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[00:00:00] Speaker A: W VUA.
[00:00:01] Speaker B: FM tuscaloosa.
[00:00:09] Speaker C: Hello, everybody.
This is WVUA 90.7 FM. The capstone. And welcome to the realist episode 54 of the full Court Press podcast. Oh, my gosh, how long it's been? I miss these boys. It was a great Thanksgiving break, but we back. My name is Jamie Martinez, and I'm joined by Alex Chasen and Nick Atkinson to stay up to date. Make sure to follow us on Instagram at FCP podcast underscore UA. With that being said, let's get into it.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: I think I asked this same question last year, but I'm going to do it again. Favorite Thanksgiving food and or.
Yeah, I know I did.
[00:00:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: What was the favorite thing you had for Thanksgiving this year? So what's like your favorite all time? And if you have that on Thanksgiving, that can be your second answer as well. But then also, what is like your favorite thing that you had?
[00:00:56] Speaker C: Well, I think I said this last year. Monkey bread. No, I wish we had I didn't have monkey bread at all. I think I said this last year. It was taking everything on the table and putting it in between a bun and eating, like, a sandwich. It was like mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and like some turkey. You put it in between a roll.
That's so gas. Might have said that it's so good, but individual. I think I go mac and cheese.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: How about you, Nick?
I don't know.
[00:01:20] Speaker B: I guess what you define what's it called food as Thanksgiving because my family does it really different. What do you do?
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Just Italian food?
[00:01:30] Speaker B: Yeah, we have Italian food. We have Thanksgiving food. So I guess what people regularly say, I'd probably say, like, mac and cheese or something. But my favorite thing I ate was lasagna.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: My favorite Thanksgiving food all time. I'm a big stuffing guy.
[00:01:45] Speaker C: Stuffing is fire.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: And I had some great stuffing with, like it was like sausage infused with it. Oh, it was amazing. I love stuffing. Like Thanksgiving. I like turkey. You get your protein, all that. I like the mashed potatoes. I like mac and cheese, which we don't really have a lot. I think that's more of, like, other cultures.
US Jewish folk up in Boston, we.
[00:02:05] Speaker C: Don'T really mexicans love their mac and cheese.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: We don't really make mac and cheese, but it was pretty good. But something my uncle's girlfriend made. I've never had it before. Shout out Debbie. She made this dessert.
It was like and you know me, I'm a sucker for peanut butter. Just like Jamie, right?
[00:02:21] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely.
[00:02:22] Speaker A: Jamie's the only person on the planet that actually hates peanut butter. I don't get it.
[00:02:25] Speaker C: It's disgusting.
[00:02:26] Speaker A: But anyways, it was like this peanut butter, like, cookie crumble thing.
I had so much of that.
It was killer. That was probably my favorite thing I've ever had.
[00:02:37] Speaker C: You know what my mom made that made me change my opinion on something? My mom made a churro cheesecake.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: And about time. You like cheese.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: You like cheesecake?
[00:02:45] Speaker C: It's not even that I like cheesecake. My mom made this cheesecake like platter. It was churro. Oh, my God. It didn't even taste that much like cream cheese. It was so good.
[00:02:54] Speaker A: It never really tastes like cream cheese, actually.
[00:02:56] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: Real good, real cheesecake. It tastes like peanut butter.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: Well, that's double nasty. But just saying.
[00:03:04] Speaker A: Yeah. I would say my favorite thing is probably stuffing, like, with some gravy on it.
[00:03:08] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: Right.
[00:03:09] Speaker C: That's the move right there.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: All right, let's jump into the news. Starting off with a few things I got, and this one wouldn't really be newsworthy most years, but this year, Jalen Johnson has been playing a huge, pivotal role for the Atlanta Hawks. But he is now out four to six weeks after a left wrist injury he sustained a few days back, a few days ago. But he's been such a consequential piece for this Atlanta Hawks team, and it showed. He wasn't on the court in their game right after he got hurt against the Boston Celtics. The Boston Celtics were blowing them out all game. Celtics came out, I believe, won by around ten points, and they got close towards the end because of Trey Young. But Jalen Johnson's absence is going to be really bad. I mean, it's going to hurt this team, definitely. Maybe not to the point where they lose tons of games, but him and DeAndre Hunter, their games start to step up this season. And now he's out. Jalen Johnson was averaging around 14 points per game, seven and a half rebounds over 40% from three. He was a really good trey Young drives. Dejante Murray drives. Kick it out to Jalen Johnson. He was making those shots. And now you're lacking that. And it's now just DeAndre Hunter guys are going to have to step up. So we'll see who that's going to be. But definitely a big hit for this Hawks team that just kind of started to play a little some better basketball still not great, but a little bit better. Some other news, which isn't really overall news. It's more just like a topic. Jordan Poole and the Washington Wizards, and I was probably the highest at this table on Jordan Poole. I know Jamie agreed with me, nick, I kind of forget where you stood on that. But I was all in on Jordan pool, and I'm still completely bought in on Jordan Poole. I wasn't bought in on the team being overly great. They're three and 1414 seed in the Eastern Conference. I thought they maybe could sneak around the play in, like, ten or eleven if things all worked out. But Jordan Poole, he has been terrible, and he's playing the same way he played last year. And the difference is the defensive schemes. They're all on Jordan Poole and Kyle Cooper. Mostly Jordan poole. Last year, what was everyone focused on? Stefan Curry and then secondary, it was Thompson and, you know, Jordan Poole's childish mistakes kind of went under the rug and or Stephen Curry, Dre or Clay or Andrew Wiggins could make up for those mistakes. Those guys aren't around him anymore. This is Jordan Poole's team alongside Kyle Kuzma. The mistakes that Jordan Poole makes and continues to make directly correlates to this record, directly correlates to their terrible play on the court and it's only hurting them. I'm still a major believer in Jordan Poole. He just has to stop making these childish mistakes that he could make in the shadow of there's no he's not in the shadow of anyone now. This is him and all these mistakes directly come back on him. What do you think, Jamie?
[00:05:49] Speaker C: No, I completely agree. It's kind of been disappointing to see how things have unfolded so far. I like your point in saying people can't make up for those mistakes because I guarantee Danny ADVIA is not the same as Andrew Wiggins or Stephen Curry, so he's not going to be getting the job done. The wizards aren't what they used to be. They don't have a Chris APS for Zingis. They don't have a Bradley Beal. It's just Jordan Poole and he's been disappointing.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: Kyle Kuzman's been playing great.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: Kuzman's been awesome. I love Kyle Kuzman. He had a great night last night. Did you guys see the clip last night that came out of Jordan Poole breaking that dude's ankles, goes up and gets packed by saw that. That was bad.
[00:06:24] Speaker A: I was doing some research because last week I made a video on this on my YouTube channel. But last year's shots per game and this year's shots per game, jordan Poole has taken the same attempts, so it's not like he's getting the ball more. He's taking the same amount of attempts, which is kind of questionable. He should be shooting more and his efficiency is a lot worse because, like I said, I think because everyone's focused on him and they're not focusing on Stephen Curry, who then creates open shots for Jordan Poole. So what do you think about Jordan Poole Nick, and all this wizard stuff?
[00:06:53] Speaker B: I don't know, I think it's kind of weird. I think that we will see a trade at some point, but I think this year crazy how underwhelming he's been.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: I also saw a report that and it wasn't super confirmed, but it was by a few sources that now that Jordan Poole's not playing great, they're going to use his value as maybe getting that next true star in Washington.
[00:07:15] Speaker C: They could definitely.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: And my mind firstly goes to Jalen Brown because I don't think he hates the city of Boston, but I think he might want his own team eventually. And after this year, he can request a trade. He got his bag, just like Damian Lillard got his bag, requested a trade. Bradley Beal got his bag, requested a trade. If Jalen Brown wants his own team washington. I don't know. I just wouldn't want Jordan pool in the Celtics. I'd want to do a three team trade and get someone else in return. But very super hypothetical. I don't want to get rid of Jalen Brown, but I still firmly believe one day down the line he's going to request a trade from the Celtics.
[00:07:50] Speaker C: I think so.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: I've always kind of felt that.
[00:07:52] Speaker C: All right, moving on to my news. I want to first start off with a good news injury update. CJ. McCollum of the New Orleans Pelicans, their point guard is set to return to action sometime this week after suffering a small collapse. Long when you hear that injury, you kind of freak out like, oh, my God, this dude just had a collapse lung. But McCollum, he fought through it. He was gone for a few weeks, but he's back. He's going to be hooping on the court. And I am hearing that Trey Murphy could be back soon as well. So the Pelicans, they're starting to get healthy and they've already been good. They destroyed the Sacramento Kings twice already. They've been beating a lot of good teams. So the Pelicans look dangerous so far. Diving into more serious matters, oklahoma City Thunder guard forward Josh Giddy is under some serious fire right now for some allegations that were made. According to Shamsharania, the NBA is looking into allegations of Oklahoma City's Josh Giddy having inappropriate relationship with a minor that have emerged via social media.
League spokesman Mike Bass said, very, very unfortunate for what happened to the young guard. You hate to see it. He has been playing. However, about just a few days after the allegations came out, multiple videos came out, but he's back on the court.
It's definitely going to be an interesting story that's about to unfold. It's going to be crazy.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: I mean, if it's true, which innocent until proven guilty. If it's true.
[00:09:21] Speaker C: It'S over.
[00:09:22] Speaker A: It's over. His life's over. There's no defending that whatsoever. That's disgusting.
But I don't really got much to say because there's really nothing good to say other than the fact that it looked like from the videos he was at a club or something. So the assumption there is that everyone's over 18, but she could have had.
[00:09:40] Speaker C: A fake because there was pictures of her at her high school.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying. Last sophomore. But then that falls into like that's why I think he's still playing right now, because no one knows the truth and there's no legal stuff right now. It's really just the team trying not yet. The league and team are trying to.
[00:09:53] Speaker C: Figure it out, but that could change in an instant. Who knows?
[00:09:56] Speaker A: But from what I've seen, it looks like they're all at like an over 18 year old club. But like I said, anyone can have a fake ID. But then whose fault is that? But I'm not going to get into that because that's not what we're here for. But let's move on to the main subject. But that's something that definitely had to be touched on because it's major news in the NBA. Moving on to predicting our top five players at each position by the end of this season.
By the end of the season. So we're not looking know, five years down the line, we're not looking at whatever it may be at the end of this season, who will be the top five players at each position. And we're basing this off just the first month of the season that we've seen so far and it's really hard and a lot of us are probably going to be wrong because anything can happen because some of us have some real hot takes that I personally don't agree with, but we'll discuss them. But starting off with Nick like we usually do, let's just go know, we'll start off with point guards, so on and so forth. So give me your top five point guards starting with your honorable mentions and work your way up for the end of this season and just a little bit about why for each.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Okay, my honorable mentions are Devin Booker and Steph Curry.
Just because Curry kind of hasn't been as good as the other five players are nearly as good and their record is showing. And then Bucker, he's kind of just been injured. He had one good game last night where he hit the Buzer beater. But besides that, these five guys are all in contention to be first team All NBA for sure. But starting off at the five, I have tyrese. Maxey. He's definitely got to be number one for the most improved player candidate. I mean, he got his points up like seven points, probably about four or five assists more than what was last season.
He's just a better option overall for Joel and Bead.
[00:11:42] Speaker A: And 31 last night and beat at 30.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: Takes a whole lot of pressure off of Joel and B. And then next up I have Dear and Fox, my guy, he's been hurt this year, but without him the Kings are horrible.
Probably not even a playing team without Dear.
[00:11:59] Speaker C: I think we're a playing team, but.
[00:12:00] Speaker B: Dear and Fox, no, he's a bonus.
[00:12:04] Speaker C: Plays off Fox, but like exactly how they needed him to.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: It wouldn't be good without feeling number three. I have that is kind of interchangeable three. And just Halliburton is two for me right now just because of how good he's been able to make everybody around him. And I just really like how improved he's made the team because they were really bad last year as far as at the end of the season, they had an all right start and then kind of just went lower and then out of the play in. And Miles Turner has been having a really good season. The All Star Game is in. You know, usually whenever there's an All Star game in a specific city, the players tend to do well. And then number one is Know. He's probably the second best player in the NBA right now. I'd say first, honestly.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: All right, jumping into my top five point guards for the end of the season, my honorable mentions are Devin Booker as well. I have Tyrese Maxi who just misses the cut, and I have a third, which I usually don't, but I got Trey Young because he started off the season really bad, but he started to pick it up. He's still averaging around eleven assists per game. Great facilitator. It's just his efficiency so bad at shooting. His efficiency right. It's gotten better, but it's still not where it needs to be to put him in the top five. But if he was efficient, he'd be top three. If he was efficient in the team one, they'd be top three.
[00:13:20] Speaker C: I agree.
[00:13:20] Speaker A: Moving on to the real top five though. At five. I have deer and fox. Amen De'Aaron Fox, just like Nick said, when Dear and Fox isn't on the court, the Kings don't suck. But they're no, but I'm saying they're like a playing team without him.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: I just think that y'all are awful without him. I think that you guys won't even be a playing team without them. I just see this, what he does as like a 2017 Russell Westbrook type of thing. Not as good, but like just carrying to the max.
[00:13:54] Speaker A: I mean, Malik Monk is a great.
[00:13:55] Speaker B: Option, bonus is a liability on defense, and yes, he is a top three player in his position, but defensively he's.
[00:14:02] Speaker A: Just a huge liability.
[00:14:04] Speaker C: Yeah, I just think it's hard considering how off and on a lot of the players on the team are. Like Kevin Herder one night will go for 27, shoot 75% from three. Next night he'll score five points, go one freight from three.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: You'd rather have Budy healed right now?
[00:14:19] Speaker C: Maybe just because Buddy Healed hates the Kings and he used to be my favorite player, but I don't know, he's got beef now.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: Moving on to the fourth spot, and I hate to do it to Jamie, but Nick did the same thing. Tyrese Halliburton, and Jamie never admits it, but right now, and I'm predicting this for the end of the season, tyrese Halliburton will be better than Dear and Fox. Scoring wise, they're pretty close, but I give the edge to Dear and Fox. But as an overall player and everything else besides scoring, everything else besides scoring, Tyrese Halliburton clears.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: Fox is a great defender, but Halliburton's probably the best defending point guard other than SGA Drew Holiday.
I'd put both of them over Drew Holiday.
[00:14:59] Speaker A: Point being though, he averages also around eleven assists a game, a lot like Trey Young, but he also shoots the ball amazing. With that weird shot, he helps his team win, which I'm not saying Dear and Fox doesn't. We just established that he does. But I think the Kings are better if they well, how do I word this without sound? The Kings would be all right without Darren Fox, not good. I mean, we'll just establish what they'd be, but the Pacers would be the 15th seed in the league without yeah.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: I agree with that.
[00:15:26] Speaker A: Tyrese Halper. All right, moving on to three, and I disagree with Nick. I think Stefan Curry is still one of the greatest point guards in the league. He's averaging 30 points per game, still fantastic, still requires every defense to focus on him, still runs around the court. I saw something where he ran 300ft and the court's, what, like 90ft long? He ran 300ft on one play. That's just how much he moves without the ball or moves with the ball.
[00:15:48] Speaker C: And he's 35 years old.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: 35 years old, and he's still one of the greatest in the league. But there's two guys that I think are going to overtake him. And I was looking at their stats today, and don't call me crazy for having one under one right now, because the stats are neck and neck in every category. At two I have Luca, and at one I have SG.
[00:16:09] Speaker C: Whoa.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: But look at their stats. They are neck and neck, basically, give or take one or two points in each direction. They are neck and neck. Both teams are succeeding at a high level right now versus last year. The Thunder are, I believe, as right now, a third seed in the Western Conference who said they could be possibly at the very best, a top four seed.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: I said early, though.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: It's early, but there's early.
[00:16:33] Speaker B: And there's somebody that might not be on that team pretty soon.
[00:16:37] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:16:38] Speaker C: That is true.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: I think they'd be fine without Josh Kitty.
[00:16:43] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: You see how your boy you love Isaiah Joe. I remember back in the day used to talk about Isaiah Joe.
[00:16:48] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, he's been playing mean, but there's just losing that playmaking by Giddy would be huge. And I will say this, chet has I was talking this about to Jamie he isn't really good.
[00:17:03] Speaker C: He's like, very good.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: Not too far off as being as good as Shay. Not far off?
[00:17:09] Speaker A: He's as good as Shay.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: He's top 15 right now. No, he's not, dude, he's averaging like 20 points, four blocks, twelve rebounds.
[00:17:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Chad ombrid is pretty crazy.
[00:17:19] Speaker B: Difference between like, I mean, Shay is.
[00:17:21] Speaker C: Doing I think if you give Chad.
[00:17:22] Speaker B: A couple more years, I think Chet will be the best player on the team.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: No.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: I know you're really high on Chet. I'm not saying he's bad. He's top eight, probably top seven. But Chet is not far off, in my opinion.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: I mean, he's closer to SGA than he is to closer close to being a I mean, he I could see.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: Him being the All Star this year.
He's rookie of the year and I could see him being on the All NBA, like third or second team.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: I don't know. It's a little hard for a rookie to get that.
[00:17:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I just think there's a long way to go, but yeah, I think it happened.
[00:17:53] Speaker A: Those are my point guards. And looking the stats, Luca and SGA are very close. I know most people are going to say Luca like Nick said, I'm sure Jamie has that too, but they're neck and neck. But I got to give the edge to SGA because they are a better team right now. And I think he's just an overall better his.
[00:18:13] Speaker B: I think Luca's the best score in the league.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: Best score.
[00:18:16] Speaker C: Luca hit some shots I've never seen. I didn't think we're possible.
[00:18:19] Speaker B: He's the best scorer in the league. Last probably ten years since Kobe retired.
[00:18:24] Speaker C: I'd say it's not crazy to say that. All right, moving on to my point guard list, as my honorable mentions, I have Trey Young, who has been very, very good this year. Shout out Trey Young. He's been balling on my fantasy team. He gets those assists. He scores his points. Not very effectively or efficiently, but he gets it done. And then I also have Tyrese Maxi, who has been incredible. He's turned into a star in Philadelphia this year. Him and Joel Embiid have been incredible, and I think Maxi can continue that and possibly get up to all NBA status.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: We got some breaking news real quick from Shams Sharania. As we all know, LaMello Ball has been hurt for well, has been hurt. He just got hurt with a serious ankle sprain. And Shams is saying that he'll be out for an extended period of time with a serious right ankle sprain.
[00:19:10] Speaker C: That's not good.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: I'm trying to read off my Apple Watch. That's why it was tough for me to read that small print. But that's nothing new for LaMello, though. I mean, he's had ankle problems since he came into the league. He's got to get on Stephen Curry's regimen.
[00:19:21] Speaker C: Whatever.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: Saved Stephen Curry's ankles.
[00:19:23] Speaker C: Honestly. Honorable mention. LaMello ball. I forgot about him, honestly. He's been incredible this year. He had a very slow start.
[00:19:29] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
[00:19:30] Speaker C: He had a very, very slow start. But since then he's been averaging incredible numbers, up worth of 25 points a game. The assist totals have been great. The Hornets were doing solid, guys.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: He's not above them.
[00:19:40] Speaker C: I know. I just want to shout him out because that sucks that he's going to be out, because he was really coming into his own terror.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Rouge your baby.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: Yeah. He's going to have to carry pretty hard.
Shout out Brandon Miller, too. He's a baller.
[00:19:51] Speaker B: Yeah, he's been great.
[00:19:52] Speaker C: Yeah. Again. Back to tyrese, Maxey.
He's on his way up. He's been incredible. So at number five, I'm going to start with wardell Stephen Curry out of the Golden State Warriors.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: Both of you aren't that high on him.
[00:20:06] Speaker C: I just think I have Dear and Fox above him, and I have an argument as to why. So Steph Curry averaging 35 and four at 35 years old is incredible. And I think bringing in Chris Paul to Golden State has been extremely beneficial for him because I get it, you guys don't like Chris Paul, but the playmaking is there and he's getting Steph Curry the ball, and it's working.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: Playmaking is there. Were we saying that he's been awful?
[00:20:28] Speaker C: I just think it's benefited Steph Curry, but at four, I have Deer in Fox who's averaging basically the exact same numbers.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: Bro, he's averaging oh, never mind, never mind, never mind. Keep on going with your point. My bad. I see that he's averaging a decent amount.
[00:20:40] Speaker C: I thought it was at three.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: I was like, no way.
[00:20:42] Speaker C: Yeah, that'd be crazy.
[00:20:43] Speaker B: No shooting terror.
[00:20:44] Speaker A: What?
[00:20:44] Speaker B: Yeah, he's averaging seven assists per game.
[00:20:46] Speaker C: Yeah, I was going to say the assist totals have been there and that's benefiting Steph Curry. But the reason I have Darren Fox above him is they have basically identical numbers averaging 30 points. Darren Fox averages one more assist and they're the same on rebounds. They've been phenomenal. But I think Darren Fox, like we talked about earlier, benefits the Sacramento Kings winning wise, I get it. Steph Curry is amazing. But Darren Fox, when he was out this season, missed about five games. The Kings were one in four. They did not play well whatsoever. And when he comes back, the Kings have been phenomenal. They have a I think they're at eight and two or nine and two.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: I think they're equal, man. I don't think you can say if the warriors didn't have Steph Curry, they'd.
[00:21:23] Speaker C: Still be well, if they're equal to winning, then Darren Fox averages one more assist. So I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But he's been incredible, his shooting. He worked with Steph Curry in the offseason on his three point shooting and it has definitely improved. I could see that he's much more confident shooting the three he's averaging, or he's shooting about 38% from three right now, which is much better than what he has in years past. He's still dominant getting into the basket. His playmaking is there and him and Sabonis are killing it. So I'm going to give Fox the edge. But at three, I have the former Sacramento King, Darren or not Dear Tyrese Halliburton, he has been incredible. One of my favorite players in the NBA, iowa State legend. He is amazing. His assist totals are incredible, averaging around eleven, close to twelve. But the thing is, he doesn't turn the ball over.
He had a streak over two games where he had 36 assists to zero turnovers. That is unheard of. So I'm loving what Halliburton is doing for the Pacers. The Pacers look solid at times. They've been in a lot of close games.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: Imagine they had one more scoring.
[00:22:20] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:22:21] Speaker B: Elite scoring option.
[00:22:22] Speaker C: Mouse Turner has been great. I think bringing in Bruce Brown was very beneficial. He's been hooping, too.
Yeah. Benedict Matheran's been good. Hopefully he can develop into that. But, I mean, Halliburton's been incredible, and I think he could be 1st, second team All NBA by the season's end. Two, I have Shea gildes Alexander, who has been incredible. He has been the mainstay in the Thunder's resurgence. The Thunder have been amazing. They're the third seed in the Western Conference, and I think that has been because they're two. Oh, they're second in the Western Conference. And that's because of Shea Gilda's Alexander. Like Alex said, him and Luca Doncic are averaging basically identical numbers. But SGA has been incredible. But I gotta have Luca at one because I think all three of us didn't expect the Mavericks to be that good.
[00:23:06] Speaker A: I mean, they kind of slowed down a little bit.
[00:23:08] Speaker C: Yeah, they started really hot.
[00:23:09] Speaker A: They're still playing well.
[00:23:10] Speaker C: Yeah, they're playing well. They started the season undefeated, which really nobody saw coming. They got kind of humbled by the Nuggets. But Luca has been incredible. I mean, he's one of the best scorers that we've ever seen. He passes the ball like nobody else. He rebounds the ball. He might average a triple double this season.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: He's too far off.
[00:23:28] Speaker C: I don't know. Anything could happen. But he's been incredible. We see the runs. He can go on because he could go for 45 any night he really chooses. So I got to have Luke at one. He's incredible.
[00:23:39] Speaker B: All right, moving on to shooting guards, I only have one honorable mention. It's Desmond Bay. Just depending on whenever John Moran comes back, we'll see how much better he plays with. Just having no attention on him compared.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: To he was really good last year.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: But five, I've got Kyrie. I really didn't want to have him on here just because I don't feel like he really I feel like the Mavs would be just as good if he wasn't here. But you can't just look over his skill. He's really good.
At four, I have Tyler Hero. Before he got injured, he was really good. He was probably going to be an All Star before he got hurt. So, yeah, not really much to say on him. Donovan Mitchell, he's been struggling along with the calves, but I do think that they'll figure it out. I think that I will eventually see Jared Allen get traded just because there's no spacing on the floor with having two big men, isaac Akoro, Donovan Mitchell, and Darius Garland, who also has struggled really a lot this season as well. And then number two, I have I just I know that somebody thinks that he's not that good, but it's you know, he'll figure it out, especially after All Star Break. He's just one of those type of players that always performs better after All Star Break, and he's more consistent than. Donovan Mitchell Tyler hero and Kyrie. I think then, number one, I have Anthony Edwards, player that I thought was going to be MVP. I still think that that could be the case with how good the Timberwolves have been. He's averaging 27 points per game, seven assists, six rebounds, two steals. I mean, Anthony Edwards is definitely top seven this season for sure.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: Moving on to my shooting guards, a few honorable mentions. I have Zach Levine, who started off the season shooting atrocious like 19% from 325 percent from the field, but he's picked it back up, gave that 50 plus point night. That really kind of set a fire under his butt for the rest of this season so far. I'm hoping he gets traded. There was talks that he informally didn't request a trade, but the Bulls are going to help him out and try to get him to a better team. I hope they do that. I hope the Bulls blow it up. I've been wanting that for quite a bit now ever since we learned Lonzo Ball is going to be probably forever and there's really no direction there at point guard. Ayodusumu Alex Caruso, Javon Carter, Colby White, they all suck at point guard to be a starting point guard, and they have no real fix for that. And they still have three superstars not superstars, but three stars that haven't really figured it out post the Lonzo Ball absence, and it's not working. They just got to blow it up. But he's still a solid player, so I don't have him as an honorable mention. Same with Dejante Murray of the Atlanta Hawks. He hasn't really gotten better since hitting his peak his final year in San Antonio and then kind of getting a little bit better when he went to Atlanta. He's a guy that will give you 20 points every single night. He'll give you a couple of steals every single night, give you five assists, a few boards, but he's not quite much better than that. I don't really think he'll ever get better than that. I think we've kind of seen what his best is, but it's still a top six, seven shooting guard in the league, and that's where I'll put him. Same with Tyler hero. I think he's just a little bit short outside the top five just because he is injured right now and he's a pure scorer. And his overall game, I don't think it's fully developed a lot like these other guys have or I think will. So that's why I got, for right now, maybe going into next season, I think I can put him at top five. But as of right now, I don't think he's quite there. I think he's more of just like a pure scorer and I don't think that's enough to be in the top five. Desmond Bain. Desmond Bain is on a terrible Memphis team. It's not his fault. It's not Marcus smart's fault. It's not Triple J's fault. They're all hurt. John Moran's obviously out for ten more games last time I checked, like yesterday. So ten or nine more games. There's a lot going on there. But Desmond Bain like I think we all agreed on, it's his ball every time up and down the court, which isn't great for playmaking, but he is a scorer just like the rest of them. But he still is making some great plays, great defense, and he's an overall fantastic player who is leading this team not to a good record whatsoever, but every single night, that's where the ball is going. To Desmond Bain. Four I got Kyrie Irving, and it's weird putting at shooting guard. He's a point guard, but obviously alongside Luca, he gets pushed down to shooting guard and he's just doing what he's doing. It's nothing out of this world. It's not his own team, it's Luca's team, but he's doing all right being second fiddle. I think that's what Kyrie Irving is. We saw him, the Boston being that number one star, that's not him. He is a fantastic robin to a Batman and he's doing a fantastic job alongside Luka Doncic. And if he can keep his head on straight and not go down some rabbit hole watching too many YouTube videos telling him the world's flat and start talking about that, this team could be very dangerous come playoff time. Their bench is playing great, their role players are playing great. Obviously they're not shooting as well as when they started. Makes sense. They'll cool down a little bit, but they're still top five in the west and I think they'll continue that for the regular season come playoff time, maybe at the deadline they make a move for another good player, because I think there is a ceiling to what they have there. But Kyrie Irving is playing great as well at three spida. Donovan Mitchell. I kind of agree with what Nick said, that, yeah, he's playing great right now, and he'll always play great, but I just don't think he's as consistently can I trust Donovan Mitchell? Like I can trust some other guys. Which is weird to say, because he had some great clutch moments. But in Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell, I don't think it's the same as Utah. Donovan Mitchell I just don't think his game works as well with the players around.
Obviously, I mean, I think we can agree that he'll probably want to go somewhere else at the end of this season, but he's still playing great, but by the end of this year. I agree with what Nick said. Jalen Brown's not playing amazing right now because now he's the third option a lot of nights, or second option, which he's been, but now there's four guys the ball can go to. You can say five because Derek White's playing amazing and Jalen Brown's figuring that out. Because I love seeing Christophs Porzingis and Jalen Brown. That's like Shaq and Kobe.
[00:29:36] Speaker C: Whoa.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: It is like Shaq and Kobe just they don't got a bunch of rings. They play amazing off each other, and I want to see that continue to work. But right now KP's hurt. But I think once he comes back and like Nick said, post All Star break, that KP and JB connection can be really, really good, and it's just gonna make Jalen Brown even better while Jason Tatum does his thing. And then number one, I didn't have this here originally, but Edwards, he is I think it's a very weak shooting guard. There's a lot of weak shooting guards, and I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, but if you put Ant on the point guard list for me, he'd be like, three, but he's number one. Like, he'd be behind SGA and Luca. Then I'd probably put ant right around Stefan Curry. But shooting guard wise, he's number one. I think it's a very weak shooting guards in this league, and I don't mean that as disrespect, but there's not much competition for Anthony Edwards. I think he's the clear cut right now, number one guy because he does everything. Jalen Brown's great, not being the most consistent, so I can't put him over him like I want to, but, yeah, I gotta put Anton one.
[00:30:34] Speaker C: All right, moving on to my shooting guards. I'm gonna give a quick shout out. Honorable mentions to Desmond Bain and Tyler Hero. Bain has been amazing. Again. The Mavericks. Not the Mavericks. The Memphis Grizzlies are struggling. You hate to see it. John Moran will be back. And Mr. Tyrannosaurus Rex. Desmond Bain has been balling in his absence. And then Tyler Hero before his injury, which was kind of unfortunate, was averaging 25 a game, which was the most on the Miami Heat, more than Bam Audiball and Jimmy Butler. So it kind of sucks to see him go down. He's a very talented scorer, and I think once he comes back, he'll return to form. I have belief in Tyler hero. My shooting guard list is pretty controversial, so let's get into it. Five. I have Jalen Brown, which is lower than both of my comrades here. However, I think it's justified. Jalen Brown, it's not necessarily his fault that he has to be in such a crowded Boston Celtics team now that they've acquired Drew Holliday and Christophs Forzingis because Forzingis has taken a huge jump. He's been amazing and he's fit right in in Boston. And it looks like Jalen Brown has struggled with that new addition, kind of playing around them.
[00:31:39] Speaker A: I don't think he's struggled because they're playing off each other. Great. You got a KP.
[00:31:43] Speaker C: No, I'm just saying, statistically, I'm just.
[00:31:45] Speaker B: Going to wait for you to get a three before I start talking.
[00:31:47] Speaker A: Statistically, sure. But he's not struggling with Chris OS.
[00:31:50] Speaker B: No, he's not.
[00:31:52] Speaker A: They play amazing off each other.
[00:31:53] Speaker C: He's averaging 21 three assists, .4, which is round 21. I mean, he's going to 44% from the field. But I do think that will go up because right now he's going to have a stretch with Porzingis out and Drew Holiday out, where it's just him and Tatum. They're going to return back to form and I think he's going to get those stats up because he's been great. However, above him, I have Cam Thomas, which sounds crazy. It sounds crazy. Hold on.
[00:32:14] Speaker B: He's injured, bro.
[00:32:16] Speaker C: He's like actually when he was playing Cam Thomas, alex is leaving because he's weird, but when he was playing, walked out the room. Cam Thomas.
[00:32:27] Speaker B: They don't win.
[00:32:27] Speaker C: Was averaging 27 points a game.
[00:32:30] Speaker A: That's like Tyler hero, dude.
[00:32:31] Speaker C: It's just 48% from the field.
And the reason I had him above Jalen Brown is when you look at player efficiency rating, cam Thomas was ranked third in shooting guards, only behind Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell. Jalen Brown was ranked 20 eigth among shooting guards. And player efficiency rating. He averages more turnovers, surprisingly less blocks than Cam Thomas. And I get it. Cam Thomas doesn't have the biggest sample size, but what I saw from him scoring ability wise was phenomenal. I believe Cam Thomas can be great. And again, this is about hot takes.
[00:33:05] Speaker A: That's not what today's show.
[00:33:06] Speaker C: I'm not afraid to bring hot takes because Cam Thomas has been phenomenal. 45 points against the Bucks, 27 against the Celtics. He could score. Against good team, he could score.
[00:33:16] Speaker B: And I believe liability on where's the.
[00:33:18] Speaker A: Rest of his game they have to take him.
[00:33:19] Speaker C: The average is more of a block.
[00:33:21] Speaker B: Jalen Brown, they have to take him out in the clutch.
[00:33:24] Speaker C: I don't know. Jalen Brown scores. He has more turnovers. I just think from an efficiency rating, cam Thomas has been phenomenal. And I have belief that he'll be.
[00:33:30] Speaker A: Good for like three weeks. And the season's only been a month long.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: They weren't winning when he was playing either.
[00:33:36] Speaker C: And this is a who we believe will be better by the end of the season right now.
[00:33:39] Speaker A: I know, but like I'm just saying.
[00:33:42] Speaker B: They had two wins before he got hurt.
[00:33:44] Speaker C: I'm just saying two and then three. I have Kyrie Irving, but I don't necessarily believe it much. I honestly believe Jalen Brown and Cam Thomas are both better than Kyrie Irving.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: Better than Kyrie Irving.
[00:33:54] Speaker C: Yeah. But Kyrie Irving, let's not say he hasn't been bad. He's averaging 24 points a game. Not awful efficiency. Hold on. 47.8% from the field, shooting very well. Yeah, he's shooting well. 39% from three or 40% from 339.8, averaging 5.5 assists, 24.4 points a game. So he hasn't been awful. He's not turning the ball over. He's stealing the ball well, shooting it right. And I think him and Luca chemistry wise have honestly started to work out. They're winning games. And I mean Kyrie. Irving's been good. I don't care how much you hate him. He's a good basketball player. So I can't be hating on Kyrie Irving two. I have Donovan Mitchell again, he's been hurt for a good amount of the season, but you can't deny the talent. He's been one of the best shooting guards in the NBA for a while now. He's phenomenal. And once he comes back into form I know he did just start playing the other day, so I think it'll be good to see when he's kind of back into form with Cleveland. And I don't even know if he'll be a cab for that much longer. But that's another conversation for another day. And at one, I have Anthony Edwards. He's been phenomenal. He had 35 points against Sacramento. He's been great. He shoots well from the line. He shoots well from everywhere. He might end up averaging 28, 29, 30 points a game by the end of the year. He's been that good. And the timberwolves have heavily benefited from that. As of right now, they're the one seed in the west, right?
[00:35:15] Speaker A: Who? The wolves.
[00:35:15] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
He's been playing a lot.
[00:35:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Cat's been amazing. I love what Carl Anthony towns has been doing, but Anthony Edwards is he the MVP of the league right now. Will he be? I don't know.
[00:35:25] Speaker A: He's not averaging those points.
[00:35:26] Speaker B: Three less points than Luca, Shea, and Curry.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: I'd say Jokic's MVP.
[00:35:32] Speaker B: I wouldn't I don't know.
[00:35:33] Speaker A: MB's playing the best still right now.
[00:35:35] Speaker C: But yeah, what Alex was saying, the shooting our position isn't as strong as what it used to be, and I think that's why Anthony Edwards is benefiting. But he's been phenomenal nonetheless, and I think he's a very decent chunk ahead of the rest of the pack. Anthony Edwards has been great. Yeah.
[00:35:49] Speaker A: All right. Small fords, unanimous number.
[00:35:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:35:52] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
[00:35:53] Speaker B: And your second Unanimous MVP. Honorable mention small forwards. I have Brandon Ingram and Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler's just how he always has been. But my five is kind of surprising, I guess. Scotty Barnes, I just think that he'll.
[00:36:06] Speaker A: Continue I was talking about this is unanimous, not the shooting guard.
[00:36:09] Speaker C: Oh, for small forward. Yeah.
[00:36:11] Speaker A: Because you were saying MVP.
[00:36:13] Speaker C: I was like, I've Harrison Barnes, actually.
[00:36:15] Speaker A: Tatum MVP for sure. But you wouldn't say that.
[00:36:17] Speaker B: No, I wouldn't. I think he's definitely in the race, though. But Scotty Barnes, he's all right. He's definitely picked up a lot. I think he'll be all star this year. But the small four position is very, extremely top heavy with the top four guys, for sure.
And the top three, two and three are very interchangeable to me. But number four, I have LeBron. The Lakers have been know they've just been middle of the pack with the warriors, Clippers, Lakers. And really, those three teams are just really the kings are at least, like, two games ahead of.
[00:36:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:36:54] Speaker B: And then LeBron has just been carrying. But I don't know how much more you can do that for when nobody else is doing anything, especially Anthony Davis, who's just been a bum this year. But then, number three, I have Kevin Durant. He's been playing really good, one of his greatest scoring seasons of all time. But I just have somebody above him who's been very way more consistent to me just showing up every game. Only had two bad games. I've watched every single game he's played in this.
Paul George, the best two way player in the NBA. Not close. I don't think Kawhi is the only other guy that had an argument there. Paul George, I mean, he's leading the league in steals or he's right behind Shay. I think he's what? What were you about to say?
[00:37:36] Speaker A: You have Kawhi as a power forward.
[00:37:38] Speaker B: Yes, I do, because he's been playing.
[00:37:39] Speaker A: Power forward this year.
[00:37:39] Speaker B: I do, too, because this season point guard hardened.
[00:37:43] Speaker C: But I have Katie at power forward.
[00:37:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I have Katie at power forward. It doesn't matter, but keep going.
[00:37:46] Speaker B: You're good. Yeah, but Paul George, like I was saying, he's just been extremely consistent. He had a bad game last game, then he had another bad game the first game that Harden got traded there. But besides that, he's been the clear cut best player on the Clippers and has been one of the only bright spots for the team. There's only been about two.
[00:38:05] Speaker A: So.
[00:38:09] Speaker B: It is what it is. But I think that he will continue to pick it up and I think he'll be a first team or second team all NBA player this year. And then number one, like you were saying, unanimous. Everybody's going to have to have the same person, or it's just kind of hate. Jason Tatum is definitely the best small forward in the NBA. It's been that way for about the last three or four years at this point.
[00:38:26] Speaker C: Really?
[00:38:28] Speaker A: I think it hasn't been till this year.
Like, number one last year it was him.
[00:38:32] Speaker B: Year before that, they got the finals, definitely him.
[00:38:35] Speaker A: But still, I don't think he was over like LeBron.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: I was watching LeBron those two years. They couldn't even win a game.
[00:38:42] Speaker C: LeBron hasn't been him since 20.
[00:38:44] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. That's very true. LeBron has not been a winning basketball player since 2020. That's correct.
[00:38:50] Speaker A: Did you say? Larry markin.
[00:38:51] Speaker B: I did not have been here.
[00:38:52] Speaker A: So you're power forward or you just.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: Don'T he's at honorable mention, power forward.
But yeah, I mean, that's small forwards for me.
[00:39:00] Speaker A: All right, my small forwards. Honorable mention. Give me Jeremy Grant.
Great. He's been surprisingly really good.
[00:39:07] Speaker C: He had 30 something last, not worth.
[00:39:09] Speaker A: That money, but he's been surprisingly really good shooting, very efficient, averaging around 24 points per game for, yes, a terrible, terrible trailblazers team. But he's doing it. I mean, he got paid and he's playing pretty all right. Another honorable mention, I have Jimmy Butler, kind of underwhelming, but he's still good enough to be an honorable mention. He's around that six, seven spot for small forwards. He's still obviously great. He just hasn't been as loud and aggressive like playoff. Jimmy moving into the real stuff, though. Top five.
Brandon Ingram kind of underwhelming. His shooting percentages haven't been as good, especially from three. I think he's like under 30% from three. But he's just so good, though. Like, he can create his own shot anywhere, even if he's not making them. They'll come in time, but he can still create his own shot from anywhere. Moving on to four. I got PG 13. I don't really got much to add. Nick kind of said it himself. I'm obviously not as high on him as Nick, but I still think he's a great player. And he's healthy. He's been healthy. Same with Kawhi, knock on wood so far. And they're playing relatively oh, they're playing great individually, but wins wise, they just got to get better at that three, I got Laurie Markinen. I think it's disrespectful not to have him in the top five and just as a normal mention, because he's not over PG, though it wasn't a fluke last year. I mean, when you're 7ft tall and you're a bucket, you're over a lot of people and he can create his own shot. He was not a fluke last year. He's going to be an All Star again this year. He is averaging around 24 points per game. I think, just like Jeremy Grant, he's been playing great. He is obviously the number one option for this Utah team. And I haven't met small forward because now that John Collins is in the mix, he's playing more power forward. And you got Walker Kessler at center, but it's interchangeable. If you haven't met power forward, it's not a big deal. Moving on to two. That's where I have LeBron James. I think he's still, without a doubt, a top two small forward in the league just because it's LeBron James, and I mean, yes, that but he's still playing great. It's not amounting to wins, but he is still playing fantastic, averaging around 25 points per game. And he does it all. He's older, and I know he's kind of on a minutes restriction to the playoffs or whatever they said at the beginning of the year, but he's still playing amazing. But then there's a huge gap to Jason Tatum at one.
He has finally taken that jump. I know I've talked about last year on the podcast to be consistently scary every single night. That's what I've been waiting for. For Jason Tatum. I haven't seen it because, yeah, he played like a superstar. Then he'd have that one game where he just sucked. That hasn't been it so far. Yes, he's missed some clutch shots. He's missed some clutch free throws in the clutch. That's not what I'm talking about. But being consistently a bucket every single night, he has finally reached that, and I'm proud of him for that. Hopefully he can keep that up all year. Huge gap between LeBron and JT, but yeah, JT at one.
[00:41:55] Speaker C: All right, moving on to my top five small forwards. Honorable mention, I have Brandon Ingram. He's been phenomenal this year. I love what he's doing, but I wish he can get that three point percentage up a little bit.
At my five, though, I have Laurie Markinen. He has been phenomenal this season. Like Alex said, it wasn't a fluke. He's averaging 23.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists, shooting 48% from the field, close to 49. He's been great. I love what Laurie Markanin is doing. He's been great on my fantasy team, and I think he's honestly been leading the Jazz or Jazz kind of solid. He hasn't played the last couple of games. The Jazz are six and eleven, but they do win more often when he's on the court. Four, I have Scotty Barnes. I really like what Scotty Barnes has been doing this year. I was waiting for the sophomore jump. He didn't do it last year, but he's finally made the leap this year. Right now, he's sitting at 19 points a game, 9.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists, shooting 46% from the field. But what I like the most about it is he is a way better three point shooter on his career. He's a 30% free throw or sorry, three point shooter this season. He's at 37.6 from three. He has been great. He's an all around basketball player. Now he gets the boards. And the Raptors have been surprisingly much better than I thought they'd be. They're sitting at eight and nine right now. They get the nets today, so they could definitely be at 500 by the end of tonight. So shout out Scotty Barnes. He's been phenomenal. Three. I have PG 13, Fresno State Alumni, Legend of the Central Valley. Paul George has been great. The Clippers not winning a ton of games, or they're winning games, but after the James Harden trade, it's been kind of wishy washy. But Paul George has been awesome. I'm loving everything he's doing. He's averaging 24.2 points a game, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, shooting 45% from the field. He's PG 13. Like Nick said earlier, he's probably the best two way player in the NBA, and I honestly don't see it being that close. He is phenomenal at what he does. He shoots the three like nobody else. He's one of the best ball handling small forwards we've ever seen. Paul George is phenomenal, and I love everything he does on the basketball court. Number two, I have Mickey Mouse clubhouse's. Very own LeBron James.
He has been surprisingly well for coming straight out of the elderly home. He's been great. He's been breaking all the records.
[00:44:14] Speaker B: Yeah, most minutes played.
[00:44:15] Speaker C: Most minutes played of all time last night after losing by 44 to the Philadelphia 76. Ers, but LeBron James, he's doing what he does best, and he's scoring a lot of points. But at one, I have Jason Tatum. He has been great. Best small forward in the NBA, and I think it's by a good amount. He's efficient. He shoots it better than anybody else in the NBA. He's a great defender, rebounder, he gets assists, and he's the reason the Celtics are winning so many games. Yes, they have the Monstars, but Jason Tatum is the core of that Monstars team, and he has been phenomenal this season. Like, have you ever watched Space Jam?
[00:44:49] Speaker A: Not for a while.
[00:44:51] Speaker C: The monstars. That's who Michael Jordan was trying to defeat. They're basically a god squad, and Jason Tatum's the core of that god squad. So he's been phenomenal. That's my small forward list.
[00:45:01] Speaker B: All right, moving on to power forwards, my honorable mentions are Jaren, Laurie Martin he already said he was a small forward, though.
And Evan mobley at five. I'll say Paolo Benkiro, he's been the exact same production wise as he was last season, but we just see Franz Wagner taking it to a whole nother level. I think that he and they're winning.
[00:45:20] Speaker C: They're winning.
[00:45:21] Speaker A: A lot of they're really, really good.
[00:45:23] Speaker B: Impalo has been the core of that. He could potentially be a injury replacement in the All Star Game. I don't really see it happening, though. But four, I have Kawhi Leonard, he's been really annoying this season just as far as being inconsistent. He'll have games where he has eight points to match the fraud lord himself, James Harden, who averages like, ten and six in 36 minutes per game.
But, yeah, Kawhi Leonard, he is a great defender.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: That's one thing you can always count.
[00:45:53] Speaker B: On him for, is taking contested mid range shots with, like, two minutes left when we're trying to win and then just playing defense.
Number three, I have Zion. He's been really good this year. Good to see him back on the court healthy. He hasn't been averaging as many points, but they've been winning. Brendan Ingram is the first option. I think that's solidified at this point. But, yeah, Zion's been pretty solid at number two. This is kind of surprised.
Jamie might agree with this one, but I have Giannis at, you know, the Bucks have been not as good as everybody thought they were going to mean, not to me. I kind of saw how that was going to turn out. But Giannis, he's been great, but there's just been one guy who has been a lot better than Yanis, and that's Kevin Durant.
KD has been averaging 31 point something points per game. He's just been carrying. Phoenix Bucker came back last night. Katie was not in the game. And regardless, you have three guys that can score it well, and Kevin Durant is the only person that I think points won't change whenever all three guys are on the court together.
[00:47:00] Speaker A: I like that you said that, and I'm honestly, just to bounce off you, I'm going to start off my top two, unlike what we've been doing so far, just because I want to keep that discussion going, I have Yanis. I want a Kitty at two. But I was thinking the same thing. I want to put Kitty at one, but it's Yanis. It's so hard to do that. And it's an aging KD, but he's playing, like, some of the best basketball.
[00:47:18] Speaker B: Of his career since 2014.
[00:47:20] Speaker A: But then, like you said but you don't think it's going to be a problem. It's like when Beal comes back and Booker, they're all fully healthy.
[00:47:26] Speaker B: He's going to keep doing that. He always has.
[00:47:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:47:29] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:47:30] Speaker B: I'm starting to lean towards what Jamie says. He's definitely a top three scorer of all time.
[00:47:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I've agreed with So. I know what you're saying. He hasn't been as good this year. I mean, I just saw him in person.
[00:47:43] Speaker B: The Bucks have been, like, kind of mid.
[00:47:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I just saw him in person. Sam Hauser was playing a pretty good defense against Giannis, but still, when I'm.
[00:47:51] Speaker C: Looking at Giannis's stats here, I'll jump in the conversation because I have him at one and two as well.
[00:47:55] Speaker A: You good.
[00:47:55] Speaker C: Yeah. Yanis has been phenomenal efficiency wise. He's shooting 60% from the field, which is crazy, averaging 30, ten and four, not shooting five KD. But that's the thing. Kevin Durant's averaging 31, shooting 53% from the field for the crazy shots he takes. That's incredible. With seven rebounds and six assists, he has been carrying the Phoenix Suns by himself, which is crazy to say because he's always the one that's been injured, and he's been phenomenal. He finally got Devin Booker back, and it resulted in a win.
He's incredible. I had Giannis at one and Katie at two. But I'm switching it. I'm switching it because Kevin Durant has been incredible. The bucks have been underwhelming.
Kevin Durant's, one of my favorite players of all time. So I got to do it. KD. KD. Trey five. He's my number one power four in the league. I got Giannis at two.
[00:48:38] Speaker A: I'll switch that, too. And then at three, I have Zion, which I agree with what Nick said. It's Zion. And when Zion plays, he's amazing, but he's not any better than what he was. But him, as just being himself, is a top three power forward in the league. But he hasn't really improved. Improving for him is just staying healthy at this point, and that's what he's doing. And he's still dominant.
[00:48:58] Speaker C: They're winning games, too.
[00:48:59] Speaker A: At four. I also got Kwai, I think. Nick. I got him at four.
Yeah. And then at five I have triple J.
[00:49:05] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:49:06] Speaker A: Just because he's not going to score like the rest of these guys. But his defense is so top tier. But what the thing has been really sucking for him is he's a foul merchant. He gets a lot of fouls, so we'll see how that plays out. But I think I'm predicting here that he'll get it together and his defense will hold him up in the. Top five and then honorable mention. And he could take over for Triple J if Triple J keeps fouling and having to sit a lot in games. Paolo, because he's really stepped it up. Beginning of the year. A little disappointing, but he stepped it up. But I'm still waiting for him to take that next level jump. He's kind of like a Scotty Barnes he's kind of like a Scotty Barnes right now, but still way better than Scotty Barnes. Scotty Barnes. His first two years didn't get much better. Just kind of stayed the same, took the jump this year. That's kind of what's going on with Paolo. But he's still obviously much better than Scotty Barnes.
[00:49:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Going back to the foul trouble for Jaren Jackson. That's why I had to keep him out of the top five. I have him as an honorable mention at five. I have Paolo Boncero just because the Magic are so much better than they have been. He's playing the exact same, but it has resulted in a lot of wins, two seed in the Eastern Conference above a lot of really good teams. So I'm loving what the Magic are doing. Franz Wagner has gotten much better. Cole Anthony looks phenomenal off the bench. It's all coming together in Orlando. That young core has gotten so good, and I can't wait to see what they do because Paolo has been hooping. Four, I have Kawhi Leonard. I think we all have the exact same list. Four, I have Kawhi Leonard. Yeah, he's a great mid range shooter. He's improved from three, but again, it's the inconsistency offensively that hurts him. Again, like Nick said, he'll go out and score eight points in a game. Next night, he might go for like 26, and then he'll go back to eight. So it sucks to see when he's such a legend of the NBA kind of being that inconsistent, but it's because there's so much star power on that team. I think they need more time to mesh together. We'll see how James Harden plays out because it has not worked so far. Three. Zion Williamson. We've all said it. He's not as good as he used to be, but they're collecting W's, and he has still been phenomenal both offensively and defensively. He's one of the most dominant players in the NBA. When it comes to being down low, there is no stopping Zion.
He has been phenomenal, and I'm hoping he could stay healthy because he's one of the most fun players in the NBA to watch, especially when CJ. And Trey Murphy come back. That seems to be awesome.
[00:51:16] Speaker A: Health.
[00:51:16] Speaker C: Yeah, health is wealth for the Pelicans.
[00:51:18] Speaker A: Indeed.
[00:51:18] Speaker B: All right, moving on to centers, my first honorable mention I'm going to switch this up. My first honorable mention is Anthony Davis.
[00:51:28] Speaker A: They don't win.
[00:51:29] Speaker B: Yeah, they don't win. They don't win.
[00:51:31] Speaker A: All right, nick, the Clippers don't win, and you studied Kawhi and PG high.
[00:51:34] Speaker B: But because I know paul George is different. Paul George is Paul George.
[00:51:39] Speaker A: Okay. Anthony Davis is Anthony Davis.
[00:51:41] Speaker B: But Anthony Davis is not better than Mickey Mouse. Rangers he's not better than poor Zingis. He's not better than Bam. He's not better.
[00:51:46] Speaker A: You have porzingis in your top five.
[00:51:48] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:51:48] Speaker B: He's not better than Embiid and I.
[00:51:49] Speaker A: Don'T even have poor Zingis in my head.
[00:51:51] Speaker B: Porzingis is better than Adu. Yeah, for sure. If Porzingis is on this team, at.
[00:51:56] Speaker C: Least he's staying healthy.
[00:51:57] Speaker B: At least he's anthony Davis is great on defense, but he just gets averaging like 20. Absolutely.
[00:52:03] Speaker A: Hold on.
[00:52:04] Speaker B: Let's go ahead and check that out.
[00:52:05] Speaker A: He's averaging mid to high 20s.
[00:52:08] Speaker B: If he's averaging over 25 points, I'll put him in.
[00:52:10] Speaker C: He has to average at 25.
[00:52:12] Speaker B: I know that 24 oh roasted.
But still, even then, I think LeBron has to do too much. And with LeBron having to carry at 39 years old when it's supposed to be eighty s team, I don't think he deserves to be in the top five. I don't think he deserves to be an all Star. I don't think he deserves to be an all NBA player. He's been this for years and it's kind of so but yeah, five. Poor Zingis kind of all I just said, way better defender. One of the best defenders in the league. Stretch big. He actually can hit his threes consistently. That's one thing that used to make me really upset about Anthony Davis is he would try to spot up at the three and you'd always miss.
Then four. I have bam. Way better defender. Know most centers in the league for his size. Very consistent at six foot nine. He can guard the three. He can honestly guard the two through five, if you ask me. And then three I've sabonus. He's just jokic without just with less stats.
[00:53:12] Speaker C: Yeah. Basically they play the exact same.
[00:53:14] Speaker B: And then two, I have embiid. He's been know it's literally just this generation's version of Kg and Tim Duncan with less rings with less winning.
[00:53:27] Speaker A: Yeah. All right. Starting off with my centers, it's going to look a little bit different than Nick's, but my honorable mentions are bam Adabayo, Victor Webinyama because he's exceeded my.
[00:53:37] Speaker C: He'S been very good.
[00:53:38] Speaker A: I'm surprised you didn't say Chet for an over.
[00:53:40] Speaker B: Oh, wow. I kind of forgot about you were.
[00:53:42] Speaker A: Really high on him earlier.
[00:53:43] Speaker B: Not surprising because I can't stand him.
[00:53:46] Speaker A: But yeah. So honorable mentions got Bam, Wemby porzingis and moving into my top five. I didn't originally have when I was doing this, but then I was going back into my head and yeah, timbrel is the number one seed. And it's not just Anthony Edwards. Cat is playing phenomenal basketball, averaging just around 20 points per game, but he's doing it very efficiently, making some clutch time shots against my Boston Celtics. And he's deserving of getting himself back into the top five. There was a few years of him just kind of being like a silent good player in the league, but he's working his way back up into stardom. At four, I got Jamie's very own demonte sabonis.
[00:54:22] Speaker C: Interesting. Baby.
[00:54:24] Speaker A: Baby Jokic. Baby Yokich. But the reason why he's not any higher is because his defense is atrocious. And for me, I value defense a lot. And if you can do both, like everyone else above, you're going to be higher.
[00:54:38] Speaker C: The only man he plays defense on is Anthony Davis, and it works a lot.
[00:54:42] Speaker A: But Anthony Davis at number three, he can score. And his defense is better than Sabonis. Maybe he's not, baby Yokich, because Sabonis is averaging 19 points per game, twelve rebounds and seven assists. Literally, baby Yokich. But Ad is so dominant offensively.
[00:54:57] Speaker C: Unhealthy.
[00:54:58] Speaker A: Yeah, he's not leading a team like we all thought he could, but he's dominant offensively, and his defense is 1000 light years better than Sabonis. And then MB at two. But it's really just one A and one B, or one A and one A and a half. I have MB at two because I think I just value Jokic. I used to not think this way. I remember last year in the same exact spot Jokic was two at times he might have been three because I was hating on him, but he has proved to me through that playoff run he is the best player in the entire NBA. And maybe his stats aren't as strong as they were last year. They're still amazing. But maybe he's not averaging close to a triple double like he was last year, but he is still so dominant, and he can just scan the floor better than most people have ever done it. He's a center, and he's up there with John Stockton for being able to view the floor. He's up there with some of the greatest passers, Steve Nash. And this man's a center, so I gotta give him that at one for Jokic.
[00:55:53] Speaker C: All right, moving on to my top five centers and the last little rankings of the day. My honorable mentions are Victor Webbinas, Chet Holmgren and Miles Turner. They've all been phenomenal. The two rookies have been great. Miles Turner has elevated his play alongside Tyrese Halliburton, who's been phenomenal. I forgot about Carl anthony Towns, I had him as an honorable mention in the power forwards list, so shout out Carl talent. He's been great.
[00:56:16] Speaker A: That's true. I mean, he technically is a power.
[00:56:17] Speaker C: Forward because Rudy yeah, I had him as an honorable mention, the power forward list, I just forgot to shout him out. But at five, I have Bam out the bayou. He has been great with the Miami Heat. The Miami Heat have been solid. They're winning games. And it's not really all Jimmy Butler like it used to be. It's been Bam. His scoring totals are up. He's been one of the best defenders in the NBA, and he has been for a long time. At six foot nine, which is crazy considering there's centers in the league who are seven foot four. Victor wet bananas. But Bam has been great, and I love what he's doing. Four. I have Anthony Data Davis. He has been very solid. His stats are down because I'm looking on ESPN right now and he's actually averaging 21.8 points per game. And then twelve rebounds, three assists.
[00:56:58] Speaker B: That's awesome. That just makes my case even better.
[00:57:00] Speaker C: He's a fraud, but like, three point.
[00:57:01] Speaker B: Shooting is points per game career.
[00:57:04] Speaker C: Yeah, he's down.
[00:57:05] Speaker B: Yeah, he's a fraud.
[00:57:06] Speaker C: Yeah. His three point per shooting is worse than it was. He's only at 30%, and he shoots a lot of them.
His defense is there. He leads the NBA in blocks. I'm not going to say it doesn't, because he's a great, great defender, but he's not carrying the team like we thought he would. LeBron's 39. He kind of said in an interview he was handing the reins to Anthony Davis years ago. Yeah, and he hasn't taken the reins. So we're still waiting on the Anthony Davis breakout because it just has not been there.
Three I have demonstrate sabonis because Sabonis he's actually Anthony Davis's legal father. We have the papers here. He's a phenomenal, phenomenal player. But they call him Baby Yokich because he is Baby Yokich. Seven assists, 12.3 rebounds and 20 points per game. He's at 19.9, so I'll round up. But he shoots the ball well. He's unstoppable around the basket. He finds his teammates. That's why Fox doesn't need to be the playmaker, because Sabonis is so good at it.
And those assist totals would be higher if Kevin Herder can make a three every once in a while. Two. I have Joel embiid. He's one of the top scorers in the NBA. He does it all. He's very unstoppable. He's dominant. He's a little bit of a free throw merchant, but he'll get you a bucket when you need it. Angel Embiid, last year's MVP. I don't think he'll run it back, but he has been great. And at one, the actual joker, Nikola Jokic. His statistics have been unbelievable. The nuggets have been great. Even when he is out, he's crazy. Nikola Yokich, I don't even know. He's a part time NBA player because he's a horse farmer or horse racer. Whatever he does, Yokich is crazy. I don't even know. But that is all we have for you guys this week. Thank you all for tuning in to Wbua 90.7 FM and the full Court Press podcast. To stay up to date, follow us on Instagram at FCP podcast underscore UA. See y'all next week.
[00:58:51] Speaker A: Peacem. Tuscaloosa.
