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NFL Conference Championship Recap | Bournemouth on the Rise | Detroit Pistons Firing
39 Plays1 month ago
In this week’s episode of Who’s Got The Ball?, James gave his recap of the NFL Conference Championship games, a breakdown of Bournemouth's rise this season and the growth of the Detroit Pistons around their star Cade Cunningham.
Gan Seans continues with Shane currently holding a 4-2 lead & James gives you an update on the lads' WGTB Multi-Sport Power Rankings.
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 3
00:00:09
Speaker
Well lads, welcome back to the third episode of Who's Got the Ball. So today I am flying solo. It's going to be a shorter episode so Shane Hurd is back.
NFL Conference Championships and Super Bowl Preview
00:00:20
Speaker
He's pretty cracked up so he can't can't really record this week but I didn't want to go without getting something out there for you. so I'm gonna record an episode on my own and gonna talk about the same topics but I'm gonna just shorten them down so this week I'm gonna do kind of a look back on the the two games in the NFL from the weekend the conference championship games and kind of focusing on
00:00:46
Speaker
breaking down what happened there any takeaways from that because next week we're going to be previewing the Super Bowl so we'll we'll try and cover the teams that lost as well so that we're or kind of giving them a bit of their time but we will obviously come back to them in the offseason and then I'm also going to talk about a specific team that I want to from the Premier League and also from the NBA but it's going to be a bit shorter because obviously there's no back and forth so I'm just going to give a bit of a break down things that I think and We'll update you then as well on our power rankings and Ganshan's. I'll give you Shane's entries on my own as well. So hopefully you are enjoying the podcast so far. And this is going to be the third episode. Appreciate all the listens, all the shares, everything so far.
00:01:33
Speaker
you're really helping us out a lot. Everybody who's sharing it around and anybody who's followed or anything like that on any platform has been <unk> been so great. So thanks a million and let's let's just get into
Commanders vs Eagles Game Analysis
00:01:44
Speaker
it. So obviously on Sunday night we had a two two massive games in the NFL. So we did have the commanders facing up against the Eagles first of all. So that was in Philadelphia. And and look, I thought it It didn't work out the way that I think a lot of people would have hoped with a bit of a fairy tale ending for Jaden Daniels, but that's not to take anything away from his performance this season. So actually before the game, I released an article and over on the sub stack, who's got the ball sub stack. So it's linked below. And that was titled, is Jaden Daniels the best rookie quarterback of all time? And and I released a poll then on the Instagram page just asking, like, did you guys think
00:02:27
Speaker
that he was the best rookie quarterback of all time or did he need to win this game? Most people either picked one of those two options. I don't think anybody just said no. and But in my opinion, I think he's still the best rookie quarterback of all time. and kind of break it down in that article if you want to go give it a read why just the things he's done this season and he's only the sixth rookie quarterback to ever get this far and to be starting in a conference championship and some of those guys kind of just fell into that position like with Brock Purdy he wasn't in intention it wasn't the intention of the franchise to have him there so he was the most recent one but now Daniels
00:03:03
Speaker
kind of took that mantle as the most recent rookie quarterback to play in a conference championship game. None of them have ever got to the court and Super Bowl. So maybe that's an next to come soon. But yeah, i don't I don't think it takes anything away from his season the way they ended up losing. But look, the first drive they went on, Cliff Kingsbury called it beautifully. you know They just ran some time off the clock. I think looking back, they probably regret not going for it on that fourth and three. I think they already went for it on fourth down twice on that drive. So, you know, why not go for it again? They've been going for it all season, but look, they wanted to get points on the board in the biggest game of the season for them. But I i do think that was an important thing to go out there and get that first touchdown. I don't know if it would have changed things in the long term and of the game in terms of
00:03:54
Speaker
If you look at the fumbles and all the other things that happened, that one extra, and I suppose touch them wouldn't have made a difference, but it would have at the start put them on the board with seven points instead of three. And then just right after that long drive drawn out, excellently called. And then very first play that the Eagles have sake one just bursts off that run. It's just like the Marlies and heartbreak and like, that's the one thing you want to stop. You want to stop sake one in a big game like this. And the first thing that he does is break off a run like that. And.
00:04:24
Speaker
He goes for, I think, 60 yards into the end zone. Just not exactly the way you want to start your game on defense. So that put them on the back foot straight away. And then I think when it was around 14 to 12, it looked like and the the commanders were coming back into it a bit. There had already been a fumble at that point to get the Eagles. So the Eagles had two touchdowns and I think it was 14-3. And then Daniels got it back up there.
00:04:52
Speaker
14 to 12 did pretty good job. I think that there was a field goal and then the touchdown, they went for two and they didn't get it. But then after that, I don't think he touched the ball again until the score was 15. What was it? 27 12 after that. So he he got them to 12 14 12 and then he didn't touch the ball again until 27 12 because the Eagles had a touchdown and then McNichols had that fumble on the return. Another touchdown.
00:05:22
Speaker
You know, like that's just, that's just not the way that you wanted to go for your rookie quarterback. You don't want them to try and get you back into the game. And then next thing you know, he's down 27-12 after the last time he had it. He had just managed to get it to 14-12. So yeah, I think that that's a big thing in this game that ah they didn't really give him the best chance to succeed. and And then even then he brought them on a brilliant drive to end the half and the half ended like 27-15 then.
00:05:54
Speaker
And, you know, he got them into that field goal range in like 35 seconds or 40 seconds. So and he showed so much what he could do in this game, but things just didn't really, didn't really work out. Now, I think the commanders did come out second half and when they started, they started well on defense. So they had two, there was two points for the Eagles early on in that second half. It was a punt, a touchdown and a punt for the Eagles to start the half. But then,
00:06:22
Speaker
Eclor had that fumble when it was 34-23. The name of this game was the fumbles. like They just ruined every chance that these commanders had. and So first of all, the early fumble, then when Daniels got them back to 14-12 as I mentioned there's touchdown for the Eagles, a fumble and another touchdown and then in the second half when he gets them back to like close enough again then the defense gets a stop and then Echler has that just like absolutely horrendous fumble just to kind of just rub salt in the wounds really and make it so much more difficult and then Tom Brady
00:07:01
Speaker
to, I don't know, his commentary is just tragic but he just of course had to throw in there that Ackler has like small hands as well just like for absolutely no reason just throwing that in there but yeah and not a good not a good um performance in terms of looking after the football and we've said in the last episode we looked at teams that had turned the ball over had always lost games and this is no different. and Now we will say the Bills and Chiefs game it didn't work out that way but and most of the time it does work out that if you turn over the ball
00:07:36
Speaker
less than your opponent you're going to have a better chance of winning and and that's just what happened here three turnovers and you just keep giving this Eagles offense the ball they just keep running it down your throat and there's literally nothing you can do like seven Russian touchdowns 55 points scored I think it was the most ever in a championship game in the NFL so just unbelievable for the Eagles but we will talk about them more next week in the Super Bowl preview but I wanted to give and that shout out I suppose to Daniels and just say you know he he deserved more from this season in terms of getting to the Super Bowl it would have been absolutely amazing but he he achieved so much and a lot more than people talk considering where the commanders were at the start of the season but another player I wanted to shout out
00:08:23
Speaker
and from this game, we'll probably touch on him more next week as an important player and is Quinnon Mitchell. So, when he lined up against McLaren, who was obviously the commander's biggest weapon at wide receiver, and he lined up against him on 75% of his snaps and he allowed him just one catch out of four targets for seven yards and he also caught an interception on him. Like, just completely locked him down and not for the first time this season, so props to him as well. But yeah, let's move on then to the other games.
00:08:53
Speaker
We've got the Bills obviously and the Chiefs which was heartbreaking for the Bills again.
Bills vs Chiefs: Allen vs Mahomes Rivalry
00:08:58
Speaker
Fourth loss for Josh Allen to Mahomes in the spend the playoffs. Just can't make that Super Bowl, can't make that next step. And I just, I don't know, I think it just comes down to one team knowing how to win more than the other. Now there's a couple of other are points and that kind of play into that but the Chiefs have been here before they know exactly how to see these games out, and they know what they need to do, and they know the calls that they need to make. They're not afraid to go for something a little bit different if they have to. like When Mahone's true, that last really important first down, and it went to Peering, and he got there over the line, ice the game, that's a big call for, I don't think a player a player who didn't even touch the ball for the rest of the game. So it just shows the difference
00:09:51
Speaker
between the two teams, when you look at that last drive that the Bills had, the biggest problem I had with that last drive is James Cook doesn't touch the ball how good he was during this game. So he had 13 carries for 85 yards, six and a half yards per carry and two touchdowns. And they don't give him the ball on that last drive. They don't let him touch it once. And he had been explosive 6.5 yards per carry. Like you need to go back to him there. Cause that's when they needed to get down the field. They just, at that point, they just needed,
00:10:21
Speaker
to get down the field and get into field goal range at the very least. And, you know, it just, I don't understand why they couldn't give them the ball there. I think it would have been such a different story if they kind of fed him the ball, ran the clock down and just burned their way down the field. That chief's defense obviously was absolutely amazing, but like they were tired. They'd have to be tired at that point. If you just run the ball at them, a couple of runs were Allen, couple of runs were Cook.
00:10:48
Speaker
Um, but obviously it didn't play out that way. Um, and a couple of things came back to bite them in the end in terms of like, Alan started off a little bit slow. That Xavier wordy catch is just absolutely not a catch at all. Like he goes up there and he has the ball pinned on Cole Bishop's arm. And as it gets down to the ground, you can see that his one hand is on top of the ball. The other arm is underneath and then.
00:11:14
Speaker
when it gets to the ground, that arm moves away from it and the ball hits the ground. He didn't have control of the ball on top of his hand, the ground aided him to catch that. And Bishop had more of a hole on it than Worthy did. And, you know, to give that as a catch is its basically just handing them a touchdown how close they were to the line. So I don't agree with that. I also do not agree with the first down call. and I honestly think that at that point, just at such a crucial moment and and they turned the ball over and fought down, you're just handing the Chiefs such a great field position. And I think like that pass to King Cade that was just before it that work, but just before Allen went for it, I think he got there and then they went quickly before looking at that again. I don't know what the Bills were doing there. They should have taken their time, rushed it and then
00:12:07
Speaker
they kind of, Alan tried the sneak and you could see it looks like he got over the line. I'm not really sure how they call it when one official who was looking at the ball calls it as a first down and the other guy who can't see the ball overrules him. And that's just that. Chiefs get the ball back and the rest is history. And even after all that, then they had that chance at the end with that pass to King Cade. Don't want to focus too much on a drop, but you know that throw by Allen was absolutely ridiculous. Pressure in his face and he gets that ball down to Kincaid and it was a catchable ball unfortunately it didn't work out. and but yeah It's just a lot of things for the Bills. So many nearly moments and so many times they've nearly been there against the Chiefs and it's just it's just not worked out. and and
00:12:56
Speaker
you know, I had a really interesting stat I saw on Twitter was about Alan in the playoffs. So he's first all-time in total yards per game, first all-time in touchdowns per game, and first all-time in touchdown to turnover rate in the playoffs. So he's performed so well in the playoffs, but the Chiefs just keep taking him down and Mahomes just keeps beating him and knowing how to win and the Bills defense they rely too much on turnovers yes they did get the one turnover this game but you know they rely too heavily on that one one aspect of the game and and I think
00:13:34
Speaker
Just this game, the fact that they allowed the Chiefs 30 points, the first time the Chiefs got 30 points all season in the biggest game of the season. like Of course, the Chiefs showed up more than they did in other games offensively to get that to happen, but it's not an excuse for the Bills. They needed to perform better and they've allowed him they've allowed them so many points over the years of playing against them.
00:13:55
Speaker
They've allowed the Chiefs 34 points per game on average across the four losses that they had and against them over the years in the playoffs with Josh Allen and Mahomes battling out. So yeah, defense let them down. A couple of other things, refereeing decisions weren't great, but they still had that chance to win. Forget about the ref's decisions. They still could have won that game. And yeah, things just didn't go their way. And I feel sorry for them because they did think they were going to win it this year.
00:14:22
Speaker
and But yeah, we'll get into our predictions for the Super Bowl next week.
NFL Conference Championships Summary
00:14:25
Speaker
and Myself and Shane will but'll go back and forth about the two different teams and we'll we'll preview the game. and So yeah, that's pretty much everything for the NFL, the two games from the weekend, two big games. That's kind of and my two cents on it and the breakdown of the
Bournemouth's Premier League Surge
00:14:40
Speaker
of the games. But moving on then to the Premier League, there's a team I want to chat about and they're going to they're going to make an appearance later on in power rankings in the power rankings. But they've just been outrageous recently is Bournemouth. So Bournemouth just a bit of ah a segment and a bit of a shout out here. And so in terms of Bournemouth, they're seventh in the Premier League right now.
00:15:04
Speaker
and they're only there on goal difference so they have one goal less than Chelsea and then they're also one point behind both City and Newcastle. So one point behind sports bot like for a team that nobody expected to be there a couple of years ago, nobody expected to be at there at the start of this season and they're just having such a good season and they epitomised it in that that beating of Forrest who we only just raved about a couple of weeks ago this season they've been having and how complete of a team they are, how good they are defensively, and Bournemouth just absolutely obliterated them. And the thing that was more shocking to me is, and that kind of shows a bit of a turnaround, is that Bournemouth often found it difficult to break down teams like Forrest who defended a lot and kind of sat back more. They were much better at playing against teams who kind of were wanting control of the ball and were pressing forward. They just
00:16:03
Speaker
always caused this chaos by pressing up on the ball, players interchanging in the forward line, different things just basically causing as much chaos as possible to get the other team to basically be thrown off their game, which is very hard to do on other teams that allow you to have the ball like Forrest. So to do that to them, the goals they scored, the control that Clyvard had a couple of, a couple of times for those goals. And I think even the one that was offsite, just the way,
00:16:32
Speaker
The way he had the ball basically glued to his foot, he's just on an absolute tear at the moment. but and In general, their last loss in the Premier League came against Brighton on the 30th of November, so 11 games now without a loss, and Huyssen started to be their centre-back. He started for them at centre-back, the next game after that, and he has just been absolutely excellent. like He's just been a rock there for them, his ability on the ball. Juventus already apparently want them back, of course they do, but I can't see him staying there.
00:17:02
Speaker
for too much longer unfortunately that's the way it goes when these guys perform well at like Premier League teams that aren't typically always in the top five six they end up moving on but there's so many teams sniffing around him now already and then yeah he's he's just been an absolute rock for them what a what an addition and what a pickup from Juventus and like you know I can't believe Juventus let him go but he's made such a big difference to them in that team and if you look at and in terms of They're XG, they're fifth, so they have 42.4 on the season and they've scored 41 goals, so they they're efficient with their chances. and They take pretty much all their chances and that they create. If you're going about it that way, XG is looking at quality of the chance that you have, the chance that you would score a goal from that.
00:17:50
Speaker
from a certain and pass or whatever, you know but that's kind of more exorcist if you're talking about the pass itself. But basically quality of chance, they're creating 42.4 quality chances and scoring 41 goals. like There's not like any issue with that at all. They're performing excellently and in their attack with players that people didn't expect to score a lot of goals, which is kind of more important for that you're not having guys wasteful of their chances especially these guys that need people might think they need extra chances but they're performing
00:18:25
Speaker
exactly to the level that the chances that are being created for them are given, so that's that's such a testament to them. they're They're incredibly direct as a team, so they're 17th in the league in passes, total passes, but they're third in shots, and only City and Liverpool are ahead of them. Interestingly, in the passes Forest are also below them, so that shows the direct nature and the kind of change of the change of the league a little bit, different dynamic to games and how teams like Bournemouth, Brighton and and Brentford, these type of teams are succeeding Forest as well, but so interesting that their third and shots 375 on the season, but their passing is 17th. And then in terms of tackles, their sixth
00:19:10
Speaker
in total tackles made and they're second in interceptions they've had 222 interceptions already this season and Lewis Cook has been an absolute rock in midfield and I don't know what his total interception number is but he's he's one of the highest in the league and just he's been so solid in there for them they need him there to break things up especially when they invite pressure on and the other players are pressing and trying to win the ball back up high and putting in these snap tackles getting in there but then you have him further back and he's just breaking things up and and reading the game so well for them which is so important but yeah I think looking at another player I wanted to shout out as well was Karkas and how good he's played this season another guy who'll probably move on a lot of big teams sniffing around and not
00:19:57
Speaker
as many quality left backs around at the moment in the Premier League. I suppose there was it years ago, but he's won that's up there and his attacking ability as well, that goal he scored against Newcastle, just like bursting along to get up there and just an absolute cracker of a finish. Another game that they won, you know, winning that game for one was so such a big deal too. So two huge wins against teams that are in top form themselves.
00:20:23
Speaker
in Forest and also in Newcastle. And now they're going to face Liverpool at the weekend, just a huge test. But I think they can definitely put it up to them, especially if the attackers keep firing. So you have Watarah, Semenyo, Cliver, these guys are are just firing and every week for them. On the season, we have Semenyo with three assists and seven goals, Cliver, four assists and 11 goals. And just like these guys are putting out numbers that they haven't before. Semenyo has always been kind of one that pops up in the league.
00:20:52
Speaker
you'll get the out goal and you think, oh, but he's, he's a player, but he's not consistent. Whereas this year he's actually been consistent and clover as well. Just, uh, that ability that he has, um, control of the ball, he's just grown. And I hope he continues to grow, but yeah, Bournemouth is kind of my team that I wanted to focus on, uh, for this week. And those are some of the reasons why I think they've, they've succeeded. And I think they will continue to succeed because areola is such a good manager.
00:21:20
Speaker
and So when he was with Vallecano he got them promoted and at the first time of asking through the playoffs from the Segundo division in Spain and then he got them in 12th and 11th place in his first two seasons. So straight away into a solid base comes to Bournemouth and his ideas have kind of betted into the team now after last season.
00:21:38
Speaker
and started off a little bit shaky at first but you could see what he was trying to implement and over time they were more solid last season and now they're going at it exactly the way he wants them to go and the players are fully bought into his ideas and you just absolutely love to see a team performing like that and I don't know what it is about that region of Spain how many managers they produce but this guy is special and yeah I hope he stays there for a while and I hope some of these players stay there just to keep that kind of momentum going and keep them keep them kind of as a unit because I think they can they can achieve like such great things in terms of getting into Europe into the Europa League or the conference league would be so huge for the for the club and just with the revenue and stuff like that so yeah I hope I hope to see them in there and we're gonna we're gonna keep an eye on them this season because they've deserved everything that they've gotten and this big test now in the weekend which
00:22:30
Speaker
If Shane was here, he'd be saying, you know, he thinks, obviously he thinks that Liverpool would win, but I think that, uh, I think that Bournemouth will get something out of that game. I definitely do. Um, but that actually brings us, brings us nicely then into gone chance. Uh, so without chance, uh, in Irish, it's basically picking underdogs. Um, we pick teams that are underdogs. Um, we'd explained in the last couple of episodes how that, how that works. So.
00:22:56
Speaker
and has to be a team that's playing against a team that's odds on. So that was for the NFL and the Premier League and then for the NBA we're picking a team that has five less wins than the team they're playing against. They're all from the weekend ahead.
00:23:12
Speaker
But obviously now with the NFL kind of coming to a close, just the Super Bowl left, we're going to do three picks and we're going to spread them at least one from the Premier League and one from the NBA and then just another one, which we which we think works. And so Shane obviously sent his in here. So I'll tell you what he has. So he's gone with Wolves to be Assembla. And he has here that Wolves are 23 to 10 to win. His reasoning is Wolves are due to win and that they've not been too bad recently and huge Champions League game for Villa versus Celtic, which is on right now, and just kicked off as I'm recording. So he's he's saying, I think, that Villa will be tired and that it's there for the taking. A bit of a derby as well, obviously, with two teams from the Wolverhampton and Birmingham areas. So he said Forum kind of goes out the window at that point when it's a derby. So, yeah, look, I would think that Wolves at home
00:24:05
Speaker
you know, better chance than if they were away, so he can't knock the shout there. um He's gone with Southampton to beat Ipswich as well. I don't know. I like South. I don't know. hiss a First note here is two bad teams. So he is. I know Southampton are the literal worst team in the Premier League history, but Ipswich are cat too. Can't argue with that. He says their pedestrian and Wes Burns being out is going to be a big loss for them. Southampton can't continue to run with their own.
00:24:33
Speaker
and they'll get a result. I could see this being a draw at most, I don't know. I think Ipswich are closer to that, escaping the relegation zone, so I think they might think we have to win this game. I could see it being like a 2-2, 3-3 draw, something crazy like that, but look.
00:24:50
Speaker
Shane's gone for it, he's gone bold 14-5 there and then the last one he's gone for is the Lakers to beat the Knicks in the NBA on the weekend and so Lakers obviously just had a good run of games last last night to the Sixers thank God the Sixers are on a small bit of a run but ah yeah that's Shane's three picks he's currently in the lead four too so he won the first week 2-1 and then again last week 2-1 I was so close with my pick in the NBA last week well so close yet so far because I picked the Spurs to beat the Pacers, they were playing each other over in Paris. and And the day after we recorded, they played, obviously we were picking games from the weekend, they played again on the weekend and I was referring to the weekend game because the podcast doesn't come out until Friday and they won easily on the Thursday night and then they go on on Saturday and they lose by like 30 points. So obviously, yeah yeah, I was pretty annoyed that the Thursday one, they were so good and then
00:25:46
Speaker
and the weekend things just didn't work out but yeah 2-1 again to Shane in boat week so he's 4-2 up now overall and then I'll give you my picks so I've gone with the Blazers to beat the Suns so the Blazers have 20 wins and the and so that's on Saturday night in Portland so Portland we're on a five game winning streak just out of nowhere they're playing pretty good basketball so Kamara has been Tamoni Camara has been good for them and Anthony fornie Simons is back in the team. I don't know, they they just look a little bit better and I've said, I'll go for them here. Then i they won again last night. So they last they had a five game winning streak, lost to the Thunder only by 10 points, I think. And then last night they won again against the Bucks. So look, stranger things have happened. I think, I think they'll put it off there in Portland against the Suns. So I think the night before I think they have a game. So I think that could be,
00:26:44
Speaker
That could be a good good shout there. Then in the Premier League, coming back to Bournemouth, I have them to beat Liverpool, so they're 7-2 to beat Liverpool. Liverpool are 4-6, so it's down on the South Coast in Bournemouth. I could see ah can see it being a big game, and fans getting behind them, and I just think this is the best shout of all the underdogs in the weekend. I didn't really like the others in the Premier League. so I could see this being a draw, a realist more realistically, but obviously going to have to pick underdogs here and pick winners. So I'm going for them. And then my extra pick is the Raptors to beat the Bulls. And that's on Friday night in Toronto. So the Raptors have 14 wins and the Bulls have 20, but the Raptors are on a bit of a tear at the moment. They've won six of their last seven games and they're making a bit of a push for that last playing spot.
00:27:32
Speaker
They also, like in in the run and of wins that they've had, they beat the Celtics, Warriors, the Hawks twice. Obviously the Hawks have have injury issues, but they're a good defensive team. Magic as well, another good defensive team. And they just lost to the Bucks in their last game, but look, they're on a good run in general.
00:27:51
Speaker
really turning things around compared to how bad they were to start the season. Scotty Barnes has looked better after a shaky start to the season but I think, yeah, I think they can win this game. The Bulls are on the way down and the Raptors are on the way up and they're making a push for the Bulls spot basically and with the Hawks slipping too, there's two kind of spots that might come up there in the play and and the Sixers and ah Raptors are pushing for them. So I think why not? Why not go for the Raptors to beat the Bulls? So that's my that's my three picks for gunshots and chains as well. So keep an eye on those over the weekend and
00:28:23
Speaker
We'll see how we get on in the next
Detroit Pistons Season Overview
00:28:25
Speaker
episode. so Lastly, and and for the sports, before we move on to the power rankings, then to wrap things up, I've gone with an NBA team to talk about, so I've gone with the Pistons. They're not on the best of runs recently compared to how they were at the start of the season, but they're still on a good overall and trajectory for the season. I think they will make the playoffs.
00:28:46
Speaker
i know The loss of Jaden Ivey is massive, horrible injury, and you just feel for him because he's really coming into his own, especially with the team that they've built and with him and Cade as kind of the two main guys on fence. It just felt really bad for him way the way that ended up going. But at the start of the season, they looked so much better. They're so much more improved. So Cade was drafted in 2021, first overall, obviously. And that season, they went 23 and 59.
00:29:17
Speaker
then They haven't won 23 games in a season since then until this year. So the next season after that, they went 20... They went 17 and 65 and then the next season after that they went 14 and 68. So like they've just gone downhill since they drafted him and now this season they've shot up. Everything seems to kind of fit a bit more. They've made some better moves and in free agency this year than they did previously. I think they've built a team around them nicely now. It's okay, it can actually play make as well, which is so important.
00:29:49
Speaker
And because when, when he has the ball, he can create his own shot. He's st strong. He can post up against smaller guards, but he also needs to have someone around him that can spot up and shoot. And it was, it wasn't as easy for them in previous seasons with him there. Now they have Tobias Harris, who obviously a former or sixer was never an amazing shooter for the sixers, but he can make threes and he gives them an option there on the wing, kind of an outlet that people do have to guard.
00:30:16
Speaker
and takes a bit of the heat off Cade. And then obviously Malik Beasley as well has been excellent for them in terms of his three shooting ability. But I think now that Ivy has gone down, teams have gone back a little bit more to double team Cade and I think he is finding it more difficult than he was earlier in the season. But in terms of his progression, he's looked so much better than he did any other season so far. And as I mentioned with his playmaking, that's kind of been the most impressive thing. So this has been his best scoring season and so far in the league. He's averaging 25 points per game, roughly. Most rebounds as well, 6.5. And almost offering 10 assists per game, I think it's mid nine. Obviously the addition of of the guys shooting helped that.
00:31:04
Speaker
and and frees him up as well in terms of the fact that if people know that there's somebody on the perimeter that can shoot it gives him more space inside and then when Ivy was there as well he was able to knock down shots and that's another reason that that's kind of taken away too from the team. um So this last Ivy I think is massive but they the ability that they've showed this year and their trajectory in general is so promising. And Pistons fans deserve, you know, a bit of something after all the seasons they've had in recent times. And obviously with the Lions up and coming in, the NFL as well, you know, Detroit, it's a good sporting city right now. They've got the Lions on the up, Pistons on the up, but yeah, in terms of other players then looking at Sarah Thompson, unfortunately,
00:31:57
Speaker
last season he had that blood clot and he was out for about eight months in total from um the end of last season until now but he's starting to ramp up nicely now so he has ah an incredibly high defensive output he's such a good defender as is his brother and for our Rockets which Shane can attest to and just like such such a good defender two huge up-and-coming defenders in the league big physical players and just rangy long arms all the All the things you want from elite athletes in the NBA, but he's he's on six around six and a half rebounds per game now, only on 25 minutes per game across the whole season and around two steals and blocks in total. So he's adding to that defense. He's given them
00:32:42
Speaker
kind of a bit more, I suppose, hands in there. Offensive players can't get through as easily when when you know that there's somebody there like like ah similar to like a Jaden McDaniels where they have those long arms, they can reach and steal the ball kind of from anywhere. They can they can still come in with a block when you think you're going past them. So adding young guys like that who have these talents that kind of also helped Cade out because he's obviously the fulcrum of this team he's the main point he's the guy that they're building around but they've complimented him nicely now with Thompson, Ivy, Harris, Beasley in general you know they've had they've had a and nice idea now and you can see it coming together so I'm happy for them and um and i' I've liked watching them play and I like watching Cade play especially when he's on them
00:33:31
Speaker
smaller guards, he just bullies them. like you know You need someone bigger to to guard him and that's a good that's good for him. He's turned, he's kind of got more physical with his game. He just needs to start drawing more fouls now when he's shooting because he doesn't get to the free throw line a lot and a lot of these elite guys do, it's very important. too And if he's going to take that next step to draw fouls, it's a similar issue with Maxi, with how good he's been at the Sixers, but he's he's starting to draw more fouls and it it adds some more points. It kind of keeps the scoreboard ticking over as well. And it once the refs know that you can you have that ability to draw fouls and you start getting that whistle it shows, it almost shows you're now like at a higher level and you're like a star. So yeah.
00:34:13
Speaker
and definitely going to be one team to watch not just for this season but going forward and I i do think they'll make the playoffs this year if it is maybe even just to play and they'll definitely get in but I think they could get that maybe sixth or seventh seed even and so yeah really enjoying them this season and that's kind of a team I wanted to give a bit of props to similar team like Bournemouth kind of on the up. and So yeah, that's my that's my NBA team that I wanted to focus on and have a chat about what I was here on my own for this week. So I hope you hope you enjoyed this this episode. I know obviously wasn't the same back and forth. It was just kind of like a basically a therapy session for me to talk about whatever sports topics I wanted to talk about. But
00:34:55
Speaker
I'm going to wrap it up now with the power rankings. So and obviously ahll I'll go through last week's ones first. So for myself, I had Liverpool first, then the Bills. So yeah, they're obviously gone now for me. Then I have Oklahoma City Thunder.
00:35:12
Speaker
I had Cleveland Cavs, the Chiefs and Nottingham Forest. So a big change of this week after last weekend's results. I still have Liverpool in first place. I think they've been excellent across the season and in Europe and in the Premier League, so I can't knock them off there, unfortunately, even though I would just love to. Just to my shame, I would actually love to just put them sixth here. You would just lose it listening to this because i there's no reason why they can't be top across the three NBA Premier League and the NFL. They've been consistently just the best performing team this season, in my opinion. Then secondly, I've put the Rockets. And so they're a new addition for me, but they're on an incredible run there. I think they've won.
00:35:56
Speaker
nine out of their last 11 games so they're purchase just on an an excellent run overall and importantly for me is that the teams they were beating so they took down the Cavs and they beat them twice actually so you know the putting and they contributed to that Cavs three-game losing streak that they went on and you know this is this is a Rockets team that are really on the up another team that makes so much sense the way they've built this roster the players complement each other and we talked about Jalen Green recently he has been consistent since we kind of said you know he needs to be more consistent now last night he started off a little bit slow and and in their game against the Hawks but
00:36:36
Speaker
He did perform well overall, didn't shoot well from three, but had a solid game and just that consistency of scoring and contributing to the team overall, like Tate, how well he played last night too. Just in general, they deserve the second spot, I think right now in terms of power rankings, how well they've done and the way they're performing right now, they deserve to be second. Then third, I've gone with the Eagles.
00:36:59
Speaker
And so the reason I've gone with the Eagles is because of how many points they put up in such a big game, like how good they were on offense and how unstoppable Saikwan is. and I'm kind of looking at to the game ahead in the Super Bowl. So I don't want to give you my prediction yet, but there might be a little bit of something in there to that. So I won't say any more yet. And the Chiefs are next. And after them, the Chiefs remain. They move up a spot from last week for me. and But yeah, they remain still in there, obviously, after taking down the Bills team and the incredible season they've had and basically incredible multiple seasons they've had at this point.
00:37:33
Speaker
Then Bournemouth are in for me i at fifth spot, so yeah, just been really impressed with them, obviously, as I already highlighted. And then sixth are the Knicks. Obviously, it's a sad day to put them in after what they did to the Sixers last year and knock them out of the playoffs. But yeah, they've just been consistently good on offense. They're putting up like so many points every night, like 140 or something the other night.
00:37:57
Speaker
the whole team is just clicking on offense. And yeah, the defense is coming along there too. It wasn't great at all at the start of the season, but how good Kat has been. Jalen Brunson, it's been just such a good season on consistency basis for him. Obviously he hasn't exploded as much as he did at times last season, but he doesn't need to because he has cad and bridges and stuff there now. And they've surprised me with how good they've been. So yeah, just to run their own, they deserve that that's six spot. So that's my top six. And then we'll get into Shane. so
00:38:29
Speaker
he's given He's given breakdowns here of of of each, so he's gone with Liverpool top. He's written best football team in Europe at the moment, they just keep winning, on top of all the leagues, still in the cups, flying along nicely, big but games next week, you can just hear the happiness from him there with that one, Rockets second, so he's going very well with his teams right now, thank God.
00:38:50
Speaker
The Jets are bad or else he would have been unbearable to listen to right now going on about the Liverpool, the Rockets and the Jets. But look, Jets have a new head coach, so that's an another thing we need to talk about in the offseason. But yeah, he's gone with Rockets second, best current record in the NBA, and beating the Cavs twice. Yeah, as ah kind of same reasons as me and the Celtics on the last three. Young Corps are flying it and he's so excited about them at the moment. So yeah, can't, can't argue with that at all. Chiefs, he's put in brackets, unfortunately. I kind of converted him to support the Bills last week and yeah, going for the three-peat, hard to keep them out of it now. They look so good. He said, I know they have the refs in the pocket, but they're just inevitable. So yeah, Chief's in there again. So he's gone with the Thunder down in fourth. He said, still top of their conference, 7-3 in the last 10, and that they beat the Cavs recently, yeah, quite a good quite good performance, yeah. So, hard to argue with that. is The West is kind of a stronger conference. so
00:39:46
Speaker
and but the East is catching up it's been more impressive this year but yeah he's gone with two Western teams so top forward air for the Thunder and then fifth he has Bournemouth so that's the same as me both in fifth place with Bournemouth so 4-1 and 5-0 back to back against teams that were probably that they were probably underdogs against. Ariel is doing a great job. Huyson and Zavarnia are the youngest centre-back parent in the league and are just amazing together, even though they both annoy me with short sleeves and gloves. Yeah, this is such a shame, thank you, the annoyed there by that. But Clive we're playing, like his dad, at his prime, one of the best teams to watch currently. Yeah, so he's gone into some of the details, some of the stuff that I chatted about as well. So yeah, nice to see him kind of being on the same wavelength as me there.
00:40:32
Speaker
and and then sixth he's got Eagles two Super Bowl appearances in three years Barkley is a killer. Hurts is a great compliment. AJ and Smith are great options at receiver. Good team, as disappointing as it was. And then getting over the commanders, they're stronger match for the Chiefs than the commanders would have been. So yeah, hard to argue with that. I've gone with the Eagles over the Chiefs just because of that demolition they had on the commanders and how strong the sake one is and I think how good their defense is. But we'll get a bit more into that next week when the two of us are here to chat about the Super Bowl and preview it.
00:41:05
Speaker
And yeah, but that's everything for this week. and Let me know if you enjoyed the episode. Leave a comment. And if you're watching on YouTube or if you're if you're listening on Spotify, make sure to follow the show on Spotify. Like, rate, all that good stuff on any podcast app and subscribe on YouTube too. and Give us a follow on socials as well. We'll be back again next week with both of us. Hopefully Shane will...
00:41:28
Speaker
and be a bit more recovered yeah because he took a pretty na nasty injury to his back. so yeah This has been me for this week. Hopefully you enjoyed listening to me waffling on on my own and I'll catch you all again next week lads.