Instant Reax | Bucks Win NBA Cup
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Good evening, sweet world, and welcome to the No Dunks Podcast on The Athletic Network. It's Tuesday night, December 17th, 2024. I'm J.E. Skeets, still here in a slightly outdated Las Vegas hotel room, and alongside me, as always, Tass Mellis. I stayed in here 20 years ago. It was a different hotel then. It's a long time ago.

Next to him, it's the bearded one, our Top Shot hot boy, Trey Kirby. Heyo! Heyo! And making the magic happen tonight on Styx, Super Producer JD. Hello! There he is! Here we are! Some people loving the...

The, you know, steady cam, I guess. What do you call it? The gimbal? It's a gimbal. Gimbal, yeah. Some people saying I was getting a little seasick. Hey, you and me both, man. We're on the sticks tonight. We're on sticks. For the NBA Cup championship game. Our immediate reaction, we just got back from the T-Mobile Arena, which is like literally across the street from our hotel.

Spoiler, we're at the Park MGM. It doesn't matter now to tell you. Formerly the Monte Carlo. Did you stay on this exact floor when you were here 20 years ago? No, no, no, no, no. I did have a friend who didn't do well gambling. I had a little flashback to the windows in each room because he was banging against that window. We were getting a little worried. You can jar it open just a touch. Wow, okay. He will go nameless. Yeah.

So we just watched Giannis score 26 points to go along with 19 boards, 10 assists. Damian Lillard added 23 points as the Bucs won the NBA Cup Championship game. They beat the Thunder 97-81.

81 points for OKC. I think their lowest before this game was 99 points. So this was really bad performance from them offensively. Bucks win the Cup though. Your immediate reaction to this? Well, I'll start by saying how close we were to the Bucks bench. Because we came into this game having been by the Bucks bench, we've had some good seats.

in the semi-final yep and then we said oh it would be nice to be by the other bench luckily it was by the bucks bench because yannis came off the floor after winning well you know when he was subbed out the last time two or three minutes left yeah how pumped he was how pumped he was giving the uh the 500 signal to his younger players we won 500 000 for you guys

Actually, it's $514,971. Yeah, the BRI went up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a percentage. Yeah, he was doing it to Liam Robbins, the 25-year-old rookie. Yeah, we had to look it up. But he was super pumped. He didn't stop. He kept going. More possessions. After possession after possession, he was still pumped. Going up to Doc Rivers, going up to everybody. He was so jacked. It felt...

it felt like an nba finals at times the way he was excited the way he grabbed the mic and couldn't stop talking it was an impressive game i don't want to get into the guys who i wish were playing but it would have been nice for thunder to have chet homegrown in this scenario where janice was a monster backup center would have been nice against the brook and indiana's combo because the okc went small a lot of this game yeah i mean hartenstein started on fire

He had 14 points in the first half, the floater was dropping, he was sort of dinking and dumping his way all night, and then it went cold. And then we saw the Thunder go small for periods of this game, and they couldn't hit a three to save their life. I mean, I hate to do this for every NBA game, it feels like, but it's like, Bucks hit 17 threes, Thunder hit five. And one of them was in garbage time. Yeah. Yeah.

And that's 55 to 15 difference. Yeah, they shot 15% from three. This was an incredible defensive performance from the Bucs. I think it probably, we know it's the lowest scoring game that OKC has had this year. This is probably the best defensive game that the Bucs have played. Yeah, Hartenstein hit a ton of floaters in the first half. Guess what he didn't do? Dunk. How many dunks did he have against Houston? He dominated the paint in that game.

But between Brooke Lopez, Bobby Portis, and Giannis being near the rim, it was floaters only for Hartenstein. And that didn't turn into quite enough points. Then they couldn't hit threes, which, you know, obviously hurts when you're a driving kick team that's trying to play small. Yeah.

But they also did a great job making things impossible for Shea Gilgis-Alexander. Shot a terrible percentage, but most importantly, only got to the free throw line four times. The fact that the Bucs were able to defend without fouling was really big in this game. They turned the ball over 19 times.

Milwaukee did. That's a ton of turnovers because OKC knows how to get in the passing lanes. They get a ton of deflections. Only turned into 11 points, though, for OKC because Milwaukee was adamant about getting back on defense. And that's how you know they're locked into this game. They're playing hard and they wanted it for the cup. You saw the huge high five between Doc Rivers and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Like, you could tell this was a major moment for the Bucs, who had a weird year last year, a weird start to the season this year.

Then turned it around. Once the cup came, Giannis said in the postgame, our chemistry is the best it's been since Dame has been here. You can tell it. They were all pulling together tonight, and that's why they took down the Thunder pretty easily in the second half. Yeah, last year was the first time that Giannis and Dame got together. They obviously lost in the semifinal in the in-season tournament.

And then the playoffs went terribly. So this was their new finals for them until they get to the playoffs. But this was huge for them and for them to do it together. It is unfortunate that Shea started missing shots because after the first quarter, it was a one-point game. And Shea was four of nine through the first quarter, 10 points.

But even the misses were rattlers that rattled in and out. He threw up one air ball. So the question was, was he going to slow down? And he obviously slowed down the rest of the way. 4 of 15 the rest of the way. So 8 of 24 overall. Just 21 points. He just missed shots. I mean, he was open a lot of them. Obviously, a great defense by the Bucs to not foul him. 100%. That's 100% true. This game got super physical on both sides. And...

The Bucs were better at it. The Bucs were bigger and more physical in this game, and it got completely under OKC's skin, it looked like, in the third quarter. You don't see Mark Dignall pick up technicals all that often. Who else got one? Was it Cason Wallace, I think was... I don't know what it was, but he was involved in the... Or I guess it was Dort, right, that dove on the ground, and I think Giannis came over the top of him, which is hilarious to see.

considering the way the Thunder or, yeah, the way the Rockets versus Warriors game ended. Like, if that one's not called a foul, Steve Kerr, I think, had a beef. But it seemed to me that OKC was a little bit too small and, you know,

Milwaukee just played a tougher style, and they were more bringing the fight to OKC in this one. And it looked like the Thunder just thought they would eventually start rolling, eventually start making threes. They went one for 17 from three in the first half. That's kind of the same thing that happened against the Rockets, but they caught fire in the second half. It just never happened. And I have to admit, I was guilty of when we, at half, it was a one-point game, and you told me, you're like, the Thunder have hit one three. And I'm like...

Oh, that means they're going to crush them in the second half. If it's a one-point game at half and they haven't been able to hit a three, it's like they're going to unlock that and they just never could and never did. And obviously then got sort of steamrolled. They scored 31 points in the second half. I mean, it was a low-scoring second half. 46-31 for Milwaukee to get it done, to run away with a 97-81 win. What did you think about the starting lineup? No Middleton for the Bucs, so there's that, but then Isaiah Joe starts.

And then a couple guys came off the bench before Caruso. I guess it was Kenrich Williams, Cason Wallace. Caruso was the eighth man. And then Caruso had a lot of time on Giannis. And actually, obviously, plays him strong, plays him hard. They send bodies at him. First half, it was working really well. Giannis still gets his points. He still gets his stats. But, like, quiet in a weird way. And then obviously still finishes...

with a good game, with the triple-double, monster triple-double, and then obviously goes on to win MVP of the whole damn tournament. But what did you think of the way they played him and the way Dagnock called this game in terms of his sort of bench lineups and even that thing going small a lot against this team? Yeah, Giannis started, it seemed like he started slow. He had six points in the first quarter, and then Caruso comes off the bench, and it was fun from our angle to see Alex Caruso versus Giannis.

Because he was getting in the right position, he was physical as hell, bumping Giannis as much as possible. This is the spot where they definitely missed Chet Holmgren. They missed the combo of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, that is for sure. But...

Yeah, the size... Giannis is going to go hard at everybody. And as I said, a quiet first quarter, but he just got louder and louder and louder as the game went on. I would love to see a healthy Thunder team against the Bucs in a seven-game set. We'll see two games later this year. February, March, I think they play, these two teams. Hopefully they're full strength. Right, right, right. And we're going to see...

OKC and Cleveland twice in January that they flexed the schedule to get OKC on those national televised games. So it'll be exciting. All that to say, OKC was a little too small. There's no doubt about that. It's the answer to that, Kupo.

We got to see bodies flying as he was able to go into guys over and over and over again. They were trying to out math them. That's why Isaiah Joe got the start. They're trying to get more shooting on the court. That's why it's Joe instead of case and Wallace. They don't necessarily need all

all of their perimeter defenders out there for a team that's going to be mainly Dame from the perimeter. So you only need the one guy. Dort or Jalen Williams can then take Giannis. So they're trying to game the system and get more threes up, but those guys then have to make threes because otherwise playing small, you just don't have a chance against a team like the Bucs who's going to be getting the ball inside. And the playmaking from Giannis was incredible. 10 assists from this guy because OKC was packing the paint just like Milwaukee was doing against the Thunder.

But Giannis is spraying it out, and everybody was hitting for Milwaukee. Derry Berg hit three. Pat Connaughton got dusted off and made some plays in this game. Bobby Portis was fine. I already said Derry Green. Gary?

Gary Trent Jr. Gary Trent Jr. That was his off the bench. Everybody was shooting well, and Giannis was doing a good job of getting people involved, and it felt like any time the Bucs stalled out a little bit, Dame would make a play. He had a pretty quiet game for scoring 20-something. Yeah, he had 23, 4-4. He had five threes, though, and some of those were like those sort of back-breaking threes where it's like there's nothing happening, there's no offense, it's give the ball to Dame,

And he can get a step back on anybody. He creates a space. He has that hard and leg ability. And he hit a couple that were like, oh, you can see. OKC was like, damn, we played good defense for 20 seconds. And then he just splashed a three. He hit the one in the corner. He hit one up top. Deep. He hit a bomb up top. And those were huge, especially in a night where...

Okay, so you could not hit any. Nobody was hitting threes. No. Shea hit two of the five threes. And he shot two and nine from deep. Yeah, as you were going through the guys who are expected to hit threes, Isaiah Joe entered into the starting lineup. Okay, maybe he'll have a quiet night. Sure. But Lou Dort, you expect, hit some threes. A super quiet night. One. Yes. And so there just wasn't any. While Dame...

Although he left the last game, or excuse me, he didn't leave the last game, but the semifinal game, he felt his calf get a little tight. He didn't practice yesterday. He said, it's fine. It wasn't that bad. I'm playing tomorrow. There was a little of the step back. This is freaking awesome game. That one in the corner was so good, but a quiet, yeah, six made shots, but able to drop.

23. Yeah, I mean, the guy that needed to step up if Shea wasn't going to be clicking was Jalen Williams, who looked good at times, but he just didn't have enough either. You know, going to 8 of 20 in this game, there wasn't enough. You expect one of those guys to do it, and...

And that's usually what the Thunder are expecting. Yes, absolutely. One or two of those guys are going to get open looks because of Shea getting into the paint, kicking out. Which would have been, you know, it would have been nice. It would have been Chet, I'm sure, starting in this lineup with Hart and Schein against Brook and Giannis. But yeah, Arnstein looked awesome. The floaters were going. He did have two passes go through his hands. So that looked odd. Yeah.

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So do you think after this cup run, how they looked after the 2-8 start like you said and all that, like Bucs title contenders, like are they in that tier to you now? Like are they with the Celtics? Are they with maybe the Thunder in the West? Where ever you put the Cavs? Like in all honesty, like where do you put the Bucs now in the ranking of all the teams in the NBA?

Well, I mean, they're still far behind the Celtics in the Eastern Conference. I don't think they're necessarily where the Cavs are. I think they're in the same region as, like, the Cavs, the Knicks. I would throw the Bucs in there. That's probably East. Second tier in the East. Second tier in the Eastern Conference. But, like, they've got a shot, depending on how everybody else's health turns out, to be a top four seed in the Eastern Conference. I still think it's a reasonable...

expectation for them, but it's a lot easier to win one game than it is to win a seven-game playoff series. But this is a nice matchup for OKC as well, or for Milwaukee as well. When you flashback to OKC losing in the playoffs against Dallas, it's because Dallas shot better and was more physical inside. That's what happened tonight. Do you agree with that? Well, yeah. The last time they played OKC, last season when everybody was playing, they

Milwaukee beat them by double digits. Bucks won by 25, I should say. That was a monster game. And Shea was really quiet that game for some odd reason. And it was one of his rare quiet games all season, if I remember. Yeah, 12 points. Yeah. 12 points. That must have been one of the worst games of his year. Only three free throws. So similar story to tonight. So I can't wait to see them play twice, as you said. I will say, yeah, the Bucks are in that second tier of the Eastern Conference because it is different.

playing two months of playoffs versus playing a couple games here. I mean, those are long series. Are the Bucs, one of the older teams in the NBA, fresh and are they able to play through each series? That's the question. We saw the Lakers win the NBA Cup last year. Oh, okay. They went into a tailspin after winning. Yeah. So that's what Doc is saying. Are we going to, on our back-to-back that they have to play Friday, Saturday, Saturday,

How are we going to play? Are we going to have a little drop-off? Just emotionally? After winning the, I want to call it the title, it is the big moment here. For December. They won money. That's for sure. In a game that does not count against the statistics. That's right. Which is very funny still to me. Giannis is so proud of his guys. I've never heard Giannis...

Just grab a mic and talk for that long after the game. He just kept on going on and on and that they're 12-4 in their last 16 games. I mean...

even though this game doesn't count. So it doesn't count for OKC's poorest game of the season. You know, 99 is their highest. Or their lowest they should pay now. - So 81 just doesn't matter. - It just doesn't count. But yeah, are the Bucs able to handle a two month stretch? It's freaking long. - Well you were saying, you were already calling your shot that the Warriors are gonna win the NBA Cup next year. - That's right. - And explain for the people why. - Well the 2020 Lakers won the championship and then three years later,

They won the NBA Cup. Correct. The 2021 Bucs won the championship. Three years later, they won the NBA Cup in 2024. So next year, the Golden State Warriors, who won in 2022, they're due to win in 2025 because old teams, they might not be able to win the championship, but they can get up for one game. Championship squads know how to produce in a must-win game. They beat the younger teams both times, right? Like it was the Pacers last year. It was the Thunder this year. And which team looked better? The old guys. Yeah.

Now, of course, they do have to trade for Torian Prince, maybe get Darvin Ham on the staff. That helps. That is a part of the equation. Nevelas, both those guys, 14-0 now in NBA Cup play, which is a funny stat, Torian Prince. Well, I was going to say 14-0, but almost that doesn't count. I guess they're 12-0. Officially.

Well, I mean, officially. We can't count the finals. This is a cup game. It's officially a cup game. I would say 14-0. Oh, but the stats don't count for him, so we can't give his averages for these games. Yeah, that's right. Torian Prince is kind of the new Danny Green. We're going to win with three teams. Oh. It's a little different, you know. Oh, teams should be going crazy to get Torian Prince. Yeah.

We're going to win $500,000 plus. Get him on the roster. Guy never loses. That's a cool nickname for him. The $500,000 man. Oh, damn. Six points and two assists in this championship game. Six points and two assists in the last championship game. Lock it in for the Golden State Warriors in 2025. I mean, the good thing when you mentioned Torian Prince, I think of Doc Rivers going to him after one particular play. And I mentioned that because the Bucs were just good at communicating.

Throughout the game. And getting mad. And Doc and Dame were communicating on what he should have done. He thought Dame should have rotated on a play up top that he stayed in the corner and watched Giannis do his thing. Like, I say all that because they are communicating extremely well. And they're after each other. Yeah. And as we said last...

game in the semifinals, how they were all over Chris Middleton and what he should be doing. And I do wonder if Chris Middleton continues to come off the bench for the foreseeable future just because he's their playmaker coming off the bench. But anyway, it was surprising to see him off and everybody produce. Like Gary Trent, I thought, would not come out for the second half

on the floor just because he wasn't great in the first half and bam! You know, multiple threes, a double-digit scoring night. Pat Connaughton also, I mean, limited plays. He didn't make a few plays, but he did what he had to do, driving in from the corner a couple times and making great plays. So anyways, the Bucs are on a page. All four of those guys that came off the bench were positive players. Pat, as the worst, is plus one, but Bobby was good. You said A.J. Green, obviously.

Garrett Trent Jr., they were all positive in this game, which was ultimately a low-scoring game. So Giannis wins MVP of the NBA Cup, the whole thing, just like LeBron did last year. So I guess, obviously, go with Steph Curry next year. Giannis may have raised more trophies than anybody in NBA history, now that I'm thinking about it.

Like different ones. Yeah, like he's done all of that. He's been the most improved player, which like a guy like LeBron has never done. He's got a defensive player of the year. LeBron has never done that. Oh, damn. I'm talking about pure variety of trophies. Oh, that's good. This is a good NBA short right now. So he's raised six total trophies? Go through them. MVP of the league. Yes. 5.

Finals MVP, of course. The championship title. Now, cup title. Cup MVP. And then you said most improved. Most improved. Defensive player of the year. And All-Star MVP. And All-Star MVP. Eight. Yep. I mean...

There might be somebody who's won a three-point contest who could get in the mix, but I don't know of anybody. We'd have to go back and check. Oh, yeah. So it doesn't count that you win four MVPs like LeBron. No, no. Who has touched the most Victor Salamence? Oh, damn. No, come on. It's got to be him. You just named eight different trophies. That's a lot.

that's a ton yeah well yeah lebron hasn't won obviously like you said two of those yeah exactly yeah wow um i keep refreshing the nba communications

Twitter account to find out who the all tournament team is and they will not announce it We are going live too quickly after the game. That's right. But is it a guarantee that they're announcing one? Oh, yeah. Yeah for sure. Okay. I know that for sure So it's going to be honest. It's going to be Dame. He'll be on the team for sure It's gonna be SGA as one of the other people who are the final two. I think Trae Young will make it.

He had 35 and 10 in the semifinal game, despite the loss. Okay, okay. And then who's the fifth guy? Think they'll give some love to a rocket? Could it be? Could it be? Like, Jalen Williams probably has pretty good stats over the whole thing.

obviously getting he was good in the semi-final yeah yeah maybe he scored over 20 and i think we don't know we don't know right now i can't find it i'll do one more refresh on nba.com i don't know why they're taking so long but as i said yannis got mvp 20 people vote for this it's a lot so how many people vote for the finals mvp nine

Yeah, nine. Much more exclusive. Very exclusive. Yep. But we go 20 on the cup. But he got every vote, and rightfully so. Las Vegas, man. Excess. Everything. So weird. That is weird. That is weird. Okay, here's a question, because we were there and had good seats again. We're third row. What did you think of the crowd tonight? And again, we don't know how it comes across on TV, but your experience sitting there...

What'd you think? Were they into it? Absolutely. Was it dead? I saw some people tweeting that it was loud on television. Okay, that's good. Because it felt that way in person. Yes. The NBA Cup Finals was better than the NBA Cup Semifinals. There's no doubt. In terms of crowds, it was buzzier. It felt like more of an event here. Yeah, I agree. Absolutely. I thought that was the case. And I thought that's why it's very likely that we'll see...

the NBA Cup final here in Las Vegas again. But the semifinals, I do think, will be in the arena of the home teams. Interesting. Which is deserving, in my opinion. To give them that game. Yeah, which is...

counts as a regular season game. Yeah, true. And it just allows their fans... And that's why the final really can't... The final has to be in a neutral site when you think about it. The 83rd game doesn't count. Yeah. Yeah, it just feels like the fans deserve to be cheering for their home team in an important game. And the buzz wasn't here as much in Las Vegas. Yeah.

which i don't think will ever happen so a long trip like it's five days is a long time to be in las vegas the week before the holidays yeah between thanksgiving and christmas and you would have to book your flight like if you're coming as a fan of just one of these teams you're like i'm gonna wait and see if my team makes it you have to wait and see if they win the quarter final then you book a five-day trip not knowing if your team's even gonna make it to the finals right if you do it the other way you could wait and be like okay i'm only going to the finals the thunder made it i'm flying out yeah um

And then you could put the finals on a Saturday night or a Sunday, too, is what you would probably do. Well, hold on. Can't do Sunday. Football. Can't do that. But Saturday. They did last year a Saturday, and it was buzzing. But for the fans...

Maybe you win in your home court in the semifinals to go to the NBA Cup final. Maybe you send five of those fans that are season seat holders to Las Vegas or something. I don't know. There's some little cool thing that they could do. Oh, that's... Yeah, why not? Yeah, like almost sort of like a college atmosphere that they, you know, they give a sign, a section for the, obviously, students, I guess, in that case. But yeah, you could do something like that. That would be neat. Not a bad idea. Yeah.

But I do agree it was more hype tonight. - Than the semi-final, for sure. It was buzzing. - We were also hyped. We saw Boston Robb of Survivor. - Cool, yeah. - Yeah, JD, try that.

Boston Rob, for Survivor fans out there, obviously he's a legend of the game. He played five times? Four times? What, he played five times and then he was on that other time when they made a giant statue? Yeah, okay, yeah, true, true. So anyway, he was on it a lot. Did win it once. He was two rows in front of us and...

oh yeah the no buffs boys popped we were more excited to see him than any other literally anybody like michael phelps came out i was like oh cool michael phelps sure he's won 20 something gold medals boston rob one survivor

One time. And we were going crazy. Got a photo with him. I don't know if we'll throw it up here, but absolutely did. That's when JD knew it was time to go. He was like, we got our photo with Boston Rob. I'll see you guys back at the hotel. I couldn't believe none of us asked him who's going to win this season of Survivor. Finale coming up. No buffs. Coming up on Thursday. But we were too starstruck. Too excited. So starstruck.

Any other thoughts on not just this game, but the whole NBA Cup experience? TK, are you a fan of it? Do you respect the Cup? Will you continue to respect the Cup? I love the Cup! I want to make love in the Cup! No, it's fun. Like, these games, you can feel it matters more because when you are watching another regular season game in December, you're like, what?

The court's so boring. It looks like wood. But the games feel like they mean a little bit more. And even if this game didn't even end up with a close result, I mean, the Thunder were never close in the second half. They never even made a run. And they had a window there where they were getting stops and they just could not really score. They could not score. But it was still entertaining. And you could tell that both teams were locked in, trying pretty hard to win this game. So I was...

Enjoying the game tonight, no doubt. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. The only disappointing thing is we didn't see it close because the Bucs are so focused on fourth quarters. They hammered the Hawks 14-7 to end that game. Just wanted to see them do it again against OKC. Obviously, it's a little disappointing, but...

Yes, it means more to players here in December. It sure does. Giannis didn't stop flexing with the trophy afterwards for women. He was like, yeah, roaming around while they were trying to talk. They were talking to Doc Rivers and he was dancing around with the cup.

in front there and everybody was like give him space let him go and then didn't silver on the mic say like he was trying to go through yannis accolades and he was like he's throwing up the two uh two mvps yeah have you heard all the trophies i won most improved all-star game mvp yeah come on keep going keep going when we record the short you just gotta put janice in there just to say yeah more i got one i got more than that more than that more than that

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For full safety information, visit BotoxCosmetic.com or call 877-351-0300. See for yourself at BotoxCosmetic.com. Okay, here's maybe an insane question because the game doesn't actually technically count. Did Giannis jump up your MVP rankings from this performance and this cup run? Like, where do you have him, I guess, is my question. Do you have Joker 1 still? Did he jump over SGA? Is he still...

Four, five, three. Where do you put him? He's top three for me. I think what Giannis has done after the Bucs came out of the gates poorly, he put the team on his back and said, this isn't happening. And that's what it's been since. It's pretty badass. 35 points a game on 65% shooting, basically, with the playmaking he brings.

I don't necessarily know if I think Giannis is the defender he was when he won defensive player of the year, but he's a more impactful defender than Jokic is and probably even more so than Shea Gilchrist-Alexander, though Shea is part of a great defensive team. Gets a ton of steals and deflections.

Giannis is still awesome and he proved it this weekend blocking the alley-oops. He had, I think, another three blocks tonight. They were all emphatic. He's been incredible and if somebody were to put him at the top of their MVP straw poll, I wouldn't argue with it. I mean, Jokic's numbers are kind of undeniable when you're breaking it down, but what Giannis has done for his team, I think, is super valuable. But there's a lot of similarities when you think of it to Jokic. Like, that...

Denver started struggling and he sort of seemed to be like, okay, I guess I have to do a bit more than I want to. I gotta raise my game. That's not dissimilar to what Giannis did after the slow start as well. The funny part is their record's not much different than

the Denver Nuggets at this point, right? I mean, these guys are just, they're psycho. That's why they're MVP candidates every year, because it's like, not many guys can do this. It's like, oh, our team is struggling. Our team sort of sucks right now. Okay, I guess I have to do more. And they have the energy and the will to do that, which is nuts. Yeah. Yeah, Jan Stedgummo did not stop you. Those blocks that you mentioned, yeah, the block and the alley-oop, and then he blocked the third string,

He blocked a shot. He was still going. And as he said, he said, I feel like I'm the most consistent player in the NBA, as he told our man Eric Name. And it's hard to argue that right now. Does this game matter more? Does it boost things? Look, I would still take Jokic. But the Jokic-Shea-Yannis top three, it's clearly those top three. Anyways, it is early. Things will change. Yeah.

They'll probably do this. The records matter. It is great for Jokic to have Jamal Murray looks alive all of a sudden. He was playing his best basketball. Against the Kings. Yes. He was monstrous in that game. And Giannis and Dame have that incredible chemistry. And Shea, they could finish...

top in the West and 60 wins more than either of these teams that we're talking about so he's gonna have an incredible case obviously well the Tim bun temps ESPN straw poll coming soon I assume so we'll see where it ranks up III think he'll get will be one and then probably honest - maybe sga3 but we will see is it true that

The Bucks are still undefeated when Thanasis is in attendance. No. That is legit. I can never tell if that's like a fake thing. I've never gone back and checked. Yeah. But I see the tweets come through after the wins. And Giannis, he's a good brother, man. He hooked Thanasis up with a shirt and a hat. And respect to Thanasis. He didn't put it on. Yeah. I was like, he didn't earn it, but I think he should have them. Yeah.

You can wear them together a little bit later. I like the camaraderie. And honestly, maybe having him around is good for the Bucks. Like, he probably helps Giannis relax. Somebody to take the pressure off things, you know? I don't know. The vibes are better when the Nazis are around. Great vibes guy. And it's not like he's just sitting there chilling. Like, I'm here to watch my... That guy's into the game more than almost anyone else.

including like the other Bucs players I'm dead serious like we're right we're not far from him we had a you know sight line right to Thanasis in that one corner basically the opposite side of the Bucs bench he's up every play it feels like like you know getting into it getting encouraging guys and it's he's not just encouraging Giannis that's the thing he's like talking to other guys on the Bucs bench like yeah

He's like sort of just a hype coach. And I guess they're undefeated when he's there. I guess so. So what's more powerful, Dorian Prince and Darvin Ham on your team in cup play or Thanasis? They needed all three. Or we need to see them like...

on opposite side. We really need Torian Prince and Darvenham on the Warriors next year. And then Thanasis there in attendance for Giannis. That's right. In a finals game. That would be the ultimate battle. Any other thoughts before we wrap this up? That was interesting. I think Thanasis wore the same thing for the semifinal and the final. Oh, wow. Like lucky underwear type scenario. Well, I don't know if he wore the same underwear. Same idea. Just track pants and a simple white tee.

We'll get a black tee on tonight. Okay. Maybe he changed it. No, maybe it was a black tee both times. Oh, okay. Yeah, it was a black tee. Okay, one more refresh for the all-tournament team. I'll tap dance for you while you're refreshing. They're not releasing it. Dairy Bird hit a three in the second half, and we milked the udders in the stands. And it felt cool to actually do it. I think it would be...

Derry would be the man with the udders, right? Like, he would be the one offering him out. And then I'd like to see a Bobby Portis or someone. Yeah, yeah. Maybe whoever, like, passes it out to him. I mean, A.J. Green's not creating a lot of his own threes. No. They're usually off the pass. Yeah. So that'd be a great, like, team celebration. Milk me. Okay. I'll milk you. Maybe.

we don't even need... Don't say it. Don't build the guy. How about... Okay, how about this? Maybe the second guy, because when I do it to you, it does feel a little funny. Maybe Dairy Bird goes like this and then goes like this and everybody else goes... From afar. Yes. That's better. That's the move. The whole bench going like this would be pretty funny while he's going...

He's yelling, "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I'm playing tomorrow. I'm playing tomorrow no matter what like he was he's definitely into it Championship can you call it a championship doesn't feel like it. That's the wrong word. It feels like you know what I mean? I mean it is just a cup champ. Yeah, they get a medal, right? Yeah Yeah, I didn't see He's got a lot of medals. Yes, he does. He's a gold medalist. Yeah, I

Just what? Olympics. Tokyo Olympics? Was he a part of that? Okay, he's got a couple. He's doing all right.

Oh, just that one. Because he wasn't on this last team. He wasn't on this last team. Oh, shit, he wasn't. Damn, that's hard. All right. But anyway. Anyways, it's great. Great involvement. We got a Derry bird celebration. And I think the one that he did it on was the one that Derry made himself. He made 1-3 himself. Yeah. Which was awesome. Usually off the pass, you're right. Yeah, usually. A little creation from Derry. Yeah, he does it sometimes. The cows were roaming the field.

the field. So anyway, we'll call it there. Immediate reaction to the NBA Cup. Congrats to the Milwaukee Bucks on winning the 2024...

Emirates NBA Cup. First time I ever said Emirates on the show. But you know what? Saw the flight attendants wandering the crowd. There were four of them total. And I saluted them. So congrats to the Bucs on that. So here's the thing. We're going to fly home tomorrow, which probably by the time you're seeing this is Wednesday. No show on Thursday because no games on Wednesday night. Mm-hmm.

Sort of weird. Why not? Because there are all these other teams, but they're all going to play basically on Thursday night. So that means we'll be back on Friday, live from the Classic Factory with the Drop Podcast, talk about those games, talk about some other stuff, rapid fire, all that fun. So that's on Friday. That's the next time you'll see us. But if you're a Survivor fan...

Because you just saw that Boston Rob photo. We will be doing our show on Thursday. So if you are a Survivor fan, come check out the finale. Who you got winning the thing? The thing? Putting you on the spot. I'm taking...

Genevieve left. Genevieve. I call her Genevieve. Rachel. You want Rachel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody thinks Rachel's going to win. Genevieve. I got really good odds downstairs on Teenie. I did a parlay of Teenie, and I took Sam under on the fire-making challenge under two and a half minutes. I hope it goes better than your bets tonight. Yeah, I've been looking good until I bet on Lou Dortch.

to make some three-pointers. It was open a lot, though. Got some looks. Honestly, you would have bet on any Thunder player and you would have lost if you went over. Exactly. Nobody was hitting them. So anyway, we will see you live from the Classic Factory on Friday. If you enjoyed this, hit the like button, subscribe, and again, we'll see you on Friday. Hold on. Did you see the Jimmy Butler play? How was there... On Tuesday night. Yeah, okay. How was there a full possession played with Jimmy Butler...

wearing only one shoe. I thought someone was getting injured. The shoe was in the middle of the floor. Jimmy had the ball and he said, you come get the ball because I only have one shoe on. It was so strange. And there was lots more time for somebody, for a referee to say,

You want the referee to blow a whistle because the guy's got one shoe? Because there's a shoe in the middle of the court. Oh, come on. It's like a basketball being thrown onto the middle of the floor by a fan or something. Somebody could step on it. It was a dead possession. Terry Rozier had the ball outside. Easily could have been blown. Bam Adebayo had the ball outside. I love your whistle for some reason. I don't know why I've always loved it. It's quite dry. Oh, yeah. The air is very dry. It's dry here, man. Just...

There, it's coming in. It's coming. It's coming. Anyways, Terry Rozier went to the rim. Jalen Duren almost stepped on the shoe. He kicked the shoe. He could have turned his ankle easily. Then Bam Adebayo missed the shot. Jimmy Butler recovered it and had a putback. It was pretty awesome. It was pretty awesome, actually. The ending was awesome, but somebody could have been injured. Jalen Duren could have been injured. That's all I've got to say.

That's really important. Clipper Bros. You heard it here first. Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys. Awesome. Thanks for joining us and remember, I just talked about Jimmy Butler for a really long time. Remember that forever. Talked longer than Giannis winning the NBA Cup. Brace the day, people. We'll see you Friday.

The first ever 12 team college football playoff is set and you can join me, David Ubbin and me two time national champion, Alabama, Damian Harris and me, Chris Vanini, two time national champion in the college football 25 video game on until Saturday, the athletics college football podcast for all the playoff previews, predictions, coaching carousel and transfer portal news four times a week throughout the CFP.

Dame, how do you think Bama's going to do in the playoffs? Shut up, David. The time may be out of the playoffs, but I'm super excited to see the 12 best teams in the nation play. All the banter, insights, and more on Until Saturday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.