Maybe it's not time Amanda

Speaker 10s - 70.7s

We're driven by the search for better, but when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search match with Indeed ORG. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors, according to Indeed data, and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast. Ditch the busy work. Use Indeed for scheduling, screening, screening, and messaging so you can connect with candidates faster. Leveraging over 140 million qualifications and preferences every day, Indeed ORG's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences, so the more you use Indeed, the better it gets. Join more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed ORG to hire great talent fast. And listeners of this show willget a $75 sponsor job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash bluewire. Just go to Indeed.com slash Bluewire right now and support our show by saying that you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's Indeed.com slash Blue Wire ORG. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need indeed.

Speaker 2111.7s - 114.36s

The timeline is a Blue Wire podcast. All right, Sam, they are down 02. How you feeling?

Speaker 3115.88s - 116.62s

You sound excited. I mean.

Speaker 2123.04s - 123.68s

Or like you're trying to salvage this pod already in some way that we know is unsalvageable.

Speaker 3125.08s - 158.5s

They're almost done. All right, guys, here's the deal. We've covered a lot of bad basketball. We've covered a lot of bad vibes in our lives and throughout the run of this pod. Just throughout the run of this pod, we started this pod during Igor Kukashka's 19 wins season. We covered blowing a 2-0 finals lead to the Milwaukee Bucks ORG.We covered losing at home in game 7 to the Dallas Mavericks by 30, 40, whatever it was, points.

Speaker 0166.84s - 173.42s

I'm trying not to recency bias this too much, because again, it's two minutes after the buzzer here. but this might be as bad as i've ever felt about a sun's team uh and as disgusted as i've ever been i feel differently

Speaker 2173.42s - 181.54s

go ahead how do you feel i just feel like this team has done this so many times this season that

Speaker 0181.54s - 185.04s

none of it is really that surprising now Now, this is not to take away

Speaker 2185.04s - 190.06s

any credit. It's not that it's surprising. Let me just say it's not that it's surprising. I'll get

Speaker 3190.06s - 194.44s

into it in a minute. You go ahead. Not to take any credit away from the Minnesota Timberwolves. I just

Speaker 2194.44s - 248.68s

want to start by saying that because I think they're a much more poised basketball team than the sons are at this point. And they have been all season. The sons, in that, I've described them as the DeAndre of teams this season, in that at times, they look really great. They look like world beaters. At other times, they look awful. They look like one of the worst teams in the NBA ORG. And you sort of roll the dice and find out which team is going to show up on a game-to-game basis. And I think watching these last two games, you're seeingthe worst version of that team in these last two games. And I guess there's just nothing, there's nothing surprising about it in a way. So for me, the extent to which my expectations were so lowered at times during the regular season, I don't feel like this is any sort of nadir. I just feel like this is the team we've seen all year,

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and now we're seeing it in the playoffs.

Speaker 3250.4s - 251.16s

No, that's fine.

Speaker 0251.78s - 253.46s

It's not a failure of a season.

Speaker 3253.62s - 274.96s

You're right. It's a massive failure of a season. No, I get it. Okay, and here's the part where we have to throw out, look. Like, I just said they blew a 2-0 series lead to the Bucks ORG, and the finals, they could do the same thing to the Timberwolvesbut like does anyone really trust this team to to win four of the next five right now yes it technically could happen so I'm obligated I'm obliged to say it

Speaker 0274.96s - 280.64s

just none of us feel like that's going to happen why I'm disappointed Mike and you're right statistically speaking

Speaker 2280.64s - 287.42s

they're just doing what they've done all season they were the worst fourth quarter team in the NBA in the regular season. Why wouldn't it stand to reason that that

Speaker 0287.42s - 291.34s

trend would continue? They've had a massive turnover problem throughout the regular season and that

Speaker 2291.34s - 296.1s

turnover problem continued tonight. And it reared its ugly head again tonight. They had 19 turnovers.

Speaker 3297.24s - 303.24s

At a certain point, my copium though with this team was that eventually, not that I thought a

Speaker 2303.24s - 307.42s

switch would just flip and it would happen overnight,

Speaker 3307.62s - 315.62s

but I did think that talent would eventually prevail and that all of the other problems with this team, you can complain about Frank Vogel PERSON, whose job is probably toast.

Speaker 2315.62s - 332.46s

And has done a bad job, I think. Sure, but throw that to the side for a second, okay? You can complain about Frank Vogel PERSON in his rotations. You can complain about Yusuf Nurkich PERSON if he's a downgrade from D'And he can't finish at the rim. What can you do with him defensively? You can complain about Eric Gordon PERSON is old.

Speaker 0332.6s - 348.7s

We wish he was less old and his body was less crippled. You can complain about the minimum signings that James Jones made last summer and how none of them really turned out the way we wanted. And, you know, maybe they traded for Royce O'Neneill PERSON that was all they could do for us in terms of depth none of it really matters

Speaker 3348.7s - 377.06s

man because we've got three stars who i thought when push came to shove would just be there to fight through adversity and and show some grit in a way that would matter and has that none of them have been there you know i i think brad is a bit of a special case because it's like i don't regret the brad trade still i think not because i think he's good and not because i'm interested in defending him i'm not but just because

Speaker 2377.06s - 384.62s

um talent for talent expectations are lower for him too is that part of it it was it was the best we

Speaker 3384.62s - 442.44s

could do. But for Book and KD to be so flustered coming out here in the playoffs and so obviously unreactive to the physicality of the Timberwolves ORG is just sad. It just starts with them, dude. Like criticize Frank PERSON all you want. But he was so animated on the sidelines today. Again, I don't think he's doing a good job, but he was so animated justbecause it was clear he was fighting for his job out there. He was trying to show all of us, trying to show Matt Ishbia, that at the very least he gives a shit, which is something that you can't necessarily say if you look at the guys on the court right now. The entire coaching staff was getting out of their seats, yelling at the players to pick up the pace, to do anything that might take away some of the stagnant offense that we were seeingfrom Tip PERSON until the final buzzer. Never happened. They're begging at them. They're begging them all season long to shoot threes.

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Shoot more threes. Never happened.

Speaker 3444.94s - 485.9s

All of the stuff, in a way, this game hurts so much more than last game, because all the stuff we talked about last game, last game was a story of, you let the Timberwolves ORG take 15 more shots than you. You know, Yusuf Nurkich had four rebounds, right? That's one thing. In this game, yes, the Suns ORG committed a lot of turnovers, but you know what?Honestly, the Timberwolves ORG committed a lot of turnovers too. The Suns ORG grabbed a lot of rebounds. Yusuf Nurkich, who by all, I don't think he was good in this game, but he grabbed 14 rebounds versus the four he had in game one. This was not a case like game one where you were taking 15 fewer shots. You had the possessions to beat this team. The Timberwolves ORG did not look particularly good

Speaker 0485.9s - 504.28s

in this game and you just fucked it up. You just, you gave them 25 points or whatever it was off turnovers and you yourselves could not execute like a single play in transition, nor did you seem to have any interest in doing so. They just did not have it. So what are we supposed to do with that?

Speaker 3504.74s - 506.44s

Like are we supposed to defend that?

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Are we supposed to come out here now and say, oh, it's fine, guys, you know, you're supposed to lose the two on the road. They'll flip it around in game three. They might make it a long series,

Speaker 3514.74s - 529.4s

but honestly, dude, there were people my Twitter replies tonight saying like, maybe the Timberwolf should just mercy kill them before and then we'll blow it all up and at least we'll get a fresh start. And honestly, at times tonight, I felt the same way.

Speaker 2529.4s - 535.64s

No, I 100% understand that perspective, to be honest, in that, like I said, to start this podcast,

Speaker 3535.94s - 540.74s

in some ways, I'm waiting to be free of this team because of how torturous it is to watch them.

Speaker 2541.26s - 575.02s

Because on certain nights, you really love them. You really enjoy them. But when they're bad, they're just so easy to hate with how they play because it's turning the ball over. It's playing at a slower pace than necessary. And I think once the entire NBA ORG shifted over to allowing more physicality, I think that really impacted a lot of them negatively in that Kevin Durant PERSON struggles withmore physicality, six for 15 in this game. Devin Booker PERSON at times can struggle with more physicality. I think he played better in this game, but by no means was he good. He had six turnovers. He was he absolutely struggles

Speaker 3575.02s - 579.76s

with more physicality. I've come hard. I've come down hard on KD a lot throughout the season because

Speaker 2579.76s - 595.08s

I think he struggles with physicality for sure. And McDaniels PERSON has been a problem for him in this series. Been a problem for Booker PERSON, too. I think Booker PERSON likes it when he has the strength advantage. But if there's someone that can be physical that he does not have the strength advantage over, it's too much for him.It makes him struggle.

Speaker 3597.02s - 599.52s

Booker demanding that Vogel PERSON challenged the call

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where he obviously hooked Cat PERSON for an offensive foul

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was like the final straw for me tonight.

Speaker 0605.94s - 606.02s

I was like, come on.

Speaker 2607.12s - 609.04s

Are you fucking serious?

Speaker 3612.02s - 612.08s

In a critical moment, I don't even know how much they were down by at that point,

Speaker 0613.5s - 613.56s

but I think it was still like six or seven.

Speaker 3614.52s - 631.52s

It was still within reach. It was before the bottom fell out. But it's like you are not being a serious basketball player right now. You're just not. And some of the Butterfinger turnovers, six turnovers for him, four turnovers for Beal, only two for Duran. Durant PERSON's ball security was not as bad time.

Speaker 2631.52s - 636.2s

And less of the ball in his hands. In process-wise, which made a lot of sense,

Speaker 3636.72s - 698.2s

and that they're shifting it over to Beal and Devin Booker PERSON, which looked good, I think, in the first half, in particular, in running the offense in the way that they were. Once I switched over to Drew Eubanks, I actually thought the ball looked a little better in Kevin Durant's PERSON, and Drew Eubanks actually pretty good in this game, believe it or not, at 17 minutes played well. Didn't matter. Yeah, and we talked about it in our preview of this series because of the way the Timberwolves ORG defend the sonsin that they're just putting two guys really, really high trying to force turnovers. If the ball can get to Drew Eubanks PERSON on the role, he's going to have an open shot at the room against a smaller defender. And he capitalized on that in this game with a few nice dunks and actually played pretty good defense. This was his best game that he's played so far in a long time, I would say. And I think on the other side of that, matching where Nurkich PERSON actually struggled, even though Nurkich did well. Rebounding, I think he struggleda bit defensively. And then, of course, with Nurkich PERSON, it's about, and I don't actually often

Speaker 2698.2s - 709.78s

blame this on Nurkich PERSON, to be honest, but it's about all of a sudden when the offense gets bogged down to Nurkich shooting a shot after dribbling five times. It's like somebody else has to go get the ball from him, you know?

Speaker 3710.34s - 714s

Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant PERSON. Don't let him do that. What are you doing?

Speaker 2714s - 715.88s

That's why I don't understand.

Speaker 3716.1s - 723.06s

I don't understand why they're content. They're just standing around the perimeter watching him go at Rudy Gobert PERSON. And they know he's not going to make that shot.

Speaker 2723.6s - 728.1s

So it's like, where is your drive as a superstar to take over the game at a certain point? And all of them

Speaker 3728.1s - 737.28s

too, just continuing to pass up open threes or like driving the ball with three or four seconds left

Speaker 0737.28s - 748.88s

on the shot clock and then dumping it off, just like playing hot potato and dumping it off to a teammate and obviously setting them up to fail being like your Devin Booker is three seconds left. Okay, Royce PERSON, here's a ball,

Speaker 3749.34s - 755.54s

half a second left on the shot clock. Good luck. What are you doing? Yeah. What are you doing?

Speaker 2756.22s - 763.2s

It just, it doesn't, it didn't make any sense, man. And I promise, we'll try and grasp at something

Speaker 3763.2s - 775.98s

optimistic here in a few minutes but like you know you look at the other side and you think about now you you come back home to Phoenix GPE they will get an extra day of rest again which thank God we all need it again but you look at the other

Speaker 2775.98s - 781.16s

side of the box score here and you're thinking Carl Anthony PERSON good towns in foul trouble he only played

Speaker 3781.16s - 785.94s

he played 24 minutes in this game and Anthony Edwards shot three for

Speaker 0785.94s - 792.34s

12. The sons played good defense and you lost like this and I think you lost but but but you lost by

Speaker 2792.34s - 799.36s

where it not for the plus five that the garbage time guys did you lost by basically 20 under those

Speaker 0799.36s - 809.68s

circumstances. We're driven by the search for better, but when it comes to hiring,

Speaker 1809.84s - 872.78s

the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search match with Indeed ORG. Indeed ORG is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors, according to Indeed ORG data,and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast. Ditch the busy work. Use Indeed ORG for scheduling, screening, and messaging so you can connect with candidates faster. Leveraging over 140 million qualifications and preferences every day, Indeed ORG's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences, so the more you use Indeed ORG, the better it gets. Join more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent fast. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash bluewire. Just go to Indeed ORG.com slash bluewire right now and support our show by saying that you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's Indeed.com slash bluewire right now and support our show by saying that you heard about Indeed on this podcast.That's Indeed ORG.com slash Blue Wire. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.

Speaker 0875.96s - 917.2s

Craig PERSON is usually a fan of water cooler talk, but it's draft season, and that's all anyone wants to talk about. The athletic has loads of articles about this year's draft, but Greg PERSON doesn't have the athletic, so now he's filling up his water bottle in the bathroom sink, which, to remind you, is the sink people use after they use the bathroom. Get the athletic and get the info you need to speak draft fluently. I think the way that this game went to McDaniels PERSON had an awesome game, I think overall.

Speaker 2917.4s - 1008.48s

He's just an awesome player. Very McElbridge PERSON is like in his turnaround fadeaway shots that he was taking in the game as well. They won with the type of players that the Sons ORG don't have because I do think the Sons obviously did a good job on their stars in that Towns with 12 and Edwards with 15. But then you have McDaniels with 25. Gobert PERSON, a bit of a role player. Obviously more important than a regular role player on a regular teamhad 18. And then Nikiel Alexander Walker PERSON with 10 points off the bench and was plus 14 in those minutes and these guys are finding ways to score when the sons are loading up against their stars and not always on wide open shots like i think mcdaniels in particular was taking shots over kevin durant he was taking shots at the rim over guys that were diving on him whether it be nurkich or Booker PERSON and just making some difficult shots in this. And, you know, it's just funny to see a team like this where the talent is pretty well spread out across the team. It's not to saythey don't have a lot of money invested at the top. They still have a lot of money invested at the top. But the sons are much more top heavy in their salary. And they don't have other guys that can step up in that same way, especially, by the way, and this is an important part of this game, if Grayson Allen is out, because Grayson Allen is the one guy that can at times step up. And by the way, looked pretty good in this game, moving him around off the ball,setting proper screens for Devin Booker PERSON or Devin Booker setting screens for him. And even in times when the sons were struggling to get the ball up the floor because of the pressure, they gave it to Grayson PERSON. And now Grayson was getting the ball past

Speaker 31008.48s - 1012.1s

half court and the offense was starting with a bunch more time on the shot clock.

Speaker 21012.64s - 1018.16s

I was thinking that he was doing a great job of that. And then like one minute after that thought

Speaker 31018.16s - 1024.7s

popped into my head, he went down. And it's tough because like Eric Gordon played pretty well today.

Speaker 21024.7s - 1039s

Yeah. He made threes. But he can't do what Grayson does consistently for 30 minutes for the rest of the series. His body just won't allow him to do it. And also he's not good at the offball movement the way Grayson PERSON is. Grayson PERSON's just better at that.

Speaker 31039.14s - 1040.78s

Yeah. He's not. He never has been really.

Speaker 21040.94s - 1052.2s

And I love Royce PERSON. But Royce did not attempt a shot in 17 minutes today. And that can happen with him. Yeah, and I think he was pretty good. Because he is not going to take the same attempts. Another thing with Grayson PERSON, too.But he's not the same player.

Speaker 31052.66s - 1054.2s

Very intent on boxing out.

Speaker 21054.44s - 1143.66s

He's the guy, I feel like, that doesn't forget to box out when guys are going up. Now, it doesn't always end up with a lot of rebounds, but helps the rebounding battle a lot. I have a feeling the sons are at their best in rebounding when he was on the floor tonight. In the 17 minutes he did play. Rolled the same ankle, if anyone missed it or didn't realize what happened,rolled the same ankle that he had problems with previously by landing, I think, on Conley PERSON's foot in a way that, I don't know, he's probably going to be out the next game. I'd be shocked if he played, and maybe more than that, if there is an option to come back after two games maybe he could come back at that point but didn't look good for him it's it's an ankle sprainwhere he rolled it a little forward a little to the side and it's a grace and series we've talked about it a lot and it with he's he's not a make or break player for the series of course but the sons are lacking in talent to make up for when guys are unable to play in that, you know, Royce O'Neill is okay, he can play more, Eric Gordon is okay, you can play more, and that's it. You know, that's it. You can't really replace what Grayson PERSON does, and they're going to struggle a lot without him. I mean, to be honest, this is a really tough team to often talk about adjustments or improvements in what they can do in the next game. Because maybe the answer is play more Eubanks PERSON. But we've seen how badly that can go at times. And, you know, that's almost never the answer.

Speaker 31143.86s - 1156.98s

So we've seen that. And maybe, you know, maybe you go never the answer. So we've seen that. And maybe, you know, maybe you go small, which they did not attempt at all today. But then you could easily just fall back into a game one situation where now you've, you've surrendered 15 more offensive rebounds.

Speaker 21157.62s - 1158.24s

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 31161.92s - 1166.36s

So they got to find a balance. I mean, they just have to find a balance where you're existing with a big on the floor,

Speaker 21166.48s - 1168.3s

whether that be Nerkich or Eubanks PERSON or whatever,

Speaker 31168.62s - 1194.08s

but you are still, if you're the star players, you are still making a concerted effort to get up the floor faster and to get into your offense faster. And if that means whoever has to start with it, I mean, obviously they'll give the ball to NERCITCH PERSON a lot, but if you're trying to get book or KD off the ball, if that means more Brad PERSON on the ball,if it means more Eric Gordon PERSON on the ball, I guess, if he's the guy who's like logging the

Speaker 21194.08s - 1196.6s

minutes instead of Grayson PERSON. It could be Royce PERSON.

Speaker 31196.72s - 1197.18s

It could be Eric PERSON.

Speaker 21197.18s - 1216.86s

I don't know. Could be Royce PERSON. But whatever you got to do, man, you got to show fight. That's the big thing. Game three, you can come back. As we all know, you can come back from a two-o deficit. You got to show fight. That's the big thing. Game three, you can come back, as we all know, you can come back from a two-o deficit. It happens all the time, not all the time,but it happens every couple years. Every couple years. Every couple years. So that's four out of five that you have to win. Well, but what I'm,

Speaker 31216.9s - 1220.54s

what I'm saying is no one's, no one's ever come back in three. We know that. Yeah.

Speaker 21221.06s - 1249.52s

So if you don't get a quintessential superstar Devin Booker or Kevin Durant, at least one of them performance in game three, it's over. It's just over. Or Bradley Beale. You know, Bradley Beale could have 35. I know we say it all the time. Sure. I know we say it all the time, Mike. And so it's lost its meaning because it's just become this like ironic joke. But game three truly is a legacy performance. It literally is this time a legacy

Speaker 31249.52s - 1254.3s

performance for these guys at the top of the line. Because if they do not show up in game three,

Speaker 21254.94s - 1260.02s

it's not just Frank Vogel PERSON who's on the chopping block. It's not just, you know,

Speaker 31260.18s - 1267.3s

let's sign someone instead of Eric Gordon and run it back next year. Yay. It's, we don't know. This could be

Speaker 01267.3s - 1273.74s

a very chaotic summer, folks. I'm excited for the prospect of like, you know we'll cover it. We like

Speaker 31273.74s - 1300.14s

Rosturbation. But I don't want it to have to come to that. I want them to come back and show some fight and win this series. But if it has to come to that, if we have to spend our entire summer talking about Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beale trades, you know we'll be there. We'll be posting the episodes. I can give you 30 trade machine ideas right now if I have to. Give me half an hour, I could whip them up. So that's where we're at, guys. It is not a good

Speaker 21300.14s - 1375.46s

place to be right now. For me, I think that I was so down on the team after the regular season. They closed the season strong. I think there was a little bit of luck in the schedule where the tough teams they did play against were missing some players that helped them out a little bit at the end as well. But they closed it strong enough for me to give them a little bit more credit. And I think to the point that this team was built, like I said in the preview,it was built for the playoffs. The trades that were made were after embarrassing playoff losses. They were because of their inability to perform at the biggest moments. The idea was you have more star power, you have more to be able, by the way, to score in those moments, which they had 93 points in this game, credit to the Timberwolves ORG. But I was willing to give them the chance to see if they could come through in those moments.And having said that, it is only two games, right? You never know what can happen in the next few games. But there's very little to point at as major positives in those first two games. You had the first half by Kevin Durant in game one and then the first quarter of game two.

Speaker 31375.96s - 1376.98s

Not even the first quarter.

Speaker 21376.98s - 1378.04s

Not even the first quarter.

Speaker 31378.16s - 1379.58s

They went down eight oh.

Speaker 01379.78s - 1385.84s

It was like a 10 minute stretch between the midfirst quarter and the early second quarter, and that was it.

Speaker 31387.92s - 1438.58s

And it's funny you mention, like, the past trades that happened because of guys' inability to perform in crucial moments. Like, yeah, that's why we all came down so hard on DA ORG, and that's why the DA trade finally happened, because we doubted his ability to perform and to raise his level when it mattered most. I'm not above admitting that, like, it's only fair to then levy those same criticisms at these guys who are making the most money on this team at a certain point. If they meet the same fate,you know, if they also look like they don't give a shit in a playoff series, then they may need to meet the same fate as Deontre PERSON. Dude, I don't care. I mean, I'm fucking sick of it. It doesn't matter how much money you make. It doesn't matter if you have a signature shoe, you don't have a signature shoe.You just got to care more.

Speaker 21438.58s - 1471.52s

I think that there's probably some stuff going on in the locker room that's impacting this as well, which is not any defense of them, but the offense should be better than it is. And it's not, by the way, a question of the offense should be better right now in the NBA ORG playoffs, because it should be. Don't get me wrong.But it should have been better all season. All season. This team has a lot of good offensive players and they have yet to reach anywhere close to what that ceiling could be offensively. Now, that is on the players and that is

Speaker 01471.52s - 1475.92s

on the coaching staff. Like, I'm not going to, I'm not going to separate that. But that does to me

Speaker 21475.92s - 1494.8s

say that they should probably figure out a way to try it again with a different scheme, with a different coach, with different ideas. Somebody else,. You know what it is? Honestly, Sam PERSON, a different voice, a different person, because it might be the same stuff. It just might be getting them to buy in to it a little bit more.

Speaker 01495.16s - 1511.46s

Because whatever Frank PERSON is telling them, because we know a lot of the concepts that we're asking them to do, play faster, you know, find ways to maybe, I don't know if this is true, but I'm doubting. Frank Vogel wants the offense to run through Nurkich PERSON postups at the rim. You know, like those are probably things he's not telling them to do.

Speaker 21512.52s - 1518.56s

But that message is not penetrating. It's not getting through to the players that are, that are doing it.

Speaker 31520.02s - 1525.86s

They make $40 million a year. How are you supposed to motivate them?

Speaker 01526.1s - 1530.12s

Like what do we want a coach to do in terms of being a motivator?

Speaker 21530.12s - 1532.22s

I just don't understand what they can do.

Speaker 01534.3s - 1535.58s

Just yell at them more?

Speaker 31536.1s - 1576.44s

Is it really as simple as that? I think that's what people online believe, but I don't think that's going to help. I think when you have guys, when someone tells you who they are that they're chilling, you believe them. You believe that they're chillers. These are chillers. They're not hoopers. They're not even basketball players. They're chillers. And that's the worst criticism I could possibly give of any of them, the worst indictment of any of their characters right now.

Speaker 21581.24s - 1631.34s

You know, it's tough. I want to say that Sons could absolutely win a game or even the next two games, and then we're talking about an even series, it's a three-game series of that point. But I do want to say that you have a game where Anthony Edwards is bad. I mean, he made good reads, you know, but like he only scored 15 points. And everyone else did step up.And Carl Anthony Towns PERSON, in foul trouble the whole game, only scored 12 points. And you're not really ever close to winning in the second half, ever and and to me that just shows it's just a bad sign for the next few games um because the chances of getting another game where both towns and anthony edwards PERSON are bad pretty low you know it's pretty low both of those guys have been pretty good offensively this year and anthony edwards showed what he can do in game one and so you know thesons have to find other ways to do other things because that's not something they can bet on for the next game. You know, maybe, you know, they do

Speaker 01631.34s - 1648.38s

say role players play better at home. Maybe they get the same types of games out of Edwards PERSON and towns, but all of a sudden McDaniels can't score 25 points. That's possible. And maybe somebody like Eric Gordon has, you know, 15, well, he had 15 in this game, but maybe he has 15 again. And, you know, he actually finds a way to score. Or Royce PERSON, yeah, actually shoots a shot.

Speaker 31648.38s - 1705.54s

Royce gives you 16 points with a bunch of threes. Yeah, I mean, for sure, for sure. We have to anticipate that they will come out, like their lives depend on it in game three because they are professional basketball players. The slight defense I'll give of them, too, is that I know these guys are hurting, like literally their bodies. I know a lot of them are playing through injuries. KD. is old. Beale has had so many hiccups this season. Booker PERSON is like, you know, straining. It feels like for some reason or another, basically every quarter, every half of these games, something happensto Booker PERSON that makes me wince. So I know that they're playing through stuff. But the Timberwolves ORG are playing through stuff too. Carl Anthony Towns returned from injury that had kept him out for weeks. He returns like a week ago, okay? Like they're all playing through stuff. They're all professional athletes.They just have to figure it out. Mike Conley PERSON is ancient. His bones are congealing Mike.

Speaker 21705.64s - 1709.28s

And he was good in this game. And he was good in this game.

Speaker 31709.34s - 1712.7s

That's exactly what I'm saying. You got to find a way. You got to find a way.

Speaker 21712.7s - 1713.92s

And, yeah.

Speaker 31715.18s - 1717.8s

Like strategy-wise, I'll say it again.

Speaker 21718.58s - 1735.66s

If you're listening to this, expecting a deep dive into exactly what the suns did that went wrong. I don't know. A lot of what they were doing made a lot of sense. You know, they just obviously take more threes. Like, that's an obvious one. I don't know how many times we have to beg for it throughout the entire regular season,

Speaker 01735.66s - 1751.3s

but they only took 22 in this game. And they were turning some down, right? It wasn't just that Minnesota was forcing them to not shoot them. Devin Booker PERSON was catching it and hesitating because how good their defense has been, you know, he is hesitating on shooting that three and he was one for six. They are really afraid.

Speaker 31752.02s - 1757.54s

They are really afraid of the length of McDaniels PERSON, which I understand to a certain point,

Speaker 21757.86s - 1759.32s

but just too afraid.

Speaker 31759.82s - 1761.56s

Just take more threes. Durant took two.

Speaker 21761.7s - 1787.2s

If you're a good player. And they're both like impossible. Yeah. If you're a good player, you have to trust in it. There was good stuff that they did schematically, defensively, right? I mean, they kept Ant PERSON and Check because they continued to do a really good job of throwing different looks at him. They kept Cat and Check PERSON mostly becauseof foul trouble, but also I love what they're doing, just fronting him with everyone. That's something they started doing in game one, but now they're just doing it in every matchup in game two, just fronting Cat PERSON, not allowing him to initiate any offense out of the post.

Speaker 31787.48s - 1791.3s

Yeah, and they're forcing the ball to go bear a lot, and Gobert PERSON to his credit is...

Speaker 21791.3s - 1795.52s

Being proactive. And go bear to his credit is actually doing well. They're being proactive instead of reactive.

Speaker 31799.02s - 1803.62s

Offensively, I don't think there's a single good thing I could say about their process, though.

Speaker 21803.66s - 1879.26s

I'm really not sure of the truth. Well, I think they I'm really not sure. Well, I think they actually did a much better job of freeing Devin Booker PERSON up in this game and finding him a matchup that wasn't McDaniels PERSON every time. And that's why he had a pretty successful first half. And then, you know, just at a certain point, the shots were no longer falling or the turnovers were so dramatic that it didn't matter if you occasionally scored if you're also givingthem the ball six times, which is what Devin Booker PERSON did in this game. So, you know, finding a way to clean up the turnovers, you're not going to do that entirely against the team with defense as good as the Minnesota Timberwolves, but you can also not turn it over 19 times. There's a balance between those two. Turn it over eight times, turn it over 10 times. Okay, fine. And that'll take away some of the points, because ultimately thes should have abetter offense than the Minnesota Timberwolves as far as efficiency in scoring the ball. Have they? I don't know. I don't know the exact numbers on that. But they should. So if they limit the extra possessions that they're giving to the Minnesota Timberwolves, whether it be rebounding, which they did well in this game, they did terrible in game one, or turnovers, which obviously they did terrible in this game, and wasn't necessarily a problem in game one, but theovers, which obviously they did terrible in this game and wasn't necessarily a problem in game one, but the rebounding gave them all those extra possessions. Limit thoseand then maybe you'll have a chance. You know, that's really the only way that they can win. Can I read you a tweet?

Speaker 31881.68s - 1885.32s

Read it to me. This is from Devin Booker's PERSON brother He deleted it

Speaker 21885.32s - 1898.6s

He deleted it He said at what point do you realize He art At what point do you realize shit isn't funny No way I'm sitting out here Giggling with the opposing teamWill PERSON getting whooped Oh he said that

Speaker 31898.6s - 1900.46s

Tonight

Speaker 21900.46s - 1904.72s

And and how soon after tweeting it did he delete it?

Speaker 31904.72s - 1906.24s

I don't know when it was deleted but it was

Speaker 21906.24s - 1912.76s

tweeted at 724 so about you know 20 20 minutes ago yeah people know what time we're recording

Speaker 31912.76s - 1917.92s

yeah but that's about brad right that's about brad the bill PERSON i mean we don't have to pretend we

Speaker 21917.92s - 1923.98s

don't know that's about bradley beale PERSON but that's clearly about bradley beale right yeah i i i think

Speaker 31923.98s - 1926.32s

it probably is.

Speaker 01931.2s - 1931.62s

It's tough with Brad PERSON because he just, you know, sometimes he gives us gems.

Speaker 21932.38s - 1933.3s

It's time, Amanda PERSON.

Speaker 31935.54s - 1936.02s

And then sometimes he's just his own worst.

Speaker 01942.62s - 1948.4s

He says the worst thing possible and doesn't, yeah, just doesn't take the game seriously enough for a guy who supposedly really wants to be back playing NBA ORG playoff basketball and poor basketball again.

Speaker 21949.12s - 1950.02s

And he needs to step out.

Speaker 31950.02s - 1951.74s

Doesn't act like he's valued it.

Speaker 21951.74s - 1979.88s

Yeah, we, I think Brad PERSON kind of skates a little bit because of the amount of attention that, you know, people like you and I give to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker PERSON when they play badly. But like Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have had a lot more great games than Bradley Beal PERSON has had this season. And Bradley Beal PERSON, you know, he's paid like as good of a player. We always knew he wasn't quite as good of a player, but he really should have more of thosegreat games. And it would be nice to see him step on to.

Speaker 31981.02s - 2001.14s

And again, even if we talk about the offseason, like, I know we haven't lost this series yet, but if we eventually arrive at this discussion where we have to talk about what happens next, we're going to have to phrase it in a way of like, here are all the Kevin Durant PERSON trades that could happen. Here are all the Devin Booker PERSON trades that could happen. Bradley Beale, we're stuck with him. Sorry.

Speaker 02001.74s - 2012.34s

No one wants him. Unless he wants to leave. That's the reality of how Bradley Beal PERSON, unless he really wants to leave. And then you're probably not, but like even then, who wants him? Orlando for a protected first round pick?Okay.

Speaker 32013.64s - 2015.16s

Jonathan Isaac. Is that what his value is?

Speaker 02016.44s - 2017.64s

Yeah, I mean, come on.

Speaker 32018.12s - 2019.7s

So he's certainly not playing up to the contract.

Speaker 22019.7s - 2023.58s

We will continue to record after this. I just want to say. Yes, go ahead.

Speaker 32025.04s - 2055.42s

If you are a Suns fan going to the game on Friday, I salute you. I wish I was a strong, you are God's strongest soldier because my stomach could not handle being there in person, especially with as much money as I'm sure those tickets cost, whether you're in the nosebleeds, whether your court side doesn't matter. Best of luck to you guys who are going to be at the game, still behind this team, supporting them, wearing your colors. We'll be here.

Speaker 22055.72s - 2062.66s

Yep. We'll be here. Possibly live podcast on playback at some point before the next game as well.

Speaker 32062.74s - 2065s

So keep an eye on our Twitter accounts. We'll talk about it there.

Speaker 22065.1s - 2068.46s

That one will go up on the Patreon ORG after we're done doing it live.

Speaker 32069.12s - 2070.74s

And yeah, back after every game.

Speaker 22070.82s - 2076.44s

We'll see if this team has anything left in them to not embarrass us. Yep. Thanks, everyone for listening.