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The Most Overrated Premier League XI + NBA Playoff Chaos & NFL Draft Winners
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Episode 74 – Overrated XI, Champions League Reaction & NFL Draft
Episode 74 of Who’s Got The Ball? sees the lads tackle a huge week across football, NFL, and NBA.
They start with a debate-heavy segment, putting together their Overrated Premier League XI of the season—calling out the players who haven’t lived up to the hype.
Attention then turns to the Champions League, with breakdowns of Atlético Madrid vs Arsenal and PSG vs Bayern Munich—two massive clashes with very different styles on display. The lads also preview the huge Premier League showdown between Manchester United and Liverpool.
In the NFL segment, they each pick their biggest winner and loser from the Draft, highlighting the teams that made the smartest moves—and those that raised a few eyebrows.
Michael then joins to talk NBA Playoffs as things continue to ramp up, with some teams hitting their stride while others still have plenty left to prove.
Another packed episode full of strong opinions, analysis, and debate.
James' Children with Cancer UK donation link: https://2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/james-haughton-kellett
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(0:00) Intro
(4:52) Overrated Premier League XIs
(16:32) UCL Semi-Final Drama
(26:04) Man United vs Liverpool Preview
(28:48) NFL Draft Winners
(33:22) NFL Draft Losers
(40:03) Can the Rockets Make the First 3-0 Comeback?
(46:23) Spurs Cruise Past the Blazers
(51:16) Pistons vs Magic Slugfest
(56:55) OKC Sweep the Suns
(1:04:48) The Same Old James Harden Story
(1:12:47) Power Rankings
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Personal Updates
00:00:09
Speaker
All right, las welcome back to another episode of Who's Got the Ball, episode 74, myself and Shane here once again, bringing in it bringing it to your ears. Shane, how are you? What's the crack?
00:00:20
Speaker
Good. and I'm all good. I can't complain. We're not going to talk about my weekend this time because Limerick lost Cork and then I went to Limerick, tip one to 20s and tip one by 19 points, I think it was in the end, so we won't talk about that either.
00:00:33
Speaker
Let's talk about to you for a change. How was your weekend, James? Did you get up to anything fun and exciting? I don't know how much fun I had, but yeah ran I ran the London Marathon and I completed it. So I've got my finisher T-shirt on for this episode.
00:00:49
Speaker
I've also got the medal because it's pretty cool. So it is it's so to to to show got some landmark on the back as well. So it's a really nice medal. and But yeah, it was tough. It was really hot in London and it's even hotter in the city because you have the buildings around you. yeah So there's no breeze. And all tarmac.
00:01:10
Speaker
All tarmac. A lot of people are dropping out and with heat stroke. I saw some people she basically like panned out on the ground and it was quite tough to keep going in that heat. But myself and Aisling both got it done together. So and yeah, absolutely delighted to have it done. And i think...
00:01:29
Speaker
It was well worth doing as a as something to check off the list, but I'm never going to do a full length. Again, I'm happy with the half marathons from now on because you can actually enjoy a half marathon and you feel fine the next day. But this is just mental torture, to be honest, to finish this off, especially when it was that hot.
00:01:49
Speaker
Yeah, like honestly, marathon is never on my list of things to do. and It never was. I don't think humans are meant to run that far in one go. I just don't think we're meant to be built for it. And I know some people are. And the lads who finish one, two, and three is the most outrageous thing I've ever seen. Two lads doing that in under two hours in that heat as well is absolutely silly. So I just, I have so much respect for...
00:02:14
Speaker
people who go out there and run run one and finish one. Like my friend David did three last year in six ah six or eight weeks or something and I don't know how anyone could go and do that. And then John and Connor both said they're one and done. They're going to stick to half marathons from now on as well. So I think a lot of people are in the same boat as you are to be fair. And I think doing one is just is an incredible achievement. And the amount of money you've raised between yourself and Aisling is another incredible achievement. um I think you should be so proud of yourselves honestly. And just to go over there with the intention of doing this is, is enough for a lot of people, but to go over there with the intention of doing this in that heat to get it done.
00:02:51
Speaker
Just yeah. Hats off the boat. Honestly, I should have worn a hat to take it off just for this moment. I appreciate the kind words. Yeah. I, I, do it's kind of weird like to not think about back to it and you're just like oh it's done now so i'm sure it'll be like in a few weeks i'll be like jesus can't believe that i finished that but yeah i i do know for a fact that i'm going to be sticking to the halves as ah as at most from now on because it is it is very very tough but yeah appreciate appreciate your kind words and also to let people know i can you can continue to donate so
00:03:24
Speaker
If even you can give five pounds if you have it or ten pounds, and that would be absolutely brilliant to Children With Cancer UK because that's who I ran for.
Episode Topics Overview
00:03:32
Speaker
And the donation link is is in the description and I'll leave it in there for a few weeks if anybody wants to give anything that would be much appreciated but we had a lot to talk about sporting wise in this episode so quick rundown as usual of what we chatted about we started off with football this week so we gave um an interesting topic ago and we talked about our overrated 11 from the premier league this season so we gave one each and for that then we moved on to talking about the two champions league semi-finals
00:04:03
Speaker
Two completely different games altogether. And we gave our opinions on those and what we're looking to see in the second legs. And then a quick preview of United versus Liverpool this weekend and who we both think are going to win. No surprise surprise surprise. And then we moved into the NFL side of things where we gave our winner and loser of the draft each. and So that is interesting. We'll see how that pans out going into next season.
00:04:28
Speaker
Then, Gomshans, as usual, gave our picks after a poor week last week. Hopefully we can turn it around. And then Michael joins us, as he will be every week during the and NBA playoffs. We talked about every series and broke each one down for you heading into the last few games, as a lot of them go into a game six.
00:04:47
Speaker
And then to wrap up, we give our power rankings as usual. So, a stacked episode. Let's jump into it.
Debate: Overrated Premier League 11
00:04:52
Speaker
Okay, so starting this week with some football chat. We've got some stuff on the Champions League to come in a minute, but... we're Starting with an interesting topic that Shane posed to me, and that is to give our overrated Premier League 11 for the season. and I just went with the classic 4-4-2 for this, but I'll let you go ahead first, and maybe if you want to give like your keeper and defenders, and then I'll give mine, and then we'll do the other way for the midfielders. Yeah, perfect.
00:05:23
Speaker
Yes, I did i'm a 4-2-3-1 because I think it's the formation that's been used most in the league, but I don't mind old 4-4-2 either. I've gone with Donnarumme in goals. Now, just so I sort of put it out there to start that this is an overrated 11. It's not us saying that these are bad players. I think he's quite clearly an unbelievable shot stopper.
00:05:42
Speaker
But when it comes to City playing out from the back and him using his feet, he's made so many errors across the season. Even coming out from corners and stuff, I think he's been really poor for a man who's 6'6".
00:05:53
Speaker
We saw it last week in the Arsenal match, Havertz managed to close him down and put the ball in the net. i think i think like I think at times I feel like they'd be better off at Trafford in goals.
00:06:03
Speaker
I think it was a big big reason why they won the Carver Cup was because they were able to trust him with his feet. So I've gone with Donor on my goals. My back four is Pedro Porro. I think that one kind of speaks for himself. He's Spain starting right back and...
00:06:16
Speaker
I don't know what he's added all season to this Spurs team to be. I think he's their vice-captain and all he does is either drill the ball over the bar, put in a really poor cross or defend horrifically.
00:06:26
Speaker
My two centre-backs, Gabriel and Malik Cha. Gabriel is obviously class, but he has dropped off a cliff since January. Saliba has been the one that has kind of taken over to the defence. And like, it's kind of when he falls off, Arsenal fall off. So I'm a big fan of him falling off, but he's just been a shell of himself since January.
00:06:44
Speaker
Malik Cha is another one who, an okay start, very, very good middle of the season. But now Newcastle are actually, I think they're in a relegation hunt. Sorry, in a relegation fight. And I think he's one of the main reasons why he's just been so poor in the last month.
00:06:58
Speaker
And my left back is Cukorea. People were telling me about six months ago he was the best left back in the world. He's not even in the top five in the Premier League at the moment now. I just think he he's good, but he's he's not what everyone think he is.
00:07:10
Speaker
Okay, this is good because I've got some like a lot of difference from you. so I've got Sanchez as my goalkeeper. I'm just sick to death of watching this guy in goal. Because sometimes you see Chelsea fans going on about him being good shot stopper, which he is at times. But he might makes the most outrageous mistakes that you'll ever see for absolutely no reason. And he does it so consistently.
00:07:34
Speaker
So that's why I've got him in there. I match you at Pedro Paro at right back. He's just, he's just not good. and i think if they go down to the championship, like there'll be teams looking to buy him, but he could be a backup right back for any decent team. He wouldn't be a starter.
00:07:51
Speaker
I just think his, his delivery is decent at times from corners, but like you said, he tends to just pelt the ball in when it's an open play and it's just directionless. My two centre-backs are Dunk and Dan Byrne.
00:08:05
Speaker
I know Dan Byrne has played left-back a bit, but I think he's worse. and His worst games have been at centre-back. Dunk, I've said about him before, I think he makes a lot of mistakes, and I do think that Brighton has been good recently, but he's just kind of a lump-the-ball-forward kind of defender at times. and Then there's other times he does try to play out and he's not consistently good enough. I just think he's overrated because he's English.
00:08:29
Speaker
and I think that Byrne has been much worse than Chou. So that's why I've got him in there. I think he's the reason Newcastle have been so bad. That Eddie Howe is just consistently playing him because he's his favourite and he won't drop him when he clearly should not be out on the pitch with the amount of mistakes he makes.
00:08:46
Speaker
And then left back, I've got Kerkes. um It's just been a shaky season for him. I just think he has been a little better recently, but the way this is a full season thing, and the way he started the season was awful, um and he's out of position quite a lot. So I think Liverpool are going to miss heaven having Roberts in there next season, because if things go like even more south with Kerkes, they'll be in a bit of trouble.
00:09:12
Speaker
um So that's my defence goalkeeper. Yeah, your two centre-backs were my two backup centre-backs if I was doing a bench as well, so you weren't bad there, but I think you're being a bit harsh on Kirk, I suppose.
00:09:26
Speaker
that's that That's why everyone has different opinions. The world to be a very boring place without it. so do you want to give out your midfield? Yeah, I'll do the midfield. So i'd like I've got kind of two attacking mids, a winger and a centre mids. I just put them into positions. But my right mid is Ahmad. I think he's been very poor for United this season.
00:09:48
Speaker
Defensively, he's been great. His our work ethic going back and his pressing have been good. But he's been... Very poor in front of goal and in the final third he's just not been consistent.
00:10:00
Speaker
Last season he had 8 goals and 8 assists. So far this season only 2 goals and 4 assists. I don't think AFCON did him any favours coming back from that has really kind of slowed him down but I've been disappointed with him quite a lot this season so he's in there.
00:10:13
Speaker
Midfield to centre I've got Declan Rice and Cole Palmer.
Champions League Semi-Finals Analysis
00:10:18
Speaker
I think Declan Rice is just like so overrated, it's unbelievable. Last night watching him on TNT, the two lads are just like wetting their pants watching him. but Most of the time, all he's doing is passing the ball backwards, or he has a mile of space, and he just passes it to somebody who's also in a mile of space. like It's not difficult, a lot of what he's doing. And then when he makes a mistake, or I saw one time he like The ball bounced off him and went somewhere and they're like, oh, great interception and a ball in by Rice. And it's just like the ball bounced off him and went like over here.
00:10:50
Speaker
And the Atleti defender stepped in and took it. like Everything he does, they have to praise it. And it's painful. And then Palmer has just been a massive disappointment this season.
00:11:01
Speaker
Nine goals and two assists. Five penalty goals, though. It really sums it up. He's only got four from open play. He had a hat-trick versus Wolves, which included two penalties and they're bottom of the league. So that really kind of padded his stats.
00:11:15
Speaker
And then my left midfielder is Phil Foden. I know it doesn't really play on the left, but he's the other guy I wanted to get in here. He can't get into this City team. He had a good stretch where he we scored a couple of goals. He had seven on the season and three assists. But he hasn't scored since the 13th of December and he only has one assist in all comps since that date.
00:11:35
Speaker
So he's just been a a big disappointment. It's kind of three three English players there and Ahmad because they just hype them up so much and they continue to hype them up even when they're bad. And that feeds into the perfect storm of being overrated in the Premier League.
00:11:51
Speaker
Yeah, I don't mind that at all. and We have two the same, i think. and My team midfielders are Beliba from Brighton. um They should have sold him last summer for 80 million because they're not going to get anything near that this season.
00:12:05
Speaker
his His head has been so out of Brighton for the last six or eight months. It's actually unbelievable. The amount time he's had to be taken off at half-time because he's been a liability. They should have sold him to United last year and just licked their lips and ran away with the money.
00:12:16
Speaker
Beside him, I've gone for Dechner Rice's partner, Zubamendi. I was going to put Rice in here, but I actually thought it was just me being biased against him. I didn't think you were going to put him in, but I think Zubamendi has been maybe not as bad, but Jesus, he's he has been woeful. A bit like Gabrielle since January 8th.
00:12:37
Speaker
He's made a couple of errors leading to goals. The game seemed to pass him by at times. he just stood down in the middle of the field doing exactly what Rice does, pops it off to someone else and just sits there. This is a lad who came on in the Euros final and completely ran the show. We haven't seen him do that once this year, so I think he's been awful.
00:12:52
Speaker
and My three behind my striker then are Saka, Foden and Anthony Gordon. Saka's 400 grand a week. He's either injured, pretending to be injured, or doing nothing. And that's been his whole season.
00:13:05
Speaker
Madueke was going to be here until Sky Sports put out that thing last night saying, have you any questions for Madueke? And every question was, why do you run the ball out of play constantly? So I realised then he wasn't overrated after that. So I just brought back to Saka. He's 400 grand a week and he's doing nothing.
00:13:21
Speaker
Foden, everything you've said, he's not been seen since December. He doesn't seem to have a role in this City team now with Sharkey and Semenyo in there behind Haaland and you're not going to put him on the left when you have Dock or Savinho so he's just kind of floating around and then Anthony Gordon has just had a really, really poor season ah just like Newcastle but he's 6-26 in the league.
00:13:40
Speaker
He's 10-12 in the Champions League which is outrageous even if it is a couple of penalties but it's kind of like I'll show up when I want to show up and that's when the Champions League comes around. Yeah, that's a massive problem with Gordon because I think he has a lot of skill and a lot of ability. But if you're not going to put in the effort all the time, then that's an issue, especially with the fact he once he held out not to play in a Premier League game.
00:14:02
Speaker
Whether yeah that was actually injury or not, that's not a good sign. So yeah, I think that's a good shout. My two strikers then in my 4-4-2 are obviously Giacares and Liam De Lapp.
00:14:16
Speaker
I think Giacares, 12 goals... look, it's not the worst, but three penalty goals, and he generally scores against poor teams, which is what we said he would do, the amount of money they spent on him to only get 12 goals when you're 27 years of age is not acceptable. If he was a young player and he did this, then you're like, okay, grand, he's 22, 23, he's still got loads of years left, he's getting into the Premier League. No, he's...
00:14:43
Speaker
He's at his best stage right now. He's not going to have many more seasons like this. And he only got 12 goals. So just not good enough for me. And then the lap has just been abysmal. I think no matter how much you rate him, even if you rate him a tiny amount, it's already too much. And I don't want to see him playing for Ireland because he already turned us down. So you can keep your one goal and two assists and you can stay in Chelsea.
00:15:06
Speaker
Yeah, so the lap is, and he's realised he's terrible now he wants to come back to Ireland. I actually do think we should be telling him no as well, to be perfectly honest. My striker I've gone with Sesko. No, I'm only joking, haven't. I've gone with Kjocka as well, of course I have. He has 19 goals in all competitions, but he hasn't added anything to this Newcastle team.
00:15:28
Speaker
Sorry, to this Arsenal team. I saw the Carragher one from the start of the season where he said that whatever strike they bring in is going to end up being dropped for Hobbits at some point, and it's happened.
00:15:40
Speaker
Yeah, happened in the City game. He's just been so poor. And if this is him at 27, when he gets to 30, he's going to be horrific without pace. So I think, yeah, he's been completely overrated. Gets away with murder because this Arsenal team are loved by the media. Same with Saka, same with Gabriel. But I just think...
00:15:56
Speaker
Yeah, he he's he's he's not the kind of striker that Arsenal needed. They needed Seshko. If Seshko did this for Arsenal, would be praising him. Like, this yeah, this is great first season, 23 years old, 19 goals in all competition, they might win the league. Brilliant. But it's a 27-year-old who just looks looks like a fish out of water every time he's on that pitch.
00:16:16
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, 100%. I think it's funny because your team have six of your 11 are Newcastle or Arsenal players, the two. the two teams that you usually go in on quite a lot. So that's funny.
00:16:29
Speaker
But yeah, I think Arsenal are are a good segue into talking about the Champions League because we want to quickly touch on the two. The two semi-final first legs is like two different sports out there.
00:16:44
Speaker
So let's start with Arsenal just to get that out of the way because that's the one we want to talk about less. and It was the the xg Look, it was 2.21 to Atleti and 1.51 for Arsenal. That's from Footmob anyway. um But Arsenal had a penalty, so that's going to sway it. And they only had two shots on target. And I'm listening to the lads on TNT going on as if Arsenal are dominating this game so much that they should be 3 or 4-0 up.
00:17:12
Speaker
like Yes, they were better in the first half than Atletico were. But when Atletico dominated, they had so many chances that they could have scored two or three goals. And Luckman should have had at least one, if not two.
00:17:23
Speaker
And then Arsenal, when they had their domination, they only had one shot on target during that period. And that was a penalty. So I don't buy any of this stuff that i that I'm seeing on TNT. And I have absolutely no issue personally with the penalty decisions. I think the ref got all of them correct.
00:17:41
Speaker
Yeah, and I think if you give the one against Alphonso Davies, you have to give the one against Ben Wiles. Because know he's fallen before. like you You know you're in York, you need to keep your hands tough. You can't have your hands flailing all over the place. It's a penalty. it just simply is, especially in the Champions League.
00:17:57
Speaker
This was a terrible game. I missed the first 20 minutes watching Nimerick get battered by Tip in the under-20s and that was still more enjoyable than the 70 minutes of this that I saw. yeah I think it was two shots on target in the whole game and they were both penalties.
00:18:11
Speaker
I don't know how the XG got to 2.21 and 1.51. I know the penalties do sway a good bit, but outside of the penalties, I think the penalties are 0.8, so were 0.7 Aletico were 1.4. That's because...
00:18:25
Speaker
that's because They were just getting off more shots, 18 shots to 11. as likeness yeah it was just a complete waste of time, especially after the game on Tuesday night, which I can't wait to talk about in a couple of minutes.
00:18:37
Speaker
As I just said, two different sports. Whichever one of these teams gets the final, I don't want see how they're going to be able to... like They're just not going to have any hope of living with a PSG or Bayern team the way they played on Tuesday.
00:18:50
Speaker
Yeah, I just think Atletico have a little bit more football in them, so they might put up a better like effort, because if they get pressed high, I feel like they can kind of get out of it. can say around this Whereas Arsenal were, as soon as Atletico turned on the press last night, Arsenal were on serious bother.
00:19:08
Speaker
And I think the reason the XG is like it is because Luckman, the two chances he had were unbelievably good. And Griezmann's one that was blocked by Gabriel, that was really, really big chance as well. So I think it's down to those really.
00:19:23
Speaker
I think the white one was worse than the Davies one because white's arm is not, you can't even argue that that's natural in any and any way because it's out so far and it's coming down towards the ball. Now I know Davies similar, but his at least is in a turning motion.
00:19:38
Speaker
so And the Davies one hits him on the tie you before it comes up and hits him on the arm. I don't to think the Davies one is a penalty personally. I think it's really, really harsh because he's so close, it hits another part of his body and comes up. What is he meant to do?
00:19:53
Speaker
it doesn't hit his knee, it just flies past him. like And his hand is hooked as well. I know he's bringing it back from behind so he's bringing it out from behind back. But you can't, like, it if he still has it behind his back, it's very hard for him to turn and follow Dewey if he goes down the line instead.
00:20:10
Speaker
like he has to bring his arms out to be able to go in a running motion. It's still so tucked into his side. I just thought it was extremely harsh, but I knew it was going to be given once the bar started looking at it. I knew it was going to given, and...
00:20:22
Speaker
ah just I hate the handball rule in Europe. I don't understand this in the Europe or the Premier League at the moment. i just I don't know what a handball is anymore. And it's like, I don't know what a tracker mortgage is, that ad on the bus. I don't know what a handball is, and I don't think anyone does at the moment.
00:20:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, i think I think the less spent on those topics and this kind of football that was played, the better. So let's move on PSG and Bayern, which is where the real football was played.
00:20:52
Speaker
five four in the first leg. PSG had 1.9 XG Bayern had 3.06 obviously that was both affected by penalties like PSG's finishing was utterly outrageous like Kovar Skelly has two goals the first goal is just unbelievable and then the second one the way he sends Neuer the best keeper in the world for a long number of years he just completely doesn't just unbelievable like what a game there's so so much to unpack but this is proper football
00:21:25
Speaker
This is, I think it's the best game of football I've ever watched outside of a Liverpool match. Because obviously I'm more emotionally invested in Liverpool than am in anything else. The Istanbul final will probably never be beaten for me.
00:21:36
Speaker
But this was just, the quality on display from both sides attacking teams were just, it was insane. It was like every time of the teams went forward, they score. There was 12 shots on target and nine goals.
00:21:48
Speaker
like And it's not even that the goalkeeper got poor. It's just the finishing was just so... It's just incredible. Like, Olyse's finish, outrageous. There's so much power behind this. Diaz curls it into the corner. Kvashgalia curls his into the corner.
00:22:02
Speaker
The penalties are two unstoppable penalties. Like, it's just, the finishing was outrageous in this game. i want to give Harry Kane a lot of praise on this. I thought he was unbelievable.
00:22:13
Speaker
The way he drops off deep, he can play balls over the top, he can finish, he does absolutely everything. I think he might be the best money they've spent in a long time. They spent 30 million, sorry, 90 million on a 30-year-old.
00:22:23
Speaker
And look at what he's doing. Like, it's it's absolutely incredible. 54 goals in 46 games he has now, and 100 goals to their front three. Every single finish in this game was one where you were just like, wow. If you saw one of those in a game, you'd be like, Jesus, that was some finish. But to see, basically, nine outrageous finishes in a game of football, it's just, it's not something you ever you're ever, going to see for a long, long time again.
00:22:46
Speaker
Yeah, like like you said, if the penalty is worth around 0.8, take that out of PSG's and they've got four goals from 1.1 XG for the other four. yeah Just shows how good their finishing was. And the Diaz goal was the pick of the bunch for me because if you add Kane's ball over the top to Diaz's control and the way he kind of gets by the defender and curls it in, all of that just made for an absolutely unbelievable goal. And we're set up for a brilliant second leg now in in Munich, where I think we're pretty much promised the same thing. I don't think these teams change the way they play and they're going to come in in waves like they did in this game.
00:23:28
Speaker
And we could see seven or eight more goals. um And i I just cannot wait for it because I think it's going to be the final one like Arsenal are going to be playing on Tuesday so that won't be out of the way and we'll get the we'll get the good stuff then on the Wednesday to wrap up the Champions League semi-finals legs yeah the thing for this game of Zelda was that when it went five too it didn't feel over which is wild and when the game goes 5-2 you're like that's it it's over and done with their three goals down are they going to do i just I just did not see a world where they were going to get battered out the gate like this. There was no way it was ever finishing 5-2. I just saw Bayern just put the foot down again. They were like, okay, there's goals here to be had. Let's get them. And then Harry Kane dropped deep, plays that wonder ball to Diaz as you just described it. andadierz And what Diaz done then is just silly.
00:24:17
Speaker
His first touch is Immaculis. Cuts inside, pretends to shoot, just sends Marquinhos down to shops and then goes again and just curls it past the keeper. I think Bayern knew that this keeper could be got at.
00:24:27
Speaker
And I said that before PSG played Liverpool, but i I don't fancy this keeper at all for them. And I think he was, well, he wasn't at fault for these goals. And Bayern knew if they just hit it really, really hard at the goal, it was probably going to go in.
00:24:40
Speaker
And they did that really, really well. It was just some game of football. Take away the attacking side. Like, it's... The two midfields on display were just outrageous. Sharon Evers' his header for a man who's 5'9 is absolutely ridiculous, I think, personally. And Vitinha wasn't good enough for Wolves, but now he's probably the best holding midfielder in the world. And then Kimmich has just been doing what he's doing for years. And Pavlovich is the new fella coming through, and he looks unbelievable as well.
00:25:04
Speaker
It's just... like's it's It's hard to describe how good it was if anyone didn't watch it. I'm sure most people will have watched it at this stage, but... just just outrageous quality across the board.
00:25:17
Speaker
was watching it on Amazon, so John Champion, I liked him as a commentator and he just didn't know what to say. Alan Chair is a bit of a clown on commentary, but in general I do like him. But John Champion was just at a loss of words for this. ends I'd love to try and find your man Conor McNamara for the second leg. whatever term He's doing it on because I think he's unbelievable. and I'd say the way he described this would just make it even better to watch. So that that's my aim for the second night. Find Conor McNamara. Yeah, I think any any type of commentary would better than what TNT was rolling out. Oh, stop. I won't be watching it on there on their feed next week, that's for sure. But yeah, what a game of football and more the same next week. and We have a quick preview to do.
Preview: United vs Liverpool Match
00:26:00
Speaker
We've gone quite long on football here, but we'll fly through this.
00:26:04
Speaker
United versus Liverpool on Super Sunday. I think it's going to be a good game personally. I think I'll just fly through my points and then you can fly through yours and we'll give a prediction then because we don't want to get bogged down too much in in this topic as well but I do think it's going to be a good game. Being at Old Trafford, I think it'll have a big factor in this because the fans have been immense there this season, especially since Carrick came in.
00:26:32
Speaker
Six out of seven at home, one under Carrick since he came in Only the Leeds game was a loss, and that was a poor performance. But United, two wins in a row. Liverpool coming off three wins in a row.
00:26:44
Speaker
I think they'll both have high confidence. And i I do expect goals because both teams seem to make quite a few defensive errors across the season. So I think this will be quite a good game for the neutral and an exciting one.
00:26:58
Speaker
Yeah, I think Liverpool just need to go into this with the mindset if they win this game, they go above United into thirds. And if Liverpool somehow finish this season in third place after what they've put on display for most of the games, I think they're just being...
00:27:12
Speaker
It will be a really good season and when you look at how they kind of went through patches of it. Both teams have three wins, one draw and one loss in their last five. years So it's not like, well, I know form goes out the window in games like this anyway, but just like the form is just so similar. And I do think it'll be a really good game as well. I think it'll be high scoring. I am going to back Liverpool to take the win, of course, the way you're going to back United. But I think it's just going one hell of a game football.
00:27:41
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going with United to win 3-2. I think it's always a classic, so I think it's going to be another classic game between the two sides because they both go at each other. It's none of this Arsenal-Man City nonsense where they sit in.
00:27:52
Speaker
They both try and score and they both try and win, so I think it'll be the same again. I'm going with United purely because they're at home. think it sways massively in a game like this when you have home advantage.
00:28:04
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just going Liverpool 3-2 off absolutely no basis whatsoever, just the fact that they're Liverpool and they've beaten Everton recently, so ill just go out there and beat United as well. I think it will help Ernie Slotten off a lot of if he comes out here this season after winning at Old Trafford and the Hill Dickinson and if he is going to be staying on, which it looks like as well. So I think they just need to go out and just...
00:28:25
Speaker
impose themselves on it a bit. We need a big game from Florian Verst. Obviously Mo Salah is going to be out and we need Izak to put the ball the net again. i just think it's going to great game. It's on pretty much directly after Mcleire as well. So it's going to be a tough couple of hours watching for me as my my two teams go up against their most hated rivals.
00:28:44
Speaker
So let's let's see how goes. Yeah, a big Sunday for you for sure.
NFL Draft Winners and Losers
00:28:48
Speaker
So we're jumping to the NFL side of things and give our winner and loser of the draft. We both picked one each. i think it's worth doing a recap of the draft because it's going to be interesting to look back on then going into the season, how accurate we were with these. So I'll let you go first with your winner. Did you go with a specific team here for this?
00:29:10
Speaker
Yeah, I went with the Jets. I know I said I wasn't going to overhype the Jets this offseason like I did last year, but I just think it was a really, really good draft. from From what you've told me as well, thought they did quite well as well, bringing in Bailey and Sadiq in particular. Sadiq is the one I've been crying out for few years. I wanted us to bring in a tight end that is called is basically like another wide receiver.
00:29:32
Speaker
Also bringing in Omar Cooper and D'Angelo Pons. They brought in four players that are probably immediate starters with David Bailey as well, obviously. I just think even the quarterback they brought in late in the fourth, I think, like he might be good enough to have a bit of... am a trial period towards the end the season if it's going really badly again, which it might do, and ahead of Gino Smith, just to see what he can do.
00:29:54
Speaker
I just, even I was looking up, because as I've stated numerous times, I'm not the biggest college football expert, but yeah ESPN had him up towards the top of theirs. The Athletic had him up towards the top of theirs as well. So I kind of knew then that they might have actually drafted well for a change. So I just, I've gone with the Jets this time.
00:30:12
Speaker
Yeah, well, that makes this conversation very easy because the Jets are my favorite draft class as well. Okay. I think they did a really, really good job. David Bailey is an instant impact player. I think they they did very well with that, not to take any risks. Although I'm very happy that meant that our Valerese fell to the Giants, so I'm not complaining there.
00:30:31
Speaker
Sadiq, eight touchdowns last year. And then Cooper Jr., 13 touchdowns last year. If you're looking at Dane Brugler's rankings, who I trust the most because he goes so in detail with this on the Atlantic, he had Sadiq as his tight end one and Cooper as his wide receiver five.
00:30:49
Speaker
So you're looking at really elite guys here um that can make an instant impact. And I think it's good timing to bring them in the year before you draft your quarterback because next year they're going to pick a guy... who's very good in the first round in a good quarterback class.
00:31:03
Speaker
And they've got two skilled players who are going to be bedded into the team by then. And you've hopefully still got Garrett Wilson and the ability to either roll with Braylon Allen or pay Brees Hall. So I think this is smart, a smart draft. D'Angelo Pons fell to them at 50. I think he should have went a lot higher than that. It's probably because he's small. He's like 5'8", a little bit lighter, but he is rapid. He's like one of the fastest, um if not the fastest cornerback in the draft that was ranked highly. and Looking at his his stats from the combine, he had a 4.36 40-yard dash.
00:31:41
Speaker
So that is absolutely rapid. And I think they got an absolute unit then at guard in the sixth round in Cooper. and he probably won't start straight away, but he's 6'6 342 pounds. He's an absolute beast. Yeah, so it's a joke, isn't it? Yeah, sometimes you just have to kind of go with guys like that because it's like, okay, they are there are units and they're physically good. If we can get the skills to match it, even somehow it's it's going to be a positive. And lastly, then Vijay Payne.
00:32:13
Speaker
I really wanted him at the Giants. I thought we should have picked him in the sixth round and you got him in the seventh. He's a good rangy player, six foot three I saw him play um in Dublin because K-State played against Iowa State and he was quite active, quite involved. He had five tackles and he's a fast guy too. He had a 4.4 40-yard dash at the Combine. So I think it's definitely well worth the punt in the seventh round to get a safety like him.
00:32:39
Speaker
And when you're getting Pons and him as two defensive backs and Glenn as your coach, this should be a good recipe for success. So yeah, I'm i'm i'm in on the Jets draft class very much so.
00:32:53
Speaker
I just wonder if they are going to try and tank this year to get that high pick on quarterback. We'll have to wait and see. But I think it might get to a point where you literally can't tank with how well you've done in the draft. So just have to wait and see how it goes.
00:33:05
Speaker
Well, I mean, the Browns did really well last year outside of the quarterback stuff. Their other picks are great and they still are awful. And then the Jets have three first rounders. So even if they do fine and they get six or seven wins, they can just trade two of them to go higher, I think.
00:33:19
Speaker
So I wouldn't worry too much about that. I'll go first with my loser of the draft. I've gone with the Titans. I saw some people had them pretty high, but I think they reached for some players and I'm not sold on some of their guys that they got.
00:33:33
Speaker
I think they reached for Carnal Tate, although he was the best wide receiver in the draft. Just to go number four there, when you had Arvel Rees still on the board, who's probably the best player in the draft.
00:33:44
Speaker
Again, not complaining because he fell to the Giants, but not to pick him when you've just got Robert Salah as your head coach, not to pick Sonny Stiles and not to pick Caleb Downs. It's questionable.
00:33:55
Speaker
He's good. He's tall. He's fast. He can give you a bit of a down-the-field threat, which is good to go with Wanda Robinson. I don't think he's a number one receiver in the NFL.
00:34:06
Speaker
So to pick him at four is questionable for me. They didn't really assess their offensive line at all. They didn't add anything until the fifth round there. And that's a problem for them.
00:34:18
Speaker
Also going with Keldrick Falk. I already spoke about him with Cunhan last week and we were both not sold on him. Only 10 sacks. in three years with auburn and he's huge as well he's six foot six but it's just that kind of thing where they're banking on the fact he's massive to to translate in the nfl which sometimes doesn't that especially in the edge position um and to spend a first round draft pick on somebody when i think there's a lot better options out there was bad i think they did way better with their their second rounder when they got anthony hill who
00:34:50
Speaker
For the Texas Longhorns, he was wearing the green dot at linebacker. Obviously, Salah wants his Fred Warner type, so maybe this is going to be it. And he had 17.5 sacks in three seasons compared to Falk's 10, and he was only playing linebacker and Falk was playing off the edge. So i think they messed up badly in the first round, to be honest, even though a lot of people are still pretty high on their class. I'm not buying it.
00:35:15
Speaker
Yeah, I think another team who messed up in the first round is the Rams. i'm Why on earth went for the quarterback in the first round, i don't know if I'll ever understand. Sean McVay clearly didn't understand.
00:35:27
Speaker
It just makes no sense because Matt Stafford is be there for at least two, if not three more years. So why are you wasting a first round pick this year when, as you said, it's a far better quarterback class next year?
00:35:38
Speaker
you're going to use your first round draft to pick in a quarterback, then do it next year. And I don't think they really recovered from that. and From what I've read online, everyone was giving them season Ds. We'll just have to wait and see. like I do think they are still Super Bowl contenders, but they haven't really added anything.
00:35:53
Speaker
Obviously, they probably don't care because they did get Trent McDuffie. So like that is kind of their first round draft pick, maybe, is what they were using it as. And they're bringing in the future in quarterback post. I just thought their drafts, the way they went about it just really didn't make any sense to me as a man who knows absolutely nothing about drafting.
00:36:10
Speaker
Yeah, i'm I'm there as well with them not being the best because I think they could have got Simpson at the back end of the first round if they wanted to trade back. And okay, fair enough. we can't really We won't be able to judge this this season, maybe not even next season because he might not play that much and he might learning from Stafford.
00:36:26
Speaker
And I actually tipped them as a team to possibly do this a few weeks ago. And i I said I wouldn't be surprised if they took him at the back end, but I was surprised that they took him at 13. And then to go tight end with their second pick when they have many tight ends. like I don't get it. I'm un' there with you on this one. I just think the Titans have higher picks and they made a mess of it. So that's why they kind of overshadowed.
00:36:48
Speaker
Rams are definitely two for me. So we're along the same lines, I think, pretty much here. So let's see if we're right next season when things play out. We'll probably be... Probably not. miles off but yeah I do I do think that the Jets did a good job and it may not show up next season but it definitely will the next season after that if if if and if it doesn't next season but we'll move into our gone chance picks a disastrous week for both of us last week scoreline is still 39 to 20 because both of us had three losses had
00:37:20
Speaker
The Wolves to beat the Spurs. I'm sorry, now looking at that and in an NBA term, but it's it was actually Wolves to beat Spurs in the Premier League. And that was off. Spurs got the 1-0 win. You also had that.
00:37:33
Speaker
We both had Blazers to beat the Spurs in the NBA as well. That didn't work out. And then I had the Sixers to beat the Celtics in Game 3, I believe it was. And you had the Suns to beat OKC in Game 3, and neither of those worked out. So what have you got this week?
00:37:49
Speaker
I have another duck egg incoming, I think, because <unk> it was impossible this week and I couldn't get past odds on the NBA from past Saturday. So I had to go with two NBA games that are on tomorrow night. So I've gone with the Magic to beat the Pistons, even Magic are 13 to 10, Pistons are 6 to 10. I've literally just saying about, in about three minutes time, I was just saying that I think this is going to go to a game of seven.
00:38:15
Speaker
bo i've had to back there But I've had to back the magic. I've backed the Raptors to beat the Cavs, even though the first five games have all gone to the home team. The Raptors are 29-20, the Cavs are And the Premier League was a nightmare because there was nothing really that could be picked.
00:38:29
Speaker
I've just gone with Forrest to beat Chelsea on the fact that Forrest actually looked like they're playing quite well at the moment, but they're playing tonight in the Europa League. So who actually knows how this is going to go? They probably do need another win to save themselves.
00:38:43
Speaker
Chelsea are just Chelsea. They are with the R this season. They're 4-6 at home. Forrest, they're I think anyone can beat Chelsea at the moment. So if Forrest can pick up any kind of a good performance tonight against Villa, they could go into this game with confidence and just get over the line. if The way you're smiling makes me think you've picked the exact same three as I have here. plus Yeah, I have. yeah So we're either both going to awfully bad or both going to get five. and i don't It's going to be a five this time. still Yeah, sometimes I...
00:39:11
Speaker
yeah I have like another one prepared in case this does happen, but this time there was nothing else. There was nothing, yeah. Yeah, I just think Raptors, I actually do think Raptors will beat the Cavs and get it to Game 7.
00:39:22
Speaker
I do think the Pistons win to bring it to Game 7, but the Magic were the other kind of decent choice because they're at home and they're underdogs, so that's why I'm there with you. And then I do actually think, even though Forrest are playing on Thursday night, it's not until Monday, so I think that they'll have time to regroup and really and put the final nail in the coffin of of chelsea for the season and also keep themselves and although they're already kind of solidified they'll probably yeah make it even more firm with a win here so i'm going with that too i think 15 to 4 is a good price and i really like the 29 to 20 price on the raptors because i think they'll win at home but uh yeah we're we're going with the same so like you said what we're going to talk about now with michael let's welcome him in so let's jump straight into the nba playoff action with michael he's back once again
00:40:09
Speaker
There's some interesting games to talk about over the last few
NBA Playoffs Highlights
00:40:11
Speaker
nights. It's the first time in quite a number of years that six of the eight series have gone to a game six. So there's a lot of basketball to cover off. But as with last week, we're going to talk about the five series are not playing tonight. recording night, as usual, we're going You'll hear it on Friday. We don't want to talk too much about the ones that are happening Thursday night because we don't have the most up-to-date info.
00:40:33
Speaker
Last week, Shane wanted to avoid Lakers Rockets to start off, but let's start with it this time because it's on a much more positive trajectory. three to to the Lakers. They were tone up, so they're well in this now, the Rockets. Obviously, no team has ever come back from 3-0 down in a playoff series, but anything is possible.
00:40:53
Speaker
especially with the way the Lakers have looked offensively the last couple of nights. So Shane, what's the initial thoughts here going into a game six? so but I actually back us to win a game six now because it's going back to Houston. Obviously, the momentum is with the Rockets at the moment, but I'm not sure about having to go back to LA for a game seven. I feel like if they need to roll Luke out a game early, they probably can. So they'll probably have their big three back on the court for a game seven. and We'll see how it goes from there. But as you said, like the Lakers haven't been good offensively for the last two or three games.
00:41:28
Speaker
And even, I'd argue, they weren't good in the first. Well, they were good in the first. They weren't good in the other two. They won. It's just the Rockets were so poor that they kind of, they got away with murder almost. So if the Rockets had kind of Done what they're doing now from game two on, this could be could be a 4-1 series win to the Rockets, but the fact that it is 3-2 down and no one has come back from a three-game deficit, it's very hard to have any sort of confidence that they are going to go through, even if it does get back to 3-all. But I'm just glad we haven't gotten embarrassed and Michael doesn't get to throw on his LeBron jersey backwards again this weekend, doubting me for five minutes about the Rockets.
00:42:04
Speaker
Michael. I don't think that's fair. Okay. In my last pod before the season ended, i said the team that I think is being underrated is the Rockets. I just didn't think they were going to look that bad. Okay.
00:42:19
Speaker
Good win last night for the Rockets. I feel like every time I see Reed Shepard on the floor, I'm just like, God, I wish he got like any sort of green light throughout the season. Yeah. Because he looks so good in moments and then you can see like, oh yeah, there's his rookie mistakes like on the floor. But, um, Javari Smith had a great game last night.
00:42:42
Speaker
Brilliant. Sengun, I still have so many questions about him defensively because it looks like LeBron just walks to the rim every time he wants to. like it's It's bad.
00:42:55
Speaker
But I think the biggest thing about yesterday is the Lakers shot 25% from three, which is just like and they're shooting 37% over the series while the Rockets are shooting 32%.
00:43:07
Speaker
And I think like literally that one thing. Canard has kind of come back down to earth, which is a big thing. But even if he can hit like two in the next game and Marcus s Smart doesn't have six turnovers, I i think they win. even Even at the ending of the that game the other night, it was getting close. And I just thought, you know what? Lakers might just win this game anyways, even though they're down. but Yeah, I thought that might do it.
00:43:37
Speaker
Go ahead, Shane. I was just going to say just a really quick one. I thought when Reid Shepard, when he took over towards the end, he did those two shots back-to-back to turn over on LeBron. I thought after that there was no way they were going to lose it because I think that was everyone just locked in, especially after what they did in the game, the third game.
00:43:54
Speaker
where they literally threw it away. They were up by six or eight with about 30 seconds to go and just let it slip. So they were never going to let that happen again. And I'd say Udoka finally did some management man management and said, that happens again. You can all forget about You're all on the line. So I'd say this and they're like, no, there's no way this slips again. Another point, we finally won again with less than 100 points.
00:44:16
Speaker
Yeah, you don't want to be doing that too often because it's tough to rely on the other team. But it is a positive that you you've won, like, cracked 100 twice now, and then in another one, you just hit 99. So it is looking up a little bit. I think the Reid Shepard minutes, like, the fact I'm looking at here, the last three games, 46, 29, and 35 minutes in games and In those, the Rockets lost by four and won twice, and their three best scoring games. So that's not a coincidence since he's come back from that 11-minute game. he's taken He's making three threes a game, averaging five and a half assists. like He's really helping this team. The Lakers are on 49% from the field so far in this series. That's leaving the playoffs. That's not sustainable.
00:45:00
Speaker
and It's not like the Rockets are playing the world's worst defense. So that that can't be something that they sustain. So this has kind of caught up to them a little bit, I think. I just think that the the Lakers don't play the type of basketball that is going to get them very far, even if they win this out. Because, yes, Luka will come back and add to their threes, but...
00:45:21
Speaker
Taking only 25 a game is very, very low in today's and NBA. And it's not going to get you very far. And then on the other hand, with the Rockets, I think you made a good point about they weren't going to throw it away after they did before. I honestly thought they might, up until that Shepard steal kind of ripped out of LeBron's hands because of how it went the other night. But obviously, Idoka had...
00:45:46
Speaker
basically showed them that and done the film on it like 30 minutes after the game because he was so angry and so that ended up working out but any closing thoughts shane before we move to the next one Let's just get it to a game seven and see where we lie there. if If they can get this to a game seven after being 3-0 down and somehow get over the line, even though we will more than likely go out to OKC, will just show that this young core do you actually have something in their back pocket.
00:46:12
Speaker
The second youngest starting NBA team in the playoffs ever as well. So there is definitely something to hang hang the hat on. But we'll talk more about when they get knocked out, what they're going to do in the coming year. Okay, on that we'll move on to Spurs-Blazers because this is over.
00:46:28
Speaker
The Blazers did grab one game, but the Spurs kind of swept them from there after game two. They they got three in a row. Spurs, 112.4 points per game on ah offense is the third best.
00:46:40
Speaker
They do, of course, have the best defensive rating with 102.2, which is just outrageous. And they are second in net rating. So... This team is just superb with and without Wemby, they looked good. And I think they're the fact that Wemby only played 28 minutes per game over four out of these five games is just going to be something positive moving forward because he is kind of preserving his body a little bit, even though he did pick up that head injury. I think that was just kind of a freak thing.
00:47:08
Speaker
And it's not something to be worried about long term, I don't think. Yeah, i agree 100%. Another big thing is their plus minus rating across their five starters has been ridiculous this whole series through.
00:47:21
Speaker
But plus 22, plus 20 and plus 26 for Vassell, Wemby and De'Aaron Fox in the last game. It feels like that shouldn't be possible when they're all playing over 30 minutes and they're winning by 29. whenever they're on the floor, they're just stopping everything. There's a reason Wemby was the first guy unanimous defensive player the year because he just seems to be in the way of absolutely everyone.
00:47:43
Speaker
Obviously, he has four arms and six legs, so it makes it a lot easier for him when he is out there. But... The way they defend is just, if every team defended by the Rock, sorry, if every team defended by like the Spurs, we'd have very quickly have college scores in these basketball games. It'd be like and stuff because what the Spurs are just so concientious conscientious on defense, but yet they still put up shots left, right and center. They're just a really, really good team. And I don't know if you saw this coming this year after they were quite poor last year, but this is a completely different Spurs team. It's actually outrageous.
00:48:17
Speaker
Yeah, this first team is, I kind of said it going into the playoffs. I just felt like this is literally up to how much they want to play Wemby this early in his career. Now, obviously, doesn't need to play that much. And even in the next series, if the Nuggets manage to sweep squeak by, I'm not sure he'll need to play more than 32 minutes a game against that team because they look I don't know.
00:48:47
Speaker
They look kind of flawed and I'm not feeling the best with them. But I think the biggest thing you were saying about the Blazers having a great defense and having a great years. Just just a reminder, their head coach was arrested day one of the season.
00:49:04
Speaker
Chauncey Billups is not coaching them. It's Thiago Splitter who is getting done dirty by the owner. yes Just quick heads up. yeah Just absolutely getting done dirty. Any pinching over there in Portland.
00:49:17
Speaker
there's There's a lot of crazy stuff going on in Portland, but we'll we'll we'll just hope that Dame Lillard comes back next year and saves the day. But three-point shooting didn't kill the Spurs as much as I thought it would. I mean, Fox and Castle both shot 40%.
00:49:34
Speaker
forty percent Okay, Fox has one less three, which puts him down to 37%, but almost the exact same. Dylan Harper went 500 from three. went five hundred from three if they can kind of keep it even league average on their shooting as a team, I think it'd be really, think it'll be a game seven against OKC in the Western Conference finals. I think that's what we'll see. And then it'll be up to Wemby versus Shea to see which Superstar can bring them over.
00:50:09
Speaker
Yeah, we've had from Limerick Radio, we've had Danny O'Brien on the show before and he's a, A Spurs fan, he did reply to our tweet about the Spurs um and said our to our tour just one thing on Instagram and said that he'd rather they play the Timberwolves. I think it is an interesting and thought. like The Nuggets could be out by the time you're listening to this if the Timberwolves win tonight.
00:50:32
Speaker
But the Nuggets have posed a bigger threat, especially down the stretch to the Spurs. They played them better and they beat them twice in two close games. So I'm sure that's something that they would want to avoid. Obviously, that if they if they beat the if the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets, it would be Timberwolves OKC and it would be Lakers Spurs. So I think they'd much rather the Lakers and have the Timberwolves win out there. um You guys covered off a lot of the the important parts here, I think.
00:51:00
Speaker
Dylan Harper has been good. He had a couple of good games. He had a couple of quieter games, and i think that's going to happen with a rookie. So the rest of the guys are pulling him through. I would like to see more from Keldon Johnson.
00:51:11
Speaker
thought he was really quiet in the first round, but I'm sure he'll pick that up um as things progress. Let's move into something that Shane mentioned, college basketball scores. Well, if you love college basketball scores, you're going to love Pistons and Magic because it's just a slugfest out there. Every game, there's this seems like some team is scoring 80.
00:51:31
Speaker
We just talked about this before we came on, so it's currently 3-2 to the Magic, heading back to Orlando for game six. and They have the ability to close it out. I just think Cade is doing everything he can for this Pistons team. He's second in the playoffs in points per game with 32.6, which is just crazy. think...
00:51:53
Speaker
i think in general we're looking at two teams that just foul the life out of each other 124 fouls by the magic and 115 by the pistons across these games second and third respectively um so i think the pistons just look like they rely on cade way too much and i don't know if it's the physicality of the magic that's slowing them down or what but we also talked about paulo before we recorded um and and Look, he had a great game, him and K both dropping 45 last night, and he's on 25.8 points per game so far in the playoffs. But Michael, you said, is he actually good? So what do you think? Like, I know he's been poor this season and and this playoffs, he's looked better, but it's still questionable.
00:52:40
Speaker
I don't know. i i'm i'm it's so quick I mean, look at the last five games, okay? We'll go through it. He went 8 for 15 in game one. Pretty good. Decent. Then he goes 7 17, 6 for 17, 4 for
00:52:55
Speaker
And two of those are wins. So like your team is like playing around you. You're shooting that badly and you're still winning.
00:53:06
Speaker
And then in this game, you go off and you guys end up losing because Cade just outduels you. Now, fantastic game to watch. But this whole series has been atrocious basketball before game five.
00:53:20
Speaker
The Pistons were shooting 41% from the floor, and the Magic were shooting 38% from the floor. So it's not that the Magic was playing really well. It's that both teams were just playing so badly, and one team was just edging out the others. Welndale Carter has had a resurgence. Looks great. Jamal Cain had a crazy dunk.
00:53:46
Speaker
This Magic team, I think with Franz being out, is actually a big loss for them. Because I actually really, really like Franz Wagner. That's why if there's any team out there, cough, cough, the Rockets, who want trade somebody like KD, try and get off him for Franz, I would do that in a heartbeat.
00:54:04
Speaker
But I think the Pistons could actually win the next game as well. And... like it I don't know. it feels like Cade could get one more game, but it just feels inevitable that the Magic are just going to win because I can't see him score 40-plus again and again after that and end up winning this series. I just didn't think the shot creation on this team was that bad. Dennis Jenkins has really fallen off from his surge at the end of the season, and it's it's kind of disappointing to see a one seed kind of fall out like this.
00:54:41
Speaker
Yeah, I think a big thing as well, and i like i never really... by put too much faith in the plus minus until this season and I saw how much of a difference it actually makes. Banchero had 45 points but it was zero in the plus minus.
00:54:55
Speaker
like That just should not, that shouldn't be a thing. If you're scoring 45 points, you should be plus 20. So it goes to show that when he's out there, like as you said, they're playing around him, they're not really defending. He also had six turnovers, which is just far too many.
00:55:08
Speaker
And it that is what led him to losing this game by seven because If you're allowed to score in 45 points, I know what the other team is allowed to score in 45 points as well, fair enough. But you need to be able to do a lot better than having his six turnovers top of it. 31 shots you put up, it's probably too much.
00:55:26
Speaker
like it As you said, the shot creation is pretty poor. it's it its Well, it's been poor for both teams this whole series. I think Orlando will win the next game. We'll go to Game 7. I think the Pistons will get through, but I don't think they'll go any further than that. end I think terror they'll get to the second round and that will be that for them.
00:55:42
Speaker
Yeah, I think that you make good points there about like, the overall load that Cade has to carry because of not the poor shot creation from other players and the poor ability to hit shots. and On the Pistons, Jalen Doran has been a massive letdown.
00:55:58
Speaker
It's been a tough time for him because you mentioned Wendell Carter is balling. and He's now with Jalen Doran's ex and she's reposting Wendell Carter left, and centre. He's getting posterised in front of her.
00:56:11
Speaker
ah Yeah, it's not it's not a good been a good week for him and he needs to step up because he's been... very very bad and Cade is having to do it all and he's literally padded up out there under the jersey playing like 44 minutes a game after collapsing his lung just like a month ago so I feel a feel for him and I do think it's going to get a bit stodgy in the next game again and I don't know I just think that but Paolo took a lot of shots in the last game But I feel like sometimes he does that when he doesn't have to, but he did have to because everyone else was awful.
00:56:43
Speaker
So I don't know how the next one's going to go. Role players play better at home. Magic could close this one out and and it would be a massive shock to see them get through. But let's see how it goes. um Move on on to another team that is through right now, and that is the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have swept the only team to sweep in this round. They beat the Suns 4-0.
00:57:07
Speaker
They pretty much demolished them. 122.8 points per game is the most in the playoffs. But more importantly for me is that they take care of the basketball. 43 turnovers is the least so far in the playoffs. So yeah, doing this all with Shea, 34 points per game as the leader ahead of Cade in total points per game this playoffs. he's just and he's He's just chilling now. He's at home, relaxing.
00:57:33
Speaker
resting up while the other teams slog it out in game sixes potential game sevens yeah it's ah it's it's looking scary for everyone else what did you make of of the thunder so far michael Uh, it just, it just seems so immense.
00:57:49
Speaker
Like the whole thing, even when, when Jada went down, I said like, Oh, look for shade to average 30, 37, 42, 31. thirty seven forty-two thirty one All right.
00:57:59
Speaker
Okay. So just get them out of here onto the round two. It just seems like there's, there's always so much. Like, Every time they put in someone off the bench or like their third string center or someone that player can play and can play minutes now, right now in the playoffs. it's It's really difficult to see how any other team other than the Spurs would give them problems later on in the playoffs.
00:58:30
Speaker
Because even Denver, I think they're confident in playing against them. I don't really have an anything to say. Phoenix, it was cute. It was nice.
00:58:44
Speaker
Devin Booker, honestly, should have been playing better. I'm a little bit disappointed in how he came out. Jalen Green making the game tight, at least last night. Looking great for Phoenix. I think the Suns fans are not fully sold on him because of some questionable performances, but I think he looks great.
00:59:02
Speaker
But off to Cancun. Goodbye. We'll see OKC in the finals. Yeah, Jaden Green went one of ten for three last night, which is just, I'm sorry, you'd like, to but when your team is kind of semi-relying on you because...
00:59:17
Speaker
As you said, Booker hasn't really been doing this throughout this series. Then for you to put up one of 10 for something like he he's even a really good three point shooter when he was in Houston until he got the playoffs. He was awful in trees all of a sudden. he was It was the same here this time.
00:59:32
Speaker
This OKC team, they're actually having it too easy that I think if anyone puts any sort of pressure on him, not that they'll crumble, but like, as you said, I could see the Spurs actually getting past them because like They could walk through the second round again, then during the finals, having really not played again.
00:59:50
Speaker
And that kind of but de match sharpness, they having to go up against people who are actually being physical with you, like it could see them lose a game or a game or two anyway, and it could see them go out of it. But I just think they're too good.
01:00:03
Speaker
The refs are big fans of them. I'm not going to say much more on that at the moment. And they just seem like they get away with murder, but they also just put up points left, right and centre. So i don't see how... anyone is going to stop them with the way they're playing at the moment, unless a lack of rhythm and too much time sitting at home waiting for other matches to finish. It might be the thing that catches up to him more than anything else.
01:00:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think... yeah real quick i just wanted to say with the refs i don't even blame like ok c for how they're playing because the refs just keep calling like i doubt if they start getting text for flopping and stuff that they're gonna keep acting like this but i mean if it doesn't stop and you keep putting up all these points and you keep blown teams out why would you Yeah, and the Suns are quite an aggressive team as well. So it's like going into this already with those two points that OKC draws a lot of fouls and the Suns give up a lot of fouls. Those things are in referees' minds.
01:01:01
Speaker
It's like the thing with the Lakers, like they always get more free throws than anybody else. It's just a fact and that's the big market thing. So this is just another one I did. I don't like spending too much time talking about it because I love the way they play, especially Shea. So I don't like that to blotch anything. But I did see here an interesting point. is If OKC guarded...
01:01:25
Speaker
against their own team the way that they did all of them would foul out very quickly because they guard so physically and then their team they as a team are very good at drawing fouls um so that is an interesting thought but i i just think i want to double down on this booker thing because i've been hard on it in the last episode too i think he really let them down For a guy who, we're we're not talking like a small sample size, he's ninth all time in playoff points per game after 51 games of his career but with 27.5.
01:01:59
Speaker
And during this this little run of four games, he only had 21.3 points per game. And he wasn't shooting the ball badly. He just wasn't shooting enough. Brooks and Dylan green are dylan Brooks and Jalen Green had 21 shots each per game average across these four.
01:02:16
Speaker
and Booker only had 16 these guys were shooting five more shots a game across four games That's 20 more shots each for those two over Devon Booker I just think he shouldn't be allowing them to do that as the leader of the team Yes, Brooks was great. He fought hard 26 points per game sixth in total across this playoff. So he did his thing but green he just has that same experience you had at the Rockets and I think Shane literally went through that experience as a Rockets fan right now watching him for Phoenix and said after like game one or two that he would have him back when the Rockets were useless and Green had a good game. And then he's like, now he's now he's terrible again. So even when you don't have him, you still remember that experience.
01:02:58
Speaker
And I just think that the Booker needed to step in and be like, yeah, look, buddy, you can't be used anymore. Yeah, 100%. just think... Devin Booker seemed to, after that game where he got that tech that shouldn't have been the tech, he was like he just didn't want to see the ball. He didn't want to know anything about it. He was just out there to get the series over and done with one way or the other so he can go on his holidays and forget it ever happened.
01:03:20
Speaker
And he it was a really, really bad attitude from him the whole way through. And as you said, the fact he wasn't even trying to put up shots or just letting the other two take the shots over him. Like, it is he a man that wants out?
01:03:33
Speaker
Like, is is that what it is? Is it kind of, was it a semi-downing of tools that I'll still go out there and I'll put up a couple of shots, but these are the two that are going lead you into next year. So you need to give them more shots because I don't want to be here.
01:03:44
Speaker
and It's really interesting because like I'm taking a look as well. It has the last five games. Obviously, the series only lasts four games. But he put up 27 shots against the Mavs. Now, I understand the Mavs are a way better defense, a way worse defense than OKC. But like the number of threes are almost the exact same. He's just taking 10 less shots. and yeah like The Suns are your team.
01:04:10
Speaker
The guy averaging the most points on the team just got here. The other guy who's taking all the shots and at the end of the fourth quarter to try and make it a close game also just got here.
01:04:22
Speaker
Like, make your coach call a timeout. Get everybody in the huddle. Don't shoot the ball until I touch it. Like every single possession on in the fourth quarter. Like just just throw it up, man.
01:04:37
Speaker
Like I said it last week as well. You're the guy who scored 70. Like you know how to score. i don't know. Yeah, I agree with that 100%.
Cavs vs Raptors Series and NBA Predictions
01:04:48
Speaker
I think there's a reason that we left this last series to last to talk about Cavs versus Raptors.
01:04:54
Speaker
It's 3-2 to the Cavs. The home team has won every game. Look, I just don't find it very interesting, to be honest, because I've seen all this this before. I've seen James Harden have some decent games and literally not try in the slightest on defense and pretend that he's contesting shots.
01:05:12
Speaker
It's the same thing that that's happening right now. Sometimes he doesn't even cross half court. like it It's just the same thing that we've seen. The Cavs are probably going to win this, and they're just going to get bounced in the second round against a team that all the Eastern teams are are questionable right now. and Even the Celtics. So I don't know. I think they would probably just still lose to everyone else that will get through. but I just haven't found this that interesting outside of RJ Barrett and Scotty Barnes absolutely balling. Like Barrett's scoring has been superb and Barnes has been everywhere, both averaging 24 points per game.
01:05:46
Speaker
So I'd like to see aev a game seven here and see if they can they can push it. I think it will get to a game seven because the next one is in Toronto and we keep seeing the home team winning. But yeah, I don't find this series to be that interesting and really, to be honest. It's exactly how expected to go.
01:06:03
Speaker
Yeah, honestly, I don't care enough to to talk about as it. It is going to go with seven games. The Cavs are going to get through and everything you said is true. They're going to just get knocked out in the next round because they're playing with four men on defense and what James Harden is putting up on offense isn't enough to to to sustain what he's what he's not doing on defense. It's...
01:06:22
Speaker
like he's He's so good in the regular season. Everyone's like, oh we have the James Harden back. And then it comes to playoffs, he's like, actually, nah, I'm over it. I'd rather just go sit in a club or I'd rather to sit on the bench, manic manic hit manicure on my beard or something. just Just forget about him. There's nothing here to enjoy in it.
01:06:41
Speaker
They're just to two flawed teams. But as you said, the whole that whole side is is quite flawed at the moment. Yeah, I mean, I'll give you guys a little rundown. I was not interested that much in this series until the Raptors started kind of coming back. So first of all, at game three and four, we already saw the James Harden games because he had more turnovers than real goals in both of those games. Definitely does not help on why they won those. But you continue down and some interesting decisions like Jalen Tyson going from 25 minutes a game down to 15 to 10.
01:07:17
Speaker
fifteen to ten You wonder, is that a coaching decision or has he really been played off the floor by the Raptors? brand Brandon Ingram, the guy kind of known for tough baskets and and contested mid-ranges, absolutely shut down and limped off the floor last night. So it looks like he will not be able to like add his nine points a game that he's been averaging. They're better with him. To complain about not getting shots, hey that's how I'm feeling. Scotty Barron's is playing out of his goddamn mind right now.
01:07:53
Speaker
He's having a great playoff showing. RJ Barrett has really stepped up. Colin Murray Boyles is a rookie playing out of his mind. Out of his mind as a rookie right now. And Jacoby Walter.
01:08:07
Speaker
Yeah, superb. Really unknown. Shooting 49% in the regular season after the All-Star break, apparently. but Breaks out and drops 20 points in the last game. So, like, there's a lot to like with this Raptors team.
01:08:18
Speaker
Cannot see them going past the second round. But they beat the crap out of James Harden. I'm fine with it. I'm a salty Sixers fan. You can call it. I don't care. Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing that the Raptors win because I'm sick of the Cavs. It's the same thing every year.
01:08:32
Speaker
And this time Donovan Mitchell has been disappointing because 32 and 30 in his first two games and now 15, 20 and 19 in the last three, which is not like him at all. um he's he's been way off the boil and i do think that the raptors are better without the calves and i'm more interested in their players to be honest and what they can do because you listed off everyone there and jamal shed has been really working hard as well and this is just a testament because he's so small out there and he's fighting on defense as hard as he can and then you have hardened who he's not a big guy but like he just doesn't care and he doesn't he doesn't try i think final thing i'll say is evan mobley was good in that in that game five wins so if he can continue that maybe that'll be a little bit too much for anybody that the raptors can put on him because colin murray boils is basically their their their five at the moment because portal looks horrendous but yeah i i do stand on the fact that this is going to go to to seven
01:09:31
Speaker
Let's do a quick roundup like we did last week of the other three series that are playing tonight. So we'll give one thought each on on those. and I think we'll start with the Celtics and Sixers. And I'll throw it to Shane because myself and Michael are both Sixers fans. So he should have the word on this one to get some unbiased. It's going seven.
01:09:54
Speaker
Oh, yes. It's going seven. Yeah, it's going seven. The Celtics just look, they look so rocky. They're not putting up threes like they normally do. But I think when it goes to seven, it's back in Boston. And that's when they do just, unfortunately, finish it for you. But yeah, I do genuinely really think it is going seven. So all three opinions we gave last week and the three games after were all wrong. So surely we can't get all three wrong again this week. But yeah, i do I do think this one's going seven.
01:10:23
Speaker
Yeah, i I look to be honest, I take it having gone into gun into this thinking that we'd get blown out. The next one up then I'll throw to you, Michael, is Timberwolves and Nuggets.
01:10:37
Speaker
Oh, why'd you give me this one? I'm definitely going to get it wrong, but I i do think the Nuggets are going to win. i i think I think unless Io has another crazy game in him, um I really don't think that they can match the Nuggets. it really i don't think the pod has really landed on certain days. Jokic, we haven't slandered this guy enough at all on the pod, okay? the Getting cooked by Rudy Gobert.
01:11:07
Speaker
Like, who was getting cooked two years ago and now suddenly is a better defender? I don't know, man. You got to put up them shots, big boy, okay? You got to just get it up at some point because you had a Ben Simmons moment passing out of a floater.
01:11:23
Speaker
I don't want to see that again. Drop 40. to Take it home, okay? And then get bounced around too. But don't worry about it. Give me the nuggets. Okay, so we're taking we're we're looking at two game seven predictions there for you.
01:11:38
Speaker
Guys, the last one is Knicks versus Hawks. I'm not going with this to get to seven. I'm sorry. no I've seen enough of this Hawks team in the playoffs. They've had some good moments and CJ McCollum has been incredible, but outside of him, I've been disappointed by the majority of their team.
01:11:55
Speaker
The Knicks are the much better team. I think, I think that the advanced stats show how good they've been this playoffs when they actually get down to it and stop trying to rotate as much, which is what I called for last week.
01:12:07
Speaker
Um, um, 117.9 offensive rating and 106.9 defensive rating, which is number three and number four, and respectively, in those rankings. They're third overall in net rating. So they've been superb.
01:12:24
Speaker
I think they're closing this out tonight, and it's going to be over in six because, to me, they're the most impressive team in in the East right now in this playoffs because everyone else kind of has has some question marks. But...
01:12:35
Speaker
We'll leave it there for this and NBA section. We covered everything off. And when we come back, we'll know all the teams in the second round. So it'll be a bit of a second round chat next week. So strap in for that one.
01:12:47
Speaker
Okay, so let's wrap up with the power rankings.
Final Thoughts and Power Rankings
01:12:50
Speaker
Last week I had the Thunder, Man City, Nuggets, Brighton, Cavs and United. I've got some changes here because i think the Nuggets and Cavs have kind of let me down and they've not been very good over the last week. So I've changed it to Thunder, City and Spurs as my top three. So Thunder and City stay the same.
01:13:11
Speaker
The Spurs, they won 4-1, as we talked about with Michael, so they're in a third spot. Brighton stay where they are. They've been doing superbly. They're solidified kind of that sixth spot for themselves, and I think they'll continue to do well and and get there. I know they're only a few points ahead of the teams behind, but they're in great form at the moment, and I think they'll continue to prove the best team of the rest.
01:13:34
Speaker
I've got United moving up a spot then to fifth. Their win against Brentford was really important to kind of really solidify the Champions League. So two wins in a row now when it really mattered.
01:13:45
Speaker
And they're up in fifth. And then the Knicks bring up sixth spot. As I spoke about with Michael, I think they're the best team in the East right now. And they look they look very solid. So I've put them in as my number six team. So Thunder, City, Spurs, Brighton, United and Knicks.
01:14:03
Speaker
The Thunder City Spurs sound like they could actually be an NBA team as well. Yeah. And I also have the Thunder City Spurs as my one, two and three as well. um I have Brighton in four as well. A bit like last week, we did start off the same.
01:14:18
Speaker
I've moved Bournemouth up to fifth. I just don't feel the need to be thrown out. I think whoever wins between Liverpool and United at the weekend will go into this. instead of Bournemouth and then I do have the Knicks in at sixth they could probably come in at fifth but I just felt it would be a bit harsh to just drop them in straight above Bournemouth but there's definitely changes to be done here so I have Thunder City Spurs Brighton Bournemouth Knicks only one in the difference again like last week yeah nice it's the Bournemouth spot is is the one that's different but let's see how that rolls into next week if United grab a win we might be the same so let's ah let's see how that goes um But this is another episode wrapped, plenty covered off as usual. We do hope that you enjoyed it. And as usual, I'll toss it to you, Shane, to wrap it.
01:15:03
Speaker
Yeah, so you'll have heard in the intro, James ran the London Marathon at the weekend. And I'm pretty sure his donation page is still open. Himself and Ashley have raised an outrageous amount money. It's actually incredible what they've done. They're over four and a half grand between them. So let's try and get them to that five grand. We'll put the link in the description. And...
01:15:22
Speaker
Honestly, if Fiverr helps, 50 would obviously help a bit more. But let's try and get them over that five grand between the two of them because it's an incredible achievement. And I'm not even going to plug the podcast this time. I'm just going to plug you on your link. So just get over there, donate absolutely anything and let's get them over five grand here.
01:15:39
Speaker
Nice one, Les. Appreciate it. Echo what Shane said. Thank you for the kind words and hopefully everyone follows suit. So let's wrap the episode there and we'll chat to you next week.
01:15:50
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Who's Got the Ball with Shane and James.