[00:00:00] Dustin Hawes: All right, everybody welcome to the 287th edition of the holy backward podcast. I am Dustin here in rip city and I got my man
[00:00:10] Dillon Sage: live and direct from Beaverton, Oregon, doing a really bad job with packing to go to Medford for a week. Like all my clothes are on my bed waiting to get back. So I have that for me, but the rest of the shit, like a week long, stay at your parent’s house.
[00:00:29] I am so unprepared for this shit. So when
[00:00:33] Dustin Hawes: you make that long tedious derive, I mean, I, I hate making just the drive to Albany, which is an hour and 15 when you’re driving all the way down to Southern Oregon. How do you pass the time?
[00:00:45] Dillon Sage: So I, I listened to one hour of music and then audio books and podcasts, but really well, I mean, I’ve driven this drive so much that it’s like a time for me.
[00:00:59] Like, [00:01:00] obviously meditate is the bad word for it, but like, just think for myself without like any distractions for an hour, like I’m not checking my phone, obviously I’m not trying to die and, you know, grants pass or whatever. So I’m like just thinking, having a clear head. So the trip down doesn’t suck.
[00:01:18] Cause like once you get past like the big cities of Oregon, it’s just you in the road. So when, when coming up, I can’t like pontificate about some subject that’s in my mind on the way to Portland, but down to Medford, that’s just fine. But you know, if U S bank didn’t screw me over, uh, I’d be having much more fun thinking about stuff.
[00:01:38] And so trying to scramble to get my
[00:01:40] Dustin Hawes: money. What’s on your hour-long hip hop playlist. Who, who are you going to go to tomorrow morning?
[00:01:48] Dillon Sage: I don’t know. I haven’t checked. I usually go. I mean, because we’re on apple iTunes, I’m an apple. And they gave me a bunch of playlists. So let’s see what is on the, uh, [00:02:00] recommended for me page or a playlist.
[00:02:04] Uh, there’s a slaughterhouse album that they’re trying to promote to me. No, thank you. So some Odyssey, some cannabis, some OCN, Apollo brown Fante Royster five nine recipes, slaughterhouse sky zoo, John Connor. Gangstar Sean Price and kill a
[00:02:22] Dustin Hawes: priest. I would say, see in Apollo brown album is super chill vibes.
[00:02:28] Like I listened to that. I was really stressed from work one day and I just took a walk, put the headphones in and I had to take a walk
[00:02:35] Dillon Sage: by, I’ll see an Apollo brown it’s
[00:02:38] Dustin Hawes: whatever album that you gave to them.
[00:02:40] Dillon Sage: Yeah, there’s no, there’s a, there’s a song called they go
[00:02:43] Dustin Hawes: walk. I believe. Is it on that album then?
[00:02:46] I probably listened to it. I mean, Super chill. I was really stressed and I was like, you know, got outside, breathe the fresh air. And like, it just, that, that was my mood. I really wanted something chill, but with a nice beat, um, [00:03:00]
[00:03:00] Dillon Sage: well it does some fantastic production. Did you know, he uses some like Microsoft, uh, uh, digital software from like the two thousands to make all those beats.
[00:03:13] He doesn’t use like, uh, you know, uh, Ableton or whatever. He uses some janky jenky software to, to make it. And then Apollo, I mean, uh, OSI is one of the best rappers. Like if you’ve listened to word life, that’s one of the best hip hop albums ever. Like you throw that on a party. It doesn’t get skipped.
[00:03:33] You’ve listened to it by yourself. Doesn’t get skipped people. Don’t give him his flowers, but he’s one of the best, uh, MCs out there.
[00:03:41] Dustin Hawes: And shit. If it ain’t broke, doesn’t need to be fixed. That’s what he’s comfortable making music with. So, you know, salute to you don’t need to reinvent the wheel
[00:03:49] Dillon Sage: here. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people want that, like the most highly technical, digital audio, like software dudes using some shit like cool edit like [00:04:00] 2000 or something.
[00:04:00] Like it’s
[00:04:01] Dustin Hawes: crazy. So is that the equivalent of a graphic designer saying, nah, fuck Microsoft. Or fuck, uh, Adobe illustrator and Photoshop. I’m using Microsoft paint.
[00:04:10] Dillon Sage: Yeah. Yeah, no, Mario, it would be like Mario pane on the fucking, super Nintendo.
[00:04:18] Dustin Hawes: All right. I think that’s enough. Uh, non hoop talk. Let’s get into the episode.
[00:04:24] Shall we Sage, uh, the blazers have spent life on the road. Uh, their second to last road trip of the season kicked off last Monday, uh, losing 1 22 to one 13 to Trey young and the Atlanta Hawks kept it close for a minute in Madison square garden before RJ bear and the Knicks ended up winning 1 28 98. Had a 13 point lead on Friday at behalf against the Brooklyn nets.
[00:04:48] Then Kevin Duran and Seth Curry, really, uh, Wogan and started taking the blazer seriously, to be honest, winning a 1 28 to 1 23. And then I think in maybe the most surprising [00:05:00] results of the, their trip so far, uh, the Indiana Pacers, really from start to finish, uh, set the tone in a must lose scenario for Portland, uh, defeating the blazers 1 29 to 90.
[00:05:12] For those keeping score at home that puts the blazers at 26 and 44 on the season with 12 games to go six on the road, six at home, the spurs picked up an unexpected win in the bay tonight, giving them 28 wins, which was fabulous. Unfortunately, the Kings could not hold the sons off in Sacramento. The king still have 25 wins on the year as do the Indiana Pacers.
[00:05:38] So it’s looking like the blazers barring something crazy over these past 12 games we’ll end up anywhere between fifth or eight in the lottery odds heading into the post season. And as we always do check in on our friends in new Orleans, we do have their pick pivots in the lottery. Uh, five through 14.
[00:05:58] They’re currently tied with the [00:06:00] Lakers, uh, for that. For the play and spot really it’s really gonna come down to them at 30 and 41. Doesn’t appear that there’s a shot that they can catch the Clippers, uh, for eight. So it’s really just going to be monitoring where that pitfalls, if they do not make the playoffs at the moment, uh, I looked at, uh, five 30 eights, um, the wind projections.
[00:06:26] It has Portland staying at seventh at the end of the season. It projects Portland to win five more games, uh, finishing below the spurs, but not good enough to pass the Pacers or Kings. However, that is why they play the games. Uh, Sage, what was your good for the week?
[00:06:44] Dillon Sage: I’m going to, you know what, I’m going to be selfish and, uh, Um, I’m hoping some people do daily fantasy now.
[00:06:53] And I really liked Kevin Grant because of price point. And they kept saying that he was, he, they were [00:07:00] going to blow him out. The nets were going to blow us out. And I said, you can’t predict low outs when you do gambling. And I didn’t project a blowout and I had a lot more Kevin Duran. And because of that, I made a lot more money than a lot of people with the Kevin Duran play.
[00:07:15] So the, the whole, the old adage of you can’t project blowouts and the NBA is my good for the week. I know you’re going to get the losses, so I’ll just be selfish.
[00:07:27] Dustin Hawes: At a boy. Um, absolutely. I think that the losses are incredibly helpful right now at this stage of the season. I mean, as you’re seeing, it’s, it’s incredibly hard to pass.
[00:07:40] It’s harder. I feel like to pass teams when you’re trying to tank, rather than you’re trying to pass them or play off positioning. And Portland has some really winnable games coming up and the Indiana game was one of them. So to see Indiana a handle business, what was marvelous, but also I think it’s really [00:08:00] good.
[00:08:00] The road trip that Josh Hart is having, I would like to see the minutes reduced, like. For instance, there’s no reason for him to play 38 minutes, uh, in Atlanta and 40 minutes at Brooklyn. Like we’re really, we’re just trying to be competitive. We’re not trying as an org. I mean, obviously the players are trying to win, but the organization should be on the same page and saying, you know, let’s just make this competitive, but there’s, now’s not the time to like really go full throttle for, for victory.
[00:08:27] So I was really happy to see that, you know, Josh Hart, uh, had 26 points on an incredible 11 and 13 shooting, uh, in 30 minutes and he didn’t play any in the fourth. So that, that was a wonderful job by the organization. Uh, he’s been on an absolute heater over his past. Going back to that Washington performance, 44 points, uh, on 15 of 21 shooting in Atlanta, 31 on 11 of 21, uh, at New York, 17 on six, a 15 shooting at Brooklyn, 25 [00:09:00] points on nine of 18 shooting.
[00:09:01] Then as I said, 26 points this afternoon on 11 of 13 shooting, he’s shooting incredibly efficient from three at the line. Uh, the middy, um, he’s handing out a lot of assist, which is great as he works on his play-making ability. Uh, clearly he is the only quote unquote adult in the lineup, but it’s, it’s still impressive when you see the talent around him and knowing the defense is, could just key in, on him all, all day long.
[00:09:29] So for him to kind of take this next step is really good because you imagine what he’s doing now and then kind of projected, okay. How is he going to look alongside Dame or. And that’s just going to make his life so much easier and he’s going to be getting even better. It looks so, um, if you’re looking for a bright spot, especially from that CJ McCollum trade it’s Josh Hart, you know, two more years on a really affordable $13 million, a season contract, uh, still just 27 years old.
[00:09:57] And [00:10:00] I mean, I think that that’s, he’s got to be one of the best value players in the league, especially.
[00:10:03] Dillon Sage: Absolutely. Absolutely. And you know what he does it, it transfers like it’s effort. And I mean, it’s something that we’ve discussed a lot. Defense is about effort and Josh Hart’s about that. I would say when we first got Josh Hart, he let Brandon Williams be that alpha and he kind of was just fading in the back.
[00:10:31] And then I think there was when he dropped his 40, he was aggressive and kept that aggressive minded. Throughout the entire rest of the games that we played, because I would say like he helped tank for while letting Brandon and those other guys leave. Now he’s taken the reins and we’re more, more, more competitive.
[00:10:54] And he’s usually shooting at a good percentage. So him stepping up into a leadership role is [00:11:00] great. Cause there was times where I was just like, you know, Brandon’s going to just take all these shots and that’s not good for anyone in anything. So having Josh be the number one in this really weird season that we’re going through is a, is a great thing.
[00:11:16] Did you have a bad for the week? Yeah, I think it’s silly that, uh, and I’m still, I mean, I think we have the same bad, so I’m just going to say it. Um, us playing Chris Dunn for 27, 28 minutes and giving key on, you know, like zero minutes for a game and seven. I think Chris Dunn has played better than I’ve seen him in an NBA uniform.
[00:11:39] And that’s great, but there are no, there’s no reason not to play the guy. That’s the youngest on the roster. The most, we don’t know what he is at all zero minutes in a game in this type of era. Like you, you kind of know what Brandon is like cut his minutes down. Cut. Uh, Chris downs, minutes down. You don’t need to play Chris done 28 minutes [00:12:00] in a noncompetitive game.
[00:12:01] That needs to be the young guys. Like the people you don’t know. And, uh, yeah, I, I think that’s the bad, but I do have to give Chris some props. This is such, this is such a better, uh, performance from him that I’ve seen in a uniform and an NBA uniform. So he’s doing a really good job. He’s competing.
[00:12:22] Dustin Hawes: Yeah. I would say that’s my bad for the week too.
[00:12:25] When I was. Checking on Brooklyn. I was like, why, why isn’t Keon playing? Why isn’t Greg brown playing like these are your draft picks on the season, along with Watford who you found as an undrafted free agent. Like why, why is Ben Macklemore taking 14, 15 shots? Like what, what what’s going on? Like this is the most developmental of developmental seasons and the organization was doing a good job early on in the month, getting him playing time.
[00:12:51] You’re looking at 30 minutes at you talk 26 and one game against Minnesota, 29 and the other. And then it goes to 15 at home [00:13:00] against Washington does get 23 against Atlanta. But then
[00:13:04] Dillon Sage: on the 18th there isn’t enough though. You should
[00:13:07] Dustin Hawes: third it’s better than what it has been like 18 against the Knicks doesn’t play at all.
[00:13:12] And no reason was specified against the Brooklyn nets and then 19 today against Indiana. Like, I think it’s important to keep Josh Hart rolling, but also. You don’t need to push him too hard. Like I think there is some, some form of like, okay, let’s just save this and bottle this up for, for next year. Like you don’t, you want to keep him him fluid and you want to keep a rhythm, but you don’t want to risk, uh, any sort of a silly injury.
[00:13:41] And also if we’re being honest, you don’t want to win a game that you don’t want to add back into a win. Like that could really be the difference between landing a top four pick and having a team. You know, maybe jump you in the lottery. So like it’s, it’s such a weird, uh, predicament to be in, especially as a blazer fan, like the past nine [00:14:00] years you’ve only been looking for, okay, who are we trying to jump in the playoff standings?
[00:14:03] And now you’re actively like trying to lose and you see it, like you look at the social media comments. Um, nine out of 10 fans are just elated that the team is losing right now. Like everyone is buying into the vision this season. And I think a way to buy into that vision is also like, oh, like we may have not drafted Keon Johnson, but he’s on the roster and he’s going to be on the roster.
[00:14:25] He’s got a guaranteed first round contract. He is our farm system right now. Like we need to see what, what he can be, because as you mentioned, he’s a player that is a long-term prospect and he needs these minutes. He needs them more than Ben Macklemore. He needs them more than, than Brandon and Chris and Ann Joshie been like, let’s really see what he can do.
[00:14:49] And I think ideally you build him up and you give him that momentum that he needs going into the off season, going into summer league. Like the last thing you want as a player, low on [00:15:00] confidence, ending the season, and then having no real supervised like team activities, right? Like you want to get him in really any young prospect, great momentum heading into that off season.
[00:15:12] So they’re like, okay, like, I, I, I’m going to do this. I’m going to work on this. I’m working on that. Like you just get that motivation to, to start that grind, uh, all over again.
[00:15:22] Dillon Sage: So if this was the two K camp and you can send a Keon to any camp, where would you dare? I have him go,
[00:15:31] Dustin Hawes: oh, and I can’t split like at least a
[00:15:33] Dillon Sage: couple of points.
[00:15:34] Nah, it’s way it’s one camp.
[00:15:42] Dustin Hawes: It’s so hard because I’m torn between strength and I’m torn between jump shooting. Like I think he needs both. Especially as a young player. Like, I mean, we’re going to be talking about a player, a prospect later on where strength is really the, the major factor between them being [00:16:00] great or out of the league, possibly.
[00:16:02] So like Keon is not only, uh, raw in his skills. He, he looks smaller than I thought. So he definitely came out early. He got that first round money, but I mean, it’s hard. It’s to me, it’s almost like chicken or the egg. What, what happens first? Because I don’t think you can have one without the other, so maybe you can send them a shooting camp and I’ll send him to, to strength,
[00:16:26] Dillon Sage: you know, where I would go, I’d go to play-making camp because the shot like.
[00:16:36] If I feel like it’s bad, he’s been doing better than I thought so kudos to him, but I don’t trust it as a, a sustainable resource. So I would do is I believe in the play-making let’s improve the play-making so he can actually contribute with that. Cause I think his vision is good. I like Chauncey Billups loves to talking about the [00:17:00] kick, the drive, kick and shoot Keon can do the driving and finding the, uh, the player like we watched Ben Mac, uh, Ben math.
[00:17:11] I think Keon has the Ben Matheran, uh, vision, like where he finds the players in the right spot. Like I I’ve seen Keon do that in a worst spacing, Tennessee. So if I have the, uh, the, uh, the honor of sending him to a two K camp, I would do play-making and have that be his thing, because I think that God given athleticism, if he can get uses handle to use that, to get dunks, I think that creates more value than him getting a little bit better at shooting.
[00:17:42] So I, I would, I would go the play-making route.
[00:17:46] Dustin Hawes: Did you have
[00:17:46] Dillon Sage: an ugly for the week and when it’s all losses? And though my main concern is that our rookie doesn’t get playing. I mean, I think we addressed what the bad was [00:18:00] for this week.
[00:18:03] Dustin Hawes: Yeah. I would say. I didn’t have one either. Like they understood the assignment. That’s what it was. You go on a road trip, you need to rack up some losses. You need to have a couple teams past you. Um, that that’s, that’s all, I, I would say, like, I think that the week was a, a success in terms of what we are now equating to success in this rebuilding, uh, season, so to speak.
[00:18:28] So with that said, is there anything else about this team? Like, we, we know what the objective is like they’re, they’re trotting out a team right now that is trying to just see the finish line. Like they’re trying to see that lag at the end of the tunnel there, if there’s 12 games remaining, when, when you watch, is there anything that any of the young players are doing that you’re like, okay, I can see that I can take that in big bottle of that for next season, or is it just like [00:19:00] running out that, running off the clock?
[00:19:01] Like, let’s just get this done as quick and as dirty as possible. I mean, you
[00:19:06] Dillon Sage: addressed the Josh Hart thing. So I think that it’s good for him to get that run and the success of, and being that high. I don’t think Josh heart’s ever been more than the third best player on any roster. Like, you know, the Lakers, the have LeBron, you had Brandon, you had all of these players in new Orleans.
[00:19:25] He had Brandon, like, this is his chance to be that shining star and he’s contributing, um, you know, we, we mentioned a meme already. Um, I think Brandon, uh, Williams is sometimes good sometimes shit. So this team is this team, man. Like we constructed something really special in terms of sucking.
[00:19:52] Dustin Hawes: Yeah. And I think it’s important when you’re watching the scene to know that I think there’s only one player really guaranteed to come [00:20:00] back next year.
[00:20:00] I think that’s true. That’s currently playing. I think you could probably bank on trending. And I think you could probably bank on Keon. You know, the extended Watford’s contract key on is still your, your long-term project,
[00:20:13] Dillon Sage: but do those others who have a rotation spot or are they just showing,
[00:20:16] Dustin Hawes: okay. No, they do not have a rotation spot next year.
[00:20:19] In my opinion, I think Watford is closer than Keon Johnson. What I am seeing though, is I see a lot of players that are not really producing, and I think they’re kind of making their future known within the organization. And I’m primarily speaking about CJ lop and Elijah Hughes. Like I, I think when you look at the blazers and the guards they already have with Lillard and Simons and Hart and, and Keon is your prospect and with the four picks and it being such a good guard, heavy class, I don’t see any reason or any scenario in which.
[00:20:55] Players like Hughes and Eleby would be brought back even on two-way [00:21:00] contracts. Like you just, you’re just running out of room and you, you need size.
[00:21:04] Dillon Sage: And I think roster space is way more valued than it is currently.
[00:21:09] Dustin Hawes: Yeah. And that would also say justice has an opportunity to come back as well. Uh, he is, he’s guaranteed at least I think $4 million.
[00:21:16] So, um, he could maybe sneak in, I think it’s going to be a little bit more tricky as players start to get healthy, particularly in this year, little, um, and to see what Portland does with whatever exception they want to use, whatever free agent money, like whatever avenue, uh, they decide. But you’re really just looking at Josh Hart.
[00:21:34] And I think that’s what makes this, this particular rebuild. I think more difficult to watch because when I was, you know, discussing the past, like, you know, I would drive up 10, 15 times a year and go watch like the oh five blazers. Yeah. They were God awful. They were the worst, one of the worst teams in the league, but you had a rookie point guard is Sebastian Telfair.
[00:21:58] Uh, they had two first [00:22:00] round picks, Sergei Manya and Victor Chiappa, which you could see how they are developing. They had a fun second round pick big Haas on June. Uh, you still exact Randolph who was in the midst of trying to, you know, win, uh, most improved player. He either had one of the year before or not, but he was putting up stats and he was still young.
[00:22:17] So you had multiple players that you’re watching when it’s this team to me, it’s it’s, you’re seeing if Josh art can keep up with the efficiency. And maybe seeing flashes from trend in and flashes for, from Keon. And that’s, that’s really it. So that’s, that’s tough to watch because you, you know, Ben, Macklemore’s probably not coming back.
[00:22:36] Chris is just trying to have his cup. She’s just trying to get a paycheck, to be honest, they
[00:22:41] Dillon Sage: get it next.
[00:22:42] Dustin Hawes: Year’s contract, drew, Eubanks doing the same thing. Like they’re not, not trying. They’re they’re doing
[00:22:47] Dillon Sage: their job. They have to be trying
[00:22:48] Dustin Hawes: their absolute hardest, but there’s no, I don’t think I can’t envision any of those players playing a role on this team next year in any capacity.
[00:22:57] And so when your whole vision as a [00:23:00] fan is next season and beyond, it’s, it’s really hard to, to pay attention and get invested in a squad where 10% of the, of the players are really going to be coming back and do anything for you next year. So it’s, it’s extra difficult. I would say to get through this season, if you
[00:23:18] Dillon Sage: had to choose between Elijah Hughes and CJ Ellerby, who would you choose?
[00:23:25] Dustin Hawes: It’s going to sound really shitty. I would take Elijah Hughes because I’ve seen less of him. I’ve seen too much of CJL a B, and that’s, I’m not trying to come across like a Dick, but watching lop, it’s not quite the same as, as summer league. When we featured Jeff Pendergraph now Jeff Ayres and we’re, we were just dumping the ball into them and saying, Hey, can you score low posts?
[00:23:46] Can you score ISO face up? He did not have it in the game, but they kept trying to force it to see if that’s what he could do. I don’t even feel like we’re trying to force it with CJ lov, but like, he’s not even hitting his jumpers. Like, I think he’s hustling, which is [00:24:00] great, but like, he’s not the player that he was at Washington state.
[00:24:04] And he, he had his moment that Philadelphia game washer, the CJ lob game. Yes. He’s playing out the position. I think he brought up a good point a couple of episodes ago about that. And it’s, it’s hard to evaluate, but I’ve got to see more. I mean, we’ve seen it. We’ve seen flashes from Trenton. We’ve seen flashes from.
[00:24:21] I haven’t seen that from CJL a B. And so I think it’s, it’s tough. I’ll go with Elijah. I think he’s got a little bit better MBA body. Um, and what we’ll see if that is able to pan out, but I mean, if you made me pick, I would take a lot of show. I
[00:24:37] Dillon Sage: would take CJ other, because I looked at their stats. Both of them are on the Tony Snell, a level of production where they’re just on the court, chilling CGL, or be a little bit more productive in the time that he’s there.
[00:24:51] So I would take him, but they’re both like Tony Snell is like a God to what they’re doing. So. You knew how I felt [00:25:00] about Tony Snell on the blazers. So two store two, Tony Snell’s just seems like nod dog. Um, I got to get more production from you and CJ LRB is playing a lot of minutes. So the fact that his production levels so low, not good, Elijah Hughes might have
[00:25:18] Dustin Hawes: 36.
[00:25:18] That be like, oh, if he had 36 minutes, this is what he would be doing. No, man.
[00:25:22] Dillon Sage: It’s like, he gets a statistic every two minutes. Like when you’re on the basketball court, you’re supposed to be doing something other than running up and down, man. That, that, I mean, there’s a bias that I have of players that don’t produce minutes, obviously.
[00:25:39] Cause I would do this DFS shit, but like that is such a battery. And Elijah uses much worse. So I mean, neither would be the right answer, but a gun to my head, I guess I’d take Ellerby. But then I would also have to think what about the pay scale? Because if I’m paying them, I want the cheapest one. If they’re not [00:26:00] going to produce much in the, uh, on the court, but, uh, yeah, it’s, it’s tough, man.
[00:26:05] Like, it’s hard to evaluate, but when you’re on the court and given minutes in the most, you know, like this, this is the highest league in the loom in the world. So if you’re just not producing at all, when all the production is given to you, like that’s tough. I mean, I remember a week ago you asked me what I thought of, uh, a Watford and like, I looked it up like without Dame, CJ, cause I had to have CJ in there.
[00:26:38] Uh, Norman, Robert, uh, Anthony, like all the good players. I think I named all use of too. He’s taking the most shots. Like he’s taken 105 and the next person on the list is 63. Trenton’s actually producing he’s inefficient when he shoots. But like he’s actually producing the [00:27:00] fact that CGL or BS on the Fort court for the same amount of time and not doing anything kinda, it’s kind of sketchy, but.
[00:27:07] You know, w we’ve talked about CJ, other BS, uh, lack of production. I think every podcast for the last month. So it’s tough to read on the guide
[00:27:17] Dustin Hawes: to piggyback on CJ, but, you know, speaking of evaluation, we spent Thursday and a Saturday in Portland for the round one and round two men’s basketball, March madness.
[00:27:30] We saw six total games, uh, Boise state members. Georgia state Gonzaga, Indiana St. Mary’s, UCLA, Akron. And then on Saturday it was, um, St Mary’s and UCLA and Gonzaga and Memphis. Uh, let’s spend, I think the, the rest of the episode, talking about seeing the prospect, some that we’ve talked about for future Fridays, actually in person, like what, [00:28:00] what stood out to you the most and who do you want to start with?
[00:28:03] I
[00:28:03] Dillon Sage: mean, th this tournament, I mean, we’re, we’re a Portland trailblazers podcast, but the first word in that is Portland and we got a tree like this stuff doesn’t happen every year. Where a city like Portland is one of the first four. So it was like, when tickets came on sale, I told Dustin, let’s go to all of them.
[00:28:26] It’s such a special treat, man. So being able to go to the game. Sit for 12 hours watching basketball and drinking cheap beer. It was, it was a memory and a time that I’ll cherish. So very
[00:28:39] Dustin Hawes: excited. Um, yeah. So if pro tip, if, if you go to any event at the rose quarter, hit up low bar on the 300 level $4 rainy or beers, it is the best value by a million in, in that gym.
[00:28:57] Otherwise you’re spending 12 [00:29:00] bucks for a pine of course, light, or you’re spending 13 bucks for a craft IPA, which if that’s your jam, like I enjoy a good craft beer. If I’m buying beer for myself, it is, you know, probably some local Oregon, like Porter, stout, logger, whatever you name it’s, you know, it’s what I like to drink, but sometimes I like a good domestic Rainier’s, you know, Northwest.
[00:29:24] So fuck it for $4. Yeah. We’re going to have a few of those and a couple of slices of a sizzle pie, which I think is also a decent value. So now we definitely had to find our groove. We got thrown for a loop a little bit. Uh, there was a bit of a, uh, snafu after session. One ended, we went and checked on the car to make sure there was no parking ticket.
[00:29:45] We were good to go there. And as we’re walking back for the start of session two, which was Indiana St Mary’s, it was just like a bunch of salmon starting to go upstream. Like they weren’t opening the doors and the lines that were formed 10 minutes ago started to get [00:30:00] really murky. And it, we were all building up like a dam and everyone’s like, yeah, the game has started.
[00:30:05] So by the time we got in there, the first half was already halfway through. Uh, so that was a bit of a, a bummer, but good to only site that had that issue. I believe when duke and Cal state Fullerton tipped off. Um, on the east coast, they are, excuse me. I think it was wherever it was. They had the same issue.
[00:30:25] That was the start of session two. So it’s just an NCA thing. They staggered the games that there needs to be more time between those two. But really aside from that, it was, it was super fun, um, to watch prospects, especially like as somewhat impartial, like rooting for underdogs. But like at the end of the day, I didn’t really have a vested interest in who won or who lost.
[00:30:46] It’s just fun to see, um, some prospects that you can be like, okay, are they going to be good NBA players? How are they, how are they, you know, Playing the stakes are high. Like this is one and done. This is it. [00:31:00] It’s a neutral site. Um, really great. I think the, the day 180% capacity at bet, day two, you could tell there was a noticeable difference that the place was packed a hundred percent.
[00:31:10] Um, and especially for that, uh, Gonzaga Memphis game, that the crowd, what was really into
[00:31:15] Dillon Sage: it. So let’s, let’s talk about the boys is let’s go back to series session one though. Cause I think we skipped over all of the actual game play and talked about the beers and pizza that we enjoyed all the beers, the best part.
[00:31:31] I thought the best part was watching Jaylen, Dern, uh, play defense man, like my, my absolute disdain to watch Memphis play offense makes it, so I don’t want to watch that team very much, but the way that they, as a unit hustled defensively, it was great. And then to see Jaylen. That guy that cleans up everything.
[00:31:57] And like, he might not have blocked the shot, but he [00:32:00] definitely contested and made the shot a lot different. Like, you can tell that when he was on the floor for every game that he played, that opposing guard knew where he was and affected shots. Like, I feel the same with Chet, but we’re talking about Jaylen just to see that amount of like the hops that he has to contest and get rebounds like that first jump.
[00:32:27] And then the second jump after that is pretty special, but the way I’m just so impressed with the effort defensively that he’s shown when he was on the court, when he wasn’t getting all these bullshit fouls of, you know, touching the, the all mighty drew Timmy. Yeah. I
[00:32:46] Dustin Hawes: mean, I left. Feeling probably the same way I did going into watching Jalen Durham.
[00:32:52] I think he’s going to make an impact off the bat on the defensive end. I think he’s still incredibly raw offensively. There [00:33:00] was a jumper e-tail in that second Zack a game where we were both like, don’t do it and it just, it missed the left bad. Um, But you did see the, what he can be at least right now on the offensive end, w we saw that wonderful lob dunk, and I told you, as soon as it happened, I’m happy.
[00:33:16] I just wanted to see one monster dunk. Um, you also is that the Boise or is that Gonzaga Gonzaga game. Okay. It really good job, you know, one of the best law finishers in this class, so you can see what he can be offensively, uh, on the defensive end. Yeah. He moves his feet really well. I thought he was a really good communicator.
[00:33:37] Uh, always had his head on a swivel, which I think is important, especially when we’ve talked about some of these prospects, like getting beat back door and getting, um, letting their guard down. He always seemed to know where he should be. I mean, you watched a lot of that, especially against Boise state, where they put four of their players up to press and they let him just guard the rim.
[00:33:58] He was guarding about two [00:34:00] players simultaneously, so he needed to be really quick on the reaction. I think his, his biggest strength right now is just his ability to get, um, to grow into his body. Like it’s, it’s easy to forget that he’s probably the youngest prospect in this draft. So just what you’re seeing now, like if he’s doing that against the 21, 22 year old drew Timmy, a 20 year old chat, homegrown, which I think also people, um, gloss over, like Chet’s old, older for a freshmen and he has terrible guard play.
[00:34:35] So when you’re trying to evaluate a college basketball player, it’s so important to take all of the facts. These matters, man, because he’s not getting pick and rolls. He’s not, I mean, sometimes the coach, like, yeah, let’s just let you isolate on the block and we’re going to give you a post touch. He’s hardly ever going to get a low post touch unless your name is Joelle or Nicola.
[00:34:59] You’re not getting [00:35:00] the ball dumped into you more than two or three times a night. That’s just not the modern NBA. So it’s so difficult to see what this player can be. Especially when his, his guards don’t really know what to do. There, it’s a lot of isolations, a lot of bailout shots, um, to their credit.
[00:35:16] They played their asses off. I will give them that, but especially.
[00:35:20] Dillon Sage: But what you
[00:35:20] Dustin Hawes: can do is you can see the defense, you, you can see him move his feet. You can see him, the verticality. I really think that the collegiate officials did him dirty and that Gonzaga game, the four fouls, maybe one was in
[00:35:34] Dillon Sage: the chat.
[00:35:35] One was legit, I think. And
[00:35:37] Dustin Hawes: it really took him out of the game. He played very sparingly in that first half. And then when he came in. And that, that second half he, he knew he didn’t want to pick up the, another foul that would send him to the bench. So he’s playing a bit tentative, but you saw what he could do.
[00:35:52] Like he was clamping, drew, Timmy drew to me, he was hitting some prayer shots. I mean, there’s no way he’s, he’s hitting those shots on a consistent basis. It [00:36:00] was just his night and that second half. But if you’re Memphis, you want Timmy trying to do Kevin Duran, rip throughs. You want him trying to dribble the hell out of the ball and spin, fade off glass from 18 feet.
[00:36:13] That that’s just a tip your hat. You made it tonight. But if it’s a seven game series, which is in the NBA, You’re going home like that. That’s, that’s just what it was. And I feel like if he was able to play with the freedom of movement, that he is at the next level, and he didn’t have that bowel trouble, he was going to be much more physical.
[00:36:31] But, but I think the best part about him was his second jump. He had a couple of moments where he would miss it, but he would go back at the rebound finish. Like you can’t teach a second jump Sage. It was quick as a
[00:36:42] Dillon Sage: cat. Actually, I think this might be because of your commentary, because we were up the first game.
[00:36:51] It was a pretty empty, empty gym because we, there was a lot of quietness. There was a play where the [00:37:00] Jalen took a bad angle to contest. And then there was an attempted, uh, attacking of the closeout. And you said, oh no. And Jaylen’s foot speed just caught up to the Boise state driver and Walmart. That type of foot speed from a six, nine guy is crazy.
[00:37:22] And you can just see the, what he can do with that foot speed as a defender, like all the athletic markers are through the roof. Like. Penny Hardaway puts him in a bad position with a post ups, but you see the, what you can do as a defender, as a rotator, like he’s in to cause a lot of destruction of who’s going to blow up so many damn plays.
[00:37:45] So the defensive really made me happy. And then you’re just trying, you’re just trying to carve out something where it’s positive minutes off offensively, but that defense, I think every second that he’s on the floor for whatever team [00:38:00] drafts him is going to be some high leverage basketball with just this athletic freak of a man trying to, uh, make some really awesome plays for
[00:38:09] Dustin Hawes: you.
[00:38:10] I think he showed some good play-making ability as well.
[00:38:12] Dillon Sage: Yeah,
[00:38:12] Dustin Hawes: definitely. Especially from free-throw line extended, which,
[00:38:18] Dillon Sage: uh, I think it was. He law law passed it to his, uh, other big and he for points, I think it happened like two or three
[00:38:27] Dustin Hawes: times. Yeah. So you can see the potential, like if you want a modern, big who can defend, you’re going to have to spend a high lottery pick on, on Jalen Durham players, like bam, petabyte.
[00:38:38] They don’t just come across every draft. They don’t come across every so often. So while he is raw offensively, you know, someone is going to roll the dice and take a chance because you need those type of bigs to who can play drop coverage, but who can also go out and hedge who can go out and switch, who can handle their own, uh, as best as possible for a person of six, nine [00:39:00] stature to do so.
[00:39:00] We just have a really long wingspan. And, um, I thought he did a really good job, especially against chat, homegrown on the boards, um, using his, his size and, and length and quickness to move, check out of position to tip it to us own, man. Um, I came across like, okay, this is a player who I would be really happy with Portland, uh, taking in the middle part of, of the
[00:39:24] Dillon Sage: lottery.
[00:39:25] So would you be cool with him being the, the, the blazers pick?
[00:39:32] Dustin Hawes: I mean, his contacts, Portland still get new Orleans, this pick. Yeah, depending on who else is left on the board at the guard gaps. Like if you can, if you can walk away with, with Jalen Duren and one of your shooting guards that you really like, I think you consider that draft of success.
[00:39:47] Dillon Sage: I mean, that, that’s an improvement over last time we talked about Jaylen with a, you drag Lee would be fine with them being the new Orleans pick, and then we’d take a guard in there with the, [00:40:00] with our own picks. So definitely some improvement on your opinion of Jaylin, which was just great. Um, what was the next game that we watched?
[00:40:11] Dustin Hawes: I mean, I, I really think the only MBA prospects that we were looking for, I think were we’re Jaylen and chat homegrown. So
[00:40:25] Dillon Sage: did you think of Monterey bay.
[00:40:27] Dustin Hawes: And the intersection right now. So he had, he had a couple of jump shots, but like, again, he’s 17 years old. Like I think you need to, to see more from him and really was just focusing on, on Jaylen in that Memphis game and chat whenever, uh, Gonzaga was playing.
[00:40:49] But the thing with Chad is I love watching him play. I wish he would have went to another school. I think mark phew, Andrew Timmy block [00:41:00] his potential times a thousand. And it’s so much of a bummer watching Chet, bring the ball up the floor, knowing he could pull it from three. And he’s just like, no, I’m gonna pass it side to side.
[00:41:12] Or I might do an entry pass to drew to me because we’re going to force feed to me the ball 18 times tonight. Like I get that’s college basketball, but I would love for him to have gone to a school where he could be. The focal point and somebody else could be dumping into him. They could run more, more, uh, looks for him because he’s a fucking unicorn of a player that if you want it to, you could dominate inside, give him the ball inside touches and, and run curls for him to come off for, for three, like a coach with any sort of creativity could just drool and salivate over the opportunity to coach, uh, chat homegrown.
[00:41:47] Like I feel like Jay Wright at Nova or Joanne Howard at Michigan will just do wonders for him. I just, I know people love mark view, and I know he’s a great college coach, but he’s handcuffing that dude. And it [00:42:00] was so apparent watching that Gonzaga game, the
[00:42:03] Dillon Sage: lack of guard play like memoirs. Like what’s the, when you go to a cookout, like what’s the, like the basic good thing.
[00:42:16] Like he’s the mashed potatoes of college
[00:42:20] Dustin Hawes: basketball, mashed potatoes at
[00:42:22] Dillon Sage: the cookout, man. I’m trying to think of a bad side, like a, a fi a solid side dish that no, one’s like,
[00:42:29] Dustin Hawes: but you’re thinking of potato salad.
[00:42:31] Dillon Sage: Okay. He’s the potato salad of the NCAA where he does just fine, but just fine. Just one just fine guard.
[00:42:42] Isn’t enough to like drive every cobbler. Yeah. Like it’s going to be tough for Gonzaga when they only have one competent guard, really Bolton takes a lot of hive, difficult shots and makes them, but dribbling and [00:43:00] play-making is such a huge aspect. And one of the reasons I loved Gonzaga last year was they had three legitimate guards with a Jaylin Suggs and a giant.
[00:43:10] So just to go from three to one, it’s tough. So yeah, like with the lack of guard play drew, Timmy just was super duper involved. And when we were watching that, uh, who did they play? They
[00:43:29] Dustin Hawes: played Georgia state and I
[00:43:31] Dillon Sage: think their center walled him off a lot in that first half.
[00:43:35] Dustin Hawes: And I think when you. Watch Gonzaga.
[00:43:39] And you watch, especially in person, they don’t run a single play really for chat. Um, at least late in the year, like they were struggling a bit and they went through their safety blanket, which was post-up Sidra, Timmy, and they force fed Timmy, but they actually went on their run. When we were discussing this in the stands, when Timmy went to the bench and actually started playing free, free flowing offense, getting [00:44:00] everyone involved and you look up and in chess dominant in glass, he has 17 boards.
[00:44:05] He’s play-making for others. He’s that’s five times he’s playing defense seven blocks, two seals. He ends up with 19 points on eight of 13 shooting. I don’t think he had a damn play ran for him. So you can see how he really kind of checks all those boxes and can. Really stuffed the stat sheet with
[00:44:23] Dillon Sage: minimal usage.
[00:44:25] And I see a lot of people on Twitter. Talk about drew Timmy’s production and how he would help the pleasers.
[00:44:32] Dustin Hawes: Wait, wait, you saw people say drew Timmy, would it help an MDA team? Yeah, I definitely know drew Timmy is the epitome of big man on campus. Like he he’s, he’s fabulous at this level, but if you watch drew Timmy, do you think he’s posting abusive neuro kids and doing that baby hook?
[00:44:49] No, that shit’s getting something back across the half court line. I have more
[00:44:53] issues
[00:44:53] Dillon Sage: on his defense and his offense because he can’t, he can’t go on. Anybody really [00:45:00] like in this league, there’s freaks everywhere. So who is he defending? He’s like, he’s the job
[00:45:05] Dustin Hawes: out on defense?
[00:45:06] Dillon Sage: He’s the of the league that don’t really exist anymore.
[00:45:09] Like he’s going to guard moose. I
[00:45:11] Dustin Hawes: think drew Timmy would have been a good NBA player, like in the, in the late nineties, early two thousands,
[00:45:17] Dillon Sage: it’s just a different game. And like the blazers don’t run Trop coverage, they run a very aggressive system. So do you think drew Timmy can physically handle the type of defense that the blazers do?
[00:45:32] No. It would be like a, a miserable time to watch drew Jimmy try and guard a point guard on the hedge. It, it just does not work. So I gave it, he he’s putting up a lot of production now. But going up a level, you’re not going to be able to have that full switch on a point guard. And then the, the opposing team not help.
[00:45:58] So it’s just going to be and do [00:46:00] doesn’t pass. Like
[00:46:02] Dustin Hawes: he gets the tunnel vision.
[00:46:04] Dillon Sage: You know how I feel about Treyveon who’s a better NBA, prospect Treyveon or drew Timmy,
[00:46:12] Dustin Hawes: are you going to say to me, I don’t like either players in NBA prospects. I think they’re both Caleb Swan again, if I’m being completely honest ‘
[00:46:20] Dillon Sage: cause I, I, I feel like they’re similar, but the one thing Treyveon has overdrew is he’s a willing passer.
[00:46:28] I’ll give you the, Drew’s not going to pass it to the open three pointer, which was open all the fucking time in the corner when he was boasting up, you know, Trayvon is going to at least hit the, uh, hit the open corner man with, with your. Lowly critique of drew Timmy. It’s like, no, he he’s. He’s going to be a Greg and zag a guy for another year.
[00:46:49] Hopefully I don’t think it’s a smart move for him to go to the, if
[00:46:52] Dustin Hawes: he wants, if he wants to play in the league, which I’m sure he does, he comes back to [00:47:00] Gonzaga. He probably hires a scout or a trainer, and he gets a little bit more leaner. He gets a little bit more laterally quick and he talks to mark view and he says, Hey, I’m coming back.
[00:47:11] I don’t need 80, 80 posts, ups the game. Let him, let me hit some threes. Let me work on my range, because if he’s able to do that, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe you’re able to be a pick and pop big who comes off the bench. And you know, you’re not a defensive type player, but you’re able to score the ball and you can have a Dante Cunningham type of career.
[00:47:32] Like that’s what it is, but like it, it’s so hard to defend your you’re trying to defend Trey young Damien.
[00:47:40] Dillon Sage: Yeah, the leaks,
[00:47:43] Dustin Hawes: Chris Paul, Chris Paul, if see, if he sees like Luca Garza or drew Timmy on him, he’s just his eyes get wide. He’s like, I got, I got dinner right here. Like he’s, he’s going to put you in a blender and make life miserable.
[00:47:54] Like he sees the game four moves ahead of everyone else. Like it’s, it’s why it’s March [00:48:00] madness is so incredibly fun, but also just like pump the brakes a little bit. Like this is collegiate basketball. Like it’s a noticeable talent gap, so just appreciate it for, for what it is. Um, did you notice anything though?
[00:48:15] Uh, from Chet, so clearly there’s a talent gap. Speaking of talent gap between Georgia state and the Memphis bigs, which I felt like for the first time, maybe in two or three months, that Chet played up against, um, a similar body type NBA style. Like Memphis had two to three big bodied bigs that I thought he did some good.
[00:48:39] And I thought he struggled in areas as well. I think his individual postman demand events is solid. He does a really good job of letting the contact come to him and then using his length as an advantage. He blocked me during his life hell a couple of times. And during is a very large human being where he struggled.
[00:48:59] And I [00:49:00] saw this, you know, um, I think Bobby Marks or somebody or Jonathan Giovanni, uh, from ESPN, did a clip breakdown of his, of his defense, just everything good and bad. He struggled. And I didn’t notice this in live action because clearly you’re watching it live and you’re just kind of ball watching little.
[00:49:18] He, even though he went to box out, he got just bumped off his spot countless times by those Memphis bigs. And he wasn’t able to use this length as an advantage. And I feel like that’s something that’s directly translatable until he books up at the next level, because there’s Jaylen Durance on every roster in terms of body type.
[00:49:36] Dillon Sage: I think that’s the biggest weakness in his game is the potential defensive rebounding, where he just gets abused because let’s be real. He is a very skinny seven footer, but don’t you think that that would be less of an issue if he’s playing the foreign use of NERC, just getting rebounds and he’s more on the help side [00:50:00] defensive.
[00:50:01] I think you could hide
[00:50:02] Dustin Hawes: that issue down. But you still can’t have your four, B, B just a non-factor on the glass. I mean, it’s going
[00:50:10] Dillon Sage: to be a factor. He’s seven foot with a long wingspan. He’s eventually he’s going to get his rebounds.
[00:50:16] Dustin Hawes: I mean, you need to clean the glass. I think that’s what, what starts, especially in playoff basketball, like when are you, you especially brought this up, like in a series against Danby, like CJ and Dame have to crash the glass.
[00:50:27] You have to help your bigs out and play off basketball. So if we’re asking CJ and Dame to get in there and get some boards, like, I think you need your four to be in there and banging as well. So like, I think throughout the course of a season, you could probably get away with it a little bit, especially if you have a really good rebounding three, like the, or can be in really good rebounding five, which I think is a use of needs to do that for sure.
[00:50:48] He’s a say a little bit healthy, but
[00:50:51] Dillon Sage: we gotta, we gotta make the playoffs before we worry about that. That that’s
[00:50:54] Dustin Hawes: the goal. And if you draft shit like that has to be the goal moving forward. So that’s what I’m saying. Like, I think [00:51:00] that
[00:51:00] Dillon Sage: are we projecting Chet to never get stronger and never get bigger because I think you rookie, your Chet’s going to have an issue with rebound.
[00:51:10] Dustin Hawes: Yes. But I mean, but isn’t that the red flag with chat is, is not being able to put on the weight like people, then that’s a concern. Absolutely. It is.
[00:51:18] Dillon Sage: But I mean, if I’m thinking about a fully optimized shed, I’m not thinking betterment is, uh, early twenties, it’s definitely an issue, but I feel like you’ve been hiding it more if you’re smart as a coach and realize, okay, this guy needs to have some help on the rebounded chat and helps on every other aspect except being big and bulky and read that and getting that defense three about it.
[00:51:44] But if you have use of their, he can, he can handle that. It, if, if Chet and, and a use of our playing together, I feel like Chet’s going to be in the perimeter trying to rotate and do the right thing. He might not even be in [00:52:00] rebounding position because he’s helping on the perimeter so much. So use of can handle the post.
[00:52:06] I think you can scheme out a lot of it, but that’s always going to be the issue with shit, with it, with his size and frame is, you know, is he going to get bullied by, uh, like a power forward? I think right now, I think in the sear, if you in the sear would body I’m in a, a boxing out man. But Chet is smart enough to get those rebounds, you know, Jaylin, Duran’s a massively huge human being.
[00:52:35] So I get why he struggled. I still think he’s number one or number two in terms of prospects. He’s just so good in everything else. And you have to scheme out some of the deficiencies that he has. There’s no perfect player. So if you want to fully optimize shit, you got to do some things for him.
[00:52:55] Dustin Hawes: One, and I don’t know if it’s
[00:52:57] Dillon Sage: 17 boards in the other camp,
[00:52:59] Dustin Hawes: too.[00:53:00]
[00:53:00] Yes. It brought a different level of talent. Yeah. And I think that’s expected like Georgia state. He should have done that one area. I wanted to let me back this up. And this could be because of his role. And it could be because he’s afraid of getting taken out of the game, uh, or like doing something the coaches that wanted to do.
[00:53:19] Um, he hasn’t been shooting the ball from three, well, at all, uh, over his past 10 games, just nine of 35, um, for 25% for, from downtown, he went over five, uh, in the two games in Portland and they were all pretty, uh, clear looks. Are you concerned at all about the three point shooting, not being as, um, I think knocked down as someone like Jabari or do you think it’s just a shooting slump that all players go through?
[00:53:51] Dillon Sage: I don’t think anybody shoots as well as Jabari or AJR, uh, Lee from Davidson. Those three are just special. I don’t ever [00:54:00] expect Chad to be as good of a shooter as Jabari. He might have a better shooting percentage because he takes a lot easier shots than Jabari because he’s going to Jabari in a good role.
[00:54:13] It’s probably going to be on the move a lot. I kind of give Chet like a B. Like, he’s never going to reach that ALA. Well, never say never. I don’t think he reaches the A-level of being like the sharp shooter on the team, but I think that he’s a very capable, good shooter. It, I felt like in that, in those two games, Georgia state university, and, uh, Memphis made it a point to make that shooting pocket pretty dirty.
[00:54:46] So he would pass out or shots that you and I would have liked him to do it because it was the right basketball move. I trust the shooting. It’s everybody has some slumps. It’s a shame that [00:55:00] we didn’t see it, but I still think he’s going to be a better than average three point shooter.
[00:55:06] Dustin Hawes: If he’s not shooting the ball well, downtown, what is he giving you an offense?
[00:55:11] Dillon Sage: I’m honestly shocked that he set such good screens for how skinny he is. Like he was put in his full force and weight into the screens. I think if he isn’t hitting a three, he can be a screen setter, a DHO operator. He’s definitely a better passer than a lot of the other bigs. In this, this draft class, you saw a lot of those nice dump offs while he was driving to drew Timmy in a really cramped, uh, paint, or just like the nice soft law pass to, uh, drew his news posts, posting up there’s things that he can do when the shot isn’t a greening, the way we would like it to green.
[00:55:49] Dustin Hawes: So Jalen and Chad were obviously the main attractions for our trailblazers lottery picks from, from that standpoint, [00:56:00] watching those six games, where there any prospects that you’re like, I don’t know if I would draft them or there would be a second round type of talent. Who else, anybody else stand out to you?
[00:56:09] Um,
[00:56:09] Dillon Sage: you know, we gotta talk about our girls Zippy, the, uh, the kangaroo, uh, uh, mascot. She was fantastic. If you look on Twitter, you can see Zippy doing the splits after she does a jig. So obviously that’s number one, but I think our guy, Tommy koozie is worth at least a summer league invite you in.
[00:56:32] Dustin Hawes: So Tommy, Tommy Cousy point guard St.
[00:56:34] Mary’s. Yes.
[00:56:36] Dillon Sage: Game one, he was doing whatever he wanted. He was attacking closeouts. He was attacking a defense every time we want it. And we thought that the Indiana team was decent and he made them look foolish on a lot of attempts. He doesn’t really get rushed if you watch and only watch the, the, uh, St Mary’s versus UCLA, you would [00:57:00] think that this guy sucks.
[00:57:02] But honestly, like that team did not play the way they should have played at all. They were trying to dump it into a guy that. May or may not be a good up threat. I haven’t watched enough, but he was getting doubled and throwing bad passes that led to turnovers and run outs for UCLA, like the scheme and what they were trying to do on a given play was just wrong for what we have seen from St.
[00:57:26] Mary’s in the past, like I’d probably watch for St. Mary’s games. That was the weirdest and worst way that they played. So I, I, yeah, that
[00:57:33] Dustin Hawes: was the worst performance I’ve seen from Tommy QC. Like I,
[00:57:39] Dillon Sage: I’m not saying we sign them with our first pick, but I definitely think like if he doesn’t get drafted, if he goes and tries to get drafted, I would definitely give him a undrafted free agent contract for,
[00:57:51] Dustin Hawes: yeah.
[00:57:52] I, I bring them onto this number, like squad, especially because you need a point guard to run the show and set the table.
[00:57:57] Dillon Sage: How is Greg brown going to get [00:58:00] those passes that he needs to develop? You need a Playmaker to make those guys look better. Like Chris Paul made Bismarck beyond both look good.
[00:58:11] Dustin Hawes: I think St Mary’s played the way they normally play against Indiana. Uh, I don’t think anybody saw them doubling up the Hoosiers, but when you, when he is at his best, he is initiating the offense. Uh, he’s his spot up shooting. His is immaculate. Like he’s a knock-down shooter, uh, probes through the defense, finds the weaknesses.
[00:58:30] And when he’s on the break, he makes the right decisions to get a couple of passes on the brake, you know, drawing two defenders, throwing it behind his head or for a layup. And you’re like, okay, this guy gets it, um, against UCLA. For whatever reason, they switched up the scheme. They decided to play more isolation, basketball.
[00:58:49] I don’t know. Uh, it might’ve been, I just, I don’t understand the, the coaching in that one. That’s not their game. Like when I watched them play, they beat you. If anybody has ever played rec [00:59:00] ball, you played, you know, summer league or, you know, you go on down to like the hoop and you play the Portland basketball.com.
[00:59:06] You ever see that like older team. And you’re like, oh, we’re going to fuck this team up. And they just come out and they’re slow, but they run circles around you with their passing and they’re cutting and their ball movement. That was St Mary’s against Indiana. They tried to play like a traditional college team against UCLA and they don’t have the size.
[00:59:24] They don’t have the bodies. They’re not an isolation team. They’re not going to break you down. And then everything’s going to come after that initial breakdown, they tried to just get the UCLA bigs and foul trouble. It, it didn’t work. Uh, they’re, they’re
[00:59:36] Dillon Sage: big. I think it’s worth it either. Like they’re big.
[00:59:41] Dustin Hawes: And it’s, it’s, it’s a really bad brand of basketball to watch. Um, and I don’t
[00:59:46] Dillon Sage: think the big is good enough to like demand that many post ups in a game where they’re there. They’re like a pick and roll spread out, pat good passing team. And then they just didn’t really do it. And [01:00:00] it was kind of disappointing because I thought that St Mary’s was just a better basketball team than UCLA, but talent and size kind of won out for UCLA in that department.
[01:00:11] But, uh, I feel like we have the most fun on day one watching the zips versus UCLA, because the zips just had that it factor of, we don’t have anything to lose. Put on the uniform and trier fucking best.
[01:00:27] Dustin Hawes: I think that game was fun because it was game four, a four on a certain brain cells were done. So we were fried, I think bear number three, finally, you know, I, to be honest, there was no drinking and driving.
[01:00:40] We had three rain years over the course of 12 hours, but it was, it was a third beer that just tasted extra cold slice of pizza to, to get us through. And, you know, we were just having, having a blast, like the zips, we see the mascot and you know, it’s doing the wattle, it’s doing the hula hoop. You’re just like, okay, like it’s, it’s fucking Zippy.
[01:00:58] Like let’s go [01:01:00] upset. And it was just fun just to yell random things like, you know, you’re not built for this to UCLA. And Zippy was definitely built this, um, So, so that, that was incredibly fun. Like you’re, you’re kind of like, you don’t realize it, but you lose all track of time. You lied out one time and then you go outside and it’s, it’s pitch black dark.
[01:01:19] And you’re like, oh, it’s time to go to bed. And I haven’t really had a good dinner. So you have to make like food plans. I know you were to talk about, I made myself some, like what I usually make for breakfast. I just made some oatmeal. Cause it was quick. And I was like, I need food. Um, and then you’re like, well, shit, I’m still awake because I’ve been, you know, occupied in my mind for, for 12 hours.
[01:01:39] But it was just like game for four. It’s definitely takes a lot more stamina sitting on my ass than I ever imagined. And definitely,
[01:01:48] Dillon Sage: I mean, it was close though. Like even though we were having fun, like that game was legitimately close. And if I believe that there was a [01:02:00] lot of one-sided calls in that game that negatively affected the Ziff chances of winning, like.
[01:02:07] You got to reward both teams for aggressiveness. You can’t just reward one team. Cause then that it makes it feel like it’s not a fair contest. Like UCLA deserves some of those free throws, but I feel like the zips deserve the same because let’s be real about the zips. That’s an isolation heavy team that goes to the basket.
[01:02:27] Almost every play they meet. They go to the foul line a lot on a normal basis. And I don’t think they did
[01:02:35] Dustin Hawes: our experience with the Portland region. Obviously we are now at the sweet 16, seen a lot of massive upsets. A lot of our prospects that we’ve talked about, their seasons are complete Sage, give me a player or two that you in your eyes and your eyes in your evaluation, their stock is, is on it’s on the up and up after the first, uh, weekend of.[01:03:00]
[01:03:00] Dillon Sage: Maybe it’s because I just enjoy him so much for Jalen. Ivy was just a fucking menace and the last two games were like, I feel like a lot of people that haven’t watched Purdue play basketball are very sold on him. Like he’s taking some very aggressive, long threes that are going in. He’s playing with so much confidence.
[01:03:20] Like, one thing that I enjoyed was that this game they showed, like the parents and his mother was just so hyped for him. Like every two minutes her son did something amazing. And she just was so hyped to see her baby boy do so well. So I think Ivy has to be number one. Yeah,
[01:03:40] Dustin Hawes: I, I V was, was spectacular. And I think he’s the type of player that rises to the occasion.
[01:03:46] When you’re looking up the, the guard play in the draft, he’s the type of player that can create his own shot. He’s, you know, your hold your breath good. When he gets the ball in the open court and just kind of, uh, elevates and accelerates. Um, does both of [01:04:00] those things incredibly well, you don’t know what type of highlight you’re going to get?
[01:04:04] Um, I thought he played a spectacular, um, in that Texas game, especially in the clutch hitting that deep three, you can really tell that Purdue stops fucking around and they, they give him the ball to, to create. And I thought he made a lot of special plays, um, and he’s hitting NBA threes. And I think that’s important.
[01:04:21] A lot of people look at college three point percentage and be like, oh, that’s going to translate. No, you need to take one to two to three steps back. That’s the MBA line. There. There’s a massive difference. So just because a player can knock them down in college, doesn’t mean it’s going to go to the next level, but he is definitely taking some deep NBA threes and.
[01:04:40] You can can see that it may not be knocked down, but he’s really improving at that level where defenders now have to respect that shot and with his speed and athleticism, that first burst don’t get up too quick because then he’s going to blow right by you and just create for, for everyone else. But, uh, just a, I think a magical [01:05:00] player that is going to have a say, uh, in terms of the top, not, not only for, I think he could, he could legitimately crack the top three.
[01:05:08] I think in my mind, he elevated himself a little bit more than every other guard. Like I think he’s too, to be honest, he’s he’s number two of my board now. Like I, I just, I think like you’re starting to see like everything from where you started watching him in, in the fall and where he’s came now. It’s like, okay, this yeah, that Keith he’s improving and.
[01:05:32] He’s a primetime player. Like he has the ball in his hands and he’s making it. He is, he is the engine of, of that, that team.
[01:05:43] Dillon Sage: I’m going to leave Benedict Mathern for you because that is your beloved. But I think that he definitely, uh, played well, I did not see the first game. I don’t even know who they, they played in the first
[01:05:53] Dustin Hawes: game.
[01:05:53] They played right state. And yet it’s really hard to, it’s almost like you’re watching this, you know, [01:06:00] evaluating, uh, what the blazers are doing. You’re you’re trying to project a blowout. Like, of course. I mean, he’s been playing PAC 12 conference caliber opponents for the past three months. Like now you’re going back to early.
[01:06:12] Pre-season like, there may be some Russ, there may not be like the, the important part is you get the wind and you move on. Like, I think it’s important not to get too high. It’s equally important not to get too low about tournament performances. So it’s more about how the player is taking over more so than just if they are taking over.
[01:06:30] And I think that’s the. The comparison that can make between a true Timmy versus a Jayden Ivy and a Benedict. Matheran how those two, uh, Or taking over, I think really translates to the next level. Um, you know, we talk about Damian Lillard a lot, how he can go five of 20, but still get 30 points. Cause he’s getting to the line 15 times Mather and is doing a really good job of getting to the free-throw line and he he’s converting.
[01:06:57] I think he’s doing a fantastic job of [01:07:00] playing with the ball. And playing without the ball. And of course you talk about that. It factor with Jayden Ivy. I think I’m starting to see that with Mather and like game on the line, you’re down three. You’re about to get upset. It’s a pro Arizona crowd and you pull from NBA range and it’s, it looks beautiful.
[01:07:17] It’s nothing but net he’s then crashing the glass in overtime, refusing for that jump ball to take place, getting an and one looking engaged on defense, which is something we both been, been dying to see, um, really just playing like the conference player of the year, had a really great setup to Calico again on that law.
[01:07:35] I really love how he operates off of the curl and is able to see that the floor. And even if it’s just one read, it’s still, you know, our guards don’t throw LOBs, you know, Damian Lillard and Anthony assignments are NBA guards that make a lot of money. They don’t really, I don’t know if they know how to throw that pass, but they don’t do it.
[01:07:51] And to see, you know, a college to guard like, like IB, I think they’re both secondary playmates. Make that pass. Like that’s, that’s [01:08:00] something that you want to see. So, I mean, I thought that was a high pressure situation and, uh, Mather in delivered. So, uh, I, you know, I think both of those players that Ivy was mine as well as Mandarin, um, really rose their stock.
[01:08:15] Um, I think during maybe slightly elevated to stock in my mind, just seeing what he can become like defense is, is really necessary in the league with so many
[01:08:27] Dillon Sage: players , but in every other world that there is definitely, I always believed in the shot. I always believed in the movement shooting. I believed in the cutting he’d showed that the stuff that I believe in his game still believe in it.
[01:08:49] I think, I think he’s moved past Johnny David’s to. Wisconsin had a fucking horrendous two
[01:08:56] Dustin Hawes: games. If we’re being, if we’re being honest, Wisconsin had a terrible two games. [01:09:00] They had to claw out a game against Colgate, who hadn’t played a top 25 team all season long and they eat their way to what was it that they lost, but they eat their way to 49 points.
[01:09:15] Um, Johnny Davis had 17 points and nine boards in that game, but I, and this is where it’s hard for me to evaluate. And I would, I was going to pose the question, which player maybe drop their stock in your eyes. And I think we’re both on the same page with Johnny Davis, a player who, if you go back and listen to the future Friday, I am all aboard Davis.
[01:09:35] And, and I, I still see the vision with Davis. I think his roster is incredibly poor
[01:09:41] Dillon Sage: and it’s just as bad as LSU and all of Iowa. And I feel like Memphis is very talented. They’re just an awful.
[01:09:51] Dustin Hawes: Yeah, but w when I watched Davis and this is, I think we’re Mather in an IV,
[01:09:57] Dillon Sage: they have a much
[01:09:58] Dustin Hawes: separated [01:10:00] is even when Davis had the ball, he had a hard time of just making shit happen.
[01:10:05] And again, I get it, Purdue and Arizona are probably maybe two times more talented, but then who Davis has around him, but I just needed to see a little bit more. And again, this is where not getting too low on a player comes in handy because I remember I’ve said this anecdote before, but I watched James harden, uh, in oh nine Arizona state.
[01:10:28] He put up a clunker and I was like, I don’t know about this player. Well, he went on to win an MVP. Like it’s important to note that this is one game, it’s a high stakes environment, but you are playing. With collegiate level teammates. And it’s really important to remember this players get better. What you see now, isn’t the player that is going to be wearing your team’s uniform in the fall or two to three years down the line, like players improve.
[01:10:53] So really keep that in mind. But if I did have to pick a player, Sage I’m with you, I think Davis is down a wrong or two [01:11:00] on my list. I,
[01:11:01] Dillon Sage: I mean like the, the problems that he had when we talked about, um, in the beginning of the year existed now, and maybe because of the shitty team that he’s on. And then the, the, the, all the circumstances that come from it just got exposed a little bit more than we expected, but he’s still a very good player.
[01:11:28] He’s probably, he’s definitely still a top 10 talent. Um, and I think teams are gonna fall in love with what he. Bringing in produce, but I mean, if we’re going to talk about disappointments, that that has to be up there. I mean, I know that a lot of our brackets were breasted because of Iowa, Keegan, Murray, and Iowa, there were obviously a lot of final four projections for them.
[01:11:55] I think that he might’ve, he should have taken a, uh, [01:12:00] they should have won that game. So maybe his stock gets lower, but I feel like it’s still, it’s still, still too high. So, but I think Davis is the main guy that I think of ma I mean, Auburn’s guards, there’s still really bad and they costed them something there’s been so many damn disappointments this year.
[01:12:22] Like, do you think tie tie affected.
[01:12:27] Dustin Hawes: I mean, I think you kind of have to be when
[01:12:29] Dillon Sage: you lose against one true point guard in this drought.
[01:12:33] Dustin Hawes: Yeah. I mean, you, you lose against, uh, St. Peters who had never won a game before and now they’re all the way in the sweet 16 they’re everybody’s Cinderella. Um, I just, I don’t want to get too low on a prospect for, for one bad game.
[01:12:46] Uh, but it happens to everybody. Look at university of Virginia, they were the only team as a one seat to ever lose to a 16. They bounce back the next year and they won the national championship. So I think, I think if you, if you’re high on tights, [01:13:00] I, before that game, you’re still probably high. And if you were low on him before, probably feel the same way, like it’s, it’s important to note that, that it is one game.
[01:13:08] Um, I think for me a player like Walker Kessler, I’m even more confused about, he had a brilliant performance against Jacksonville state and then. Kinda gotten valve trouble, some really real bad foul against the university of Miami, a team that, you know, we talked about, um, I played a lot of guards and this would be a good test for him at the next level, because he’s likely going to be guarding smaller, quicker, faster players.
[01:13:36] Um, so that makes me confused about Kessler. Like he can look like that, that Rudy go Bair, eraser, and then he can look about like, just an average run of the mill back up big. But again, it’s important to put into context how ugly and sloppy that Auburn offense was just run and gun [01:14:00] catch and shoot horrible shots running.
[01:14:02] I mean, there were times they would just take the ball running into three other Miami defenders amount of the ticket, the other way, like the shit out. Yeah, Bruce Pearl is, was, that was a horrible coaching job. Just letting one Del green go rogue. And just some of the players, uh, plays excuse me. But that was being executed.
[01:14:20] Really all season long. I mean, we knew this would happen. Like I had them as a final 14, but I could see obviously this happening as well. Like it’s, it’s a very, uh, up and down team that ebbed and flowed all season long and, you know, they finally, you know, kind of got bitten the, but so in that case, it’s hard to say like, oh, Walker played terribly well, if you’re playing an NBA cyst, like you’re, you’re not just going to be that careless with your offensive possessions.
[01:14:50] Like Kessler’s probably going to be able to set some screens, maybe pick and pop, like maybe, you know, clean up some offensive boards. Like there was none of that. There was zero rhythm from the [01:15:00] jump from the Auburn players. And so like, that’s a scenario where I look at it and say, this is the bad situation for him to be in where the guards are just playing like absolute crap.
[01:15:10] And you’re not, you’re ended up looking like, you know, kind of the same thing. That’s where I’m kind of torn on Kessler. I think if we’re looking at other players, Kendall brown, Penn Davis, who I thought he was, I think he needs to come back, um, in terms of developmenting developing his game. But on the flip side, I thought, Jeremy Sylvian played incredible defense.
[01:15:32] Dillon Sage: This weekend. He used in that comeback is
[01:15:37] Dustin Hawes: a thread that I retweeted on Twitter and it broke down his first round performance, I think, against mineral folk, state, just defensively and the little things that he does. And it’s not something you catch just watching it live. Like it’s something you have to go back and be like, oh, he really did all of these three little things that don’t show up in a box score.
[01:15:56] Um, just in one probably I think the best defender [01:16:00] in this draft class, especially if you’re looking at something that projects to the next level where he can guard out over. I think right now. Yeah. Chief’s gotta get stronger shuts the best interior defender in this class, but chess not going out in the perimeter and busting up, like, I think chat projects higher, but right now I think so hands the most versatile, most versatile defender,
[01:16:22] Dillon Sage: I still think Ari’s better, but I think that, so Anne is great.
[01:16:26] Dustin Hawes: Yeah. I think, I think he helped himself, um, a lot. And I think just what he does, I think you can slide him right in. And the thing for him is like, if he gets that just league average jump shot, he’ll be a starter. If not,
[01:16:38] Dillon Sage: what do you think about that? A bank in three with like 30 seconds left,
[01:16:43] Dustin Hawes: sometimes the banks open on the weekends.
[01:16:46] Dillon Sage: I mean, watching that comeback was awesome to see it. It really screwed up my bracket, not having them lose when I thought they were going to win it all. But, uh, you know, to see the effort that they placed [01:17:00] in defending and like that aggressive style that the Baylor bears. I mean to see what he can do in all three levels is yeah.
[01:17:09] Like he’s definitely third on my list as, uh, as a defender, like
[01:17:16] Dustin Hawes: yeah. And that’s, that’s really about it. Like, I don’t think like anybody is just like completely off of my board because of how they performed. I think it’s honestly in a good, good way. Like I like prospects more than I did prior. And I think it’s really important to like, if you’re into the draft and you’re, you’re trying to get into it and you’re watching a lot of games, like the biggest pitfall I found myself guilty of is like over critiquing.
[01:17:44] Um, it’s like, if you’re trying to find something that’s wrong there that really may not be wrong. Like. Well, you can’t critique every single play. Like it’s, it’s, it’s something that I try to tell myself, cause like, oh, I’m not really seeing [01:18:00] this. Well, it’s like, well you just, just pump the brakes a bit and just take the totality of the performance.
[01:18:05] Because even our favorite player, Damian Lillard, like he can have a great line at the end of the night. But if you watch play by play like, oh, this was bad, this was bad. This was bad. But at the end of the night was his performance. Excellent. Absolutely. So it’s, that’s why being, I think a scout is, so I think equal parts intriguing and terrifying because it’s it’s, it is a science and sometimes it’s just a gut feeling.
[01:18:28] Dillon Sage: I mean, like when we watch Kendall brown, like my notes for Kendall brown versus Joe germy, I have like 30 things for Kendall, because like it kept popping up. The issues continually popped up. Then I was just like, well, I thought he was this, but this other thing has made it. So that is the thing that I see most.
[01:18:50] But like with Jeremy is like, I had eight things that I tried to make a 20 minute deep dive on where it was just like he’s in the right spot when, when you have that [01:19:00] thing of, okay, he’s in the right spot. Oh, that’s, that’s weird. Whoa, that’s weird again. Oh, that’s weird. A third time. Oh, is this, what is this what this prospect really is, but yes, I get it.
[01:19:13] Like you can’t, it’s not a good idea to just critique on, you know, a five minute. Clip session on, on wings and bigs. Honestly, I think that a five minute clip session on guards is better than a five minute, uh, cause of you see a lot more the, the wings and bigs, you have to actually take that deep dive.
[01:19:36] Like, you know, if you seen J J and ivory, uh, finish over contact 20 times, you’re like, Hmm. Maybe he’s better than I thought. But, uh, yeah. I, I th I think it’s all about if you have that knowledge of them before this high leverage situation and you liked him, he had, and they had a bad game. It’s not the death [01:20:00] sentence of them.
[01:20:03] Dustin Hawes: All right. Is there anything else related to the Charney, mint or draft you wanted to cover Sage?
[01:20:08] Dillon Sage: I hope every player that got injured in the, uh, in the games today and before. Get healthy and everything works out for him. Cause we saw some pretty devastating ankle injuries and I felt like Trevor Kiehls should have broke his wrist on that fall.
[01:20:27] So, you know, I hope the, uh, the tournament gods heal those injuries because I want to see a very, uh, competitive, sweet 16 and elite eight and final four.
[01:20:40] Dustin Hawes: As we wrap up the show. It is going to be, I think the week that tells us this is the week in my eyes that tells us where we can probably expect Portland to land in the lottery Sage.
[01:20:54] They finish up their road trip tomorrow night against the Detroit pistons, a team that’s been playing. Uh, [01:21:00] well, as of late, uh, Siddique bay put up a 50 piece on Thursday against Orlando, uh, they still have Kate Cunningham of the number one overall pick, um, from the past draft. Okay. And then it’s where it really gets dicey.
[01:21:14] You got the spurs at home Wednesday and then a Friday, Saturday against the worst team in the league in the Houston rockets.
[01:21:22] Dillon Sage: Oh, wait,
[01:21:26] Dustin Hawes: what if you’re Joe Cronin? Like, I, I don’t think we need to discuss the opponents as much as we need to discuss the blazers. Is there any discussion. Like I it’s coming up on, on a month since they were going to reevaluate your kitsch.
[01:21:41] I assume they’ll hold him out for the season. I mean, I’m sure
[01:21:44] Dillon Sage: they have a check signed, sealed, and delivered for use of,
[01:21:48] Dustin Hawes: but what, what do you think that, do you think they keep moving justice in and out of the lineup? Do you think they ever two to the two big questions, do they, do they bring Anthony back at all this season?
[01:21:59] And what do you [01:22:00] do with Josh Hart? Like, I just don’t think they can afford another 40 piece, uh, and getting like a, another victory is as disgusting as that sounds to say.
[01:22:10] Dillon Sage: I mean, at this point in time, like there’s a limited number of games left full-out tank teams are full-out tanking now. So join the club.
[01:22:21] I mean, we already are so might as well, like give Keon 36 minutes to play with instead of giving him 16. So I I’m I’m down for the full-out player develop. 12 games to end out the year. Like a lot of these games are against other bad teams. So potential wins that turn into losses are humongous for us in the, uh, the, uh, lottery odds.
[01:22:49] So I have no problem with just fallout aggressive tanking, because that’s what we’ve been doing for awhile.
[01:22:57] Dustin Hawes: And for a program note, our [01:23:00] future Friday for this week’s episode will be the first. Lottery mock draft in how that will take place is we are going to utilize tank Athens simulation system. We are going to do it to where Portland lands a top four pick of at least move up in the draft while also keeping new Orleans is pick.
[01:23:19] So whenever that scenario hits, we will then take that order. So you could be listening and saying, Hey, why are the rockets not picking one? Well, that that’s just, you know, w we’ll we’ll lay it out there, but then we’ll, we’ll trade off picks, you know, maybe I’ll go Sage we’ll go or vice versa. And then we let you
[01:23:36] Dillon Sage: have the Portland.
[01:23:39] Whatever the Portland one, then we’ll, we’ll make the draft that way. And then
[01:23:43] Dustin Hawes: we’ll, we’ll kind of discuss like who’s who else is on the board, who would be a contingency pig? And I’m going to, I think you will, as well, we’ll take team needs into
[01:23:52] Dillon Sage: evaluation. I mean, I think that we can have a real discussion of each and every player that that is in our 14, [01:24:00] uh, team mock, a lot of things, whatever this tank athon SIM goes, that a lot of things can change.
[01:24:07] So, I mean, I’m ready to have a Frank discussion on all of these prospects cause we never, I mean, I think it’s obvious that I like one shooting guard more than you and you liked the other shooting guard more than me, but we’ve never had like a, a Frank discussion of like, where does land for you? Where does it go for me?
[01:24:24] Like, so I think this is going to be a very interesting show. And
[01:24:29] Dustin Hawes: we will plan on doing this one mock draft a month. So we’ll do one in March. We’ll do one in April. We will do one immediately after the lottery has actually taken place. And then we will have our full round one mock in June, both. We’ll do one on the pod and a little more quick, rapid fire, and then we’ll do what we did
[01:24:50] Dillon Sage: in.
[01:24:52] Dustin Hawes: We’ll actually do a mock draft and, you know, do write up ups on the guys. And, uh, that was really fun, pretty time consuming. So [01:25:00]
[01:25:00] Dillon Sage: that was a special place of hell. That was at all of the stem work in the Robert Covington. And
[01:25:08] Dustin Hawes: that part sucked ass, but it was fun because, you know, I’d just be, you know, on the laptop on that’d be like, okay, say your turn.
[01:25:14] And then 10 minutes later, we had your turn and we’d just go back and forth, but, um, really, really fun. So, uh, again, if you guys like what you’re hearing, like what you’re reading, please leave us that five star review, leave us a comment. It really helps out, um, the podcast Sage, let our listeners know where they can find our or
[01:25:34] Dillon Sage: we’re available on everywhere.
[01:25:36] You, uh, listen to your podcasts, iTunes, Google play dash radio, nothing but right. Net radio, Stitcher, Himalaya podcast. So wherever. That you need to be. And if you, if you like us, definitely give us that nice five star review and, uh, share it with your friends on Twitter and socials man, where we’re very online people.
[01:25:59] [01:26:00] So, and I would like to say, we’re nice people. So fuck with us. We have a nice community of, uh, rip city fans. So fuck with us. And we will be back Friday to talk about our mocks.