Th NBA Daily crew discuss how we got here where OKC and Indiana are up 3-1, parity in the NBA, and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What teams are up 3-1 in the playoffs?
I don't know. We'll talk a little bit about the Knicks and how they are presently constructed and if it is a good enough, frankly, is a question that we have to have to put out there. And then same for the Timberwolves. Like, do they do they have enough as well? And what what can they do and what are their limitations in this offseason? I'm your host, Andrew Schlecht.
With me, Dave DeFore, Esper Haney. We'll have Zena Keita joining us at some point as well. We can start with the Pacers because this is a team that I think a lot of times throughout this season, I don't think any of us... I'm just talking about me, okay? Frankly, I'm just talking about me.
Yeah, it is really only you.
Let's clear that up. I didn't have enough of an imagination. to think that the pacers could make the nba finals my imagination sometimes is limited and you know what it's a flaw that i have okay i'll admit it i've got it and i did not have the imagination for a team like the indiana pacers to actually make the nba finals and here we are they're up 3-1 they got to go back into new york to win
And they're just on the doorstep, though. And they're obviously heavily favorited. It's hard to come back 3-1. Do the Knicks have the anatomy of a team that could come back from a 3-1 deficit? It doesn't look like it right now, but it never looks like it, I would say. Yeah. But let's start with the Pacers. How did we get here with the Indiana Pacers? And we can just kind of talk.
I think it's just interesting to kind of just take apart. Right now, we have this rubber band ball of a team. And it's like, how did this get here? And which one is this? But I think it's good to kind of take this apart a little bit and think about how do you build a contender? How do you build a team that could do something like this? How about Rick Carlisle?
Yeah. Like, start there.
That's a big one.
He gets pushed out of Dallas. Yep. Where he's coaching, you know, Luka Doncic and that whole situation, you know, with the the analytics folks and everyone sniping at each other and he gets handed the keys to the franchise. And this is a team that plays, this is like a Rick Carlisle team. I actually saw someone compare them to the 2011 Mavs, which is, which is interesting, right?
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Chapter 2: How did the Pacers get to the conference finals?
Yes, you made fun of me.
You made fun of me for wanting this series because you called me old. Because this is like... The 90s series. But all these guys that you're loving to see are from the 90s, right? Hey, I got my early 2000s. They should do an old-timers game.
That would be fun. That would be really cool. After the series is over.
I'm scared of injuries. I was like, oh, the injury is scary.
That's not fun. That's anxiety producing. Especially for somebody like me who's still recovering from it.
They did one of those for Goran Drogic, right? His retirement game.
Night of the Dragon. Yeah, everybody. Luka and Jokic on the same team. It's a sick game. Pretty fun. Yeah. Everybody was there.
Yeah, but it was like Dikembe. Not Dikembe, but there was... I think it was actually Dikembe Mutombo was out there early. And Chris Bosh was out there, and they're like, man, these guys are getting up there in age. Like, damn, you know?
Yeah. Oh, man. So it is interesting that... it's at least a fact that both teams that are in pole position to be in the finals traded Paul George, right?
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Chapter 3: What role does Rick Carlisle play in the Pacers' success?
He does. He's just an enforcer. Who never has to enforce anything. That is it. He's like Chuck Norris of the NBA.
He really is. You just have to go around saying, you know he's a black belt, right? Right.
Reputation precedes him. All the players think that. He was the guy that people didn't want to fight in the player poll. The players still think of him like that, even though when was the last time they actually saw him dribbling back the ball?
I don't want to find out. It was clearly in the playoffs that he had to come off the bench for something. I can't remember when it was.
Yeah, he came off at the end of the game.
He came off the bench and had to, you know. Had to just stand up for a little bit, but I think quickly.
I think that was in the Cleveland series. He did that one.
Maybe that's what it was. Yeah.
It's an earned reputation. I'm just saying he's got a great job. Yeah. Former Raptor legend. Just saying.
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Chapter 4: How has the Pacers' roster been built over the years?
You know, that would be bad for Milwaukee. Oh yeah.
But John horse only signed a three-year contract. So, you know, just go ahead and do it. You know, like life is short.
Yeah. I think they'll take somebody for sure in this draft. You know, they work really hard. Yeah. Yeah. They will take some, they'll take somebody with upside in the first round. I don't know if they want nine. I mean,
They want draft and stash, right? This is a team that could totally bring back the draft and stash. They've got a lot of options. This is part of what's going to keep them sustainable.
Yeah, they have planned this. In fact, there's been no team that's ever been able to do what the Thunder have done, as far as team building-wise. There's not a team that's drafted this well, that's been a contender, that also has all these draft picks available to them. And traded well, right?
They've made smart trades, and not just the Shea trade. Every single other one, they've just touched the right buttons.
I will say, as we've talked about Copycat League and other teams looking at these two teams and saying, well, how can we do this? It's really hard to replicate what Indiana did. It's also really hard to replicate what OKC did. But I believe there will be teams that think they can do this. There's probably Utah and Brooklyn right now are saying to themselves, we can figure this out.
We can draft well. We can trade well. We can scout incredibly well for four or five years and hook. It's fool's gold a little bit, but I imagine this is more of a tangible pathway for a team than Indiana. Do you disagree?
It takes organizational alignment. It's incredible. They're a championship-level team. The coaches are making the difference here because the coaches in OKC, and I think the vision probably comes from Rick Carlisle, uh, myself, but I think in OKC, the vision of Sam Presti is expressed through the way Mark Dagnall coaches. I mean, this is why they're playing so many guys.
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