The Shot Clock Pod - Week #21

[00:00:00] Alright, it's time to talk basketball. I'm Jose Salviati, editor at ThePeachBasket.net. He's Steve Percello, long-time educator, vice principal, high school basketball coach, and athletic director. And this is the Shot Clock Pod, the best 15 minutes of Random NBA Thoughts online anywhere. This is your first time listening. Welcome. We are so glad you found us. This podcast was born out of the content of Steve's 13 Rules Random NBA Thoughts articles, which he publishes weekly.

[00:00:27] Steve and I have exactly 15 minutes to discuss what's on his mind around the NBA. Today, we'll discuss his latest 13 Rules Random NBA Thoughts article, where he shares his thoughts after week 21 of the 2024-25 NBA season. Some real interesting points brought up in this week's article. Steve, are you ready? Let's go. Let's do it. Okay, clock is ticking. Let's begin.

[00:00:52] We start with what kind of surprised me as I read your article. You essentially picked your pick for the 2024-25 NBA champion from three teams, right? And the three teams are pretty obvious, right? The Cavs, the Thunder, and Celtics. What surprised me was you picked a winner. Who is your pick and why? Oklahoma City.

[00:01:14] Oklahoma City. I just think they're... This is right now, you don't know somebody who springs an ankle or something that changes. I've watched them for the last couple weeks, and then I watched the Boston game the other night, and people were criticizing Boston for taking 63 threes in the game. What they don't understand was they really sealed off the paint. And they took away the dribble drive, and Boston had little choice but to take the three.

[00:01:41] They did. They do overshoot the three, Boston, but they had to because of how good a defensive team. A couple things Oklahoma City did that Boston has done to other teams. They've done it to Luca. They pressured their guards up at half court, and it brought the whole offense out. They did some things defensively or good. And the other thing that I was impressed with, they just keep coming at you in waves. They've got eight, nine, ten guys. They just keep throwing at you. and they're good. They're just flat out good. They're young.

[00:02:10] They can shoot. Shea Gilgis is a great offensive player. So they've got so much. Now, I'm not overlooking Cleveland and we should talk about them. Cleveland is a good team. DeAndre Hunter, if he's healthy, he's really a good player. And that just adds to what they have. I'm not sitting here saying that Oklahoma City is going to storm through it and win it. But I think they would beat Cleveland in the tough seven game series. Don't forget. And the big thing here is also

[00:02:39] Oklahoma City inexperience in big games, which could come back a game. But don't forget, Boston and Cleveland played four games. They split one. They each won a game on the other team's court. And I think there was a one point difference in the overall score. So that's going to be a tough seven game series. I just think Cleveland's depth would be better. But now if Cleveland has to play and Oklahoma City gets to the finals, Cleveland's going to be beat up. That's not going to be an easy series.

[00:03:09] I just think Oklahoma City's got a lot of advantages in that type series. And you know what the scary thing for the NBA is because they want parity. The scary thing, if Oklahoma City does things right, this won't be their best team. They will get better over the next couple of years because they're so young. And scary because then all of a sudden you have one team standing above everybody. Again, though, they're going to have a tough time with Cleveland. And they would have a tough time with Boston.

[00:03:37] But I just think they're a better best team right now. Oklahoma versus Cleveland would be a ratings nightmare. Think about it though, right? I mean, those are undeniably right now the two best teams in a dream matchup for basketball fans. But the viewers of the NBA wants, the casual NBA fan, it's not going to be particularly excited about Cavs Thunder, are they? No, it's just the NBA fan. The true NBA fan that loves basketball will watch those games.

[00:04:06] So that could be a problem. And Oklahoma City is just a small market and they're going to be around this thing for a while. So good portent for the NBA. And Cleveland, I don't know if this is a one-year thing or what. They've got some good pieces. So the problem's going to be they're going to have to start paying guys big money. And so like Boston, they're going to have to lose some guys that they can't help. But they're good. They're a real good team. So it gets very interesting

[00:04:36] how it's going, how if Oklahoma can handle getting through in the West, honestly, outside of Oklahoma City, is way above everybody. But the West is a team we'll talk about later, I believe, I think Minnesota, Minnesota, but who's coming on to appear to be better than everybody else. Undeniably. Yeah. And since we're on the topic of the West, let's talk about not the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the Los Angeles Lakers. You brought up an interesting point.

[00:05:05] You called out that Austin Reeves is a great player and he is a great offensive player, to be fair. Laker fans love him out here. They also love Dalton Connect. They see hints of what he can be, glimpses of the player he can be. They're both really good. Yeah, you called out, I think accurately so, that one of them is likely going to have to go during the offseason. What do the Lakers need that one of those two could hopefully, for the Laker fans, potentially bring him? They need a legit big man, obviously,

[00:05:35] and they're not going to get away. If they want to get a legit, a good, not a journeyman, a good big man, one of those two possibly both have to go. Now, their side, on their side, although Connect doesn't make a lot of money, so I don't know if he would work in that, but on their side, they're not on their side. The obvious thing here is you only have one basketball,

[00:06:03] and you have LeBron and Doncic. So, when is he, when is, when those two were playing, even though the Lakers were winning, Reeves' numbers went down. And now Connect, because both of those, the two guys, LeBron and Luka, were out. Connect got to be part of the offense the other night, and he went off. So, you know, with only one basketball, and in present-day basketball, you need two scores. Yeah, LeBron's near the end. What do you do?

[00:06:31] And if you take away the ball from, from Reeves, and he's got to just play defense, defense, you got a problem. He's got to have the ball. And so, the Lakers have a decision, and they have to go out and get a big man. I don't know who would be available right now, but they have to go out and get a legitimate big man. And if they do, you're not getting Anthony Davis, but a good big man, suddenly, and Anthony Davis is good, is the reason I said it, but suddenly,

[00:07:01] you're in an interesting conversation. Yeah. Yeah, this is going to be a very interesting offseason for the Lakers. We know that you brought up before, right? Danny Luka is not a given, right? And that's going to change everything. But if they're lucky enough to get him to sign, then they've got to build a roundup, which is also not going to be easy, right? You've got to make some really difficult decisions, and the Lakers have got an interesting offseason ahead of them. I'm going to backtrack. I don't think I've ever done this

[00:07:30] in the history of the Shot Clock Pod. I'm going to go back to the first topic. We already called out accurately who the top three teams are. I'm going to ask you to partner here. Sure. What do you think the percentage is, the likelihood, of one of those three teams not winning? And who do you think is the top team who's got the biggest piece of the underdog pie who could sneak in and win it all if it's not one of those three teams? Oh, without them,

[00:07:59] I guess you have to go with the former champion, Denver. But I'm not impressed with Denver. They play well one night. Worst team in the world. And you have to have some sort of consistency. You can't go with the Knicks because they've struggled against Cleveland. They've struggled against Boston. They've struggled against Oklahoma City. So that gets difficult to go with them. I have to say, Denver, I thought until all the injuries hit, Dallas was that team. Right. Kyrie was hitting his peak.

[00:08:28] And Anthony Davis helps you. And they have two bigs, him and either Lively or Richards. Gafford. Gafford. Richards is the other guy on Phoenix. But yeah, I thought they would have the best shot. But I guess it would be Denver. And I guess you have to think that Luka would be the reason. Not Luka guy. Jokic would be the reason. Who's yours? Denver, for sure. Because they're coming out strong right now. They've done it before.

[00:08:56] Because the biggest knock on the Thunder, and you brought it up multiple times, is their youth. We just don't know how they're going to react. Now, I think the win in Boston told us a lot about the Thunder. Because they just, they don't look like they can be rattled. But it's going to be very interesting. Sorry for derailing things. I just, I'll give him a hand. I thought it was an interesting topic. One thing I'm going to throw back at you. If you look at the standings today, Denver, I believe, second. I don't know if they're not second, but they're right there.

[00:09:24] And I think you look at who the number seven team is. Because they would meet in the playoffs. Oh, right. Let's see. In the West. Yeah. The seven team are the, oh, wow. The Timberwolves. That's a good team. Now, what's the history there between the two teams from last year? I don't remember. Minnesota and Denver in the playoffs. I don't remember. I know. It's not an LA team, so you don't remember. But Denver got beat by Minnesota.

[00:09:55] Okay. So just put that in the back of your head. Okay. And Minnesota has been great basketball. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. The best time of the year. Short of the trade deadline, I think this is the best time when the teams are jockeying for position. We're getting playoff ready. It's exciting to be a basketball fan right now. Let's move on. We got two other things to talk about. Time is winding down. Our shot clock is winding down. You shouted out two teams that are trending in the right direction. The Minnesota Timberwolves,

[00:10:25] coincidentally, and the Washington Wizards. Let's talk about the Wizards, because this is not a team that we talk about much. It's not a team a lot of people outside of Washington talk about much, but they've been pretty good. What's been the difference for them? I think the bad teams are going to begin to follow the Detroit model. And what that means is you go out and get a couple of veterans with your young players, and they will bring along. Look what Detroit did with Hardaway and Beasley, and they brought them in,

[00:10:53] and they have helped the younger players grow. What Washington did this year at the deadline was they brought in Middleton and Marcus Smart. Marcus Smart, say what you want, he plays the game one way to win. That's rubbed off, and he's done some things at the end of games, what I've watched, that have changed games with pressure and defensive things that he's done. So that, and they've got a little bit of a nucleus of decent players.

[00:11:23] Their big guy's getting better, soar. Kohaliby's out for the year, but he's a player. Tarrington can play a little bit too. So they've got a nucleus, and they're going to get another draft pick this year. But what the new blueprint is for teams that are going down the tubes is bringing some older, experienced players, and let's face it, Smart and Middleton, they got, I know they gave up Kuzma, but they got for very little giving up because nobody wants to pay that.

[00:11:52] And they need to pay somebody a lot to fit into the salary cap thing. So it works perfectly for everybody. And it's a big thing. All of a sudden, I think they're six and five now in their last 11 games because they won yesterday. So that's, for a team that was on its way to 10 wins, all of a sudden, they're, and you got to play them. And also, what a Marcus Smart does is make you think about defense. And that's the, that's what you want to,

[00:12:21] that's the foundation you want to build, the team that's thinking defense first. Yeah. And what a good thing for Washington, what a good thing for that franchise to be playing good basketball, like you said, on the heels of probably getting a really good player, maybe even capturing the flag. We'll see how things play out. I wouldn't go real far, but I read this the other day. Somebody was saying they could be next year's Detroit. Wow. Okay. Okay. I don't see that. I don't see it, but it's an interesting.

[00:12:51] Perfect segue. Because the last topic in the few minutes we have left are the Detroit Pistons. What a great turnaround for them. You called out they won 14 games last season. This season, they're playoff bound and looking really good. They're a fun team to watch. They play the game right there in every game, at least that I've watched. I think they're a good team. What do you see as the ceiling for the Detroit Pistons this season if everything falls right for them? They could finish fourth. I think they're about a game

[00:13:20] and a half maybe behind right now in fourth place. So they have an outside shot at that behind Indiana and Milwaukee. The absolute ceiling would be they get into fourth and they win the first round. I don't see it. I think they'll go out but no matter what they do it'll be a great year. Yeah. If they finish sixth I'll just say this. If they finish sixth they would play the Knicks. What's interesting about that is they beat the Knicks twice in New York

[00:13:50] which makes that series very interesting. I still think the Knicks will win but I think it just makes it the newspapers have a field day with it because it's a great story and the Knicks are in that uncomfortable position. Whomever Detroit plays they're in an uncomfortable position that if we lose my goodness it will look really bad. So and they're fun at home they're real good and Beasley's having the season I think he's around

[00:14:19] 43, 44% or three. I'm not positive on that. He might even be higher but he's having a tremendous year. And Kate Cunningham has emerged as a star and he should be an all NBA player for second or 13. Yeah. Undeniable. I took a pause the alarm went off we just didn't hear it that's on me but I was a little surprised to hear you say with certainty that the Knicks would beat the Pistons.

[00:14:48] Do you think it would be an easy series? No. It'll be tough and injury wise you don't know last year they broke down in the playoffs and you said I could change everything but the point being generally in things like that quality wins and the Knicks I think they have the two of them Towns and offensively and Brunson and Detroit's got Cunningham you can count on is there any you can count on Detroit where you know you're getting something

[00:15:18] from those two every night I just don't think it's possible it'll be fun though it'll be a fun series if they do play yeah undeniably that would be a fun series alright like we said this is the time of year that we basketball fans love the jockeying for position the team's getting ready even the teams that aren't gonna make it they're getting ready for the draft it's a fun time of year but that's it you didn't hear the time but I promise you it went off thank you for listening make sure to read or watching

[00:15:47] make sure to read Steve's entire 13 rules random NBA thoughts article we will link it anywhere you're watching or listening to this show to get more random NBA thoughts after the week 21 of the 2024-25 NBA season and please consider subscribing liking sharing commenting all of that stuff matters it means a lot to us join us next week on the Shot Clock Pod the best 15 minutes of random NBA thoughts online anywhere Steve will talk next week take care thanks