24-25 NBA Season: 10 On The Clock Season 4 Episode 5

[00:00:00] We're exclusive on the production. Your experience just got serious.

[00:00:20] Season. So look, we in a new week and I don't know how y'all feeling but I'm feeling pretty good right now.

[00:00:44] Thanksgiving right around the corner. Christmas right around the corner.

[00:00:49] We really count down the days before we go into 2025.

[00:00:55] And I don't know about y'all, but I'm really looking forward to the new year.

[00:01:01] Not saying that this year was a bad year because all things considered this year was a great year, but.

[00:01:06] I just think that 2025 is just gonna be so much better than 2024.

[00:01:12] I really do believe that and I really do believe that for all y'all.

[00:01:16] So, so for those who was having a bad year, man chalk it up.

[00:01:21] Chalk it up as a chalk it up, chalk it up as a learning experience.

[00:01:25] Chalk it up as a, as a year of growth because 2025 is gonna be a great year for you.

[00:01:34] Trust me when I tell you that.

[00:01:37] Welcome to another episode.

[00:01:39] A 10 On The Clock.

[00:01:41] I'm your host Tyrone Smith, AKA Ron2Exclusive, AKA Mr. Hustle Bandit, AKA Mr. Sneaker Bandit.

[00:01:52] Four Point Island, lock em up, Ron.

[00:01:56] Daytona 360, back in the building.

[00:02:00] Back in the building.

[00:02:03] Hell yeah.

[00:02:05] So before we get into the festivities, y'all already know what I like to do.

[00:02:09] Give y'all a couple housekeeping things, get that out the way.

[00:02:16] Shout out to the last word on sports and the Peach Basket once again, just put out my latest articles on both platforms.

[00:02:25] For last word, I talked about Wendell Moore Jr. and his impact with the Pistons.

[00:02:31] As y'all know, the Pistons are doing very well so far.

[00:02:35] The NBA was talking about the Pistons and saying that they weren't the same team.

[00:02:39] And people was commenting under the reel, talking about we are celebrating mediocrity.

[00:02:46] What?

[00:02:46] I think I said that right.

[00:02:48] But look, when you ain't winning your seventh game until February of the next year, you celebrate moments like this.

[00:02:58] For the people that's hating on the Pistons right now, get over yourself.

[00:03:04] Well, one of the main reasons that the Pistons have been doing well is because they've been having guys step up in the time of need.

[00:03:10] They've been dealing with a couple injuries as of late and they have some guys step up.

[00:03:16] Marcus Sasser was one of those guys.

[00:03:18] I actually wrote an article on Marcus Sasser.

[00:03:20] I think I'm gonna put that in the description as well.

[00:03:22] And then Wendell Moore has been playing well for them also.

[00:03:28] Now, he didn't play last night.

[00:03:30] So, and the Pistons lost.

[00:03:33] So, I'm not saying that he's the deciding factor in wins and losses for the Pistons.

[00:03:38] But look, you can't argue results, I guess.

[00:03:41] Not what I'm saying.

[00:03:42] But if we want to check those articles out, I will leave them in the description box below.

[00:03:46] For the PG basket, I wrote an article on the Hornets New Rising Star Center.

[00:03:54] I am not going to try to pronounce this man's name because I'm just not in the business of wrecking nobody's names.

[00:04:00] I hate when people mess up my name.

[00:04:02] Like, how can you spell Tyrone wrong?

[00:04:06] Like, some people spell it T-Y-R-O-N.

[00:04:10] Some people spell it T-Y-R-O-N-E.

[00:04:14] Which is how you're supposed to spell it.

[00:04:17] And then some people spell it T-Y-R-O-N-N.

[00:04:21] Stop playing with us.

[00:04:22] I don't get it.

[00:04:23] So, I'm not going to butcher this man's name.

[00:04:26] But just know, with all the injuries that's been going on in Charlotte with the centers, Nick Richards, Mark Williams, he's been stepping up.

[00:04:36] He's one of the best offensive rebounders in the game right now.

[00:04:39] He had 10 of them boys Saturday against Milwaukee.

[00:04:43] And he's really making a name for himself.

[00:04:46] And with these articles that you hopefully check out, what you'll grow to understand is that basketball is all about next man up.

[00:04:58] Just sports in general is all about next man up.

[00:05:01] I mean, you have your stars.

[00:05:03] You're going to depend on your stars.

[00:05:05] You're going to depend on your role players.

[00:05:07] You're going to depend on those guys.

[00:05:08] But it's those guys that don't get the play.

[00:05:11] It's those guys that don't get the opportunity playing the opposition, but they're doing all the right things in practice.

[00:05:20] Those are the guys that you root for.

[00:05:22] And for the Pistons, Marcus Sasser, man, I had big hopes for him.

[00:05:27] And unfortunately, you know, just due to how things have played out, he wasn't able to shine like I thought he would be able to shine early on.

[00:05:36] But once he got the opportunity, he flourished anything.

[00:05:39] Now you see he's he's getting more consistent minutes.

[00:05:42] The same thing with window more.

[00:05:44] A lot of people felt that he was a guy that wasn't going to be a part of the long term solution in terms of rotation.

[00:05:51] But you get a couple injuries.

[00:05:54] You need guys to step up, give you some energy minutes.

[00:05:57] He came in, did just that.

[00:05:59] So it's go for anybody.

[00:06:03] Well, no matter what your profession is, man, understand that your time will come.

[00:06:10] And before it comes, you got to make sure that you ready.

[00:06:15] Make sure you do everything that you can to stay ready.

[00:06:19] Don't get caught up in the moment and embrace the moment.

[00:06:22] Victory is mine.

[00:06:23] I will put those articles.

[00:06:25] Like I said, I will put those in the description box below.

[00:06:29] I want to start getting into live reactions of basketball games like I've been doing podcasting like this in particular.

[00:06:36] I've been doing it for so long that I feel like sometimes I got to branch out into doing other different things.

[00:06:42] Like sometimes you see me doing guest appearances on like the Peach Basket when we do season preview shows or anything along those lines.

[00:06:53] But I want to start doing things out there on my own, just kind of get my perspective on different things.

[00:06:59] So I've decided starting in December, December is going to be a big, big month for 10 on the clock is going to be a big moment for slow grind network.

[00:07:11] Daytona 360 productions, all that good stuff.

[00:07:13] It's going to be a great year.

[00:07:15] So starting in December, I'm actually going to start doing live reactions to live basketball games.

[00:07:22] Like I feel like I think it'd be dope.

[00:07:26] Get some of the fellas on here.

[00:07:28] Talk basketball, talk hoops, just hoops in general, and just have a good time watching some NBA basketball.

[00:07:35] I don't know what my first game would be.

[00:07:37] It'll definitely be a Pistons game for sure.

[00:07:39] And then I'm definitely do a Hornies game.

[00:07:42] And then I just want to do like a regular NBA game.

[00:07:45] So that'll probably be my, do how I do it going forward.

[00:07:49] Do three different games, two games from teams that I do extensive work with.

[00:07:56] And then one game that I'm just kind of interested in watching.

[00:08:00] Still trying to put it all together.

[00:08:02] Try to go through the schedule and see what works best for me.

[00:08:05] But I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to get that going for y'all.

[00:08:08] So hopefully y'all will like it and appreciate it and come through and talk hoops with me.

[00:08:15] And that also brings me to living room GM.

[00:08:18] Now I know in the first episode, I talked about how living room GM is going to be a part of the 10 o'clock episode.

[00:08:24] Where I'm going to have interviews with people that know the game of basketball, get thoughts and perspectives from them.

[00:08:30] And then maybe put out full interviews somewhere and get that going.

[00:08:36] Get different.

[00:08:37] I got different ideas in terms of topics that I want to get some of my, you know, basketball enthusiasts involved with.

[00:08:46] See where they coming from in different aspects of it.

[00:08:49] But for whatever reason, I'm having a hard time kind of putting it all together.

[00:08:53] But that is no longer the case.

[00:08:56] So in December as well, in addition to the live basketball games and I'm be reacting to also going to be starting up my living room GM.

[00:09:05] Now, I'm still going to be doing the interview format, still putting bits and pieces in these episodes.

[00:09:10] But I will have the full interviews out.

[00:09:14] Still don't know where I'm going to put a month check, put them out.

[00:09:17] What platform I'm going to put them out on.

[00:09:20] But just know that they come.

[00:09:21] So this is why I said December is going to be a big month overall.

[00:09:25] I'm really looking to do some things, really trying to expand to different avenues.

[00:09:30] So that we got all that out the way.

[00:09:32] I just want to give my brief thoughts on the Tyson Jake Paul fight.

[00:09:38] Because I see a lot of people on social media and a lot of people feel some type of way about the fight.

[00:09:44] Thinking that Mike Tyson was going to destroy this man.

[00:09:47] Not knowing that Jake Paul is 27 and Mike Tyson is 58.

[00:09:53] Which means that Tyson is really old enough to be this man's dad.

[00:09:58] You had to understand that, yeah, he was going to come out with a burst of energy early on.

[00:10:02] But after that, he's older.

[00:10:05] That he wasn't going to be able to sustain it.

[00:10:08] And everybody talk about all his training videos.

[00:10:11] He looks so good and this, that and the third.

[00:10:13] It's a big difference between just training when it's just your boys or whatever the case may be.

[00:10:19] And actually going out there for actual physical competition.

[00:10:24] Like with basketball, like if you out for a period of time, you can do all the rehab in the world.

[00:10:30] You can do all the running and all that other stuff in the world.

[00:10:33] But basketball shape is so much different than just regular shape.

[00:10:39] And you see people, you see guys that go out there who've been missing time and go and play a basketball game and still struggle with conditioning.

[00:10:51] I don't, I never really read into Mike Tyson's workout videos.

[00:10:58] Because it's a, it's a, like I said, it's a, it's a major thing.

[00:11:02] It's a big difference between the two.

[00:11:05] And then on top of that, you gotta remember Tyson ain't been in, I don't think he been in the ring since he fought Roy Jones in that exhibition.

[00:11:11] So it had been about four years.

[00:11:13] The fact that people really thought that Tyson was going to win is fine.

[00:11:17] But for Jake Paul, I think if you want to be taken serious as a boxer, you really gotta box some boxers.

[00:11:24] Right? You gonna get the money.

[00:11:26] You, you gonna get, you gonna get what you, what you get.

[00:11:29] I mean, that's one thing that you can't, can't take away from him is his, his level of business and getting the bag is, is impressive.

[00:11:38] But his catalog of victories isn't quite that impressive.

[00:11:43] So he gotta go out there.

[00:11:44] If he really want to be taken serious, he really gotta go out there.

[00:11:48] He gotta, he gotta fight a fighter.

[00:11:49] Like, he gotta fight a real boxer to really show that, you know, this is something that he's really serious about.

[00:11:57] But overall, I didn't watch the whole card.

[00:11:59] I heard it was a good card.

[00:12:01] Um, I think eventually I'm going to watch the whole thing.

[00:12:04] Cause I've been hearing a lot of things about like the, the fights, the women fights.

[00:12:09] I heard those are some really good, uh, battles.

[00:12:11] So I want to check those out and, and see.

[00:12:15] But I did watch that Tyson fight and, um, it wasn't, it wasn't as cracked up as people wanted to make it, make it out to be.

[00:12:23] And honestly, people shouldn't have expected anything more than what they got.

[00:12:30] It was exactly how I expected.

[00:12:33] He was going to come up with some energy.

[00:12:35] And then that, that age was going to show.

[00:12:38] He still got 20 million.

[00:12:40] And he still went eight rounds in a, in a boxing match at 58 years old against a 27 year old.

[00:12:47] There's nothing to be ashamed about.

[00:12:49] If you Tyson, there's nothing to be ashamed about.

[00:12:51] If you were part of that camp, like what he did was very impressive.

[00:12:56] And it should give people the hope that no matter how old you are, don't stop chasing your dream, bro.

[00:13:06] Like you can never stop chasing your dream just because you 40 or whatever the case may be.

[00:13:12] Now, if you're a rapper, you 40, I don't know, but anything else, don't chase, don't stop chasing that dream.

[00:13:20] Because it's, it's always opportunities out there for you to be successful.

[00:13:26] Always.

[00:13:27] And I guess even if you're a rapper in this day and age, make a catchy song with a catchy hook and a catchy dance.

[00:13:33] Good to go.

[00:13:34] And especially if you 40, your bones are already getting fragile and old.

[00:13:38] You can make, you can, you can take advantage of that.

[00:13:40] Just make a dance where you just like faking, like you hurt your leg or something like they did in the fire heartbeats.

[00:13:47] Remember at the end of the fire heartbeats, like they was, they was reminiscing and then they was doing the dance moves and they went to do the turn.

[00:13:54] And you know, he was holding his back because you know, he couldn't make that move no more.

[00:13:59] Cause he was older.

[00:14:00] You can do that.

[00:14:03] So shout out to everything going on.

[00:14:07] It was a good week.

[00:14:08] Like I said, overall, but now the week is over with, we are now into the new week of NBA basketball.

[00:14:16] But before we talk about the new, we got to give love to the old.

[00:14:20] So let's go ahead.

[00:14:21] Let's talk about some of these stories from this past week.

[00:14:35] All right.

[00:14:35] So the first thing I want to talk about is obviously the one of the biggest stories of the week.

[00:14:39] And that was Klay Thompson returning to the Bay.

[00:14:43] So I don't know.

[00:14:43] Klay Thompson spent his whole career with the Golden State Warriors and decided that it was time to go for greener pastures signing with the Dallas Mavericks.

[00:14:52] It's funny how things work though.

[00:14:55] Because when Klay left the Warriors, a lot of people felt that the Warriors were going to be struggling.

[00:15:02] Like they felt that they were going to be good, but they wasn't going to be that their championship window may be at the door because Klay decided to go.

[00:15:10] When that's been the exact opposite, they've done a good job of filling the holes with other players that can come in and maybe not give you everything that Klay does, but give you bits and pieces of what he does to kind of mold it into a rotational type of thing.

[00:15:28] Kind of like a football, if you don't have an every down back, you have that rotational running backs that you can throw in and out and you have an effective running game.

[00:15:38] That's kind of what's happening here.

[00:15:39] You get Buddy Hill for the shooting that you may miss with Klay Thompson.

[00:15:44] You know, Buddy Hill's been one of the better shooters in his career.

[00:15:47] So you get that element.

[00:15:50] You get Klay was, he was a good defender.

[00:15:54] He wasn't as great as he was in his early years, obviously.

[00:15:57] Injuries and do that to you in age.

[00:16:00] But you know, he was still a capable defender.

[00:16:02] So you get a guy like D.M.

[00:16:04] You know that you come on the fold.

[00:16:05] And you have some young guys like Moses Mooney and the other guy.

[00:16:10] I'm not going to try to say his name, but you know exactly what I'm talking about.

[00:16:14] These guys have came in and been able to not match what Klay did, but give them bits and pieces of what they're missing out from Klay

[00:16:28] to where you don't miss Klay at all.

[00:16:32] You see Golden State is one of the better teams in the NBA.

[00:16:36] The second in the Western Conference, behind the Thunder.

[00:16:39] So it's interesting how that works out.

[00:16:42] For Cleveland, not for Cleveland, for Dallas though.

[00:16:46] You know, Klay was seen as a guy who was going to be a missing piece.

[00:16:49] And right now they're kind of struggling a little bit, but it's still early in the season.

[00:16:53] We are getting to that point now where you kind of get a feeling of what the team may look like going forward.

[00:17:01] You don't want to get too far to the point where you have to fight and claw your way back into respectability, fight and claw your way into playoff season.

[00:17:11] You don't want to be that team.

[00:17:14] Overall, Klay hasn't been doing as good with the Mavericks as he was with the Warriors.

[00:17:24] Like I said, you know, I think the Warriors saying that Klay wasn't worth the money, the investment that he may have thought he was worth.

[00:17:32] And when you give a team so much for so many years, of course you're going to want that team to take care of you financially.

[00:17:41] Even if your play isn't what it was when you were in good pride.

[00:17:47] But Golden State saw the bigger picture, realized that maybe paying a guy X amount of money to give them hits and misses in terms of production.

[00:17:59] Was it worth it?

[00:18:00] And they decided to go elsewhere and get it from other avenues.

[00:18:06] And it's worked out well for them.

[00:18:08] I don't think this is going to be a situation where we look at this side and say that it was one of the worst signings.

[00:18:15] I still think it's going to manifest itself to be one of the better signs for the Mavericks.

[00:18:21] But sometimes when you're in a new situation, it takes a little longer for you to get accustomed.

[00:18:26] So Klay is going to take them a little while to get accustomed to playing with a Luka and accustomed to playing with a Kyrie.

[00:18:34] It's going to take him a minute.

[00:18:36] Like I said, I don't think he'll be the guy that he was in Golden State.

[00:18:40] I don't even think he'll be the guy that he was last year.

[00:18:42] He had 17 points last year for Golden State.

[00:18:45] I think he'll be like a 14, 15 point guy.

[00:18:48] And that's okay.

[00:18:49] He still will give them valuable options on the perimeter.

[00:18:53] Let Luka and Kyrie do what they do in terms of collapsing and being able to draw and kick.

[00:18:58] And he'll be able to thrive.

[00:19:01] But seeing Klay back in Golden State, it had to have been a great feeling for everybody involved.

[00:19:08] Klay Thompson is going to retire a Warrior.

[00:19:10] Let's just put it like that.

[00:19:11] So he's going to get his years playing with Dallas or another team if it come about.

[00:19:18] But Klay Thompson is going to retire a Warrior.

[00:19:21] It's just weird to see it.

[00:19:23] It's like seeing Scottie Pippen in a Houston Rockets jersey or a Portland Trailblazers jersey when you know him to be a Chicago Bull.

[00:19:32] Or Patrick Ewing in a Seattle Superdots or Orlando Magic jersey.

[00:19:38] And you always know him to be a New York Knick.

[00:19:42] So just saying that was weird.

[00:19:43] But it's still a good thing.

[00:19:45] He balled out in his return.

[00:19:48] Hopefully it's a good thing that signs to come.

[00:19:51] But shout out to Klay.

[00:19:53] Shout out to Klay.

[00:19:56] In-season tournament play has been crazy.

[00:20:00] And it's funny because people really didn't like the aspect of the tournament.

[00:20:07] People thought it was cheesy and corny.

[00:20:09] But now in the second season, I really do believe they have something new in here.

[00:20:15] It gives teams opportunities to be champions.

[00:20:18] It gives them bragging rights during the course of the season.

[00:20:21] It gives bad teams the opportunity to play meaningful basketball.

[00:20:27] Because if you're a bad team, then it's a good chance that you're not going to be playing meaningful basketball.

[00:20:33] It's a good chance you're not going to be playing playoff basketball in May, in April, in June.

[00:20:40] You get to play that type of basketball early on and get to experience what it's going to be like for you.

[00:20:46] You get it where you're motivated to want to be playing in playoff basketball.

[00:20:54] But the Pistons and the Hawks are 2-0 right now.

[00:20:57] Like we told all the other teams like everybody in group play, you may expect it to be where they are in terms of record.

[00:21:04] But the Pistons are 2-0.

[00:21:06] The Hawks are 2-0.

[00:21:08] They lead their groups right now.

[00:21:11] And it's going to get harder for both of them.

[00:21:14] But considering the way that the Pistons are playing, who knows?

[00:21:20] We could be talking about the Pistons in Vegas like legitimately.

[00:21:24] Which would be a huge confidence boost for a team that was trash last year.

[00:21:31] And that's trying to build an identity.

[00:21:33] That's trying to pick up the grit that the Lions have picked up and became the best team in the NFL.

[00:21:39] This would be huge for them.

[00:21:43] No matter what you think of it, man.

[00:21:45] It's just, it's the vibe of in-season tournament play that just, it's really dope.

[00:21:52] The courts are dope.

[00:21:54] The jerseys are dope.

[00:21:56] The atmosphere is dope.

[00:21:57] Like it really feels like post-season basketball.

[00:22:01] I've never been to a tournament game.

[00:22:04] In-season tournament game.

[00:22:05] I've watched them all of course.

[00:22:08] I feel the intensity of the games.

[00:22:11] Like that Pistons Heat game.

[00:22:12] I felt the intensity.

[00:22:14] Like cause the Pistons was putting work in.

[00:22:17] And Miami came back and they was winning.

[00:22:19] And I was like, dang, they about to lose.

[00:22:22] And it just so happened that they fought their way back.

[00:22:25] The alley-oop and then the Chris Webber timeout.

[00:22:28] Like, I'm like, wow, this is, this is something.

[00:22:31] This is something different.

[00:22:33] Just the thought, just the thought of playing for something within season, man.

[00:22:39] That's, that's, that's, that's something to motivate you.

[00:22:42] And it's glad to see that the players are taking this serious.

[00:22:45] Like they're, they're hyped to play these games.

[00:22:49] And I hope that it continues.

[00:22:51] I don't know how you can make it better.

[00:22:54] And hopefully you can find a way to make it better.

[00:22:56] I don't know if you can tie in home court advantage somehow, some way.

[00:23:02] Like baseball did with the all-star game.

[00:23:05] And I'm going to talk a little about the all-star game.

[00:23:07] Cause I think they're going to a new format.

[00:23:08] I want to, I want to, I want to touch on that.

[00:23:10] But in season tournament is where it's at right now.

[00:23:14] So all the haters out there, man, how y'all feeling right now?

[00:23:19] Jared McCain.

[00:23:21] This man has been taking the NBA by storm.

[00:23:25] And right now look to be the favorite for rookie of the year.

[00:23:29] Now it's funny because I did a, like a two week season awards.

[00:23:34] And my rookie of the year at the time was Alex Sark.

[00:23:38] But McCain, it came out of nowhere, bro.

[00:23:41] Like just out of nowhere.

[00:23:44] Him and Dalton's connect because connect is starting now.

[00:23:48] And he's been playing well as a starter.

[00:23:49] The Lakers are looking, looking kind of solid, looking kind of solid.

[00:23:53] I can't even lie.

[00:23:54] And then you got guys like Ron Holland,

[00:23:57] who's been a significant contributor to the Pistons early season surprises right now.

[00:24:04] This is one thing about sports in general, or you know, like incoming players.

[00:24:10] Like on paper, yes, they look bad.

[00:24:12] You can say they're terrible, but you got to actually watch them play.

[00:24:16] Like sometimes it'd be, it'd be the college system that's holding them back.

[00:24:20] Like it don't be the player itself.

[00:24:21] It'd just be the system of the coaches that hold them back.

[00:24:26] Now that they're in the NBA and they get a style that maybe fits them better than what it did in college.

[00:24:33] You start to see what the real player is and you start to see the dominance of that player.

[00:24:39] But we talking about Philly right now, man.

[00:24:43] Philly, Philly is one of the worst teams in the league.

[00:24:45] They just lost to the Miami Heat.

[00:24:47] They was up double digits.

[00:24:48] I look up, they lose in my double digits.

[00:24:50] Philly is bad.

[00:24:52] And when you have an MVP candidate like Joel Embiid,

[00:24:55] a perennial all-star, Paul George, an up and comer, and Tyrese Maxey,

[00:24:59] who's hurt right now.

[00:25:00] This is not what you want to see from that team with championship aspirations.

[00:25:06] But in the midst of being bad, it's always good that comes out of it.

[00:25:10] And McCain has been there.

[00:25:12] Up until last night, he was averaging about 14.8 points.

[00:25:16] As he had like a stretch of like 20 points that he was scoring.

[00:25:24] So they got somebody.

[00:25:27] And it's going to be interesting to see how Nick Nurse decides to play this out once his guys are fully healthy.

[00:25:34] Is he a guy that's going to be like one of the first off the bench and gives them that energy?

[00:25:40] Do they feel they need to put him in the starting lineup to maximize offense early on?

[00:25:46] But shout out to Jerry McCain.

[00:25:48] Man, people feel he got weird energy, whatever the case may be with the TikToks and all that other stuff.

[00:25:53] But if you a Hooper, you a Hooper, no matter what you do on social media.

[00:25:57] If you can go out there and ball, everything else is under the rug.

[00:26:05] And let's talk City Edition jerseys, because they were all unveiled.

[00:26:10] We got some good ones.

[00:26:11] We got some bad ones.

[00:26:13] Let's talk about some of the good ones.

[00:26:15] Let's talk about Minnesota's City Edition jerseys.

[00:26:18] They've always had some dope City editions.

[00:26:21] But the icy themes, the icy theme to their jersey, man, the white, like the glacier type thing, man, I ain't gonna lie.

[00:26:28] I seen that Saturday when they played Phoenix and Julius Randle hit the game winner.

[00:26:34] Those was hard.

[00:26:35] Those was hardcore.

[00:26:36] I got a rock with Minnesota.

[00:26:38] Who knows?

[00:26:40] One of the more terrible ones, I think personally, is the Raptors.

[00:26:45] Look, the Toronto Raptors are one of the worst teams in the league right now.

[00:26:49] But they play hard.

[00:26:50] I give them that.

[00:26:50] They play hard.

[00:26:51] R.J. Barrett out there doing his thing.

[00:26:53] And Yaka Poto, man, that man, look, NBA trade deadline coming up.

[00:27:00] Team's gonna need a big man.

[00:27:01] And Poto is playing like he trying to get Toronto some confidence, some hefty compensation for services.

[00:27:12] Because he been out there balling, like just out there making things happen.

[00:27:17] Double doubles.

[00:27:18] Like I talk crazy double doubles.

[00:27:19] But them jerseys.

[00:27:21] I get what they was trying to do with the with the dinosaur and the between the legs, you know, a little a little love to Vince Carter.

[00:27:29] But it's just something about this jersey that's just like, it's so plain.

[00:27:33] Like it's nothing appealing about the jersey other than the dinosaur.

[00:27:38] But then again, it's like if they would have made it like a purple, like like the old school Raptors jerseys when they first came in, I think those would have been hard body.

[00:27:47] But just the way that they are now, I really rock it with them.

[00:27:53] Utah.

[00:27:54] Now, Utah is about to go through a brand change after this season.

[00:27:59] They going away from them terrible jerseys that they got now that I probably could have made in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Paint.

[00:28:08] They're going back to their purple mountain jerseys and that is their city edition jersey, which is so beautiful.

[00:28:16] Now, I think they took out the turquoise in the jerseys and now it's like purple.

[00:28:21] It's like black in there.

[00:28:23] Like them jerseys is hardcore.

[00:28:25] Like Utah, they got some hardcore jerseys coming up and it fits right in like a new style.

[00:28:32] They got a new way of playing.

[00:28:34] They got some young pieces that I can do some great things.

[00:28:38] Shout out to the Jazz for going back to one of their iconic, more iconic looks and then kind of updating it a little bit.

[00:28:46] Golden State.

[00:28:48] Look, I like the color scheme, the We Believe color scheme, but the circle Golden State around the number.

[00:28:56] I don't know, bro.

[00:28:57] It's kind of giving me elementary school basketball team vibes.

[00:29:00] And I really, I really feel it.

[00:29:02] I think they really wanted to do something.

[00:29:05] They could have went with the old school with the guy who had the lightning ball.

[00:29:10] I think that was the old logo.

[00:29:12] They would have did something like that if they would have went to like those particular jerseys or the jerseys of like the nineties.

[00:29:21] The city jerseys.

[00:29:22] I think those would have been dope, but the way that they are now.

[00:29:26] No, no, man.

[00:29:28] This might seem a little biased, but I got to go with the Pistons.

[00:29:32] They're like a white, but it seemed like it's like a cream color.

[00:29:35] Like to me, like kind of like Oklahoma State.

[00:29:38] Kind of like the vibes that I get from them.

[00:29:40] But overall, man, the Pistons, they they've had some nice ones.

[00:29:44] The black ones were cold.

[00:29:46] These are nice.

[00:29:48] The St. Cecilia boys.

[00:29:50] Those are nice.

[00:29:51] The 75th anniversary edition ones that they had.

[00:29:56] Those are dope.

[00:29:57] Like they've had some really good ones.

[00:29:59] It's just weird because now you can actually watch them.

[00:30:05] They look nice, but then the product on the court is finally going to match the product of the jerseys.

[00:30:14] And you're optimistic for a win.

[00:30:18] So, yeah.

[00:30:20] So, shout out.

[00:30:21] Shout out to all the best and the worst of the city edition jerseys.

[00:30:28] And we're going to go ahead and talk.

[00:30:31] Get some locks of the week out of the way.

[00:30:33] So, let's go ahead.

[00:30:34] Let's talk about the locks of the week.

[00:30:49] Last week, I went five and two.

[00:30:51] It gave me a record of 14 and 13 coming into this week.

[00:30:56] But Monday, I unfortunately picked the Pistons to beat the Bulls.

[00:31:00] And that was not the case.

[00:31:01] So, currently, I am 14 and 14 in selections.

[00:31:07] Now, it felt good to be back over 500.

[00:31:09] But now, I feel some type of way now that I'm stuck at 500.

[00:31:13] But it's all good because losses go to a good cause.

[00:31:17] For every loss that's piled up during the course of the season, I will be making a donation to Souls for Souls.

[00:31:24] I did it.

[00:31:26] So, now we got Monday out the way.

[00:31:27] We're going to go ahead and go start it off with Tuesday.

[00:31:29] And I got an upset for y'all because I got the Celtics giving the Cleveland Cavaliers their first loss of the season.

[00:31:39] Wednesday, give me the Suns to defeat the Knicks.

[00:31:45] Thursday, I'm going to take the Magic to defeat the Lakers.

[00:31:49] I mean, the Magic's a little banged up right now, but I like the way they're playing right now.

[00:31:52] They're playing some hardcore basketball right now.

[00:31:56] Friday, I'm going to take the Nuggets over the Mavericks.

[00:32:02] Saturday, in a rematch in a really good game that happened last Saturday.

[00:32:09] But this Saturday, I'm going to take the Hornets to defeat the Bucks.

[00:32:15] Now, they beat them last week.

[00:32:18] And they riding some momentum.

[00:32:21] But they ain't in it.

[00:32:22] They ain't back.

[00:32:23] So, I don't know.

[00:32:23] But it's going to be a good game.

[00:32:25] But I'm taking the Hornets.

[00:32:26] I'm going to rock with the Hornets on Saturday.

[00:32:27] And Sunday, I'm going to take the Sacramento Kings to defeat the Brooklyn Nets.

[00:32:36] Those are my locks of the week.

[00:32:38] And before I end it, I just want to go ahead.

[00:32:40] I want to shout out to the changes to the 2025 NBA All-Star game that's going to be in San Francisco.

[00:32:48] And the main reason they're doing these changes is because the All-Star game is kind of boring.

[00:32:53] Nobody really plays defense.

[00:32:55] It's just kind of like a snooze class.

[00:32:57] All-Star Saturday night is the premier night of the weekend.

[00:33:01] And they want to add a little flair to what it is that they're trying to do in terms of getting competition into the All-Star game.

[00:33:09] So, they have a proposed format where there's going to be three teams composed of eight All-Star selections.

[00:33:17] And the fourth team is going to consist of the winners of the Rising Star Challenge, which features rookie sophomores and G League players.

[00:33:27] The format is going to mimic a Final Four setup featuring two semifinals followed by a championship game dramatically altering the traditional East versus West showdown.

[00:33:41] I actually like the format.

[00:33:43] Like, I feel that you get like a tournament style.

[00:33:48] Give them something.

[00:33:49] I don't know, like money or whatever the case may be.

[00:33:52] However you want to play it.

[00:33:53] But give them something to compete for.

[00:33:57] You still kind of doing it where old school where you kind of pick your teams or however.

[00:34:01] I don't know how they'll do that.

[00:34:03] But just the format of having three teams and whoever wins the rookie sophomore game include them.

[00:34:10] So, you have one true All-Stars.

[00:34:13] I think that'd be dope.

[00:34:16] Now, I don't know if it's like officially in the making.

[00:34:20] But if they do do that, I would not have a problem with that.

[00:34:24] I didn't have a problem with the picking of the teams.

[00:34:27] But then it kind of had just got stale after a certain point.

[00:34:30] It was like, nah, this ain't it.

[00:34:33] It's also being discussed about a possible shootout with the likes of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kaitlyn Clark, Sabrina Onescu from the Liberty.

[00:34:47] So, they try to put it together.

[00:34:50] They try to put it together.

[00:34:52] I like it.

[00:34:52] We got to see it on court.

[00:34:54] But just the initial thoughts of it, they're going to be dope.

[00:35:00] I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to end this episode on that.

[00:35:05] Like always, I appreciate y'all rocking out with me as always.

[00:35:10] I'm Tyrone Smith.

[00:35:12] We're on two exclusive hustle bandit, sneaker bandit, 4.9 and lock them up.

[00:35:16] Wrong.

[00:35:17] Daytona 360.

[00:35:18] I got some stuff coming for y'all.

[00:35:21] So, y'all be on the lookout.

[00:35:24] Don't get lost in the sauce.

[00:35:27] And I'll holla at y'all next week.

[00:35:32] Peace.