Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a league high 68 wins, captured a scoring title and was named MVP. Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni debate whether SGA is having one of the best seasons ever and where it lands if the Thunder win a championship. Then, Mike Vorkunov drops in to breakdown the reasons the NBA isn’t afraid of a small-market Finals and the X-factors for a Pacers win. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having the best season ever?
Ich weiß, du bist für das, S. Oh ja, ich liebe Ratings-Talk. Mike Vorkenhoff hat eine tolle Geschichte über die Athletik geschrieben, die ich eigentlich sehr genossen habe. Das lässt den Fall dafür aus, warum Ratings-Talk mühsam ist. Aber der Business-Aspekt hinter den Ratings, die Ratings sind überhaupt nicht wichtig.
It's a good way to boost these stars, having them on this type of platform in the future. Who knows what it is?
We have a great talk with Vork after the break and we really go into Thunder and Pacers and the basketball a little bit on the TV stuff. But I want to talk because we just haven't had a chance to really reflect since Shea won the MVP because we've had conference finals games every single night up until now. This guy is having
One of these seasons that will point to, you know, if they wind up winning the finals and if he's the finals MVP, we're going to compare this to some of the seasons that Michael Jordan put up. Shaquille O'Neal had a season where he led the league in scoring. Where does this stack up for you if he seals the deal? I mean, there's a lot of if here, right? We still got a couple of weeks.
Yeah, there definitely is a lot of ifs in the sense that he has to win the NBA championship and likely win finals MVP, because I think that's a very, very nice cherry on top to what has been one of the best seasons of all time. If you look at it, it's only him, Michael Jordan and Shaq to have a scoring title, an MVP and potentially finals MVP in a championship.
So if he nails down the other two things, he's in rarefied air with two guys who, you ask any NBA history guy, have had some of the most historic, dominant seasons in NBA history. The season that recently reminds me of this is 2014-2015 Steff.
where yeah he he was really great i don't think he won the scoring title but he was near the top of the league and winning the scoring title obviously won mvp they won the title that year but didn't win finals mvp because that was the andrea godalla year yeah we we can debate about whether that was the right call or whatnot i don't know how you feel about that i mean there's no debate steph should have won the finals okay okay we're on the same page then um
So that's a recent memory of a great season that I can think of. It's funny to think of the fact that in Jokic's year where he didn't win MVP, he ended up winning the title. And so it's hard to parse through. He had an incredible stretch. You could argue that he had his best season yet this year.
But in terms of pure resume, yeah, SGA is absolutely having one of the best seasons of all time, just because everything has been perfect. And oh, by the way, They won 68 games. And oh, by the way, they are one of four teams to win 80 games before heading to the NBA Finals. It's pretty hard to poke and prod at any issues with what Shea did this season. Yeah, but now on the other side,
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Chapter 2: What are the key achievements of SGA this season?
If he doesn't pull this off, right? Like if they don't win the finals, we're going to look back on this season and we're going to we're going to call Shea a fraud. You know, we're going to do all the things that we do. I mean, it is it is funny. Like this guy has had just this incredible run. You mentioned it. Best record in the league scoring champ MVP.
I mean, they they nearly pulled off the NBA Cup. Final, they could have done that. We're still talking that up. And if he manages to, after the playoff run that he's had, If he manages this, you know, to win a finals, get the finals MVP. I mean, I definitely think this is probably one of the four or five best seasons individually that anyone's ever had.
I mean, we could we could split hairs on the Jokic years because of the true shooting. And, you know, we can dig into those numbers and it's different.
Can I ask you like off the top of your head? Do you because Steph is the one name that pops up to me. You can list any of the recent Jokic years and that's.
one lebron is another one that you could think of in the years that he was mvp and won a title like what names pop up to you when you think of a season that sjs had like this in terms of winning basically yeah it's basically that i mean michael jordan winning like defensive player of the year and all these things right and he
Jordan hatte ein paar Jahre, in denen es einfach so fühlte, als ob er die Wettbewerbs-Saison gewonnen hätte. Ja, ja, ja. Aber um das zu tun und um die beste Mannschaft zu haben, wie deine Mannschaft die beste Mannschaft in der Liga ist, Runaway-MVP, ich denke einfach nur, dass es einer der vier oder fünf ist, die ich mir vorstellen kann.
Ich würde es mit dieser Staff-Saison aufnehmen, was statistisch eine verrückte,
thing to say maybe just because the way that staff shot but as far as winning goes i mean which is really what matters that's the stat that matters the most this is one of the winningest seasons any player has ever had right like just games and awards uh first team all nba i mean it's just undeniable that he you know had a better year than every single player out there
Ja, es ist auch verrückt, weil er immer noch besser wird. Er ist 26 Jahre alt und ich weiß, dass wir das so bezeichnen und sagen, dass es ein paar Superstar sind, aber es ist, weil sie so gut sind. Als Jokic jung war und er seinen ersten MVP gewonnen hat, war es so, dass dieser Typ immer noch besser auf dem defensiven Ende werden kann.
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Chapter 3: How does SGA compare to NBA legends like Michael Jordan?
Ich weiß nicht, was wir bei dieser Zeit tun werden. Aber die NBA hätte wahrscheinlich mehr Geld verdient, wenn es Nix oder Minnesota wäre. Oder wenn die Warriors einen Rennen gemacht hätten oder so etwas. Ticketrevenue, Gate, all that stuff matters, right? That money teams get, they split it with the league, they split it with the NBPA. Merchandise sales. Das zählt.
Das ist alles Geld, das sie machen können, das sie wahrscheinlich mehr machen würden. Okay, seht ihr, so stark ist die Fanbase, wie sie es haben könnten, hat es die Hälfte der Menschen in der ganzen Stadt, als die Stadt New York, richtig? Das zählt.
Aber es wird nicht der Typ sein, der einen wirklich großen Einfluss auf die NBA hat, weil die NBA, wie alle anderen professionellen Sportarten, die wir jetzt haben, so auf Medienrechte abhängt.
and the media rights deal is locked in like they're getting 75 billion for the next 11 years those those those checks are gonna cash regardless i think there's a few things at play number one i'll tell you just first hand experience here on our show the thunder do numbers right like people have paid this is a great basketball team they play a fun and exciting style they have an mvp i i think that people actually are very curious about the thunder i think it's a little bit of an opportunity for the nba
I will say though...
It is interesting that we even have these conversations regarding the NBA when in the NFL it's like, oh, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It doesn't kind of compute to me if you look at the league wide for all four sports.
You could put a team from Canada in the Super Bowl and it would do numbers because the Super Bowl itself is an event.
To back that up, when Cleveland was in the finals, nobody complained because they had LeBron, right? And so how do you get... Not the next LeBron, but someone who might potentially get to his level. It's for someone like SGA to get to the finals year after year after year, win MVP after MVP after MVP. So this is the first step in something like that potentially happening.
And for OKC, it might actually happen. We don't know. They're pretty well positioned to get here in 2, 3, 4, 8 million years in a row. I don't know. And I think that's how some around the NBA view it too. The ratings this year will... probably be suboptimal. I'll use that word. It won't be great, right?
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Chapter 4: What are the implications if the Thunder win the championship?
But I want to talk to you about the hoops part, because If I was a casual fan jumping in, this is going to be an electric series when you consider number one style of fight, right? Like just consider the contrasting styles and how they go head to head against each other. But also two deep teams, both teams play defense, fast paced offense.
I mean, Mike, I really want to know, like, what are you excited about with this finals matchup in particular? I mean, you follow the entire league, you write about the entire league. So, you know, you know these teams as well as anybody. What are you pumped about?
Ich freue mich auf den Zeitpunkt des Spiels. Ich denke, es wird elektrisch sein, wie du gesagt hast. Indy, jeder spricht davon, wie schnell Indy gegen die Knicks gespielt hat, richtig? Sie konnten ihren Zeitpunkt nicht enthalten, sie konnten nicht auf ihre Geschwindigkeit aufhören und sie konnten nicht mit Pascal Siakam aufhören, nachdem er sogar Basketball gemacht hat. Indy spielt super schnell.
OKC hat in der normalen Saison und in den Playoffs schneller gespielt. Sie sind ein schneller Team. I think back to, I think it was the first OKC Cleveland matchup this season. Awesome game. The pace was great. The offense was great. We could see that for X amount of games in this finals. And as a product, that matters for the NBA.
And I think if people watch and they tune in and they give it a chance, it is more likely that they stay and watch a game like that than even if the Knicks had made it, right? The Knicks have a huge audience, but like, Jalen Brunson, foul grifting, not great television. Their pace is a little bit slower. Kat isn't as aesthetically pleasing a type of player.
It's a less entertaining brand of basketball compared to what the Pacers were. To your point about the pace, I think that gets the casual fan hooked too. They get in, they're like, wow, this is a completely different pace than what we're used to in the regular season for the most part. Is there an X-Factor or someone you're looking at as a guy who can swing this series? Either way.
I'd love to hear your guys opinion.
But for me, it's Pascal Siakam. Like I know that maybe a cop out, maybe he's not the best player on the Pacers.
I do think that Dave has been riding that take.
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Chapter 5: Why are small-market teams important for the NBA?
Ob das bedeutet, den Dribble auszumachen, oder ob es bedeutet, seinen Arsch nach dem Tor zu schlagen, wie er es so oft macht, um einfache Buckets zu kreieren. Ich glaube, es gab ein paar Spiele gegen die Knicks, in denen sie wirklich kämpften, weil es niemanden gab, um Haliburton zu helfen.
Und New York hat für Quartiere und vielleicht Haliburton halbzeitig einen guten Job gemacht, Haliburton zu langsamen. Und OKC ist so kaputt, wie jeder, der das tut, weil sie nicht nur einen oder zwei Defender haben, sondern sie haben eine ganze Reihe von Defenders, die sie zwischen Dort, Jalen Williams und Alex Kruse und all that type of stuff throw out. So Siakam muss mehr konsistent sein.
And if he can be that kind of player, then I think he can be a longer series.
Yeah, I mean, look, I really want to say Thomas Bryant is the X-Factor. But the truth is, it's Miles Turner, right? I was going to say, yeah, Miles Turner. It's Miles Turner. Right, Miles Turner is the X-Factor here, right? He's got to go up against Chet. He's got to go up against Hardenstein. He's got to rebound at a different level than he did against the Knicks.
And he's got to hit those Threes, those Trail Threes that they love. I think Miles Turner is the key to the series if the Pacers are going to compete. You know, I think we picked OKC in six. I mean, it's very probably a pretty basic pick out there. I'm not saying we're breaking any new ground.
But if this gets to seven or if the Pacers have a chance to win, it's going to be because Miles Turner kind of goes off to a certain degree. I think actually he could in this year. I mean, this is a pretty good matchup for him individually. It depends. Maybe they start guarding him with like J-Dub and it
takes them completely out of whack i don't know i mean i think the coaching matchup is the thing i'm more fascinated by but that would be my x factor what about us i mean you asked the question um yeah i think i love the miles turner shout just because that's the guy who can stretch the floor and both these teams like to play five out offense like they can they're capable of doing that uh i think my x factor is probably andrew nemhardt because
Wer in der Welt SGA auf dem Team schützen wird? Ja, es wird Nemhardt sein, der es die meiste Zeit gemacht hat, dass OKC in Indiana dieses Jahr gespielt hat. Wenn er für SGA das Leben in der Hölle machen kann, und es ist wirklich schwer, das zu tun. Niemand hat das dieses Jahr erfolgreich gemacht.
Ich meine, das ist ein Typ, der eine der effizientesten Scoring-Saisonen in der NBA-Historie gesehen hat. If he can just make life difficult for SGA, that's the version of the series where the Pacers might be able to win. But man, is that a tall task. That is a very, very tall task for Nembhard, who also struggled against Brunson a little bit until that Game 6.
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Chapter 6: What are the X-factors for a Pacers win?
Ich weiß, dass es ihre Sache ist, und ich weiß, dass sie es auch brauchen, um ihre Zeit für ein volles Spiel zu behalten. Sie spielen so hart und all das. Aber... OKC ist genauso tief, und ich fühle mich, als wenn du in deinem 8., 9., 10.
Bestplayer für wichtige Minuten in einer Finale gegen ein Team wie OKC, das kann dich ein bisschen mehr schaden, als es könnte gegen die Knicks oder die Bucks, weil sie nicht die gleiche Dämpfung haben.
Ich glaube, sie sind beide. Ich glaube beide Teams sind bis zu 8.
Kann ich einfach meine Statten auswählen, da ich es hier habe? Ich glaube wir sind in der Konversation. Okay, also ich habe mir gedacht, wie kann Indy dieses Spiel gewinnen? Was ist der Weg, um OKC zu attackieren? Es gibt nicht viele Wege. Okay, this team won 68 games. They won 80 before they got to the NBA Finals.
They're a very, very good basketball team on their pace, on a pace to be like historic. Okay, great, great defense. They have that superstar player in SGA that can rise up to the next level. But, but... 3-Punkte-Schussung ist eine interessante Sache hier. Sie sind 5-0 in den Playoffs, wenn sie 35% besser gespielt haben.
Sie sind 7-4 in Spielen, in denen sie verloren haben und 35% schlechter gespielt haben. Diese Spiele sind der Schuss gegen Minnesota. And then three games against Denver. So you start thinking about, okay, what happened in that Nugget series, right? What did they do? What did Denver do to make it hard on them three-point shooting-wise? They crowded SGA.
They dared the rest of the other guys to shoot them. And this is why, maybe from an OKC perspective, the X-Factor... ist J-Dub, Chet, Caruso, Dort und die Leute, die ihre Schüsse knacken. Gegen Minnesota, Chet 36%, J-Dub 46%, Caruso 41%, Dort 37%. Gegen Denver, das sind verrückte Zahlen. Chet 22%, J-Dub 23%, Caruso 42% und Dort 29%.
If you're hitting your shots, you're not going to be like, OKC is going to beat you every single time if they're hitting their shots. If you get a couple of games where they miss their shots and they're funneling it to Lou Dort and he has a 2 of 10 day, that's the way you can beat them.
Ja, ich glaube, das ist recht. Und ich habe noch mehr Fragen. Ja, ich glaube, das ist ein guter Punkt, weil ich gesagt habe, ich habe noch mehr Fragen über OKC, ob sie beliebig scoren können. Wie können sie mit Indy scoren? Ich glaube, das ist, du weißt, sie haben wirklich versucht, das gegen Denver zu tun, wie du gesagt hast, und Denver ist nicht ein tolles defensives Team.
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