Nerd Sesh - Cavaliers challenge Celtics, Embiid is failing 76ers, NFL Power Rankings

Published Nov 20, 2024, 10:51 PM

The nerds discuss whether the showdown between Donovan Mitchell & the Cleveland Cavaliers and Jayson Tatum & the Boston Celtics cemented Cleveland as the second-best team in the East, lay into Joel Embiid for his pathetic lack of leadership for the Philadelphia 76ers, and discuss whether Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo has a worse situation around them. Then, they rank their Top 10 teams in the NFL, debating if the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills or Detroit Lions belong in the No. 1 spot.

Timestamps

00:00:23 - Celtics-Cavaliers

00:27:03 - Embiid & 76ers Drama

00:46:03 - Is Jokic or Giannis’ supporting cast worse?

00:58:33 - Orlando Magic

01:10:45 - Dalton Knecht & the most impressive rookies

01:26:18 - NFL Power Rankings

#Volume

The volume.

Oh my god, how could he do that?

By what Charles Darwin? The nerves is where it's at.

Welcome everybody, backs the herd said, as always, I'm Carson brev In. Alongside me is Logan Camden, and we've got a wonderful show for you all today. Lots of fun basketball to talk about. And at the end of the show, we are going to run through our bi weekly NFL Power rankings, but we're starting with the NBA logan and we're starting with what was maybe the game of the regular season so far that we saw yesterday. I would say, in terms of stakes, you have the fifteen and Oh Calves taking on the reigning champion Boston Celtics. But also the game itself was amazing. It was wildly entertaining. This is a Boston win logan, But for Cleveland and who it feels like this game was more about just because we know who Boston is. What did this say to you about their real contending chances?

You're buried the lead, Carson and the lauded in season tournament for the Emirates.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, You're so right.

You undersold the stakes man. That's the final component.

Of this, no idea.

It's for the lauded Emirates Cup. Man, it's so important.

Well, it's just group play, you know. It's not overreact.

True, It's true. We haven't gotten to the to the final eight teams yet.

I do think this game was more about Cleveland and what their playoff prospects look like. Right, because the Celtics are the favorite in the Eastern Conference. They won the East last season. They are the measuring stick for any contender in the Eastern Conference looking to come out, and I think the Cavs can go toe to toe with the Celtics. Carson Now, I think they need a couple of things to break their way at full health, I am still taking Boston. I think they need christophs Porzingis to be hurt right, And I think they need probably I guess, not apples to apples. And I also think they need Tatum and Brown to underperform. But I think they've got the fire power, and to me, it starts with Donovan Mitchell.

I think Mitchell's the top fifteen guy in the league.

Man, what he did in the fourth quarter and what he can do in just spurts is it's really rare He's got eighteen fourth quarter points. He is the only guy that just possession after possession is attacking and getting them buckets. But has also got a lot to do with Evan Mobley too, man, I mean mobiley.

I know the.

Cavs got out to a really slow start in this game, so did Boston. Evan Mobley was wrecking the game defensively from the jump, and then in the third quarter he gives you fourteen points in the third man attacking with post hooks. He knocks down a big three during that stretch, and that's with mostly the bench unit. I think the Cavs need to lean more into Mobley offensively, and I know he had a lot of responsibility in the game last night, but I think they need to even lean more heavily into letting him operate. And I was even more surprised this was such a close game because Darius Garland had such a stinker. I mean, he gives you eight points on three to twenty one shooting, and in the first half I thought it got a little bit overblown because I really liked the looks that Garland was getting to out of float to range. He was just missing. But the second half it just compounded. He couldn't buy a shot. But like top to bottom, I think they've got a really great offensive engine in Mitchell. They can just go toe to toe with anybody head to head in a potential playoff series. They have a rock solid defensive anchor who I think Evan Mobley probably is my defensive player of the year up to this point, can anchor that side of the basketball. I trust Darius Garland to play better than he did last night. I mean that is like the bottom barrel man, because I saw people, you know, kind of walking back their takes from last season where Garland's washed. I think Garland just had a bad night. I expect more out of Darius Garland from this. I think Allen has taken marginal steps improving offensive. And then I really like Cleveland's depth man. Ty Jerome is a bona fide baller. I love what he gives you off the bench. Craig Porter Junior is really solid off the bench, giving you ball handling. They're without a Coro in this game. They're without Dean Wade, They're without Max Struce, They're without Kris LeVert.

It's like.

This is not the cash team at full health. If I had to point out one thing that I think that i'd like Cleveland to acquire before we get into the playoffs.

It's another.

Defensive wing who can guard Biggs, or another defensive big that can switch out onto wings. And the only reason I say that is just because I don't think there's anybody on their bench that can really do that.

Like Niang. I like offensively what he can do, but he's a weak point.

Defensively, i'd like And I know, again they're without a Korro and they're without Shruce, but i'd like a I don't know, a six eight, a six ' nine guy that can really.

You don't think that that's Dean Wade. And then when you stagger the minutes with Mobley and Allen, I mean, they can do exactly what you're describing.

I guess. I guess just a guy who's a little bit more impact defensively.

Dean Wade's not a.

Bad Dean Wade not a bad He is a good defender. He is an act you think defender, I do bro. He's got the frame, he moves his feet really well, very switchable.

Maybe it was just because he wasn't out there, and maybe he can address that, but I really like Cleveland, man, Like they're definitively number two to me in the East.

I don't know.

Again, it would take something I think catastrophic for you know, to Boston for me to pick them over them. But Cleveland's not far off. And I think with the improvement that we've seen for Mobiley, with the trust that I have in Donovan Mitchell, the belief that I have in him, I would pick it to go six. You know again, I would still take Boston right now at this point in the season, but they're not going to go down without a fight. And I don't think Cleveland has like a glaring exploitable weakness.

The way they have in the past few seasons.

Uh, They're just better. And it starts with Mitchell and Mobley.

Man.

I think they're stamped as the number two team out East, and I think they could they could throw a really good punch at Boston in the playoffs.

This game, to me, just continues to legitimize that Cleveland is the second best team in the East, even in a loss, because they didn't shoot well while Boston shot incredibly well, and that's what Boston does. But they were over fifty percent from deep in this game. They were down several key wings. You mentioned all of the guys, four of them not able to play in this game, and that was especially crucial defensively because that's where Dean Wade and Ocoro especially and Strups who hasn't played all season, they can bring their value guarding the Tatums and the Browns of the world and being able to switch. And Darius Garland was absolutely atrocious. He played maybe the worst game that I've seen from anybody this entire season, and still the Calves were within three points in this game, and they were highly competitive. I think that you shouted out some of the key components in what makes them so lethal. Evan Mobley, We've talked about his leap many times over, but I think he's playing like a top thirty player in basketball right now. I thought he was outstanding in this game. Their big run in the third quarter started on the defensive end, and Boston was missing some threes and a little bit out of rhythm offensively. But then on the offensive end, it was mobile cashing in, it was mobilely attacking mismatches, it was mobile facilitating creating for teammates. He just dominated this game in numerous different phases, super efficient as a scorer, aggressive there, dominated the glass, six offensive rebounds, six assists, and altered so many shots around the rim. Just unbelievably impactful defensively. And then you have Donovan Mitchell, who I agree, I think is probably about the fifteenth best player in basketball right now, and in a series against Boston has the potential to be the best offensive player in that series. He just has that sort of explosive ceiling where he's my favorite driver to watch in basketball. Dude, I mean, like the body confer on the footwork in the lane. It's unbelievable that.

And there's only like a handful of guys I would take over Donovan Mitchell. I don't even know if I'd say a handful, give me a screen and I need a bucket. Donovan Mitchell is one of the first guys that I want in basketball.

When you have that sort of ability to attack the rim downhill and you have that sort of pull up shooting ceiling, the dude is just an absolute problem. And we've seen these just meteoric heights that he can reach. There is a little volatility there compared to some of the league's elite scorers. But my god, he can just take over games. And that's what he did in the fourth quarter. And I'm with you, dude. I think the bench here is so good because even without all these dudes who were mentioning, Tijer, Rome has just been amazing all year. Sam Merrill actually starts in this game, but it's just such a good shooter of the basketball, right, Craig Porter Junior can bring a little juice off the bounce. Yang is going to shoot really well and is going to at least compete defensively. And now we're talking about them going like eleven dudes deep. And I do think with their best wing defenders healthy, with Okoro and Wade and Shrus out there, Cleveland has as good a formula to defend Boston as anyone in the conference. Like, yes, they do have a couple of vulnerabilities with Garland who's been defending better this year but is still a small guard. With Mitchell, who has shown the ability to be a solid cog in the machine defensively but is still a smaller guard. Boston is just different. Right. They are experts in exploiting weaknesses, so the standard for what qualifies as a weakness to them. It doesn't mean you have to be a bad defender. If you aren't an actively good one, then they can probably find a way to hunt you. But they have this really nice array of wing defenders, and they have these two bigs who are both elite rimp protectors and can also guard in space, and Mobile really guards Jason Tatum well, he really guards Jalen brownwell in isolation on the perimeter, and they have offensive weapons. The thing is just Boston has more man and Boston is just still significantly more talented in my opinion. So I love Cleveland. I do think they're the second best team in the East. But my takeaway from this game, as much as I'm impressed with their ability to hang in there in a game where Garland was awful and they were shorthanded, is just that Boston is still that much better than everybody else in the East, and I think they're gonna be even better than last year. We can talk about these absences for the Calves and they do matter. Logan the Celtics didn't have christophs porzingis like, I'm sorry, that is inarguably more significant to me than the totality of all of the absences for Cleveland. KP is a top twenty five player in basketball. I still think people underestimate what an absolute weapon he is when he's on the floor, and I think the fact that Boston is so good without him can make us forget that. But you get him out there healthy, and that just takes them up another level, having that level of a mismatch attacker, having that level of rim protection, and the really scary thing about Boston right now, man, Jason Tatum's playing his best basketball ever and it's honestly not all that close. He's giving you thirty eight and six on sixty three percent true shooting. And this is what we talked about throughout the offseason. This is why I had Jason Tatum as high as I did in my player rankings. Last year in many ways was the best Jason Tatum that we've seen when you're talking about rebounding, when you're talking about defense, when you're talking about playmaking. Absolutely, but it was the worst that we've seen him in a postseason as a scorer, and it was really brutal as a jump shooter. That was never going to remain the case, though, and right now he is just on fire as a jump shooter. He's forty eight percent off the catch from deep this year, thirty nine and a half percent overall from deep on eleven attempts per game. And at the same time as his jump shot is more of a weapon than ever, he's getting to the line more than ever, and it's the best he's ever been as a playmaker. It's the most comfortable and confident and in control. I feel like he's ever looked like he is playing as a top five player, no doubt about it. Right now. If we were to list off the best NBA players this season so far, it's Jokic obviously won, then it's Jannis ad Tatum, and I think you can kind of organize those guys two through four how you want, but I don't think there's anybody else that's been as good as those four guys. That's terrifying for the league because we can appreciate all of the awesome stuff that Tatum did to impact winning while his shot was off, while his scoring was off, but also we can acknowledge that he didn't play at a level that was really all that close to a top five player last year because of his scoring limitations, and now he's showing that absolutely he can get there, and that just makes Boston even better. And Derek White has been more aggressive this year, and he was awesome in this game. He's hitting runners, he's getting to the mid range. They have a better version of Peyton Pritchard. Horford was outstanding in this game. His rim protection was so impressive, his floor spacing was so valuable. And they're gonna get christophs Prezingi's back. I'm sorry. I love the Cavs. I just don't see them keeping up with this talent level, this level of creation from everybody on the floor, this level of athleticism top to bottom, this shooting, this skill. Boston is a juggernaut and they look scare to me now considering KP's out, then they basically ever have.

Yeah, I mean Boston with the version, with this version of Jason Tatum is effectively unstopped.

They win the title. There's just yeah, no way around it.

And like Cleveland's way better than last year, specifically from offensive rating, you know, they leap from a league average offense to number one. They jumped from twenty fourth in pace to seventh and pace, and I think we've seen really simple actions open up the entirety of their offense right handoffs pick and rolls literally just for a second, like conceptualizing like a pick and roll with Mobley. Because the defense has to respect Mobley as a vertical threat. It never allows the help defender, the big man who's switching on, to take away that intermediate shot right so at will when you're spamming actions like that, Garland or Mitchell are going to work to a wide open floater or mid range jumper basically every single time, or they're gonna get to the rim right off of a switch, and if they do stay attached, or if they slide right and you kick it to Mobley on the short roll, Mobley's developed an as a pass or two where he's killing you with that short role decision making, and he's better with his touch shot making than ever where he can legitimately take guys one on one.

In the post like normally.

He's way better with a mismatch right where he's shooting over the top of an al Horford where he's attacking Peyton Pritchard off of a switch. But again, just because you have to respect these actions, it makes this entire offense more deadly. And I think that The weapon for me for Cleveland is going to be letting Boston shoot themselves out of stretches, which is way easier said than done, because I thought that was a key component of how they got back in this game in the third quarter, sped up Boston's offense, a lot of early shot clock threes, long rebounds, Cleveland getting out on the break and scoring. Again, that's easier said than done, but I think Cleveland needs to make a deliberate effort of continuing to get downhill because that's when I thought their offense was at their best. And I have to give Boston credit net too. Boston did such a great job of taking away the three ball, and that's such a weapon.

Man.

When you can take away threes from the other team and just hit twenty in a single game, it creates such a large margin that's just hard to overcome. And that's why I do look at Boston as a jugger, not because as I give all this praise to Cleveland for making this a close game, Tatum was nails, Boston's defense was awesome, and the ball movement is unreal because that's the thing that I don't understand about when people criticize Boston for taking too many threes. Because I was on that ship for so long last year until they won the title, up until the playoffs, I said this could be their achilles heel, them getting too gung ho with the threes.

But when the ball movement.

Is this impact, it's so unselfish. They're just manufacturing wide open looks. It seems every possession down.

That's what blew me away.

Man, It's just Boston operates at such a high level every single night, and it actually hasn't been every single night this year. We've seen Boston kind of take their foot off the gas. But Boston came out with an intent in this matchup Carson like. They seemed like I haven't seen Boston play with that kind of intensity this year.

Year.

Boston came out wanted to make a statement against this undefeated team, and they did. They do still look leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. And again, man, if we're gonna get this version of Jason Tatum, I think Boston runs away.

With the East.

Uh. The only the only hole I could say is being without Christophsporzingis, and I don't think Kata can give you real playoff minutes I think Cada is a weak spot. I like Cata, and I know people have been hyping him up right as a rebounder, and he's a really good offensive rebounder.

I don't want to take it.

He is real people here. I feel like you bring up to me as Kada more than anybody else. I know, maybe I don't know.

I mean I brought up Kada before he got playing time, and now that he's been getting playing time, He's not smart offensively, he falls asleep defensively. Sometimes he's a liability.

He's not going to be in their playoff rotation though that's that's why.

That's another He's just a weak spot that like in the third quarter they were going at Cada. That that end of the third quarter into the fourth, Cleveland was attacking Ky to every single possession. He can't give you playoff minutes and you say I'm a mess. I haven't brought up Kta all year, Bro, like once when we're talking about Boston, Bro.

I feel like you brought him up last show.

Unless I'm he's a good rebounder, and I think he's a good spot in certain matchups. Cleveland's a specific place where I worry about him because they were going at him possession after possession and he couldn't stop anybody. So but I mean, that's Boston's one flaw. It's like their ninth guy, right. I don't want him getting playoff minutes. And that's what I'm saying, is like they are the team to beat. They are still the team to beat, and it's boring, and it's that's just the simple fact. And if they get Christsporzingi's back, and that's that's what's crazy. Porzingis at this point in his career is a hired gun. When you got a higher gun, is your you know, your last guy.

That's deadly man.

He is basically a hit man at this point. He is an assassin. He is, hey man, we're gonna put you in the playoffs. You're gonna give us twenty minutes to night. You're gonna do your thing, and that's gonna put us over the top. It's gonna take something catastrophic for me to put Cleveland over Boston. They're still the Juggernaut right now.

I agree, And this is just why I struggle to see how certain people are putting Cleveland above Boston. If you're going to identify one area where they're better. I would say it's their depth, But what is that going to matter in a playoff series? When the Celtics starting five is Derek White, Drew Holliday, Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, and Christops Porzingis, And off the bench they have Horford who is a phenomenal bench player, they have Peyton Pritchard who is a phenomenal bench player, and they have Sam Houser who's really solid. They don't have to go deeper than that. So yeah, it's awesome that Cleveland has ten to eleven guys who they can play, But when Boston has the best eight in the conference by far, I don't view that as a meaningful factor. I do want to touch on this Garland game just a little bit, though, because Garland has been awesome this year. I mean, per thirty six minutes, he's giving you twenty four and a half points, eight point three assists a night, better than sixty two percent tru shooting. It's the best he's ever been. And I talk about Mobile playing at like that top thirty kind of level. Garland has been this year a top forty player, right, I mean, both of these guys have been on the outskirts of the All Star conversation. I think some people would say that Garland is their second best player personally. I just think when you have a guy who is as transformative defensively as Mobley, a top five defensive player on the planet, and they are a legitimately good, impactful, highly versatile offensive player like Mobley is right now, I just think we can underrate defensive players like he is special on that end in a really good offensive place. I'll prefer that impact to Garlands.

Do you think he's the best on the planet right now?

The best defender on the planet. I don't know if I could say that. It's hard because like ad is the dude who I feel has the most ability, but what we're seeing from him in transition is just like lazy, and that is a legitimate component in defense. I think Gobert is always in the conversation. I think that Draymond has to be in the conversation right now. I mean those would be my top four right now. Wemby right there as well. I said in this offseason, I think that you can argue it, but I don't know. I think if it came down to a single playoff game or series, I would probably take ad, but I think that Mobley is the better regular season defender just because the effort, the motor is more consistent.

Yeah, and I mean you said it in the offseason two when we were ranking our best defensive players. His versatility is unreal Like the fact that Mobley has such long arms. It's like he can just play that drop so much better because he's still getting a really good contest on basically anybody giving them that jump shot, and on the second best player.

Thing, Dude, I think we're still.

Just scratching the surface of what Mobley is going to be a to do offensively. Like, I don't think Mobiley is nearly as confident as he's going to be. Like, I don't know if you remember this one possession in the third quarter, He's got the mismatch on Horford and he like kind of drives in a circle on Horford on the low block and then gets into the hook, and it's like, dude, once Mobiley, like no hesitation, is just rising and firing with that shot, confident in it.

I think we're just tapping into it. Man.

He's one of the most valuable assets in all of basketball. To me, with his youth, how much better I think he can get offensively, and then how already great he is defensively. I mean, it's not Garland. It's not Garland's bounce back. That is the biggest reason for why I considered Cleveland to be It's it's mobiley.

It's all mobiley.

Like, well, they both matter because Garland just second option they needed him to be.

He has to pull his weight to one hundred percent. But he's special, man, he really is special. And uh, it's just so much more consistent now. But I'm telling you, man, I think that he's gonna get even better. I think next two to years, yeah, he could climb into I don't know that top ten range, that top twenty to top ten range.

Man, I think it's very very possible.

I'm with you, dude. I mean, I am all the way in on the Mobley stock that I bought on him as a prospect when I said that he was the best prospect that we'd seen in several years, Like, I was so so high on what he could be. And it's because of that elite, elite defensive foundation and all the offensive tools that he had. And I think that we have to give a lot of props to Kenny Atkinson for empowering him, for making him more confident, for using him more in transition as a pick and roll ball handler, just with the ball on his hands more. The consistency is so big, dude. I mean, Mobley doesn't have an offensive no show this entire season. Last year, there are multiple games where it's like, Okay, Mobley is just in single digits. He gets you to at least like fourteen to fifteen every single night efficiently, and he's involved even more than the box score because he is facilitating off He's getting a lot of touches. I'm with you, dude. I mean, I think he can be a top fifteen player in this league, absolutely. But with Garland right now, he's been awesome this year. This game doesn't change that. I'm much more confident in him than I was last year. This is a bad matchup for him, though, and he was brutal in this series against Boston last year. This is just a crazy, long, athletic defense, and I think that Garland can be overwhelmed by that. He is tremendously skilled, but these big athletes can give him trouble. And I think you see that in this game, right, he was forcing the issue and he was struggling to create separation. He's jacking up really tough pull up threes. He's an amazing pull up shooter, but some of these early shot clock they feel forced. He's forcing layups and tough runners against bigger defenders. Particularly, I feel like Al Horford kind of just owns him man. Like that was a matchup to watch last year where Garland tried to cook Horford off of some switches and he got him a couple of times, but Al got him just as much. I mean, he moves with him on those drives, and Garland really struggles to finish over Horford around the rims. So that is a little bit of a concern to me. I think Garland certainly would play much better than he did today in a series against Boston, because this was by far the worst game that he's played all year. But I also think it's probably the toughest matchup for him in the conference.

I agree, and it is concerning in a hypothetical matchup against Boston and the playoffs. And the bigger issue to me too is just what it does to the rest of the offense when Garland's struggling. I feel like Donovan Mitchell has this tendency to just ice everybody out because it's like I have to carry the entire way to the offense. And specifically, at the end of that first half, when Garland was going cold, Donovan Mitchell literally, I mean you could see it. It was like, all right, I'm just not going to pass the ball. I'm taking every shot. And then it just you know, it compounds, right. It starts as a small snowball with Garland missing good looks, and then it snows into a big snowball where Mitchell's taking tough, contested shots early in the shot clock, and it's just spiraling your entire offense and you're slowly out of the game.

I mean it, it really ruined their first half.

I really hope Garland doesn't play as bad as he couldn't, But again, for I don't think this is Darius Garland. I think the Darius Garland that you know, I just expect more from him on a night's night basis, and I agree with you. I thought later in the game he was taking some bad shots, but in the first half I really liked the looks he was getting too and he was just missing intermediate shots and that's gonna happen. Sometimes that's where you can be critical, Right, Garland is a tough shot maker, right, He's not gonna manufacture any super easy looks, and there's just inherent volatility and tough shot making and guys who get buckets like that. So if that's your criticism, I get that. But I think just Darius Garland is just better as a as a baseline than this man.

Way better.

Absolutely, And I think unless you thought that Cleveland was better than Boston, unless you were irrationally high on the Calves, this is encouraging to me. And it feels to me like when we were talking about who's gonna be the biggest challenger to Boston this year, the Calves have been what we thought the Knicks would be, just in terms of having four top sixty players, right, that was the selling point for the Knicks. But now it's like, Okay, the Calves have a top fifteen player, they have a top thirty ish player, they have a top forty something player, they have another guy who probably ranks somewhere in the fifties, and Jared Allen, like their top end talent has actually been better than the Knicks when you just consider that mckel bridges has been a letdown, and then it's a more complimentary roster when Mobley's taken this leap offensively, and obviously they don't have nearly as big of a red flag because of the defense that they have with this interior duo, and their depth is way better and their coach is awesome, and everything is just trending upwards with them. I thought that this was a really, really fun game to watch. I really do like the Calves a lot. You know who I don't like right now? Logan the Philadelphia seventy six Ers, who are currently sitting at two and eleven, And the big story of the day yesterday was Shams's report that the Sixers at a team meeting in which Tyrese Maxi specifically called out Joel Embiid for being late to everything and setting a bad example for the entire team. Obviously, everything is in disarray for Philly right now. What was your reaction to that, Logan, hearing that report, what does that say to you about Embiid and what does that say about where the Sixers are at?

Sorry?

Last thing on Boston and Cleveland when you lose a game by three points when you get outshot by thirty six points behind the line.

Like again, I think that's as encouraging as a loss can get. But I'm really disappointed, Carson. I'm really disappointed just an Embid. In general.

It's a really bad start for the Sixers. They're two and eleven, they've lost four straight, they're dead last and offensive rating, they're below league average and defensive rating.

And Max EPG and Embiid have yet to share the floor.

It's just a really bad look for Joel embiid Man, especially as a leader. I know you did a video on this on TikTok too. I agreed with all the points you made, but Embiid seems apathetic, he seems indifferent, he seems aloof and especially when you're the guy on this team, especially this year when there's so much roster turnover, I just feel like it's more important than ever for you, as the star of the team, to show up and to be committed and to set the standard as the guy. But also what's strange to me, Carson, is just that Embiid has this air of entitlement about himself when he hasn't accomplished anything. And I don't I don't mean that, you know, wholeheartedly, right, I don't mean he hasn't accomplished anything. Obviously, he's one MVP. He obviously he's put up all these gaudy numbers. The guy's never been to the Eastern Conference finals. And we're talking about the great.

Winners of this game.

And it's different from quarterbacks, right because people could go, well, Dan.

Marino never won a Super Bowl, right, Well, if we're.

Doing the chips thing, what I'm saying is is that in basketball it's different because you can play both sides of the court. You are on the court, you can just have more of an individual impact in basketball than you can in football. There's twenty two guys on the field. There's ten in basketball, and you play both sides of the court, right up and down. And traditionally, when when I look at basketball players, when you're that good, I expect you to be able to single handedly carry your team through in a different way. And I love the passion from Tyrese Maxi. God bless him man for calling him out. Maxie wants to win. And that's what I take away from this. Tyrese Maxi is fed up with losing and underachieving, and he wants to win desperately. I don't get that, you know, insatiability from Embid. I don't get that urge, that urgency. The clock is ticking. You're thirty years old, you're super injury prone. You've crept your pants every time you've been to the playoffs. Last year was your best run ever, and you still got bounced in the first round. Like, and this year's been abysmal. Embiid is fifteen point six rebounds, three assists on thirty two percent from the field, forty nine percent true shooting, and he's like fifteen percent from deep. Carson, they're playing like a three win team with Embiid on the floor. They have an offensive rating of eighty seven point six with Embiad on the court. Like, at this point, I'm over joelingb completely, Like, I just don't think this guy's ever going to figure it out. Carson, he's injury prone. I don't think he cares all that much. I'm at a point where I'm saying, trade Joel Embiid, shop him, figure out what assets.

You can get back.

I just think this is a lost freaking cause I don't know like, what is the guy's value?

Though, I think you'd have a harder time trading Embiid because of the availability above all else but for sure age, But I.

Just don't think this is ever a guy that's gonna be able to lead you to an NBA champion. It's not about the talent, it's about his work, ethic and how much he gives a fuck about winning. I don't think Joel Embiid cares about winning. And what's sad is it's like you get fat and you get sassy and you got paid, right Ben Simmons got that bag from Philadelphia and said, oh, well, you know, I've got my house and I've got my earnings, and uh, I don't know. My bad counter hurts. I'm just gonna check out. I'm just gonna clock out. That's how I feel with Joel Embiid. Man. I think he got paid, and I don't think he cares anymore. And I think he could I don't think I think he couldn't care less about if the Sixers are winning games or not.

I just don't see how it gets better, Carson. I don't know, Like.

I think it's going to take an internal change from Embiid like admitting that he's got to do more. And I just think Joel Embiid has shown us who he is at this point, and it's really telling when the young guy is doing this right. If the roles were reversed, I think I'd understand it a little more if it was thirty or Embiid going hey man, we got to screw your head on MAXI we got to get right.

This is just weird.

The young guy is going to the star of the team and saying, hey man, I need more from you. It's I'm just done. I'm done with Embiid. I'm done with the Sixers.

Man.

I feel like I'm done with Embiid right now too, dude. And I am done with giving him the benefit of the doubt, and I am done with giving him excuses. It's one thing if you can't be available, obviously that is a big problem for your franchise, but that is not personally your fault. It's one thing if you are repeatedly underachieving in the playoffs.

Right.

Both of these are big red flags, big red issues for your superstar. But the thing that I just absolutely cannot forgive is this sort of leadership where you are just acting as though you are above being on time when your team is spiraling, when you have a bunch of roster turnover, when you have a key injury to Tyrese Maxi. Right now, when you individually have been horrible, you do not have the presence of mind as a thirty year old who has been the face of this franchise for nine years to go out there and write the ship and set an example. The job of a superstar, logan is not just about your ability, right, and Beid has all the ability in the world. It is about being a stabilizing factor. It is about doing what a Nikole Jokic has done this year right, which is not just okay averaging thirty fourteen and twelve and being far and away the best basketball player on the planet. It's also about after you score forty against the Clippers saying that loss was on me. No, it wasn't. But that is the responsibility of a superstar. That is a responsibility of the best player to take excessive accountability, to be over the top in terms of how positive an example you set for everybody around you. And Embiid is completely failing at that. He is failing miserably on the court right now, but that's not going to remain the case. Like, we know who Joel Embiid is as a basketball player in the regular season, but in all of the other areas that make for a superstar, right make for a franchise building block. Well, Joel Embid has played forty three games per year since he came into the league. Joel Embiid is one of the most historic playoff droppers that we have ever seen. And he is the only superstar logan who he has a performance and we're like, well, that's the best that he's played in the playoffs. It wasn't as good as he is always in the regular season, but hey, it was better than like the historic disasters. And I'm done with that dude. And look, he was hurt last year. I thought that he played a good series. But the fact that we treat him with such kid gloves, which we would never do with Yolkic, which we would never do with Yiannis, which we would never do with Luca. When those guys are repeatedly lapping him in all of these key categories and B doesn't belong in conversations with those guys, I am so extremely disappointed in him. I said in the TikTok you mentioned that there hasn't been a player in my lifetime with a bigger gap between their ability and how much I want them to be the building block of my franchise. And look, I don't think that there's any reason, unfortunately, to expect that the availability the health is ever going to get better with Joel Embiid. And maybe there's the one postseason where he's healthy and it comes together right. And I sort of have been saying that for the last year. Two years ago, we ranked our top ten players going into the playoffs that we would want. I had Joel Embiid at number eight, and a lot of people got upset about that. But the reason was that he historically hadn't been healthy and he had been bad in the playoffs. And then I felt like some people were being a little too hard on him, and I was like, guys, the potential is still in there somewhere. You don't get that benefit of the doubt. You don't get that credit for me when you are failing as a leader, when you are failing to show that you care enough about this basketball team that desperately needs you to be a superhero on and off the court right now. That is the job of a superstar. And this is like the inflection point in Joel Embiid's career. To me, forget the six Er season. This is the moment where we see can he figure this out? Just emotionally at the very least, does he understand what this team needs of him? I don't know, man, If he doesn't figure it out now, then he's never going to figure it out. And this stuff is bigger than just what we see on the court, man. This is about the culture that you set, and I think that Embiid has been a disgrace in that regard this year, and I think that repeatedly we've seen this sense of entitlement that you mention from him. A couple of weeks ago, he's talking about I've given too much to this city for people to question if I want to be out there. Well, dude, you're showing a lack of care. I mean, you're late to everything apparently, right, So why is it unfair to question that. I'm just so so disappointed, and it's tough for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel with the Sixers right now, Like, yeah, I think that they're gonna go on a stretch where they rattle off some wins. They're still gonna make the playoffs because the Eastern Conference is a disaster, But do I have any faith in them reaching the ceiling that they have?

No?

And do I think it's possible that this season just turns into a complete disaster because Joel Embiid isn't the emotional anchor that they need him to be. Maybe we'll see, but either way, I'm certainly much lower on the Sixers than I was before this year, and I'm just done. I'm done with Joel Embiid.

The two biggest things to me is one the lack of account of ability, because I think Embiid's answer could have changed the perspective in the way that we scope this right about being late, if he had just said I've been late, I'm been putting in one hundred percent.

You know that's on me.

I'm gonna do better from now on, right, But instead he gets butt hurt and lashes out right. And also it's the work ethic. You're not gonna win the title by just doing enough. You have crazy you have crazy guys playing this game. I think Jason Tatum has an insatiable appetite to win. He may not give he may not perform at apex Jason Tatum level every night, but he's gonna give me apex level Jason Tatum effort every night. I don't have to question that with Tatum, and that's why I like him representing my team.

Luka.

Doncic may not perform that, but I think he has an insatiable desire to win again his effort night to night. He's got to work on that too, But yeah, I know that guy wants to win. You're not going to win a championship if you don't have that in you. And I don't think Embiid has it. I don't think he has that hunger, that desire to crush all the competition to go win a championship. I think he is really content with where he's I think he's comfortable Carson. I think he's really comfortable with just where.

He is and he thinks that he has done enough. And I don't know.

I just don't think Embiat's hungry, and that's a problem to me, man.

I just don't think he has that crazy desire to win.

It's sad, dude, but he is just objectively failing to live up to that superstar standard we can talk about right when he's at his best, when he's on the floor, he's a top five player. Okay, but how many dudes would you rather bank your franchise on compared to Joel Embiid. I mean, you mentioned Jason Tatum to me, that's not even close. SGA, that's not even close. Anthony Davis I would rather be invested in. And I understand you can talk about oh well, and Bid as a floor raiser is better, right because of the offensive volume that he can eat up. Listen, AD is more available. AD is also just playing at an incredibly high level individually right now, We've seen that from him before. There's just better leaders, and there are dudes who are out there on the floor. And for Joel Embiid, with all of his shortcomings, right, with all the ways in which he has failed to live up to his ability in the biggest moments, not understanding that, not having the ultimate chip on his shoulder, thinking instead, no, fuck you guys, it's all your problem, right, it reminds me of the MVP race a couple of years ago, where he went on that whole rant about like, oh, the criteria changes every year and it's always rigged against me. And he's taking all these shots at Jokic and it's like, dude, where does this come from? Like you're not focused on the right things. And I'm not saying that Joel Embie doesn't want to win, Okay, I wouldn't take it that far. I'm saying I don't think he understands what is required of him. And it's a high standard. That is the standard you are held to when you are the MVP of a league. That is the standard you are held to when people talk about you as a top five player. And he's not meeting it.

Maybe that is a better way to put it. Maybe that is a better way to he doesn't understand how to do it. The final point I wanted to make on this was just we talk about this all the time. How teams, you know, take the identity of their leader and they make it their personality, right Jokic, and how the Nuggets play so unselfishly right, everybody is just committed to making the right play, playing the game the right way, giving full effort.

We talked about this last year with Tyrese Haliburton.

How the Indiana Pacers, everybody, the ball continues moving, You're passing up good shots for great shots. Everybody is playing so unselfishly. You take on the personality the identity of your leader as a team, and the.

Sixers don't have one.

Their identity is again, Man, this is the like on the court issues that I have with Embiid, where he can stagnature offense and he can not give full effort.

It's deeper than that. Man, It's just.

A lack of care. It's it's just careless. Like I said, Man, I'm just I think you I don't know, Carson. I think there may be I don't know how far I take it, Like, are there fifteen guys? Are there twenty guys that you take over Embiid. It's just like, I just don't think Embid can be the number one on your championship team. I don't know if he's equipped to to get it done. Man, It's not the ability. It's never been the ability. It's never been the talent. It's everything else with Embiid, And that's what makes it so frustrating.

Yeah, the probability of everything coming together for him just gets lower and lower in my eyes as he gets older and just continues to fail in the same areas. I will say the other really concerning thing for the Sixers because Joel Embid is not the reason. His underperformance on the court is not the reason that the Sixers are eleven. I mean, he's been horrible, but he's only played three games. Paul George has just been so bad this year, and I was really high on that edition, but like, everything just looks bad for Philly, and I do think that things are obviously going to get better, and they get the Big three out there, and it's like, Okay, they can throw a nice punch, man, but you want to talk about them doing anything serious. There's just too much that I don't trust here. Yeah, I mean a lot of that is about embiid.

Best case scenario is what a second round.

Exit feels like it, right, And you would have looked at the roster before the year and said, Okay, well, there's the upside for a conference finals run with this big three that they have and if Embiid can play to the level of these Tier one guys. But like, I'm just done, man, I'm done living in a theoretical world where that stuff could happen. When it just hasn't happened, and Embiid is showing a lack of understanding of what is required of him as a leader, what it takes in terms of championship DNA Logan. There's a couple other dudes who MB has actually always been in conversations with, and I've always strongly felt that both of these dudes were significantly better than Joel Embiid, especially Nicole Jokic, and I think that that is just going down as one of the all time worst debates that we had to sustain for multiple years, and good to be on the right side of history with that one, Logan. The Emirates NBA Cup is here. You can win big getting in on the action at draft Kings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA.

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As Joel Embiid is failing to write the ship up to this point in the season, both Niko Jokic and Giannis on Tetakunpo have been doing everything that they can, and I feel like I've seen this start to pop up as a discussion point because Jokic has missed the last three games with personal reasons and the Nuggets have looked bad. They gotta win against Memphis without John Morant. They also lost to Memphis without John Morant, and they lost to the Pelicans with nobody on the floor. A Pelicans group that is arguably the worst team in basketball with the dudes who they have out there right now. And the conversation that I've seen that spark among some people logan is who has the worst situation around them? Is it Yannis or is it Yokic?

It's an interesting convo. The thing I'd say is, I don't think a Jokic team could ever look as bad as the Bucks do because he enhances everybody else on the court.

And that's the key dynamic to me.

Jokic makes everybody that plays with him so much better that I don't think a team let out by Jokic could ever be as bad as Milwaukee. Jokic is gonna find out a way to drag you to forty plus wins.

You can put that.

Let me finish.

I was just gonna say, you could put some YMCA guys around Yokic and they gonna figure out how to get forty wins, right.

Like Jokic just does that.

And also, Jokic has never had the caliber of player of Damian Lillard on his roster.

Right.

Damian Lillard is leagues and miles above Jamal Murray at his apex, right, like Dame is just that kind of guy. So I think it's really close. I guess what I'd say is, I don't think they have constructed a roster at all in Milwaukee that is conducive to helping Yannis and maximize his abilities. Right, everybody's slow, there's a lack of athleticism.

There's a lack of defense.

I think Giannis is. I guess Yannis's supporting cast is worse. But again, man, it's like you take Jokic out of Denver. I don't know, man, what the team wins twenty games.

Maybe according to the on off numbers, they are at a one win pace when he's not out there, So they win one game without Jokic.

That's the funniest stat of all time, I know, it's insane, that's hilarious. I guess I would say Yannis. But again, my fundamental point between these two guys is Jokic is that much better as an elevator man. He makes everybody so much better. He is that much more unstoppable. He is that much greater than Yannis. And I think Janis is one of the greatest players to ever played this game. I just think Jokic is that much better.

I do think that Jokic is better. I do think that Jokic is the greatest offensive player, the greatest floor raiser that we've ever seen on the offensive end, one of the greatest floor raisers overall that we've ever seen, period. And the trend that we've seen year over year is just the complete disaster that they are with him off the court. I went and looked back all the way since the twenty one to twenty two season, and so now we're talking about three plus years of data, and per forty eight minutes, when Yo Kich's on the floor, Denver outscores opposing teams by eleven point three points, and when he's off the floor, they are outscored by ten point two points per forty eight minutes. So that is a more than twenty one point swing. That would mean that with Yokich on the floor, they're the best team in basketball. With Yokich off the floor, they're the worst team in basketball. We talk about this every year. It's true over a four year sample. Now you compare that to Yannis over the years, the difference isn't as stark. With him on the floor, they're plus seven per forty eight minutes. With him off the floor, they're minus two point four. And so I think the inclination of some people when they see those numbers, when they look at how bad the Nuggets have been without Yokich on the floor this year, would say, hey, I get that the Nuggets are a better team. That's just because You'll is that much better. And while I do agree that Jokic is better, I also think what we have to keep in mind with the Nuggets roster is that it is constructed around NIKOA. Jokic. Now, Niko Jokic would elevate just about any group of players to be an amazing offense, but the guys around him have specific limitations that are very much exposed when he's off the floor, and they have specific strengths that are complimentary to his skill set. Jamal Murray is a guy who is not an advantage creator, right. He is not somebody who can float your offense. He is not going to get downhill and get easy shots for himself. He is not a very high level playmaker. But with nikoa Jokic, that two man game is really dynamic, and when you can create space for him with the screen, well, he's a phenomenal pull up jump shooter. Michael Porter Junior, one of the absolute best spot up shooters on the planet, is an off ball weapon, not somebody who can create with the ball in their hands. But when you have Jokic, who is facility potating damn near every possession right and is the best passer in the league and is drawing all this extra defensive attention and touching the ball one hundred and fifteen times a game, you don't need MPJ to be a threat off the bounce. Aaron Gordon just being the weapon that he is in the dunker spot, well, nobody in basketball basically would be as conducive to him succeeding as NIKOLEA Jokic, but he is a really good fit. Also, the Nuggets have just been so bad defensively and overall in terms of their backup center over the years that like they crater because of that when Yokic is off the floor, because they just don't have a guy who is capable. They really haven't had a guy who's capable on either end of the floor to take up those minutes when Yokic is off. So I understand that the Nuggets look really really bad with Jokic not out there, but I do think that under sells the actual ability of these guys like in their roles. I love Aaron Gordon. I didn't think there was ever reason to worry about Michael Porter Junior Jamal. He is the one dude who has had to be better for a year plus who I can't understand having some concern about. But I think I'm still more optimistic about him than most other people, and I think that before we really hit the panic button with him for this season, we need to see more of him with Nikola Jokic, because that is the role in which he is set up to succeed. He can't float an offense on his own. That's not his skill set. But you put these guys together, you put Christian Brown on the floor, who is great at his role. But if you need more offensive creation, well that's not good. Jokic is the all in one offensive creator that allows all of these guys who really are role players. I mean, Jamal is more than that, but even still, like is definitely meant to be a second option with Nikola Jokic, that is the role that he is meant to play in where he looks much better than he would anywhere else. They do have those roles, but they are really good in those roles when Jokic is on the floor. So all that to say, yes, he absolutely elevates all these guys and makes them look much better, but the roster is also built around him, whereas I just think, like Milwaukee's roster isn't good. And we can talk about the depth with the Nuggets. I like their depth more, dude. I like Julian Strother, I like Peyton Watson, right. I like how these guys compete. I like how they defend. I like the shooting you get from a Strawther. The Bucks depth, I think just sucks. I think that their defensive problems around Yiannis just cannot be fixed. Jannis does have a dame. But outside of that, I think that the roster around Jokic is better. I think it is better constructed in the short term in terms of fit, more complimentary. And the big thing to me when we talk about who's in the worst situation isn't just for this year, it's when we look at the big picture. That's where the Bucks are screwed. That's where I think they're in a really dark place because they have committed to thirty seven year old Brook Lopez, who after this year could just walk. But then what are you doing at the center spot right? You weren't able to get any value back for him. Chris Middleton thirty three years old, injury prone, Damian Lillard thirty three years old. All of these dudes are only getting older and slower and worse, Whereas the Nuggets have a strategy that people have been critical of, but they have maintained these core four pieces who I do believe absolutely can be the top four on a title team again if you put the right dudes around them. And yeah, they lost Bruce Brown, they couldn't have matched the money he got. They lost CACP. Apparently CACP just wanted to go to Orlando, but at least with their draft and develop strategy. Christian Brown is a dude. Julian Strawther has been encouraging Peyton Watson as of late has been playing well, and all their core four dudes are still in their twenties. So Jokic is the best player on the planet, and he is better than Yannis. But a big reason that the Nuggets window, to me is much more open is because of the flexibility they have around these core four guys, and because of the fact that those core four guys aren't getting worse right that they are still in their primes and will be for several more years. So I do think that Giannis is in the worst situation now. I do agree. I don't think there's a roster in basketball that Yolkic wouldn't drag close to fifty wins. I mean, just look at what he did in twenty twenty two, right that was one of the worst rosters in basketball, and they played at a fifty win pace when he was on the floor in games that he played. I don't think that there's a team that Yokic could be five and nine with right now. But Jannis is amazing. Giannis is the second best player on the planet, and I do think he's in a worse situation.

Yeah, the Bucks think and the coaching staff sucks.

And that's another thing. Thank you for mentioning that. I think Michael Malone is a good coach. I think he gets over criticized at times. I think Doc Rivers is a terrible coach.

And he's got Darvin Ham sandwich over there with his hands in his pockets. Dude, those memes kill me.

Where It'll be like him with an iPad showing Bobby Port as something and it's like Dora the Explorer or something.

Like Darvin Man. He is never going to be redeemed in the public eye failing the Lakers had coaches salute Man. That's a leader of men right there. That's who emb needs to be studying, Darvin Ham.

I feel bad for Giannis. Yeah.

The only way I see this ending is Yannis forcing his way out, and it's all the Bucks' fault. I mean, yeah, there's just gonna come a breaking point where he looks around. And what sucks is it's every decision along the way. You know, it's not just one decision, right, because you can go back and you can say oh, well, maybe the Bucks should have held on to Drew Holliday to keep their defensive identity and their perimeter defense wouldn't be as bad.

But it's not just that one move.

Like the one that and this isn't the nail in the coffin, but it's like, again, we bring this one up often when we talk about the Bucks, but it's like, oh, yeah, let's draft a J. Johnson instead of like a win now player that would help, BEI honest, in a rotation, It's like, and that's the difference. The Nuggets just have more rotational NBA players than the Bucks.

The Bucks just don't. They're thin.

We'll see what they look like man with Chris Middleton, But to me, that just doesn't fix any of.

Their core issues.

They're slow, they're on athletic, they're old, and yeah, I see Giannis asking his way out and being on a new team in the next three years.

I just think it's an inevitability at this point. The Bucks are too far away.

And realistically, twenty twenty one, when they won their title, was much closer to the end of their title window than I think a lot of us initially thought. And that to me is the biggest thing is not about losing Drew. Adding Dame, even though that obviously hasn't gone as they hoped. In their defense has cratered. They weren't in a position on that roster Withdrew to win a title, right, I mean, it's just everybody on the team is getting older and worse and old and worse, and they didn't address that. And this is ultimately the point that you reach when that is your approach to roster building, and Denver is not in that spot. And that's why I'm much much much more optimistic about them. I think they're a better team now. I also think they are absolutely better set up in the long term. And I think the people comparing those two teams throughout the year, you know, I think that stopped now because Denver reeled off five straight wins with Yolkic on the floor. But early in the year people were panicking about them equally if not more, about the Nuggets, And to me, that never made sense. Logan, Let's talk about the hottest team in basketball. The Orlando Magic have won six straight games. That is, of course, with Paolo Boncaro out for quite some time still with his injury. What does this win streak tell you about Orlando.

The defense is legit.

It hasn't been without not just Paolo Benkaro, They've been out Wendell Carter Junior too.

That's what's crazy.

Over this streak, they've been number one in defensive rating and number one in net rating. Now to preface this before we get into the segment, they do have wins over the Pelicans, the Wizards, the Hornets, and the seventy six ers, so not the most impressive stretch, but they also have a win over the Suns most recently in and went over the Pacers. Franz Wagner has returned to form. He's given you twenty nine six and six over the last six games. And Mo Wagner, his brother, has given you fourteen a night on sixty one percent from the field and forty two percent from deep. And the Wagner brothers have been very impressive. It's been the defense to me, that has been the most impressive thing. Specifically, I want to give a shout out to Anthony black Man. Anthony black is playing really really well right now, and I just love his instincts in his feel right. That was always the sell about Anthony Black as a prospect because he struggled putting the ball in the basket.

That was the knock on him.

But he was a really good playmaker and decision maker, and defensively he just got it. He's got eight steals over the last three games and he's got six blocks over the last six games. Like just being connected with this defense right, making plays as a helpside, rim protector, jumping passing lanes when the opportunity presents itself, and it's this entire defense man they all play so connected. Jonathan Isaac has done a really good job of anchoring the five. So is Gogo Batazzi stepping up them splitting time there. It's really everybody man, from Suggs to those guys, to ksept or Boy Tristan da Silva. That's really what's crazy, right, is the Orlando Orlando success over the past two years has always been predicated on the defensive side of the basketball. Right last season they were number three in defensive rating. Over this stretch, their number one in defensive rating. But it's not the top end, guys, it is everybody from the top of the roster to the bottom. They can give you good defensive minutes. There's really no weak spots in this rotation, and that's what's blown me away. It's been really encouraging me with Franz having the ball in his hands and he's been able to produce like this. That's what I wonder, though, Carson, is I wonder if a part of Franz's struggles is him is like him being in a rhythm, you know what I mean? Is him not touching the ball as much when Poolo's out there. And that's not a knock on Poolo because I think Polo is the better offensive player, and I think Poolo has a different ceiling that he can reach than Franz totally. I just wonder when Polo's out there, right, it's a rhythm thing. It's kind of like with Garland, Right. I wonder if Garland going through dry spells because Mitchell.

Has the ball in his hands.

Right, It's just tough when you're not taking as many shots getting that feel down. I want him to do this more when Poolo's available, pull his weight, but it's tough when you're not touching the ball.

It's just easier.

Right, I'm gonna take twenty shots tonight. I'm gonna have my touchdown I'm gonna figure it out. But he has been impressive. They've needed somebody to step up. He has stepped up in a big way. And with this defensive foundation, you don't need a ton from your offense man when you can do what they've been doing defensively. So it's always the defense here with Orlando. Everybody top to bottom has been impressive, and Franz's return to for him has been impressive.

I just wonder.

My only concern is just how he looks when Paolo returns and he doesn't have the ball in his hands as much.

But the most impressive guys to me have been Franz and Anthony Black.

Anthony Black has stepped up and he's the guy I'm most excited about in this rotation.

He has been really good. I mean especially last game. He really stepped up offensively against the Suns and was super impressive. I think this win streak tells you a few things about the Magic. I think it tells you a what the foundation of this team has always been, and that is an elite defense. And this is just one of the fallacies that I think people often fall into. We talked about this a lot with Orlando last year. And it's not to take away from Paolo, but Paolo last year in the regular season was undeniably a below average offensive number one, right, he really struggled with efficiency. The Magic were statistically a worst team with him on the floor. That's not to say that he isn't an incredibly gifted young player who this year I think has taken a leap and I think has the ceiling to be like a back end of the top ten kind of player in the league. But there's this notion of Okay, he's the face, right, he's the face of the offense. He's the young guy, and even if he's putting up these volume stats, right, we want to give the credit to that guy. But it's like, No, the reason that the Magic were a playoff team last year is because they were an elite, elite defense, and they're gonna be able to find a pretty good NBA player who can eat up the offensive volume they need to just be not even good on that end. I mean, they weren't good offensively ever last year, not in the regular season, not in the playoffs, and they still made the playoffs, and they still went seven and Powloll was really good in the playoffs. Years. I want to be clear, I'm just saying this team has a ninety five point six defensive rating. In their six game win streak, they have the number one defense since Powolo got hurt. That is what makes this team awesome. They've been able to maintain that even in the absence of their best player. The other thing that I think this streak has told you is that Franz Wagner is him and he's open. I mean, he's giving you twenty three to five and five on fifty seven percent through shooting this season, which is huge. I've been a Franz believer. I've had the expectation that he could be like a top twenty five player in this league. He just checked so many boxes to so many things at a high level. But last year was tough for him, really just because of the complete absence of his three point shot, and in the playoff series he was inconsistent. He had some really high highs and then he had just an absolutely atrocious Game seven. It's big to me to see him in a rhythm like this, being this confident, being this assertive, seeing the three ball falling, shooting thirty six percent from deep. He's such an awesome driver. He's always had great change in pace there, and he's always been a really skilled finisher and he's a really good playmaker for his size. But it is so so important to this team ceiling that they get the best version of Franz. You cannot undersell his importance because with some of the offensive skill limitations around Paolo and Franz, like they need those two to be consistent avenues to solid offense. You can't just rely on Polo and his role is going to be different with Powlo back. That is one thing, right. More off ballwork for Franz I think can be a little bit of a struggle for him. He's not a great catch and shoot player. He is best with the ball in his hands. But just seeing him hoop like this is great to me. And it's encouraging about what this team can achieve, and it's encouraging about him reaching the ceiling that I've been optimistic about him reaching. And the last thing that I would say this tells you is Orlando's death is really good. I agree with you there. Tristan de Silva my guy, one of my favorite prospects in this draft. He's struggled as a score, but he's valuable out there as a big body, as a multi positional defender, really as a connected passer. He already is popping Anthony Black. The playmaking is really good, the defense is awesome. He looks more comfortable as a scorer. Athletically, he's really impressive as a driver. And the ability of these guys to step up in the absence of Wendell Carter Junior. If it's Gogo Batadze, if it's Mo Wagner, if it is Jonathan Isaac feeling it in at the five, they're still getting quality center minutes. This team is just really good, man, and they really scrap and they defend their asses off, and they have a lot of good basketball players. And when Poolo is back, they're gonna be awesome because that's just what they need, right They need that high end offensive punch. And the Polo that we were seeing early this year was a better player than last year. Was a guy who was playing at you know, a fringe top twenty sort of level. And if you get that sort of offense and you get a better version of Franz and Casep's really struggled offensively this year, but the shooting around those guys is better this year. That's the Orlando team that we would have hoped to see. I think that that is definitely a top four team in the East. Yeah, a team nobody wants to play, a team that should win a playoff series. I mean, there's always the possibility that Philly gets it together. I don't think they're gonna get a top four seed, but you know, could they reach their ceiling where everything's gelling and they're the fourth best team in the East. It's possible, But I think Orlando has the more consistent, reliable formula there.

I agree with you.

I think they could climb up to number four in my East hierarchy and probably now the top four seed, you know, against Indiana, against Philadelphia and against Milwaukee.

I do think it's a toss up.

But really Indiana in Milwaukee. I just feel like with those teams defensive issues. Orlando still has their offensive issues, but they're so elite defensively, and I do think their offense with Polo out there, they only will be significantly better than last year.

It all just hinges on Paolo and Franz. Yeah, I worry about Franz as a number two when he's out of rhythm, and I don't know how Polo's gonna come back and look at full health.

Right.

Sometimes it just takes a couple of weeks or a month. But if we get the version of pal, I.

Agree with you.

If they continue at this trajectory, I would be disappointed if Orlando didn't win a playoff series. All I'm saying is is we've seen Paolo last year settling for tough jumpers, right. If he reverts to that at all, If Franz regresses back to the way he was, I could see them getting upset by an Indiana, by a Philadelphia, by a Milwaukee. I would be disappointed, though, and I expect them to win a playoff series.

But I'm very high in Orlando. I thought they could get the two seed in the East.

I think with Polo's injury, it's tough, but they're not out of the race there.

For the top two seeds, probably Cleveland and Boston is tough, but I could see them.

Maybe I'll pace in New York. New York and Orlando is going to be interesting in that three four spot. But I think Orlando should win a playoff series this year.

That's my expectation.

Anything less and I'm I'm going to be disappointed, but I gotta I gotta give credit to this team top to bottom, and I gotta give credit to Jamal Moseley man, like, I think that a turnaround this quick is really impressive, and they've got a lot of young talent, And the biggest thing is just all of them are committed and they're all committed to winning defensively. It's hard to get teams to do that, but you see it with Houston, with Oklahoma City, with Orlando. All of these teams are bought in and playing hard in winning on the defensive end, and that's how you win important basketball games. They don't lack on that side at all. And it's really encouraging to be doing this again. Down Paolow and down Wendell Carter junior.

Healthy, Philly would be tough because of the offensive ceiling they have. But also, dude, what do we just say about not giving them the benefit of the doubt. I mean, Philly sucks right now. In Orlando without their best player is a good basketball team.

All I'm saying is I would pick Orlando.

There is just a chance.

No, no, no, I totally agree. I mean, I'm thinking the same thing over here. Right I'm thinking about what Philly can be. It's just so frustrating when they aren't close to that. Right now, things are going to work. I just want to give credit to.

All Orlando's committed.

Orlando's committed. Man. They win games, they win games without their best player, and that's a testament to a good team. That's a testament to a good organization. And they are just among that group of young defenses. Man, right now.

It's super great culture, great culture, man, Houston.

Okay, See, we've never seen young teams defend at this level where it's just like, hey, we have the best athletes and where ahead of the curve compared to where young dudes normally are, and we're committed to this end and we're connected on that end. It's been really impressive what we're seeing from all these young defenses. We expected it from Orlando, but nevertheless, it's awesome when it can be the backbone of a stretch like this without Polo. Shall we talk about White Boy the Year candidate Dalton Connect Logan because that after the cav Celtics game, was the biggest news in last night's action. Dalton Connect ends with thirty seven and had twenty two straight points for the LA Lakers. And he's part of a very interesting class. The rookie class that we knew did not have the top and talent that we're accustomed to, but also that we talked about throughout the draft. The draft process did have some gems in there, did have some more pro ready contributors you might be able to get in the mid late first Connect being absolutely one of them. Do you think he's been the most impressive rookie logan and if not, who has been?

I think he has?

Uh And that's the thing I love about the NBA drafts, right as there's always this dynamic about hitting your timeline and making sure that you're drafting the right guy right. Because there's a guy at the top of the draft that have insane potential, there's always gonna be guys in the ten to thirty range that can contribute to winning now. And that's why I couldn't believe that Connect dropped to seventeen. I get he was an older prospect that spent a lot of time in college, right, but he was so pro ready. I had him as a top ten guy. I thought you take him in the top ten. You don't worry about, you know, can he be as great as some of these guys in the long term. He's gonna win you basketball games right now, and that's exactly what he's doing this season. He's averaging eleven points per game on fifty two percent from the field, forty six percent from deep, on sixty nine percent true shooting. Right now, Dalton connect has the highest true shooting percentage of any rookie who has averaged ten points per game in NBA history, anybody. He is a wired bucket. Specifically spotting up. He's averaging one point five to six points per spot up possession. That's ninety eight percentile. It's ridiculous.

Good night nurse.

When you think about the archetype that you want alongside Lebron James and Anthony Davis, he is the perfect weapon. When those guys garner attention and get double teams, he is going to make you pay for leaving him alone. And it's not just spotting up, it's also cutting. Anthony Davis has a beautiful feed to him on a backdoor cut when a guy falls asleep. He was busting Utah zone in the half court all night.

He's got the door cut.

But he's also got three straight left wing threes against the their zone that he just bangs. Like you said, he has twenty two straight points he's running in transition. It's just little stuff like he has two alley oop dunks where he just beats all of the Jazz team down in transition. He just does the winning things. The Lakers are running plays for.

This kid, pinned downs.

And screens off ball for him that he's knocking down.

He's a winner.

He's a winner, and I think it's also reflected in his analytic numbers.

On the offensive side of the ball.

They're fifteen point five points better offensively with connect per one hundred possessions. They have an offensive rating of one twenty seven point three with connect on the floor. Granted, he's playing a lot with Lebron and Anthony Davis and Reeves and Di Lo right, those are great offensive players that are going to lead to great offenses, but he enhances them.

He is a weapon.

He is one of the most pro ready offensive players I've seen.

Man.

He gets it and he doesn't need the ball in his hands. I think he's a little bit underrated as a pick and roll ball handler.

He can do a little bit there. Yeah, but he is an off ball weapon.

And those guys are at a premium where you can just put them alongside anybody and they're gonna get you buckets. They're invaluable, right because some guys can stag nature offense and some guys do need the ball in their hands. Connect doesn't. He is gonna it's it's that clay or market and you know value right now. I don't mean at that level of those guys, but the type of value that they bring is off ball weapons. Connect brings that, and I just I'm so glad that the Lakers nailed this pick right, because they didn't pick up the option.

On Jalen hood Schafino. They're probably gonna let him go.

That's a wasted draft pick when you passed on guys like Hi Mayhawks Junior, when you passed on guys like Brandon pod Zimski, and I'm glad that they didn't double down on drafting a player like that. They went and got the pro ready guy for their pro ready timeline. And he's just he's a wired bucket.

He's a winner.

I can't sing his praise is enough. This is how I felt about Connect pre draft. I'm glad that he went to a win now team, and I hope teams are kicking themselves for letting him drop the seventeen man because I think he's arguably the deal of the draft right now.

Well, and also it was just so perfect for the Lakers because of their timeline. We both view this as an absolute home run. At the time, Connect was the most pro ready, most polished, most skilled scorer in the class. He was the most pro ready offensive player period, And what the hell did the Lakers care if he's twenty three years old. They're trying to go out there and put the best team that they can around Lebron and Ad. I think the Connect has been outstanding this year. I mean the last four games, Logan twenty four points per game on eighty eight percent through shooting sixty eight percent from three, and that's on eight attempts a game. Like just flat out, he is one of the absolute best shooters in the sport, and he's one of the best off ball movers in the sport. He's fifty two percent from the corners, he's forty four percent on above the break threes. And what's rare is to not just get a shooter of this ability, but to get a shooter of this ability at this size where you're talking about six to six, who also has this awareness of how to be an effective off ball mover and that includes cutting. He's an excellent cutting guard wing who is also at the very least solid as an athlete and solid as a self creator. You mentioned. I think that his on ball shops can be underrated as well. He's not great there. That's not what makes him special. That is his ability off ball. But also, like we've seen, he's not sped up as a driver, right, He's a little shifty there. He can take some contact, he's got a good frame, he's a skilled finisher in the lane. Like, this is not just a spot up shooter. This is a complete all around scoring machine. I remember we went on with Jason a couple of weeks ago. You asked if he could score twenty points per game in the league. Good quod question, man, I mean I think that the answer is in the right situation. Absolutely. The dude is a stone cold bucket and has been phenomenal, not surprisingly, right, I think you would have expected him to be one of the few best rookies, but twenty two straight points. Yeah, bro, that surprising back to back games with twenty seven and thirty seven. That is so impressive, and especially considering that the Lakers bench around him has been underwhelming. I mean, he has just been such a bright light for them. Do you think when Ruy is back out there healthy, that he should keep starting, because I'm seeing some chitter chatter about that now.

I don't. I mean, I guess it depends on certain matchups, Like.

You don't think that Connect should start, or you don't think that rug Oh.

I thought you were saying Rui, No, I think Conneck should start.

I wouldn't for Rui or ford Loo.

That's an interesting question because I kind.

Of think he should start for d Lo. And I think that then you get de Loh just running the second unit, which I think is where he's at his absolute best. Connects limited defenders, be limited defenders.

But I just want connective minutes, and I think it's a little it's a little redundant having d Lo and.

Reeves out there.

I've always felt that way, right, you don't need to liabilities defensively in both ball handlers.

And well, connect doesn't solve the defensive thing, but no, not to solve the offensive fit of just being a complete off ball weapon alongside Reeves lebron Ad and.

Once Vando gets healthy too, you have a little bit of versatility there where you could have another defender on the floor. But I just think Connect is like that man. I won't Connect playing big minutes because.

He swings games.

Shooters like this swing games, and he just manufactures buckets within the flow of the offense, where like I said, they draw up beautiful plays for him, pinned downs, screens off ball where he's cutting across the floor and he's just a better.

Shooter than like d Lo too.

But he again gets buckets that you're not accounting for where he's cutting off of an ad post up. I love it, man, Guys fall asleep. It's so funny on tape. Guys fall asleep in the corner all the time. Some of the best defenders on the planet fall asleep just ball watching, and Connect is looking at the back of the guy's head. The second that his head turns, he's cutting on that back door lane.

He just does little stuff. I won't Connect just playing big minutes. Man.

I think he's a winner. I think he's a more complimentary offensive player, and again, I just think he does more. He's a little more versatile.

Than d Lo.

He's not gonna be able to kill you in isolation Orr out of the pick and roll as well as de Lo can at his apex, but he's gonna do all the little complimentary stuff and he gets it.

I like Connect a lot, man, I.

Would, I would just and if you're not starting him, I would just at least find a way to play this guy twenty to twenty five minutes a night.

I think Connect has earned that.

If the Lakers could be a decent defense, if they didn't have the the worst defensive personnel in the league around ad of any serious team, and if they weren't also the worst transition defense in basketball, I would love them so much. I mean, this offense is amazing, right. Last year's offense was really really good, better than it got credit for number three offense for more than half of the year second half of the season. This offense is better, though, Bro, I mean, and Connect is an absolute weapon, and I agree. I mean, it's just a guy you have to play. It feels like twenty five minutes a night. He's just too lethal as an offensive player. I am going to give a shout out to another guy though, as the most impressive rookie. I'm gonna shout out Jared McCain. And I think what Connect is doing is in some ways more impressive because the context is winning basketball games. I also think on the flip side of that, Jared McCain is having to step up as his team's perimeter number one option and he's actually really producing there and is doing so with efficiency. And also, I just didn't expect this from McCain as much as I did from Connect. Right, I liked McCain as a prospect, but Connected was like, Okay, he's the most pro ready scorer in this class and this is a phenomenal fit for him. For McCain to be doing this where he's over fifteen a night on sixty one percent true shooting on the season and in the six games since MAXI got Hurt twenty five points per game on sixty four percent true shooting, that is wildly impressive. His shooting is his biggest weapon, it always has been. He's forty nine percent from deep on catch and shoot looks. But I've been impressed by his all around game. I've been impressed by his ability to create for himself off the bounce as a limited athlete, smaller guy, but twenty nine percent of his shots are coming in the restricted area. He's not a great finisher there because of some of those size and athletic limitations, but he's getting there and his skill as a finisher is there. His pace as a driver has really impressed me. His ability to stop and pop and use the mid range. He's not a value passer, but he has really nice feel there and it's just so impressive, dude, to be ready for the moment like this, to have this sort of burden on you. Jared McCain wasn't expecting that. Jared McCain wasn't expecting. Oh yeah, on the team with Joel Embiid and Paul George and Tyrese MAXI, I'm gonna be the guy who is stepping up as our eliting scorer more nights than not in this recent stretch. Like that's crazy. The heat blitzed him on a pick and roll that he was running with Joel Embiid logan like, I've been super impressed by both these guys. I've just been more surprised by McCain and I think the volume that he's had to take on it's so hard, and as so much has gone wrong with the Sixers, he's the dude who is like completely over delivered.

Yeah, I'm surprised by this too, and he'd be number two for me. Last six games, he's twenty five points four assistinite on forty eight percent from the field, forty four percent from deep and sixty three point eight percent true shooting. McCain's dangerous coming off handoffs and screens, and I do think that he's weaponized a little bit more by Joel Embiid because of Embiid's gravity as a player and also how good of a screen setter he is. But I wasn't expecting this, and he's deceptively quick. That's the thing that has impressed me the most about McCain is, like I thought he was a good shooter, he's a better movement shooter than I expected, and he's ready to fire at all times. But how he's been able to get downhill and finish within the paint and he's just quick. He's quicker than I thought, and he's a weapon. I didn't expect McCain to be this good, this quick, I think he's number two for me right now. He's a good shout. I'd also shout out a pair of Grizzlies. I think there's levels of this. Edie's been good, not great. Edie gets picked on a lot in space, that's not really surprising. Yeah, Jayalen Wells has been good in Games two, well rounded, and then Alex Sar obviously not what he's brought offensively, but I think Sar has been good defensively, So those would.

Be my shouts.

But I think McCain and connect are head of the pack right now.

Out I would shout out Stefan Castle as well. I just think athletically you see his impact. I think as a playmaker you see his impact. Unsurprisingly, the efficiency isn't there, the shooting isn't there. That was the question about him as a top five pick. But the stuff that you expected to be good with him has been good. Ryan Dunn I still think has been really good this season. Right that. We sort of talked about that a lot or in the early goings. But I've seen some people act like, oh my god, well Ryan Dunn has completely fallen off as a shooter. Everybody was fooled. Look the fact that Ryan Dunn is taking over four to threes a game and making thirty two percent of them, any preseason expectation would have deemed that a success. He wasn't going to keep shooting forty percent. Of course he's taking them, he's making a just below average. You will take below average shooting from Ryan Dun if he's willing to take those shots with what he does defensively, So those are all good shouts. Kyle Philipowski, I've really liked in his minutes. I think that he should have been drafted a significantly higher and Edie I thought was gonna win Rookie of the Year. I think the offensive production and efficiency is obviously there. We've seen a little bit of the Jonas Valon Schunas floor spacing as I referred to it with him as a prospect, where it's like, yeah, the guy takes one to three a game, but you know what, he can actually make that one three a game. Not super valuable, but hey it's something and he didn't have that in his bag in college. But yeah, defensively, I think it's been worse than I expected. The stuff in space was always gonna be ugly. He hasn't been as effective a rim protector as I hoped that he would be, though I still would like to see him playing a little more. It feels like Taylor Jenkins is kind of dialing back his minute some as of late. But I mean, in the scope of this rookie class, he's still been good. He's still been productive. Like that's the thing, dude, It's not really that surprising when it's like the sixteenth, the seventeenth, the ninth pick, the twenty eighth pick in this draft class are the dudes who are stepping up and balling out because the top of this draft was always shaky, especially in terms of Risache Sar being guys who are going to contribute immediately with both of their offensive issues for Sar, Risachet just having things that need to be refined all around. But I don't think either of those guys have been disappointing based on my expectations. Enough about basketball logan, enough about the failing NBA. Let's do our NFL power rankings. We'll go through these suckers pretty quick. But who do you have as the number one team in the league right now?

I still have the Kansas City Chiefs.

I know they may come as a surprise to some people coming off their loss. Still had a top five defense. To me, still had the best quarterback in football. But they are vulnerable, and I've said that. I've held that stance the entire way through. During their winning streak, twelve of their fifteen games were decided by one score. They hit the worst point differential of any team that had started out nine to zero in NFL history, So we've always known they were vulnerable.

They play.

A bad game, in my opinion, a bad Chiefs game two the Bills. To me, it said more about the Bills than it did about the Chiefs, just that the Bills are the best contender in the AFC to.

The Chiefs, and the Chiefs are vulnerable. That's what it said to me. I still have the Chiefs is my number one team in my power rankings.

I have the Chiefs number two. Honestly, my one through three are really really close. I kind of argue them in any direction. I have the Lions number one because I think they have the best offense in football. I think they have a dramatically improved defense. I think their offensive formula is just the easiest to execute week after week. My concern with them. The reason I consider dropping them to three, ironically, even though they won by forty six this past week, and one, even though Jared Goff threw five picks the week before that is because of the injury to Alex Angeloni and he's supposed to come back in six to eight weeks, but if he's not healthy for the playoffs, like you combine that with the Hutchinson loss, which is obviously much bigger, but like that's a little concerning for this Lions defense in my opinion, and it makes me wonder if I do trust the other two teams defenses more, and I certainly trust their quarterbacks more, and those are the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. So I guess I'll just do it all at once. Right now, I have the Lions one. I have the Chiefs two, because I think that defense is amazing and they have Patrick Mahomes. I just think they have some limitations offensively in terms of explosiveness as we've seen. And then I have the Bills at three. I think that the Bills offense is amazing. I think it's better than the Chiefs, and we haven't seen the full force offense. Basically, at all this entire year. I think that Josh is absolutely playing better than Patrick Mahomes right now. I think that he's playing as the best quarterback on the planet. Lamar Jackson is absolutely there, But I trust Josh Moore in a postseason setting. And the Bills defense, I think is playing some of the best football that they have brilliant Josh Allen's career right now. Add some issues with the run defense throughout the year, but it hasn't been as pressing as of late. The Colts you saw Jonathan Taylor have some success. Like I'm not gonna say that that isn't an issue, but they're great against the pass. The secondary, the corners specifically are amazing. Treel Bernard just won AFC Defensive Player of the Week. He's amazing. They're getting Matt Mulano back. It's tempting for me to put the Bills right there on equal footing with the Chiefs. I think they're certainly the best candidate to beat them at the end of the day. I just trust that Chiefs defense more. I think that Chiefs defense is so elite, and I think that they're better coached. I think Spags is a genius, but I like the Bills offense more and I think that's gonna be our AFC title game.

Yeah, we do a little flip floup there. I have the Lions to the Bills three. The Lions are the most complete team in football to me, best offensive line in the game, best offense.

They're the number one scoring offense they have. They're the eighth highest scoring offense on a points per game basis since two thousand and the defense is improved their top five in scoring. I agree with you. The Anzeloni and Hudginson injuries concerned me. I like Trevor Nawaski stepping up and being the next linebacker. He's not as good as Campbell or Anzeloni, but he is solid. But I mean that's gonna be the real test that Zadarias Smith also needs to be healthy too. He went down in this most recent game. So they're way better than last year. The Lions don't have a hole in their team, and I agree with you. The reason is I just believe in that offense. But there are little bit concerns there. Bills are three for me. I trust Josh more than Lamar. The Baltimore defense has glaring holes. This being said, I think the Bills Chiefs AFC title game hypothetical is going to come down and be matchup dependent. If the Bills run into the Ravens, I'm going to pick the Ravens to beat the Buffalo Bills. I just think they can exploit the Bills weakness better than any other team in the AFC. If the Bills avoid the Ravens, I think we're gonna get Bills Chiefs in the AFC title game. So I think the Bills, like just top to bottom, are better than Baltimore. Again, I trust Josh more than the more. I think the Baltimore defense has holes that the Bills don't.

But it's matchup dependent.

If the Bills and Ravens face off, I would take the Ravens to beat the Bills head to head.

It's a tough matchup. Obviously, we saw that in the bludgeoning earlier in the year context. I would add to that, you didn't have Mario Cooper yet in that offense for the Bills, and you also didn't have the Bill's three best defensive players on the team on the field. You didn't have Matt Mulano, who is coming back. You didn't have Taron Johnson, you didn't have Terrell Bernard.

Coe Harder, Bills Boy Cope Harder.

I'm just saying I think that the Bills are the better football team. I'm not saying that I'm not concerned about that aspect of the matchup. I'm also saying that the Bills defense is playing a lot better now and that group is going to be significantly healthier than it was. And I do trust Josh Allen more and I trust the Bills defense a lot more than the Ravens. I think the Bills can have much more success offensively against the Ravens in a rematch, So if it came down to it, I would pick the Bills. I understand you saying that the matchup is a factor for you, but I definitely think the Bills are the better team in a vacuum, and I would take them if we got that head to head again. Okay, My number four is the Philadelphia Eagles. I think that this team has impressed me the most relative to where I had them previously over the last few weeks. I mean, they've just been really reaching their ceiling. Defensively, They've been pretty dominant as of late, and we've seen them beat up on some bad offenses. We've also seen them keep some good offenses in check, the Commanders, the Bengals. So that's the thing. It's as stacked an offense as any in football, with how great they are on the line, with how great their skill position talent is, and it's a really talented defense that now on the year is sixth in points allowed per drive, third in yards allowed per drive. I'm not the biggest Jalen Hurts guy. He's playing better. He is definitely a question mark compared to some of these elite teams that we're talking about, But Philly is just so damn good all around that it's not enough for me to have them any lower than four.

Yeah, I agree. The Eagles are also four.

For me, that one of the most talented teams in the NFL, and they would be higher if I had more faith in Jalen Hurts or Nick Sirianni, Like I think the Eagles are arguably the second most talented team in football behind Detroit.

You could argue that.

But I think you could argue number one.

You could, I legitimately think you could. I just don't have as much faith in Hurts in Sirianni as as I would like.

So that's why the.

Eagles are down at number four. But I agree with you top to bottom. I don't think I could have Philly any lower than this.

Agreed my number five. Sorry, Logan, I cut you in line when I did my three for one earlier deal with it is the Minnesota Vikings. I've gotten a little bit lower on the Vikings. I think that we've seen the ugly side of the Sam Donald experience. I still think there are the good football team though I still think that they're a pretty elite defense. I still think that they have awesome skill position talent. They're a very balanced offense. They're play calling is great. More. The reason that I have Philly above them now is that Philly's blown me away than it is that I've become like significantly more concerned about Minnesota. I've become a little more concerned, but I still think when we're talking about the most complete teams in football, they are on the very short list.

The two teams that have fallen the furthest for me in this week's power rankings of the Ravens who have fallen to five and the Vikings who have fallen even lower for me. The Ravens are at five because Lamar needs to prove himself in big games and the secondary is the biggest red flag among any contender in football right now. They are undisciplined, they are untalented, they are bad yea, and Kyle Hamilton has gotten injured in I believe both of the past two games from Baltimore. Kyle Hamilton's one of the best defensive players in football. The guy is everywhere in the run game, in the passing game. They need Kyle Hamilton to go to the Super Bowl. They need Kyle Hamilton to go to the AFC title game. So yeah, that's just something to watch over the next couple of weeks if he continues to because I mean, that's why he got hurt in the Steelers game. He blew up a run play behind the line of scrimmage and then had to go out briefly.

Too much of a dog.

Something to monitor.

If Hamilton is out there, I have a little more faith in the secondary. If Hamilton's not, I don't believe in this secondary at all. I think they're gonna get cooked by everybody.

So it's Lamar and Henry.

But the reason they've fallen for me because Baltimore and Kansas City have been lockstep one and two for me this entire season. And it's not because I believe that the Ravens are a you know, team without a hole top to bottom. But it's just because those holes have been more glaring recently. The secondary has become a bigger problem.

And again Lamar versus the.

Steelers is one thing, and I think it gets overplayed, but it is a concern. He's got to prove himself in big games. That's not a concern with Josh Allen.

It's just not.

That's why they're the third team in the AFC for me, and that's why they're at number five.

They're my third team in the AFC two I have them just one spot lower at number six. Really comes down to the defense, Like do I have some concerns about the offense being as good against a really good defense in the playoffs as they are in the regular season. Sure, I think that the Steelers game, although I'm with you, like they always play Lamar incredibly well, they might be the best defense in football. That's a really dramatic example. But that is like the red flag performance for the Ravens offense. I still think though they're an absolutely elite offense. I think they're a top two offense in football. Probably the problem is this defense. The problem is the secondary, this pass defense, where they've been among the worst in football all year. They're twenty second in points allowed per drive and that's just led to some really bad losses this year. That's how you lose a game to the Browns, That's how you lose a game to the Raiders when they couldn't get a stop on multiple consecutive drives against the Raiders. That's why I have them here versus minnesot It's really close. Like, yeah, I trust Lamar Jackson infinitely more than I do Sam Donald. But when we're talking about the complete team factor, the Ravens that have the biggest red flag. They have the biggest hole of any team that we've addressed up to this point, and that is their past defense.

Yeah, I get that, and the next four teams, including Baltimore, I guess I'll just get this out of the way.

Everybody else.

I just have more confidence in than Sam Donald, and that's why the Vikings can fall in for me. So I have the Packers in my sixth spot. And it's really to do with the Jordan Love Donald debate. And I know Love has been reckless at times with the football, Like sometimes he's just careless. The Packers' offense strikes so quick, like they just manufacture shot plays at a higher rate than almost anybody else other than probably Detroit in football. I like that aspect of Green Bay. They were a big play defense, a manufacturer turnover. They're just a big play team. I like their running game more than ever. Jordan Love hits on big shot plays every single drive, it feels like, and the defense shows up when they need them. So Green Bay is at number six for me, and like I said, everybody else above the Vikings, it is because of Sam Darnold.

It's because I just believe in their quarterbacks more.

Okay, that's interesting for me. The gap between these two defenses goes in Minnesota's favor. That outweighs I think the offensive gap between these two teams, but I don't think it's a big gap in either direction. My number seven team, logan is your Pittsburgh Steelers. I think that this is an incredible defense. I think it is a defense that arguably has the most potential to disrupt opposing offenses in football, and I think it is the best Steelers Steelers offense that we've seen easily in a half decade. And I think it's a pretty average offense at the end of the day, but average is a big step up. So when they are just this dominant on the defensive side, when they are this capable of making swing plays on that end, and when they can put forth a solid offense with Russ They're under center with George Pickens, with a little bit more explosiveness in the vertical passing game, and with the ability to run the ball at a solid level. I really like the Steelers. I think that there's a difference between the teams that have contending ceilings in them because I think to win the Super Bowl you have to be able to string together multiple really good offensive performances. That's the one limitation of the Steelers. But against inferior teams, I think they can just eat them alive defensively and do enough offensively.

Yeah, I have the Steelers at number eight. I agree with you.

I think they're the best defense in football and it's the most reliable quarterback the Steelers have had post Big Ben. They're number eight for me, though, because they still need to prove themselves in the red zone. Since Russell Wilson has taken over at quarterback, their thirtieth in red zone scoring in Russ and the red zone specifically is seven of twenty four. He's completing under thirty percent of his passes for forty nine total yards.

That's two yards per attempt.

He's got five tds in a pick, but justin fields is unequivocally better in the red zone. I think Russ makes this offense way better with what he can do vertically with George Pickens and just getting that man the football. The Steelers offense I have set it for years now. I feel like I'm screaming into a void until this year, get the ball that George Pickens. Good things are gonna happen. Russ brings that dynamic. That's why the offense is better. But at number seven, I have a team that the Steelers actually beat and a team that is debuting in my top ten of my power rankings this season, and that's the Los Angeles Chargers. The reason I have them here the Vikings defense is better than the Chargers defense. The Steelers defense is better than the Chargers defense. Justin Herbert is playing MVP level football right now. And that's the difference to me, when I have a tiebreaker between football teams, your defense can be leagues better than other teams. There's a different level of faith I have in the quarterback with La and Herbert is playing MVP level football. I just have a different level of faith in Justin Herbert, and that's why they're number seven.

That's fair. I have them one spot lower. I have them at number eight, and I want to see this defense continue to be tested because the number one scoring defense and football thing to me is fake. I mean that is a product of some of the very bad offenses they faced in the second half against Cincinnati was concerning. I still think it's a good defense, though, and Justin Herbert is just playing out of his damn mind. I just think if you give a player at this level, a top five quarterback inarguably a defense of this caliber, that's a really good formula. And even when the situation around him isn't great offensively, not too worried. They have Justin Herbert and they don't need to be the most dynamic offense in football because it's going to be the combination of that defense in that elite quarterback play. That's why I trust them more than the teams that I have below them. So we have those two flipped, the Steelers and Chargers at seven and.

Eight, and at number nine, I have the Minnesota Viking. It's all because of Sam Donald. I don't really need to dress this up. They're a top three defense in football. I love their skill position talent, from Aaron Jones to Jettas to Hockinson to Naylor to Addison. They're loaded. And I like their offensive line too. It's Sam Donald. He needs to prove himself. He leads the NFL in turnovers. Right now with fourteen, I'm just slowly souring on the boys.

Sam.

I trust Russell Wilson Moore, I trust Justin Herbert Moore. Oh yeah, love Lamar hurts anybody above him. That's why the Vikings are at number nine.

It's not a team thing.

It's not a coaching thing, it's not an offensive skill thing. It's a Sam Donald thing. That's why he's they're number nine.

I get it. In the last handful of weeks, I mean since the buye, the Vikings haven't been as impressive as they were before the bye, right, I mean the Lions game. I thought they played really well. The Rams game. That was a competitive loss to a good team. But their wins have been uglier. Colts game, more turnovers, Jags games, way closer than it should have been. Titans game, it was pretty good. They were in control of that game. But you know you're facing the Titans, so I understand getting lower on them. I just still like so much about this football team. They check so many boxes, and I just think Darnold is okay. I don't think they can win the Super Bowl with him, but I think that they can get you a title game, right, I mean, I think that they can win a couple of playoff games because the team is that good. So in my number nine spot, I have the Green Bay Packers. I love this offense. I think that this defense is mediocre. Jordan Love, I really like at the end of the day, I do think compared to like the Chargers, right, there's just a stability I get with La and Herbert is playing at just a different level than you're getting from a Jordan Love right now. So I think the Packers are really good. I also think that they're flawed and there's just teams that I look at and it's like, Okay, the Vikings are gonna be a good offense, They're gonna be a great defense, right. The Packers are going to be a very good offense. They're gonna be a mediocre defense. Nine feels like a good spot for them to me.

I just like, man, they just seem to manufacture big plays at such a high rate.

I love that aspect of Green Bay, but I get that well.

Jordan Love just throws the ball off his back foot sixty five yards downfield and says he might be he might.

Be the best watch man.

Like there, Josh Allen's probably the best watch actually, But yeah, I.

Mean, Love is a great watch. But also like if I were a Packers fan, I mean I would love him obviously, but also i'd be like bro just like Chill a little bit, just like Chill, like twenty five percent more because some of these throws are ill advised, to say.

Sort of non chiller Jordan Love.

In my ten spot, I debated having San Francisco here, but considering that the forty nine ers are on the verge of not making the playoffs, I'd rather have a playoff team here.

And that's the Houston Texans.

The Texans are basically a playoff lock to me at this point with how bad the AFC South is, and I just.

Know they're gonna be there.

I don't know what's going on if San Francisco's gonna end up there. Basically, my next four teams off is the entirety of the NFC West. It is the Niners, Ram, Seahawks, and Cardinals in some sort of order. And I'm slowly souring on the Texans. They were on the verge of like entering that contender range. The interior of the offensive line is a joke that dude juice scrubs. Sucks man, that dude is Juice Scrubs. Get him off the field.

Thanks.

You got the trademark that you gotta tweet that you gotta tweak that hashtag juice scrubs. And then you throw an LMAO and a skull emoji after that's gonna go viral. Let it go viral.

A little fire emoji.

Yeah, fire emoji.

The interior offensive line concerns me, but I like the pass rush.

I like the defense.

The defense is solid. I really like CJ.

Shroud.

The Texans are solid. That's why they're number ten. I don't look at them as a real contender. They have a glaring flaw with the interior of that offensive line. But I know the Texans are gonna be in the playoffs. That's why they're number ten.

That's fair. I considered the Texans. I'm gonna go with the ten, and I get it. There is a real chance that they don't make the playoffs, and the Texans are going to. But also, like the Texans of such a Mickey Mouse division, the Niners still have a better point differential on the year. Man, I don't think either of these teams are that good. I think both these teams are flawed. I think both these teams are underwhelming. I still think the Niners have the more dynamic offensive talent. I think the defensively. These two groups are comparable of the special teams for the Niners as a problem, And like, look, we can't act as though you can just write off these late games that they've blown within their division, right, and there's been three of them and say, okay, well they're better than their record because of that. You do it once, Okay, you do it twice, Okay, you do it three times. That's something of a pattern. It says something at least about who you are as a football team. And also it's just cut down their margin and the amount of time they have to make up for those sort of losses. So at the end of the day, I just think, gut feeling, the Niners would scare me more if I were an opposing team. I just don't think the Texans are that good, and there's still a ceiling in there with the Niners that is higher. But I think you go either way. I also think you could go Cardinals. It's just the Cardinals defense is so bad, but their offense is so good. And you mentioned I mean all the NFC West teams are sort of in this same range. That's why I think that division is so interesting. Any final thoughts Logan before we sign off.

Yeah, maybe we just had a little seance, a litt Kumbaya for the Jets.

Oh yes, yes, I would like to say some words about Joe Douglas. Joe Douglas well said, I mean, damn, I mean, damn, dude.

I think the last remaining stone to fall right. First Domino Robert salam Okay, Second Domino Joe Douglas.

Yeah.

Two Towers, Woody Johnson, lets fire yourself, right.

Woody Johnson, kill Aaron Rodgers? I think is the next step, dude.

Woody Johnson reportedly suggested they should bench Aaron Rodgers.

Are you kidding me?

No? I wish I will report. Woody Johnson suggested that.

The Jets, what kind of an organization is this?

Bro?

Oh my god, I'm never picking the Jets to do anything ever again my life. Did you get ball sacked?

No? I was wondering if I got ball. No, they said this, so it wasn't super recent. But after the Week four loss, he suggested that Rogers should be benched.

Let's get tyrod out there, Jim, Let's get t mobile out there, baby, Let's get captain check down.

Uh Carson.

Since Woody Johnson took over in two thousand, the Jets have the sixth worst winning percentage of any NFL franchise Real quick trivia timed end of the pod. Do you know the other five franchises that have been worse since other than the Jets since two thousand?

Since two thousand, let me get the Browns number one. Brown's been an absolute disaster. I'm not going to say them. No, maybe I will do. We have the Panthers here.

Well, the Panthers actually number nine. Now they were good number.

Nine in terms of best win percentage or win no worst worst. Yeah, I was about to say, for I know they have the Jake Delamere, they have the Cam Year, but just not any really super consistently good runs.

It makes sense.

The Jags number two, Yeah, that makes sense. God, there's a lot of teams that I feel like have been inconsistent throughout all These.

Teams were all really bad for a really long time.

Who was the Lions? I guess I was given the Lions the number three years.

Oh, you're in order right now?

Yeah, with one miss.

Just think about like the worst organizations, like the worst ownership pretty much.

Except for, of course, the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones because they have actually won a lot of games. I mean, obviously the Bills would have been here seven years ago, but not any more. Baby, all right, let me work my way through the divisions in my mind. The Raiders, the Raiders have to be here. Number four, Yeah, Raiders, bro Oh. Number five is a good team in twenty years, twenty two years.

Number five is a no brainer. Who was like consistently bad every year before.

This year, consistently bad every year.

Before I mentioned ownership with all these teams, who was like the worst owner in the NFL from like ninety five to last year.

Oh oh yeah, Washington, Washington.

And then next up is the Jets and the Woody Johnson man.

Yeah, by the way, what kind of a name is Woody Johnson? Do you think you know that both of his names mean s fons?

Does he know that both his.

Names means Shawn's because his birthname is in Woody. It's like your regular It's it's like William or something. What's his first name.

It's like naming your kid Richard Pecker or something.

It's like naming your kid dick Cock or something like that. Yeah, exactly, what's Woody Johnson's real name? Roberts?

Why does he go by Woody?

That's what I'm saying. He's some sort of sick bastard. He's some sort of pervert. We gotta get this guy out of here. Seventy seven years old.

Dude, there's nobody else to fire Carson. He's gonna have to fire himself.

That's why I'm telling you. We're going to get to the point where either he puts up Aaron Rodgers for a public execution, or Aaron Rodgers commits the noble act of suppuku in an attempt to redeem himself in the eyes of all the Jets fans. For those who don't know, that is the Samurai honor tradition of stabbing oneself through the stomach. It's suicide. In other words, I.

Think I'm gonna bet on that. I think it's probably more likely.

Well, you can get that at plus two fifty a DraftKings using promo code Nerds. All right, guys, appreciate you all sooner and in hope you enjoyed this one as we did. If you want more Nerd Sash content, there is plenty more of it. You can find all of our NBA and NFL full shows on our YouTube channel. We also have our video essays our video breakdowns there. I did a video today on Kat how he's playing the best offensive basketball of his life. You can go check that out. You can also listen to all of our full shows across audio platforms. You can follow us across social TikTok, Instagram at nerd sessh, Twitter at nerd Underscore Sesh, The uh, preponderance of our content can be found there. Logan, you can find all clips from the show, graphics from the show, all of our short form trivia content, so check that out. You can also join our discord. The link to that is at the link tree across our social media bios. So with that, as always appreciate you guys. I've been Carson Braber

I've been Logan Camden and this was nerd Sash the Beat