13 Rules: NBA Random Thoughts - March 30, 2024

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It'stimetotalkbasketball.

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I'mJoseSalvianieditoratthebeachbasket.net.

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He'sStevePrasiello,

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alongtimeeducator,

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viceprincipalandathleticdirector,

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andthisisthe13RulesRandomMBAThoughtspodcast.

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Undeniably,thebest15minutesofrandomthoughtsonline.

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Ifthisisyourfirsttimelistening,

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asalways,thankyou.

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Wearesogratefulandthankfulthatyoufoundus.

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ThispodcastisbornoutofSteve'sarticles

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thathecreatesweeklycalledNBARandomThoughts.

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13RulesNBARandomThoughts.

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SteveandIhaveexactly15minutestodiscuss

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what'sonhismindaroundtheNBA.

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Today,we'lldiscusshislatest13RulesRandomMBAThoughtsarticle.

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Steve,areyouready?

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Ready.

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Let's do this.

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I'm going to start the timer now.

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All right, the focus this week was on coaches on the hot seat,

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as well as some random thoughts mixed in.

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So we're going to talk a little bit about some coaches

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that might be in trouble,

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and then a little random thought at the end.

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We're going to start.

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We'll start, rather, with a team

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that we don't talk a lot about, really.

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And that's the Charlotte Hornets.

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Their coach Steve Clifford is on the hot seat,

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despite being well respected in the coaching industry.

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So I got to ask,

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what went wrong in Charlotte

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if a coach is well respected

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as Steve Clifford can't get things done there?

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No talent and new ownership.

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Those two things you put them together,

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and they're going to want their own person.

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I believe they just hired a new GM

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or a new president of the operation.

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I'm sure he's going to want to clean the house,

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and that leaves Clifford out of work.

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Don't forget, Clifford was hired

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after Kenny Ackinson turned the job down a couple years ago.

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So he was not their first choice.

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This is the second go-around with him.

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He does a great job.

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I think the players like playing for him,

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but at this point,

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it's just natural when a new owner

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in a new situation turned in their people.

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And I don't think Clifford is their people,

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but Charlotte has a major problem.

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They don't have good players.

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They have a few, but not enough to compete

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with the good teams.

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So I don't know where it's going to go.

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It's going to take a while.

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And whoever they hire is going to need a couple of years.

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It's not something you would judge

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whose work after the next year.

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Yeah.

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This show is called Random Thoughts.

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Your article is called Random Thoughts.

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I got a random thought for you.

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It just came up.

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I got two situations for you.

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You got a team with phenomenal players, a great team.

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Let's say the Denver Nutties.

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And then you got a team that's kind of floundering

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not a good team, not great players.

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Let's say the Charlotte Hornets.

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You take the best coach in the NBA, historically.

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Any great coach, give that coach to the Charlotte Hornets.

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And then you take me and you put me in charge

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of the Denver Nutties.

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What's going to happen?

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Are the Denver Nutties going to tank?

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Or are the Charlotte Hornets going to all of a sudden

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be really, really good?

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Who's going to have the greater impact?

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Me and with the Nuggets or Red R back with the Hornets?

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Well, first of all, before we make that crazy analogy,

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you'd be fired in the first week.

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But there used to be an old thing where they said,

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he can-- that coach is so good.

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He can beat you with his or yours.

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I think obviously, Denver is always

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going to win more games.

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They've got so much more talent.

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But I think every team's got an area where, before a season,

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you sit there and say, OK, bad year there

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will win this, good year there will win that.

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First, Charlotte, you'd probably say something like bad year,

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15, good year, 25 to 30.

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So you can, again, measure your coach accordingly.

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The other factor that you've got to bring into it is injuries.

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Charlotte's been killed by injuries.

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Well, Mel O'Bolves has been out most of the season

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for the second year of that.

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So that doesn't help in the qualifying.

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So you've got to look at what you have and then figure it out.

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But I think in this case, it's just complicated

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because it's new orders.

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And they're not going to want to present the same old mess

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that they have.

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So it's got to put a little paint on the building.

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And by putting a paint, that means getting a new coach.

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Yep.

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Agreed.

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Yeah, I think at the end of the day, it comes down to players.

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Coach has certainly had an impact, but you've got to have the players.

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You've got to have a good, good, good team of players.

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And a coach that can kind of maneuver that and manage those egos.

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But it all starts with good players.

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One of the first things you learn when I coached,

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one of the first things I learned was if we're going to win,

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I've got to get better horses.

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I can coach all night.

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And know all this stuff.

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But when you lose in my 30, you're going to draw a nice plate.

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Doesn't work.

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So it's all about the half.

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Well, speaking of good players, the Cleveland Cavaliers

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have got good players.

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They're a good team.

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They're a 45-win team.

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Currently, or at least as of yesterday,

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third in the very top Eastern conference,

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they were undeniably the hottest team in the NBA just about a month back.

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But you wrote that their coach, JB Bigger Staff, should be worried.

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Why?

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Because I think for a while now, they're

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looking to make incremental progress.

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If they get knocked out in the first round, that's not an incremental progress.

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They went out and they got in strut.

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They were in struse, and they were in the air again.

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The problem was they felt they didn't have a bench and against the mix in the playoffs.

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They didn't shoot well as well as didn't rebound well.

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So they figured these two guys would take here and help them shoot as a shooting team.

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So they did make these steps to improve themselves.

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They've been beat up with injuries.

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Nobody's going to argue that.

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But now they're starting to get healthy, Mitchell played last night,

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and all the other good things.

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But if they don't get better, you got to think that Bigger Staff is going to be gone.

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Dan Gilbert just had a stroke.

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He's the owner a couple of years ago.

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He's not real healthy.

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And I think he'd like to be around the finals at some point.

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And if he doesn't see progress, you just have to do something.

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Yeah.

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So you're saying specifically they're in trouble if they don't get out of the first round.

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Yeah, I think they'll be okay, but next year will be again.

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They'll be out of the high, you know, in a situation.

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And you know what, the other day Miami beat them big.

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It shouldn't happen this time of year.

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And I know again, Mitchell didn't play and they're injured.

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I and Struse has been out, but still you don't get beat by 30.

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You don't get blown out of a game at this point in the year if you have dreams of going far.

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And I'm sure that didn't go over good.

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And it's going to become a point where Kobe Altman is the general manager.

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It's going to become a point where for Altman's might have to save his neck.

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That means Bigger Staff goes.

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You know, Altman's done a decent job getting them better.

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So that's my sense.

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You know, I could be wrong again.

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Well, yeah, honestly, after talking to you now for years, right?

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You lean, you lean more on right than wrong.

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I'll give you that for sure.

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We're still waiting.

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Well, Houston Rockets are charging for that play in spot.

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We're still waiting on that one.

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And believe me, I'm watching you see.

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That one mine.

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It's so close.

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And Jaylen Green is become a big time player.

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Yeah, yeah, no, it's fun to watch.

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And certainly keeping keeping an eye on that.

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I do think that Cleveland Cavalier's job should have become available would be by far the

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most attractive job for any coach.

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Because this is a very, very good team, assuming they keep their core in place.

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It'll be an interesting thing if it does come open.

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What the GM does, I have to sit and think about who the experienced coaches are out there.

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Yeah, bring an experienced coach in.

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The GM is going to be in trouble if he doesn't do well.

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If they don't bring an experienced coach in, you know, that he might be able to skate through

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that.

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But usually you can't fire two or three coaches, you know, GM.

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You got one.

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And then after that, it better work.

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Yeah.

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So they'll keep an eye on Cleveland, another high profile team that we talk a lot about here.

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Because cover the NBA.

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And then the NBA is about, you know, let's say.

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You know, globally two teams, right?

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Yeah, Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.

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I thought it was one, but God.

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It's two.

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It's two.

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Their coach, Darvin Hamm, has been in the hot seat really since the week after he started.

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And LA is a tough place to play because they demand greatness.

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Their fans do.

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I think their ownership does.

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And the Lakers really haven't been great.

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They've been mediocre.

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They did win in 2020.

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That wasn't, you know, beforehand.

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And with him, they've been, you know, they won in sense of, you know, they won the in-season

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tournament.

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They made it to the Western Conference Finals, which was not what was expected of them.

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But this is a chip or skip town, right?

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You win the chip or you skip town.

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You get out of here.

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Is that a fair way to assess coaches in general?

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I think you've answered that question actually earlier, but I want to ask it straight up.

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In LA, Darvin Hamm's in trouble.

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Is that fair?

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Let me ask you this.

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If they don't get out of the play and round, who gets the heat, polink or ham?

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Yeah, ham.

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Ham.

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He's gone undeniably.

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Okay.

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There's your answer.

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If they get into the playoffs and they lose the first round, what happens?

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That's tough, right?

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You made the point earlier, right?

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You said you've got to gauge the team based on, you know, what their top ceiling is, right?

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And that's where I think the Lakers and Laker fans get a little unrealistic, right?

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They think their ceiling is always the finalists.

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It's not necessarily their ceiling.

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That's what you aspire to.

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And that's fine.

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But this team is constructed.

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I don't think, especially when you look at the other teams in the West and even a lot of

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teams in the East, the finals is, I mean, you've got to get lucky to get there.

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This team's ceiling is not quite there.

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I would say second round, Western conference final, that's it.

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So if they're out in the first, I think that is below expectations, for sure.

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And then you got to have a conversation.

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But you get to the second round and you're out, then I think Derby and him is bottom self

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some time.

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Oh, yeah.

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First of all, you got to win two games to get into the playoffs.

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Yeah.

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So, you know, you got to, you can't put, you know, the card ahead of the horse.

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And again, Bill Parcell is your, what your record says you are.

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Their record isn't real good.

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And think about this for a minute.

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Anthony Davis having a great year.

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But your best player, your best player is day to day.

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And he's 38 or so.

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39.

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39.

256
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Think about that.

257
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So you're asking for a 39 year old man to carry you when he's got a bad ankle and he's

258
00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:18,400
having trouble, you know, playing a couple of days, a couple of games in a row.

259
00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,080
So is that unrealistic?

260
00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,600
And then you've got two Austin Reves is a nice player.

261
00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:25,600
How does that?

262
00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:30,480
And the actual, but Russell is the best guy in the court tonight and tomorrow night.

263
00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:32,320
He has to be in the jail.

264
00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:36,960
So if you don't have any consistency, where are you going?

265
00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:37,960
Where are you going?

266
00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:43,480
And the rest of those guys are just complimentary pieces or supplemental, you know, they're

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not real good.

268
00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:50,080
I mean, they're getting more out of Jackson Hayes than I think he knew he had.

269
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You know, so it's those are role players.

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00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:58,480
So the fans are a little bit crazy about what they are.

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00:12:58,480 --> 00:12:59,480
He said that.

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00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:00,480
Take your fans.

273
00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:01,480
Not me.

274
00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:02,480
He said that.

275
00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:03,480
Yeah.

276
00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:04,880
Yeah, I did just being clear.

277
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:11,240
Being real is to, you know, when a team, if the Cavalier started talking about the title,

278
00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:12,240
right?

279
00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:14,240
You'd say you're crazy.

280
00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,240
Now I'll put the question to you.

281
00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:17,240
Who's got more talent?

282
00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,240
The Cavaliers or the Lakers?

283
00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,400
Yeah, that's your mic drop moment.

284
00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:22,400
Yeah, the Cavs.

285
00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:23,400
Yeah.

286
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:24,400
Great point.

287
00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:25,400
Yeah.

288
00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:26,400
Great point.

289
00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:28,720
You know, I feel for Darvin Ham.

290
00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:30,440
I think he's done an okay job.

291
00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,880
He had him in perfect, but you know, perfect coaches don't exist.

292
00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,120
You know, he makes a few arguments, but not many.

293
00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:39,640
I think he's done okay.

294
00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:41,440
We think the Lakers.

295
00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:46,120
I think it all in the middle of the year when a couple of players returning on him doesn't

296
00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:50,680
say how he's, it doesn't tell you how well that he's regarded well in the last.

297
00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:51,680
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

298
00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:52,680
Yeah, yeah.

299
00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:59,600
And so if they do go down, I think fingers from every side are going to be pointed at

300
00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:00,600
him.

301
00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,640
The one thing I'll say, the Lakers don't spend a lot.

302
00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,520
I don't know how many years this contract is and how much.

303
00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,360
I don't know if Genie Busch really likes to fire people.

304
00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:17,760
So that might be to his, uh, yep, might be to his benefit.

305
00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:18,760
Let's see.

306
00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:23,000
I made the point earlier that the NBA globally was kind of about two teams.

307
00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,320
We talked about one.

308
00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:26,800
Let's talk about the other team.

309
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:28,160
The boss is Celtics.

310
00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,240
I think it's a team Steve knows a little bit about.

311
00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:35,200
They were meant the best team in the association, record wise, but they had their first losing

312
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,280
week of the season in week 23, right?

313
00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,000
So the right now they're row into, I know they've got a game tonight, but the best they're going

314
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:47,160
to be one and two this week, first losing week, all season long.

315
00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:49,440
And they lost after being up 30.

316
00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:55,760
So I got to ask you, you know, as a Boston fans, are other teams figuring out the Celtics?

317
00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:57,680
Is there a problem here?

318
00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:01,360
Other teams are heating up as the playoffs are starting.

319
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,680
Are the Celtics cooling off?

320
00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:04,680
Are they in trouble?

321
00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,360
I think they stopped playing defense.

322
00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:12,320
I think it's been a major problem the other night.

323
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:18,080
And even with holiday and white playing, Mary took 44 shots.

324
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,960
So you take that many shots, you can score some points.

325
00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:25,880
But the dog, Donovitch as well, we're getting wide open off the dribble and that tells me the

326
00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:27,520
defense wasn't there.

327
00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:32,040
The other interesting thing in that game and Mizzoula tried to cover it after the game, but

328
00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:38,560
in the overtime, they kept running high screen and roll trying to get Porzingus on Mary.

329
00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:43,640
And every time he did, Mary just beat him off with a junk shot.

330
00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:49,320
I'm sitting there and Mizzoula said he was doing it because he's practicing situations,

331
00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:50,320
which sounds great.

332
00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,840
But you know what?

333
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:59,720
I'm sitting there saying to myself, if he's doing this, A, if you take Porzingus out of

334
00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:06,440
the game, or B, you got to get that player guarding Mary through the screen.

335
00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:09,880
But you can't let Porzingus stay out on him and he didn't.

336
00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:16,320
So if he didn't make the adjustment and it wasn't what he was saying that he was just practicing

337
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,680
something, that's a problem.

338
00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:21,680
And you've got to have the adjustments made.

339
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:26,960
And Porzingus defensively in the last couple of weeks has not been nearly as good as he

340
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:28,480
was earlier in the year.

341
00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:33,680
Now, Tatum, because it's a one point game at the end, Tatum's getting a lot of heat.

342
00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:35,760
He's really getting beat up about it.

343
00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:36,760
But you know what?

344
00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,200
When you think about it, if you defended all games and played, I want to offer one more

345
00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,360
on that, you wouldn't have Tatum having to worry about that.

346
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:49,080
And by the way, in the last five or six games, Boston is number two defensive rating in

347
00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:50,080
the league.

348
00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:54,720
Now, in the last five or six games, they are, I think, number 20.

349
00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:59,920
That tells me that they think it's over and they're just playing it out and figure they're

350
00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:05,040
going to win when they throw their, their, their, you know, the proverbial play.

351
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,320
Yeah, and it's not happening.

352
00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:08,320
Tonight will be interesting.

353
00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:12,360
They play Houston about a half hour from when we're doing this.

354
00:17:12,360 --> 00:17:15,520
If they don't defend, I think there's going to be a little bit of fear and they're going

355
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:16,840
to play again.

356
00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,640
But I don't know how you stop, sorry.

357
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:22,240
That's a rough thing to do.

358
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,960
You know, I don't know if they're physical enough to do that.

359
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,840
I'm a score for a king guard, but they're going to have a problem there.

360
00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,920
They're probably used to do holiday on them, but, but they're going to have a problem.

361
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:34,960
So that, that's my thought.

362
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,080
And if they lose today, I think I'll say there's a problem.

363
00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:39,080
Okay.

364
00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:40,080
Okay.

365
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:41,080
So let me ask you this and we'll end on that.

366
00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:45,160
No, you heard the, the buzzer go off on a scale of one to 10, 10 being.

367
00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,480
I am ridiculously worried about this team.

368
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,640
One being no way, Jose, no problems at all, which year concern level with the South.

369
00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:53,640
Five or six.

370
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:55,320
Wow, it's pretty high.

371
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:57,320
Well, no, it's not that high.

372
00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:58,320
It's middle.

373
00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:06,200
Yeah, again, again, you know, during the game the other night, Boston put pressure in.

374
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:07,200
Pritchard pressured.

375
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,320
I guess, Murray up the court, full court.

376
00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:14,760
And when he got across, he threw a pass, somebody defiled it, it was and picked it off.

377
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:22,760
Some in sense to me said that you needed to do that and take out man out of comfort and

378
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,560
to continue to bother them.

379
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:27,480
That was the only time they did it the whole game.

380
00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:32,200
And that was one of the few times that little stretch, Boston played better, better defense.

381
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:33,520
That was it.

382
00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:35,320
That was it in the whole game.

383
00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:40,040
Last thing I'll say on the game, by Donovan, hit the three at the last couple of seconds

384
00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,600
in regulation to tie it.

385
00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:43,880
Now.

386
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:44,880
They missed a shot.

387
00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:48,200
They got the rebound.

388
00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:56,480
Somewhere a player who's guarding by Donovan is got to say, I'm not going to leave him until

389
00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,320
we have the ball.

390
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:00,320
What happened?

391
00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:03,840
Kepel who had a great game rebounded and kicked it out to him.

392
00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,440
He was wide open and he's a good shooter.

393
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:12,880
So the mental breakdowns really start becoming, you know, huge.

394
00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,040
And that was what I saw when that happened.

395
00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:17,040
All right.

396
00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:18,040
All right.

397
00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:23,000
I honestly thought that you would be less concerned than a five or six, but let's see how

398
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:24,440
things play out.

399
00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,680
To me, they're still the scariest team.

400
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:29,200
Them and Denver.

401
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:34,320
And you know, being an LA guy, it pains me to say it, but I think a nugget Celtics final would

402
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:35,320
be epic.

403
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:36,320
Great series.

404
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:41,320
Don't forget, and one more piece to the Celtics thing.

405
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:46,480
And they're shooting over 40% from three day ball, everybody out the last two games they

406
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:47,480
haven't done that.

407
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:48,480
OK.

408
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,680
So that's another factor involved in this whole thing to watch.

409
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,560
Any time a team banks two or three, three is in a row.

410
00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:56,560
That's nine points.

411
00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:02,640
I mean, a game goes from close to right in margin, and they're not shooting real well right

412
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:03,640
now.

413
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,000
Well, tonight could be the very hot.

414
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:07,880
They still need the ball.

415
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,720
No, they're playing the, they're playing the pelicans.

416
00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:12,200
Not a team, but it's also really hot.

417
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:13,800
I think it'll be a fun game to watch.

418
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:14,800
It's good.

419
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:15,800
All right.

420
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:16,800
Well, that's it.

421
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:18,800
You heard the buzz and go off and you heard us continue to talk over.

422
00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:20,080
It's kind of what we do.

423
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,280
But please make sure to read these entire article.

424
00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:28,320
It'll be linked below to get his thoughts on other teams tanking and a few other coaches

425
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,120
who should be worried.

426
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:31,120
That's it.

427
00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:32,120
Times up.

428
00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:33,120
Thanks as always for listening.

429
00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:38,000
Please consider subscribing and join us next week on the 13 rules NBA Random Thoughts podcast.

430
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,120
It's the best 50 minutes of NBA Random Thoughts online.

431
00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:42,120
We'll talk next week.

432
00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:43,120
Steve, thanks.

433
00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:43,440
Thank you.Steve and Jose discuss Steve's latest 13 Rules: Random NBA Thoughts article focusing on coaches in the hot seat!

Read the full article here: https://thepeachbasket.net/13-rules-nba-random-thoughts-5/