on television. And almost as damning, six of his 11 shots were threes. And if half of Russell Westbrook's shots are threes, something has gone very badly with your offense.

In two games, the Lakers have the second worst offense in the NBA ahead of only the Milwaukee Bucks, who we're going to talk about later. Their half-court offense is a complete disaster. In their first game against the Warriors, they put up a, according to Cleaning the Glass, Sinead, a zero percentile offense.

Half court points per possession. I didn't even know you could get all the way down to zero in the percentile scale. I think zero in the percentile scale is you're just dead. If you're a zero in the percentile scale, you're dead. Russell Westbrook has ran 11 pick and rolls in each of the first two games, which is among the two dozen lowest numbers of his entire career in any game, according to Second Spectrum.

And we just have to start here because the Lakers are 0-2. The schedule doesn't get any easier. The West is completely unforgiving. The Pelicans looked like world beaters in just thrashing all over the nets. The Blazers looked good in their first game against the Kings, who also looked good. The competition is going to be really tough. And I just, you know, I don't even know where to start with the Lakers. Everyone is going to...

And everyone is already asking me at the game last night, front office people, scouts, what are they going to do? Are they going to make a panic trade? Are they going to do this two first round picks for Buddy Heald and Miles Turner? I don't know what they're going to do. My sense is it might go the opposite way where they just look at their team and just say, we're so far away that we actually are less likely to make a trade like that because it's just lighting our picks on fire. But that's a lot of Lakers thoughts. We have to start there. What is

What is there even to say, Chanae? So if you heard something, that was me tearing a page out of my notebook because as you talked, I had so many thoughts. And watching the Lakers...

On one hand, you're like, oh my gosh, this game is competitive. You're happy. But on the other hand, it just feels like there's still this cloud over them based on the issues that they have on the court. And you mentioned some really interesting things. First, the pick and roll. And that being the lowest amount of pick and rolls that Russ has had to start the year. And I think that makes sense because I've always said, if he's not going to be an effective shooter, just by the way his game is limited, you really want to limit those pick and rolls where he's the ball handler.

You want him to be in the opposite situation where he can sort of come low in screen so that he's sort of able to get to the paint where he wants to go instead of starting high in screen where people can sag after he does a dribble handoff or gets into a pick and roll. People just can go with the roller. And so that seems by design, but it also does not make him feel good or be confident within that offense. The second thing is rush shooting threes.

So I'm someone that's trying to evolve into becoming a three-point shooter, ironically. And the mentality approaching the three-point shot, Zach, is so important. You can't have different mentalities per game. And it seems like sometimes some games Russ is like, I'm not going to shoot it today. And then the next game, I'm going to shoot it today. To me, that just is very difficult as a player to get through because you need to know that you have to be committed to shooting it regardless.

in order to figure things out. - And the issue goes beyond Russ. They're 19 of 85 on threes. They have, I have a sentence that I wrote the day of the Russ trade in my column about the Russ trade.

If you have built a team around LeBron James where LeBron is the best shooter on the floor for a certain non-trivial percentage of time and now maybe like almost all the time, you have failed to build a good team around LeBron James. And it's just that Pat Beverly can't make a shot. He has nine fouls in 58 minutes so far for the season. He's just fouling everything in sight, which is what Pat Bev does.

And you saw last night, I mean, they had now Lonnie Walker IV.

bailed them out of a few of these but they had like six possessions where the ball swung around everybody who caught it was wide open from three nobody wanted to shoot it they just kept on driving into nothingness and Lonnie Walker the fourth because he's athletic and had a really nice game last night kind of made some funky twisting layups out of it it's just I don't even know what to do because they just don't no matter what they do they don't have enough shooting um you

We can talk about who should play, who shouldn't play. I mean, Kendrick Nunn can't make a shot. He'll make some shots. They just don't have enough shooting. And they also – I'm glad you said what you said about last night being hopeful because they competed. They played a really good defensive game. Anthony Davis got some easy buckets as a rim runner in the pick and roll, spread pick and roll, which is the whole point of playing him. Were you concerned about him going down for a little bit, his back, his face, his grimace?

First of all, Grimace is also an underrated McDonald's character. I don't know if your generation is familiar with Grimace. By the way, should I also mention that they have Happy Meals coming back for adults where we get toys? No. Yeah, adult Happy Meals are a thing for McDonald's. Now, mind you, I haven't eaten McDonald's in like – well, actually in a while. Yeah, you can't. You must be contractually banned. But we love McDonald's because I'm a McDonald's All-American. We love McDonald's, but I just really –

Wait a second. What's an adult toy in a happy meal? Is it for the people who collect like Star Wars stuff like to add to my 40-year-old virgin collection of dolls? It's apparently like one of – it's the series of the first toys that they put in Happy Meal. So like things that we would recognize or maybe me as millennials. I don't know if our generation crosses over with Happy Meal toys recognition because there's a slight gap.

But like I saw a funny tweet out there. Someone said, oh, I don't care about them unless they give me my tiny beanie babies. And I was like, yes, that is a child that was raised in the 90s. Beanie babies. I was in high school and college when the beanie baby craze happened. But this is – Grimace has gotten us sidetracked. Sorry. Anthony Davis got some easy buckets diving to the rim, which is the whole point of playing him at center. That's great. And to answer your question, once every four days, I think –

I think about an all-time Hall of Fame tweet from Bob Volgaris, who was the professional gambler turned Dallas Mavericks front office guy, now turned owner of some soccer team in Spain, who said, this is like six years ago now, my biggest injury concern for Anthony Davis at this point is effects from x-ray radiation for all the times he leaves the games in the middle of the games to get x-rays. And I think of that every time he falls over.

Yeah, it's... But they did compete. They did play hard. It's just...

Even in a game where they competed and played hard, there were stretches where it just felt like LeBron's just kind of out here chucking threes. And they don't really have a plan in the half court. They all know. They can all look around and know. We just don't have it. LeBron, they don't have lasers. LeBron said it himself. We don't have lasers. And the difference between now and 2020 when they won the bubble championship is A, LeBron

As if they were trying to do some bizarre avant-garde experiment where the subject of the experiment was, can we do the exact opposite of what won us a championship around LeBron and AD and still win? And the answer is no. So the supporting cast has changed. And LeBron and Anthony Davis four years ago, three years ago, were the first and sixth or seventh best players in the NBA. And now they are, let's be generous to LeBron, like fifth and fourth.

17th or something. And that's a gigantic difference. Yeah, it is. And Oh goodness. You know, I think that it's tough because the Lakers, you could just tell they were fiending for some hope. They're fiending for an opportunity to compete so that they feel better about themselves. But at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is this, we all know Anthony Davis and LeBron James, they're going to get their points. They're just professionals to that level.

Now, the question is, will there be shooting, as you mentioned? And the answer, we all know the answer to that. The Patrick Beverly Westbrook was a little bit, you know, mind boggling. Like on one side, you're like, OK, you've got like real competitors there on the floor. But on the other side, you go one for 18 from the field goal. And also today to highlight an issue, we talked about how small the Lakers are. Yeah.

Patrick Peverly and Russell Westbrook were guarding Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for a large portion of the game. And it's like, if this is your answer to this question, you don't have good answers. And the flip side is these two guys, like think about where that foursome is defensively historically in the NBA, you know?

PG and Kawhi, they may be coming off of seasons where they took some extended time off, but you guys know that based on their size, their brute, their skill, their athleticism, they're going to be fine. Should we switch to the Clippers? Because I feel like that was really fun. No, I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet. Oh, are we still digging the shovels out for the Lakers? No, but look, they're only 0-2. There are 80 more. Darvin Ham said we're trending the right way.

Oh, there's 80 more games left. We're trending the right way. But you did mention one thing that I've noticed some teams struggling with, and I was a little surprised, but maybe it is like the long game with an 82-game season. I've seen a lot of teams stagnant with their offenses. Like, it was so transparent that the Lakers want AD in the low post, and they want him to get the ball.

It was so transparent that the Sixers wanted to dwell and beat in the low post and they want to get in the ball. It's so transparent that the Bucs want Giannis probably bringing it up in a pick and roll switch scenario going downhill. But the Bucs are a different case. So I just, opening night, it was just interesting to me to see. And I guess you can say opening week. It was interesting to me to see like, okay, where are we going to see the variety? Where are we going to see different flavors? How are we going to see? Because at this point, it doesn't matter how good you are. The Warriors are the best example of this.

Great teams still need systems. Iso ball does not rule the day unless it is fourth quarter, three minutes left, and someone is feeling themselves trying to get you a win. Like, I always feel like that is the place for Iso ball, not to establish yourself in the beginning of a season, in the beginning of a game, the first few minutes. And just seeing how transparent it is, like, we've got 80 at the five. Yeah, let's throw it in there. Like, I love Coach Darvenham. I think he's the right person for the job. I love the idea of him bringing defensive mindset to the Lakers.

I just think that offense is going to be interesting to see how it evolves, what their strategy is, and how they're going to try to hide their limitations.

Well, and we mentioned sort of hopeful glimpses of the Lakers. LeBron had a couple vintage dunks. Oh, my gosh. A couple vintage and one bully ball post-ups where he did the thing where he pounds his chest and then looks mean at the bench. And he gave Nick Batum a too little. Gave him a too little, which I always love when people bust out the too little. Although most people are too little for LeBron in the post. But it's hard to do that when...

Every time you throw the ball in there, whichever one it is, the entire defense just loads toward you because they don't care if you kick it out to Austin Reeves or Patrick Beverly or Russell Westbrook or whoever it is. They don't care. So it's hard to find a pathway all the way there. Okay, yeah, let's talk about the Clippers. Kawhi's back looked perfect.

I thought really good, had a critical offensive rebound in the last six minutes where he went around LeBron, got the offensive rebound, kicked out two. I don't remember. I think Reggie Jackson hit a three to put them up 92-89. And John Wall, it's been a long, bumpy road for John Wall. I thought that was the happiest story of the first game was he looked like exactly what the Clippers need. Within like three minutes of coming into the game,

He hit a mid-range jumper and his mid-ranger looked good. He pushed on two straight fast breaks and got Paul George a corner three and Norm Powell a corner three, which is – that's what John Wall does. He's going to push and get you corner threes. I think one went in, one didn't. And then he set up for a pick and roll –

Went away from the screen as soon as he got his guy leaning toward the screen. And like a freaking lightning bolt was at the rim for, I think, a lefty layup. And it's like, okay, he's not going to be all NBA John Wall anymore. He's a backup right now. Cool. That's fine. That guy...

is exactly what the Clippers need. The north-south turbocharged gear that they don't have because Kawhi and PG, you know, they just like to get into their bags and do their thing and they're kind of meandering players in a good way. And I just thought he looked great. The Clippers didn't look, frankly, that great. But they have so many guys they're going to spend this whole season figuring out who should play with who, what combinations do we want. And, like, even in the first game, I thought it was really interesting that Luke Kennard closed the game and not

Oh, my God. And Luke Kennard is like whatever confidence issues he had today. He's just letting it fly. Like what? You see that transition three, three on one fast break. I'm pulling up. Let it fly. And I guarantee you, Tyloo is like, that's exactly what we want you to do. Oh, 100 percent. 100 percent. Eight straight wins versus the Lakers. And it just is really interesting to me because there's a real juxtaposition and mindset between these two teams.

On one side, the narrative around the Lakers is, oh my gosh, benching Russ. What is that going to do? Missing his comp. You know? The other side, Kawhi Leonard did not blink. He was coming off the bench, came in, hit two daggers. You've got a candidate in sixth man of the year in Norm Powell that's going to also feast. You

You have John Wall making his debut after such an extended time. It just is, it's, it's, it just makes me happy. It makes me happy to watch the Clippers go out there. And I know a lot of people are like, Oh, they're playing the Lakers. And they're like, it's a close game. Y'all it's game one.

It's game one. Here's what I don't want to hear anymore. There are two things I don't want to hear anymore about Los Angeles basketball, about streetlights versus spotlights and blacktop versus – what was the blacktop versus – the Clippers leaned all the way into being the anti-Lakers and then the bubble happened. They're like, yeah, we're going to pretend that didn't happen and just sort of be quiet over here. I don't want to hear anymore about the Clippers' head-to-head record against the Lakers. Congratulations. Amazing. Congratulations.

You don't get any points for that. You don't get any rings for that. Oh, you're saying that they have to actually do something. No, no, they've done something. They made the conference finals. They broke the Clippers curse. But like, I, you don't, I don't care. Like you've, you've been better than the Lakers for the most of the last 10 years. Great. Congratulations. Nobody cares. It's like, so what makes you care?

The playoffs will make me care, but Kawhi looking good. All the things that matter as they build up their team. It's like I saw some headline that the Suns gained a measure of revenge for the conference finals. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

And the other thing... Yeah, so you beat the Mavs on opening day. You gained a measure of revenge for, like, the most humiliating thing that's happened on the court, not off the court, just on the court to the Phoenix Suns. No, you don't get a measure of anything. So throw that. I don't care anymore. The other thing you mentioned is...

Maybe it was two years ago. Maybe.

Man, we're really playing Kevin Durant too much. We got to really limit Kevin Durant. You can actually do the team. Just do it. Yeah, it's different, though. I think, you know, when it comes to minutes and pulling someone out, that is natural for a coach. Like, yeah, just do that. But when benching is so political for the internal politics of a team.

I'm someone that has had to learn how to evolve to come off the bench because I was playing at one time with my sister, who's an MVP, and Candice Parker, who's an MVP. And so it was easy for me to say, you know what, if I want to pursue this championship, let me just come in and be a boost off the bench. But sometimes, like that's me. Some players are like, no, I feel like I'm a starter in this league. I am a future Hall of Famer. I deserve the respect. It just sometimes is like reading the room. So I

I just thought that I loved the Clippers. They were just refreshing to see Kawhi Leonard go out there, coming off the bench, doesn't even phase him. He gets back to his mid-range bag. He's out there, like you said, in a critical point, doing the dirty work, grabbing a rebound. Zubats looked great. I think he had like a huge double-double. 15 and 17. Yeah, he didn't miss a shot. Yeah, I don't think he missed a shot on the night. The first guy since DJ to do so, I saw some stats.

I'm glad you brought it up because I was going to be accused of Croatian bias. I thought the Clippers, maybe the biggest story of the game and maybe their best player was Zubac. When he plays like that, they are really, really hard to beat. Man, and it's just like you don't need – it's funny because when we were talking about this before the show, we are in a new era of center, and it's really cool. Maybe it's not as like –

Hallmark as people think, but between Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, you can even say the point centers floating around this league. You've got young burgeoning ones like Aiton. We're in a new era of center. And when you can have a serviceable center that is non-problematic but can get you a good double-double and allow your perimeter players to get off,

that's the ideal scenario like that's exactly what you want that's exactly what the clippers have with zubat so i was watching i was like he loki is like quietly handling them so i love seeing that as well i i like the clippers i mean i i don't know i keep waffle on between them and the warriors coming out of the west i really think the warriors are just in a league of their own but if there's like a 1b that's the clippers for me right now you should dress as a waffle for halloween can you get a life-size waffle costume

You should have one too. You'd be like syrup because you'd be out there too. We don't like to make takes. We don't like to be too spicy. But at the end of the day, look, my preseason prediction, you got to make one, was Milwaukee Clippers. I don't feel great about either one because there are a lot of good teams in the league. And let's not get ahead of ourselves. Like Kawhi didn't play very much last night. They had 21 turnovers.

And they kind of, again, are figuring it out. They didn't, they looked sloppy, but they were minus eight in the minutes that both Kawhi and PG were on the bench. Spoiler alert, those minutes will be zero when the games actually matter. Yeah.

And, you know, we'll see. It's going to be a long season. Any other Clippers thoughts? Anyone else strike you? No, not at all. I mean, I just like that the game was competitive. It seems like there was energy and crypto. That's all we ask for me who lives in LA. I can't do crypto. I know, but I play there too, so it's like

That's our thing. I know they paid. Richard Jefferson lectured me yesterday. They paid a lot of money for the rights for us to say crypto. It's fine. Whatever. The arena where the Lakers and the Sparks and the Clippers and the Kings and probably another team that I'm not familiar with all play.

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Do New Orleans Pelicans have the right to swap picks with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2023 draft? And they own the Lakers pick in either the 2024 or 2025 draft. They get to pick which one. Let me just say that again. In the upcoming draft that is...

Eight months away, do New Orleans Pelicans have the right to swap picks with the Los Angeles Lakers? With that in mind, let's transition to, we're going to go rapid fire. Tell me what you saw from the Pelicans in their opening night obliteration of the teeny tiny, overmatched in terms of size anyway, Brooklyn Nets.

Hot take, the Pelicans have arrived. And I know everyone knows I go coffee bean when I talk about the Pelicans, just go to YouTube to understand what I mean. But they have a culture that has completely flipped and empowered their players. Zion looked great. Wendy made a great point yesterday on the show that, or yeah, we can say yesterday here on the pod. Wendy made a great point that, you know, Zion shot 22 field goals and you think that, oh, he only shot 50%. That's not good. Like, no, he's going to shoot 75% in the paint consistently for the NBA season. So that 25 points can easily become

35. I just love them. B.I. is one of those underrated, the streets love him and by the streets, I mean, real basketball hoop head fans root for him. There was a clip floating around about how all he does is watch like MJ clips in his free time. Like I hoop and then I come home and I watch MJ clips. I love how aggressive and assertive he is.

Every year he becomes like that more with his game. So Zion, B.I., C.J. the Prez, you know I'm a huge fan of C.J., president of the Players Association. We talked all offseason. I know they're in CBA situations and stuff like that, so it was great to pick his brain. But it just feels like the whole culture around the Pelicans has flipped from last year to this year, whereas their expectations for me, Zach Lowe,

Not play in, fully playoffs, and could be the top five team in the West just based on what they – the way they approach the game. I am high on the Pelicans. No question. I mean, I said before the season 50 wins is totally reachable for them. In terms of locking them into the playoffs –

it's just going to be interesting to see sort of, you know, Denver got spanked in their first game. I'm going to give them a pass. That was a little surprising. Yes, Utah, we see you Utah jazz. We saw you, you hung 129 dead last in my league pass rankings. Don't blame me. That's just the mathematical algorithm that ranked you and your crappy uniforms last. Sorry, but you've showed out in the first game, but to lock them into the top six, it, it,

It's just hard, but they were a clear tier for me above the Lakers, the Blazers, and the Kings. And right there with the sort of Minnesota, Memphis, whoever, like 50-win territory. Which is like 8-5 in there. And what was scary to me about that game against Brooklyn was you mentioned Brandon Ingram. Brandon Ingram hit a whole bunch of really tough shots in that game. And that's great that he can hit those shots. That really matters in the playoffs and late in the shot clock.

To me, when they have Zion, CJ, and Ingram out there

they shouldn't have to take so many tough shots. Like they're still scratching the surface of how can we use all of our skills together in the half court? When do we pose Zion? When do we use them as a ball handler? When do we use them as a screener? And the more they learn that stuff, the more those shots are going to get easier and easier and easier. And I said before the season, this should be a top five offense. And I saw nothing against Brooklyn that would dissuade me from that. I love the Zion, Larry Nance combination. And I'll tell you this, Jene, just to piggyback off what you said.

At the game last night at Staples, crypto, at the crypt, at the crypt, there was an executive from a team, let's say, that has high-ish hopes in the Western Conference. We were talking before the game, going through the list of contenders, and this person stopped me and said, hey,

Hey, you know who I'm starting to get really scared of is a team that could like, they're not just a cute team, like they could be a conference finals team. I said, who? And I was trying to think, is he going to say, Gobert looked great in Minnesota? New Orleans, New Orleans. Like that's the buzz that's starting to build.

And I also was flabbergasted at the fact that I was like, oh, they're active on the boards. Oh, you outscored the Nets 36 to four in second chance points. Like when you're talking about hitting difficult shots, one-on-one situations late in the shot clock,

Then you couple that with getting easier shots off the boards. You know, I make a living off of offensive rebounds. Like, that made me feel good. I was like, oh, that's great. And that's largely due to Zion's second jump. Did we even say third jump? Jump ability? Just a lot of jumps. He's just jumping. Just a lot of jumps. Jumping, jumping, ladies, if you're mad at home. I know that song. I'm not going to sing it. You all try and embarrass me every day on the show to get me –

High on the Pelicans. I might be too high, but I know I'm not going to be too low because it looks like something has flipped and they're going to be one of the fun watches this year. Nets. Nets. I took the under on the Nets, 49.5 wins. Didn't feel strongly about it because Durant is Durant. As long as that dude's around and he reminded you even in that first game, the Nets big three was a big one in the first game and it was Kevin Durant.

But I just – I told people I'm shorting the Brooklyn Nets in terms of their championship equity. I have no reason – no reason has been given to me or humanity in general to trust anything about their team other than Durant, to trust how they will respond to adversity, to trust how they will look under pressure. And I can't wait to watch them again. I don't know if their next game is tonight or who it's against because my head is spinning from all the games. But –

Forget Kyrie going 6 of 19 or whatever. Simmons fouling out and refusing to even look at the basket. Just didn't want to look at it. All his shots were fast break. All three of them were fast break, put back, have to shoot it, dunk situations. Didn't look at the rim. Is still in the dead zone Simmons role on offense. He was...

just standing 15 feet from the basket along the baseline where you're not in the dunker spot, you're not in the corner, you're just in no man's land killing the team's spacing. And the fit with him and Claxton was as bad as I feared it would be. Two non-shooters trying to pinball the ball inside. And that gets even harder when

The first screener is Ben Simmons, and he rolls to the basket, and he has a little bit of a lane, and he doesn't even look at the rim, doesn't even look at it. So to me, from a Simmons perspective, that was a worst-case scenario debut. But again, he hadn't played in 16 months, so I'm interested to watch them going forward. But look, if they can't—they're not going to be able to defend or rebound well enough with Simmons at center. And if they can't run a functional offense with Simmons and Claxton on the floor—

I don't want to say they're drawing dead against the very best teams because you're never drawing dead when you have Durant. But it will be starting from a disadvantage. Look, I agree with you. And I think there's something that we have to break down because people are like, Simmons is an all defensive player. He should be great at least on that end.

There's a very big difference from being a perimeter defender with Joel Embiid behind you and Tobias Harris alongside of you with length. And we talked about that Sixers squad being one of the better defensive teams because they're huge. There's a very big difference from taking that perspective on the perimeter and applying that to the center where we talked about how this is the new renaissance, Beyonce included, of centers in this NBA environment.

You could just see how apparent it was. Zion's not even the largest, but my gosh, he is a strong man. And that's going to be an adjustment. I don't think it's going to be easy. We can't have that expectation that he's going to be equally as effective as an almost defensive player of the year when he's doing it at the center position. Also, when you are guarding on the perimeter, it's so much easier for you to be effective, Ben Simmons, because you have a three-quarter court.

And you get a steal, you get a deflection, and you can stride out as someone that's 6'10 and be downhill facing typically the other team's backcourt, which means if you get the ball, you know you can finish at the rim over these guys.

That's a very big difference from getting a rebound as a net center. Everyone's ahead of you. You're initiating offense. And Claxton has to figure out, how do I maintain spacing just in case he rolls so that he can finish at the rim? That's one of the hardest things to figure out as a post player, something that I have to figure out when I'm in pick and roll scenarios with my sister. She gets a pick and roll. Let me be out to the corner and knock down that corner three so that she has a full ability to either pop or roll.

That takes time to understand and a level of intellectualism. Lastly, I'll say this. 16 months being off, not easy to just jump back in and reacclimate yourself, especially when you're someone that has been dealing with just touching the floor is important for you. I've liked that he's been out there this preseason. I've met Ben Simmons a couple of times during the off seasons. He's out here in LA quite often. Really nice guy. Yeah, I've enjoyed my brief, albeit interactions with him. Really?

really kind guy, like really cool. I actually saw him at a WizKid concert not too long ago. And if you love Afrobeats and African music, which is taking over the globe, I was like, oh man, we on the same wavelength here. It was so cool. I'm like, he's a cool dude. And not, I feel like everyone always feels, everyone expects players to be like a dog. He's not necessarily that type of mentality, the way he approaches the game. He's more finesse-y.

than like physicality as a defender. And so it just is hard for everyone's expectations to be there for him at all times. And people will say, hey, you put this on yourself. You created these scenarios where we have these thoughts about your game. I'm like, I just want to give him a little bit more time.

And, again, this team, the Nets, falls on the same list as the Lakers where it's opening night, opening week. I expected to see some creativity, some plays out there. It's like, hey, I see this is exactly what you're trying to do to how you're going to use Ben. I didn't see that. Again, I'm going to say you'll get a pass. It's an 82-game season. Maybe we'll see that more in game three, game five. But if it gets to game 10 and we're still seeing these issues –

you know, it's time to sound the alarm. We all know what he has to be. He has to be their approximation of Draymond Green, which is a screen, dive, pass, distribute, defense, push the pace guy. If he's every possession where he's standing on the baseline doing nothing is a win for the other team, is a win for the defense. There's no way around it.

And it's hard to be the Draymond guy if you don't want to shoot. And I keep harping on this, but it's the stat I'm going to look at every game. Free throws, 0 for 2. Two attempts, no makes. And sooner rather than later, there is going to be an instance of hack-a-ben. If he can't make free throws, some mean coach somewhere is going to break it out. And if we think the pressure's on now, it's going to get higher when that starts to happen. Breaking down that stat, because I think that's really fascinating. Yeah.

Do you care more about the makes or do you care more about the attempts? Right now I care about the attempts. Right now I just – this is what always annoyed me about four, five, six years ago before Giannis was like an annual MVP candidate.

There was this comparison, and particularly in the season when Embiid was hurt in the last 25 games of the season and Simmons got to play with shooters around him, like Ilyasova and Bellinelli and Redick, this era of Sixers basketball that Simmons talks about as if they won, like, four straight championships playing this way. And everyone would say, well, look, I mean...

Giannis and Simmons, they're tall ball handlers with janky jump shots. The Bucs have surrounded their guy with shooting. Look what happened. Imagine if the Sixers had did that with Simmons and

instead of surrounding him with a low post center who happens to be like way better than him, but still let's just pretend. And that era was their proof. And I always rejected that because A, Giannis is bigger, longer, and just better. And B, the difference to me was always when Giannis had free throw issues and he did in the playoffs, whenever they counted down the clock, he just kept on...

on coming he was like I don't care hack me send me the line on purpose I'm coming at you every single time if I go 0 for 4 0 for 6 and what did he do in that final game was it 14 for 17 whatever it was 17 and 19 whatever it was I am going to keep coming at you because I have self-belief and also understand what it feels like for you as the defensive team to have my elbows and my knees and everything hitting you all the time at the rim Ben Simmons was

went the opposite way. I don't want to contact, I don't want to look at the rim, and that was always a difference between them. So to answer your question long-windedly, the attempts. Right now, if he went 0 for 12 tonight, I would be like, I love it. Keep going. And that's all I wanted. I just wanted to poke the button for you to explain the attempts. Because

as hoopers, it's about that aggression. And the best way you can see a statistic about how a player is aggressive and approaching the game and trying to make something happen is free throw attempts. And I think sometimes we get caught on, Oh my gosh, Jonas is missing. Ben Simmons is missing free throws. It's like, you have to take them in order to learn how to make them. And then when you make them, that's how you evolve as a player. So the attempts matter. Sixers bucks, uh, ugly, ugly game one on a West Matthews three pointer. Um,

Nope. Okay. Well, tell me why.

James Harden is back. Now, not back to the level where we say, oh, MVP James Harden, vintage James Harden, Houston James Harden going crazy. No, but you can tell he was serious about this offseason and you can see it in his body. You can see it in how he is popping off like he's running. You know, like ball handlers go down the court like they've got a little bounce to it.

James has that bounce back when he's coming down the court, that tempo bounce that led like that's the twitch that's like, oh gosh, is he going to drive and get the foul? Oh, is he going to step back? Like you have to be on red alert when he has the ball. He had 30 points in both of their first two games. I know there are losses, but still, I think the only other person that has done that within the Sixers franchise to start the season is AI and Wilt.

It just seems like he's very intentional about making sure his game has come back to this iteration of the Sixers. Now, I am a little concerned because Joel Embiid, the rhythm is not necessarily there for him. Not worried about him in particular. He's going to find it.

mind it. He's going to maneuver the double teams better. I think the biggest question mark coming into this year was how serious was, is James Harden going to be in making sure that he's ready to be his best self. Now his best self may not be a 2016 version of him, but it's still quality enough to get you the points that you need to

in a 48 games, you know, 48 minute scenario. So very happy with how James Harden looks, not worried about how Joel Embiid has started. He's still going to catch fire and he's going to find his dominance and find his rhythm. I'm very, I'm, I'm optimistic. I was worried based on like how strategically, like I was like, Oh, this is a game that the Sixers need to show and coach Doc Rivers that we strategize to get a win and they still lost. I was like, but I do like what I've seen so far from them despite their losses.

I'm weirdly unworried. Um, MB to shooting 38%. It looks a little mopey. It looks a little mopey was moping around on defense against a little slow on defense against Boston. Um, their perimeter defense in that game really worried me because they had a Joel dropping back, which is fine. People made a big deal out of that on Twitter. Like, Oh, he's dropping too far. My, I mean, he's that he's Joel and B that's generally what he's going to do. Um,

But if you're going to play that way, and the Lakers have fallen into this trap too with AD dropping back, your guys on the perimeter have got to get around screens. Otherwise, you're just giving really good ball handlers a ton of space behind them and in front of them, and that's untenable, and that's what the Celtics had over and over again. I thought last night against Milwaukee, they seemed to understand that in the first game, here's a stat from the first game. You ready? Tyrese Maxey ran 21 pick and rolls in the first game against Boston.

17 of those came with Harden on the bench.

Only four of them came with Harden on the floor. And I think not, it wasn't great, but against Milwaukee, they seem to make a better effort of like, we can't just have Tyrese Maxey's standing in the corner doing nothing when Harden is on the floor. Did you see late in the game when Harden was coming up? I think he was, he was like in a little bit of a tear and he just tossed it up to Maxie to like initiate the offense. It was like subtle, but I was like, okay, I see something there. Like James is realizing we have to get him going too. And so I was like, okay, I like this. This was like, I think midway through the fourth quarter.

And yes. And I, he also max, he had like three one man fast breaks in that game. He's so fast. It's ridiculous. Um, the hardened MB pick and roll is as advertised still. Like if Joel catches the ball with the defense in motion inside the foul line, it's all you have to do is pray that he misses. Cause it's either a basket or a foul or a good shot that he misses. Um,

And I like their bench. Like, I thought Melton and House looked pretty good. They're playing this lineup where Melton is in with the starters for Maxie. I like that lineup for defense. I just – I'm not worried yet given the competition level about the Sixers, which is weird to say because it's like doom and gloom about the Lakers and they have the same record. But that's where preseason expectations, I think, come in. Agreed. Any other – what did you think of the Bucs? Barely scratched it out, but no –

No Middleton, obviously no Connaughton. That's two of their top six guys. I thought it was interesting they didn't start Wes Matthews because one of the questions I had for them before the season was, have they reached a point where Connaughton just should start, where he's just better than Wes, even though he's not as good a defensive player? I don't know that they've made any kind of final decision on that, but that was the one thing I kind of like flagged in my head was interesting that even with their injuries, Wes Matthews came off the bench.

Also shot of the night though, right? That three late in the game. Shot of the night. It was, it was, I'm trying to remember the exact play where there was chaos. Wasn't it Grayson Allen? Grayson Allen digging in at the rim, gets caught, draws four, kicks it out in the Matthews. And that's pretty much what does the game. I'm pretty sure it was Grayson Allen. I think there was an offensive rebound that led to that shot maybe. But I can't remember. I'm trying to remember the chaos. I'm trying to remember the chaos.

Not really worried about the Bucs. I was watching Giannis, and I just appreciate what the Bucs do because I think other teams can emulate their strategy on how they make Giannis look good versus how they're trying to figure out how to make AD look better or any of certain players in certain situations because Giannis will initiate plays, and you see how far off the defense is on him. They're pretty much standing on the free throw line when he's bringing the ball up. But immediately –

He kicks it in the trail position, swings the ball over, gets into a pick and roll, gets downhill. And by then everyone knows he's doing that so consistently when they're not calling plays that they fill the space up for the offense to still be effective. Like if Giannis rolls ball side, the shooter's deep in the corner. If

Giannis rolls opposite and goes opposite. It just starts their wheels in motion. I'm like, see, that's what I expected to see for a bet. And that's what I expected to see for a KD to make things so much easier where, you know, Hey, this is the integral part of our office in transition. Giannis is bringing it up, sets a screen rolls. If he's here, you go there. If he's there, you go here. Like, that's what I appreciate about the bucks. But of course you find that on the way to, to getting championships and stuff like that. Like these are things that you don't worry about. So I,

the Bucs were exactly who I thought they were going to be, meaning find a way to win this game and attack the rim and all that type of stuff. I was more so watching the Sixers to see how far will they be able to get over the hump strategically late in games to win. It's a big year for Doc Rivers. The Bucs were last in half court points per possession in the playoffs last year. Chalk that up to Middleton, their most important ball handler in being out. Fine.

This whole season to me is about making sure that doesn't happen again, about honing the F court offense, finding ways to counter switches. And you saw them use the Spain pick and roll last night a bunch of times, which is not something that was a big part of their playbook in the past.

That's the whole season to me. Defensively, they were monstrous against Philly. Brooke Lopez looks like Brooke Lopez met Joel Embiid at the summit, which seems like an incredibly unpleasant thing to do. Like that could go really, really, you know, okay, Stanford. All right. And Giannis, Giannis, a little, you know, reminder in game one.

Hey, man, I could be defensive player of the year too. Like he was monstrous on defense at the rims, just swallowing dudes up in transition and in the half court. And, you know...

I think defensively they're going to be awesome. I like that they're giving Nawara a chance to get minutes because he can shoot and score for them. I like Carter's fit on their team. It's just I'm not going to judge their half-court offense and how it looks until Middleton is back and Connaughton is back. And every win they can scrounge out until then is A, Giannis is awesome. B, the defense is awesome. Drew Holiday even shooting, I think he was 2-15 last night. Defensively, he's a beast.

Question, because going into the season for the Milwaukee Bucks, it was clear and apparent in the way that they lost to the Celtics that

And Grant Williams had a field day that people noticed, including Coach Budd, that they gave way too many opponents three-point looks based on their strategy. They were last in the NBA the last – actually, under Coach's tenure, they were last in the NBA at opponents shooting threes, meaning opponents took and made the most threes against them, which was surprising, but it was also by design because you have a helicopter in the paint that can push and go in the transition. What have you seen so far that makes you high on their defense in that they are addressing –

them being last in defending the three-point shot. Yeah, I'm interested to see how that evolves because a lot has been made of that, that both that game with Grant Williams, that one game is sort of a referendum on Bud's philosophy of we're just going to give these guys open threes. And B, a lot has been made already of, oh my God, suddenly the Bucs care about the three-point line. That's a game changer for them. I'm interested to see how that holds up because I

I didn't... That game seven to me was just, we're out of ideas. We're wheezing. We really needed to win this series in six at home. This is all we got left. Let's hope he misses a lot of shots. And the Bucs defense has generally been pretty awesome. And if you look at the threes they allow...

It's mostly above the break threes. They don't allow a lot of corner threes. It's mostly above the break threes to like so-so shooters, pretty good shooters, threes that you can live with if the cost of shooting them is you don't get free throws and you don't get shots at the rim. So it wouldn't surprise me if they sort of find an equilibrium somewhere after going extreme anti-three early in the season. But I think that's the kind of thing that when you've had a core together for a long time –

to combat staleness both internally and in terms of how teams scout you. I think that's a smart, it's smart to do that.

And it's smart for this to be public and for people to know and for coach to talk about it. Oh, that's interesting. From a player's perspective, why do you say that? Because it gives you something to hone in on and to say, we're not good at this. What in the world? The same way that Giannis answers like, hey, you're the best player in the world. He's like, no, no, no, that's Steph Curry. It makes them the hunter, not the hunted. And I think it's great coaching when you can tell your team, look, we stink at this. Over the course of this season, we need to get better at that to pursue a championship again.

I liked that. And that's why I had no problem perpetuating those facts out there, because it's the reverse psychology that makes the bucks the bucks. They enjoy chasing teams. They enjoy finding ways to have chips on their shoulder. They enjoy being doubted. And they they're killers with smiles on their faces, which is creepy for Halloween. Except Giannis has the ultimate stink face, the NBA's best and most exaggerated stink face ever.

Rapid fire takes. Have you seen the Blazers yet? I played one game. Did you see the Blazers? You know one of my friends out here in this league? What'd you think?

I am excited. I think, I mean, you can only be like, there's a bubble of excitement that you can have for the Blazers because you're like, you have Damian Lillard who everyone wants to see compete time and time again. He's back for a championship because he's one of those types of players that we enjoy so much. I'm not worried about a shooting. I think he shot like one for seven or one for eight from three. Everyone's made a deal like, oh, he has a showroom. He's going to find it. Has everyone made a deal? I hope no one has made a deal. It's Damian Lillard.

Thank you. I've heard people like this preseason, they'll go look at the preseason and the first game one for April. I'm like, y'all chill. He's Dame is Dame. He's going to figure it out. Jeremy Grant to me. That's fun. That's interesting. You know, I, he had, I think, what was it like 20 points or so? I think that that was a great get. Um,

I've been very high on Anthony Simons. Nurkic is someone that is intriguing to me. Has he ever made your most intriguing players list? No, in fact, I'm anti-intrigued by Yusuf Nurkic, and I'm tired of watching him miss layups and bunnies around the rim and grunt very loudly while doing so that the rim likes to pick it up. Sorry.

Sorry. He still is intriguing because we have in our minds, I think he lives rent-free in our minds for the era in which he had two years where he averaged 20 and 20 for them consistently. So I'm like, when is he going to get back to that? That never happened. You made that up. That's not a thing that happened. There was a point where he was 15 and 15. He was a rebounding machine. That didn't happen either.

Come on. Yes, it did. I feel like I need a cosign here somewhere. At least maybe I was just too high on them. But I like the Blazers. I like that Dame's back. I'm not worried about his shooting. I think they have a couple of intriguing players. But still, it just is one of those things where at the end of the year, we're going to look back and be like, have they built the team that Damian Lillard needs to compete for a championship to reward him being loyal to the soil? That's the question because I want one for him. Loyal to the soil. I like that. Ten toes deep in the soil. Hey, bars. Yeah.

I described the Blazers roster as blah on this podcast, which was met with anger, disagreement, not anger, disagreement from Blazers fans and people within the Blazers. And really by blah, I wasn't talking stylistically. I was just saying it looks like a 500 team to me. I don't really see a way this can be an elite offense or an elite defense. Looks like a 500 team.

Their first game, now granted, it was at the Kings who, you know, the minute everyone's high on the Kings, they **** the bed and lose their first game. I saw what I heard from within Portland after I said that was, just wait till you see us play because...

I know the names aren't super sexy, but we wanted to really surround Dame with athleticism and speed. And we think we've done that. And I also think people were way too quick to just write off Chauncey Billups as a coach after the first year. Coaching a tank job team. People did that? Grasping at straws on defense in schemes that I think he must have known were, you know, just grasping at straws. And I watched their first game and I was like, look, I don't know what their record is going to be.

But I can see the vision because Simons is super dynamic and can lead the bench when Dame is out. And then they have all these big long wings. And when you play three of – when you play Dame, a center, and then in between you have three of Josh Hart who's just one on four and somehow succeeds every single time at doing it. Josh Hart –

uh, Jeremy Grant, justice Winslow, Nasir little GP two didn't even play in the first game. And the sharp kid is going to be a rollercoaster ride that I am buying the ticket for every single night. Like that's a lot of length and speed and they played Winslow at center for a lot of the crunch time of that game. Like you can see at least the vision, um,

of how they want to play. And, and I was, I came out of that game again, one game against the Kings. I came out of it very intrigued. Agreed. I'm there. And we should, by the way, I mentioned GP two didn't play in talking about the nets. We should have mentioned that Seth Curry and Joe Harris, who are huge parts of their team also didn't play. Okay. Have you seen, did you see the bank Caro, Jade and Ivy bowl in the first game, Detroit, Orlando? So I,

I don't know if I've had the opportunity to talk about how Detroit, I've actually told our producers this multiple times on NBA Today, like, who do you want to pick as a sleeper team? I was like, Detroit. For some reason, it seems like they've got it right. A lot of people were quick on like, okay, don't know how things are going to go when he missed the first 12 or so games. It was a slow start to him. But he came on strong the back half of the last NBA season, and he's

You know I'm 100%, 1,000% biased for Jaden Ivey. Jaden Ivey is a product of the women's basketball ecosystem with Coach Nia Ivey through Notre Dame, the Grizzlies, and such. And so we've literally seen him grow and glow into this point where he's now just a menace on the floor. And we love to see it.

I'm excited for Detroit, where they're going with those two, Cade and Jaden. And Paolo Bancaro, how fun is that? To come into the league like that, 27, and the conversations around the Orlando Magic now being, oh, look, with me and Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner, right?

Like, we're doing some things. Now, I don't know how that makes you feel about like the L-Dub for V-Dub. Wait, no, losing club for V-Dub, Wemba and Yama. Like teams that are like, hey, we won't be afforded. Like at this point, I'm happier that those three looked great together.

Detroit has found their own young guns too. I was very happy for this matchup. If Orlando gets Webanyama, it's going to be because they were like eighth in the lottery and moved up because of the new lottery odds that favor those middle teams more than they used to because they're going to be too good to be – I mean the three or four worst teams are going to be bad. Bancaro absolutely exceeded the hype. Sometimes you see these rookies come in.

And you look at them and then you look at how they stack up against NBA veterans, like real opposing starters in a real game for the first time. And he just looks, A, like a tank, an absolute tank. And B, so calm and so polished with such good touch that he just – he walked in like, oh, I'm –

I own this. I own every bit of this. And Ivy Cunningham, if the basketball gods allow it, Ivy and Cade for the next 10 years is going to be just such a fantastic mesh of skills. And I love how fearless Ivy was shooting threes in the first game because that was sort of the question about him. And off the bench, this kid Jalen Duren, who's 18 years old, he's the youngest player in the NBA.

Whew. He has some raw skill set and athleticism that is really, really interesting. Again, these teams are going to win between 25 and 30 games probably, but they have some stuff going on, and I really liked what I saw from all the aforementioned guys in the first game. Agreed on Durin because...

When talking to Dame a couple of years ago, maybe it was like five years ago, the way he talked about, yeah, this guy who's like the youngest player. At one point, I believe, Anthony Simons was the youngest player in the NBA. He's skilled. He's like, he's coming. Some people are like, what are you talking about? And then he gets the opportunity last year when Dame's out. And people are like, know his name. Duren is exciting that way. I've heard people say like, oh, he's young. So hearing those parallels in the conversation, not saying the stylistically it's there, but just the way people talk about him, I was like, oh, okay.

I take heed to that. Yeah, and Bogdanovich made a million threes. And Franz Wagner's the real thing. The Magic just need... Misaddo it all. Yeah, they just kind of need a point guard, like an orchestrator. But they're doing it by committee because Bankero can do it from the elbow. Wendell Carter Jr. can do it from the elbow. Franz can do it from all over the floor. They're going to be fun. They're going to be fun to watch. I want you to sing...

on Malcolm Brogdon because you've been beating the Brogdon drum louder than any of us and the Celtics are 1-0, it's only one game. I want you to sort of expound on why you're so big on that acquisition. So it's ironic coming the day after Kawhi Leonard comes out there because I see a lot of Kawhi Leonard in Brogdon in how he impacts the floor.

And that might seem like a wild statement, but it's more so that Kawhi will come out there and quietly do all those things that your team needs to win. Kawhi is more flashy with it, with his scoring. Brogdon is not. But nonetheless, off the bounce, I bet you most people did not know that Malcolm Brogdon off the bounce, driving toward the basket, is the third best in the NBA in that category.

Points per drive, I think, on second spectrum is the stat you're citing. Exactly. And you insert him to a team that had a horrible situation in the NBA Finals with turning over the ball, but then also converting off of the bounce because...

I think that was at this, like we all knew the Celtics were out of gas and that's how Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown make their money. Now you bring in a guy that maybe you're watching the Celtics and you're so mystified that JB and JT both go for 35 and they win and they're 13 and 0 in that situation. You might've missed that. He came off the bench. I think he was seven for 12, had one turnover, 16 points and had a solid debut.

And that is exactly what the Celtics need. He has size. He has temperament. He's probably going to be a silent killer. I'm not saying he's Kawhi Leonard, but I am saying that he has that temperament where you, he's so low maintenance, but he raises the, is it the roof? Raises, yeah, raises the roof. Yeah, the ceiling, the roof. Raises the ceiling and raises a roof for this team. So that was a sneaky good get for a Celtics team. I was like, oh no.

oh, we lost, but you still have this guy who is unproblematic that will blend in well with the two guys that have the ball the most, JB and JT, that at times we've seen there's been a power dynamic with how they're going to be great for their offense. He meshes in so well. It's so rare to find a guy that fits in like that, and that's Malcolm Brogdon. And so I feel like Celtics fans need to be

Hold it. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate you. Also, stay healthy. Please stay healthy because he never plays a full season. But we all knew conceptually why that trade was a home run for Boston, a low first round pick for Malcolm Brogdon. We all understood the...

that another ball handler could have on an offense that stalled out a little bit here and there. Another high IQ ball mover who also, by the way, is a 40 plus percent catch and shoot three point shooter. Another guy who, because of his experience with Giannis, who

as comfortable as the screener in pick and rolls, which is Boston is at its best when Tatum and Brown are using all sorts of unpredictable screening combinations to get good mismatches, to attack the smallest guy in their team, all that stuff. We all knew it.

But this was a case to me of seeing it play out on the court. He's just so additive to what they needed. Like some people have an impact that is beyond their own numbers just in terms of how they sort of plop into the ecosystem. And Derek White was like that when he got there because they needed someone who just moves around quick decisions, makes

Malcolm Brogdon is that kind of player. He's just more physical. He's a better driver and he's a way better shooter I mean like did Derek White shooting rollercoaster is he gonna shoot tonight? Is he just gonna pass up open looks? I think a Boston can get healthy can get Time Lord back and healthy They're they're every bit as good as they were last year and they make me already very nervous about my pick of Milwaukee to win the championship and their defense a lot of people were concerned about their defense in his absence and

The defense looked great. And their defense, when you use that defense to ignite their offense, I believe they have like 22 transition points at one point in the third quarter. Well, look, but they go crazy. But, Chanae, I might be able to score a fast break bucket against the Sixers if Harden is on the floor. Like, I might leak out and get a – I might be able to finish before they get back on defense. It's on bad nights, on their bad nights. I know. You're –

That is fair because when it's Harden and then Maxie having to, don't you love it when he sprints and like all you see is his hair and like he's trying his hardest.

Is he's like, is anyone else on this team not a run? Am I the only one that's a run before running with his arms? You're right. That is true. It is the Sixers. And that's not necessarily the case. And playing in Boston is not an easy opening night. But nonetheless, that defense, I think there are questions about how its viability starting the season game one. The defense look great. That ignited their offense. When you're giving when you're handing the Celtics 22 points, you're not going to beat them.

You're not there. They've figured things out enough to be able to just those are additives. Those are just straight additives that will put you at a huge deficit. It's going to be very hard to beat them when they're up in the transition game. A couple other very quick ones, and then I'll let you go. We have work to do. Warriors looked awesome in the first game. Every bit the defending champs. Wiseman.

Look, people nitpick Wiseman. Does he have the field? He looked... For expectations, he looked fantastic to me. He's going to thrive with Poole and DiVincenzo running pick and rolls with the second unit. Looked awesome.

My only caveat would be I was a little surprised that Moody was like almost the odd man out, the 11th guy. And I thought the Kaminga, Green, Wiseman, like that's a very, very big trio. I thought Moody should have been in there earlier. But, you know, look, they've got a lot of season to figure that out. I said when they got DiVincenzo and Jermichael Green, I told Kenji Andrews on this podcast yesterday,

I'm already annoyed. I'm already preemptively annoyed in July of how well those guys are going to fit with the Warriors and the whole league should be annoyed that they stole these guys on the cheap because they're perfect Warriors. That's my Warriors take. Any Warriors thoughts? I feel like this is a safe space of basketball nerds where I can do an appreciation for Jermichael Green being an NBA journeyman and finding himself to productive roles on multiple teams.

We both were in the same McDonald's All-American class back in 2010. Kyrie was in that class, a whole bunch of other guys that you know. But

But Jermichael Green was there. And I just, when I see him, I smile because people don't talk about him the way that they talk about other guys in our class. But nonetheless, he is out there. He's productive. He's making a living. He's living a good life. You know, like I just get happy when I see situations like that because typically we talk about one end of the spectrum. Big thoughts on the Warriors.

They're my favorites to win it all, to repeat. They just have a wash, rinse, repeat type of scenario. We talked the first few years of their Warriors dynasty about how they are the best at developing and harboring and nurturing talent. It seems like they just are starting that over again with a new cast of young players, Kaminga, Moody, Wiseman, which makes me just so scared for the rest of the league in the future. I saw a clip of Steph Curry talking about how his goal right now is extending his prime. That's his mindset.

that you've got Jordan Poole out there. Clay is going to be Clay and he's going to shoot every shot. And I love to see it. And Draymond Green, there's still a couple of question marks about like where this goes with him and his career in the longterm, but like the Warriors, the Warriors are awesome. And they, they're my favorites. I want Warriors Clippers in the Western Conference finals. I want that. And I want there to be that type of competition level to see who meets whoever comes out of the East. Jermichael Green, um,

Sneaky part of why I like him for the Warriors is he's a nasty offensive rebounder. And if you give them any additional second chances, it's just death. It's one of the reasons I like the P.J. Tucker acquisition for the Sixers, too, who do not get offensive rebounds. He'll steal them a few offensive rebounds. Cavs...

I'm very interested to see how long this Karis LeVert starting small forward thing lasts because I didn't love it as an idea and I didn't love it in execution. I don't love any of the other options. The Cavs-Raptors opening night game was weird. I'll just leave it there. Wait, wait, wait. That's weird? I mean like the Raptors. Like what?

Raptors literally are, they're the team that can sneak up and beat anyone. And it just mystifies me on how they do it. One of the people that I'm close to based on my heritage is Masai Ujiri.

And one of the coolest things I heard a couple years ago was that because the season where they were playing in Tampa after the bubble, the year after, their season was relocated there, he felt like he was uniquely positioned to understand the greatness of Scotty Barnes and was able to go see him at Florida State. And that's how he knew he was going to be a great NBA player. I'm like, it just is nuts to me how there's so many players on the Raptors that just keep time and time again finding ways to exceed expectations. So sorry. Yeah, I don't know. I just have this thing for the Raptors that

I can't explain. They didn't have Boucher or...

Well, Otto Porter in the first game. It was just a weird, ugly game. And I'm just – I want to watch both teams many more times before I really do anything. But Okoro looked – Isaac Okoro looked incredibly tentative with the ball. Okoro. With the exception of one little catch-and-go drive. Other than that, he didn't look like he wanted any part of offense. That worries me. And Miami, last thing I'll say, Miami didn't see Bulls heat. That was one of the games I haven't watched yet.

Kyle Lowry, one of seven, 0-5 from three. I'm monitoring now. It's on my monitor list because one of the reasons I gave the Heat the sort of benefit of the doubt is they exceed expectations every year. They'll win enough games to be out of the play in top six. Was I expected a bounce back from Kyle or at least –

A return somewhere close to where he was two seasons ago because of the personal issues he had last year that affected his conditioning and all that. Just monitoring. That's all. One game. Monitoring. That's all.

Agreed. Yeah, I don't want to overreact to the heat because somehow they always find a way to wiggle their way to the top. But one thing I was laughing was like that whole situation with Jimmy Butler's hair where he had the faux locks and all that type of stuff. I don't know. Like, did he plan to have that as his icon all season long? Because anytime you see his picture being promoted for media day when he wore that hair, I don't know if he thought about that. I

These are things I would think about if I were a player. Like there's always what Nene used to have the picture. His stock NBA picture was he was grinning so much.

so widely that it looked like silly. And in my head, I was like, did he know that's the photo of me that's going to be everywhere? I would do some goofy face and just be like, no, that's my photo. NBA should go NFL that way. You know how they introduce the lineups? And they have the players moving around. I was like, is this happening in the NBA? I don't think so. But I was like, did Jimmy realize that this is going to be everywhere on every icon, this image? I don't think so, but it's still funny nonetheless.

So that's my heat takeaway. That's your hot heat take. Shania Agwumake, you're second to none. I'm going to see you live and in person in like three hours for our television show. You're such a net. You are additive. You are super duper additive to ESPN's NBA coverage.

And thank you for hopping on the Low Post podcast. You vowed that you were going to appear on the podcast this year and you lived up to your vow. I tested you right away. We did it. I'll talk to you soon. Love you. Thank you so much. And this was a blast. Happy NBA season, everybody.